Blogcritics Author: Russ Evenhuis

TV Review: Shark Week - Surviving Sharks

Russ Evenhuis — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:06:37 EDT

Les Stroud of "Survivorman" fame tests ways to survive sharks for Discovery Channel's Shark Week.
Les Stroud is a Canadian survival expert best known as “Survivorman” on the television series he hosts. He gets dropped off by his team in the world’s most inhospitable places to survive and meet up with his team at a prearranged point in a week.This time on the Discovery Channel’s special Shark Week episode “Surviving...

TV Review: Shark Week Special: Mythbusters

Russ Evenhuis — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:14:03 EDT

Shark Week on Discovery Channel kicks off with a special episode of Mythbusters!
Mythbusters, for those not in the know, is a show on Discovery Channel with two stars, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who are Hollywood special effects gurus based in San Francisco. They take their experience (over 30 years worth combined) and use it to test and prove or disprove popular myths. Originally, the series only focused on these two men,...

TV Review: Click & Clack's As The Wrench Turns

Russ Evenhuis — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 21:09:09 EDT

The Tappet brothers turn to TV with their humor, accents, and knowledge.
Click & Clack’s As The Wrench Turns is a new animated show on PBS based on the National Public Radio show Car Talk. Car Talk is hosted by Tom and Ray Magliozzi who use the names Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers -- hence the name. The radio show started in 1977 in Cambridge, Massachusetts on one station but is now one of the highest...

DVD Review: Robbie Coltrane - Incredible Britain

Russ Evenhuis — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:02:06 EDT

Robbie Coltrane takes a beautiful Jaguar roadster and us on a spin through Britain via the roads less traveled.
Britain has always seemed to me to be a mystery when it comes to driving. Never mind that they drive on the left and the steering wheel is on the other side of the car and the roads can be about as wide as one and a half cars in spots. No, it has always been that the roads are so crowded and, to be honest, not very scenic for a country that has...

Music Review: The Switches - Lay Down The Law

Russ Evenhuis — Sat, 7 Jun 2008 00:29:11 EDT

The Switches are coming and not taking any crap on their new CD Lay Down The Law.
Once upon a time, British pop bands had abrasive guitars and cocky attitudes. Or maybe it was cocky guitars and abrasive attitudes. Whichever, or both, this was a sound that comes around in cycles and sometimes gets washed over the pond to the US. Among the first were The Rolling Stones as an antidote to the melodies of The Beatles. Among the last...

Book Review: Discover's 20 Things You Didn't Know About Everything by The Editors Of Discover Magazine and Dean Christopher

Russ Evenhuis — Fri, 23 May 2008 23:52:04 EDT

Finally, a book that will help you answer that trivia question to get a dollar off your latte.
Discover Magazine is dedicated to taking scientific topics and talking about them in ways that I can understand them. I've always enjoyed reading the magazine because it is like the scientific version of National Geographic. My favorite column has always been on the back page, called "20 Things You Didn't Know About Everything." Unlike the loftier...

DVD Review: SpongeBob SquarePants: Pest Of The West

Russ Evenhuis — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:12:52 EDT

Have no fear, SpongeBuck SquarePants, ancestor to SpongeBob Squarepants, is here to save Dead Eye Gulch from the dreaded Dead Eye Plankton.
Have no fear good townsfolk, for SpongeBuck SquarePants, cowboy ancestor to SpongeBob Squarepants, is here to save Dead Eye Gulch from the dreaded Dead Eye Plankton. SpongeBob Squarepants: Pest Of The West is the new DVD from Nickelodeon. It includes six regular episodes and one double length episode, the title episode "Pest Of The West."If you...

DVD Review: Alvin and The Chipmunks - The Chipmunk Adventure

Russ Evenhuis — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 15:47:29 EDT

Flashback to the 1987 version of Alvin and The Chipmunks with this DVD
In the 1980s, Alvin & The Chipmunks experienced a revival in popularity with a TV show and albums. Since everything, good or bad, goes in cycles, the release of the new movie has spurred the release of DVDs from the show and the movie Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Chipmunk Adventure that was first released in 1987.Dave Seville, the Chipmunks...

Book Review: The Smiths -The Early Years by Paul Slattery

Russ Evenhuis — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:30:53 EDT

A new picture book by famous rock photographer.
In May 1983, Paul Slattery, a young rock photographer, went to a gig at the University of London to see a new band. The band was The Smiths in one of their first shows.Slattery, along with the other 50 or so people in the crowd, was mesmerized by Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke. He jumped at the opportunity to photograph them as...

Movie Review: Housewife, 49

Russ Evenhuis — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 22:03:33 EDT

Victoria Wood drops the comedy for a serious role in Housewife, 49 with excellent results
In 1937, journalist Charles Madge and filmmaker Humphrey Jennings were joined by anthropologist Tom Harrisson to form a group called Mass Observation. The group placed an advertisement in newspapers all over Britain asking for people from all walks of life to write down their thoughts and lives in a diary. The diaries would be compiled and the...