English Stereo

The Green Berets (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 14th, 2010

“Fighting soldiers from the sky. Fearless men who jump and die. Men who mean just what they say, the brave men of the Green Beret. Silver wings upon their chest. These are men, America’s best. One hundred men will test today. But only three win the Green Beret.”

The Ballad Of The Green Beret has become one of America’s most famous marching songs. It has been heavily parodied. The words were written by Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler while he was in the hospital recuperating from a leg wound he received in Vietnam. The music was composed by Robin Moore, who went on to pen the book The Green Berets, on which this film was based.
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The Kings: Anatomy of a One-Hit Wonder

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 16th, 2009

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The Kings: Anatomy of a One-Hit Wonder tells the story of a Canadian rock band’s rise to fame. The documentary discusses the creation of their one hit “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ to Glide” as well as donates a significant amount of time to the aging rockers. The original band members all provide interviews throughout the film: David Diamond (lead vocals, bass), Sonny Keyes (keyboards, vocals), Max Styles (drums) and Mister Zero (guitar).
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The Bloody Ape

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 13th, 2009

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Try this plot on for size: Gordo, an ape owned by carnival sideshow barker the Great Lampini (Paul Richichi), gets loose and rampages about Long Island, raping and killing and stealing cars (!). Meanwhile, the moronic detective in charge of the murder case dismisses the idea that an ape is the culprit, and casts his racist eye on the unfortunate Duane Jones (Christopher Hoskins, whose character is named after Night of the Living Dead‘s lead).
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Gitane Demone — Life After Death

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 9th, 2009

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Gitane Demone was one of the lead singers for seminal deathrock band Christian Death before going solo in 1989. This 2-DVD set is a record of her various solo efforts, tracking various incarnations, most notoriously (and most prominently featured in the release’s packaging) being the fetish performances for the likes of the DeMask club and Skin Two magazine. Present here is a mix of television interviews, one video, and a raft of live footage.
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Pigskin Parade

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 6th, 2007

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Planning a high-profile charity football game that they must nonetheless be sure of winning, the powers that be of Yale attempt to invite the University of Texas, but instead accidentally invite Texas State University, a small college whose town population is a mere 700. Newly arrived coach Jack Haley and his formidable wife Patsy Kelly face the challenge of somehow whipping the football team into something that won’t be utterly destroyed on the day of the big game. The key to possible victory is bumpkin-but-natural-prodigy Stuart Erwin, but he’s a package deal, and comes along with little sister Judy Garland, here making her debut.
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JAG – The Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 22nd, 2007

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Written by Evan Braun

I’ll admit it: I’m confused. JAG was on television for an long time, 10 seasons in fact, which puts it in the company of a lot of truly remarkable shows. The current popularity of serialization probably accentuates the challenge, but it seems especially difficult for good dramas these days to make it into the double-digits.

So imagine my surprise when I found out that even bad dramas can achieve the impossible, given the right set of circumstances.
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Baby Looney Tunes Volume 4: Tooth Fairy Tales

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 16th, 2007

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Written by Evan Braun

I guess you could call this the epitome of good, clean, wholesome children’s entertainment. It’s hard for me to accurately say just how it rates compared to other similar programs, since I haven’t seen anything like it for 15-20 years.

Unlike other cartoons intended for younger audiences, there’s not much here to appeal to grown-ups; it’s all kids-stuff, valuable lessons, and morality tales. While there’s certainly some fun in seeing our favourite Looney Tunes characters de-aged into toddlers, they don’t bear much recognition to their original selves.
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Happy Hooker Trilogy, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 8th, 2007

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Synopsis

Whoah. MGM if really digging into the vaults to bring us these. Xaviera Hollander is not much more than the answer to a trivia question today, but for a while in the 70s, she had enough profile to warrant three films based first on her book, then more generally on her persona. Lynn Redgrave (!) plays her in The Happy Hooker (1975), which follows her arrival in the States and cheerful discovery of the life she was born, it seems, to lead. Mysteriously rated R, this is a film that could…
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Transformers – The Movie

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 6th, 2006

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20 years after its theatrical release, Transformers the Movie is available on DVD. This is indeed a treat for all Transformers fans, since the VHS version of the movie has apparently been out of print for several years.

This 2-Disc set is a significant upgrade from the VHS version, boasting a remastered image, commentary tracks, and tons of extras.

In order to properly understand how this movie fits into the saga of The Transformers, we must go back to 1984, when the s…
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Bridezillas: Season 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 22nd, 2006

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The women on this show are easily the most selfish, self-centered, hateful, wretched wenches that I have ever seen. The fact that they would voluntarily put themselves on this show proves it. Who would ever watch this show (whose sole purpose is to show how horrible a person can be) and think to themselves, “I would really like to be on that show. I want the whole world to see me acting that way.”

Even so, here they are. The second season (!) of this show features eight episodes and eight brides-to-be at thei…
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Jeff Cesario – You Can Get a Hooker Tomorrow Night

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 30th, 2006

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There was a day in the not so distant past when there were about six big name comedians in the country, and everybody pretty much knew who they were. In the past several years, however, stand-up has really taken off in the United States, and it has become increasingly more difficult to keep track of who is who. Jeff Cesario is one of those that has garnered some popularity over the past several years, and is starting to make a big name for himself, but has certainly not arrived on the big stage just yet.

Sinc…
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Soldiers in the Army of God

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 4th, 2006

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Not only is HBO not afraid of controversial programming, they actually embrace it. It is widely believed that the two topics that cause the most tension among people is politics and religion. Maybe that’s why abortion is such a hot-button issue. No other topic simultaneously evokes such strong political and theological views. Solders in the Army of God is an HBO original documentary that takes a close look look at the “Army of God” organization, the most violent anti-abortion group in the United States.

Now, my interest is not to share my personal beliefs on the subject of abortion, or to try to persuade others to share my viewpoints.
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Betty Grable in Pin Up Girl

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 24th, 2006

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Betty Grable is best known for keeping the many, many GI’s thinking about their home country during World War II. She was mostly known for being a Pin-Up Girl during this time, and is also the star of the 1944 film Pin Up Girl. The film is part of Fox Home Entertainment’s Marquee Musicals and is pretty entertaining if you enjoy musicals or enjoy Betty Grable.

Betty Grable in Pin Up Girl is a pretty odd film overall, probably because of the four different writers the film had. The basic plot is…
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Walt Disney’s Funny Factory with Donald, Volume 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2006

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This disc is one of those classic cartoon sets that is marketed directly to children alone. Serious animation collectors will no doubt go for Disney’s fantastic Walt Disney Treasures releases instead of a one off release such as this one. This disc is one of those products that is set up as a quick point of purchase sale for parents that need something to throw in the DVD player while in the mini-van, or to keep the kids entertained while the parents are busy doing laundry or making dinner.

The simple …
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An Unmarried Woman

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 21st, 2006

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If the Lifetime channel was around in the 70’s, I would swear that this was an original production. This is a women’s liberation film at the height of the movement. Unfortunately, while its heart is probably in the right place, the film is just a big mess. When Martin Scorsese made Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, he nailed the feeling and the theme of this movement on the head. This thing, however, is a train wreck. It just tries way too hard. An Unmarried Woman is one of those films that tells the vi…
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