Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 5th, 2008
Erle Stanley Gardner wrote crime fiction, and while many of his 100 or so works are unknown to most of us, he created a character that has become as identified with criminal lawyers as any other in fiction. It was in these crime novels that Perry Mason first faced a courtroom. He developed a style where he would investigate these terrible crimes his clients were on trial for. He would find the real killer, and in what has become a
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 3rd, 2008
One of the hardest parts of reviewing DVD’s for this site is getting dropped in to the middle of a show I neither followed nor cared to follow and being told to judge fairly and objectively. Getting one’s bearings can be the toughest part of such a task, but this I will attempt to do with Seventh Heaven – The Seventh Season. As if playing catch-up with only one season to go on isn’t enough, the series hurls character after character at the unsuspecting viewer at a furious pace.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 3rd, 2008
While many of us think that President-elect Obama might have more important things to be concentrating on right now, I don’t know, like maybe the economy, we’re hearing a lot about his search for a new doggie. Of course, with a child who is allergic to dogs the search is complicated by the need for a hypoallergenic dog, if such a thing exists. No matter; it is certainly a tradition among most occupants of the White House to have pets. Most, of course, were dogs, allergies included.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 2nd, 2008
What kind of woman could possibly make the oh-so-tough Arthur Fonzarelli fall hopelessly in love? We find out in the three-part opener of Happy Days – The Complete Fourth Season in one of the great names of the small screen, Pinky Tuscadero. Pinky (a stunning Roz Kelly) shows spunk as a female version of Fonzy (Henry Winkler in his career-making role), and it’s surprising she wasn’t used more in the series run. Perhaps CBS felt fettering Fonzy with a regular gal-pal took away from his enigmatic qualities, which he would eventually lose anyway in the show’s eleven seasons.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 2nd, 2008
Another cheery bit of nonsense in this release, consisting of a half-dozen SpongeBob cartoons. The disc gets its title from the first episode, “What Ever Happened to SpongeBob?” In this story, our hero, rejected by all his friends for his consistent screw-ups winds up, after an amnesia-inducing bonk on the head, becoming the hero of a crime-ridden metropolis. Weird and funny stuff, and the same is true for the other pieces. That said, there's even less of a connection than usual between the pieces, not even a hint of a thematic commonality that has usually been the case with these releases. What we have are six apparently randomly chosen episodes, adding up to 78 minutes of silliness.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 26th, 2008
It’s the final roll call for everyone’s favorite Marine. Gomer Pyle began life as a one of the down home residents of Mayberry, where Andy Griffith held court as the sheriff and Don Knotts blundered his way to fame and fortune. It’s no small task indeed to find a way to shine as a minor character who wasn’t even there from the beginning; he replaced Floyd after the second year. But shine he did. Much of the character’s charm and success has to be given to Jim Nabors.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 18th, 2008
"Space...The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 13th, 2008
Working in
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 13th, 2008
After just 5 years on the air, the unlikely duo of Oscar and Felix take their final victory lap in this the 5th and final season of The Odd Couple. Even though the show lasted a mere half decade, it remained in our collective consciousness for over 40 years and shows no sign of slowing now. Both of the stars, particularly Klugman, went on to do many huge things later, but they never did escape these small sit-com roles. You might as well come along for the ride and enjoy that last victory lap with them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 13th, 2008
If you weren’t around in the 1970’s, you might be surprised to find out that film superstar Michael Douglas was once in a television cop show. It was this influential crime drama that allowed Douglas to show off the acting chops that would earn him a spot in the
