Disc Reviews

When it comes to shows that simply sneak up on you and manage to suck you in, This Is Us would be a show I never saw coming nor expected to simply fall in love with.  As a show that is on network television, it stands toe to toe with the best that cable has to offer. But what is most surprising is that what sets this show apart from the rest of the pack isn’t a complex antihero or dragons; instead it is as simple as being a show that feels as real as anything I’ve seen on television in some time.  As the title would suggest This Is Us is simply about a family and the struggles and successes that come day to day, though as many of you can understand and relate, there is nothing simple about life and the constant hurdles that are thrown at us on a day to day basis.  I was hesitant last year when I watched the first season, but I was quickly moved by its characters and their stories.  I was so impressed with that first season I wondered if it could maintain at that level for the second season.  Well, after 18 episodes and plenty of tears, I’m here to say it didn’t maintain; instead, it exceeded what it did the first season.

Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love) has created a show about the Pearsons, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore), as they go about their journey raising their three kids, who all happen to share the same birthday with their father. This season we start off with the siblings turning 37. There is Kate (Chrissy Metz), who is continuing to follow her interest in singing as well as being with her fiancée Toby (Chris Sullivan), Kevin (Justin Hartley), who is working his way to becoming a serious actor in film, and then we have Randall (Sterling K. Brown), who this season is working on bringing in a new member of the family.

I have never really been one for art, and Revolution: New Art for a New World, did little to move me on that particular subject, but it was very informative. I can honestly say that I learned a lot more about the Russian avant-garde period than I knew beforehand, which was basically nothing. This educational film would be very suitable for an art history class or those who are very passionate about art, as it truly does present a great amount of detail regarding the time period. It even goes as far as to interview descendants of the pioneer artists of the era, such as Kazmir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky. For those among you who are art lovers and want to be able to talk about the avant-garde with some level of understanding and comprehension, I would encourage you to give this documentary a watch.

So what is Russian avant-garde? It was an influential wave of works that were considered experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society. It was an art form that was popular during the Russian Empire and Soviet Union, namely between 1890 and 1930, which covered several art movements such as Suprematism, Constructivism, Russian Futurism, Cubo-Futurism, Zaum, and Neo-Primitivism. To me that all amounts to one specific term: abstract art.

Jay (O'Neill) is the patriarch of his extended family. He's a pretty wealthy businessman who lives in relative comfort. He's married to a Columbian woman who is much younger than he is. Gloria (Vergara) also brings her son Manny (Rodriquez) to the Pritchard home. They also have their own 5-year old named Joe (Maguire). Jay has two grown children with families of their own. Mitchell (Ferguson) is gay and living with his partner Cameron (Stonestreet). The two have adopted a Vietnamese daughter named Lily. Mitchell is an attorney who supports his family, while Cameron is the jolly stay-at-home dad. Jay's daughter Claire (Bowen) has a more traditional family. Husband Phil (Burrell) sees himself as a cooler, hip kind of dad, which usually leads to some embarrassing situations for him and his family. They have three kids. Luke (Gould) is the only boy and more clueless than his father. He's obviously not playing with a full deck. It's ironic, because actor Nolan Gould is a Mensa member and somewhat of a child genius. Now that's acting. Daughter Alex (Winter) is the smart one in the family and finds herself the most embarrassed by everyone else. Daughter Haley (Hyland) has become quite worldly.

The show contains numerous interludes where various cast members are talking to an invisible counselor. They offer some commentary from their character's point of view on the events of the story. I thought I would find it distracting, but I ended up loving it.

When Michael Weatherly left NCIS it was like losing an old friend, both for the cast and crew of the franchise and for the millions of fans who had invited him into their living rooms for almost 15 years. But he returned to both. His presence was very much alive in the last season of NCIS. He was discussed, shown in flashbacks, and somehow continued to carry on his teasing war with McGee. But he wouldn't return in person. That's because he was busy with the second season of his own show Bull. And while Bull is reportedly based on the early career of Dr. Phil, nothing could be farther from the reality that Bull is 100% Michael Weatherly. I'm not sure if the shows exist in the same television universe, but they continue to be somewhat entangled. Both shows aired an episode with the exact same title on the exact same day. The shows were called Keep Your Friends Close, and there's obviously a message to the fans in there that however successful Bull turns out to be, we're not completely done with Tony, and there's an effort to keep the family bonds close.

There were no cast changes going into the second season, but there will be going into the next. The show did a good second-year job of showing some evolution of these characters from one year to the next, and we learn more about them in this release than we did in the first. Bull (Weatherly) himself is looking a little more human and fragile. Events of the season will take a bit of a toll, and he begins to inch toward some self-destructive behavior. It's very nice to see some flaws in the cocky armor, something blatantly missing in the first year. Benny (Rodriguez) was the courtroom lawyer about half the time in Season 1. This year he rarely takes a back seat, and the trust between the two characters is a great improvement. Marissa (Carr) has quite an emotional year that sees her questioning if she should stay. She falls for a guy who turns out to be a con man, and the damage is quite dramatic. She certainly gets the most emotional growth this season. Chunk (Jackson) is no longer just the gay fashion consultant on the show dressing witnesses for the stand. He ends up going to law school, where he encounters a professor who has quite the chip on his shoulder for what the firm does. Cable lets her own emotions get in the way of her judgment and makes a big mistake that puts the entire firm in jeopardy. Annabelle Attanasio is the daughter of the show's producer Paul Attanasio, and she'll be leaving the series after this release. Danny (Kirchner) has her own loyalties tested this season.

Is it such a bad thing to find it refreshing that Trench 11 is a horror film that takes place during World War I?  There is something about it being placed in this time period that immediately makes the familiar plot seem entirely unique.  The easiest way to describe this film is to say it’s The Dirty Dozen meets John Carpenter’s The Thing.  Seriously, if that doesn’t at least raise an eyebrow and catch your interest at least a little bit, then clearly this won’t be the movie for you.  Now, granted, this was shot on a low budget and is ambitious; while it doesn’t quite meet its full potential, Trench 11 is still a fun little flick to throw on late at night.

The war is ending, and British intelligence has discovered a secret German bunker.  It’s believed that down in this bunker the Germans have been working on a chemical weapon, so a team is put together to find out what is going on down there. A Canadian soldier, Lt. Berton (Rossif Sutherland), a tunneller, is recruited to help the British soldiers explore the bunker.  The guy is still recovering from being buried for twelve days and developing a relationship with his French girlfriend when Berton is forced to leave, and things are only going to get more unpleasant for him as the film rolls on.

For its first seven years there have been few departures on the refreshed version of Hawaii 5-O. What we have seen instead is additions to the cast pretty much on an annual basis. The result has been a fairly large ensemble that wasn't there for the start. But Season 8 sees the largest departure to the series since its inception. It started out with Daniel Dae Kim wanting the same pay as the show's two leads, Scott Caan and Alex Loughlin. That wasn't going to happen, and before long Kim started to accuse the show runners of being racist because of the difference in pay. Now keep in mind that every series has a lead or leads who get more money than the rest of the cast. Unfortunately, this attempt at a raise brought in racial accusations. That brought Grace Park into the fray to defend Kim. The end result is that both walked and appear to have seen their last days on the show. So this is certainly a milestone year for the series, and I promise you that it didn't miss a beat. But that also means new additions to the cast.

The first one we meet is Meaghan Rath, who joins the regular cast as Tani Rey. She was going to the police academy and ended up punching an officer. She gets kicked out only to be scooped up by Steve (Loughlin) because he sees the kind of spark in her that he sees in himself. She is trying to keep a troubled brother from drugs and gangs, and it gets her into some scrapes this season. The next new member we meet is Beulah Koale, who stars as Junior Reigns. He has just returned from combat in The Middle East and shows up on Steve's door looking for a job on the task force. Steve likes his initiative and makes a deal that if he can get through the academy, he's got a spot on the team. So he is intermittent at first. Steve checks on his progress, and he joins the team several times in the series start and gets to be a permanent member around mid-season. These aren't the only two new members. An early episode involves a K-9 officer who is shot and killed. His dog is also badly wounded but helps catch the killers. Steve adopts Eddie, and you'll see a lot of him this season.

"Everything is always about Sheldon."

Warner Brothers is very familiar with superheroes. That goes double for the character of Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons on The Big Bang Theory. A common thread in the superhero business, of course, is the origin story. With the popularity of The Big Bang Theory, and the Sheldon character particularly, it isn't all that surprising that we would eventually be treated to Sheldon's origin story. But instead of flashbacks on the series, the decision was made that Sheldon's childhood was territory that could be mined for years. Thus is born Young Sheldon. For fans of the original show and character, it couldn't have come at a better time. Parsons just turned down an offer of $50 million for two more years of Big Bang. I can't imagine how it must feel to be able to turn down that kind of money. But faced with doing the series without him, the smart decision was to shut it down. This will be the final season of The Big Bang Theory, but apparently Sheldon with live on as a kid for years to come. Not sure what Parsons' paycheck is here, but it requires only his narration.