Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 3rd, 2006
When did it become mainstream to root for the bad guys? Certainly our pop culture has been propagated with colorful villains since Shakespeare, goons we love to hate or even just love. Still, the rule always seemed to be that the white hats always win and the black hats get what’s coming. Maybe it all took hold with The Sopranos. We all became enamored by this lovable teddy bear of a guy in Tony. We don’t have to spoil it by pointing out he’s a killer, adulterer, and all-star criminal sociopath. The Shield places us ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2006
Note: the following synopsis contains brief spoilers. Only read this first section if you know have happens in season four.
Nominated for 25 Golden Globes and 110 Emmys, including 7 for Outstanding Drama Series, ER has long been one of the best prime-time shows on television. Premiering in September 1994 on NBC, the hour-long hospital drama vividly illustrates the intensity and fast-paced stress endemic to hospital emergency rooms across America. Brought into being by Michael Crichton - famous Hollywoo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 1st, 2006
One of the few positive side-effects of the popular era of reality TV that we live in today is that the desire for the real has also crossed over to film. This has provided an excellent opportunity for documentary filmmakers to get their product seen by a large audience that just a few short years ago would never have taken the time to watch a documentary film. In fact, documentaries have become so mainstream that Murderball is produced in association with MTV Films. While a wheelchair rugby documentary sounds...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 1st, 2006
Synopsis.
Working in the comedy salt mines, looking to break out into the superstardom they so richly deserved, Bob Odenkirk (The Larry Sanders Show) and David Cross (Men In Black) were hard at work doing writing for other shows, including Saturday Night Live, before finding one another. The two worked together, writing for the short-lived Ben Stiller show on Fox in the early 90’s, and a friendship bloomed, along with a working relationship. After doing some nightclub appearances, an ex...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2005
Frasier is, quite simply, the one of best sitcoms of all time. This show proves that the studios don't have to dumb down their product to appeal to a mass audience.(Are you listening, Hollywood?) If the writing is of a great enough caliber, the audience will always rise to meet the material. More shows in this sad era of reality television overkill would do themselves well to follow the lead of this wonderfully funny program.
What Frasier is better at than just about an other film or televisio...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2005
Synopsis
David Carradine headlines yet another Roger Corman-produced action comedy. Here he’s the good seller of moonshine, up against the bad seller of same, who also happens to be the fater of Carradine’s girlfriend (Kate Jackson). Daddy is in bed with the mob, and is cheerfully selling rotgut on the streets (some of which as been fermenting in a tank with a car battery – blechhh). A battle for supremacy ensues, complete with many boat and car chases and plenty of fisticuffs.
Well, it ain...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 29th, 2005
A Dry White Season is a rather faithful adaptation of the critically acclaimed Euzhan Palcy novel. The film attempts to portray the infamous South African policy of apartheid, beginning with a massacre of peaceful demonstrators that occurred in 1976.Perhaps the point could have been made without the disturbing depiction of children being shot in such graphic detail. Such on-screen brutality seems drastic even under today’s less constrictive standards. I’m sure it can, and likely has, been argued that these events require realism, much as the opening salvo of “Saving Private Ryan” has been justified.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2005
John(Owen Wilson) and Jeremy(Vince Vaughn) are divorce mediators faced with the daily struggle of attempting to reconcile fractured partners for long enough to enable them to reach some kind of settlement. But let's not worry about that too much because it’s nearly wedding season, a time when their entire agenda shifts focus. Why? Because John and Jeremy are wedding crashers. We're not talking about anything half-hearted either. These two are professional wedding crashers. They have rules, game-plans, and even fake f...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2005
Note: the following synopsis contains spoilers. Only read this first section if you know have happens in season four.
I shall first give a bit of the background of the show for any readers who are a bit interested in the background of the show. The show debuted in the fall of 1985 during an era of non-violent and very-feel good nature type television shows. Even though a show like Macgyver did follow this standard 80’s television show rule, the show manages to distance itself from the standard cop sh...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 28th, 2005
Synopsis
It would appear that the 1961 Disney film The Parent Trap helped to spur popularity within Disney’s non-animated film section. Films like the Herbie films, and films featuring other stars like Kurt Russell would soon follow several years later. Based on a book by Erich Kastner, and written and directed by David Swift (Eight is Enough, Barney Miller), the film is centered around Sharon and Susie (both played by Hayley Mills, Saved by the Bell, Pollyanna), who are i...
