Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 18th, 2011
Fight Fans welcome. We have for you today in the center of this ring, the story of four young men from different backgrounds but who have all come to fight in the Beatdown. The Beatdown is a place where passion can fuel the desire of the fighters to become the very best. But, there are many obstacles in their way in life and in the ring. What exactly will happen and how many broken bones will take place? Join me in the cage and we shall experience, Never Back Down 2: The Beatdown.
Are you ready?, I said are you ready? Then for the thousands in attendance (or just me and two nervous cats) and the millions (or possibly dozens) watching around the world (okay domestic United States and possibly Canada), let's get ready to go down the cast page and story plotline. We have some interesting characters tonight and there is no way you can follow the action if you don't have a program to go by. Programs are sold at the door and are available at www.donttakethisseriously.com.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 16th, 2011
Grey's Anatomy had one heck of a year in its seventh season. The season begins with the aftermath of the shooting in the hospital that closed out the previous year. It's taken a toll, particularly on Dr. Webber who is catching a ton of heat for the incident. But it isn't that story arc that dominated the talk of the 2010-11 season over at ABC. It was the long anticipated and critically acclaimed musical episode that stole the spotlight this year.
Buffy did it years ago, and it turned out to be quite an entertaining event. More recently Scrubs took a stab, pun intended, at the idea with more mixed results. Grey’s ended up taking one of the show's most emotional stories and putting it to music. Callie, played by Sara Ramirez, is in a terrible accident, and in her delusional-unconscious state she sees the events around her as a musical production. The entire cast gets to sing, and the results are surprisingly good. It doesn't hurt that this was a well-written episode, indeed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 15th, 2011
"It is with profound praise and gratitude that I welcome you new police officers, proud that you have answered the call to service and today join the ranks of New York's finest."
Guess who else answered the call. Tom Selleck has traded in his bright fire-engine-red Ferrari and Hawaiian sun and surf for a desk job at the New York Police Department. And oh, what a desk job it is. CBS has scored a homerun with its freshmen drama series Blue Bloods. It might just have been the best new show of the 2010-11 season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 14th, 2011
"Within the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit are rapid response teams known as RED CELLS. These nontraditional teams operate outside the bureaucracy of and report solely to the Director of the FBI. "
It started as a back-door pilot last year on an April episode of Criminal Minds called The Flight. We are introduced to the Red Cell Team. The team is headed by one Sam Cooper, played by Forest Whitaker. Sam's talent is that he can really get inside of a killer's head. He has a kind of empathy for the killer and can easily put himself in the killer's shoes. Of course, it takes a mental toll, and he suffers for the skill. Don't confuse empathy for feeling sorry for the killer. Michael Kelly plays his right-hand man John Sims, or as he's affectionately called, Prophet. He's an ex-con who has received a full pardon for his crimes. He dedicated himself to using his insightful abilities to predict behavior for the good guys. Next up is Gina LaSalle, played by Beau Garrett. She's the heart of the team and the brains. Matt Ryan plays Mick Rawson who is an ex-military sharpshooter and one of the coolest behind a long-range rifle. The weak link of the group was not actually in the back-door pilot. Irritating as hell Janeane Garofalo might have single-handedly brought the promising show to its knees and off the schedule after a mere 13 episodes. She plays Beth Griffith, who is just as bleeding-heart and outspoken as the actress who plays her. She's been fired from unit to unit only to settle on this squad. It's obvious that someone on the crew is a huge fan of this idiot and decided she'd make a wonderful addition to the team. They figured we'd love watching her abrasive personality and thin acting skills on a weekly basis. Yeah, how's that working out for ya?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 8th, 2011
"A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another, the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one other, it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 8th, 2011
"Every story has a beginning, but ours doesn't start the way you might think. Sure, it begins on a street that looks like most and with a family that was, for the most part, normal...ordinary."
Superheroes are big business these days. I'm not just talking the blockbuster tentpole films, either. Television has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence thanks to shows like Heroes. All we've been waiting for was someone to come up with a fresh take on the whole thing. We almost got that with No Ordinary Family. It came close, but you remember what they say about horseshoes and hand grenades. The show had great potential and some rather impressive star power. And, as the man on the box of rice keeps telling us: "With great power comes great responsibility". After watching a full season in just under a week I found that I was underwhelmed more than I was wowed. And to think it all started out so promising...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2011
In many ways Cougar Town appears to be Friends 20 or more years later. It's not just the fact that the former Friends star Courtney Cox heads the call sheet on the new situation comedy. There are a ton of other elements that appear to tie the shows together. Like the old NBC show, the core of this show is a tight group of friends. They have a lot of the same kinds of adventures and conversations as the old gang used to have. The big difference here is that the adventures and the talk come from an older, if not more mature, perspective. They still talk a little too much about sex, except now the characters are in their 40's, so the tone of that conversation has changed up a bit. Call it a 40's version of Friends meets Sex And The City.
I actually hadn't been familiar with the term Cougar until recently. I listen to Minnesota sports radio so that I can keep up with the Vikings even here in Tampa. One of the hosts a year or so ago got in trouble at a club event when he referred to the ladies in the audience as Cougars. He later did a show segment where he was trying to find out from listeners if the term was an insult or not. The audience was divided, so I still don't know if most women in this position consider the term derogatory or not. It basically refers to a woman at least in her 40's who dates men younger than herself. But there does appear to be some controversy over the show's title. Apparently there was a rumor that the series was going to change its name for season 2. I'm not sure if the show's runners had seriously considered the move, but that doesn't stop them from having a blast with the idea. Each episode features a comic remark above the title. The remarks include: "It's okay to watch a show called..." or "Titles are hard".
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2011
"It's a question we all ask ourselves. Do I trust the people who live next door? Will that couple across the street be there when I need them? Can I count on the woman who lives down the block? Yes, good neighbors are people we can rely on. But if we discover our neighbor can't be trusted, then it may be time to move."
What you can count on from the neighbors of Wisteria Lane is another season of secrets, betrayals, and fashionable housewives.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 25th, 2011
The series was previewed in a two-part episode of NCIS entitled Legend. A dead Marine in Washington led to a terrorist cell in LA, where Gibbs and McGee join the LA branch to bring down the bad guys. Here we meet the new characters and get a chance to get comfortable with them. However, by the time the show aired its first episode, there were some pretty major changes for the show already. It's not uncommon, and the Legend episode was really a back-door pilot. The location would be completely scrapped. The show would get new digs in a covert building that appears to be a condemned water plant on the outside. I'm not quite sure why a public agency needed a secret hideout, but there it is. The show retained its high-tech look. They have a Minority Report-style computer system which remained the centerpiece of their operations room.
The show differed in several ways from its sister show. While LA was still a military show, that angle is downplayed here. The atmosphere for the team is more civilian-looking all the way around. There are seldom folks walking around in uniforms. The operations utilize more of the standard surveillance and undercover work. In the back-door pilot, the leader of the group was an agent who had history with Gibbs. Her name was Macy, and she was played by CSI alum Louise Lombard, who was gone when the series premiered in its own right. Later we are told she was killed. There's a lot more street work to be found here. That means car chases and lots of shootouts. The cases often deal with terrorists, so these guys break a lot of the rules. They don't let any silly Constitution stand in their way.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 25th, 2011
“Unlike the rest of us, sex, lies, and scandal never take a vacation. Instead they take the Long Island Expressway and head East to the Hamptons. Some would say summer is their busiest season. Think Park Avenue, but with tennis whites and Bain de Soleil. The players change, but the game remains the same.”
