Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 14th, 2013
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 14th, 2013
Most cartoons these days seem to be carbon copies of cartoons gone past just with different settings and characters. You got the superhero cartoon, adventure cartoon, anime cartoon, the really kiddie cartoon and the adult cartoon. Today, we have a classic I want to be a Pokemon imitator cartoon. It goes by the name Monsuno. Let us take a look inside the second volume and see if this one is more than an attempt to sell action figures and trading cards.
John Ceballos did a fine job on the first volume in this series, go check it out:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 8th, 2013
After a four-month hiatus, I have been called to assignment, a very special assignment indeed. Thankfully, the message did not self-destruct after five seconds. However, the message did have demands and required negotiation tactics. That is when I called in the SRU Unit from the show Flashpoint and they burst onto the scene. While they are handling a memo that has a notebook at gunpoint, they left me with a copy of Season Five of Flashpoint to review. Let’s take a look.
Season Five of Flashpoint in U.S. terms are the first eleven episodes under the ION Television banner (though the dvd package is still put out by Paramount/CBS). In Canada, these are the last eleven episodes of season four. The last thirteen episodes of the series will hopefully be in a Season Six package later this year (and Canada will have it as Season Five). Got it? Good.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 6th, 2013
“This is America’s war as never seen before…”
When you consider the countless documentaries, miniseries and feature films dedicated to the Second World War, you’d think the defining conflict of the 20th century has been covered from every possible angle. And you’d be wrong! History has taken to the skies with WWII From Space, a two-hour special that originally aired on the cable network in December and promised to bring viewers an unprecedented, extraterrestrial perspective of the war.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 2nd, 2013
“The important thing for a writer is to tell a good story.”
Martha Gellhorn, considered by some to be the greatest war correspondent of the 20th century, was extremely adamant about not wanting to be a footnote in someone else’s life. So I’m thinking the writer — who died in 1998 — may have had mixed feelings about Hemingway & Gellhorn. On one hand, her life story gets the prestigious (and mostly sympathetic) HBO Films treatment, and Gellhorn is played by Oscar winner Nicole Kidman in a sensational, searing turn. On the other hand, the film had Gellhorn’s 60-year career covering every major world conflict to draw from, yet largely focuses on her combustible nine-year relationship — and five-year marriage — to Ernest Hemingway. I mean Gellhorn couldn’t even wrangle top billing in the film’s title, for crying out loud!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 28th, 2013
“It’s been a long time getting from there to here.”
35 years to be exact. Enterprise is the fourth spinoff from the original 1960’s hopeful series. The Earth is finally ready to send its first starship to explore the vast galaxy. This first starship Enterprise is smaller than the ships we’ve become used to. There are no shields or photon torpedoes. The transporter has only been cleared for inanimate objects. Not that this stands in the way of its occasional “emergency” use. The ship is very much like the cramped spaces of today's submarines. It adds an even greater sense of reality to the show. The crew is composed of Captain Jonathan Archer (Bakula), First Officer and Vulcan High Command liaison, T’Pol (Blalock), Chief Engineer Charles (Trip) Tucker (Trinneer), Tactical Officer Malcolm Reed (Keating), Denobulan Dr. Phlox (Billingsly), Pilot Travis Mayweather (Montgomery) and Linguist/Communications Officer Hoshi Sato (Park).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 27th, 2013
Jersey Shore finally comes to an end. Of course, there are spinoffs and TV specials and TMZ reports and aaaarggh! We're never going to escape them are we?! This is an Uncensored version of the season so instead of 'beeps' we get to hear the versatility of the f-word and other assorted curse words that are flung across rooms and dance floors as these bronzed oddities continue their bitter stalemate against maturity and class.
(Much of what is about to be read is taken directly from my previous review of the last season of Jersey Shore because my feelings have not changed nor has my spite lost it's relevance):
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 25th, 2013
The great, central joke of Veep — HBO’s sharp, profane political comedy — is that no self-respecting politician aspires to become the Vice President of the United States. (Just like no self-respecting kid dresses up as Robin for Halloween.) It’s no accident the POTUS is completely MIA from the show, leaving his second-in-command and her beleaguered staff to deal with the countless indignities of a job described on “The Making of Veep” featurette as “so close to being important.”
A 15-second graphic at the opening of each episode tidily summarizes the failed presidential bid by Senate rising star Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her subsequent acceptance of the show’s titular position. Veep follows Meyer as she carries out her day-to-day duties with the help of a team that includes devoted chief of staff Amy Brookheimer (Anna Chlumsky), sloppy director of communications Mike McLintock (Matt Walsh), clingy personal aide Gary Walsh (Tony Hale) — who may not be willing to take a bullet for Meyer, but he’ll definitely take a sneeze — and no-nonsense personal assistant Sue Wilson (Sufe Bradshaw). The staff often has to deal with smug White House aide/VP liaison Jonah Ryan (Tim Simons), who mentions that he works in the White House every chance he gets. By the end of the first episode, the team has also acquired ruthless deputy director of communications Dan Egan (Reid Scott), who will suck up to (or date) whoever he needs to get ahead.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on March 15th, 2013
If the last few decades are any indication, TV viewers can’t get enough medical shows, while mob dramas seem to develop some of the most fervent followings. The Mob Doctor — the Fox drama canceled shortly after its debut last fall — suggests those two great tastes don’t necessarily taste great together. The network wound up airing all 13 episodes, and now Sony has released every installment of the watchable, uneven drama on DVD.
Dr. Grace Devlin (Jordana Spiro) is a young, talented surgical resident at Chicago’s best hospital. She works alongside her good-guy boyfriend Dr. Brett Robinson (Zach Gilford), loyal best friend Nurse Ro Quintero (Floriana Lima), jealous colleague Dr. Olivia Cox (Jaime Lee Kirchner) and protective chief of surgery Dr. Stafford White (Zeljko Ivanek). What none of these people know is that Grace — like so many other small-screen antiheroes these days — leads a dark double life.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on February 26th, 2013
Here’s how hot Jennifer Love Hewitt is in The Client List, Lifetime’s breezy, sexy hit dramedy. My wise, eternally-patient girlfriend and I watch the show together, and she doesn’t even get jealous or make any sort of catty remarks at our TV. Instead, she figuratively tips her cap to Hewitt’s hotness the same way a golfer might compliment an opponent for making an impossible shot. (Game recognizes game, I suppose.)
The Client List stars Hewitt as Riley Parks, a Texas housewife who is abandoned by her husband Kyle (Brian Hallisay) during tough financial times. Riley begins working as a massage therapist at an upscale day spa called The Rub, owned by the savvy Georgia Cummings (Loretta Devine). Unfortunately, no one told Riley certain clients expect, ahem, “extras” with their massages. (Maybe Riley’s first clue should’ve been that her boss’s name is “Georgia Cummings.”) Faced with having to support two children, Riley eventually decides to, um, hand out extras.
