Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 26th, 2012
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.
Offering up any sort of synopsis of this show would purely consist of something along the lines of: (Person) got drunk and hooked up with (Person) which angered (Person) at a party. (Person) then talked about it endlessly except to go to the gym, tan or drink. Repeat this formula for each episode for all Five Seasons.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 16th, 2012
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.
Perhaps it was the influence of Las Vegas, that inspired many of the stories in this series to be a bit more over-the-top than a typical crime drama would venture. Sure, CSI and all their kindred programs offer up plenty of silly plots, but not all would go so far as to have stories involving partnerships with psychics, battling body doubles (on more than one occasion), and other outrageous characters. Sometimes this silliness throws a little zest into, what can sometimes be a tired genre. Sometimes though, it simply keeps the audience from fully investing in the characters. Robert Ulrich, who plays Tanna, is largely forgettable in his own series when pitted against these sorts of cartoonish villains, but he comes off as a perfectly acceptable leading man in the end.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 10th, 2012
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.
The plot wavers between flighty (pun sort of intended) teen romance, where the faeries focus their magical powers on obtaining cute-boys and cute-animal companions, and a action-fantasy filled with large scale battles with nightmarish monsters, complete with mass destruction of buildings, swordplay and vicious exchanges of energy blasts.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 2nd, 2012
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. Since this website has touched on previous seasons: ( https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=gunsmoke ) I shall opt for the former option, and hope y'all out there catch that I'm not being hasty...but respect a show that warrants no fresh complaints after 6 years a-runnin' thus far.
James Arness’ Marshall Matt Dillon is still the imposing, yet warm, lawman of Dodge. The tales in season 6 are frequntly violent, more violent than I recall in reviewing the previous seasons. This might not be saying a whole lot about a show whose opening credits are entirely comprised of a scene where the star of the show kills1 a man, but there just seemed to be that much more gun play in this season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 1st, 2012
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.
The fun that is had in this film is created by the great ensemble cast, which includes Martin Mull, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, Michael McKean and Tim Curry as the frantic butler. Each character-actor plays off the others superbly well. There is a plethora of performances that vary from the straight-man persona to outright goofball, being employed as the body count rises and the suspicions reach a fever pitch.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 26th, 2012
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.
Many other reviews, including those quoted on the DVD box art, refer to this as a hyper-violent version of Home Alone. This is in reference to the sort of traps the Owen sets out to harm the hitmen. Granted, the climactic final trap does have a couple nods in that direction (with the use of nails and Jacks as booby traps) but Owen's devices are less comical and complex (save for the aforementioned climactic trap) and more brutal and reminiscent of something Rambo might construct. I suppose the comparisons are made less because of the traps, but more the cat-and-mouse game being played between a child and a group of career criminals. Since Owen never speaks, the communication between these two parties is purely through acts of violence upon each other. This bare bones dynamic saves us some groans from any redundant, cheesy banter...which I appreciate.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 13th, 2012
Taking place in the 41st 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.
When it comes to campy productions like this, one does not sniff around for Oscar worthy performances...no...we come to see Jane Fonda stiptease in zero gravity. In fact, throughout this tale, Fonda's Barbarella uses her sexuality as her weapon of choice in the fight against robots, mad scientists, and other extra-terrestrial baddies whom wish nothing more than to see intergalactic angels slaughtered (I swear to you, that was not just me cobbling together random words...all of those things actually happen in this film).
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.
In their new work position, these two lads are humbled into losing their misogynistic ways and turn their pranks into acts of chivalry and gender equality in the workplace. There is also a romantic subplot for each of them, but neither is all that compelling.
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.
Collaborative duo Justin McConnell and Kevin Hutchinson do a fair amount with very little in this film. An amping up of tension helps to replace any large set pieces or dynamic action scenes. Though they are clearly working with a small budget, their minimalist composition does not come off as amateur for they have a nice sense of composition, made clear with their shot choices and editing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 7th, 2012
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?
This film is essentially about people who are dissatisfied about their placement in life and are in need of something drastic to shake them out of it. Jeff, played by Jason Segal, seems to focused on fruitless theories and journeys to ever make something of himself. His brother, played by Ed Helms, suspects his wife of infidelity after she blows up at him over buying a new Porsche without consulting her. Their mother, played by Susan Sarandon, is a widow who has not had excitement in her life since her husband passed on. When an anonymous love note arrives, she takes the chance of discovery who her “admirer” is.
