Disc Reviews

I’m going to go on record and say that it is highly likely that I do not fit into the target audience for this film. OK, now that we got that out of the way, I feel perfectly comfortable stating that I don’t believe that even the target audience will really enjoy American Bad Boy. I just knew that when Magic Mike was released that we broke the dam; now everywhere I turn there is a movie about male strippers. Now, I’m not a prude, but when it comes to this movie, it is nothing more than a shiny penny; the target audience is expected to be dazzled by the muscular bodies rather than the story itself or lack thereof.

OK, we start with a decent guy, down on this luck. He aspires to earn a record deal with his music and share his voice with the world. Problem is he is indebted to a shady club owner (Katt Williams) who makes him dance at his club to pay off his obscene debt.OK, let’s take a moment right here. A guy working at strip club dreaming of something better, does that sound vaguely familiar to anyone? Oh, come on, I haven’t even seen the movie and it sounds familiar. Pressing on, not only is this guy leading a double life, in his everyday life he is the son of a pastor who, if he discovered what his son did with his nights, would likely bring down a bit of fire and brimstone himself.

As one who loathes sports, ESPECIALLY golf, I thought I’d rather put hot pokers in my eyes than watch the golf and gambling independent film, The Squeeze. However, to my surprise, it wasn’t bad - it wasn’t great- and although the ending teed me off for not providing an adequate resolution, I also didn’t fast forward. The golf scenes were realistically boring to me, so I guess golf fans would love this, but the script needs work. The Squeeze tells the allegedly “based on true story” of Augie (Jeremy Sumpter), a cute, small-town kid who comes from a family where the patriarch of the family is an alcoholic. The dad beats the mom, and based on the reaction of the little sister, probably the kids too. Augie wants to escape that life and rescue his mom and sister by winning the US Open. After a local tournament, he is interviewed on the radio and credits his amazing success to hard work, the Almighty, and talent. Augie spends his days chilling with two friends in the small town, caddying and excelling at the game. Actor Jeremy Sumpter, whom I loved in Peter Pan, deserves props for being as natural as he was with a script that felt like an after-school special.

Riverboat, a slimy arrogant gambler and his wife, hear of his success on the radio and make a beeline to find Augie and their next con. A high five to Terry Jastrow’s casting director for casting Christopher McDonald (who got his start in Thelma and Louise in early 90s) as Riverboat, the devil always in an elegant suit and hat, oozing charm and an irritating Southern accent, who lures the innocent Augie into the illegal yet profitable business of golf for money. McDonald, well known for portraying villainous and/or ultra-obnoxious characters, filled Riverboat’s shiny shoes perfectly, dangling the forbidden fruit in front of Augie, luring him into a dangerous life.

The premise here is dirt simple. They've taken the buddy cop idea and found a way to work in the forensics science fad and deliver a procedural with a few twists. Angie Harmon plays Detective Rizzoli. She's wanted to be a cop all of her life and is living the dream working with a special unit out of Boston PD. Her best friend in life happens to be Dr. Maura Isles, who is the Chief Medical Examiner for the unit and is played by Sasha Alexander. These are the kind of friends who finish each other's sentences and share a lot of history together. That's not to say they are at all alike. 

Rizzoli is a relative free spirit. She doesn't let a lot of things get her down and doesn't take things outside of the job very seriously. But this season she has to deal with severe loss. She ends up having a miscarriage, and the show loses one of its cast members as Detective Cross is killed and Lee Thomas Young leaves the series.

by Dustin P. Anderson

At the end of a long sentence, a notorious inmate, Viktor Khadem, is sent to a minimum-security prison where he works until he can be rehabilitated to join society. His handler, Matt Perry, sees a certain skill for taking care of birds within Viktor, and decides to start a new program for rehabilitating inmates. He puts Viktor in charge of two other prisoners tasked with caring for the injured birds of prey until they are well enough to fly, and hunt on their own. The guards and warden of the jail believe the program is dangerous and will only invite more trouble. A gang of the prison’s thugs harasses the group as they are jealous of their position and makes life even more difficult for them as they try to heal. Through this adversity the three inmates start to form a bond with the birds they are watching and try to let the effect of caring for them wash the violence from their past out of their mind.

“Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Bad boys, bad boys whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?”

There are some television series that just have a catchy theme song; COPS is one of those shows. I don’t know what it is, but every time I hear mention of the show, I automatically hear the theme song in my head. I know I can’t be alone in that category; come on, show of hands, how many people hear the theme song in their head or feel compelled to sing it out loud at the mere mention of the show? Yes, yes, I am aware I can’t see any of you; just a bit of fun. So my latest title, COPS Wildest Chases by definition is supposed to deliver the wildest, craziest, most insane chases of one the longest running reality television series in history. On that score, I must admit my disappointment, as the chases that I witnessed in no way lived up to that hype.

So going in I was anticipating a bunch of wild car chases on freeways and interstates culminating in carnage from vehicle wipeouts; what I got was mainly foot chases that in truth didn’t last long. I am aware of the dangerous precedent set by assuming; however, when something is titled Wildest Chases, it should be safe to assume that you can expect at the very least a couple of death-defying stunts, right? I suppose on the one hand this can allow certain people to sleep well at night, because these chases illustrate how good law enforcement is at catching their perpetrators, or how unskillful your usual  perpetrators are at getting away (either should provide some level of comfort).