Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 29th, 2010
My dad was an ex-Vietnam officer, 1st lieutenant in the United States Army. He gave a lot for his country but never forced me towards any military service. He wanted me to focus more on my studies and make sure I got a proper education. I don’t think I could comprehend what my father or any military personnel in a war situation goes through. However, with the dramatization in Brothers, I can see on some level the horror that some of our fine soldiers have to live with.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 19th, 2010
It seems like yesterday, but about a year ago; my cat of 14 years had died. Her name was Burns. She had survived through my college years and the worst period in my life during my 20’s. Sarah had come into my life at that point and I guess my cat finally realized she could let go. Burns was always a loyal companion and there to bring me up when I needed it. I never had a better pet than her, and I probably never will. Hachi, A Dog’s Tale is another story about a faithful animal, adapted from a Japanese true story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 17th, 2010
"There's two kinds of people in this world when you boil it all down. You've got your talkers and you've got your doers. Most people are just talkers. All they got is talk. But, when all is said and done, it's the doers who change the world. And, when they do that, they change us. And, that's why we never forget them."
And while The Boondock Saints never did bring in box office gold (heck, it didn't even bring in Box Office aluminum) like the characters in the film, they were not forgotten.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 17th, 2010
While Scarecrow And Mrs. King first aired in 1983, this show is really one of the last of the 1970's crime dramas. It was an early attempt to bring in more of the female audiences that seemed reluctant to join the popular detective shows of the era. While not really a "detective" show (they were spies), it employed a lot of the 1970's conventions. Even the film footage has that distinct style from those days and type of shows. The idea worked, and the series did bring in a sizeable female audience, but it never really caught on with the guy crowd who found it a bit too relationship-heavy
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 16th, 2010
In many ways Barnaby Jones was seen as the Matlock of private Detectives. The title character's age alone gave him a similar, elderly fan-base that sustained the program for eight seasons. As a spin-off from Cannon, producer Quinn Martin offered us yet another protagonist who is designed to be perpetually underestimated (Cannon because of his obesity, and Jones for his age). Buddy Ebsen (who most know best as Jed Clampett from the original Beverly Hillbillies) is Barnaby Jones, who is always accepting a cold glass of milk over a hard drink, and always asking “a lot of questions” to catch the bad guy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 11th, 2010
The fourth season of Matlock brought more of the same. If you’re a fan, that’s very good news indeed. What is that, you ask? Imagine Sheriff Andy Taylor older and now an attorney, and you pretty much have the setup for Matlock. Forget for a second that both characters were played by Andy Griffith. That’s not all they have in common. Matlock is every bit the “southern gentleman” that Taylor was. He might be a little smarter, but he walks and talks like Andy Taylor.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 11th, 2010
The concept would appear to be slightly misplaced on ABC’s Family Network. The prerequisite underage drinking and promiscuous sexual lives don’t appear to be the best “family” entertainment. We don’t get even halfway through the pilot episode before we’re already charting those waters. To be sure, Greek is no Animal House, and the atmosphere is toned down considerably, but the issues remain, and this is not a show for the kiddies. The story is very much like a soap opera. Casey (Grammer) is a sorority sister for Zeta Beta Zeta, and after two years is a woman on the rise.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 5th, 2010
So here we go with yet another heaping helping of public domain offerings from Infinity. I last looked at their Abbott & Costello package, which concentrated on TV shows and only featured a couple of movies. This Mickey Rooney set is heavily oriented towards the movies. Here's what you get:
Disc 1:
Officer Thirteen (1932)
The Big Chance (1933)
Lost Jungle (1934)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 28th, 2010
In the 2006 hit The Devil Wears Prada there was a single line that summed up Meryl Streep’s pitch-perfect portrayal of icy fashion editor Miranda Priestly: “That’s all.” The real-life inspiration behind the character, Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, has such a commanding presence that even those few words are hardly necessary. Her disapproval is apparent with a single glare.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on February 25th, 2010
Oh how the rich can get into mischief. This DVD set is smack dab in the middle of Dynasty's successful nine season run. The mud slinging, both literal and figurative, was at its height in this fourth season, and no $200 haircut or $1000 outfit was left unruffled by the various scandals and plots set into the web of these wealthy Denver residents. In fact, this season was the one and only time this series won a Golden Globe for best TV Drama.