Disc Type

“To all things, there is a purpose. It was the time of judges. The Lord had punished the children of Israel for their sins against him. He had delivered them into the hands of the Philistines.”

The timeframe of Samson and Delilah is around 1075 B.C. Samson, like many characters in the Bible, is chosen by God but is far from perfect. The stories of many characters in the Bible are ones of sinners, and they must always try to overcome their flaws with God’s help and intervention. Samson was given the strength of 100 men and was chosen to deliver the Jewish people from their oppressors, the Philistines. Samson grows up knowing that he was chosen, but he is not ambitious and is somewhat vain and lustful. His general nature is good, and he is often pulled in different directions. Samson’s parents, Mara (Diana Rigg, The Game of Thrones) and Manoach (Paul Freeman, Raiders of the Lost Ark) want to protect their son from the war that is to come. A village girl, Noemi (Jane Arikan) represents those who want to spur Samson to fulfill his destiny. Samson is portrayed by two actors, Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors) as the young Samson and, in greater detail, Eric Thal (The Puppet Masters) as the older Samson.

Dr. Temperance Brennan, or Bones, (Deschanel) is the world's leading bone specialist. She works in Washington, D.C. for the famous Jeffersonian (I assume it's intended to be the Smithsonian). Her talents have proven themselves very helpful in solving crimes where skeletal remains are all that there is to go on from the victim. Her FBI agent/liaison is Seeley Booth (Boreanaz). Together they have an uneasy relationship that grows into a kind of friendship and eventually a marriage with a young daughter. The problem is that Bones doesn't have a ton of social skills. She relies on Booth to guide their social interactions. More on that later. The lab is run by Dr. Camille Saroyan (Taylor), who has become a bit of a guiding mother to the team. Dr. Hodges (Thyne) is the trace-elements expert and tries very hard to be cool and hip. He's generally the opposite of Bones. He says pretty much what comes into his head and is a bit of a science-fiction geek. Angela (Conlin) is an artist who uses her skills to reconstruct facial details from the skulls. She also works on enhancing images and restructuring evidence. She's a bit of a romantic and has probably slept with every male in the lab. But Angela and Hodges are now married with a son. The lab also has a few interns who show up from week to week, likely depending on actor availability. This year we lost Dr. Sweets. Dr. Sweets (Daley) was a young FBI agent and psychologist. He profiled victims and suspects as well as served as a counselor to the team. He was a bit over-eager at times, looking up to Booth as a mentor of sorts. His replacement comes in the form of young and eager FBI Special Agent Aubrey played by show newcomer John Boyd. Aubrey talks like something out of a 1950's gangster movie g-man role. He eats all the time. This 10th season he's trying hard to get Booth and the gang to trust him.

The worst problem is the Bones character herself. She's not likeable at all. She's arrogant to a fault. She always talks about being the best and how she's the natural hero role model for others. But her scientific brain is to the point of cruelty. She has to have non-emotional explanations for everything. She insults with impunity. They also stretch the idea that this highly-educated woman doesn't know any slang or figures of speech. She's always misquoting a popular saying as if she were just learning English. It's too contrived, and the writers reach pretty far for each of those "jokes". Gone now is the sexual tension between Booth and Brennan. Now they are openly together and expecting another little one.

Daniel Tosh is known for his no-holds-barred approach to stand-up comedy. His latest special, People Pleaser, is no exception: He even admits that he makes a living out of saying outrageous things in the middle of this act. Although he is often criticized for delivering racist and misogynistic humor to the young, white male demographic, Tosh gracefully disagrees through this persuasive performance. Having already seen two of his prior specials, I must admit he hit a beautiful stride in his fourth special that I really wasn’t expecting. There is an impressive retention of attitude and abrasiveness, but he added a large amount of metacognition to his act that forces the audience to really think about his performance.

More often than not, Tosh’s sets start with rather offensive jokes, and from there, he barrels his audience further down into a pit of taboo topics and suggestions. I find this style of performance to be extremely tasteful. Not only does he introduce these taboo topics (such as death, homelessness, being pro-choice, feminism, among other “hot” topics) to make fun of them, but he presents them to the audience in a way that they are forced to think about both sides of the argument. However, Tosh’s presentation is extremely juvenile, as always. I would argue that this practice of performing his material from inside the mind of a 17-21 year old male is the reason his material is so polarizing.

"Two can keep a secret as long as one of them is dead."

When it comes to Pretty Little Liars, it seems making the fans crazy is what they do best. The fifth season of the show is out on DVD, and this is no place for beginners. If you don't know who Aria, Spencer, Emily, Hannah, and Alison are, it's time for you to head back to the beginning and catch up. You can find our reviews from those seasons here. For the rest of you, let's talk Pretty Little Liars, shall we?

I am by no means an expert on the Bible. That is why I am always anxious to see filmed representations of the stories, since most of my knowledge comes from other people. It’s always an interesting topic, and so many people have their own interpretations. I think that is the point. I think discussion of the Bible allows people to express their own inner thoughts about their relationship to God. But I long ago gave up on the idea of ever getting a clear picture of the meanings of the stories. There will be plenty of people who will tell you they know all the answers, but I sincerely doubt anyone has any such thing. I previously reviewed Abraham from this series, which was an earlier story in the history of the Jewish and Christian faiths. The reign of King David took place approximately around 1010 to 970 B.C., but this movie also incorporates the reign of Saul who preceded David. The first thing I should say is that these stories are crammed with acts of violence and human weakness.

Two fine actors start this story. Saul (Johnathan Pryce) is searching for some lost sheep and told to go to the wise man and prophet Samuel (Leonard Nimoy). Samuel proclaims that the Lord God has said Saul shall be king. Saul is a humble man who grows more and more gripped by the demands of his power as King. He often breaks God’s commands in the belief that is best for his people. Samuel becomes more and more irate at Saul’s lack of faith in God’s word. Samuel leaves to find the new King who will take Saul’s place. Saul is generally well-intentioned but constantly making decisions against God’s will. I should say that God’s demands are often very violent, calling for the death of every man, woman and child who opposes his people.