Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 24th, 2015
"My name is Oliver Queen; after five years in hell, I have come home with only one goal, to save my city. Now others have joined my crusade. To them, I'm Oliver Queen. To the rest of Starling City, I'm someone else. I am something else."
That someone, that something more ...that something else is the DC Comics character Green Arrow. Not to be confused with the same-colored Hornet or Lantern. In season 2 Oliver Queen finally shed the name and reputation of the Hood or Vigilante. He vowed not to kill, and he no longer has the list to guide him. His job now is to go after any bad guys in Starling City. In season 3 that job will get a lot harder to do while still keeping his vow. You can say that things get a lot more personal and that season 3 of The Arrow is all about family. And, you can bet that not everyone is getting out alive. Those who remain will be forever changed. That much is certain.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2015
The Nanny ran for six seasons from 1993 to 1999, originally aired on CBS. It is just issuing season 4, which is kind of odd, but what can you do. The first three seasons were released from 2005 to 2009, and it looks like the entire series will soon be available. I'm not sure why they did it in such a staggered manner, but those people who are not satisfied until their collections are complete will finally be able to rest easy. The Nanny was known for celebrity stunt casting, so in Season 4 you can look for the likes of Donald Trump (circa 1996), Celine Dion, Jason Alexander, Hugh Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, Rosie O'Donnell (at the height of her talk show fame), Donald O'Connor, Robert Vaughn, Joan Collins, Rich Little, Monty Hall, John Astin, Sally Kirkland, Eartha Kitt, Nora Dunn, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart (as a boyfriend), Peter Scolari, Bette Midler, Ed Begley, Jr., Pamela Anderson (at the height of her infamy), Lainie Kazan, the cast of The Young and the Restless, Ivana Millicevic, and in multiple episodes as a therapist, the late Spalding Gray.
In case you are not familiar with show, it is best known for Fran Drescher, her raspy voice and adenoidal honk of a laugh as the the titular nanny. The theme song probably tells the story best. “She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing Queens / Till her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes. / What was she to do? Where was she to go? She was out on her fanny. / So over the bridge from Flushing, to the Sheffields' door. / She was there to sell makeup, but the father saw more. / She had style, she had flair, she was there. / That's how she became the Nanny!”
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on September 24th, 2015
by Dustin P. Anderson
We join the residents of a small mountain town four years after they are stunned by the deaths of an entire class of children. One of these children has returned from the dead and shocks her family with a sudden appearance. She has no memory of the events that led to her death, nor does she remember anything about the afterlife. To her it’s just another day, and she is just waking up after a prolonged blackout. The family soon realizes that their daughter is not the only person to have returned from an alleged death, and questions soon arise as to how these people are suddenly coming back to life. Why is this happening? Why them? What are they here for?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on September 24th, 2015
Pop Life is a documentary concerning the role that drugs play in the world of Electronic Dance Music (EDM). Clocking in at about 55 minutes, the documentary really doesn’t take up that much time, and it does have quite a bit of information it sifts through. The documentary is a great introduction to the idea that drugs are, and really always have been, something that closely intertwines with popular music culture (not just EDM).
The most intriguing thing about this documentary is the talking heads it uses. There are a lot of DJ’s, T-pain, concertgoers who use and don’t use, celebrity liaisons, as well as a string of doctors and a former DEA agent. This really brings out a lot of really great information from all sides of the drug use surrounding EDM, but as a result, it begins to lack direction. It is really hard to pin down exactly what the overarching message behind the documentary is, unless it is purely informational. If the only point of the documentary is to provide information about how closely drug and music culture can be intertwined, then it is really nothing new being said. However, the venue of EDM will aid in bringing the rather neutral awareness to a younger audience.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 23rd, 2015
If ever a show were more aptly named, it would have to be HBO's The Jinx. It's a documentary on Robert Durst, who had been charged with three murders and never convicted. The title comes from his own description of why he never had any children. He believed he would be a jinx to any child as a father. It turns out that this HBO series would be a jinx for Durst himself, because he couldn't quite keep his mouth shut and ends up making potentially incriminating statements. The suspect was arrested just hours before the last episode of the show aired on HBO. We might have to get into the whole art-imitating-life-imitating-art conversation. One thing is certain. This show had an impact on the real world like few shows ever had. But that's not the only reason I'm going to tell you that you simply must see The Jinx out on Blu-ray from HBO.
It begins like something out of Dexter. In Galveston, Texas, a grisly discovery is made. There are body parts washing in from the bay in garbage bags. Eventually an entire body is discovered except for the head. The evidence leads to the victim's next-door neighbor Robert Durst, who had been staying there disguised as a woman. An arrest is quickly made, and it looks like a slam-dunk conviction. But this seemingly poor man posts a $250,000 bond the very next morning and takes flight.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 23rd, 2015
Finally a situation comedy for geeks. Ever since Urkel went from being a one-off character on Family Matters to the star of the show, the geeks have been looking for their own series. With The Big Bang Theory you get plenty of geek factor with a healthy dose of laughter. I honestly haven’t laughed this much at a situation comedy in decades. Meet Sheldon Cooper (Parsons). He’s a brilliant young scientist working at a Pasadena university. His field was string theory but now he's shifted to dark matter. He’s one of those young prodigy guys who likely graduated from college and then went home to get his diapers changed. Sheldon insists on tight structure and is uncomfortable outside of a highly structured environment. He’s insecure and can’t stand confrontation. He also, of course, believes he’s the smartest guy on the planet. He’s a huge comic and science fiction fan who envisions himself a young Lex Luthor. His girlfriend Amy (Bialik) is a behavior scientist. The two have a relationship based on a contract and have to negotiate even when they can kiss.
His roommate Leonard (Galecki) is also a gifted member of the school’s staff. Leonard is about the most normal one of the group and actually has a steady girl in next-door neighbor Penny (Cuoco). Penny now works as a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company and finds she's doing well. Unfortunately, they cut her hair off this year, and it isn't a good look at all. She’s not the sharpest tool in the box, but she can often teach the boys a thing or two about the real world.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on September 23rd, 2015
“Did you consider yourself to be a New York City cop or a drug trafficker?”
For the handful of police officers profiled in The Seven Five — a lively and incendiary documentary about a spectacularly corrupt Brooklyn precinct — the distinction between cop and crook was virtually nonexistent. (At best, it was negligible.) Their stories are told here in a breakneck pace that eventually becomes draining. But it’s only because director Tiller Russell was able to gain amazing access to the colorful characters who were actually there.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 23rd, 2015
Closer to the Moon has quite an intriguing premise behind it. Six people pull off a daylight bank car robbery in the highlight of the socialist era, which we all recognize as a time when crime was believed to be a capitalist byproduct. Mark Strong and Vera Farmiga headline the cast as two members of the convicted six who are scheduled for the crime; however, before they stand before the firing squad, they are ordered to star in a real-life film adaptation of their crime to serve as an educational video.
Despite the gloomy premise, the film is actually very upbeat with the condemned men and one woman essentially making the most of the time they have left rather than spending their time dreading their fate. At one point, Strong’s character actually commandeers the director spot (in the fictional film) for the film due to the director’s inebriation. The film also develops in an interesting way with the details of how the plan for the heist came about as well as the actual heist itself being a mystery until midway through the film. There is further intrigue due to the primary antagonist’s belief of a deeper conspiracy being in the works and his dedication to attempting to unearth it by any means necessary.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on September 23rd, 2015
by Dustin P. Anderson
Our story follows Luke, the son of a wildlife protection advocate, who is left to his own devices while his mother is off doing her job. During his night of freedom, Luke has a chance encounter with a mother polar bear raiding his shed. The police have been tracking this polar bear and take her away. Shortly after the polar bear is taken, Luke finds the mother polar bear’s son and starts his journey trying to get this cub home. With the help of an ex-friend of the family, MukTuk, the two try braving the harsh ice surrounding their home in order to reunite the bears at a far off retreat.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 21st, 2015
“Have courage and be kind.”
Those words — repeated many times in this newest version of Cinderella — serve as both the title character’s mantra and the film’s unofficial tagline. The message is elegant in its simplicity in a way that mirrors this refreshingly old-fashioned adaptation, which resists the prevailing urge to modernize and/or revise a classic story.
