Archive for the ‘HBO’ Category
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Disc Reviews by Jay Macdonald on May 14th, 2009
Taking Chance gives audiences another perspective into the Iraq war. Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl (Kevin Bacon) volunteers to escort the remains of a recently deceased Lance Corporal Chance Phelps. During the trip across America’s heartland, Strobl gets to see how the Iraq war is implicating not just the families involved, but the nation as a whole. The film is also based on true events, which adds to the stories levity. The film manages to give alternative perspectives on the war and also manages to be objective at the same time.
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Disc Reviews by Tom Buller on April 1st, 2009
Last year, Chris Rock hit the road with new material for Kill the Messenger, his latest comedy tour. HBO captured three of the performances – in London, Johannesburg and New York – and edited them together into one big comedy special. Now on DVD in this three-disc set, Rock fans can see the HBO special and the full-length shows at each of the locations above. If you love his stuff, that might be great news. But after more than a decade at the top, does Rock still have it? Read on.
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Disc Reviews by Tom Buller on March 7th, 2009
“There are more fat people in American than there are people.” That’s the dry wit of Tom Baker, Little Britain USA’s narrator, introducing a sketch about “Fat Fighter” Marjorie Dawes. If the series stuck with that brand of humor, I’d have enjoyed it thoroughly. Instead, it goes places so crude I was continually startled by its outrageous comedy. I’m of the opinion that blue humor is a love-it-or-hate-it genre. If you enjoy the nasty stuff, Little Britain USA : the complete first season is definitely up your alley. Mine? Not so much.
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on March 16th, 2008
I now realize that the funniest funny is found in awkwardness. This is why Curb Your Enthusiasm is so popular. The main characters do things that make you cringe, often to the point where you even cover your eyes because it’s just too painful to watch. You say aloud to yourself, “Oh my god, no he didn’t just get a boner while hugging that old woman,” or “why are you talking to the TiVo guy when your wife might die?!” But with all due respect to the people that hate Larry’s character (Larry David) because he’s so rude and does stupid stuff, he often gets the short stick and apologizes when he shouldn’t have to.
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 14th, 2008
Political humor has been around since the dawn of time. Just go look at History of the World Part One. Of course, these days, comedians aren’t getting fed to the lions. In fact, on some occasions they are even invited to the White House. Bill Maher has been doing leftist political comedy for quite some time. I had not watched him on standup in nearly 20 years (One Night Stands) prior to receiving this dvd but I have enjoyed his show Politically Incorrect fairly recently. I honestly hoped that it wouldn’t be all political humor but we shall soon see.
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Disc Reviews by Tom Buller on November 2nd, 2007
The Sopranos, called by some the greatest TV show in history, is over. With a much-publicized fade-to-black finish, the series finale aired June 10, 2007, leaving fans to forever speculate about the fate of Tony Soprano. Many were disappointed at this ambiguous ending, but I’m sure a similar number enjoyed having some major loose ends.
It’s all academic for me, because I hadn’t watched the series since its season three finale, and only caught the end when this DVD set came my way for review. After catching up on seasons four, five and six (part one) through synopses, I sat down to experience The Sopranos‘ closing act.
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on October 29th, 2007
In my mind, Robert Wuhl has never really understood when to quit. The guy was the star of Arli$$, which was an anomaly on the HBO cable channel. Whereas all the other shows on the channel were ending too soon and were too well received, this show went on and on and on, and no one seemed to really like it. So when I saw he was doing a couple of one-off shows set at universities, I thought this was just another way to grab onto popularity.
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Disc Reviews by Tom Buller on October 9th, 2007
I’m not much of a soccer fan. I played a few years as a kid, for a local community club, but quit well before puberty. I almost never watch it on TV, even when the World Cup bandwagon rolls around. The only players I can name are Pelé, Beckham and Hamm. And Knightley, but I suppose the Bend it Like Beckham star doesn’t count.
With my limited knowledge and appreciation of the game, I didn’t expect much from this HBO documentary. Sure, I know sports stories can be dramatic and exciting, but the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team? Not my first choice of subjects. Imagine my surprise when I became totally engrossed in the inspiring story of these women who gave their all when hardly anyone cared, who fought through all kinds of adversity, who dared to dream.
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Disc Reviews by Tom Buller on September 17th, 2007
Like it or not, Everybody Loves Raymond has earned its spot alongside TV’s most successful sitcoms, including The Cosby Show, Roseanne and Seinfeld. These shows not only ran a long time, but they also shared a common origin — all were based on the persona of the popular stand-up comics who starred in the series. This method may have produced hits in these cases, but it’s no guarantee. To really beat the odds, there has to be something more.
In the case of Everybody Loves Raymond, the largely American audience saw themselves in the on-screen families. Fans have been sitting down each week, for more than 200 episodes, to a funnier, wackier version of their own families. As this ninth and final season hits DVD, it’s time to ask, did the show end too soon, too late or right on time?
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Disc Reviews by Tom Buller on August 29th, 2007
This HBO comedy series throws down a huge gauntlet, then flails its limbs around maniacally in a futile attempt to live up to the challenge. Bad Boys of Comedy is billed as an evolution of black comedy that builds on the revolution led by the likes of Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. P. Diddy, executive producer and host, promises young, edgy and unique comics, untapped virtuosos who will push the boundaries of humor and entertainment. What a crock.
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Disc Reviews by Tom Buller on August 20th, 2007
In August 1945, the world was transformed in the blink of an eye when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That act of destruction sparked the end of World War II, and the beginning of endless suffering for those who survived.
It was the first and only attack with nuclear weapons in our history, and the story of White Light/Black Rain is the reason it should never, ever happen again. Hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of the bombings, but when you meet the survivors, it seems that the worst victims were those who lived.
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 2nd, 2007
This is, I gather, part of a series of documentaries under the wider umbrella of “America Undercover,” and is not the first of the taxicab ones. What we have here is a collection of vignettes as various people hail a cab and, captured by the cab’s security camera, engage in revealing conversations with the driver. Most of these discussions deal with relationships and sex (the guy and his transsexual girlfriend, the guy with the big woman fetish, the guy with a thing for “crazy chicks” and so on). Over the course of the hour, this becomes a little tiresome, and one hopes for a passenger with something else on his/her mind.
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 28th, 2007
I still remember the first time I watched a Spawn animated episode. I was with my parents in my younger years on what I believe was the last vacation we ever took together. It was a hotel we were staying at which had HBO (I never had that channel growing up). I had read Spawn but didn’t even know of the animated series. The fact it was late at night and on a premium movie channel meant it had to be good. I was simply blown away and remember telling my parents that we had to be back at the hotel to watch it again the next night. I remember that later I would procure used copies of the series.
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on July 15th, 2007
Synopsis
It’s no big secret that I enjoy Extras, and found my way to it through the first episode of the second season, which included a guest appearance by Orlando Bloom (of Pirates of the Caribbean lore). And now that I’ve seen the first season, and rabidly followed the second season on HBO, while it’s a bummer to see Extras fade away after a dozen episodes, and just like The Office, it’s not going to soon forgotten.
Both shows were written and directed by Ricky Gerva…
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 11th, 2007
Not all heist films are created equal. The Hard Easy is a poor man’s Ocean’s Whatever. Number. While that might appear more often than not a knock on the film, that would not be so in this case. Actually I rather liked the film, more for its nuances. The first thing that impressed me was the cast. This isn’t the gaggle of A listers found in the Ocean films. These are still some hard working craftsmen. Just because this isn’t as hyped or financed to the hilt doesn’t take anything away from the performances. It might…
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on May 25th, 2007
Synopsis
When I was reviewing Season One of Martin, I was actually on a business trip in New Jersey, fondly recalling the early ‘90s and the huge popularity of the show that bore comedian Martin Lawrence’s name. Since that time, I’m no longer going to New Jersey on business, I’m working better hours, and a movie with Lawrence called Wild Hogs came out. It grossed over $150 million, and starred him, John Travolta and Tim Allen as aging adults who do the Easy Rider road trip. The only thi…
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on May 25th, 2007
Synopsis
I really wasn’t entirely sure how to digest watching a film about a natural disaster where a quarter million people have died or are presumed missing/lost. Nevertheless, Tsunami: The Aftermath is a compelling portrait of the events surrounding the 2004 event that resulted in the deaths of thousands of people.
Written by Abi Morgan (Brick Lane) and directed by Bharat Nalluri (The Crow: Salvation), the film was shown on HBO as a two part miniseries and focused on severa…
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 24th, 2007
Synopsis
Emilio is a Grade 11 student smitten with Jacklynne, the most popular girl in the school. She, of course, doesn’t even know he exists. He decides to get her attention by running for president of the Student Council, but no sooner does he declare himself as candidate then he discovers that his opponent is Jacklynne herself. Oops. He is now forced to run, but plans, with the help of his friends, to sabotage the results of the election to make sure he loses, but the is fraught with risks, most …
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Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 7th, 2007
Synopsis
Five different horror stories play out in this film, though they are all loosely interconnected, in that main characters in one story put in cameos in another, and the same locations are revisited. A sullen teenage girl comes home to her fractious family to see her father struggle with a newfangled remote. It doesn’t change the TV channel, but does zap her through alternate universes. A young man living in a dilapidated building starts taking orders from his possessed radio. A serial killer …
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on March 2nd, 2007
In the continuing need for media mogul Russell Simmons to produce an HBO show and put the word “Def” in front of it, musician Mos Def approached Simmons with the opportunity to present a weekly show for urban spoken word artists to show off their wares. And surprisingly, not only has the show survived, but has thrived into a fourth season that has come out on DVD, with ten episodes in all, split over two discs.
The layout of the show is pretty straightforward, as Mos Def introduces the beginning and end of the shows and the acts in between.
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on March 2nd, 2007
I don’t mean for this to be a joke, but when Paul Mooney recently said that he was glad that Hispanics got their (and I’m paraphrasing here) “African-American wake up call” in the midst of the illegal immigration debate of 2006, the problem wasn’t whether or not the Hispanics were being treated fairly or not. The problem was that this discussion has been going on in some manner or fashion for almost four decades now without a large-scale epiphany that required action. However back in 1968, there was some action (which led to the coordinated efforts of students to walk out of their classes in Los Angeles High schools as a protest of the conditions there), and Walkout helps to tell the tale.
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on February 3rd, 2007
All, the early ’90s! I spent my time counting the days until my military service ended by drinking as much beer as possible until I got to the bright red circle on my calendar. But when Martin Lawrence (House Party) pitched an idea for a sitcom with an African American cast, Fox picked up the show and added it to a then-fledging group of shows that balanced themselves between evening soap operas and raunchy family comedies.
Martin tells the story of Martin Payne (Lawrence), successful host of an urban radio station program in Detroit.
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on January 28th, 2007
The only thing I knew about Extras as of a couple of weeks ago was that Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant were behind the show, the follow-up to their cult hit The Office, which has been adapted into a Steve Carell vehicle to showcase his talent. Seeing very little on The Office and not being familiar with Gervais’ work, I downloaded the first episode of the second season of Extras from iTunes (Season Two recently resumed airing on HBO), and I found it one of the funnier things I’ve seen in recent memory, and not just because it didn’t cost me anything.
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Disc Reviews by Aric Mitchell on January 16th, 2007
Def Comedy Jam Classics: Martin Lawrence contains a few hearty laughs in between heaps of “f-this, f-that, f-to the point where it is no longer a curse word and becomes simply an overused adjective” and sexually explicit material. Many of the comedians featured on this disc seem to be delivering material purely for shock value before an audience that does their best to encourage. As a result, most of the comedy lacks a genuine feel, and that includes the offerings we get from Mr. Lawrence himself. That’s n…
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Disc Reviews by Ryan Keefer on January 3rd, 2007
I’ve gotta say, I love stand-up comedy. My first albums were George Carlin records, and I’d always listen to my Dad’s recorded tape of a Friar’s Club roast of Don Rickles, where four letter words would get dropped as often as the drinks in the room. Then it was on to Richard Pryor, then onto the R-rated genius of Sam Kinison and to a lesser extent, Andrew Dice Clay. And now, it’s Lewis Black, David Cross, Dave Attell and Robert Schimmel.
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