Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 6th, 2007
I should have known I was in trouble from the opening credits. The graphics are accompanied by some really cheap sounding synthesizer music. It sounds like they sprung for the $39 Casio. Beyond the crappy sound, the melody, if you can call it that, didn’t fit the western I was unfortunately about to see. Let’s keep this simple, shall we? If you pick this baby up at your local video store, I’m going to advise you to put it down and back away from the shelf. Now you owe me. I gave you back 2 hours of your life you we...e about to piss away on one of the worst films ever released in any format. This is extremely low budget nonsense all the way around. The acting is the absolute worst I’ve ever seen. Even George Kennedy is obviously only there for the paycheck, which couldn’t have been that much. George’s life must really suck these days for him to allow himself to be a part of this farce, even if it was only for five minutes. I think he just passed Conrad Brooks on the “do anything for a screen credit and a few nickels” circuit. He fumbles through his scene in a performance I hope he’d rather forget. If you’re looking for corny lines, bad acting, and incredibly poor editing, this is the film for you. Perhaps it should be required viewing at all film schools as an example of how not to make a film. If you just think I’m full of crap, I dare ya to sit through all 118 minutes of this film. I double dog dare ya.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 6th, 2007
Synopsis
Recently released from a psychiatric institute, but hardly a model of stability, archaeologist Taylor Melnick (Geoffrey Lewis) returns home, still haunted by nasty hallucinations involving his demented mother (Karen Black). Complicating his attempts to function are the people around him, ranging from the alcoholic woman across the street to his shady uncle.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 6th, 2007
Synopsis
Gary Cooper is a writer who hit it big with his first book, but has been mechanically producing more of the same ever since while he and his wife booze it up in New York high society. When his publisher rejects his latest tossed-off effort, Cooper and wife (now dead broke) retreat to his old family home in the country. There he gradually falls in love with the daughter (Anna Sten) of his Polish neighbour. She herself is engaged (unhappily) to another man. The budding relationship is thus fra...ght with many perils.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 6th, 2007
Right off the top, I have to admit I’m a big Scrubs fan. Obviously, this portion of the review will be influenced by that bias, but at least I’m up front about it. Now, this DVD set brings us the ingenious sitcom’s fifth season, which aired in 2006. I didn’t catch any of these 24 episodes on TV, so this release was my first time.
Season five, like all of the previous seasons, picks up at the start of a new year at Sacred Heart. This time around, J.D. (Zach Braff, The Last Kiss) and Elliot (Sar...h Chalke, Roseanne) are full-fledged, attending physicians, while Turk (Donald Faison, Uptown Girls) is vying for one of the hospital’s few surgeon positions. As viewers would expect, the usual gang is still doing its thing, with Dr. Cox ranting, Carla bossing people around, the mysterious Janitor hassling J.D. and Dr. Kelso ruling the place with a nasty fist.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 5th, 2007
What Time Is It? It’s Tool Time! Home Improvement was based on a stand-up routine that made a name for Tim Allen. In his act he would talk about his experiences with power tools and other manly misadventures. He came across as a comedic Bob Vila. Somewhere along the line it was decided this had the makings of a good sitcom for television. It was a rather inspired idea, and for many years it was one of the funnier shows on the tube. I often find myself referring to the show as Tool Time, which in reality is the cabl... handyman show Tim hosts. The reason for this almost constant confusion is simple. It is the Tool Time bits where the show was always at its best. Tim’s rapport with co-host Al Borland (Karn) is always worth a few laughs. Tim lived next door to Wilson (Hindman) who often had long winded words of wisdom when Tim found himself befuddled by life’s complications. As a running gag, we never see Wilson’s face below the nose. Most of the time the privacy fence they spoke over served to cover these areas, but often other well placed items did the job. Tim had a family. His wife, Jill (Richardson) tolerated Tim’s antics, all the while seeing him as an adolescent. The couple had three kids who were quite young as the show began. By season 6 the boys had grown, which demanded more screen and story time. Now there lives have dominated many episodes to the point that Home Improvement became almost a Brady Bunch instead of the more amusing fare it started as. There’s still plenty to laugh at here, but it’s just not as funny as it once was. Combine the older family with 6 years of the tool bits and Home Improvement was running its batteries down a bit. The show had only 2 more years left in it by this time. It might have been better to stop after 5.
Video
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 5th, 2007
Maybe it’s just not possible to do a good western on television these days. Most of the more recent attempts have come up pretty empty, and The Magnificent Seven is no exception. I'd have to say that perhaps The Adventures Of Brisco County, Jr. might be the lone standout. The Magnificent Seven certainly tries. All of the traditional clichés are there, from the Ponderosa rip-off music to the “howdys” and “reckons” in the dialogue. There’s plenty of gunplay and horses to meet the expected quotas, but it all looks way...too staged for my tastes. It felt like I was watching one of those Amusement Parks Ol’ Western Shows. The cast is relatively impressive, but whether it’s that there are too many of them for true character development or no one on the writing crew decided character was important, I can’t say for sure. It’s just not there.
Seven unlikely men join together to protect a Western town from those that might take advantage of its peace-loving citizens. The seven are pretty much ordinary folk thrust into extraordinary circumstances working for an old judge (Vaughn) for $1 a day plus room and board. Michael Biehn plays Chris Larrabee, who is pretty much the unofficial head of the seven. He usually wears black, going against the “good guys wear white” western tradition. His family had been lost to a tragic fire. Following him are: Buck Wilmington (Midkiff), JD (Kavovit), Vin Tanner (Close), Ezra Standish (Starke), Nathon Jackson (Worthy) and Josiah Sanchez (Perlman), a defrocked preacher. Perlman gets most of the best lines. In the season opening he is asking God for a sign when a nearby dog barks, signaling the return of his fellows. He looks up to Heaven and says, “I bet you thought that was funny, didn’t you?”. The second season begins with a new lawman in town who doesn’t take to the seven’s tactics in protecting the town. When he posts a long list of new laws, including no firearms in the city, the seven leave the town to its own fate. As you might expect, a few of the local tough guys take advantage of their leaving and begin to run the town ablaze. Certainly the boys return and a new season is set up. Now they have the title of “honorary” marshalls. Let the good times roll.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 4th, 2007
With the release of Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer just around the corner, it’s no surprise to see the studio rolling out a double-dip of the first film. Fantastic 4 – Extended Edition revisits the film with an extra 20 minutes of footage, and a second disc full of special features. But is it a worthy acquisition for your collection?
First, a bit about the film for the uninitiated. This is the Fantastic Four’s origin story, including how they came to have their super powers, and who Dr... Doom, their first super-villain nemesis, was. And that’s enough about that.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 3rd, 2007
Synopsis
Tom & Jerry cartoons used to be so much fun back in the day. The mayhem, the violence, the pursuit of one cat to vanquish one tiny little mouse (and never succeeding). I remember one episode very vividly that involved Tom destroying the whole house to get to Jerry and literally killing himself in the process (well the fake cartoon dieing anyway). They probably took that off tv these days with trying to sanitize children's programming and all. However, without Tom & ...Jerry, there would be no Wile E. Coyote & Road Runner, no Itchy & Scratchy & no Rosie O Donnell & Donald Trump. (all I'm saying is that Rosie is hungry). Since those old cartoons are considered too violent (*roll eyes*) and sometimes too racist (*even bigger roll eyes*) they try to bring back popular cartoons in new tv series. They do this to try to bring back today's viewing public back in by serving them friendly cartoons and keep the parents from suing or complaining to somebody.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 3rd, 2007
Synopsis
Groundbreaking is often a word that is simply used too much. People tend to sling it around whenever they find a movie or tv show that is just simply different. However, this is not the case with the groundbreaking show: Cagney & Lacey. It was to show two women in leading roles as police officers solving crimes and getting the bad guys. The show in its first season alone would explore such controversial women's issues as date rape and burnout (which a lot of women du...ing that time experienced when faced with both being employed and a domesticated wife). The cast was centered around Christine Cagney & Mary Beth Lacey (played by Sharon Gless & Tyne Daly respectively) and plays an important part in women's television even today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 2nd, 2007
I must really love this job. That's the only explanation as to why I keep reviewing for this site. Then I get across my desk a copy of Dante's Cove - The Complete Second Season. (I guessed I missed the first one). On the cover they show three quite buff men (in the background two women, hey that's Tracy Scoggins), all with pants being a little too low. Uh-oh. *flips to the back*; oh geez is that two men kissing, *sigh*, it is. From the here! network for openly gays and lesbians comes the guilty pleasure show; Dante's Cove, a soap opera that let's just say really pushes the envelope. The backdrop or the events to season one are as follows.
One hundred and sixty years ago, Ambrosius Vallin (played by William Gregory Lee) had been imprisioned by Grace Neville (played by Tracy Scoggins) after she found him fraternizing with a man (they were engaged to be married). Okay, they were doing it doggy style. (if I have to live with the image, so do you). So Grace gave Ambrosius advanced age and threw him in the basement. He is returned to his former self by a kiss from Kevin (played by Gregory Michael). Naturally Ambrosius becomes obsessed with Kevin who is really in love with Toby (played by Charlie David). By the way, Ambrosius and Grace use the powers of a mystical religion called "Tresum". However in order to satsify this religion and keep their youth they have to fufill certain rites and passages. It's a blend of fantasy, soap opera, and really really open gay people in a beautiful island setting (second season was shot in Hawaii).
