Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 2nd, 2012
This Naval Criminal Investigation Service lead by Agent Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon) continue to sift through suspense filled tales of deviance in the military that takes them from all the way from political offices to the streets to battle villains.
Previous seasons of NCIS have been covered on this site, such as this:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 30th, 2012
It’s impossible for me to discuss what I feel didn’t work in Touchback without talking about the movie’s big plot twist. I’m not even sure it’s accurate to refer to it as a “twist” since it comes in the first half hour and is an essential component of the film. On the other hand, the movie’s official plot description is intentionally vague — for the record, the film’s trailer is considerably more forthcoming — and seems designed to conceal a major part of the story. Having considered all that, I’m only issuing a Mild Spoiler Alert.
Touchback is the story of former high school football hero Scott Murphy (Brian Presley), who led his tiny Coldwater High School team to a state championship in 1991. Unfortunately, Scott shattered his leg when he scored the game-winning touchdown, derailing his collegiate and professional football dreams. Twenty years later, he’s a broken man in more ways than one. He has become a disheveled, bitter soybean farmer who is married to Macy (Melanie Lynskey), the compassionate girl who fell in love with him after his injury, and is jealous of Chris (Marc Blucas), his wildly successful former teammate.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 27th, 2012
When you see a cast that includes names like Robert DeNiro and Forest Whitaker, you have justifiable high expectations for a solid experience. Add 50 Cent to the mix and past experience will tell you that not even a teaming of Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino can save the picture. The rapper-turned-actor has certainly found himself cast with enough Academy Award power that the transition should have been more successful than it has been. The fact is that 50 Cent hasn't appeared to have learned anything from rubbing elbows with so many Oscar statues. Freelancers is another example of a bad actor bringing down considerably better talent to a less than mediocre range.
Malo (50 Cent) is a street kid who has had a few scrapes with the law growing up. He's a child of the streets, but he and two of his street friends managed to clean up their lives enough to enter the police academy. Now he's graduated and following in his dead father's footsteps. He's immediately taken under the wing of his father's old partner Captain Joseph Sarcone (DeNiro). Suddenly he skips directly to plainclothes and introduced to his "birthright", a world of elite corrupt cops led by Sarcone.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2012
The show differs in several ways from NCIS or JAG. While LA is still a military show, that angle is downplayed here. The atmosphere for the team is more civilian-looking all the way around. There are seldom folks walking around in uniforms. The operations utilize more of the standard surveillance and undercover work. In the back-door pilot, the leader of the group was an agent who had history with Gibbs. Her name was Macy, and she was played by CSI alum Louise Lombard, who was gone when the series premiered in its own right. Later we are told she was killed. There's a lot more street work to be found here. That means car chases and lots of shootouts. The cases often deal with terrorists, so these guys break a lot of the rules. They don't let any silly Constitution stand in their way.
The role of head honcho went to Linda Hunt as Hetty. You might remember her as one of the prominent judges from The Practice. She plays a character with a rich back story. She appears to have once been a Hollywood costume designer and has plenty of stories about the big celebrities she knew, and hints at sleeping with. She's a strong mother hen for the group, both nurturing and demanding. The lead undercover officer is Callen, played by former Batman sidekick Robin, Chris O'Donnell. He doesn't know his first name, only that it starts with a G. He's a little Jason Bourne. He knows little of his own past but has those mad instincts and ability to think on his feet. He was orphaned and has some security issues. He moves a lot, never staying in one home more than three months. He's a natural undercover with great instincts that allow him to blend into any situation. His partner is Sam Hanna, played by rapper LL Cool J. He's a former Navy Seal with the brains to go with all of that bulk. The team also includes Kensi Bly, played by Daniela Ruah, who was born in the US but spent most of her acting career on Portuguese television shows. She's the prerequisite supermodel that it seems every cop show has to have. Fortunately, she also has solid acting chops. The character is the CSI-styled forensic expert on the team. She's the one who combs the crime scenes for those hidden clues. In season 2 her former partner Nate Getz, played by Peter Cambor, leaves the show. He is replaced by LAPD liaison Marty Deeks, played by Eric Christian Olsen. The two have better chemistry than Kensi had with Nate. There's the expected sexual tension and a lot of banter that keeps the partnership interesting. Eric Beal, played by Barrett Foa, is the tech guy of the group. He does all of that computer hacking that every show does these days. He also has a partner, of sorts. Nell Jones is played by Renee Felice Smith. She's a bright young rising star who has a lot of the same tech knowledge that Eric has.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 20th, 2012
"When I was a child, my father was framed for a crime he didn't commit. Before he died, he left a road map for revenge that led me to the people who destroyed our lives."
Daytime sudsers may be going the way of the dodo and video stores, but the nighttime soap is alive and well. TNT's successful revival of Dallas this past summer reminded us that something old could be new again. However, ABC's excellent Revenge first began scratching our soap opera itch last fall, providing all the deliciously devious drama — including double identities, convenient amnesia, a high-profile murder trial and even a surprise pregnancy — we could ever want on its way to becoming a hit.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 16th, 2012
Dan Tanna is a private investigator whose home-base is on and off the mains strip of Sin City itself, Las Vegas. Every week saw Tanna in some sort of deadly adventure chasing bad guys down with his '57 Thunderbird, or firing at them with his signature Magnum pistol.
Perhaps it was the influence of Las Vegas, that inspired many of the stories in this series to be a bit more over-the-top than a typical crime drama would venture. Sure, CSI and all their kindred programs offer up plenty of silly plots, but not all would go so far as to have stories involving partnerships with psychics, battling body doubles (on more than one occasion), and other outrageous characters. Sometimes this silliness throws a little zest into, what can sometimes be a tired genre. Sometimes though, it simply keeps the audience from fully investing in the characters. Robert Ulrich, who plays Tanna, is largely forgettable in his own series when pitted against these sorts of cartoonish villains, but he comes off as a perfectly acceptable leading man in the end.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 14th, 2012
"Rituals are important. Not just for a serial killer."
One of my favorite rituals happens about this time every year. That's when Paramount releases the latest season of Dexter on Blu-ray and DVD. I don't get Showtime, so it's the only chance I get to get caught up with everyone's favorite serial killer. Dexter's back for more bloody murder and mayhem, and his world is just as dark and creepy as ever.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 7th, 2012
"Life is like jazz, son; never resolves."
Small-scale Christian (or faith-based) films have found modest-yet-passionate audiences in recent years. They also have a reputation among mainstream moviegoers for being overly earnest. Blue Like Jazz — based on the popular 2003 crisis-of-faith best seller by Donald Miller — curiously circumvents that criticism by employing an overly stylish approach and, more importantly, by not billing itself as a "Christian movie."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 4th, 2012
- "It's our duty, this is war."
- "Agreed, but even so let's remember our manners."
You know how Citizen Kane is considered by some to be the greatest film of all time? Well, I'm the kind of curious movie nerd who subsequently wonders which film was atop Kane auteur Orson Welles' personal list. Unfortunately, I can't ask him, but there's evidence suggesting the answer was Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion/Grand Illusion.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 1st, 2012
Like a lot of people in general, I strive to get more bang for my buck. Whether it is in grocery shopping, video games or a pizza buffet, I always want to pay the bare minimum and reap the maximum benefit. Another area this holds true is movies. In my collection, there are double packs, triple features and quadruple showings. Today, it just so happens that we have a triple feature from Mill Creek Entertainment that brings us three thrillers: D.O.A, Playing God and Color of Night. This might be a long night.
D.O.A.
Late one night at a police station, a ragged man, Dexter Cornell (played by Dennis Quaid) stumbles in and proceeds to tell the policeman on duty that a murder has been committed. When the desk cop proceeds to ask who, Dexter simply replies “I was.”. Hence starts a series of flashback events of how Dexter Cornell finds himself dying at the hands of an unknown assailant. In fact, it was just thirty six hours ago when the man was simply teaching writing at a local college.
