Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 7th, 2010
"Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend. But I always thought that I'd see you again."
After nearly 40 years since they had worked together, James Taylor and Carole King finally see each other again, at least on stage. The two worked together for about two years from 1970 to 1972. They shared each other's songs and played off and on sharing the same musicians as friends and backup band. The era was an important time for each of these artists. It was the time when they were working on what would become their breakout albums and stardom down the road. For Carole King it was her Tapestry album, and for James Taylor it was Sweet Baby James. Part of the memories they created together was a series of gigs at L.A.'s famed Troubadour Club in 1971. This release finds the duo once again back at the Troubadour Club, only 40 years later, 40 years older, and 40 years wealthier. It's a throwback to an earlier time both for these musicians and the fans that drove them to their inevitable stardom.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2010
“William Banks has saved 257 people from addiction to drugs, sex, and gambling. He’s not a cop. He’s not a superhero. He’s just a man with a calling. This is his story.”
What he is, is Benjamin Bratt, returning from the thespian dead as William Banks, better known to the show’s fans as The Cleaner. Bratt hasn’t been seen much since he left the gig at Law & Order. I almost didn’t recognize him here. But he’s returned in style. The Cleaner has all the characteristics of a police procedural series with a lot more excitement. His methods are often harsh. He’s your worst nightmare of an intervention. When Banks is called in, you haven’t hit rock bottom. Rock bottom has just hit you. The character is a recovering addict himself and does this as a way of making amends. Of course he doesn’t work alone. He’s assembled a kind of Impossible Mission Force-style team that helps with each case. Together they form a private company that a family member can call when they tire of a friend or family member’s addiction. The series was based on the real life story of Warren Boyd, who also acts as one of the show’s producers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2010
"Compulsive Hoarding is a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to acquire and keep things, even if the items are worthless, hazardous, or unsanitary. More than 3 million people are compulsive hoarders. These are two of their stories."
The reality television craze has entered its second generation. In the beginning, shows merely found folks who were willing to put themselves in odd circumstances for the chance to earn some big payday. That first wave included such shows as Big Brother, Fear Factor, and Survivor. These shows quickly evolved, or devolved, depending on your point of view into the relationship game. Instead of cash, these contestants went looking to marry, most often a millionaire. It turns out that Chuck Barris actually invented the reality show in 1965 with The Dating Game and later with The Gong Show. He discovered, way ahead of his time, that we wanted to see real people make complete fools of themselves for love or money. When the writers’ strike hit, these shows became a gold mine to network executives looking to fill prime-time slots. That's when everyone noticed just how cheap these shows were to make.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2010
“This is the PAX Space Laboratory. We were working on an experiment in suspended animation...”
The release of Strange New World on the Warner Archive label is another example of just what a great idea this system from Warner Brothers really is. We're talking about an obscure title here that had zero chance of ever reaching a standard release on any of the available formats. This is where the Archive Collection makes these kinds of cult-favorite shows and films accessible to the fans out there who have long felt forgotten. So, wake up from your long slumber and join me on an unexpected visit to the Strange New World.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2010
Radio Tag and Paramount Home Entertainment has graciously given us 10 copies of The Cleaner: The Final Season on DVD to give away.
To enter to win a copy of this Benjamin Bratt television series, just follow these two steps...
Contest is now closed Winners are: Jim Morton, Shelley, Carol, Dal, David Alexander McDonald, Rachel Ihnen, Ron Miller, Jenifer, Peter, and Jacob LaFountaine.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 28th, 2010
"This is Fairfax County in the state of Virginia. I was born here. It's peaceful, beautiful, and a long long way from Wyoming; beautiful, too in its special way. Vast, proud and lonely; it's my country now, Wyoming. But not exactly a peaceful one."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2010
In June of 1982 I was fishing in a secluded mountaintop lake with my friend Willie Nelson. No, he wasn't the country singer. He was a State College, Pennsylvania DJ. He is a giant kind of fella who stands about 11 feet tall in his socks. It was a Sunday night, June 20th, the night before my birthday, and we decided to spend an all-nighter at the lake fishing. The place was in the middle of a wooded area, and there was nothing around for miles. Just before midnight and my birthday, we both saw something I'm sure we will never forget. I've since lost track of Willie. Last I heard he was living on a boat in L.A. So if you're out there, buddy, drop me a line. What we saw was a series of bright lights in the sky. They were flying extraordinarily close to the ground and moving quite slowly across the sky. What impressed both of us most of all was that they never made a sound. At first we suspected they were individual objects. I remember thinking they might be missiles of some kind. But as they flew overhead, the space between them blocked out the stars. It was a solid object. We went immediately back to the radio station and phoned the FAA, local airport, and whomever else we could think of. It was a hell of a thing. I still don't know what we saw that night, but it still appears vividly to me if I close my eyes. I wrote down the experience as a song for my Invented Memories album, which I will include at the end of the review should you be interested in hearing it.
We're not alone. I don't mean in an extraterrestrial sense. I mean as witnesses to an unidentified flying objects. There have been millions of such reports over the decades. Often these sightings are dismissed as coming from crackpots or just someone desperate for attention. The government has waged a long campaign to discount these sightings as either unreliable or something more explainable like weather balloons or flares. But there have been some very credible witnesses over the years, people you would be hard-pressed to lump into any of the categories I've named. We're talking trained observers with sterling reputations. Together many of us reject these government claims of what we might have witnessed. To those claims we join in unanimously: I Know What I Saw.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 26th, 2010
I've seen a lot of shows come and go on Comedy Central over the years. The network really found gold when it began to air the crude animated adventures of Eric Cartman and his pals of South Park. It appears that ever since that day, the network has been searching high and low, mostly low, to catch that kind of lightening in a bottle again. Let's face it. The South Park boys aren't going to last forever. Comedy Central must certainly understand that someday they'll need another solid anchor for their network. One of the most recent attempts has been the Jeff Dunham Show. From what I've seen of this release, Comedy Central had best keep on looking. Of course, the ratings and the audience have already convinced them of that fact. The show is already gone after only 7 episodes. You can find them all on this single disc release.
From the description, it actually sounded like a pretty good idea. It's certainly an original one. The idea of having a ventriloquist act as the centerpiece for a comedy show really sounded like a great idea. I hadn't really heard of Jeff Dunham before this, so I had no idea what kind of show to expect. I only know I expected to laugh. After the first couple of episodes, I hadn't laughed yet. That's okay. I just have to warm up to the unique series. Give the guy time to settle into the format. Now I've watched all 7 episodes, and I'm still waiting.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2010
"On Robben Island, in Pollsmoor Prison, all of my jailers were Afrikaners. For 27 years I studied them. I learned their language. Read their books, their poetry. I had to know my enemy before I could prevail against them. And we did prevail, did we not?"
Leave it to Clint Eastwood to make even rugby look interesting. Of course, Eastwood himself would correct me and observe that Invictus isn't really about rugby. As the words of Nelson Mandela above suggest, this movie wasn't really about rugby at all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2010
"Evil Is Among Us."
You've got to love a horror film directed and written by a guy named Kevorkian. Johnny Kevorkian is a young director still finding his chops with only a handful of credits to his name thus far. The young talent does have vision, and doesn't go for the obvious. While the film does tend to be a bit heavy on the British sensibilities, you can expect such a thing from an independent low-budget horror film from England. The Disappeared is absolutely derivative of at least 20 films I've seen recently and appears to be substantially influenced by the Asian ghost invasion. Still, there is a style here that might not be terribly original, but it is pretty dang effective, at least on this movie.
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