Joel Gilbert's latest documentary, THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE UTOPIA, is a two-hour coast-to-coast tour of America in decline. Using THE WIZARD OF OZ as a springboard, Gilbert draws comparisons from the Wizard -- a charlatan -- to President Barack Obama. Not being as complicated of a connect-the-dots as his previous work, DREAMS FROM MY REAL FATHER, UTOPIA is easier to follow, and more inventive in its employment of effects and its cogent use of parallel analogy.

Liam Neeson returns to the big screen one final time as Brian Mills -- the family man with a "certain set of skills." But this time, his efforts to protect his family fail -- and his wife is murdered.

Wanted by the police, the FBI, and the CIA, Mills must disappear, while simultaneously protecting the only person left in his life: his daughter.

Olivier Megaton's trailer for TAKEN 3 has just the right amount of explosions, car crashes, gunfire, and cool fighting moves to draw in the action movie audience. The music is well timed to the action, with just the right build to a crescendo, setting up the perfect silent moment for one of Neeson's coldly delivered tough guy phrases.

If you're a fan of the TAKEN series, you'll definitely want a seat for this 20th Century Fox offering as the story comes to its conclusion. But be warned that it's going to be a bit of a wait -- TAKEN 3 gets teased today, but it isn't in theaters until January 9, 2015!

Minnesota singer/songwriter Brett Larson offers a nice collection of old-fashioned country music on his third album. His songwriting has been featured on the Blood Washed Band's latest, a group composed of some of the Twin Cities’ top alt-country musicians, including several who contribute their talents to Brett's solo effort.

This contest has ended.

The winner is DENISE A. of Flushing, NY.

This contest has ended. The selected winner is Elisa D. of Cleveland, Ohio.

Has it really been that long since we watched Fred Savage and Danica McKellar grow up on the television screen? It seems like it was only yesterday -- which is the same emotion we got from the the adult Kevin Arnold's perspective as we were weekly walked through moments from his formative years.

For six seasons, The Wonder Years captured the angst of growing up in suburban middle-class America in the late '60s, as seen through the life and times of Kevin Arnold (Savage). Audiences eagerly followed his evolution as a typical teenager who remembered every moment of his transition from childhood with excruciating detail and remarkable hindsight.

Derek Fawcett presents his solo debut, but fans of his previous band, Down the Line, should find plenty to love here. “Where it departs is that I've put down the djembe in favor of the piano, my songs go in some new stylistic directions, and there are more moments of musical chaos and disorder."

“The songs on this album tell compelling, unique stories that are likely to resonate with just about anyone. My hope is that all who listen to this album will hear something that speaks to them, to the extent that it brings them joy, solace, solidarity...and hopefully, even encourages them to sing along for awhile."

This contest has ended.

The winner is MARILYN W. of Miramar Beach, FL.

Remember that old 1980s television show, The Equalizer? If you’re much younger than me you may not. It was a solid show but skewed much older demographically than my age at that time. The show featured that other Michael Caine, Edward Woodward. He was old, and he wasn’t taking any crap from anybody, that’s pretty much all I remember. Fast forward 30-odd years to the present and director Antoine Fuqua has recreated the concept with his “Training Day partner Denzel Washington playing an old guy who isn’t taking any crap from anybody. That’s pretty much the gist of it. What you’re wondering is: “Is it any good?”

Less than halfway through this season of CBS and Endemol's Big Brother, I found myself asking myself, "Self, why are you still watching this show? This year isn't nearly as good as what we've had in the past."

But why did I think that? This season was replete with likeable characters (Donny), and it had its cute little romances (Nicole and Hayden). It had its built-in villain (Zach), and it even had the player we loved to hate and hated to love (Frankie). There were confrontations, there were blow-ups and dust-ups and OMG moments.

To top things off, this year I even began watching the Big Brother After Dark -- since I no longer had to subscribe to Showtime for it and could watch it for free on TVGN (soon to be renamed Pop).

It just goes to show, you can't always trust the critics. I hadn't watched any of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. because I'd heard from some corners -- comic-fan corners, mind you! -- that the show was not just underwhelming, it was actually bad.

Now that I've got the entire first season to review, I think that the critics were wrong -- mostly. And, yes, I get the inherent irony of my saying that -- I'm completely up on the Epimenides paradox. So with the second season debuting tonight, you've got a few hours to go pick this up and cram like mad to get up to speed.

The spies are back in business... in Hollywood, that is. Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a strong television following, Scorpion is kicking off, "The Equalizer" is debuting in theaters, and the original series starring Edward Woodward is also getting a full-series release. And that's just scratching the surface.

"Kingsman: The Secret Service" is a blending of James Bond with "Men in Black." Colin Firth is Harry Hart, a seasoned spy and man of action. Taron Egerton is Eggsy, a young delinquent in whom Harry sees untapped potential. And Samuel L. Jackson gets to play the bad guy, Valentine (not the one in "The Mortal Instruments" but a different one), a little bit more unbalanced than his "Mr. Glass" portrayal in "Unbreakable."

When Hugh Murphy's first collection, T-Rex Trying, hit the shelves, I shared it around the office as we all found several of the situations of the "I've got a great big head and little bitty arms" plagued dinosaur to alternate between thought-provoking and hysterical.

T-Rex Trying and Trying is the natural evolution (see what I did there?) of the series, putting our beloved and beleaguered tyrannosaur through even more mundane pitfalls, even as his own life expands to include She-Rex and, inevitably, Wee-Rex. Yes, T-Rex is now the patriarch of a prehistoric family, and they all fall prey to the same... shortcomings.

This contest has completed. The randomly selected winner is: MIKE G. of FORT PIERCE, FL.

I was introduced to Cassandra Clare's The Mortal Instruments series about the same time I was reading Holly Black's Ironside. When I saw the Easter egg crossovers in each book (subtle as they were), I twigged to the fact that these two ladies knew each other, and expected them to someday work together on something.

That day has come.

The Iron Trial is the first book of a new fantasy, The Magisterium, a five-book series aimed at middle-grade -- and which will no doubt be read by their fans of all ages.

Critical Blast is happy to blast a copy of this your way if you're the selected entry in this book giveaway. Simply enter your information in the form below -- no mystical trials required -- and wait to see if you are the lucky random pick.

"I was reasonably accomplished in my other work, but for years, despite my love for music, I never thought I was good enough to write, sing or play it. I kept it inside for years,” says Liz Kennedy, a fourth generation Southern Californian. "I became someone who told people I was writing music but I would never share it. Which began to feel slightly weird. When I finally met my producer, Joel Jaffe, his encouragement allowed me to step inside the studio and record my songs so I wouldn't have to hold them in any longer. And that felt very freeing. Very good. And I improved over time, which led to more and more writing. Meeting and playing with incredibly talented musicians lead me even further along the path."

"Breaking Free" is the second independent release from Rebecca Moreland's new EP, Far From Heaven. The San Antonio native co-wrote the new single with Scott Whitley and co-produced the song with producer and engineer Leland Elliott at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

"The song is very personal," Rebecca says. "I was reaching a crossroads where I had to choose between fully pursuing music and keeping my full time advertising job. I chose music. I wrote the majority of the song the day after I quit my job."

For those of us old enough to remember, there was a time when there were no music videos and there was no MTV (not that MTV plays any videos anymore) and the only way you go to see your favorite performers were to see them in concert.

Ten in 1973 it all changed…on August 19th 1972 the pilot for Midnight Special aired and it was so good!

Finally we got a chance each week to see the hottest musicians perform one or more of their hit songs live…that’s live as in not pre taped and not lip synced.

It meant staying up late to be able to see it considering I was only 12 when the show first started, but because I was very familiar with the music and musicians of those days thanks to my 8 years senior older brother’s extensive record collection I begged and pleaded to stay up each week (until I was old enough to stay up without having to ask for permission) each week to see the performers whose music I was listening to every day.

It's only September, but anyone knows that if you want to get the really cool stuff for Christmas, you have to start making your list early. Any later than Halloween, and you're likely to get stuck with whatever your friends and family could pick up at the local Walgreens. And you want cool, right? Like, bowtie cool?

Well look no further, friend! The BBC has put together some gift set releases of their best and brightest shows. Let's tear off a corner of the wrapping paper for a little peek, shall we?

DOCTOR WHO: THE COMPLETE MATT SMITH YEARS LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY GIFT SET

Liam Neeson is one cool cat. I enjoyed his work long before “Taken,” but after that gloriously performed throwback to the classic violent revenge films he was a bonafide superstar. Unfortunately for him, he’s dangerously close to being typecast. Whether it be the predictably subpar “Taken 2” or the surprising gem “The Grey,’ Neeson always seems to always play a man with a particular set of skills. “A Walk Among the Tombstones” may not seem all that different on the surface, but if you watch closely there’s a lot more to it than you might think.

Life can be funny sometimes. You could be perfectly content, making good money at a job you actually enjoy, with a loving wife and a beautiful home, and then suddenly life throws a monkey wrench into the machine. Everything goes crazy for a while and hopefully, eventually, you come to terms with the changes and find a place of contentment.

It's been a bajillion years in the making, but the much-awaited stop-motion animated film from the makers of "Coraline" and "ParaNorman" is finally headed into theaters this September 26.

Welcome to a whole new breed of family -- The Boxtrolls, a community of quirky, mischievous creatures who have lovingly raised an orphaned human boy named Eggs (voiced by Isaac Hempstead-Wright) in the amazing cavernous home they’ve built beneath the streets of Cheesebridge. When the town’s villain, Archibald Snatcher (Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley), comes up with a plot to get rid of the Boxtrolls, Eggs decides to venture above ground, “into the light,” where he meets and teams up with fabulously feisty Winnifred (Elle Fanning). Together, they devise a daring plan to save Eggs’ family.

It's a good time to be a DC fan.

No, let me amend that. It's a great time to be a DC fan -- especially if you enjoy your comics characters brought to live action. Arrow is entering a third successful season, The Flash is preparing to launch in early October, Gotham is preparing to tell the story of a pre-Batman era James Gordon, and CBS has just announced that it's going into production of Supergirl.

The problem? Arrow and The Flash are on the CW, Gotham is on FOX, and Supergirl -- a one hour drama -- will be on CBS.

Rocketing out of CW's Arrow comes another DC Universe super hero. His name is Barry Allen. He is the fastest man alive.

The CW pilot for The Flash does an exemplary job at setting the stage for all the events to come: telling an origin, providing a reason for the hero, and putting into play the long game (and the even longer game, but that would be spoiling things), all in the space of a one-hour episode. Hints have been dropped in Arrow for some time now about the Central City Particle Accelerator, and Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) has already made his guest appearance in that series. And while it won't be long before fans are finally rewarded with these hints culminating in a much-anticipated spin-off series, one thing is certain upon reviewing this pilot: CW's The Flash can't get here fast enough!