Disc Audio

"I guess if this is the first you're hearing about it, I know how this must all sound."

Unless you've been in a coma like the lead character of The Walking Dead, you've been hearing a lot about this AMC television series of late. It's no wonder. I'm amazed that it's taken so long to see a zombie television series. The show has incredible visuals. There's a courtyard scene at the beginning of the pilot that is as impressive as anything you've seen in a movie.

If you don’t already know and love the format, you will be inclined – and well advised – to stay far away from Jackass 3. For some oversensitive souls, the sight of adult males getting smacked, slugged, stomped, shocked, slimed, kicked, catapulted and covered with excrement is simply unappealing. I know, sissies, right? But if you relish the notion of seeing men take abuse that makes them moan, bleed and barf, then the third and final (please, Lord) pseudo-documentary in the series is a guaranteed gross-out of a maximum degree. Heck, if you’re lucky, you might even toss your cookies

There have been very few films of this stature that I have not had the chance to see over the years. Even if I don't think I might enjoy a particular movie, there are those titles that have become so well known or a part of the culture that one feels a sense of obligation to take in. For years The Last Tango In Paris was one of those films for me. Thanks to a new Blu-ray release by MGM, I was finally afforded the opportunity.

"This is Fairfax County in the state of Virginia. I was born here. It's peaceful, beautiful, and a long long way from Wyoming; beautiful, too, in its special way. Vast, proud and lonely; it's my country now, Wyoming. But not exactly a peaceful one."

Of course, if it were all that peaceful it wouldn't have made for very compelling television. But The Virginian did make for compelling western drama in a television landscape that was as populated as prairies in those plains with western dramas.

"A child born into a world with helicopters lives in a world where the miraculous is commonplace, a world where doctors swoop down from the sky..."

That's the world of the helicopter. Straight Up: Helicopters In Action was an IMAX feature created by the Smithsonian for the Air And Space Museum IMAX theater. A quick check of the museum's website reveals that the film is no longer part of the schedule. And, while this wasn't one of the bigger name IMAX films to make the circuit, it provides plenty of the exhilarating imagery that has made the format famous.

Monica Guerritore is an unnamed wealthy socialite (all of the characters in the film are unnamed) who catches her husband in flagrante with another woman. To add insult to injury this woman is a TV personality of a sort unknown in North America, but common in France and Italy – an attractive woman whose only job is to let you know what's coming up next – and, rightly or wrongly, can represent, as is the case here, a certain form of empty glamour.

I must admit, I came at The Storm Warriors with very little knowledge of its creators, the Pang brothers, but as someone who appreciates Asian cinema, I felt that I had the sensibilities to enjoy the film.

"Good morning, young Prince."

The forest is alive with the news. It travels from tree to tree, from animal to animal. A new prince has been born, and the creatures of the woods gather to welcome the young fawn. His name is Bambi, and he soon wins the hearts of the entire population of the forest.

"Detroit ain't so bad, in fact it's kind of charming."

Director Benny Boom decided to move the S.W.A.T. franchise away from L.A. and bring it to Detroit. But he's not going to be winning any accolades from the Detroit Chamber of Commerce anytime soon. He openly admits that he picked the city because he was attempting to create an environment with a lot of decay.

William S Burroughs was the third hit of the 1-2-3 combo of Alan Ginsberg's Howl, Jack Kerouac's On the Road, and Burroughs' Naked Lunch which closed out the 50s and defined the so-called “beat generation.” This film documents the significance of Burroughs work as a part of this scene, and the influence he had on artists, musicians, filmmakers, and countless others.