Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 20th, 2009
“Unlike the rest of us, sex, lies, and scandal never take a vacation. Instead they take the Long Island Expressway and head East to the Hamptons. Some would say summer is their busiest season. Think Park Avenue, but with tennis whites and Bain de Soleil. The players change, but the game remains the same.”
And for fans of the series Gossip Girl, the place may have changed at least for the season two premiere, but it’s still the show that’s become somewhat of a guilty pleasure to so many viewers. The show picks up during Summer Break in the Hamptons for our East Enders, but don’t worry. They’re back in their East End familiar surroundings before too long at all. As the opening narrative implies, the game does indeed remain the same.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 20th, 2009
“Take hope from the heart of a man, and you make him a beast or prey. And the beast eats away at you if you’re not careful. The beast will eat it all and you will have nothing and you are nothing.”
Patrick Swayze stars as Charles Barker, an FBI undercover specialist. He handles the deep cover missions, the kind that requires a total commitment to the mission. He’s the kind of agent that knows where the line is so that he knows where to cross it. He’s a grizzled veteran. His new partner is young Agent Ellis Dove, played by Australian actor Travis Fimmel. Ellis is a bit uncomfortable with Barker’s all in approach. Still, he’s a loyal student and will do what it takes to catch the bad guys. The two agents are handled by an agent named simply Conrad. Conrad is played by everyone’s favorite comedy relief from the new Mummy films, Kevin J. O’Connor. He was the cowardly rascal Beni in those first two films. Each episode brings us a special set of circumstances where the FBI feels Barker’s special brand of work ethic might work. Still, the feds are a bit worried about just how far he has gone over that line. They try to get Ellis to snitch on his new partner to no avail. Larry Gilliard, Jr. plays Ray, the persistent internal affairs agent who wants the goods on Barker.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 19th, 2009
I think it started with the writers’ strike and somehow got out of control on this series. None of these sets represent actual seasons, which is why the releases are called chapters. The first two chapters represent the times before and after the strike from the show’s first year. I kind of understand how that might work out. What I don’t quite get is why it is now continuing. This chapter includes the first episode of the second season and stops with the tenth, even though the season actually included 22 episodes, all of them aired before the release of the DVD’s. There doesn’t appear to be any reason to spread out these releases except to capture a couple of extra bucks from the fans. To be fair, there was a five month gap in the episodes where this chapter ends, but it is still considered by every episode guide I could find as all part of the second season. The question for fans has to be, when will they see the other 12 episodes on DVD?
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. She’s dating the rich and handsome Evan (McDorman) and is in line to be the next House president. Her life is about to change when her nerdy brother, Rusty (Zachar) arrives at college. In his hope to experience college life and shed some of his geek reputation, he decides to rush a fraternity and enter Casey’s perfect world. Casey’s other problem is Zeta Beta Zeta’s own new pledge in the form of Rebecca Logan (Vadsaria), the spoiled daughter of a US Senator and rival for Evan’s affections as well as the future House leadership. To further complicate matters, Rusty has pledged Omega Chi Delta, which is led by Casey’s former boyfriend, Cappie (Foster). Most of the episodes deal with the crossover of these various worlds, and there’s a ton of competition not only between the houses but the characters. The show is all about the parties and the rivalries. There’s an interesting enough group of supporting characters, all well cast, which make this series a little more interesting than it really should be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 18th, 2009
Eli Stone is a typical corporate lawyer. He admits to being totally self-involved and greedy, that is until he begins to see and hear things that aren’t really there… or are they? These visions appear to be connected with events unfolding in Stone’s life and seem to be leading him toward a mission of sorts. It could be helping a mother whose child was stricken by a harmful vaccine or helping a convict fight prison abuse. In the pilot, Stone discovers that he has a brain aneurism, which might account for the vivid visions he is experiencing. His mentor, Dr. Chen, has another idea. He believes that Stone is being recruited by God as a prophet to help with the world’s injustices. As viewers we’re never quite certain exactly what to believe. What we know is that, like most prophets, the situation isn’t exactly working out great for Stone’s life. He loses his hot fiancée and most of his coworkers see him as some kind of a kook. Of course, it wouldn’t make good television if these visions didn’t often come at the most inopportune moments. He could be in a meeting with an important firm client or involved in the more intimate activities when he’ll hear strange music or see fire breathing dragons. Because the visions are so realistic, Stone can’t help but react to them, even when he knows they’re not real. This leads to many of the show’s awkward moments, as that gag gets old very quickly. There’s entirely too much office romance here as well.
The show’s true bright spot is a very smart cast. Jonny Lee Miller is actually pretty good in the role. Considering he has to act against a lot of blue screen, he manages to come across quite believable. He doesn’t always do a great job of hiding his own English accent, but I can forgive him that much. Victor Garber is absolutely brilliant as Jordan Wethersby, the firm’s senior partner and his fiancée’s father. I seem to like this guy in every role he’s played, particularly in Alias. His almost deadpan seriousness is a great compliment to the over the top shenanigans that make up the greater part of the show. He’s the anchor that keeps the show “real”. Natasha Henstridge shows less of herself than she did when debuting in Species, but gets to show off her acting chops instead of her body. The body’s a little better, but she does a solid job here as “daddy’s little girl” and Stone’s on again off again romantic interest. James Saito is another huge stand out as Dr. Chen, Stone’s spiritual advisor and mentor. He can be funny and straight all at the same time. Hands down my favorite character here. Sam Jaeger is Matt Dowd, Stone’s office rival. Boston Legal’s Loretta Devine plays Stone’s secretary and provides the comic wisecracks much as she did in the previous show. In fact, isn’t this the same character, Loretta? Honestly this cast might have been better served in a straight courtroom drama with better staying power.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 13th, 2009
Jack Webb invented the modern television police procedural with the creation of Dragnet, first as a radio play and eventually as a successful television series. The series told the tale of a pair of L.A. detectives. There wasn’t any flair or action sequences. No car chases and no gun fights. When Jack Webb turned his attention to the patrol officer, he realized that some of that formula would have to change. But he wouldn’t tweak it very much. There was the occasional gunfire, but it was rare and was never the focus of any given story. Instead Webb concentrated on the actual procedures and duties of the everyday patrol officers, thus the invention of the procedural drama. It was no small step for television audiences and was likely very much responsible for the shape of the young medium and the shows that would follow up to this very day. Now the episodes might seem quite tame by today’s standards, and I don’t doubt that many of you might even get a chuckle at the no nonsense dialog that has become a Jack Webb trademark. Still, you won’t get a truer look behind the curtain than Adam 12. It was a show very much of its time.
Adam 12 debuted on NBC in 1968 and ran until May of 1975. The show never really changed at all for its 7 seasons. It starred Martin Milner as officer Pete Malloy and science fiction genre veteran Kent McCord as officer Jim Reed. They rolled in the black and white that bore the call letters Adam 12. They were headquarted at L.A.’s Rampart precinct, the same area as Jack Webb’s sister show about firefighters and paramedics, Emergency. The two shows shared a rather odd relationship. They did cross over and appeared to exist in the same universe; however, an episode of Emergency once featured a storyline where the paramedics where trying to watch a nail biter climax on Adam 12 only to be called away at the crucial moment. They spent the rest of the day trying to find out what happened. Yet they would meet the characters as real police officers in their own pilot. The firefighters would also appear on an episode of Adam 12. If that’s all rather a little confusing, blame the complicated world of Jack Webb.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 13th, 2009
From the very beginning writer/director Matt Aselton wants to make a statement with his first film, Gigantic. The tiny title letters belying the largesse of the title itself right away appears to be telling you that the film will go against any expectations. It’s a brave independent piece of cinema that exhibits ton of promise and potential that is never fully woven together coherently enough to satisfy even the most art house of audiences. Taking his cues from such iconic directors as Woody Allen, Aselton doesn’t demonstrate the experience or maturity level to take what makes perfect sense in his own mind and translate it so that an outsider can completely understand what he’s trying to say. It’s unfortunate, really, because the film contains some rather clever ideas and certainly a top notch cast. There’s a future in this business for Matt Aselton, but that future isn’t now, and it’s not with Gigantic.
Brian (Dano) works at a high end mattress store called The Sandman. The first real incoherency can be found here in the store. They sell mattresses that are tens of thousands of dollars, but the store is a dirty brick walled loft. The merchandise is certainly not well displayed, and no one who works there seems terribly interested in selling the bedding. Brian is trying to raise money to adopt a Chinese baby. No explanation as to why the young single man wants to do this other than it’s something he’s always wanted to do. Nothing in his personality appears at all consistent with the desire, and his game plan is remarkably nonexistent. He doesn’t have the means or the emotional maturity to take on the task, yet he appears to be making great progress with the adoption procedure.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 13th, 2009
Unable to face life as a lawyer, having been pushed into law school by his father (Tom Hanks), Troy Gable (Colin Hanks, looking uncannily like his father) aspires to become a writer. In order to put food on the table, he becomes the road manager for Buck Howard (John Malkovich), a former big-name mentalist who now works half-empty theatres in towns Troy didn't even know existed. By turns charming and tyrannical, Buck keeps hoping for the big comeback and return to his Tonight Show glory days, and drags Troy along for a bumpy ride down the back roads of show business.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 13th, 2009
This is the story of two Vikings who are mistakingly left behind in Newfoundland in the year 1007. As these two find ways to survive, they encounter Irish monks and Aboriginal people, and these same encounters ultimately lead to rifts in their bond with each other. The beautiful landscapes become a backdrop for a sometimes violent look at the people who discovered North America centuries before Columbus or any other discoverer. Oh, and we also get bad translations of Old Norse, a lot of metal music and a scene of actual defecation.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 13th, 2009
An American Affair is set in the early 1960’s. The John F. Kennedy administration is at the height of its popularity and yet there is still quite a bit of controversy swirling after the Cuban missile crisis. Adam Stafford (Cameron Bright) is a thirteen year old enduring the awkward years of his life when he catches a glimpse of his neighbor across the street. His neighbor is Catherine Caswell (Gretchen Mol) and she eventually hires Adam as her landscaper. Despite the enormous age-gap between Catherine and Adam, a friendship emerges. As the film continues, Caswell’s complicated history begins to return and the two of them become involved in the growing speculation about the JFK administration.
The film manages to deliver some emotion throughout. In a shocking display, Gretchen Mol’s performance is very strong. The vulnerability of her character is portrayed quite well and viewers can understand her. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Cameron Bright. His role is the most crucial in the film and in a most disappointing way becomes the least powerful. Most of his major scenes are forgettable and his performance is flat. The other characters throughout the film do not overly impress. However, everyone plays their character well enough to get by.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 12th, 2009
Nature’s Grave looks like it could have been a made for television movie for The Animal Planet or one of those learning channels. If they were ever thinking of branching out a bit into the nature gone mad type of show, wait a minute. They already have. This one attempts to be a thriller/horror film but doesn’t ever come close to either definition. The wild animals never amount to anything more than an attacking bird or a dead manatee. I’m not sure what a fan of this movie was looking for when he or she came here, but I suspect whatever it was, it was very hard not to be disappointed.
Peter (Caviezel) and Carla (Karvan) are married couple who get on each other’s nerves most of the time. Peter imagines that a long weekend of camping might be just the ticket to get their relationship back on solid footing. He buys about 10 grand of equipment, which only gets his unhappy wife even more angry at him. They pile into the car and head for a remote stretch of beach. In the middle of the night they have trouble finding the place, and if that shouldn’t have been enough to get them to a comfy hotel at least for the night, the sudden attacks by nature should have done the trick. The animal mishaps escalate, and before long they couple aren’t worried so much about their marriage surviving. They have to try and survive with their lives intact.
