Self made critic's blog

Saturday, April 14, 2012

The cabin in the woods: The Truman Horror show, Whedon-style

About two years ago I heard that Joss Whedon's movie was hold prisoner somewhere and put on hold. Needless to say, I was outraged. Joss Whedon's movie! With Amy Acker, and Fran Kranz, and Tom Lenk! I joined the campaign, signed a petition, joined a Facebook group and all that kind of stuff, and I waited, and waited, and waited, and finally I went to the movies, spent my $11 and watched it! What can I say, now I understand what Star Wars fans felt when they left theaters in 2001.

It's not that movie was bad, it was… Well, it was okay-ish. It was funny, and smart, and gross, and scary, and deep, it was all the things you can expect from Whedon, and that was the problem: it was everything you can literally expect. Nothing was missing, on the contrary, everything was just too much, and I left the theater feeling like I just ate everything on the menu in a great restaurant, and the food gave me a stomachache.

For you out there, who haven't seen it yet or don't want to see it, but want to have something to talk about with your Whedon adoring friends, I'm just going to make a quick concept recap. We are introduced to five main characters: Jules, "the whore", a normal student chick, who just colored her hair blonde and suddenly became all horny, Curt, Jules's boyfriend, who supposed to be into sports or something (he wasn't, really), Holden, an incredibly beautiful guy (I think that's besides the concept, but just so you know), who is a nerd or whatever, and the love interest for Dana, Dana, the quiet chick ("the virgin") and Marty, played by Fran Kranz, "the fool", who is always smoking pot and giving deep speeches, but who is also smart and… well, if you saw Dollhouse, then you understand who Kranz is playing, Marty is basically Topher, under different circumstances and addicted to marijuana.

Anyway, these five idiots decided to go in the cabin in the woods to have some fun, only they didn't know that they were being monitored and spied on, and that this cabin is not what it seems to be, a.k.a. it is even more scary. They are having fun, while people in some secret underground corporation is monitoring them, waiting for them to choose a monster that will kill them. The group goes in the basement, where they all grub different things, representing different monsters. Dana starts reading a journal, and their choice is complete: they have chosen a "pain-worshiping redneck zombies".

Jules and Curt go into the woods to make out, and although they don't want to do it at first, the secret corporation sprays pheromones on them, so Jules would show her boobs. After she does that, she gets beheaded by the redneck zombies. Curt gets away. The group wants to stick together, but the secret corporation brainwashes them into splitting up and locks them all in their rooms. Marty finds out they are bring watched, but he becomes the second victim of the zombies. Dana, Curt and Holden get away and are about to leave the cabin, but the corporation blocks the road and they are stuck. Curt decides to jump on the motorcycle and get some help. He gives a speech about how he will find help with any means necessary and will crawl if he has to, but won't leave them to die, and then hilariously does a wall takedown, smashing into a magic wall. Dana and Holden are trying to drive away, but Holden gets stuck in the gut by zombie stowaway. Dana almost drowns and then almost gets gutted, while we find out she doesn't need to die: she just needs to suffer. But wait, there is a problem: someone isn't dead! Who might that be? Of course, we already know who is not dead, thank you for spoilers, people who made the trailers. Marty is back and he is not kidding anymore (he is still high though, which makes him immune to all the shit the corporation tries to spray on them). He found a hatch on the ground, and they are going down! And the corporation is going down with them!

After finding out what was happening to them, Dana and Marty let all the monsters out and they viciously take out everyone in the corporation. But unfortunately, this is not The Truman Show, and taking down bad people who were trying to make zombie food out of them is not enough. In the end, Sigourney Weaver appears and explains, that they are actually protecting the world from an evil underground God(s) who will bring apocalypse on Earth, if Marty doesn't die right now. Marty doesn't want to die, he doesn't' care about world all that much, and I'm with him on this one. But Dana isn't, she points a gun at Marty, but gets attacked by a werewolf. Sigourney Weaver tries to kill Marty, but he covers himself with her from a zombie, who kills her. Marty drops them to the God's underground layer, and he and Dana sit and wait for the apocalypse to arrive. In the end we see that the underground God is not happy, and he breaks through the earth to bring death and horror. We're all doomed! The end.

Signs that The Cabin in The Woods is Joss Whedon's movie:

1. Frank Kranz as high Topher (Dollhouse)

I just called him Topher the whole movie, because that's what Kranz was playing. But it was actually a good thing, though, because I loved Topher, and I really liked Kranz' character here. And now I really miss Dollhouse. Curse you, Fox, and your sudden, but inevitable betrayal (again)!

2. A secret and evil (sort of) corporation (Dollhouse)

Of course there was a secret corporation all around the world, which was spying on random people and working for someone rich and mysterious.

3. "From beneath you, it devours you" (Buffy, season 7)

Of course there was a God, who was demanding sacrifices! Of course the secret company was doing a favor to the world! But why? Why, Joss, do we need a God in this absurd comedy horror movie? If it was up to me, I would've ended it without any God. Just people, doing a porn/horror show for some rich freaks. If you want a good ending, Marty and Dana slashed them all and got away. If you want a deep and tragic ending, no one survived. I mean, isn't that what you were telling us for an hour, that there's just a secret corporation doing experiments on people? If they are the good guys, then why do they need to kill them using zombies and film that? Why couldn't they just find random people and sacrifice them, quick and painless? I'm really confused, and this is not a good sign, to leave an audience confused.

4. "I'm a leaf on the wind, watch how I…" (Serenity)

The way Holden died, it was literally a quote from Serenity. Unfortunately, it wasn't as shocking and emotional as Wash's death, because, you know. Holden who?

5. All the guest stars.

I'm just gonna say it - Amy Acker's and Tom Lenk's talents were completely wasted in this movie. Everyone uses Amy Acker as a quiet geek chick, and it's fine for an episode of Supernatural or for Happy Town, but it hurts coming from you, Joss. How many years do we have to wait before we see Illyria again? I want Illyria! As for Tom Lenk, he is a great comedian, but he literally had two lines, that's just not enough.

Other notes:

How fun it was to see Chris Hemsworth as an expendable quarterback (or whatever)? The movie was made before Thor, and I think it is hilarious to see future movie stars in horror movies. Don't worry, Chris, everyone starts there.
Is showing up at the end of the movie, make a speech and die brutally is Sigourney Weaver's new thing? Looking at you, Paul. I love Sigourney, but I love her in movies like Snow Cake and Galaxy Quest, and these guest appearances are just silly. This movie looks like a fanfic already, and Weaver just made it worse.
The girls were kind of bluh. For a guy who created Buffy, Illyria, Echo, River and Anyanka, Dana was too boring and one-dimensional. Marty did all the ass kicking and Dana was just a scared girl, who was trying to survive. She really, really didn't want to die, and that was her only superpower.
Making out with the wolf's head: the most disturbing and grossest part of the movie, am I right?

Verdict:

If you don't have time, don't worry, you will survive this millennium without watching it, go watch Titanic 3D instead (I mean, if you leaved in a cage and haven't seen it yet, that happens, I don't judge). But if you do, it is a good way to waste 95 minutes of your life. This movie is incredibly fun! It really is. Besides, Whedon fans will find a lot of references to their favorite series, and people who don't know who Whedon is will get some idea and afterwards watch finally his masterpieces, I mean, come on, people, where did you live? How can you not know who Whedon is?! Anyway, I'm glad the movie is finally in the theaters and it is certainly better the most of the modern movies, especially horror or sci-fi movies, but if I knew what I was signing up for, I wouldn't probably be so persuasive with all the petitions and stuff. This is not a modern classic. It is probably not the best horror/fantasy movie of the year too (don't know, the jury is still out). I would say, go and check it out, but lower your expectations and don't hold your breath. And I really hope Joss will end this nonsense with movie making and returns to TV shows, because Whedon's TV shows are the best! Seriously, Joss, we miss you, come back, please.

Monday, March 12, 2012

my stash

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The River: We'll watch it burn

With only a few episodes of The River's first season left, the show is slowly starting to develop its characters. This episode concentrated on Lena, the daughter of missing cameraman Russ Landry. So no, the story was not about some homicidal fruits, Peaches is Lena's nickname, given to her by her father.

It's actually quite noticeable how the search always concentrated on finding Emmet only, even though there is a whole other crew missing as well. And Lena, who is the only one on this mission not because of Emmet, but because of her father, was getting really hurt by others who acted like they didn't even remember her dad has gone missing.

This ignorance of the others and, as a result, jealousy towards Emmet pushed Lena to get closer with Jonas, you know, the one Emmet left hanging on a tree for doing his job. Jonas was really sweet to her and found her the only footage where her dad was on camera, not filming Emmet's adventures. But all the sweet moments were interrupted when Magus got hit by another ship which then vanished into thin air (spoiler - it was a ghost ship). The collision damaged Magus, and got them stuck in the middle of Amazon with no spare parts and no opportunity to fix the ship. Tess spent half a day trying to contact someone and Lincoln, who is his father's and his mother's son when it comes to making crazy decisions based on emotions after all, was ready to travel on foot from now on. But then some crazy four hippies on an old boat found them! Not only that, they very conveniently had some spare parts.

Tess invited them to stay for dinner and everyone was having a great time, except for Kurt, who was very suspicious of them from the beginning. And he was right - they were not who they claimed to be, not at all. First of all, they wanted to kidnap Magus' crew. Secondly, and more importantly, they weren't even people, they were ghosts. Kurt found out about it the hard way, when he shot one of them, but he got up like nothing ever happened and then attacked Kurt.

Unfortunately, no one found out about Kurt's discovery (or that he got kidnapped) in time and they continued hanging out with the ghostly kidnappers. During that time, Lena and Jonas, who noticed some suspicious activity on the ghost ship, decided to take a trip there and take a look. What they found there broke Lena's heart into a million peices - her father was locked up, handcuffed and delusional.

Soon after, Tess got also lured into the ship by promises of a map that could help the team find Emmet. Turns out the ghosts were victims of some curse that didn't allow them to leave the river, ever. The only way to break the curse was to find four folks and lock them up on their boat. If they didn't escape before sunrise they would be stuck on the boat forever as well. Unfortunately for them, the rest of the crew got drunk and were sleeping it off, but of course, at the last minute (literally) they found out everything and saved them. Not gonna lie, I actually LOL'ed during that scene. What perfect timing!

For some reason the ghosts could be defeated by fire, so they burnt them. When the fire started, Lena was trying to get her father off the boat, only to find out the inevitable - he already became one of them, a ghost, trapped on the boat. So he asked her to set him free by letting him burn, saying his life was perfect and he had no regrets. The scene where Lena was crying while watching her father burned to a crisp was extremely heartbreaking (if you ignore Jonas who was putting a camera so close to poor Lena's face).

So there you have it. Russ is dead and Lena now doesn't have any reason to hang out on Magus anymore. She got her closure. What will make her and Jonas stay? The fact that they are lost in the middle of nowhere probably will be the main reason, but besides that? Will she find out she is the Chosen One? Hopefully, we'll find out soon enough.

The episode of The River wasn't the best, it was good, but a little too heartbreaking and a little less scary than a horror show should be. As I understand, the only magical creatures on the Amazon are ghosts, which actually makes much more sense then demons or unicorns, but still, it's a little bit boring. I hope they will add some magical creatures, like shamans or witches maybe. I also hope more characters will get some development, especially Kurt and Jahel, I want to know what Kurt's agenda is and why Jahel knows what she knows and does what she does. No news about the renewal yet, but I'll keep you posted. That's it for now, see you soon, bye!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Grimm: Three coins and Hitler

Grimm gets better and better every time, slowly transforming from a police drama with fantasy elements into fantasy drama with detective elements. In the latest episode, three dudes decided to rob a jewelry store, blew up a safe with store's owner in it and stole all his rare coins. Only everything wasn't as easy as it looked. They were looking for specific coins, but they weren't there. Where were they? The owner ate them! That's actually why he died, he poisoned himself by eating those coins. Just so you don't get bored along the whole "searching for the coins" way, they were really special. Oh, alright, I'll tell you - they were magical and made people feel soooo good about themselves. Basically, they took people's charisma and transformed it into a charisma of an unquestionable leader. Also, people were getting really high from those coins and were quickly becoming addictive to them. So anyway, now that you know everything (almost) about these junkie coins, back to the story.

So, after they stole everything and didn't find the coins, naturally, all three thieves turned against each other. One of them, the most important one, left, while others stayed with all the stolen stuff. Suddenly, lights went off. They separated, trying to find out who was in their apartment, and they weren't paranoid - someone was there and someone could see in the dark. But they couldn't, so they shoot each other. And that's how Titus Welliver's Farley Colt made his entrance.

Meanwhile, back at the crime scene Nick noticed the third thief who was just creeping around and changing into his creature-self, and followed him to his car. Later, he recognized that car from the security footage. The thief came back to the apartment and Colt was still chilling there. They knew each other and were not friends, I can tell you that much. They had a cryptic chit-chat after Colt took away thief's gun. During that time, the coroner lady found the coins and Frank took them. He didn't get a chance to lock them as evidence since they got information about the vehicle and went to the apartment.

And then Frank started acting really weird. Oh yeah, the thief ran away and killed a cop, while Colt stayed and got arrested. For no reason at all, Frank started punching him. Colt was super calm, and, since he didn't killed anyone, he was eventually let go in the end of the episode, but not before he told Nick a bunch of important information: he was Aunt Marie's fiancee and she left him because her sister died and she had to raise her son. He also told Nick's parents died because of the coins, which they were protecting because of the unique Grimms' resistance to their influence, and that thief, Solidad, was the one who organized their car crash. Grimms themselves were protecting those coins since ancient times. And like that, in few words we were finally explained the importance of Grimms and what the heck "keeping the balance between humanity and the mythological creatures" means. But that even wasn't the best part of the episode.

The best part of the episode started when Renard got his hands on the coins. Renard momentarily recognized them as "the coins of Zackintos", only wasn't quick on sharing this information with cops. Instead, he called someone and spoke French. That guy is really overqualified for the work he is doing, have I told you that? How many languages does he speak, exactly? Anyway, Renard got undo the influence of the coins and this happened:

Renard put on his parade uniform and gathered a press conference, where he went on and on about moral degradation of modern society and basically promised to end all criminal activity in Portland (or in the whole world, he didn't specify). The thief stole the police uniform from the cop he murdered and attended the press conference. He also kidnapped the coroner lady the night before and sent her to the hospital after learning that she gave the coins to cops.

Everything Colt said got into Nick's head and he went digging. Of course, he called Monroe, because Monroe speaks German and is just fun to hang out with. In the books they read that the Solidadf's type of creatures are "baby eating bastards", and the Colt's type, Steinadlers, are "heroic and noble with really big sausages". Oh, Aunt Marie, over-sharing much? He also made Juliet to look into his parents connection to Colt, and she found out he indeed used to live close to his family. But before that, Nick and Frank got a warrant to search Colt's hotel number and found some secret documents about the coins and an old movie. I mean, really, really old movie. About Hitler, with Hitler playing himself. They also found out Colt has a really great taste on clothes.

After Renard's speech, Nick went to see Colt one more time, where he convinced him that he's on his side, so Nick let him go. Solidad was going after Renard, because it was pretty obvious he had the coins. He was waiting for him in the parking lot. He attacked him, but Nick, Frank and Colt were there just in time. One of them shot Solidad, while Colt helped Renard to hide from all the bullets. Only - oops - he stole the coins. But not so fast, Colt. Nick went to his hotel and took the coins away from him, hide them in his truck and sat to see the movie about Hitler. Luckily for Nick, his aunt owned a special equipment to watch it. And that's how it ended:

Ta-dam! Hitler was a creature and used to wear those coins! That's alternative history from Grimm for you. You're welcome.

Comments:

Good to see Sg. Wu back! "Thought he was safe… in the safe". Fun guy.
Nick didn't know who numismatists are. "What, is it some kind of religion?". Oh Nick, really?
Monroe didn't get much time in this episode, but still got some great lines. "Oh, watch out. They ate a baby! That's rude".

Questions about Farley Colt:

His type keeps its loyalties straight. So is he loyal to Nick and if not, who is he loyal to?
Is he the good guy or the bad guy? What was he up to? Did he want to steal the coins from the beginning, and if so, from what beginning exactly? Did he want to steal the coins while dating Aunt Marie?
Was he telling the truth about Nick's parents deaths? Why Aunt Marie really left him? Were they ever together?
Who is he in the real world? He is military-related, but there's gotta be more to the story. Is he an honorable rouge, like Reese from Person of Interest or is he just a thief and murderer with some special ops background?
Will he ever be back? I would like that very much so.

Other burning questions:

Will Hank and Renard be feeling a withdrawal now that they lost the coins? Will Renard try to find them again?
Will Renard's "coin" speech make him to proceed a political career? Or was it his plan from the beginning, considering that he is a part of a massive conspiracy of some sort?
Will we get some more history lesson from Grimm, explaining the major historical events? Where were coins after Hitler's jacket? Do you think Stalin had them?
Will the coins be stolen from Nick? Colt knows about Nick having them, so it is possible to find them sooner or later.
Are there other Grimm families? Are they all good and righteous or maybe some of them are power hungry opportunists?
How long before everyone finds out before everyone? What will happen to their police station after that? Will Nick always be a police officer or will he be forced to leave and proceed a "rough demon-hunting" path? Maybe at least for a couple of episodes. Nick should find put more about Grimms and creatures, not wait for some folks to get murdered, but to prevent this stuff from happening. Just hoping for Nick to become a little bit more proactive and curious and for show to live up to its full potential, girl can dream.

That's it for now, next episode will involve dragon people, so I hope you'll tune in this awesome show and then come back here to read my reviews. Bye.

New soapy dramas for you!

With Desperate Housewives coming to a certain end and Devious Maids still in works (but already sounding like a horrible rip-off from all Latin TV shows), we still need our soapy drama weekly fix. This year three new shows are making an attempt to fill up that blank. Here are my three suggestions for you, but at first I have to say that, although I feel that Desperate Housewives overstayed their welcome and should've ended a long time ago, for years they managed to pull off a great example of a dramedy, where the jokes were hilarious and the drama was heartbreaking. None of these new shows go with such package. Sometimes it is funny (or sad) how bad some of them are written, but that's probably not what you're looking for. Anyway, there's not much fish in the sea nowadays, so eat that was served:

3. G.C.B., ABC, Sunday

Premise: First called "Good Christian Bitches", but then losing the name in a battle with people of the same name (Good Christians) and losing a half of its sass with it, G.C.B. follows a woman Amanda, who had to return to Dallas after her high-school sweetheart turned husband was accused of a Ponzi scheme and then tried to run away with all the money and Amanda's best friend, only to lose control over the vehicle during a blow job and die, leaving Amanda a penniless widow with two children (wow, that was long). People in Dallas in this show came alive from cartoons, no wonder that Amanda used to be mean to them. Anyway, her cool time has passed and now she has to work as a sexy waitress, live with her rich, but tasteless mother and deal with all the women in this town who hate her and men who are still in love with her.

Why you should watch it: It is funny and light, makes fun of hypocrites and also Kristin Chenoweth and her voice are there.

Why you should not watch it: Only the pilot had aired, and pilots are known to go over the top, so it can probably change, but for now the show is really pushing it with caricaturish characters and making fun of Southern Christians, and some people seem to think that the show is anti-christian. Therefore, it received not-so-good reviews and not-so-great ratings. So if you're religious, it can probably insult your feelings. Also, seems like not all of the actors have found their done yet, so it looks a little bit like 20 century TV show. But again, pilots mostly suck, so hold your judgement.

Verdict: G.C.B. is a soapy comedy, and for now it really has no competitors in its field. So, let's give it a chance and see where it goes.

Check out this sneak peek and see what it's all about for yourselves:

2. Ringer, The CW, Tuesday

Premise: A little "older" drama then The CW usually aires, Ringer is a story about twin sisters, one of whom, Siobhan, faked her own death to get back on her husband, and the other one, Bridget, a recovering drug addict and a stripper, assuming that Siobhan killed herself, stole her identity and her Upper West Side life, because she witnessed a murder and now a mob boss is looking for her. There are also a lot of good looking men.

Why you should watch it: Seriously, have you read the description? Twin-identity-switch drama with Sarah Michelle Gellar playing them, Nestor Carbonell playing a detective, Jason Dohring playing a teacher turned a rapist turned a fraud turned a loser, and a lot of other people doing stuff.

Why you should not watch it: Well, the concept is kinda silly, most of actors' talents are just being wasted in this little show, except for Sarah Michelle Gellar's, who - turned out - not so great! Or maybe the material is not so great, I don't know. Anyway, the pilot was ridiculously bad, a lot of people were crying bloody tears during the most famous (legendary) boat scene, but it slowly gets better. Sloooooowly. Very slow. Don't know if this show is getting axed or not, it is The CW, they are fine with 1,5 mln viewers.

Verdict: This show is a soapy as they can get. There are a lot of intrigues, and people who are not what they seem, and secret pregnancies, and lovers, and murders and a bunch of really good actors. Personally, I tried to quit it, but then they cast Jason Dohring, and I can watch him in anything. Unfortunately, his character is a d-bag and an idiot, and that really upsets me. Anyway, you can watch it because of the actors, or because of the classic soapy story, but don't expect too much.

Sneak peek:

3. Revenge, ABC, Wednesday

Premise: The show is inspired by The Count of Monte Cristo (duh) and follows a young girl in Hamptons whose motives to blend in are not what they seem at all. When Amanda Clark was a little girl, her father was framed to take the fall for a business scheme of his boss, which led to a terrorist attack. Betrayed by all his friends and the woman he loved, hated by the whole world, he was stabbed to death in prison. Later Amanda found out the truth, changed her name to Emily Thorne and decided to take revenge. That's pretty much what the show is about, and just so you know - A LOT of people took part in this conspiracy so a lot of heads will fall before the king's.

Why you should watch it: It is absolutely stunning. Through the season, Emily goes deeper and deeper, unexpected circumstances keep messing up her plans, people keep getting hurt and by the 16th episode no ones hands are clean anymore. They will reap what they saw, because Emily is a psychopath (yes, she totally is).

Why you should not watch it: Well, it is heavily serialized serious drama, pretty much like Ringer is, only it looks more mature. I actually can't name one single reason why not to watch it, if you're okay with the genre, you'll probably like it. Or maybe you are totally against vigilantes. I personally all for eye for an eye, love vigilantes, think the world needs more of them, especially in TV shows. Vigilantes FTW.

Verdict: The show is intriguing and stylish, and if you sit through the pilot and the first couple of episodes, it will lure you into its net and you will never want to leave. Watch it.

Trailer:

All three shows share some similarity, and not only because they are about a tiny blonde struggling through life or because their pilots were bluh. All main heroines are pretty much all alone against the world, lying about who they are (or dealing what the people expect them to be), intrigues, lies and infidelity keeps biting everyone in the ass and in the end a lot of people will get hurt, end up in jail or die (not in G.C.B. they won't). Emily and Siobhan are all about revenge, and Amanda and Bridget are becoming victims of revenge. In other words, SOAPS for you. Enjoy!

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Best and worst new sci-fi/fantasy TV shows

Hi everyone! As a gift for you, for no reason at all, just because it is the last day of winter… oh, wait, it's not. Just because tomorrow is 29th of February, and that happens once in 4 years, so that is the most awesome day of the year, I made you 2 lists of all the new TV sci-fi/fantasy shows that either were surprisingly exciting, or extremely disappointing this year. Good news is the list of everything good is almost two times longer than the list of everything bad! The bad news - bad sci-fi shows do still exist, pretending to be normal and entertaining, blending in and sometimes getting away with it. Well, at least now you'll know and be prepared! So, here are my lists:

TOP 10 BEST NEW SCI-FI/FANTASY TV SHOWS

A note: I pretty much randomly counted them down, so they're all winners! Some are better than the others, but that's for you to decide which is what.

10. Once Upon a Time

Where/When: Since October 23, 2011 on Sunday nights on ABC.

What is it about: It is a fantasy drama series about fairy tale characters who are trapped in our reality in a small American town.

Why is it good: I personally didn't like OUaT, mainly because of the annoying kid and Jennifer Morrison, who I just can't stand. But the critics and the viewers were very impressed, and the pilot was watched by 13 million people. Seems like a lot of people consider it to be their guilty pleasure. Maybe you too want for your favorite Disney characters to come to life? Or to see an alternative endings to the classic fairy tales? If you do, this is the show for you.

9. American Horror Story

Where/When: Since October 5, 2011 on FX. The series were already renewed for season 2.

What is it about: It is a horror fantasy drama series about a haunted house and a family that moved in there.

Why is it good: Personally, I haven't really watched it, that's why I'm maybe bias, but it seems that AHS has found its viewers and most of the critics enjoyed it, so, once you're bored and want to relive the thrill of classic horror movies without re-watching them, why don't give it a try?

8. The Secret Circle

Where/When: Since September 15, 2011 on Thursday nights on The CW

What is it about: It is a fantasy drama about a group of teenage witches.

Why is it good: If it ain't broken, why fix it? The Secret Circle took the old formula of supernatural teenage dramas and went with it. Unfortunately, it didn't worked out for it as well as for its older sister The Vampire Diaries, but it is on the right track.

7. The River

Where/When: Since February 7, 2012 on Tuesday nights on ABC

What is it about: It is a found-footage horror fantasy drama series about a group of people who are searching for the missing famous explorer on Amazon.

Why is it good: Making something new is even better than refurbishing something old. Found-footage horror coming on TV - that was pretty new. But The River is not only winning because of being a pioneer, it also has an engaging stories and amazing landscapes to offer.

6. Touch

Where/When: It will premiere on March 22, 2012, but the pilot is available online.

What is it about: It is a sci-fi drama series about an autistic boy who can see the connection between the world through numbers and his father, who tries to help people by using his son's abilities.

Why is it good: Okay, it only has one episode so far, but it was so good! So teary and kind, like a lemon of sunshine (just go with it). But after magic wore off, I started to wonder if the show can pull off such episodes every week or is it only a one pilot wonder? I don't know, it just doesn't seem like a TV show material to me. A movie, maybe, or short series. But, we'll see soon enough! So far, the pilot was great, so I'm giving the show a benefit of the doubt.

5. Grimm

Where/When: Since October 28, 2011 on Friday nights on NBC.

What is it about: It is a fantasy crime drama series about a homicide detective, who found out he is a Grimm - a supernatural creature charged with keeping balance between humanity and the mythological creatures of the world.

Why is it good: Grimm took the best out of classic fantasy shows, like Angel - and served it under a crime series sauce. It goes great with a dark room and popcorn.

4. Teen Wolf

Where/When: Since June 5, 2011 on MTV. The series were already renewed for season 2.

What is it about: It is a fantasy drama series about a teenage boy who got bitten by a werewolf.

Why is it good: Everyone was surprised when MTV decided to do their own original series. But when their original series turned out to be amazing, some critics were even saying about a new era on MTV (wow, slow down there). But yeah, Teen Wolf is great. It is funny, it is scary, it has great dialogues and stories, engaging characters and unexpected twists. Don't judge the show by the channel it is on, give Teen Wolf a try and you'll be surprised by its quality. I know I was.

3. Alphas

Where/When: Since July 11, 2011 on Sy-Fy. The series were already renewed for season 2.

What is it about: It is a sci-fi crime drama series about a group of people with superhuman abilities.

Why is it good: Alphas were so meant to fail! "Oh, another sci-fi show about people with supernatural abilities", "We've all seen Heroes", - I heard all around. Luckily for me, I didn't listen to them and gave Alphas a chance, and, boy, did they prove all the haters to be wrong! In 12 short episodes Alphas created an entire world around themselves, added some politics here, some action there and in the end went boom with an amazing finale, proving to be one of the best premieres in 2011.

2. Awake

Where/When: It will premiere on March 1, 2012, but the pilot is available online.

What is it about: It is a sci-fi crime drama series about a police detective who starts to slide between two realities after a car crash, losing one of the family members in each one.

Why is it good: Unlike Touch, I'm pretty sure Awake will be great from now on. Because, unlike Touch, the main character in Awake is a cop, so they will always be able to do filler episodes about investigations while avoiding important questions. I gave Awake's pilot the highest score on my review and I'm sticking with it.

1. Game of Thrones

Where/When: Since April 17, 2011 on HBO. The series were renewed for Season 2 after two episodes were aired.

What is it about: It is a medieval fantasy drama series about the violent dynastic struggles among the kingdom's noble families for control of the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Or something like that.

Why is it good: Game of Thrones absolutely took over this year. They were nominated for 13 Emmys (won two). They received a Golden Globe. It also received Satellite Awards, Scream Awards and many other awards. But why am I even telling you this, I'm sure your friend or a family member - or even yourself - is already a die hard fan of this show. I'm not going to put any personal analysis in this show (HBO is not my thing, sorry), but I trust all these important people who are drooling all over these series. Game of Thrones is the symbol of this TV year, that's for sure.

And now about bad ones! Ot at least "not as good as we hoped" ones. Here it goes:

TOP 6 WORST NEW SCI-FI/FANTASY TV SHOWS

6. The Nine Lives of Chloe King

Where/When: It premiered on June 14, 2011 on ABC Family. The series have already been canceled.

What is it about: It is a fantasy drama series about a teenage girl who has special cat-like powers, including nine lives and claws.

Why is it bad: The 9 lives of Chloe King took the same old formula… and it didn't work for them. Maybe it was because the premise was way to ridiculous (Maya people, hiding in Ukraine - because chart makes sense). Maybe because the actress who played Chloe was so irritating. Maybe it was too silly even for ABC Family viewers, who are now spooled with shows like Pretty Little Liars. Whatever it was, the show was just not good enough.

5. Death Valley

Where/When: Since August 29, 2011 on MTV.

What is it about: It is a horror fantasy mockumentary comedy series about policemen who fight vampires, zombies and werewolves in post-apocalyptic California.

Why is it bad: The premise was so amazing! Just listen to this: fantasy horror mockumentary comedy series about post-apocalyptic California with Tania Raymonde in it. It's like a Tarantino movie, only serialized. Unfortunately, sometimes a comedy just isn't funny enough, and horror is not scary, but gross. "A" for an affort?

4. A Gifted Man

Where/When: Since September 23, 2011 on CBS.

What is it about: It is a fantasy medical drama series about a doctor who sees his dead wife's spirit.

Why is it bad: Well, it is a medical fantasy drama, which is a horrifying mixture, because, unlike with cops, fantasy just doesn't work with medics! It just doesn't. I'm not even sure what is the supposed auditory for this show, but for geeks there is nothing to see here. Moving on!

3. Falling Skies

Where/When: Since June 19, 2011 on TNT. The series were already renewed for Season 2.

What is it about: It is a sci-fi post-apocalyptic drama series about an alien invasion.

Why is it bad: Good thing no one was really dying in anticipation for this show, because Falling Skies are extremely disappointing, boring series and a complete waste of time. The show ruined aliens for me, I hate it. Too bad it is on cable and got renewed so it could continue ruining aliens for everyone.

2. Alcatraz

Where/When: Since January 16, 2012 on FOX.

What is it about: It is a sci-fi drama series about Alcatraz prisoners, who mysteriously disappeared in 1963 and now are returning back.

Why is it bad: Much anticipating J.J.Abrams-involved post-LOST sci-fi drama turned out to be a big poof. Quite boring procedural series without any likable characters, compelling mysteries or at least interesting stories of the week.

1. Terra Nova

Where/When: Since September 26, 2011 on FOX.

What is it about: It is a sci-fi drama series about time traveling, apocalyptic future and dinosaurs.

Why is it bad: The biggest expectation of the year turned out to be the biggest disappointment when instead of promised dinosaurs and time jumps we received a boring family drama about marital problems. The show is way too cheesy, the stories are boring and predictable and the dinosaurs are rarely there, so what's the point, really?

So, what was your biggest disappointment this year? What show do you like most? Don't forget to share your thoughts! Bye.