Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2010
It's hard to believe that one of the most popular comedy shows of the 1950's was not really a show at all, at least not in the way that we think of a television series today. The show began its life in 1951 as a segment on the popular Cavalcade of Stars. At that time only Jackie Gleason and Art Carney starred in their familiar roles. Alice was played by Pert Kelton. The series took its more recognizable look when it became part of The Jackie Gleason Show in 1955. That's also when Joyce Randolph joined the series as Trixie Norton. The series would take up a half hour of the slot. The second half was taken up by a larger variety of pieces, usually a series called Stage Show. The show would come and go, with other cast members coming and going over time. Even Art Carney had left The Jackie Gleason Show at one time, only to return in 1957 to the role. The show's history is a complicated one to which entire books have been devoted over the years. It wasn't until syndication that the series was really a show unto itself. The original 39 episodes were joined with nearly 70 re-edited versions of the other various incarnations of the show have made up what most of us today think of as The Honeymooners. The final original versions of the show ended in 1971; both Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph were gone by then, replaced by Sheila MacRae and Jane Kean respectively.
But this show that wasn't really a show had legs. The syndicated versions became hugely popular, and new generations of fans were being indoctrinated with each new package. The show even survived on pay television at Showtime for a while in the 1990's when the 70 newly-formed "Lost Episodes" first aired. But the fever just never died. The show would influence a large number of series that would follow. Even the animated world of cartoons wasn't safe. The Flintstones would come along and become a prehistoric cartoon show that was basically the same down to the characters. Fred and Barney couldn't have been closer to Ralph and Norton if their names had been the same. Today, comedians constantly recall The Honeymooners and Jackie Gleason as their inspiration. To more than one generation of television viewers, Gleason really was "The Great One".
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2010
Perry Mason did it for lawyers. Marcus Welby did it for doctors. From 1969 to 1976 and beyond Robert Young was the face of the television doctor. The actor was so identified with his part that he dealt with fans and their medical questions his entire life following his portrayal of Marcus Welby. In those days there wasn't a medical doctor on the planet, real or fictional, who was more recognizable than Welby. The show pretty much wrote the book on the television medical drama. It doesn't matter if your a fan of House, ER, Grey's Anatomy, or any of a hundred other medical dramas that have come and gone since that time, each of those shows owes more than a little of it's existence to Marcus Welby, MD.
In the 1950's Robert Young was that model parent in Father Knows Best. It's likely that audiences first fell in love with his wise and caring style. There was something about both the character and in the man himself that just caused America to trust him. It was no surprise that when the Marcus Welby creators were looking for a doctor that could, above all, exhibit those same qualities that Robert Young would get the call. And it didn't matter that Young considered himself retired from show business for the last 6 years. But Marcus Welby was a role he just couldn't turn down. It was another gentle character with wisdom and common sense beyond his years. The Doc was a general practitioner in California. To him his patients were people. He would treat the individual as well as whatever ailment was proving to be the problem. He took the tough cases, often seeing some slight symptom that others would miss. That's because he paid attention to his patients, and they couldn't help but trust him with their lives. More times than not, that trust was rewarded with a full recovery. But, even when Welby couldn't beat a disease or injury, he always added something to the patient’s life. It might be helping them to come to terms with their own mortality. He might heal a family rift. Sometimes he just offered a kind word at just the right time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 10th, 2010
A short time ago I had the unexpected pleasure of watching and then reviewing Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself. I say unexpected, because I was looking for the typical Madea antics and ended up drawn into a compelling gospel musical that was inspirational and entertaining without ever feeling like I was sitting in mass listening to a long homily. Now I've just had the opportunity to see Stan Foster's The Preacher's Kid. There's no doubt that Foster has been inspired by the Black Theater productions of guys like Perry. There appear to be a couple of inside swipes at Perry in the film. I call them swipes, but it's more likely they are loving jabs. I get the impression that Foster is a fan of Perry's and, unfortunately, has tried hard to imitate his style. The result is certainly not a terrible film at all. It's just not a very good one, either.
The plot is based on the biblical parable of The Prodigal Son. In this case it's the Prodigal Daughter. Bishop King (Williams) is a hard taskmaster for the Lord. He has a thriving community congregation that features one of the nation's best gospel choirs. Of course, the choir stars his own daughter Angie (Luckett) as the soloist. They are on their way to a huge competition in New York City, and everyone expects that Angie's going to lead them to the promised land, so to speak. But Angie is getting restless. She has dreams of a recording contract and fame and fortune. She's tired of giving up so much for the Lord and longs for a little Angie time. Her rigorous schedule doesn't even allow time to catch a movie from time to time. She and close friend Marcia (Kelly) sneak away to a club where a has-been recording artist Devlin (Tank) is partying. The girls make his acquaintance, and he is taken with Angie. He invites them to attend a performance of his gospel play called Daddy, Can I Come Home. Angie loves the production and is invited to a diner to eat with the cast and crew, where she loudly declares that she absolutely must be a part of the production. An impromptu audition wins her the part of understudy to the lead. It's her father, the Bishop, who she can't convince. She leaves even after he warns her that he wants nothing to do with her, should she go. Not very Christian, for a Bishop that constantly asks everyone around him: What would Jesus do? Certainly, he wouldn't disown his kin. So Angie goes on the road with the production. She is seduced by player Devlin and quickly falls into the temptations of the road. Before very long, she's drinking, taking drugs, and sleeping with the abusive star. Meanwhile, her church must prepare for the competition without their star singer. Angie soon discovers that the life she coveted isn't all that she hoped it would be. She must endure betrayal and abuse from Devlin while finding her dream of one day singing the lead doesn't look very promising at all. And, like The Prodigal Son of the Bible, Angie wants to go back home.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 10th, 2010
I grew up on Bill Cosby. He was everywhere when I was a kid. Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids were on my television every Saturday morning. My parents had all of his records, and I can remember borrowing them when I finally got a player of my own. I played Chicken Heart so often I think I wore away the grooves on the track. Of course, you youngsters out there have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention grooves and wearing them out. That also means that you remember a very different Bill Cosby show. Most of us think about that huge hit in the 80's. Cosby played a doctor, and he was married to a lawyer and this wealthy family had a ton of kids. The show was an instant hit. But it wasn't the first attempt at situation comedy from Bill Cosby. Back in 1968 he was the star of a very different comedy series on television. It was The Bill Cosby Show.
In this series Cos played Chet Kincaid, a high school gym teacher and athletic coach. It wasn't really a stretch, you see, because The Cos actually studied PE at Temple University with his eye toward just such a possible career. Of course, stardom interfered with those plans, and I don't think anyone has been complaining too much. The series is too eclectic for its own good. While Chet's career should be the focus, many of the episode take him out of the school and place him in oddball situations. Episodes deal with his aunt's will and a missing Abe Lincoln letter, a flood while Chet deals with a neighbor in labor, and Chet leading a group of inner-city kids on a failed attempt to get out and camp in nature. From the start, you can see that Cos is trying to bring a more intimate approach to his comedy, but it usually misses the mark completely. His natural charm and demeanor carry the day, but there's a reason why the series only lasted three seasons. He would hone those skills later to deliver one of the biggest shows in television history.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 10th, 2010
Pulse:
Plenty of Japanese horror films have storylines that vary from the oblique to the opaque. Pulse is no exception, so forgive me if this synopsis is a bit confusing (or confused). An internet website offers visitors the chance to see actual ghosts. Viewing the footage seems to make one vulnerable to an actual visitation, and when someone encounters a ghost, that person withdraws from others, shunning all society, and becomes consumed by loneliness to the point of suicide or something even more bizarre. All of this is slowly being uncovered by two groups of friends, even as the plague of ghostly encounters spreads far and wide.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2010
Robert Kurtzman is known mostly for his exceptional makeup and other special f/x. He's worked with both Freddy and Jason, and he helped to form one of the best f/x houses in the industry. He found considerable cult success with the quirky but exceptional The Rage. Again it is those technical abilities that stand out. So I was a little bit more than curious when I was discovered that his recent film, Deadly Impact, was something quite different from anything I had associated with the name in the past. I was even more drawn to the project when I was told I had an opportunity to interview the man about the movie. Unfortunately, time was limited, and I had not seen the film yet. So, 20th Century Fox sent over a screener of the movie for me to see before the interview with Kurtzman and also the film's star Sean Patrick Flanery. I am reluctant to write reviews from these screeners, so this review was delayed while the studio was sending what we call in the trade “final product”. It just means that the package I finally received was exactly the same that you will find at your favorite retailer. Meanwhile, screeners are often badly- dubbed DVD-R's of the film. It was enough to get me through my interviews, but would the film be good enough that I would really want to watch it all over again in order to write a more detailed review? The answer, to my surprise, was yes.
Why was I surprised? First of all, I really hadn't heard much buzz on the movie. With Flanery's recent success with the Boondock Saints sequel, I expected more industry noise than I was hearing. The movie appeared to be a direct-to-video rush job. It was also directed by a man whose experience and talents haven't usually been in the director's chair. These can all be bad signs for a movie. I guess we get jaded here, because we see so many bombs that fit these categories that it's often hard to stay objective. Still, every now and then a gem pops up in the mud, and it restores that objectivity and your faith in an industry that can really let you down. Deadly Impact is, without a doubt, that gem.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2010
Most people don't know or remember that Andy Griffith had a career before his television classic reached the airwaves. He had a pretty distinctive stand-up routine going for many years that included recordings like most stand-ups of the day. He had quite a famous bit about a country farm boy seeing his very first football game. It was called “I Think They Call It Football”, and it's a priceless classic. Andy also found his way into a couple of movies in the days before he became Sheriff Andy Taylor. One of those movies was No Time For Sergeants. It wasn't a stretch for this country boy, and fans of the rural years of Andy Griffith will find about everything they're looking for here.
Will Stockdale (Griffith) is down on the farm with his Pop enjoying the slow life when they are visited by an officer from the draft board. It appears that Will has been getting draft letters, but his Pop keeps throwing them away. Now Will is considered a draft dodger and is taken away in cuffs to be inducted into the Air Force. Along the way he befriends Ben Whitledge (Adams) who comes from six generations of infantry. His mother has sent a letter asking that the military honor the tradition by giving Ben a transfer to the infantry in the Army. Will, a naive rural boy, just wants to help. So he goes directly to the company leader, Sergeant King (McCormick) and tries to help out his new pal. What he ends up with is the assignment as PLO, Permanent Latrine Orderly, a post Will thinks is intended as an honor. But when the Captain discovers the "honor", he puts King in charge of Will's classification. If Will isn't classified in one week, King will be the next PLO. The film follows the antics of getting Will classified before the three (King, Will, and Ben) are assigned to gunnery training. With Ben and Will on a training flight, their plane ends up in the middle of Yucca Flats during a nuclear test. Presumed dead, the "heroes" are to receive posthumous medals at a gathering in their honor. It's all a nice fitting tribute until the boys show up at their own memorial service.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2010
"Most of the world's population has been wiped out by a virus. Civilization, as we know it, has come to an end. For the few survivors, every day is a fight for life. But sinister forces threaten their future."
Right from the opening credits, you can see that a lot has changed since 1975 and the original series. I'm guessing that my watching them back to back allows for even more dramatic notice of the changes. Everything is cleaner here. The production values are light-years away from what they were. Even the disc menus reflect the higher-tech edge of the 21st century production values. The credits claim that this series is not really based on the original show, but more on Terry Nation's novel. I never read the novel, but it appears there is some truth to that statement. The episode titles no longer have individual titles. They are merely listed as Episode One, Two... and so on. Once you begin to watch the show, you will find that you recognize many of the characters by name and, at times, circumstance, but these are not the same people at all. More on that later.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Gino Sassani on May 5th, 2010
Hey Gang,
We've hit Twitter, now it's Facebook.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on May 5th, 2010
We have a copy of Amelia on Blu-ray to give away. The last winner failed to claim the prize.
You might have entered when we had this one up earlier this year. Here's your second chance to walk away with this unclaimed prize.
We're going to try something different this time. To enter to win you must become a follower on Twitter for us at Upcomingdiscs. Anyone who becomes a follower and is still a follower on June 1st is eligible to win. On June 1st we will randomly pick a winner from our Twitter followers. In the future we'll be giving away prizes for the folks that have followed us the longest.
![Preacher's Kid [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/preachers-kid-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Amelia [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/amelia-blu-ray-large.jpg)
