Disc Type

By Chris Cook

For Baby Boomers, Saturdays in the 60’s and early 70’s meant a bowl of cereal, Saturday morning cartoons, and the Banana Splits. Hanna-Barbera Productions gave us these four silly creatures for fun and entertainment. They were an answer to the Monkees. The characters were developed for Hanna-Barbera by brothers Sid and Marty Krofft, who later became famous for H.R. Pufnstuf. Fleegle, Drooper, Bingo and Snorky were whimsical and fun, bordering on psychedelia. The Banana Splits Show lasted 31 episodes but went on to syndication until 1982. Every episode consisted of a “meeting” of the Banana Splits Club. Their brightly colored set was the clubhouse. They would frolic in their harmless, nonsensical fun at their crazy “clubhouse” in the studio as well as out in public. Along with the usual festivities were comedy skits and songs.

"This is going to hurt ... a lot!"

If you are at all familiar with the NCIS franchise, you know that the show tends to follow a bit of a formula. Each spinoff has some unique style aspects, but the episodes tend to be relatively self-contained. That means you can start with Season 5 of NCIS: New Orleans and still be able to appreciate most of what's going on. You'll get to know and understand the characters pretty quickly. The franchise has leaned more toward continuous story arcs of late, and NCIS: New Orleans does that more than the others. So while you could certainly enjoy this release on its own, I still recommend you go back and catch up on the first four seasons just to get caught up and maximize your enjoyment. The good news is that we can help you with that. You don't have to wade through 10 years of Jag, 17 years of NCIS and 9 years of NCIS: L.A., although that might be one heck of a fun binge. Just catch up on the first four seasons of this show and you'll be ready to go. You can check out those reviews here.

In case you missed it, ever since Disney acquired the Star Wars property they have been milking it for all it is worth.  For kids (and some adults), this has been something to be excited about.  I’ve seen some pros as well as cons since the acquisition took place, and really, I don’t know if I’ll fully make up my mind any time soon considering we still have another Star Wars film coming out in December as well as the live action series The Mandalorian coming to the Disney streaming service soon.  I want to be excited, but after seeing The Last Jedi, I’m a bit nervous.  It was a film I was excited about, one helmed by a writer and director I have a lot of respect for, but I hated that film, something I never thought I’d feel towards a franchise that is near and dear to my heart.  I bring all this up because the first season of Star Wars: Resistance is geared towards kids but also takes place during the events of The Last Jedi.  What I can happily say is that despite a shaky start, the first season of Star Wars: Resistance tickled the kid inside me who first fell in love with the series so many years ago.

When the series opens up we meet a young Resistance pilot, Kazuda “Kaz” Xiono (voiced by Christopher Sean) as he is helping pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) get out of a scrap.  Poe is impressed and decides to recruit Kaz to be a spy for the Resistance on the ocean planet Castilon. There Kaz will have to blend in as a mechanic on a refueling station known as the Colossus.  Basically the Colossus is somewhat of a neutral zone where pilots from all over the galaxy can fuel up and enjoy some races.  To be fair, a good portion of the first season is about the pilots and the mechanics on the Colossus; on this planet it seems everyone has the need for speed and claims to be the best pilot in the galaxy.  These storylines in the first portion of the series are hit-or-miss, and to be honest, I was worried where this show was going. After all, we already have seen a Star Wars show with mechanics; was there really a demand for another?

For nine years Blue Bloods has been a staple on CBS, giving Tom Selleck a chance to completely redefine his television career. The once cocky and carefree Magnum P.I. now has established himself as the wise patriarch. It's a transition that a 1970's audience would never have bought. But now he's become a new kind of airwaves icon. The show has also managed to make it through eight years with very little change in the cast, and most of that coming from additions. This season is the first for the show to lose one of the major players and a rather beloved character on the show. Instead of making the season weaker, I think this might well be one of the strongest yet for the series.

Each week there is the traditional case-of-the-week format. The cases get played out pretty much the way a normal cop show might play, and then there is the family dynamic. Cases may cause friction and stress between the family members. Here is where the performances and strong characters make this a very different show from the rest of the police dramas out there. There's just enough of the mythology arc to keep things interesting. The stories are usually standalone, and you will enjoy this slightly different take on the cop show.

When you guys try to destroy the world, it’s just an error in judgement. But when it’s one of us, it’s lock them up and throw away the key.”

For years now, the only thing my daughter has had to talk about is Descendants. I’ve had to endure the movies; I’ve had to buy the memorabilia. She has even had a Descendants-themed birthday party. So, we can go into this review knowing that good or bad, this film was going to have the Nalyce stamp of approval. Bias, I know, but fortunately we can depend on me to go into the film with my eyes open. Of the three films, this is quite possibly my favorite of the franchise, as it speaks real truth, especially the quote above. That line was spoken by one of the film’s newest addition, the King of the Underworld himself, Hades, who is also a significant character for one of the original cast. I also believe that this addition was the franchise’s most successful film, though that success is marred by the tragic demise of a member of the original cast, Cameron Boyce, who plays Carlos. With his passing, this may also mean the end of the franchise that has become a staple of the modern-day Disney Channel.

Lucille Ball was originally a radio personality starring in a popular comedy, My Favorite Husband. It was here that she began to develop the character she would continue to play for decades in television through several shows, all bearing her name in one form or another: I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, and Life With Lucy. See the pattern? Anyone who was a fan of the radio show would instantly recognize the red-haired actress even though they had never actually seen her on the radio. That exaggerated cry was already a staple of her physical comedy, even when she couldn't be seen. She had also toured for many years with her real-life husband Desi Arnaz. When they could not convince a network to film a pilot of a show featuring both of them, they made it on their own dime. CBS was so impressed with the pilot they reimbursed the couple, and in 1951 I Love Lucy hit the airwaves.

Lucy played the character she had already perfected on radio and on the stage. Desi played her husband, a Cuban bandleader who headlined at the Tropicana. Lucy was always trying to find a way to get into Ricky's act. She had no talent, but that never stopped her, usually embarrassing Ricky along the way. The couple lived in an apartment owned by the Mertzes, Fred (Frawley) and Ethel (Vance). They were not only the Ricardos’ landlords but also their closest friends. Ethel would often find herself talked into one of Lucy's crazy schemes. The show also found comedy fodder in Ricky's thick Cuban accent. Sometimes his mispronunciations caused hilarious misunderstandings. William Frawley as Fred had the job of playing straight man most of the time. It was a thankless job, to be sure, but he was perfect at it. He didn't talk as much as the others, but he had some golden moments over the show's very successful six-year run. During that time the series never once fell below number three for the entire year in ratings.

In 1975 a group of guys thought it was a good idea to steal $30 million from the mob. Vault just happens to be the “Hollywood” version of how that heist went down.  This is the kind of story I’m surprised has taken so long to make it to the big screen. While I’m not familiar with the facts on the heist and how it went down, something tells me there we plenty of liberties taken with this film.  Here’s the thing, though; whether the whole story was fiction or a true story, it’s a good idea and should have resulted in a fun heist film.  I’m impressed by how this film took such a good idea and turned it into the snooze-fest that we get here.  Despite having Chazz Palminteri, Don Johnson, and Vincent Pastore making appearances and a running time of 99 minutes, I can’t understand how this manages to feel like an over-bloated missed opportunity.

The film opens up with Deuce (Theo Rossi) and Chucky (Clive Standen) prepping to rob a pawn shop and then arguing in the car about wearing ski masks, Deuce seems to think no one will be able to ID them; Chucky is nervous about cameras and a variety of things going wrong.  The robbery is a mess, but somehow these knuckleheads manage to get away with it. Deuce in the process of the robbery decides to take this moment to flirt with a cashier, and later on when she’s walking home, Deuce pulls up and offers to take her to his house to meet the family and have dinner.  Yeah, we’re talking about a guy who really is that stupid, but we’re supposed to believe he and members of his family are successful thieves.  Seeing Deuce and Chucky working together and how nothing seems to work out for them is filmed as though maybe these guys just have bad luck.  It’s this kind of decision making where the director Tom DiNucci just doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing here.  He treats his heroes like a couple of tough guys trying to make the right moves, when really it’s like watching a two-man take on The Three Stooges.