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Normal Adolescent Behavior: Havoc 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 30th, 2008

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Teens seem to have a lot of angst. They like to have angst regarding what they wear or who they make friends or simply because their hair has a split end. In the middle of their angst, they form groups who share angst. These groups are more pseudo-families where they share experiences and care for each as if they resembled a sibling or a close relative. Enter Normal Adolescent Behavior: Havoc 2 where a group of 6 teenagers form a bond where only the 6 of them exists in each other’s hearts. But would this bond step over the line and create a situation that one or more could not bear to take?
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An Affair to Remember (50th Anniversary Edition)

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 29th, 2008

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Fox re-releases this beloved weepie in a new edition with a number of new extras. Beyond those additions, this version is identical to the one reviewed here previously. Therefore, my deathless prose once again: “On a luxury ocean liner, playboy Cary Grant meets singer Deborah Kerr. Each is involved with someone else, but they fall deeply in love with each other. Upon arriving in New York, they decide to part and, if all goes well, reunite in six months at the top of the Empire State Building, by which time their lives should be in order. If you’ve seen Sleepless in Seattle, you know what happens next. Though this is one the most celebrated weepies ever, I found it curiously uninvolving.
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Saw IV

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2008

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Despite being very thoroughly dead, Jigsaw is up to his old games again. This time, SWAT commander Rigg must race against time to rescue to kidnapped fellow officers. Jigsaw’s messages send him all over town, to one gruesome event after another. Meanwhile, the FBI is also on the case, interrogating the killer’s ex-wife, which means the audience finds out quite a bit more about Jigsaw’s backstory.
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Frasier – The Tenth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 16th, 2008

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So from time to time, I get television shows to review that frankly I don’t really follow. However, my wife does, so she grabbed the tenth season of Frasier from me quicker than a crackhead getting a fix at the methadone clinic. I encourage you to peruse and enjoy her literary stylings.

Bill Maher: The Decider

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 14th, 2008

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Political humor has been around since the dawn of time. Just go look at History of the World Part One. Of course, these days, comedians aren’t getting fed to the lions. In fact, on some occasions they are even invited to the White House. Bill Maher has been doing leftist political comedy for quite some time. I had not watched him on standup in nearly 20 years (One Night Stands) prior to receiving this dvd but I have enjoyed his show Politically Incorrect fairly recently. I honestly hoped that it wouldn’t be all political humor but we shall soon see.
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Shoot ‘Em Up

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 9th, 2008

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Back in the summer of ’89, a popular action flick was calling my name from the shelves of the local video rental store. It was Young Guns, and I’d heard it was wild, gun-toting ride from start to finish. Problem was, I was eight years old and there was no way my folks were going let me see such a violent movie, for fear two hours with Billy the Kid would make me a career criminal.

Boy, have times changed. Granted, Young Guns wasn’t the baddest film on the block 18 years ago, but it was reflective of the then-current action standards. In 2007, we’ve got stuff like Shoot ‘Em Up, a film so over-the-top violent that the tables have turned — I wouldn’t let my parents anywhere near it, for fear they’d have simultaneous, massive myocardial infarctions.

Think you can handle a taste of the old ultraviolence? Read on.

Boy Eats Girl

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 8th, 2008

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Nathan Maguire (David Leon) is having a very bad day. The boneheaded bully at school has it in for him. Jessica (Samantha Mumba), the girl he loves, doesn’t show up for their meeting where he was finally going to declare his feelings, and then he sees her in the car of one of the local studs. Plus he gets soaked in the rain. And just to cap things off, he is accidentally hanged, and his distraught mother performs a voodoo ritual to bring him back from the dead, only the manual was missing a page and he returns as an infectious zombie. Oops.
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The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, Vol. Two – The War Years

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 4th, 2008

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So here we are again with a second collection of episodes from The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles television series. This is the middle of a three volume set and concentrates the stories around World War I and II. It can hardly be a surprise that Young Indy kept himself quite busy during these war years in Europe. He was a pilot, secret agent, and even ballet dancer all for the cause. The set has as an appropriate subtitle: The War Years.
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NCIS – The Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 26th, 2007

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I remember when there was only one Criminal Investigation show and it was in Las Vegas. The buzz was how they could piece together scraps of evidence to form a case against the eventual perpetrator. Now we have ones in Miami, New York and I heard they were pitching one for Sister Mary’s School for Girls. (those nuns are deadly with rulers) However, in the redundant search for DNA and hair follicles; there is one rather unique gem in NCIS or better known as Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The series boasts both dramatic and comedic elements and has to date posted very strong ratings. But how would season four relate to DVD and does the show continue its strong impressive form?

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Frasier – The Tenth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 14th, 2007

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Frasier was another one of those unlikely hits. Frasier started as an intended one-off character on the hugely popular Cheers. Kelsey Grammer made the most out of it, and before long he was one of the regular barflies inhabiting a stool at Sam’s. In Cheers the wit worked because Frasier was so unlike his fellow characters. He was a sophisticated, almost snobbish psychiatrist with a taste for fine art and high class entertainment. Instead of a ballgame, Frasier was more at home at the opera or an art opening.
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Diagnosis Murder – The Third Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 7th, 2007

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Dr. Mark Sloan first appeared in The It Never Entered My Mind episode of Jake And The Fat Man. In that episode Sloan was accused of a murder, and it was up to Jake and Jason to prove his innocence. The character had a certain charm that appeared to carry with audiences, and two years later Sloan had his own show, Diagnosis Murder. Dick Van Dyke did for doctors what his good friend Andy Griffith did for lawyers as Matlock. Both traded on their earlier careers in trademark comedies to reimagine dramatic roles in their twilight years.
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Hudson Hawk (Special Edition)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 5th, 2007

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The movie of Hudson Hawk was often panned by critics who thought the movie was the worst thing since George Bush Sr moved into office. Look where that has got us! Remember kids, bad presidents only birth worse presidents. Anyhow, Hudson Hawk which was billed as an action comedy and was thought of by many as sloppy, over-inflated movie making that took the cream of bad movie making. Was it a turd that sank like the Titanic?(both the movie and the ship) Was it a lemon like XXX? (both the movie and the scent of Vin Diesel’s Mr. Clean head)
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Driftwood

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 1st, 2007

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Who says horror can’t be the cinema of personal expression? Director Tim Sullivan follows up his comic horror 2001 Maniacs with this heartfelt ghost story. Raviv Ullman plays David, a teenager whose depression and death-fixation following the demise of his older brother prompts his desperate parents to ship him off to an “Attitude Adjustment Camp.” Basically a brutal cross between boot camp and prison, this is a private institution (inspired by actual places) designed to transform any insipient Columbine-copycats. Once there, David must contend not only with the sadistic Captain Kennedy (Diamond Dallas Page) who runs the place, but also with visions of a ghost who clearly wants a buried truth revealed.
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Squidbillies Volume One

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 30th, 2007

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I love some Adult Swim. There are some real standouts shown that have fun plots, edgy animation, and a whole lot of outlandish humor. Venture Bros, Robot Chicken and Aqua Teen Hunger Force immediately come to mind. Heck, I’ve even gave smaller shows like The Boondocks and Metalocalypse a try and liked them on some level. So needless to say, I was interested when I received Squidbillies Volume 1. Twenty episodes staring a Georgia-based hick squid family. How bad could it be?
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Hairspray (Shake & Shimmy Edition)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 21st, 2007

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A remake of writer/director John Waters’ 1988 cult hit, Hairspray is an exhuberant movie musical that builds off the smash-hit Broadway production to recreate the excitement on film for a new generation. Whether it’s bigger and better than previous iterations, I can’t say, because this DVD release marks my first Hairspray experience. What I can say is if Waters’ original and the Broadway show are even half as good, they’re definitely worth your time.

If that doesn’t convince you, this Hairspray also presents John Travolta as an obese, middle-aged woman — a transformation that required plenty of make-up and, more importantly, allowed Travolta to finally reveal his true self for all to see.

SpongeBob SquarePants — Atlantis SquarePantis

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 21st, 2007

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This collection of SpongeBob cartoons has a distinct musical theme, underlined by the main offering, “Atlantis SquarePantis,” a 2-part episode that just aired. SpongeBob and friends travel to Atlantis on a song-powered bus (but of course!) and witness the many marvels of the lost city. Their tour guide is Lord Royal Highness (voiced by David Bowie). The action is cheerfully episodic, and many of the song sequences are very funny (one highlight being Sandy’s ditty which occurs with the cast transported into a 1991 video game). The other shorts are pretty fun, too, with the highlight being “Sing a Song of Patrick,” wherein the starfish writes his own pop tune, with hilariously catastrophic results.
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Mission Impossible – The Third TV Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 19th, 2007

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It was in the second year that the format of Mission:Impossible became what we all remember today. By this third year the show was running on all cylinders and full speed ahead. By now the formula was tight, so the audience knew exactly what to expect. They weren’t disappointed. The third year was also a very successful year in the ratings as the show began to come into its own. Mission:Impossible was a companion show to Star Trek. Both were produced at the Desilu Studios and often shared guest stars. If anything changed, it could be said there was a little more action in the third season.
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Vintage Erotica Anno 1960

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 12th, 2007

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After going all the way back to the 20s with the last entry in this series, now Cult Epics gives us a collection from 1960s, a period that marks the beginning of the end for this kind of pornographic short. Theatrical hardcore is just around the corner, and things will never be the same. In the meantime, though, things are remarkably the same. Other than some clothing styles (in those brief moments when clothes are actually on), it’s interesting to note that there is very little to distinguish these twelve entries from those of any other decade, a point driven home by the bonus short from the 1940s, which doesn’t feel very different from the rest of the offerings. Artistically, there is not much going on here (surprise, surprise), but the star rating indicates the fact that, despite this, there is some clear archival value here.
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DuckTales – Volume 3

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2007

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Disney Studios reinvented the afternoon cartoon when they introduced something they called Disney Afternoon. It was the brain child of studio animation head Bob Jacquemin. He saw the potential of taking famous Disney cartoons that were already beloved by millions and spinning them off into regular television cartoons. Not willing to take chances with the studio’s icon, Mickey Mouse, Michael Eisner allowed the Donald Duck universe to serve as the launching pad for this new venture. In 1987 Disney Afternoon and Duck Tales was born.
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TaleSpin, Volume 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2007

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The Jungle Book was a milestone event in the history of Walt Disney’s animation history, so it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that the studio would tap this source for future adventures. The Disney Afternoon series has been a chance for the studio to continue many of the beloved characters. Tailspin was just such a series. The show is set in the Jungle Book world but minus little Mowgli. Now lovable bear Baloo runs an airline service with his new little friend baby bear Kit Cloudkicker.
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Perry Mason – Season Two, Vol. 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2007

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Erle Stanley Gardner wrote crime fiction, and while many of his 100 or so works are unknown to most of us, he created a character that has become as identified with criminal lawyers as any other in fiction. It was in these crime novels that Perry Mason first faced a courtroom. He developed a style where he would investigate these terrible crimes his clients were on trial for. He would find the real killer, and in what has become a Hollywood cliché, reveal his findings in a crucial moment during the trial. While we may not remember the novels, we all remember the man in the persona of Raymond Burr.
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Cutting Class (Unrated Version)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2007

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It’s probably a pretty bad sign when a film’s star makes a public apology to his fans for doing the film just when it is getting released on DVD. Brad Pitt did just that, and you know what? He should be sorry. This film is an absolute mess all the way around. I think it’s supposed to be a slasher film, but there are never any good 1980’s slasher moments to be found. It’s true that at this point in his career Pitt wasn’t exactly being offered the cream of the crop. He wasn’t paling around with George Clooney and friends just yet. So perhaps it’s not Pitt but the folks who made this film who should be apologizing.
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Wings – The Fifth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2007

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Wings was one of those unusual sitcoms that depended more on the characters than the situations they were in. While the setting was a small Nantucket airline owned by two brothers, most of the episodes had very little to do with flying. Rather, the writers populated this small airline with very distinctive personalities and let these interactions be fodder for the funny. The characters were played by more than competent actors, many who have proven themselves beyond this quaint sitcom.
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Gag

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 6th, 2007

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Hmm. A vision of elaborate torture in washed-out tones on the cover. A three-letter title. Gee, could Gag be inspired by Saw? Perhaps, but fortunately not in any slavish way, limiting its connections to the idea of extended torture, and that’s hardly something Saw invented. As opposed to the Saw franchise’s increasingly risible plot convolutions, Gag keeps its setup simple: a pair a burglars break into a house where they first discover a man chained to a bed, and then are captured themselves by the resident nutjob. The ensuing drama is a claustrophobic one, with the main characters trapped in the torture room at the mercy of a lunatic who has a definite, if mysterious, goal.
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Red Road

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 5th, 2007

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A woman scorned is a dangerous thing. They will break you, hurt you and leave you for dead in the most unimaginable ways possible. In fact, it might be best for most men to sleep underneath their covers with a flashlight, a security system and no contact with the outside world. It probably wouldn’t help. So it makes only sense that one would make films that deal with this subject. However, they had to make it believable even if a scorned woman sometimes does the unthinkable.
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