Close to You

 By Starman

 "Close to You" is the 14th episode of the fourth season of Heroes. There are only five episodes left before the season ends so expect stories to get wrapped up.

 This is a great episode for me because the plots that were introduced to us in previous episodes are starting to get entangled to each other. We get to see Samuel in action again. I was disappointed though that he just used the dust for his escape. He is a very powerful man and I can't stand seeing his powers get wasted. Emma's importance to the story comes out in this episode through a brief glimpse of the future. Peter will also be revealed as the man that could replace Joseph. No details were given to the latter's power, but I guess we could safely assume that Joseph has that empathy thing. The main entanglement in this show was between Hiro, Ando, Dr. Suresh and Noah Bennet. They are now together, physically, and have a unified goal. Nothing much to say about Sylar, who still doesn't know where his going.

Expect resolutions and revelations as the latest season of Heroes approaches its finale.

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"You know some days, maybe you just can't save the whole world. Some days you're better of just getting your house in order."

- Matt Parkman to Noah Bennet

Upon This Rock / Let it Bleed

 By Starman

"Upon This Rock" and "Let it Bleed" is the 12th and 13th episode of the season 4 of Heroes. It aired as a back-to-back episode on January 4, 2010.

The series has turned to a much darker tone these past few episodes. It has already killed one of its main characters, Nathan Petrelli, and death is now possible to any of the other heroes. But this change did not help in making this episode a great one. The plot is either confusing or it makes no sense at all. Take for example Edgar going to Noah. He asks for his help to take down Samuel and gave him information. Realizing Noah would destroy his family, he escaped with all the information he just gave. This made no progress to the plot and now were back with Noah knowing nothing about Samuel and the carnival. Sylar's plot is also starting to look like the one he had during Season 3. He has no direction at all. Hiro's condition will take a lighter tone now that his mind is all jumbled up. Peter, however, would still remain in his be-a-hero state. It's only a matter of time before he starts to get entangled with the carnival.

The one thing that I liked about this episode is the confrontation between Samuel and Sylar. Though it was a very brief one, it showed what Samuel is capable of. I can't wait for him to use his powers against some of our heroes.

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"And I thought freedom was just another word for nothing left to lose."

- Samuel discussing with Claire

Alice in Mordor

 By Starman

A new trailer of "Alice in Wonderland" has just been released.It stars Mia Wasikowska ast the protagonist Alice, Johnny Depp as the really mad Mad Hatter, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen and Helena Bonham Carter as the main antagonist, the Red Queen. It is directed by Tim Burton and will be released on March 5, 2010.

It looks awesome. It's starting to look like a "Lord of the Rings" movie. The plot of the film seems somehow different from the book with the same name. It is a sequel because you'll see in the trailer that most of the characters are delighted that Alice is back. You'll also get to see Alice in a full armor suit and the Mad Hatter in a swordfight. This is a  film that explores what could have happened if she returned back to Wonderland.

Here is a link to the new trailer of "Alice in Wonderland".

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"Help us make the world right again."

-Mad Hatter on Alice

Meatier Shower

 By Starman

Movie: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 

Synopsis: "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" is an animated film released on September of 2009. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller directed this movie. It is loosely base on the children's book of the same name. Voice cast includes Bill Hader, Anna Farris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T and Neil Patrick Harris. The film is about an enthusiastic inventor, Flint Lockwood, who attracts disaster with his odd inventions. When his town started to suffer with its food supply, he created a machine that will turn water into any kind of food. Accidentally, his invention flew to the Earth's stratosphere. This resulted to different kinds of food raining down on the town. But when the machine started to malfunction, giant pieces of food started to destroy the town. It is now up to Flint to save the day from this delicious weather.

The 12th Friday the 13th

 By Starman

Movie: Friday the 13th

Synopsis: "Friday the 13th" is a horror film which serves as a reboot of the original film series. It is directed by Marcus Nispel (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Pathfinder). Jared Padalecki, star of the TV show "Supernatural", is the main protagonist of the film. With him are Danielle Panabaker (Sky High) and Amanda Righetti (The Mentalist). Trent, along with his friends, took a vacation on his summer cabin which is at Crystal Lake. A man named Clay Miller who is in search of his sister makes his way to the cabin and meets the group. They are all unaware of the events that took place in the camp. Now, the dreaded Jason Voorhees is back to lash out his anger on everyone for the death of his mother.

Sectionals

 By Starman

Sectionals is the 13th episode of the first season of Glee. It is the mid-season finale of the show and will continue airing next year on April. The cover songs performed by New Directions are the following: "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"(Dreamgirls), "Don't Rain on My Parade"(Barbara Streisand), "You Can't Always Get What You Want"(Rolling Stones) and "My Life Would Suck Without You"(Kelly Clarkson).

Lea Michele impresses everyone again with her broadway-like performance of "Don't Rain on My Parade". Their choreography for their final song("My Life Would Suck Without You") is also a collection from their previous performances (in case you miss it). There is emotion attached to it and it just fits the moment everyone was in. This is definitely one of their best performance. Storywise, there are a lot of development in everyone. Though I think they cramped up too much of the plot in this one episode. It was a satisfying ending now that all of the previous conflicts are now resolved. This episode will show us more of the lovely Jayma Mays. Her portrayal of the myosophobic Emma Pillsbury is just great.

Sectionals is definitely the best episode, as of now. Overall, it has great performances and resolutions in the plot that will surely make you crave for more Glee. I can't wait to see how things will turn out for the next episode which, unfortunately, will air next year.

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"Just left your wife. Exactly... you just did."

-Emma Pillsbury

Ninjas Are Bloody Awesome!

 By Starman

Movie: Ninja Assassin 

Synopsis: Ninja Assassin is an action film directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) and produced by the Wachowski Brothers(Matrix trilogy), Joel Silver and Grant Hill. It stars international superstar Rain (Speed Racer), Naomie Harris (28 Days Later) and Rick Yune (The Fast and the Furious). Raizo is an orphan who was adopted by the Ozunu clan. He was trained to be the deadliest ninja assassin. His loyalty was shook when a loved one died in the hands of the clan. He rebels against them and went into hiding. After a few years, a Europol agent, Mika Coretti, got into trouble for investigating the clan. She was saved by Raizo and now must work together to find a way to bring down the clan.

The Great Showdown

 By Starman

Movie: Heat

Synopsis: Heat is an action crime film released in the year 1995. It is directed by Michal Mann known for movies such as Hancock, Public Enemies and The Aviator. The film boasts an ensemble cast which includes Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight, Ashley Judd, Ted Levine and many more. It centers on the two main characters, a calm professional burglar(played by De Niro) and an explosive devoted policeman(played by Al Pacino). Neil McCauley is the mastermind of a group of criminals who carry out carefully planned heists. When a robbery turned into murder, a cat-and-mouse chase ensues between them and a newly assigned officer, Vincent Hanna.

Mattress

 By Starman

"Mattress" is the 12th episode of Glee. The plot revolves around the Glee club being left out of the yearbook because of budget cuts and other issues. Cover songs include "Jump" (Van Halen), "Smile" (Lily Allen) and "Smile" (Charlie Chaplin).

Best. Episode. Ever... Simply because the fake pregnancy plot is finally over. We get to see the other side of Will Schuester. Matthew Morrison provided some intense acting in his confrontation with Jessalyn Gilsig's character, Terri. I have never seen him that angry before. Revelations will be seen in how Will and Terri individually see their relationship. Nice timing for the end of this plot because Emma and Ken's wedding is drawing near. I am excited to see how things will turn up. Most of the performances were lead by Rachel, now the official captain of the club. Their tiring performance of "Jump" was great.

"Mattress" is an episode that has few performances and a large development in the plot. This is what we need especially now that Sectionals is right around the corner.

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"You're too busy chasing tail and loading your hair with enormous amounts of products."

-Sue Sylvester on Will Schuester

Hairography

 By Starman

The title of the 11th episode of Glee is "Hairography". Prepare to see more of Terri in this episode. Nevertheless, it is still a great, though not the best, episode. True Colors (originally sung by Cyndi Lauper) and Imagine (John Lennon) were some of the cover songs in this episode. Another mash-up was performed which included the songs Hair (cast of Hair) and Crazy in Love (Beyonce Knowles). The mash-up was a forgettable performance but they were able to redeem themselves by following this with a tear-jerking performance of Imagine. It was nice to see and hear Tina as the lead for the final performance. I think we all need a break from Mercedes and Rachel's voice.

Sue Sylvester is back with her old antics. She will surely bring twists to the New Directions' road to the sectionals. Emma is starting to lose screen time. In the last few episodes, she is reduced to giving advices. I hope we see more of her soon. Terri is back in this episode and along with her pregnancy plot, she will surely annoy you. I hope they end this plot soon. The main topic of the episode, however, was the many distractions presented to the different characters. Finn with Rachel, Mr. Schu with a car, Quinn with her kid's future, and the whole Glee with hairography. A solid episode with great performances.

Hairography is a solid episode and I can't wait for the next episodes as the Sectionals draws near.

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"Never let anything distract you from winning... Ever."

-Sue Sylvester

Remember Edward

 By Starman

Remember Me is a romantic drama film that will be released on March, 2010. It is directed by Allen Coulter (Hollywoodland). As you can see in the poster, it stars only Robert Pattinson (Twilight). Not really, they forgot to put names like the lovely Emilie de Ravin (Claire from Lost), the suave Pierce Brosnan (Die Another Day, Seraphim Falls) and the acting veteran Chris Cooper (Adaptation, Seabiscuit).

It is about two lovers whose relationship gets threatened after tragedies occur both in their family. I am not a fan of Rob Pattinson but the trailer looks pretty good. I am a sucker for this film's kind of genre. I can't stop myself from crying in almost all of these movies. This movie will surely attract all Pattinson fans out there. I will surely watch this especially because I miss Claire Littleton (played by Emilie de Ravin) from Lost.

Here is a link for the trailer of Remember Me.

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"...and I am working on the forever part."

-Tyler Roth narrating on the trailer

Christmas Is Early In Madagascar

 By Starman

Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are back in this special TV broadcast of Merry Madagascar. Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith and David Schwimmer are all back to reprise their voices in the film. The story in here takes place in between the first and the second film.

Alex and the gang accidentally caused Santa Clause to lose his memory. Worried that Christmas will be ruined for everyone, they took over Santa's goal of delivering every gifts. Meanwhile, Santa is left to deal with King Julien's behavior with his subjects.

Merry Madagascar offers plenty of laughs whether they would come from the penguin's quick-witted conversations or Mort's annoying voice, thanks to Andy Richter. They did an orchestra-like opening for "I Like to Move It" which was great. You would not know what they were singing until they burst into their dancing mode. King Julien and his self-worship attitude is the main focus here. We all know that Christmas is a season of giving and the king of Madagascar is infamous for his abusive, yet funny, treatment to his subjects. Watch the credits so you could listen to King Julien's funny "Santa Clause is Coming to Madagascar".

This is a must-see show for the family. It has the laughs and the moral story that the children will surely love.

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"What's so special about Julianuary if everyone gets to have something?"

-King Julien on his subjects

Not So Horrible At All

By Starman 

Movie: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

Synopsis: Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog is a short musical film distributed through the Internet in 2008. This was directed by Joss Whedon. He is mainly known for directing tv shows like The Office, the short-lived Dollhouse and everyone's favorite vampire slayer Buffy. It stars the always awesome Neil Patrick Harris, Felicia Day, Nathan Fillion and Simon Helberg(Wolowitz from Big Bang Theory). The story is about an evil doctor, Dr. Horrible, who has a mission to get inside the Evil League of Evil and win the girl of his dreams, Penny. But there is a very bumpy obstacle that he has to cross and it comes in the form of his rival, Captain Hammer.

Just Because...

  By Starman

Movie: New Moon

Synopsis: This is a 2009 romantic fantasy film that is based on the novel of the same name by Stephenie Meyer. There is a new director for this sequel. Chris Weitz is known for such movies as American Pie, About a Boy and The Golden Compass.

Most of the characters from the Twilight movie will reprise their roles in this sequel. Kristin Stewart (Panic Room, Adventureland), Robert Pattinson (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and Taylor Lautner (The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D) are the leads in this film.

On Bella Swan's 18th birthday, Edward realized that he could not always protect her. He ended the relationship and moved to another place. She is devastated by this loss but eventually found comfort in the form of her bestfriend, Jacob. Though she have spent time with her werewolf friend, she could not forget her feelings for her vampire ex-lover. She started to do dangerous activities just so he could appear in her consciousness.

A miscommunication resulted to Edward approaching the Volturi, the royalty of the vampires that also acts as the enforcer of their own rules. He requested for them to kill him.

With the vision of her bestfriend, Alice, they found out about his plan of suicide. Can she now race through time to reach him before a classic Romeo and Juliet scenario occurs?

Best. Game. Ever.

 By Starman

There is no doubt that this is the best-est game ever... I just finished playing the whole game again and despite the fact that it was released more than a decade ago, I still get hooked to it.

Earthbound is an RPG published by Nintendo for the SNES console. It was released in Japan in 1994 as Mother 2. It became an instant big hit but had less commercial success when it was released in US a year later. Nevertheless, it has became a cult hit and has been named in most people and review site's list of top games.

Salt and Spice

By Starman

If you want to see Angelina Jolie in another spy movie, then you will surely love this. Salt is an action spy film slated to be released on July of 2010. Evelyn Salt is a CIA officer who is accused of being a spy by a defector. She goes on the run to clear her name. With all her years of training in the agency, she will have to elude capture as she tries to uncover the web of mystery.

Tom Cruise was considered to play the lead role of the film but he turned it down when he saw how similar the plot is to that of Mission Impossible.

Watch this trailer to see Jolie kick some butt.

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"Our friend Robin used to do porn....wait for it....ography!"

-Barney Stinson

Obsessive Con-Pulsive Disorder

By Starman

Movie: Matchstick Men

Synopsis: This is a 2003 dramedy film directed by Ridley Scott(Blade Runner, American Gangster, Gladiator). Roy Walter(Nicolas Cage) is a con artist with an obsessive-compulsive disorder. He gets uncomfortable whenever he is outdoors. Together with his partner, Frank Mercer(Sam Rockwell), they trick people with their different schemes.
Everything was going well until Roy met his 14-year old daughter, Angela(Alison Lohman), from his ex-wife. He must now choose between his stable life as a con artist and his daughter.

Kick-Ass Poster

By Starman

The movie is based on an ongoing comic book series with the same name. It is written by Mark Millar. It is about a teenage boy who decides to become a superhero despite having no powers. He will try to bring justice in the city with the help of other misfit heroes. It stars Nicolas Cage, Mark Strong, Aaron Johnson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse(McLovin!!!). The movie is set to be released in cinemas on April next year. I would definitely watch this one. It also has a kick-ass trailer.

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"It's a gift... and a curse."

-Adrian Monk

First. Post. Ever.

By Starman

Hi! Welcome to "The Asterisks", where we review just about any stuff.

I am Starman and I will be reviewing movies, TV shows and video games. I will take you down memory lane with my reviews of old school video games. (Though the titles would be limited)

I will also give my insights on some TV shows that are currently airing. My limited interest will be compensated by my co-authors.

Movies will be my main contribution. I will be giving lists of my favorites in different categories and also rank them individually.

A 10-point ranking system will be used to discriminate the must-see shows(10) from the crappy ones(zero!).

We hope that you enjoy reading this blog!!!

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"It's gonna be legen... wait for it... dary!"

- Barney Stinson