Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 4th, 2006
One of the nice things about I Am A Sex Addict is that it is both a comedy and a documentary. I am thrilled that at some point somebody figured out that documentaries can be entertaining as well as informative. Filmmakers have certainly turned the camera on themselves before, but I don't recall seeing one be quite as intimately honest as Zahedi is here. This is a film that is just what the title suggests... an examination of the life of a sexaholic. The document is sometimes funny, but frequently uncomfortable... While the film presents itself as an examination of the view of a heightened sex drive as an addition, it spends much more time illustrating the fact that the subject has the addition than the causes and effects of it. It is a documentary that presents a story without any exposition. The fundamental question of “why?” is never really addressed.
The truly interesting part of this film is not the subject matter, but the way in which the story is told. The filmmaker tells his personal tale through speaking directly to the audience, reenactments, and even some actual photographs and personal archival footage. In one scene, the writer/director/star/autobiographical subject tells of how he cast the role of one of the prostitutes, then compares her casting photo to his on-screen wife and a picture of his actual wife at the time. The subject mater may be a little off-putting, but the execution is really quite unique and interesting.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 3rd, 2006
The second season of USA Network’s The 4400 picks up one year after the events of the four-part season one. This time around, we know the 4400 once-missing people were not returned from alien abduction, but rather from the future.
That revelation aside, this series is still chock full of mystery. What is the nature of the fate the 4400 are meant to save us from? How were they selected? What impact will their return continue to have on the collective future of humankind? Will the government’s role be one of interference, or protection? And if protection, of the 4400 from the rest of the population, or vice-versa?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 1st, 2006
Synopsis
As one who has a brother that is (or was) a bit of a Stephen King fanatic and loves goofy King adaptations like Pet Cemetery, I’d never seen The Dead Zone, and I’m a Christopher Walken (True Romance) fan. I’m also a David Cronenberg (Dead Ringers) fan. And now that I’ve finally seen The Dead Zone, I can consider myself having a fairly complete existence now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 30th, 2006
Synopsis
I can honestly say that a one-hour standup special might result in my shortest review ever, but if that’s how the chips fall this time, so be it. Bob Newhart is certainly not without his admirers, he’s been an established comedic force for decades. He didn’t get his big break until the ‘60s, and parlayed that success into television shows in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and aside from the occasional movie appearance, shows up from time to time with late night talk show hosts that run out of material.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 27th, 2006
Synopsis
Following the success of The Cartoon Network’s entertaining Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, someone decided to include one of the characters from the show as part of a spinoff series. The Brak Show recalls the encounters of the space cat of sorts, as he’s placed in a home with a loving mother and father, sort of in the vein of a Leave it to Beaver scenario.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 25th, 2006
Synopsis
So what we have here is Season 4, Volume 1 – i.e. the first 20 episodes of the season. I’m not sure I’m wild about this new trend to trap us into shelling out our hard-earned dollars into buying TWO box sets per season, but there you have it. None of which is to take away from the actual qualities of the show. Either I’m growing softer in the head with age (an entirely likely event) or the series just keeps growing funnier. Everything here is funny, but some are epically so, forcing you to r...wind (after a bout of painful-to-the-ribs laughter) to confirm that you really saw what you think you did. “Mermaidman & Barnacleboy VI – The Motion Picture” is a case in point. Here SpongeBob and Patrick make a movie with their heroes, and the final result is as concentrated a does of rapid-fire, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it hilarity as I have seen in recent years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 25th, 2006
Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic tells so many stories intertwined into one unique story that one can’t help but be drawn into what we’re viewing. The story involves many different characters including, Javier and Manolo (Benicio Del Toro and Jacob Vargas), newly appointed Presidential Drug Czar Bob Wakefield (Michael Douglas), daughter Caroline (Erika Christensen), Drug Enforcement agents Castro (Luiz Guzman) and Gordeon (Don Cheadle), drug kingpin Carlos Ayala (Steven Bauer) and his wife (Catherina Zeta-Jones). < ...p>
Traffic deals with the issue of drug trafficking, and drugs in general. Soderbergh presents all the aforementioned characters in this drug world giving each character their own story resulting in each story containing a purpose and a point that makes us get involved. What we eventually learn is that the film isn’t necessarily about drug lords like Carlos Ayala trafficking drugs, but rather trafficking a part that belongs in everyone’s life, as we find out in the film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 21st, 2006
Synopsis
This is it. The finale. The many twists and turns and intricate plotlines of the series finally get wrapped up. If you haven’t been watching the series from the start, much resonance will be lost, but the last season is still comprehensible. For those in the know, this is where many of the stories come to some form of end. The battle between Schillinger and Beecher, for instance, has its final act during a performance of Macbeth, and that is precisely the kind of literate, neat, contrived, ...TT conclusion one would hope for. The series began in an almost realist vein, but before too long there were elements that were almost Twin Peak-sian in their bizarreness that crept in. The title does say it all – this is a kind of demented fairy tale, and what a wild ride it has been. Don’t expect all loose ends to be tidied up, and don’t hope for a lot of happy endings. The finale moments might seem a bit rushed, but they are certainly pretty dramatic.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 19th, 2006
With the possible exception of the Vulcans no race has been given a richer history in Star Trek than the Klingons. We need to forget the drastic change in how these bad guys to allies look. In Enterprise this change is finally explained as a genetic experiment gone bad in an episode conspicuously missing from the set. I’m not sure I can criticize the episode selection, as they were voted on at Startrek.com. Still. I don’t like the over usage of repeats these collection sets are plagued with. It’s not like there are...’t a ton of Klingon episodes to pick from to include repeats like Trials and Tribulations from Deep Space Nine. Worf, perhaps the most recognized Klingon, is certainly one of Trek’s most interesting characters. Michael Dorn has essayed the role brilliantly over the years. Worf has grown throughout his run and Dorn deserves as much credit as the writers on that score. All of the Star Trek runs are represented here.
From Enterprise comes the pilot “Broken Bow” which I assume is included mostly as the first contact between Klingons and Humans. I would rather have seen the two-parter explaining the genetic mishap that changed some of the Klingons to human looking folks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 16th, 2006
Synopsis
Marilyn Burns, Paul Partain, Allen Danziger, Teri McMinn, William Vail and Gunnar Hansen individually may not be that well known. Collectively, many people might confuse them with some group of lawyers or something. But film history has afforded them a higher place in memory past their initial endeavors. You see, back during the middle of a particularly oppressive heat wave in 1973 Texas, this group, directed by a then-fledging auteur in Tobe Hooper, combined to make what is widely regarded as one...of the best films in horror movie fame, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
