October 28, 2007
Kyle XY - The Complete First Season - Declassified
Equal parts Roswell and The O.C., Kyle XY starts off as a sci-fi mystery, veers off into a teenage soap opera and ends its 10-episode first season with a compelling cliffhanger. The series, which debuted in 2006 on the ABC Family channel, begins with a teenager wandering in the woods just outside of Seattle. When the authorities find him, he is naked, unable to communicate, and devoid of a belly button. He is taken to a juvenile detention center where a psychologist bonds with him and takes him home to live with her wary husband and children. (Never mind that most women wouldn’t bring possibly dangerous young men home with them.) As played by Matt Dallas, Kyle (as she names him) is a gentle soul who wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s also an idiot savant when it comes to learning. Within a few hours, he memorizes the encyclopedia and learns how to speak perfect English. He’s just as quick to learn athletic skills. He’s not as fast when it comes time to pick up on social nuances, and he has no concept of private time. As the fish-out-of-water character, Kyle is charming in his naiveté. Though Dallas is a tad too hunky to pass for a 16-year-old boy, he gives the character a warm heart. Where the series fails is in its attempt to be everything to everyone. There’s a subplot with a mysterious man who may know more about Kyle than he should that falls flat. There are also teen angst storylines involving the family’s daughter that would’ve fit in better in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 than here. While uneven, Kyle XY shows promise with a cliffhanger ending that will be realized in the second season. –Jae-Ha Kim
DVD: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
Company: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone (2007-05-22)
List Price:Â $39.99
Amazon Price:Â $24.47
Used Price:Â $21.08
More: continued here
If Sean Kingston weren’t 17, baby-faced, and blessed with a voice like Akon’s but sweeter, “Beautiful Girls”–the airwave-dominating, maniacally catchy ditty off his debut album that finds him wallowing over a long line of babes bent on dumping him–might have bombed. It’s the package that makes the song, and the many others like it on this destined-for-hugeness disc, work: Take away the youthful pout and the song’s innocence dissolves. Take away the lively straight-outta-Jamaica lilt and its summery vibe suffers mightily. Thrown back in, though, these elements bond like KrazyGlue; tracks like “Me Love,” which fiddles with Led Zeppelin’s “D’yer Mak’er” in a looser way than “Beautiful Girls” fiddles with Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me,” adhere forcefully but playfully to the same part of the brain that Rihanna had been reigning over till now. Still, Sean Kingston’s strongest track may be its standout duet–”There’s Nothin’,” with Paula DeAnda doing her best junior Mariah impression, chugs along as though it’s been doused in August sunshine. It’ll make a fan out of anybody. –Tammy La Gorce
Please note, some manufacturer’s packaging may indicate this product as a sample size and may be labeled ‘Not for Sale’. Calyx is a blend of fruity bouquet of guava,papaya and passion fruit with a citrusy blend. Middle notes are flowery, including jasmine,marigold, freesia and marigold.
