Posts by Archive Authors

by Dustin P. Anderson

In this collection we view the Peanuts television specials that have nothing to do with any major holidays. Instead this collection focuses on lesser known episodes that center around other values that should be important in a person’s life. These episodes cover the Olympics, a trip to France, a first crush, and much more. Charlie Brown and the gang are presented here to make the audience laugh and learn, with valuable lessons for kids and classic moments for adults.

Ralph Dale Earnhardt (Dale Earnhardt Sr.) died at age 49 on February 18, 2001. The accident took place in the final lap of a thrilling race in which Dale Sr. was helping his teammates Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip (the brother of one of his biggest rivals and the announcer of the race, Darrell Waltrip). What was remarkable about the accident is that it was unspectacular. Dale Sr. had been in many horrible crashes in which the car flew and flipped many times and he walked away.

by Dustin P. Anderson

Our story follows Primo as he leads the son of a fallen comrade, John, through the life of a Blood. John is trying to follow in the footsteps of his recently departed father by running “packages” for the gang. His mother tries to keep him on the law-abiding path, but John’s ties to the gang are deep. John soon figures out the burdens of this lifestyle and must make a choice on whether he will stay the course of his father, or adhere to the wishes of his mother. Primo’s words serve as both advice and caution as John makes this decision. Primo warns that there are no favorites in this life, only business.

Low Down has a fantastic cast for a low-budget film including John Hawkes, Elle Fanning, Glenn Close, Flea, Taryn Manning, Tim Daly, Billy Drago, Rain Pheonix, Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage, and Burn Gorman (the last three are alumni of Game of Thrones, which couldn't be farther in tone and content from this movie). It is the true life story of jazz pianist Joe Albany from a book by his daughter, Amy-Jo. The only thing that clearly marks the time period that the film takes place is a brief excerpt of the Watergate hearings in 1974 but has the feel of a time maybe a decade before. That is part of the beauty of a film like this. It is so subtly clued into detail.

Popular opinion and so-called critical opinion often seem to careen off cliffs like lemmings in increasingly unpredictable ways guided by whims and subtle shifts in the proverbial winds. I find myself shocked by things praised and things condemned. Sometimes I feel like a little boy who sees a naked emperor while everyone else is shrieking how much they love the new elegant ensemble. In this case, I'm seeing a lovely presentation while there are many who are whining.

by Dustin P. Anderson

This DVD contains some of the scariest episodes of classic Nickelodeon animated TV shows. Hey Arnold! follows a young boy living in a city trying to deal with the day-to-day troubles an elementary-grade child would be dealing with. The Angry Beavers is about a sibling duo of beavers; the cool, sophisticated Norbert and his hyperactive brother Daggit. Ahhh! Real Monsters tells us the story of monsters going through “Scare School” (this series came way before Monsters University) under the strict thumb of The Grumble.

by Dustin P. Anderson

Honoring the memory of her husband, Addison Davenport sets off to a cabin in the woods with her four friends on the anniversary of his death. The friends go on their road trip, and once at their destination proceed to party. Little do these women know that they are not alone. A killer makes their presence known and starts torturing the girls. This could have been a great homage to classic eighties horror/slasher movies, but the creator couldn’t make a lot of the dialog coherent, nor could he make a meaningful plot. The dialog ranges from all the bad things we hated about the eighties horror scene, to all of the dialog I have grown to hate from newer horror films. It takes the “vulgarity for the sake of being vulgar” shtick from such classics as Friday the Thirteenth and Halloween.

by Dustin P. Anderson

Our story follows Camilla, a young girl living with her family and going to school in Manhattan during the year 1948. Her family is very wealthy and wants for little, but they are experiencing a difficult time in their life right now. Camilla’s mother is having an affair with a French man due to her husband being distant and supposedly uncaring. While going through this difficult time, Camilla is caught in the middle and unsure of what to do. Should she say something to her father or be faithful to her mother? Her friend Louisa tries to help her through this troubling time, but Louisa has troubles of her own.

I consider myself an optimist, so even when something looks bad, I try to look for the good. I searched for 84 long, painful minutes to look for good in Panic 5 Bravo. It’s a tale of four paramedics in an ambulance at the edge of the US/Mexican border that I, sadly, don’t ever give a dang about. There’s Richard, a curmudgeon days away from retiring; Josh, the rich-boy newbie; Bobby, the good-oops no bad- girl, and Alex, the eye-candy –a golden-retriever loving Mexican-American who is getting ready to propose to his girlfriend. Kuno Becker (Alex) also wrote, directed, and starred in the film.

by Dustin P. Anderson

Meet Hutch, the once-great golfer, now mediocre golf course owner. Hutch has been down on his luck ever since failing to impress at the Pro Tour and now owns a mediocre golf course (or really bad golf course, depending on who you ask). Hutch has also been hitting the bottle since his life started on a downward spiral, and this drinking leads him to put a golf club into someone’s car window. The golf club incident leads him to serving time on community service, where he will try to teach a team of underprivileged children how to play golf. Some kids don’t have the means to golf in the areas where they live; some of the kids don’t have parents that understand their craving to play it.