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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on October 3rd, 2006
Spoooon! Finally, The Tick on DVD! The Tick vs. Season One features everyone’s favorite big blue superhero defending The City from evildoers and miscreants alike. Join The Tick and his side kick Arthur as they battle evil and deal spoonfuls of justice in 12 great episodes!
For those unfamiliar with this series, The Tick is the world’s most enthusiastic, optimistic, good-natured and naive superhero, assigned to defend The City. Throughout the series, Tick joins up with his sidekick, Arthur, an …
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on July 30th, 2006
Ren & Stimpy was a breakthrough when it first hit TV. Truly innovative animation had not been readily available for quite some time, and it had never been this irreverent. Nickelodeon was way ahead of its time with this series, and once it hit the air, it started a whole animation revolution, the reverberations of which are still being seen today. The show ran for five seasons, 52 episodes in all, and finally fell victim to its own success in 1996. While the show certainly had a successful run, by the time it went off the air it was just one of a great number of newly irreverent animated programs.
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on May 24th, 2006
Cuba Gooding, Jr. is a Secret Service agent who fails to protect the President from being assassinated and attempts to make sense of the events that led to his failure. He is approached by a persistent news reported (Angie Harmon) who believes the assassin was not working alone. Together, they attempt to unravel a conspiracy while dodging bullets in this action fare.
Although the action sequences are fun to watch, the story is just not interesting and the characters are not believable. The direction is poor…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on May 2nd, 2006
In this heartwarming and uplifting remake, Queen Latifah stars as Georgia Byrd, a conservative, reserved woman who works hard as a cookware salesperson in a Louisiana supermart. That is, until she is diagnosed with a terminal disease and has only weeks to live.
After a lifetime spent counting calories and clipping coupons, Georgia cashes out her life savings and goes on a last holiday to a posh resort in Prague. Faced with her soon-to-come mortality, she decides to live life to its fullest. In doing so, s…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on April 25th, 2006
From the creators of Family Guy comes American Dad!, a hilarious and delightful animated series featuring CIA agent Stan “The Man” Smith, a right-wing ultra patriotic nut, and his quirky family. Francine is a former wild-child turned devoted mother and wife; Hayley is a leftist liberal and counterpoint to her father’s way of life; Steve is a nerdy teenager who is constantly rejected by girls. To round out this family tree, we also have Klaus, a talking goldfish who is infatuated with Francine; and …
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on December 7th, 2005
Synopsis
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen reprises his three alter egos in the second season of HBO’s hit program, Da Ali G Show. UK wanksta-rapper Ali G is a supposed youth journalist who interviews prominent American figures (i.e. old white guys) with the premise of educating UK youth on current topics. Brüno is a gay Austrian fashion correspondent who does gossip pieces and reports on the party scene. Borat is a Kazakhstani journalist who does interest pieces on American life and hobbies….
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on November 12th, 2005
Synopsis
Disney’s adaptation of the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs novel Tarzan of the Apes is a fresh and surprisingly accurate retelling which captures all the essential themes from the novel while remaining decidedly kid-friendly. The central theme of acceptance is played up as a baby raised by apes struggles to be accepted amongst his gorilla family.
As he constantly seeks to fit in, Tarzan cannot help but focus on his own differences from his mother and siblings, and he is consu…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on October 4th, 2005
It’s been over 50 years since Disney’s theatrical release of Cinderella, and the classic tale of the underdog overcoming adversity to realize her heart’s fondest wish remains as relevant and touching today as it was half a century ago. Disney Studios pulls all the stops in this 2 disc Platinum Edition of Cinderella, the first time the film is ever released on DVD. In this release, the audience is treated to a wonderfully well-made film, with sound and picture digitally remastered with great care and pre…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on September 12th, 2005
It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 10 years since Pixar’s Toy Story was released in theatres. The first – and arguably still the best – full-length CGI release, Toy Story is a ground-breaking movie, paving the way for other animated masterpieces, such as Shrek, Ice Age and The Incredibles. Not only is Toy Story a remarkable display of animation technology and techniques, it is a wonderfully funny and well-directed buddy movie.
For those three readers out …
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on August 12th, 2005
Futurama Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection is the latest single-disc collection from Fox. It features four of show creators’ favorite episodes. Despite the title, only two episodes – Hell is Other Robots and Anthology of Interest actually feature monster robots. The other two episodes are Emmy-worthy, but don’t relate to the monster robot theme. Unlike other single-disc collections from Fox (like the recently released Bart Wars), this is a very entertaining disc with four excellent epis…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on June 28th, 2005
While the first two seasons of Northern Exposure had only 8 and 7 episodes respectively, season three treats us to a whopping 23 episodes of Emmy-winning fun! In Northern Exposure – the Complete Third Season, we see a continuation of the events that affect small-town life in Cicely, Alaska. Whether planning weddings, being kidnapped, battling pheromones, facing off with ghosts, or just plain going a-hunting, anything makes for a great plot and character development in this fantastically quirky series. < ...
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on May 11th, 2005
Garfield Fantasies is a single disc compilation of three classic Garfield episodes, each about 40 minutes long. In this theme disc, each story has Garfield put in some fantastic situations.
The first episode is Babes and Bullets, a black-and-white throwback to the early detective genre. Garfield plays Sam Spayed, a private investigator hired by a beautiful dame to uncover her husband’s murderer. Fans of the Garfield books may remember this story from the illustrated novel Garfield: His 9 Li…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on April 26th, 2005
The Simpsons – Bart Wars is the most recent in a string of low quality, single disc 4-episode Simpsons releases from Fox. Don’t be fooled by the Star Wars theme here – this is not a cool parody of the movie, but rather just 4 episodes thrown together on the cheap. Unlike the previous releases – The Simpsons – Christmas, The Simpsons – Treehouse of Horrors, The Simpsons – Christmas 2, and The Simpsons – Gone Wild, the Bart Wars set has no apparent theme relating the stories to…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on December 2nd, 2004
Released as part of the Happy Gilmore / Billy Madison Collection, this is the first time we are able to enjoy Happy Gilmore the way it should have always been presented on DVD – as a Widescreen Special Edition.
In one of his funniest movies, Adam Sandler is Happy Gilmore, a regular-Joe hockey wannabe whose grandmother loses her house to the IRS. After discovering that he can hit a golf ball 400 yards, Happy hits the pro tour to earn enough money to pay the bills and save his grandmother…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on December 2nd, 2004
Released as part of the Happy Gilmore / Billy Madison Collection, this is the first time we are able to enjoy Billy Madison the way it should have always been presented on DVD – as a Special Edition.
In his first hit movie, Adam Sandler is Billy Madison, a shiftless, useless, drunken, quasi-retarded son of a billionaire set to convince his father he is capable of running the family business. To do so, he has to pass kindergarten to grade 12 in 24 weeks. Hilarity is sure to ensue. Along…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on November 30th, 2004
The second season to the Emmy-winning series us just as delightful as the first season. On this seven episode set, we get an ongoing look at the everyday lives of the quirky residents of Cicely, Alaska. From the absurd to the mundane, any event is fodder for storytelling in Northern Exposure.
Season two builds upon the first season’s strong character development. New York doctor Joel Fleischman, the show’s main character, continues to struggle with life in this small logging town. Although he is by n…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on October 31st, 2004
In the long-standing tradition of Transformers, Pokemon, and Barbie, the Lego company has put together two (and soon three) feature-length movies featuring their product. In this CGI prequel, Bionicle 2: Legends of Metru Nu tells the tale of six ordinary bionic citizens who are reluctantly upgraded to hero status. Only through introspection and self-discovery do they unleash their full strength as their hidden abilities begin to manifest themselves. As the only guardians of their planet, they set out on a miss…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on October 12th, 2004
Aimed squarely at a 20-something Saturday night audience, MADtv first aired in October 1995 as the Fox Network’s successful bid to convert viewers from the then-sagging Saturday Night Live. By featuring funny sketches, movie and TV parodies, fake commercials, and even Spy vs. Spy, MADtv stays true to its printed magazine counterpart counterculture. While SNL is focusing on politics, MADtv is connecting with the younger crowd – music, TV and film. With witty writing and an excellent cast, < ...
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on September 23rd, 2004
The fist spin-off of the popular Law & Order franchise invites the viewer to follow along with the Special Victims Unit, an police team dedicated to solving crimes of a sexual nature. This departure from the parent series makes for emotionally charged storylines and highly demented suspects. The basic plot is similar to the original series, whereby the detectives put together a body of evidence for the prosecuting attorneys.
Special Victims maintains the flavor of the original series by having a very strong ensemble cast.
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on September 23rd, 2004
This second spin-off of the popular Law & Order franchise focuses on solving grisly murders rather than building a case against the suspected murderer. Law & Order’s winning formula always has the detectives putting together a body of evidence for the prosecution. In Criminal Intent, the stories involve only developing motive and intent for the murder and then confronting the suspect to elicit a confession. Each episode of Criminal Intent is laid out like a Murder She Wrote story: a…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on August 16th, 2004
In Knight Rider, David Hasselhoff stars as Michael Knight, a detective without a past who is recruited to right wrongs throughout California and parts of Nevada. He is partnered with KITT, a highly intelligent talking car, loaded with justice-serving gadgets and gizmos. Together they ride, fighting crime, impressing kids, and picking up girls wherever they go.
The three double-sided disc set offers up all 21 episodes of the first season of Knight Rider, including the two-part pilot episode
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on June 10th, 2004
Just as the 15th season of The Simpsons comes to a close, Fox releases Season 4 of their hit show on DVD. Every episode of Season 4 is a brilliant, well-written and well-directed piece of comedy. This season really turns on the laughs with great episodes filled with memorable gags. And as we have come to expect from Fox animated series DVDs, this set looks and sounds great and has tons of nice rewards for the fans.
In Season 4 of The Simpsons, the storylines clearly shift away from Bart and Li…
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on June 7th, 2004
In order to leverage the Fox release of Garfield: The Movie in theatres, the studio is coinciding its release of Garfield as Himself on DVD. The single disc contains three “classic” Garfield episodes. In Here Comes Garfield (1982), Garfield plays the reluctant hero and rescues Odie from the pound. Garfield on the Town (1983) is a touching tale with Garfield reuniting with his mom. Finally, Garfield Gets a Life (1991) has Garfield helping Jon find romance.
As a kid, I was …
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on June 3rd, 2004
I guess it was inevitable that MGM would bundle RoboCop along with it’s red-headed stepchildren RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3. RoboCop Trilogy is a repackaged version of the 2001 RoboCop MGM release, along with the June 2004 MGM releases of the two sequels. Portions of this review will be taken from the individual reviews of both Robocop 2 and
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Disc Reviews by Gaetan Ruest on June 1st, 2004
What do you get when you take one of the coolest superheroes in film, remove his soul and angst, and plunk him into a PG-13 movie? RoboCop 3. Those corporate fascist at OCP are up to their old tricks again in this third outing for part man, part machine cyborg cop Alex Murphy. Robo experiences a brief struggle with his ethics as he sides with outlaw rebels against the establishment.
To call this movie – and it’s predecessor RoboCop 2 – “sequels” gives them more credibility than they deserve. …
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