Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 25th, 2012
My wife Sarah is not a normal bird, I have deeply accepted this. To be honest, if she was anything resembling normal, I probably would not be madly in love with her. But with her quirky ways, I am to a point where I know her likes and dislikes. Every once in a while, she does throw me off, especially when it comes to which cartoons she likes to watch. One of her favorite cartoons that she likes to watch goes by the name of Rocko’s Modern Life. It just so happens that today’s review goes over the second season. Let us see what it has to offer.
Since this site was not able to review the first season (which is only eleven and a half bucks at Amazon currently), I figured I would go over the characters and the show’s premise before diving into a few episodes. There are basically 3 major characters, 2 large supporting characters and then a whole boatload of characters that show up here and there.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2012
"The 2nd World War's violent, disturbing images have been constantly replayed for decades. Sometimes it seems there is little we can see that we haven't seen before. But buried in archives and tucked away in private collections an astonishing set of 3D films and photographs with the power to erase time and transcend space will now be seen for the first time in nearly 70 years."
I know what you're thinking. Like the above prologue says, it hardly seems like we can get anything new out of footage from World War II. There have been countless of specials and serials to the point of overload for many. Yet, History Channel has found ways to bring cutting edge technology to these old themes, and somehow they find new ways to intrigue us. Historians are living in a veritable new age of discovery. The boom began when footage was cleaned, restored and mastered in high definition. History was there every step of the way and delivered the goods in WWII in HD. But, they haven't stopped there. 3D has been trending lately, and now we have this documentary which delivers stunning 3D images from 70 years ago. What will be the next step?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2012
It sounds like nothing new. Hard-boiled detective uses computers and other forms of technology to solve cases. It isn’t anything new, except the detective in question is Joe Mannix, and the series started in 1967. The computer that Mannix used took up an entire room and was queried using cardboard punch cards. This wasn’t science fiction. We’re not talking some newly discovered Irwin Allen series. Mannix didn’t go after aliens or robots. This was a down-to-earth gritty detective show. Mike Connors played the tough-as-nails detective. He was perfect for the part and blended into the role seamlessly for eight years.
The show was created by the team of Link and Levinson, who later gave us the detective in the rumpled raincoat, Columbo. It was groundbreaking in so many areas. While it might not be remembered today as one of the top detective shows, there can be no argument about the impact Mannix had on the genre. A decade later one of my favorite television detectives, Jim Rockford, would borrow rather heavily from Mannix. Like Rockford, Mannix was getting beat up a lot. They both had the same sense of style, wearing rather ugly sport jackets. Neither was afraid to bend the rules, or the law, when necessary. Again like Rockford, Mannix often falls for the wrong girl at the wrong time. Mannix was good with a gun and equally adept with his fists. The show received a ton of controversy from the start for the amount of violence it employed. Tame by today’s standards, Mannix was quite aggressive for its time. The joke was that the show’s producers mandated a fight or car chase every 15 minutes whether it was needed or not. I’m sure that wasn’t true, but nonetheless the show opened the floodgates for the detective shows that followed. In this first season, Mannix worked for the enigmatic detective agency, Intertect. They supplied him with the latest in modern technology and with his cases. His main company contact was Lou Wickersham, played by Joseph Campanella. Now Mannix is on his own and begins to resemble more and more these detectives that would eventually follow in his tire tracks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 23rd, 2012
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table has always been an interesting subject for me to research and learn about. It is a story of chivalry, adventure, and fantasy. It has great characters and even though it is hard to pinpoint an actual person in history that this legend could be assigned to, nobody can neglect the impact it has had on English culture. The History Channel decided to give us a collection of specials on the subject entitled: King Arthur and Medieval Britain
There are five specials included in this 2 disc package. They are basically programs that aired on the History Channel or A&E from the last 15 years on the subject of either King Arthur or Britain during this time period. The time period they are discussing is primarily 5th-6th century A.D. and it spreads to roughly 12th century where a lot of this material was written down by various authors.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 23rd, 2012
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table has always been an interesting subject for me to research and learn about. It is a story of chivalry, adventure, and fantasy. It has great characters and even though it is hard to pinpoint an actual person in history that this legend could be assigned to, nobody can neglect the impact it has had on English culture. The History Channel decided to give us a collection of specials on the subject entitled: King Arthur and Medieval Britain
There are five specials included in this 2 disc package. They are basically programs that aired on the History Channel or A&E from the last 15 years on the subject of either King Arthur or Britain during this time period. The time period they are discussing is primarily 5th-6th century A.D. and it spreads to roughly 12th century where a lot of this material was written down by various authors.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 20th, 2012
The Paranormal Activity franchise steps back in time for this third entry, revealing how and why sisters Katie and Kristi come to suffer demonic assaults later in life. We are back in 1988. The blended family of mother Julie (Lauren Bittner), daughters Katie (Chloe Csengery) and Kristi (Jessica Tyler Brown) and stepfather Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith) are settling in to life together when the first odd things start happening.
Wedding video producer Dennis is the first to suspect the outright paranormal, and sets up cameras upstairs and down to capture events. Ominously, little Kristi has an imaginary friend, Toby, who, in proper Captain Howdy style, reveals himself to be all too real. What is he saying to Kristi? What does he want of her? Answers are forthcoming, and they are not reassuring.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 20th, 2012
"As you know, in less than two hours liquor will be declared illegal by decree of the distinguished gentlemen of our nation's Congress. To those beautiful, ignorant bastards. Rest assured that, dry though the country may be, I am in the midst of concluding arrangements that will keep Atlantic City wet..."
Lately, you might have heard a lot of folks talking about getting home for a little Nucky. Well... it's not what you think. They're talking about Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi on HBO's latest gangland series, Boardwalk Empire.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 20th, 2012
"Goooood morning, Vietnam! Hey, this is not a test! This is rock and roll! Time to rock it from the Delta to the D.M.Z.!"
Since his early days on Mork and Mindy, Robin Williams has been in a lot of movies. Some of them are pretty good films. Others are even downright awful. He does have a habit of going over the top. Ask anyone you might meet for their favorite Robin Williams movie and the answers will most certainly differ. Still, two things are pretty certain.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2012
Written by Joe Gause
Where to begin? I guess I’ll tell you the plot (if you want to call it a plot). The Ghost. (Daniel Baldwin) is a crazy kidnapping murder, who loves young girls. But not hot girls; average, boring girls. (This isn’t my opinion, they state this in the film.) Trying to catch him are two detectives (enter the beyond bad acting). The female detective played by Jessie Metcalfe is something out of a made for TV movie, dressing like a hooker and acting like a middle school drama student. (My apologies if you read this, Jessie, but come on.) Other than Daniel Baldwin, don’t expect to recognize anyone in the cast.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2012
Written by Joe Gause
What can be said about Dead Poets Society that has not been said before? This is what I consider a landmark in filmmaking. Director Peter Weir demonstrated true vision in the film process to deliver what some call an epic cinematic achievement. Combine that with an all-star cast (though many of them were just starting their careers), and it’s a true work of genius.
![Boardwalk Empire: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/boardwalk-empire-the-complete-firs-large.jpg)
![Good Morning, Vietnam (25th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/good-morning-vietnam-25th-anniver-large.jpg)
![Dead Poets Society [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/dead-poets-society-blu-ray-large.jpg)
