Posted in: Random Fun, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 30th, 2014
Hill Street Blues is finally out on DVD, and we're celebrating all week long. Yesterday we shared the various awards that the show has earned in its seven years on television. We've also shared a couple of character profiles starting with the Captain and Detective Belker. This time out we're going to talk about two characters who were patrol officer partners for the entire run of the series. What makes them special is that they were killed off in the pilot. What the heck is that about? Read on, my friend.
When the pilot episode ended, Officers Andy Renko (Charles Haid) and Bobby Hill (Michael Warren) were gunned down in a tenement building and left for dead. In the original cut of the episode, dead is exactly what they were. However Charles Haid, who was expecting to have another pilot picked up, was suddenly without a job and came calling to Hill Street Blues asking to report for duty. The Hill character was never completely decided upon, and Michael Warren was up for a return. The pilot was swiftly rewritten with a few minutes of footage reshot, and the rest is history.
Posted in: News and Opinions, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 29th, 2014
Today Shout Factory releases the entire 7-season run of Hill Street Blues. We will be celebrating all week with more character profiles and our full review on Friday.
Until that time, let's look at some of the awards the series won in its 7 years.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on April 22nd, 2014
I have to be honest. Director Richard Shepard probably lost me in the first 10 seconds of Dom Hemingway. I can't help believing that my opinion was shaded a bit as I watched Jude Law as the titular character rambling some nonsensical dialog while having himself "taken care of" by a fellow inmate in prison. It's an image that lives with you long after the scene is done. Surprisingly, I did start to settle in for what looked like a more promising ride than I had first believed. And for about 40 minutes it actually became an almost good film.
Dom Hemingway (Law) is a safecracker who has been in prison for 12 years. He was a loyal crook who didn't roll over on anyone else. Now that he's out, he expects to be rewarded for his loyalty. He also hopes to make it up to his now-adult daughter Evelyn (Clarke). It doesn't look like that's going to be easy. In fact, none of it is going to be easy. Getting new work is hard, because safes have gone electronic since he's been away, and an audition where he bests his privates against a job is handled with absurd cleverness that only backfires.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on April 19th, 2014
There is nothing wrong with your movie screen. Jonathan Glazer controls all that you see and hear. That tiny speck of light you see is just the beginning. The beginning of an experience you will not soon forget. The light appears distant...cold... foreboding. It's coming closer to us, or we are coming closer to it. The distant star grows while you are assaulted with some of the most bizarre sounds you have ever heard. It's somewhat uncomfortable. You squirm in your seat. The light grows; its alien forms finally settles into an unexpected familiar form. Still, it's all rather unsettling. Jonathan Glazer controls more than all you see and hear. For the next two hours he controls your sanity... your very humanity.
Your introduction to Under The Skin explains little. There are some general ideas you'll begin to assemble. You'll figure out rather quickly that Scarlett Johansson is an alien. The characters you'll encounter have no names. Many of them will not speak. After the first sensory experience the film fools you into believing you're back on solid ground. Scarlett Johansson drives about the streets of Scotland talking to strange men. She asks directions and inquires about any family or friends they might have. It doesn't take us long to understand that she's hunting, attempting to separate a single prey from the pack. Before she snares her first victim, we know exactly what she's doing, even if we never understand completely why.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on April 18th, 2014
"Hi, little guys."
There was a time, decades ago when Walt Disney Studios was doing quality documentaries on a pretty regular schedule. Many of them appeared on the television show The Wonderful World Of Disney, and more than a few were released as feature films. And while that tradition has continued somewhat, it's been a while since I was truly impressed by a Disney documentary. That all changes with the release of Bears.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 18th, 2014
Who doesn’t have a soft spot in their heart, if not their DVD collection, for the denizens of Mayberry? They've been with many of us our entire lives. For most of America, The Andy Griffith Show has become the template for any small rural town. The characters stand as prerequisite citizens in any said town. The town drunk, the local barber, the motherly little old lady, and the corner mechanic all look like Otis, Floyd, Aunt Bee, and Goober to most of us now. Griffith himself brought fine qualities to his role of Sheriff Andy Taylor, but this isn't the Mayberry we're talking about. The show ran from 1960 until 1968 when it was still one of the highest rated shows in television history. With almost 250 episodes in the can, it was finally enough for the show's star Andy Griffith. He was ready to turn in his keys and badge and look for something new and interesting to do. CBS, however, was not ready to leave the town of Mayberry. So without its original titular star, Mayberry RFD entered the television landscape in 1968.
Griffith still had a warm feeling for the show and his co-stars, so he agreed to do the first episode of the new series. He was also still the official sheriff and would appear from time to time. The show's new format had already been introduced with the series finale of The Andy Griffith Show. The pilot would be his long-awaited wedding to long-time girl Helen. Even Don Knotts, who had left the series earlier, returned to wish the happy couple well and get Mayberry RFD off to a swinging start. The pilot would also introduce Andy's replacement. Star and head of the Mayberry City Council would be Ken Berry, who would later gain attention as naive Vint on Mama's Family. He played Sam Jones, who also had a young son named Mike. There was an obvious attempt to copy the father-and-son atmosphere between Andy and Opie. The show's opening would have them playing ball in the front yard enjoying father and son time as the original pair did fishing.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2014
Our new friends down at Revolver Entertainment have really hit the target with their new DVD About A Zombie. They've got a documentary crew following that Zombie Apocalypse we've all been hearing about. They've also given us 3 copies of the film on DVD to give away to you guys. Zombie Apocalypse and free stuff! It doesn't get much better than that.
To win just follow these instructions.
Posted in: Random Fun, Release Announcements by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2014
"Would you like to sit down or would you prefer internal bleeding?"
Next on our list is Detective Mick Belker, played by Bruce Weitz. Weitz did such a phenomenal job in the role that he found himself typecast for years after Hill Street ended. On the pilot commentary Bochco tells us that when Weitz went in for auditions he was often asked to growl for them. In a way it's a shame, but can you blame them?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2014
Star Vista and Time Life have put together another six-disc collection of hits from The Carol Burnett Show. It's called Carol's Crack-Ups, and it's another funny selection of episodes from the long-running variety show. While it seems a little like they're rationing these shows out in small sets, it's almost impossible to do it otherwise. After 11 seasons there are just hundreds of shows out there. With these sets, fans can look forward to seeing them again much like they did during the years the show ran.
It's hard to believe that CBS didn't want The Carol Burnett Show. Not only didn't they want it, but they fought hard to keep it from ever happening. It was the result of a five-year contract the actress had with the network. She had been a popular member of The Gary Moore Show, and they wanted to hold on to her services. So they made her an offer she just couldn't refuse. They gave her a not-so-standard five-year contract that gave her the right to activate a special clause at any time in the five years. The clause gave her the right to produce her own variety show, and the network would be obligated to air at least 31 episodes of the show. Carol activated the clause with just one week remaining to do so.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 15th, 2014
I Love Lucy changed the fledgling television industry in the 1950’s. This was a time when network television was less than a decade old. Most folks had never heard of television just 15 years earlier. I Love Lucy defined the concept of a sitcom. The show was driven by the very strong personalities of the cast. Desi Arnaz was considered a charismatic Latin lover by American women. Lucy played the perfect foil and found a mountain of gold to mine in strong physical comedy. So many modern shows owe their roots to this classic that it would be impossible to mention them all here. But television wasn't all that changed. The famous couple had a very public split, and Lucy continued to offer somewhat different versions of the wacky redhead she invented for I Love Lucy.
The first series was The Lucy Show. It was here that she would first team up with Gale Gordon in a series, and the two would share an almost instant chemistry. Lucy played a widowed mother who worked for Gordon's Mr. Mooney at the bank. After six years Desilu had been sold to Paramount, and Lucy found herself no longer owning the series she was in. The answer was simple. End The Lucy Show and slide directly into production on Here's Lucy.
