Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 23rd, 2011
If one were to look at my media collection, one would probably assume in advance that I have a lot of stand-up comedians. On the contrary, I have only a few stand-up discs because I tend to be critical of their replay value. I have the classics such as Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, George Carlin as well as a couple of more recent acts such as Joe Rogan and Lewis Black. However, my curiosity was peaked when I heard about Louis C.K. He has been called the George Carlin of today, a very tall order. Well here is hoping that he lives up to most recent special: Hilarious.
The Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was home to a Louis C.K. performance in April of 2009. For about 79 minutes he entertained a packed house of people with jokes on a variety of topics including the single life, misused words and being a divorced dad with a couple of children. The show did so well that it was even made into movie theaters across the country as a limited engagement. Eventually it found its way into our homes for everybody to enjoy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2011
The Freebie is a festival friendly drama-comedy about Darren (Dax Shepard) and Annie (Katie Aselton) ailing sexual relationship. The film is interested with relationships after they pass the lust stage. How do couples maintain a healthy romantic relationship? Darren and Annie strive for ways to spice up their situation and the idea eventually becomes one night of freedom from each other to explore other options. The film is shot very intimately and the audience will be shocked at the warmth conveyed by direction. The tension explored in this film is not typically deployed in this genre. This film showcases a perspective that could surprise viewers, I know I was.
Both Dax Shepard and Katie Aselton are able to deliver solid performances. I have always been skeptical of Shepard’s acting chops given his track record. However, he delivers a subtle and strong performance. His scenes with Aselton always have naturalistic approach and the direction only amplifies this. The intimacy and warmth in scenes is overwhelming. Aselton also directs and she uses a variety of tight portrait shots to convey emotion. I commend the effort and was surprised at how invested I found myself in the characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2011
Denis Leary and Friends presents: Douchebags and Donuts includes stand up sets from Adam Ferrara, Lenny Clarke, Whitney Cummings and Denis Leary. Also, there are musical performances by The Enablers featuring the Rehab Horns. All proceeds from this event (as well as portions of the DVD sales) went/go to Denis Leary’s charity, The Leary Firefighters Foundation. The support and charitable disposition that Denis Leary has maintained toward firefighting is well documented and it is nice to see his attitude has not changed. I am certain that all of you can guess the material that will be explored in these performances and the majority of you will not be surprised whatsoever. However, there are some laughs throughout.
Denis Leary’s meal ticket throughout his career has been to pull no punches and leave no stone unturned. His material is usually always motivated by his unwavering hatred toward popular culture and his throwback mentality. Leary’s set is his typical abrasive self. A popular theme in stand-up comedy is to have screens on stage to emphasize the comedian’s set and also provide some visual aids to help their performance. Leary has added this to his comedic repertoire and it works well with his material. My only critique with his set is that it can often be redundant. If a particular joke does not go as expected, Leary tends to yell his punch lines louder and I found myself annoyed. Other than that, his set is a standard profanity laced tirade against any and all things in popular culture.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 19th, 2011
When I first started watching the new comedy concert by Kathleen Madigan, I grew somewhat fearful. She was introduced by Lewis Black, who appears to be one of her closest friends. That scared me more than a little. Lewis Black is nothing but an angry old man who preaches tolerance of anyone who agrees with him. If you don't agree with him, you are subject to the most venomous of attacks of hatred I've ever seen from a stand-up. If Kathleen Madigan was going to be a female Lewis Black, this was going to be a long hour, indeed.
I was pleasantly surprised. I suppose I shouldn't have been. It seems the lady has been around the block for over 20 years. Somehow her name has escaped my particular notice. If I had been familiar with her work, I would have known that she doesn't roll anything like Lewis Black. Darth Vader, he rolls more like Lewis Black. Check that. Vader did have a couple of lucid moments where he wasn't pure evil. No one rolls like Lewis Black.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2011
Written by Diane Tillis
When I first heard about Hot in Cleveland, I thought the show would be a modern remake of The Golden Girls. Both shows have four older, single women, living under one roof, as they try to survive each day with a little bit of humor. Before watching the show, I was worried that Hot in Cleveland would appear to be a hasty decision by TV Land because they wanted to jump on the Betty White bandwagon. However, I truly enjoyed the first season more than I thought I would. Hot in Cleveland is not a rip-off of The Golden Girls. While they have many similarities, they also have more differences.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2011
Written by Diane Tillis
You know him from Baywatch, Knight Rider, and America’s Got Talent. After nearly four decades in the entertainment business, David Hasselhoff created quite a name for his career as a pop icon. Now at a point in his dwindling career, Hasselhoff takes the plunge to be the center of attention at a Comedy Central Roast production. The man of a thousand voices, Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), hosts the production.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 18th, 2011
A young dreamer named Power is fired from his mining job just before his union-leader father instigates a strike. Wishing he could be a drummer, but never getting the chance to play an actual kit, Power does not know what to do with his constant ambitions that make him air-drum 24/7. Fate steps in and he discovers an underground movement of air-drumming that all leads to a major event in New York city where he will have a chance to face off against a billionaire country-music star, who just so happens to be the son of the evil Copper Mine owner who is treating his Union friends, and family, so unfairly.
This film does spend a good chunk of time riding on the one-note quirkiness of its man child lead character and his oddball dreams of air-drumming, and does not get saved by the token love interest or ethnically broad supporting characters. But this film does find moments where it moves past the potential to be another rehashed, super-quirky Napolean Dynamite clone (though it strays close). It clings tightly to the RUSH worship of other contemporary comedies such as I Love You Man into rides it into a sentimental and surprisingly moving story about spirit. This almost exclusively occurs in the third act so the audience will have to hold tight until then.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 11th, 2011
Most of you watched in horror as we went through our first round of the trilogy of terror. Round 2 in this Romantic terror-thon is coming right up. In this chapter, we explore two godparents who get thrown together after a baby devours her parents whole. Scared yet? No. How about the parents were thrown into Hell to act as Oprah’s personal foot massagers and the couple of Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel have to pick up the pieces? There we go. Let’s explore this mess shall we?
It is the year 2007. I was starting a new relationship. AHHHHHHHHHH. Oh wait, that’s not supposed to be scary but apparently it was for Holly Berenson (played by Katherine Heigl) and Eric Messer (played by Josh Duhamel). They go on a first date and everything goes horribly wrong. This leads to a disastrous ending where the actual date doesn’t even get started. Why did they even try to go out on the date? Well it had something to do with their best friends.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 11th, 2011
I have to admit that I had not heard about Gabriel Iglesias before I got this Blu-ray concert film in the mail. From the first look at the cover you notice the obvious. Gabriel is a rather rotund comic. For him, it's not a liability at all. Honestly, he's turned it into a cash cow, of sorts. It's a huge, pun intended, part of his routine. In fact, to understand the titles of the release you have to be clued into one of his signature routines. He identifies six levels of obesity. They range from Big, Healthy, Husky, Fluffy, Damn, and the latest level Oh Hell No. As you might guess, Gabriel considers himself in the Fluffy category. Still, for all of his pounds he has quite a bit of energy, and he moves along the stage quite well for his weight. His body and child-like face make him disarming and more than a little bit charming on stage.
Gabriel has a pretty solid repertoire of routines. The show actually starts off slow as he appears to name-drop. He goes endlessly on and on about his encounters with the more famous Paul Rodriquez. Fortunately, the show gets a lot better as soon as he's used up every bit he can ride on that subject. While his bits often cover a lot of the familiar stand-up fodder, he tends to be cleaner than most comedians. He does resort to the occasional toilet joke but doesn't appear to be stuck there. His best material is when he's delivering short rapid-fire bits. When he slows down for a longer story, the funny factor drops considerably.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 11th, 2011
For those who have made it through my prior two reviews of terror by romantic comedy, I salute you. You are certainly stronger and far more resilient than one could ever imagine. But, we always save the best (worst) for last. It is an unspeakable tale of big Hollywood stars, revenge and a great overdose of Disney movie magic. Come in, if you dare and witness the debacle that can only be known as You Again.
We travel back to 2002. Marni Olsen (played by Kristen Bell) is making her part of the video for a high school time capsule. She talks about how she is always picked on and abused by the other children. This leads to an impromptu scene where her arch-nemesis Joanna (played by Odette Yustman) and her friends throw her out of the school. All of this is accomplished while playing We are the Champions and making the loser hand gesture at poor Marni.
![Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/kathleen-madigan-gone-madigan-blu-large.jpg)
![Gabriel Iglesias: I'm Not Fat... I'm Fluffy [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/gabriel-iglesias-im-not-fat-i-large.jpg)
