Month: October 2012 (Page 8 of 11)

Product Review: Gillette ProGlide Styler

October 10, 2012 / Paul Eide

In the heart of the current political season, and in the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I have always been pro-Gillette throughout my personal shaving career.

It started way back in the mid-nineties, when I fell in love with the Gillette Mach 3 right out of Harvard Law. Three blades at the time was revolutionary (not as progressive, but certainly more moderate than the Schick Hydro 5 Power Select and it’s five blade setup) and I used it faithfully for years.

That being said, I was totally unaware and fully surprised when I recently received the Gillette ProGlide Styler for review. So rest assured, this review comes to you as the result of a fully non-partisan effort.

The 3-in-1 features the ability to shave with the Fusion ProGlide Power Blade, the Power Trimmer to trim your facial hair or beard, and the Precision Edging Blade to make crisp, defined lines to finish your cut or look of choice.

Right out of the box, I immediately liked the weight, feel and contour of the tool to fit in your hand.

The Precision Edging Blade is a great touch and totally removes the need for a separate tool to tighten up you sideburns, mustache, beard or just your look in general.

The Power Trimmer came with three adjustable attachments to trim up a beard or sideburns, but you could just as easily use it for some spot manscaping or even to trim a wild hair on your head.

The coolest feature on the Fusion ProGlide Power Blade is the built in Microcomb at the base of the razor. This helps by guiding your hair to the blade so you can shave, even against the grain, in a more controlled, close manner. The razor didn’t feel as solid as I would’ve liked (it felt somewhat flimsy), but it gave me a very close shave.

While using it, I got the feeling that this is a great 3-in-1 tool for a person who does a lot of traveling. There are very few attachments to carry around and lose while on the road. Also, there is no need for a charger because it is battery powered. Switching attachments was somewhat difficult at certain points.

The ProGlide Styler is waterproof and is also contoured and coated in rubber, which means that it’s not only more difficult to drop should you be shaving with a wet hand, but it could also withstand said drop should it hit the sink.

The built in Organizer Case was also a nice touch to make keeping track of the attachments and interchangeable parts even easier.

Accompanying the ProGlide Styler was the Fusion ProGlide Shave Gel. Interestingly, the shave gel was actually clear and barely foams up in the sense of a more traditional shaving cream. It definitely made it easier to see the area you were shaving, so you can “see where to shave and edge more accurately”, which was true. There was no blind shaving, which was a great touch and definitely lent itself to the quick shave a man may need to undertake when he is on the road shaving in a hotel room for business.

The versatility is what any user of the ProGlide Styer will like the most. It is a quick and easy alternative to using separate tools for each shaving task.

For more information, click here.

Grooming, Stuff to Buy

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The Light from the TV Shows: A Chat with Julian Jarrold (HBO’s “The Girl”)

October 10, 2012 / Will Harris

Given how much media attention has been drawn by the upcoming Alfred Hitchcock biopic starring Anthony Hopkins, it’s no wonder that some may see HBO’s upcoming movie, “The Girl,” which debuts on Oct. 20, to be a pretender to the throne. In fact, they’re both perfectly viable entities in their own right, each covering a different aspect of the director’s career. Hopkins will be playing Hitchcock as he’s in the throes of making “Psycho,” whereas “The Girl” finds Toby Jones’s version of Hitch as he’s obsessing over Tippi Hedren (played by Sienna Miller) during the filming of “The Birds” and “Marnie.” Bullz-Eye caught up with Julian Jarrold, director of “The Girl,” just before a panel for the film at the summer Television Critics Association press tour, during which time he chatted not only about his look into the darker side of Hitchcock but also some of the other films and television efforts he’s tackled in his career to date.

Bullz-Eye: How did “The Girl” land in your lap? Or did you go looking for “The Girl”?

Julian Jarrold: No, it was sent to me ages ago, and…it was a little bit more based around the making “The Birds” and “Marnie,” but obviously it was still an exploration of this relationship. The writer (Gwyneth Hughes) had done quite a lot of research and come over here and met Jim Brown, the assistant director, and Rita Riggs (wardrobe supervisor), and Tippi, obviously. So he’d kind of pieced together this sort of fascinating script, and I loved Hitchcock, but I didn’t know this at all, so it was a bit of a shock, actually, to read it. [Laughs.] I knew he was odd, but I didn’t know he was that odd. Yeah, it totally changed my view of Hitchcock. Actually, what was fascinating was…I knew “The Birds” and “Marnie” and “Vertigo,” and they’re strange films. You kind of wonder where they’re coming from. And then finding out about this story, you certainly go, “Ah, I see where he was coming from…and where his personal obsessions are and his attitude to women and everything.” So it sort of illuminated all that. Which was very interesting.

BE: Tippi Hedren is here at the TCA tour, so presumably she’s supportive of the film, but how interactive was she you were making it? Did you speak with her in advance?

JJ: Well, no. I mean, she obviously spoke at length with the writer, and Sienna met her. But she didn’t come on set. I think she read the script. It’s obviously difficult when someone’s making a film like this. How do you compute that? Because it’s 90 minutes revolving around her life. But she said she saw it recently, and she seemed to love it. She saw it with her kids, Melanie (Griffith) and everybody, and it seemed to go down okay. But it’s difficult. It must be a painful, difficult thing to look at. You know, she had such a complex relationship with Hitchcock. It was daunting, because you mustn’t judge that. I wanted to show the sunny side of the relationship, where there was a sort of optimism at the beginning and he was such a fantastic teacher, but then how it changed and darkened and was abusive, really.

Entertainment, Interviews, Movies, News, Television

Alfred Hitchcock Anonymous Rex Anthony Hopkins Appropriate Adult Boy George Brideshead Revisited Crime and Punishment Crispin Glover Culture Club David Peace Dominic West Fred West Gwyneth Hughes Infamous James Marsh Jim Brown Julian Jarrald King Lear Kinky Boots Mad About the Boy Marnie Melanie Griffith Menahem Golan Neil McKay Psycho Red Riding Rita Riggs Sienna Miller Steven Spielberg The Birds The Girl The Light from the TV Shows Thomas Hardy Tippi Hedren Toby Jones Vertigo Will Harris

Sons of Anarchy 5.05: Orca Shrugged

October 10, 2012 / Nate Kreichman

SPOILER WARNING: This post will appear every Wednesday following a new episode of “Sons of Anarchy.” It is intended to be read after seeing the show’s latest installment as a source of recap and analysis. As such, all aspects and events that have occurred up to and including the episode discussed are fair game.

After all the depressing shit that’s happened so far in the fifth season of “Sons of Anarchy,” this week’s episode, “Orca Shrugged,” was a welcomed comedic interlude. Ironically, it also included a pregnant woman being shot in the belly. But let’s start with the fun stuff.

The centerpiece of the episode was a surprise guest appearance from Walton Goggins as transexual call girl Venus Van Damme. Those of you who watched “The Shield” will recognize the actor as well as his character’s name, a reference to Cletus Van Damme, an alias used by Detective Shane Vendrell in that program. If you’re interested, Goggins did this interview with Entertainment Weekly regarding his part in “Sons.” There’s a lot of insight into how the appearance came to be and how this manly man of an actor prepared for his, ahem, unusual role. In it, Goggins says Kurt Sutter mentioned neither he nor Michael Chiklis could appear on “Sons” because of “how closely relatable they are to their characters on ‘The Shield.'” Luckily, Goggins called bullshit on that one, and we can only hope Chiklis will someday do the same. A plethora of actors from “The Shield” have gotten roles in “Sons,” but Chiklis is now the only member of the Strike Team who hasn’t made an appearance. Recall David Rees Snell (the unbearably cool Ronnie Gardocki) took the role of Federal Agent Grad Nicholas and Kenny Johnson (Curtis “Lem” Lemansky) played club member Kozik.

But let’s talk about why Goggins was there. Mayor Hale needed one more vote to get his Charming Heights project approved. Despite the club being against that kind of McReal Estate last year, now they’re picking their battles, and they’re alright with the development if it means they can use one of Hale’s properties to set up their new escort business with Nero. So they decide to blackmail a city council member to get the mayor his vote.

Goggins scene was nothing short of hilarious, with lines like “didn’t your daddy ever tell you not to judge a book by its penis?” When they needed to convince the councilman’s step son to take some bait, the rest of the club got in on the humor too. Jax insists “it doesn’t mean you’re gay man, we’ve all been there.” “Really? All you guys?” the kid responds. Juice then says, “Lot of cock,” Chibs interjects with “two dicks,” and back to Juice with “slammin’ cock.” Insert One Chibs Two Dicks joke here.

Television

Charlie Hunnam Chibs Telford Clay Morrow Damon Pope Eli Roosevelt Gemma Teller Guest star Jax Teller Kim Coates Laying Pipe Lt. Roosevelt Nate Kreichman Opie Winston Rockmond Dunbar Ron Perlman SAMCRO Sons of Anarchy Sons of Anarchy blog Sons of Anarchy Season 5 Sons of Anarchy season five Tara Tara Knowles Tig Trager Tommy Flanagan Walton Goggins

Bond Vehicles, in the Metallic Flesh, at Comic-Con

October 10, 2012 / Bob Westal

Imagine your humble writer as being like James Bond at the beginning of “From Russia With Love,” relaxing with a beverage and a special lady when suddenly the call came in from HQ. I was needed. There would be four vehicles featured in James Bond movies at Comic-Con and, as the guy who’s been working on an upcoming Bond movie series for these here pages at Bullz-Eye, I was just the man for the job.

Of course, this is completely misleading, but I thought I’d pump myself up a bit before we get started. Basically, what this is all about is promotion for the upcoming James Bond Blu-ray set of all 22 extent canonical Bond films (slobber, slobber!). With the help of the good people at the Ian Fleming Foundation, the folks at MGM/Fox were allowing Con-goers to line up for an opportunity to have their pictures taken with these various mean machines.

The only problem was, it’s not like a simple freelancer like me arrives at Comic-Con with a bevy of men’s magazine models and, alas, Bond Booth Babes weren’t in anyone’s budget, it appeared. The thought of forcing innocent readers to view repeated pictures of me in front of four of these machines seemed almost Blofeldian in its wrongness.

Instead, I did the natural thing at Comic-Con. With a little help from my photographin’ pal Rodney Reynaldo, I recruited some of the costumed denizens of the Con to provide the visual pizzazz that I thought I needed. Fortunately, we also have some additional photos.

And so we begin at the beginning….

The Q Boat — This number was featured in the Thames boat chase sequence from 1999’s “The World is Not Enough.” In the film, Bond (as portrayed by Pierce Brosnan) appropriates the boat to give chase to a bad guy who has committed a dastardly murder at a party, though the fact that the event was in honor of good ol’ Q’s retirement adds a slightly ironic note.

I’m not quite sure what kind of note our anime-inspired friends provided, but there they are, along with a shot from the movie, in our gallery. And, yes, you can’t see the front of the vehicle from the shot on the floor of the San Diego Convention Center, but get a load of this shot of the vehicle in action from the movie.

The Ground Parahawk — This snow vehicle also turned up in one of the action sequences in the 1999 Bond opus.

What, you don’t remember Fred and Wilma Flintstone posing in front of it? Well, here’s how it looked in its more natural state.

The Jaguar XKR

The coolness factor went up considerably with the first of two actual cars, this one from 2002’s “Die Another Day.” To be honest, as far as I can find out without having the movie handy, it appears that Mr. Bond never actually drove this car. Instead, he was nearly done in by it, as suave bad guy Zao (Rick Yune) tried his best to deprive 007 of his license to live.

Of course, if Spider-Man and Spider-Girl had been along for the ride, things might have gone a bit differently. Or not.

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante

It would have been way too much to expect the original and greatest James Bond supercar, the Aston Martin DB5 from 1964’s “Goldfinger” (AKA the most famous car in the world). Still, we got close enough for Comic-Con with the amazing Aston Martin V8 from 1977’s “The Living Daylights,” one of two Bond outings starring Timothy Dalton.

It might not have been as famous as the original Bond car with its built-in machine guns and ejector seat but, at least in terms of numbers, it out-gadgetted the original. The Volante in the film came come complete with, among other features, guided missiles, tire-slashing lasers, and a self-destruct capability in case everything went to hell in a hand basket.

It was our determination that only James Bond himself was cool enough to stand in front of an Aston Martin of this caliber. Since we didn’t happen to spot him wandering the convention floor, this one stands alone.

Cars, Entertainment, Movies

Aston Martin DB5 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante Die Another Day From Russia With Love Goldfinger Groud Parahawk Jaguar XKR James Bond James Bond blog James Bond cars Pierce Brosnan Q Boat The Living Daylights The World is Not Enough Timothy Dalton

Blu Tuesday: Reese’s Pieces, Serial Killers and Hitchcock

October 9, 2012 / Jason Zingale

After taking last week off due to a disappointing lack of quality releases (don’t waste your time with “Dark Shadows”), my column is back this week with a number of films from the back catalog. Though it’s always nice to see any Alfred Hitchcock film get the Blu-ray treatment, this has truly been the season of Spielberg, following up the release of “Jaws” and the Indiana Jones movies with the debut of “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.”

“E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”

I’ve never understood why so many people place “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” on such a high pedestal, because it’s easily one of Steven Spielberg’s most overrated movies. Though the nostalgia factor has certainly played a role in its sustained popularity over the years, when viewed without those rose-colored glasses, the film’s flaws are pretty evident. Not only is the acting terrible for the most part, but a lot of the special effects don’t hold up that well, particularly the flying bikes. It’s also way too long – a fact that’s even more incredible considering the director cut 40 minutes from the original version – and it has some strange tonal issues, including the arrival of those creepy men in the astronaut suits in the final act. Still, while “E.T.” is hardly worthy of joining “Jaws” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” on the list of cinema classics, it’s a sweet and often funny film that every parent should show their children at least once.

Blu-ray Highlight: There are two new extras included on the 30th Anniversary release, and they’re both excellent. “The E.T. Journals” offers nearly an hour of behind-the-scenes footage from production, while “Steven Spielberg and E.T.” features the director reflecting on the making of the film, including where the idea originated from, showing the movie at Cannes and the White House, the aborted sequel talk and much more.

“The Raven”

The latest in a growing line of projects driven by Hollywood’s fascination with revisionist history, James McTeigue’s “The Raven” proposes that in the weeks leading up to his death, American poet Edgar Allen Poe helped solve a series of copycat murders based on his grisly tales. It’s difficult to view the film as anything other than a half-hearted attempt at cashing in on the success of Warner Brothers’ “Sherlock Holmes” reboot, because it’s every bit the dull, cookie cutter thriller that the trailers suggested. Not only is the premise ridiculous, but it’s executed so tediously that McTeigue could have lopped off 20 minutes from just about any part of the movie and no one would have noticed. The legacy of Poe deserves so much better than this generic murder mystery, and although John Cusack has some good moments as the eccentric writer, it would have been a lot more interesting to see the actor play him in a traditional biopic as opposed to this preposterous and lifeless piece of schlock. The next time Hollywood thinks about defiling a respected literary figure, they would be wise to heed Poe’s famous words and simply say “nevermore.”

Blu-ray Highlight: There aren’t any extras on the disc that stand out, but the making-of featurette “The Raven Guts: Bringing Death to Life” provides the usual behind the scenes fluff on things like casting and production design for those who are interested.

“Strangers on a Train” / “Dial M for Murder”

With the upcoming release of Universal’s “Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection,” it only seems fitting that Warner Bros. should take the opportunity to debut some of their Hitchcock films on Blu-ray as well. Though “Strangers on a Train” and “Dial M for Murder” predate many of the director’s most popular movies, they still showcase the Master of Suspense at the top of his game. “Strangers on a Train” is probably the better known of the pair, but despite a solid turn by Robert Walker as the eccentric villain, the film’s sluggish pacing and ridiculous finale prevent it from being as great as its reputation might suggest. In fact, although it doesn’t get as much credit, “Dial M for Murder” is the stronger movie – an adaptation of the Frederick Knotts stage play that’s as taut and thrilling as it is smart. It also helps that everyone in the cast is so good, from Grace Kelly’s adulterous victim to John Williams’ police inspector, but it’s Ray Milland who absolutely steals the show as a “villain” so likable that you’re practically rooting for him to get away with murder. Though it’s a bit strange that Hitchcock would chose one of his less visually interesting movies to shoot in 3D, “Dial M for Murder” is every bit as captivating without the silly gimmick.

Blu-ray Highlight: Though most of the bonus material is from previous DVD releases, there’s a retrospective on each film – “Strangers on a Train: A Hitchcock Classic” and “Hitchcock and Dial M” – that provides some excellent insight from various friends and historians about the movies’ productions and the key Hitchcockian elements in both.

Entertainment, Movies

Blu Tuesday Dial M for Murder E.T.new Blu-rays Strangers on a Train The Raven