Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2009
“The man is Richard Kimble and, not surprisingly, the man is tired. Tired of looking over his shoulder, the ready lie of the buses and freight trains. Richard Kimble is tired of running…”
The elusive “one armed man” is one of the best known television icons of all time. The plight of Dr. Richard Kimball has been the subject of numerous imitations and even a feature film staring Harrison Ford as Kimball and Tommy Lee Jones as his pursuer. Tim Daly left the ranks of comedy to fill the shoes of Kimball in a very short lived revival series. While some of these efforts managed to capture the essence of The Fugitive, none can truly compare to the real thing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 26th, 2009
As you might be surprised to find out, my aspirations include more than being a darn good dvd reviewer & video game columnist. I like to write, really write and not just interpret other people's works into a ten to twelve paragraph summary document. By really writing, I mean fantasy or the creation of heroes. My wish beyond being published was always to see my work come to life on either the small or big screen. It was refreshing to find a television series based on a fantasy series of books. The Legend of the Seeker is based on Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. But there was something awfully familiar about the series as I continued to watch it. Let's find out what that is.
A woman named Kahlan Amnell(played by Bridget Regan) is traveling with her sister through the countryside and beach but there is one problem. She's being followed by a pack of angry guardsmen on horses. Her sister is struck by an arrow and falls down a cliff. Kahlan soon realizes that her sister is dead and that she must continue en route to her destination. The woman soon reaches the barrier on a nearby beach and it looks like she might meet her end.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2009
I grew up on the Peanuts creations of Charles M. Schulz. Most of us have, in some way or another. His newspaper comic strip is one of the longest running and most successful strips of all time. The work has been translated into every language currently spoken on the planet. The images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have appeared on just about any kind of product imaginable. Our pop culture contains too many references to the strip to mention briefly. For me, it was the television specials starting in the mid 1960’s that brought the gang into my life. The classics are running annually, still after nearly 50 years. A Charlie Brown Christmas and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown are the most mentioned and certainly beloved by generations of children and adults. I thought I never missed an airing.
Now Warner Home Video has brought together a special collection of the cartoon specials that started it all. It includes those annual greats and a few that I don’t really remember so much. Now we get into the first volume of the 1970’s specials. The two discs include the following Peanuts specials:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 21st, 2009
Most of us watch cop shows. The numbers indicate that the viewing public likes the CSI’s, Law & Orders, NYPD Blues, and even older shows like Hill Street Blues. Apparently about the only cop show we don’t like is Cop Rock (and even that show has been re-broadcast on other networks). So, naturally we get some cookie cutter cop shows that try to break the mold. Flashpoint is one such cop drama that focuses on the art of negotiation. Perhaps this one is interesting already.
Sergeant Gregory Parker (played by Enrico Colantoni) is the head of an elite tactical squad known as the Strategic Response Unit. They work in situations that normal police offers can not normally handle from bomb threats to hostage situations to criminals with an extreme amount of firepower. But the response of lethal force is a last resort as they try to use negotiation and alternative methods to bring the various situations back where they belong.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 19th, 2009
Have you ever walked down the street and heard a chorus of “Five Oh” making the rounds? In street lexicon, that means the police. It’s a warning to the drug dealers and any other illegal activities that the police are on the way. That’s just one of the ways that Hawaii Five-0 has invaded our pop culture. Who hasn’t heard the phrase, “Book him, Danno”? It’s no surprise, because until Law & Order, Hawaii Five-0 was the longest running crime drama on television. It started in 1968 and didn’t end until 1980 when the production staff and facilities were immediately retooled to produce Magnum P.I., which was an unofficial spin-off of Hawaii Five-0. While he never actually appeared on Magnum, Five-0’s McGarrett was often referred to by characters on the series. The series continued for a few years in syndication where the episodes were all mixed up. These DVD’s allow the first chance since their original broadcast for these episodes to air complete and in the correct order. While continuity wasn’t huge, as there were few actual story arcs beyond the episodes, there were minor changes that made the show look strange in syndication. The final season was aired under the title “McGarrett”.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 19th, 2009
Do you believe that a numbers wizard can predict the most random of human actions with mathematical equations so accurately as to know where and when such a person will be? If so, then I suggest you put down that letter you are writing to Santa, finish eating that egg a bunny left for you, go to your pillow and pull together all of the loot you got from the tooth fairy, and plunk it down on season three of Numb3rs. No, that’s not a typo, apparently they believe that letters aren’t good enough to stand on their own, so they inserted a 3 where the e should be. Aren’t they so clever? Not. In the fairy tale world of Numb3rs, all you need is an almost obsessive knowledge of math and the crooks don’t stand a chance. It’s almost unfair, isn’t it? Those poor criminals go about their carefully plotted crimes, unaware that everything they do is controlled by math. They live their lives oblivious to the fact they are at the mercy of a diabolical equation which forces their every move. In fact, I suspect some clever attorney somewhere is already preparing the “math made me do it” defense at this very moment. Soon our justice system will be forced to account for this undeniable force on our very destinies. I would go on, but I can’t… must… fight… numbers…
Don Eppes (Morrow) is a decorated FBI officer in charge of a unit of the local field office of the FBI. His brother, Charlie (Krumholtz) is a math professor at CalSci. His brilliant mathematical mind is called upon to help the Feds track killers and rapists. No matter how complicated the trail gets, when the going gets rough these guys call on Charlie. Agent David Sinclair (Ballard), the smart tough guy, and Agent Colby Granger (Bruno) the young upcoming agent. Charlie has professor Larry Fleinhardt (MacNicol) to guide him through his struggles. Both of the geeks are socially inept, and we are “treated” to their constant struggles to relate to others, particularly women. Why can’t they write an equation to fix that? Navi Rawat is Amita, a student of Charlie’s who remains to take a job at CalSci, possibly to remain near Charlie. Judd Hirsch is the father to the Eppes brothers. A new agent is added to the mix this year in Nikki Betancourt, played by Sophina Brown. The show is produced by brothers Ridley and Tony Scott, who have had far better luck on the big screen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 19th, 2009
What can I say about Showtime’s huge hit, The L Word? If you don’t already know what this show is about, and I was surprised at the number of people I talked to who didn’t, then I’m pretty sure this isn’t the show for you. Remember the old days when you used to watch Sesame Street, and each day the show would be brought to you by a letter and number of the day? Today this review is brought to you by the letter L and the number 6. L stands for lesbians, and 6 is how many seasons the series would be fated to last. Unlike that adorable count, I won’t be able to take you through the count, as I have never seen the show before last season and so only have seen 2 season releases. If you’re a fan and have collected the previous years, this is the portion of the review where you can go to your DVD shelf and count the sets. When you’re done, you may return to the review.
Finished? Good. Now unlike that wonderful muppet inhabited street we were just talking about, The L Word is strictly for the adults in the group. There is little doubt that the series is not only about gay women but for the most part is targeted to that same demographic. If you take a look at the limited extras, it is quite obvious who the intended audience is. There are obvious winks to the lifestyle that I’m really not able to understand, so I missed many of the in jokes. The storytelling is also very much in the vein of a soap opera, so you need to already know these girls before you can really get into these stories. It also doesn’t help to come to this party so late. If you have not been following the show to this point, this is not the time to join in. I suggest that if you are at all interested you go back and start from the beginning. Time and money make that impossible for me, so I’ll have to tell you what I think based on this limited exposure.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 15th, 2009
Written by Alexis Quinn
If Nip/Tuck were in the dictionary, chances are you’d find the word “controversy” somewhere close by.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2009
Mitch Fatel gained a lot of his credentials in stand up comedy by touring clubs around New York City since he was 15. His genre of perverted sexual comedy is a guilty pleasure of the late night hosts: Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien have him on regularly to perform and act as a correspondent. Mitch has released two comedy CD's (Miniskirts and Muffins and Super Retardo) that were very successful prior to this Comedy Central special. To say that his style of comedy is low-brow is the understatement of the year. However, I found myself laughing at some of his material and needing some time to reflect on myself shortly thereafter.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2009
Written by Adrienne Ambush
Before there was American Idol, before there was So, You Think You Can Dance and definitely before there was Dancing with the Stars, there was Fame.
