Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 6th, 2007
This was my first ever exposure to Grey’s Anatomy. Certainly I’ve followed the buzz the show has generated with its multiple awards and the feuding between two of the show’s actors. My first impression was not altogether a very good one. You see, season three begins with the aftermath of an obviously big ending from the previous year. From what I can gather, a character died and it left a void for a couple of the characters. I immediately began to feel like an outsider, a feeling I wasn’t very comfortable with. Fortunately, before I could give up feeling frustrated and hounded by an impending review deadline, something quite remarkable happened. Simply stated, I didn’t stop watching. In that moment of hesitation, I began to catch a glimpse of what everybody’s been going on about. The acting is surprisingly rock solid and not at all the flirty surface performances I had expected. So, for a short time, I was able to put aside my outsider feelings and begin to appreciate what I was watching. Before too long I was beginning to recognize the strong production values and clever writing which have been responsible for all that buzz I was hearing. While I avoided the needle scenes like the plague that spread through the hospital’s opening episodes, there is still a lot of high resolution f/x when it comes to wounds and surgery bits. This is by far the most realistic look I’ve seen in any medical show so far. The offbeat banter of the interns works well to offset the rather dramatic storylines hidden beneath this somewhat light series.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 29th, 2007
This HBO comedy series throws down a huge gauntlet, then flails its limbs around maniacally in a futile attempt to live up to the challenge. Bad Boys of Comedy is billed as an evolution of black comedy that builds on the revolution led by the likes of Redd Foxx, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy. P. Diddy, executive producer and host, promises young, edgy and unique comics, untapped virtuosos who will push the boundaries of humor and entertainment. What a crock.
I watched all nine 30-minute episodes in this second season, and I laughed aloud three times — one guffaw and two chuckles. More importantly, I heard something fresh and insightful once, from one comic out of 36. That's not exactly what I'd expect from a comedy revolution.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 28th, 2007
Lets face it, at one point or another we’ve all watched The Simpsons, and I’m sure at points we’ve all loved it. But I don’t think it’s a matter of debate that as the years went on the show seemed to have lost its touch, its uniqueness. With shows like Family Guy and American Dad pushing the envelope it’s hard to enjoy The Simpsons as much as we get older. But nonetheless there are millions of you who still love this show. For me its hard to pinpoint when The Simpsons took it’s turn for the worse, does Season 10 get classic status, or is it on the downside of the slope?
Simply put Season 10 gets thumbs up from me; these episodes still had the ability to make me laugh. Included are some classics like When You Dish upon a Star, Tree house of Horror IX, Lisa gets an “A”, Homer Simpson in: “Kidney Trouble”, and much more. These journeys take The Simpson family everywhere from Las Vegas, the Super Bowl, the open road, Tokyo, and all the way back to biblical times. The laughs don’t seem as cheap or predictable as the newly aired episodes do; these 23 episodes are uniquely enjoyable. So whether you’re buying every odd season of the show, or your buying them all in order, Season 10 isn’t one to pass up on. It sure is hard to believe that since this season aired nearly 200 more episodes have been drawn up. But this is back when the show had the ability to keep me captivated and surely not many more seasons beyond this will be able to get me to laugh.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 24th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
Most cartoons of the Saturday morning variety are written for kids and little else in mind, but every once in a while a show offers a little something extra. Pinky and the Brain is one such anomaly, providing plenty of great antics for kids, but even more for the grown-ups among us. It's full of parodies and Hollywood in-jokes that a 10-year-old could simply never appreciate. Strangely, as a 24-year-old, I felt very much within the target audience.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 16th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
The Rat Patrol completely took me by surprise, mostly by virtue of the fact that I had no idea what I was in for. Before watching even one episode, I was already underestimating it in my head, imagining a program only slightly more serious than Hogan's Heroes and confusing the title with the stupendously unrelated Rat Pack.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 14th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
I am something of a news junky. For lack of anything better to do, I'll routinely flip my television over to CNN for countless hours of 24/7 up-to-the-minute coverage. Of all the talk shows on the airwaves today, there is no match for the great Larry King. Oprah only wishes she were this good. The ladies on The View should bow down to Mr. King, who is so good at what he does that even his most famous guests seem to open up to him in ways they would normally know better than to do in front of a camera. Whether you're looking for something light and funny, the hardest news story, or the insights into the most intriguing public figures in the world today, this DVD set is your one-stop shop.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 7th, 2007
Superheroes come in all shapes and sizes these days, so it doesn’t really surprise me to find out that one is a big blue tick. I don’t think The Tick has any special Lyme Disease Ray, and I have yet to see him bite anyone, but he sure has a knack for stopping the bad guys. This Ben Edlund creation is one of those American Dream success stories. The independent comic was created to promote a local comic book store in Boston. Edlund, only 17 years old at the time, tapped into a wonderful spoof of the comic superhero molds. He populated his book with very colorful characters easily recognizable as the original ones he was spoofing. Within 10 years The Tick would become a children’s cartoon staple. There is an appealing degree of wit and intelligence in this cartoon that honestly looks kind of stupid on the surface. The Tick isn’t the sharpest tool in the toolbox and is rather naïve for a super crime fighting master. He’s surrounded by an equally kooky group of characters, assisted mostly by his sidekick, Arthur. The villains are just as outlandish and out there as The Tick and his comrades are.
   The DVD set’s clever title is The Tick vs. Season Two. The collection could not honestly be called The Complete Second Season because one of the episodes is mysteriously missing. I’ve been informed that the episode, Alone Together, was removed for rights issues. The same thing happened in the first year. Sometimes spoofs can be a little too close to another property, and perhaps that explains the missing toons. Fans will also be a little bummed that favorite Micky Dolenze, yes he’s that wacky The Monkees drummer, no longer voices Arthur. Rob Paulson takes over the job, and the difference does take some getting used to. The episodes are also not quite as strong as the first season. The single standout has to be the Christmas extravaganza, The Tick Loves Santa. The Tick’s love for Santa almost keeps him from nabbing the bad guy when an electrical accident converts him into “Multi-Santaâ€, a clone-like group of larceny-minded Kringles.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2007
What do the following huge stars all have in common: Elton John, George Burns, Peter Sellers, Don Knotts, Bob Hope, John Cleese, Madeline Kahn, and Milton Berle? They all were guests on the second season of Jim Henson’s The Muppet Show. I can’t believe how many of the episodes I remember watching occurred in the show’s sophomore season. It would be pretty hard to argue that the series became the in place for A list entertainers to have a little fun. Like a neighborhood clubhouse, the top stars would come to the show and allow themselves to be often upstaged by Henson’s cute little creatures. They would place themselves in ridiculous situations and often allow themselves to be lampooned and ridiculed, and they always appeared to have a blast while they were doing it. Elton John singing his Kiki Dee duet, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heartâ€, with Miss Piggy has to be one of televisions most memorable moments. Not only do you have a guest list that would make Saturday Night Live envious, but you have something they never had, namely Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie and Gonzo providing their special brand of Muppet madness.
   If you’re not familiar with this show, shame on you. In this series The Muppets, Jim Henson’s own design of puppets take over a concert hall and put on a weekly show. What this means is that you are actually getting to sit behind the scenes as the show is being put on “liveâ€. Some of the best bits are provided by Kermit’s frantic attempts to prepare guests and put out fires, literally. Miss Piggy is the show’s prima donna and is always making unreasonable demands to continue working on the show. The band is anchored by that loveable drummer, Animal. There’s another story here but, trust me, you don’t want to know. You’ll also see such running bits as Pigs In Space, a Muppet Star Trek, and, of course, our kitchen chef preparing many delectable delights for your culinary pleasure. That’s if he can catch the chicken. The eclectic nature of the guests means there’s usually something for everyone’s tastes. I found myself enjoying every show even if I did not care for that particular week’s star.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 2nd, 2007
Having never seen or heard of this program, I had to do a bit of research into the history of this show. I’ll share my findings with you in case you are new to the series as well. Johnny Smith (Anthony Michael Hall, The Breakfast Club) was involved in a car accident that left him comatose for six years. Upon waking up he has a special gift, when he touches people or things he can see into the future, and sometimes prevent awful things from happening. The name the dead zone comes from the part of his brain that normally goes unused, but because of his accident it can now be attributed to his visions of the future. In season 5 there isn’t much ongoing story arcs, but rather a collection of different stories in which Johnny solves crimes and saves unwilling victims. He deals with the logistics of saving lives and changing the outcome of the world and his own personal life.
Well this show wasn’t spectacular but I liked it enough to label it decent. It was rather hit and miss with this show; some episodes were entertaining and others weren’t. But the acting was consistent throughout and surprisingly good for a cable TV show. Well I can’t offer any comparisons to past seasons of the show, but this seasons finale was extremely lackluster. Still, I can say that in the future I might check the rest of the seasons out after being left with a mostly positive perspective on the show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 2nd, 2007
Superheroes are huge these days, at least most of them are. Some are a little under 3 feet. In the Disney afternoon universe of Ducktales comes Darkwing Duck, or DW as his friends and arch enemies refer to him. Darkwing appropriately enough inhabits a more sinister side of the Ducktales world where he is ever vigilante for the exotic criminals that threaten St. Canard. If you still don’t get the idea, think of Adam West’s Batman as a Disney duck. DW comes complete with the prerequisite Duckmobile and steady supply of crime fighting gadgets and gizmos. His faithful, if not overly intelligent, sidekick is Ducktales holdover Launchpad McQuack. When not fighting crime, DW has the expected secret identity of Drake Mallard. Just to finish the Batman comparisons, Drake has a ward, of sorts, Gosalyn, his adopted daughter. Like Robin, Gosalyn is ever helpful in DW’s capers. Once in a while DW is challenged by a secret villainous society, The Fiendish Organization of World Larceny, or F.O.W.L. for short. There are some 60’s secret agent themes to be found here, but they are far more Maxwell Smart than James Bond.
Darkwing Duck appears to be aiming at some of the adults in the audience. It appears to me that a lot of the cultural references and even plot points might be over the head of the typical afternoon cartoon crowd. Disney, cleverly, integrates enough of the 1960’s comic nostalgia to sucker in the parents as well. Lately I’ve been in my own trip down memory lane thanks to the release of many of my Marvel Comics favorites on DVD-ROM. I’ve been able to reacquaint myself with the likes of Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four beyond the modern films, recreated from the pages of their original exploits. Perhaps that makes me more alert for the obvious references. All of the villains could easily have come from these very color-splattered pages of adolescent excitement. This means that all you parents out there might end up joining your kids in watching these DVD’s.
