William O'Donnell

About William O'Donnell

http://yakandshadow.com/

www.weekthusfar.com www.downeandowte.com www.yakandshadow.com

Posts by William O'Donnell:

I Heart Shakey

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 21st, 2012

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A single father gets a major job offer working in a prestigious Chicago restaurant, but the job requires him to move his entire family from out of their hometown of Toledo. They are set up with a new apartment but their dog, Shakey, is not permitted in the building. This family must then decide whether staying for this swanky job is worth losing a member of the family, or is there any other alternatives to losing Shakey?
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The Love You Save

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 17th, 2012

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A wealthy mother of three has a secret revealed about her past when her well-meaning son brings a homeless man over for dinner. This production is a play that has been filmed (not adapted) with a laugh-track spliced in, making it resemble a television show. It’s meant to be inspirational but it’s really just a big mess.
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We Can’t Go Home Again & Don’t Expect Too Much

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 14th, 2012

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There are two films that are on the main disc; an experimental film by Nicholas Ray and a documentary by Susan Ray about the making of said film. They are perfect companions on this release and I feel one is crucial for the other, therefore I’m going to treat neither as simply a “Bonus.”
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“31 Nights of Terror” Spongebob Squarepants – Ghouls Fools

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 15th, 2012

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There have been numerous DVD releases of Spongebob episodes that are linked together by a theme. Holidays are obvious choices and Halloween is an inevitable choice for any series that has multiple seasons under their belt. As expected as it may be, that does not dampen the loony fun that comes along with Sponebob.
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“31 Nights of Terror” Dora the Explorer – Halloween Parade

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 3rd, 2012

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Dora sets out to teach kids a little English here, and a little Spanish there, as she goes on some Halloween themed adventures; most of which involving costume parades. The formula for each episode (Halloween themed or not) is identical, allowing kids to speak along with the characters, while grating the patience of nearby adults.
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Indiana Jones – The Complete Adventures

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 26th, 2012

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The first word that springs to my mind when considering this box set is “essential.” I try to use that word without all of the marketing baggage that comes with it, conjured up by countless previous DVD releases of other films that have claimed to be “essential.” This set lives up to that term perfectly. Raiders of the Lost Ark alone is an incredibly important film (as my review below explains in a gushing fanboy-ish manner) and the entire series is a must have for any true fan of American cinema. This transfer to Blu Ray is a very successful one, making this the ultimate collection to purchase.

Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (2008)

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 12th, 2012

There is a long line of adaptations of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and here we have a modern re-telling of the classic horror tale. Like the original, Dr. Jekyll is experimenting on a wild potion, but while experimenting on himself a malevolent alter-ego named Mr. Hyde emerges from within him to go on killing sprees.
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Dinosaur Train: Big, Big, Big

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 10th, 2012

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Geared towards pre-schoolers, and their fascination with dinosaurs, this show teaches us about dinosaurs, one at a time, in 10-minute episodes. A group of young dinosaurs, eager to learn, travel on a magical train through time to meet the dinosaur highlighted in their episode.
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NCIS: The Complete Ninth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 2nd, 2012

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This Naval Criminal Investigation Service lead by Agent Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon) continue to sift through suspense filled tales of deviance in the military that takes them from all the way from political offices to the streets to battle villains.
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Jersey Shore – Season Five Uncensored

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 26th, 2012

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The “cast” of Jersey Shore have returned from their adventures in Italy as Season 5 is back to the American location that is the show’s namesake. This means a return to their familiar zones for more partying and more…talking about how they partied.
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VEGA$ – The Third Season Volume 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 16th, 2012

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Dan Tanna is a private investigator whose home-base is on and off the mains strip of Sin City itself, Las Vegas. Every week saw Tanna in some sort of deadly adventure chasing bad guys down with his ’57 Thunderbird, or firing at them with his signature Magnum pistol.
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Winx Club: The Secret of the Lost Kingdom Movie

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 10th, 2012

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A group of teenage faeries are graduating from their Faerie academy, and set off on a grand adventure to stop an evil force from…doing evil in general. Meanwhile, one of the faeries is searching for her birth parents, while the rest are giggling about boy faeries and various colouful, giggle-inducing cute items.
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Gunsmoke – The Sixth Season Volume 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 2nd, 2012

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I’ll say this about a program that has remained consistant in quality for twenty seasons…it makes for challenging reviews. Talking about each season of Gunsmoke is difficult in that you either write briefly to try to avoid redundancies, but might seem too hasty, or you have to labour over each episode, in which case, you’re only going to have hardcore fans paying attention.
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Clue: The Movie (Blu Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 1st, 2012

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Who killed Mr. Boddy? Col. Mustard in the Library with the Wrench? Mrs. White in the Study with the Revolver? Maybe even the butler did it? A talented comedy cast bring the famous board game to life in a slapstick whodunnit where the chuckles mean more than solving the actual mystery.
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The Aggression Scale

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 26th, 2012

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After a family moves into a new home, they are taken hostage by a group of hitmen who are searching for money that has been stolen from a crime-boss. The film’s title, “Aggression Scale,” refers to a psychological evaluation that measures the tendency for an individual to act in aggressive ways that may harm others. This applies to our hero Owen, the son of the family, whose violent/survivalist tendencies are worrisome and detrimental in all situations except this one, where he may be the savior of the family.
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Barbarella (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 13th, 2012

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Taking place in the 41^st century, an astronaut named Barbarella (played by Jane Fonda) has been ordered to search out a missing Earth scientist named Durand Durand. On this mission, she is forced to land on a Planet called Lythion where she must overcome various erotic obstacles in this psychedelic camp classic.
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Demoted

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 12th, 2012

Two sales executives have a rambunctious party at a strip club that inadvertently results in their boss’s death. Though they are not fired, they are demoted to the level of secretaries, while their former cohort, whom they used to pick on relentlessly, is elevated to be their new boss.
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The Collapsed

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 11th, 2012

An undisclosed infection has decimated the world’s population. This film follows a family of four who are trying to survive the fallout of this viral apocalypse by escaping a city via the woods, in search of a rural area they used to live in.
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Jeff Who Lives at Home (Blu Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 7th, 2012

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An aimless slacker named Jeff shambles out of his mother’s basement (where he lives, hence the movie title), tasked with a chore, but is sidetracked by a theory that he is being given signs. What are these “signs” meant to mean? Not even Jeff knows as he runs into his brother and mother along his seemingly random path. The films asks, is said path truly random? Or is he finally on a journey to find true meaning in his life?
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A Thousand Words (Blu Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 18th, 2012

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Take the supernatural comedy of Groundhog Day, merge it with the in-your-face ultra awkwardness of HBO’s comedy Extras, then shave away all that stuff I said about “comedy” and you have this film. Oh yes, this film follows the formula of a Comedy, but has none of the fun implied in such a label.
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Hondo (Blu Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 18th, 2012

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There are countless John Wayne Westerns in existence, but a hearty handful stand out above the rest. Hondo is a part of said handful. The story is a somewhat familiar one; that of a lone gunman seeking redemption by helping out a young woman fight off Indians…it just howls “John Wayne Western.” That being said, there are some standout performances and the portrayal of Native Americans is tad more progressive than what was within Westerns of the previous decade.
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Episodes – The First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 5th, 2012

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A successful writing team, who also happen to be a married couple, are the creators of an award-winning show in the UK that has just completed after four seasons. An American network wishes to create a US version of the show. The couple are flown to LA, put up in a lavish mansion and are introduced to the Hollywood method of creating television…and it nearly destroys them.
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Tosh.O – Hoodies (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 5th, 2012

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YouTube had all but killed off the idea of mailing silly home videos to the likes of America’s Funniest Home Videos. These days, people prefer to stream dozens of videos on their computers and save themselves from the watered down jokes of Bob Saget or current host Tom Bergeron. Tosh.O takes a similar format of displaying such silly videos, but focuses on things that have gone “viral” online. Like AFHV, Tosh.O adds their own commentary and sketches to the presentation but in a much more crass, cable-savvy manner.
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Frida (Blu Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 28th, 2012

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Frida Kahlo’s life was tragic, romantic, epic, and inspiring. This film takes on the immense challenge of telling the story of such a complex life in the time frame of a stand-alone feature film. Frida is about art just as much as it is about an artist. Often stylized, but never unapproachable, Frida is a rare success by the way it managed to capture and display a part of Frida Kahlo’s artistic soul.
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Footloose (2011)

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 13th, 2012

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A tragic accident after an uncannily choreographed dance party in the country leaves a carload of teens dead, and their hometown vows to ban all public displays of dancing and loud music. Big City hunk Ren MacCormack arrives in town to challenge this outlawing of music and dance by…mostly dancing to music.
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