Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 7th, 2013
For nine seasons and several TV-movies afterwards, Raymond Burr was Los Angeles based defense attorney Perry Mason. This character's verbal gymnasitcs and uncanny hounding for evidence makes his famous winning streaks seem not just plausible but rather entertaining to behold. His adventures have been well-reviewed by myself and my reviewing compadre Gino on this very site (https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=perry+mason).
The formula (for lack of a better term) of each episode maintains in this first half of the final season. The primary suspect is profiled, caught and examined in the first half of each story. When things do to trial, the true guilty party is found out, often on the witness stand, as Perry’s uncanny winning streak gets the best of those who try to hide the truth from him. Said winning streak might spoil one’s enjoyment of the show since the outcomes can be predicted during the opening titles screen, but the crimes (most often murders) are elaborate enough to maintain interest for the most part. At the same time, I feel it should be noted that the pacing of the show can often be slow. Think of it being a closer relation to Matlock than the sexier modern Legal dramas like The Practice. Not to say that it is better to have attorneys with chiseled jaws or short skirts versus methodical investigation and character development, but you had better prepare yourself for a lot of men in suits standing in one spot speaking their thoughts aloud.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by William O'Donnell on May 15th, 2013
“’Have gun, will travel’ reads the card of a man. A knight without armor in a savage land…”
Those words ended every episode of Have Gun Will Travel, sung by Johnny Western in a time that such words could be sung without irony. Outside of Richard Boone’s black-clad, craggy Rhett-Butler-gone-to-seed gunfighter, that song was all I could really recall about this venerable Western from television’s golden age. Would it, like so many revisited shows from my youth, ultimately disappoint? Or would it hold up fifty years after it was originally broadcast, viewed as it would be by the far more jaded, cynical man I’ve grown into?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by William O'Donnell on May 15th, 2013
“’Have gun, will travel’ reads the card of a man. A knight without armor in a savage land…”
Those words ended every episode of Have Gun Will Travel, sung by Johnny Western in a time that such words could be sung without irony. Outside of Richard Boone’s black-clad, craggy Rhett-Butler-gone-to-seed gunfighter, that song was all I could really recall about this venerable Western from television’s golden age. Would it, like so many revisited shows from my youth, ultimately disappoint? Or would it hold up fifty years after it was originally broadcast, viewed as it would be by the far more jaded, cynical man I’ve grown into?
Posted in: Blog Posts, Random Fun by William O'Donnell on April 24th, 2013
Steve Kostanski, a special effects artist working out of Toronto who has been a part on such productions as Silent Hill: Revelation and the upcoming Pacific Rim, began making the film Manborg as a personal project. It was mostly shot in a garage with his friends and a budget of roughly $1000. Now, much to his surprise, the film has become something of a cult sensation as it screens in theatres all over the world as well as receiving a loaded DVD release in almost every region. I spoke to the Director about the explosion of Manborg fandom worldwide:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on April 11th, 2013
The boogeyman, who goes by the name Pitch Black, is gaining power by turning children's dreams into nightmares. An alliance of fantasy characters, North (Santa Claus), (the Easter) Bunny, Sandman, and Tooth (Fairy), come together to face this opponent. They call themselves Guardians who have sworn to protect all of the world's children. In this adventure they recruit a new member, Jack Frost, who is on his own personal quest of discovery.
Big budget CG animated films are largely excuses to have enormous chase scenes, or other similarly fast pace sequences, which amount to being the equivalent of a guitar solo for computer animators. This film is no exception. At least here the graphics are justified since that we are dealing with characters who are rooted completely in imagination and fantasy. If we want the Easter Bunny to have super-teleporting abilities and to live in a complex network of tunnels that is populated by various sizes of walking eggs...we can imagine it so. If we want to see the Tooth Fairy work out of a floating palace that is teeming with hummingbird style minions...why not make it happen? Every scene is an enormous spectacle. Our main villain and the Sandman both deal with...well..sand particles that each move in their own pattern on the screen...I can only imagine the animators losing their minds over having to choreograph all of them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 27th, 2013
Jersey Shore finally comes to an end. Of course, there are spinoffs and TV specials and TMZ reports and aaaarggh! We're never going to escape them are we?! This is an Uncensored version of the season so instead of 'beeps' we get to hear the versatility of the f-word and other assorted curse words that are flung across rooms and dance floors as these bronzed oddities continue their bitter stalemate against maturity and class.
(Much of what is about to be read is taken directly from my previous review of the last season of Jersey Shore because my feelings have not changed nor has my spite lost it's relevance):
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 25th, 2013
Biblical strongman Samson accomplishes many amazing feats and makes many a powerful enemy along the way. None are able to defeat this champion until his action catch the eye of Delilah, and he becomes the target of her affections. Unbenounced to Samson, Delilah has been tasked to discover the source of his supernatural strength. God granted Samson amazing physical strength, but his heart and mind are weak to the machinations of this sly, deceitful woman and it is only a matter of time before she learns his greatest secret.
Hedey Lamarr's Delilah is a character that we love to hate. Her scheming is fused perfectly into her seductive charms. Meanwhile, Victor Mature is rugged as this Hebrew He-Man. Both play well off of each other although many a time they seem to be treading water with melodramatic dialogue that rallies back and forth and only seems to accomplish extending the run time of the film instead of advancing the plot efficiently.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 18th, 2013
Worlds Away is the tale of a young woman named Mia who happens across a debilitated circus, where she is enchanted by the performance of an Aerialist. Mid-performance, both she and the aerialist are sucked into a parallel universe that is littered with strange, seemingly supernatural circuses. Both are lead from performance to performance in an attempt to escape, or at least find each other.
Each performance we see is taken from a pre-existing Cirque Du Soleil show (most of which a part of their Las Vegas lineup). Only the portions featuring Mia and the aerialist traveling to, through and from them are unique to this film. The story is not new to the Cirque world as I have seen the story of someone brought into the magical/surreal world of amazing acrobats many a time before. The idea is to have the audience identify with that character and share in their awe of these uncanny performers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 19th, 2013
Spongebob Squarepants, the flagship cartoon for Nickelodeon for the last few years, has been churning out DVD specials inbetween releases of complete seasons. Sometimes these are linked by a theme (such as the Halloween DVD I reviewed in October https://upcomingdiscs.com/2012/10/15/31-nights-of-terror-spongebob-squarepants-ghouls-fools/ and this would mean taking episodes from numerous seasons. This particular special mostly contains more recent episodes, all of which have some sort of "extreme" or somewhat violent/action oriented story. 
To avoid some redundancy I'll repost my summary of Spongebob from my previous review:
Spongebob Squarepants is the children’s show that seems geared more for the college-age crowd than toddlers. This is not a revelation in cartoons, but I feel like this particular DVD set emphasizes this fact about Spongebob more than previous DVD releases of this show. The zaniness translates to all ages (just as it has from Tex Avery right through Ren & Stimpy) but this particular assembly of episodes displays some unnerving imagery that younger viewers may not be able to appreciate as much as older ones. Yes, there are subtle jokes spliced in that kid’s will not catch (such as Spongebob’s best friend Patrick explaining that looking at clouds helps to calm his “inner demons”), which is perfectl harmless, but it might be a bit much for someone just entering grade school to see Spongebob’s eyes melt before bursting into a pile of spiders or being infested with the ghosts of snakes. Such imagery, to me, is a testament to how little concern this show for being stricly for youngsters, and how much it wants to be lapped up by that media hungry 14-30 crowd.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 19th, 2013
Chris Hardwick is a card carrying, flag-waving nerd. He is very proud of said nerdiness and has devoted the lion's share of his career expressing this. Probably best known for his various hosting duties, especially for the Nerdist podcasts, Hardwick gets to display his stand-up chops in his first, full-length DVD special and he does not disappoint.
Mandroid (if the title was the first hint) is certainly for the nerds. There are references throughout that may not be fully understood by those who have not been initiated into nerd kingdom. Though if you are a part of said kingdom, Hardwick may well be the leading jester. Also, if you a “nerd” (by nature or by choice) you could set up a pretty nice drinking game for every time he uses a Harry Potter reference..just sayin'...
