Category: reviews

Marie Callender’s Three Meat And Four Cheese Lasagna

Marie Callender's Three Meat And Four Cheese Lasagna

This frozen lasagna, which is one of Marie Callender’s best grocery store values in regard to net weight, is about as good as any I’ve had. Once cooked, it tastes and looks freshly made; sloppy layers of noodle sheets with a hearty marinara sauce.

The main cheeses are ricotta and mozzarella; parmesan and Romano are barely there; so the Four is a marketing misnomer. There are also more than Three meats; Italian sausage, pepperoni, beef and pork; but I guess the latter two are combined as one.

my rating : 4 of 5

Berry Colossal Crunch With Marshmallows

Berry Colossal Crunch With Marshmallows

Berry Colossal Crunch is a direct rip-off of Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries right down to the name. The main difference with this version of it is that it has marshmallows, which enough of can make even the blandest cereals taste good.

When added to a cereal that’s already good, the level of deliciousness starts to peak the scales. It’s sugar central; your pancreas may remind you later in life; but health smealth. The aftermilk alone could be bottled as a separate drink.

my rating : 5 of 5

audio review : A Day In The Life [ A Pokadelick Adventure ] ( album ) … Kwamé And A New Beginning

Kwamé calls himself Da Man, but he’s more like one of the coolest, most charming kids in the school. He’s not the most popular; that’s a slot reserved for the sports jocks; but he attracts more girls than he has time for. The ones he rejects throw hissy fits, spread rumors about him or try to get their boyfriends to beat him up. What a Life.

The songs would be more pleasant on the ears if he got real girls to do the girl voices, but doing them in his own falsetto does provide some fun, if demo-like, backdrops. Points are deducted for lack of originality; the house party song copies Kid N Play; and Ownlee Eue isn’t an appropriate ender, but the album earns itself a C in my gradebook.

my rating : 3 of 5

1990

audio review : Brazilian Nights ( album ) … Kenny G

audio review : Brazilian Nights ( album ) ... Kenny G

The title is spot on. It doesn’t tell you it’s a bossa nova album; the repetitive use of “Bossa” in the songlist is a clue; but it doesn’t have to. The genre is globally associated with Brazil, a country Kenny G has apparently taken a liken to. Paradise, from years back, if you remember, begins with Brazil; a song that wouldn’t sound out of place here.

Brazilian Nights serves wine-fine as, if nothing else, background mood music. There’s nothing even close to being a classic standout to my ears; dare I say the slightly annoying sound of a saxophone is generally the worst part of any Kenny G album; but I wouldn’t object to it playing softly at, say, an outside dinner party serving Brazilian food.

my rating : 3 of 5

2015

video review : Interstellar

video review : Interstellar

Interstellar would be better as just a space adventure. Christopher Nolan instead makes the mistake Steven Spielberg made with AI by encompassing the ambiguous theme of “love”. The protagonists intake on journeys to other worlds, but I’m stranded in schmaltz city as Nolan tries to make me care about the relationships between characters.

In a sense, the gist of the plot depends on it. If emotional attachment doesn’t pull you in; it didn’t me; there’s not much else to do the trick. The movie is daring and provocative in its declaration that the Apollo moon landings were faked and some of the action scenes are entertaining, but it’s bloated and pretentious in most other regards.

my rating : 3 of 5

2014

video review : Inglourious Basterds

video review : Inglourious Basterds

“I think this just might be my masterpiece,” a character says to another just before the ending credits begin. It’s an obvious wink from director Quentin Tarantino. Inglourious Basterds is his best movie yet, even better than Jackie Brown and Reservoir Dogs, and he seems to know it. There’s no “might” about it. It’s a masterpiece. It’s also one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

The story takes place during WW2 as Nazis, led by Hitler, seize control of France, killing Jews along the way. Their opposition? A small troop of Jewish soldiers whose primary goal is to kill Nazis and off their scalps for souvenirs. It’s a brutal battle with clever crossplots; scenes simmer with suspence until someone’s killed once their cover is blown; thrown in for narrative measure.

my rating : 5 of 5

2009

Crocs Specialist work shoes

Crocs Specialist work shoes

Crocs promotes these as “work” shoes because they’re designed to meet typical job dress codes; the toe area is completely hidden; but that marketing decision is limiting. Not only are they appropriate for medical Specialists and the like, they’re appropriate for anyone who wants to wear comfortable shoes that hide their toes. “Comfortable” is the key word. I wear mine not only when I’m out but also at home. In theory, fashion aside, I could go the rest of my life not wearing any other type of shoes and get by just fine. The back strap even makes them practical to run in.

The bottom soles eventually begin to deteriorate as the grips smoothen away, which can cause you to slip on wet surfaces; much more so than normal shoes; and too much sockless traveling can cause painful skin irritation where the cuboid bone rubs against the inside rim. But those are relatively minor flaws. I usually wear mine with socks… on dry surfaces. I prefer laceless slip-ons and these shoes are among the best. They’re made with a simple two-piece design; a shoe and a strap; which makes them easy to wipe clean. The rubbery Croslite material is also odor-resistant.

my rating : 5 of 5

the Lumix GH4

the Lumix GH4

My only gripe with the GH4 is that the stereo mics are located on the top as opposed to the front. It’s not a problem that is by any means exclusive to this particular camera; a lot are made this way; but it’s an illogical design. The direction of the mics should coincide with the lens. As is, the subject of the video isn’t necessarily reflected as such in the audio. That means if someone holding the camera is interviewing someone it’s pointed at, for example, the voice of the person holding it is more dominant. A simple solution is to add an external mic that points forward; which, depending on the mic, will probably improve the sound quality anyway; but that, of course, adds to the overall cost, bulk and weight.

The GH4 is excellent nonetheless, especially for those of us who use it more for video than photography. I, for one, use it for video exclusively. It comes with a host of advanced features and settings normally reserved for (expensive) pro-level cameras, but the main draw is that its resolution goes all the way up to 4K; “4096×2160” Cinema 4K; which makes the details clearer and crisper than most of what you’re used to seeing on TV and Youtube, even when its 4K images are downsized in post to be viewed in standard “1080p”. With the right lenses and audio equipment; let’s hope the mic thing is fixed in the GH5; a talented videographer could literally make a Hollywood movie with this one camera alone.

my rating : 5 of 5

2014

video review : Jurassic Park

video review : Jurassic Park

T-Rex and other dinosaurs come back to life in Jurassic Park, an on-screen adaption of the Michael Crichton novel. It begins as a thrill-ride the whole family can enjoy, quite literally, before developing into another entertaining Steven Speilberg movie. It would be better if it were more serious and less predictable; meat-eating dinosaurs only catch expendable humans; but it’s a memorable adventure nonetheless.

my rating : 4 of 5

1993

video review : The Lost World [ Jurassic Park ]
video review : Jurassic Park 3

video review : Curse Of Chucky

video review : Curse Of Chucky

Chucky looks sort of gay now, at least when his face goes from that of a still doll to a live one. When he smiles, he looks like a little fat Asian kid. The CGI, which doesn’t kick-in until about the movie’s halfway point, is to blame. The corny Freddy-like one-liners he mutters before kills, overdramatic musical score and cliché horror-flick plotting are the fault of writer and director Don Mancini.

For what it’s worth, Curse Of Chucky is better than Seed Of Chucky as it takes the series back to the more serious, less campy, tone of the original Child’s Play trilogy. There are, however, major continuity problems. Why didn’t a certain surveillance video acquit a certain character in court? I also wonder why the movie has two contradictory epilogues tacked onto the end.

my rating : 3 of 5

2013

audio review : Black Messiah ( album ) … D’Angelo And The Vanguard

audio review : Black Messiah ( album ) ... D'Angelo And The Vanguard

Black Messiah sounds like it was made in the 1960s or 1970s during a funk/soul era dominated by the likes of Sly And The Family Stone. In that regard, D’Angelo is an outstanding talent. The retro soundscape he conjures via Voodoo magic, a virtual soundtrack for black people who consider race significant enough to get emotional about, is mighty convincing. From what my ears can detect, nearly every instrument is played live.

His talents plummet, however, when it comes to the composition of the songs themselves. The vocals, well-harmonized, too often lack melodies to match their gritty grooves. 1000 Deaths, the intro speech of which combines two of people’s biggest stupidities; racism and religion; captivates during the chorus, but the rest of the song is, well, dead. The rest of the album is better, but nothing compares to the best of the era it emulates.

my rating : 3 of 5

2014

audio review : Sharp On All 4 Corners [ 1 + 2 ] ( albums ) … E-40

audio review : Sharp On All 4 Corners [ 1 + 2 ] ( albums ) ... E-40 audio review : Sharp On All 4 Corners [ 1 + 2 ] ( albums ) ... E-40

There’s a track here entitled Heavy In The Game. The song itself, a duet with B-Legit, is nothing special, but the beat is a slapper. It’s the type of music that should dominate E-40 albums instead of standing as basically the sole highlight amongst a collection of songs that, despite the set title, are comparatively dull.

Sleep, a sex anthem featuring Ludacris and Plies, is enticing, but almost every other track of the 28 included here isn’t. And this is just the first two of another four-album project, reportedly. So while E-40 is more prolific than ever, it is, unfortunately for us long-time fans, an ongoing case of quantity over quality.

my rating : 2 of 5

2014
 

R. Orwig :

You might need a hearing aid playa, cuz most of these tracks slap on here. There might be a total of 5 tracks on here that are average, but most of both albums are dope!