Disc Reviews

 “Season of the equinox, the witch besets her kill; one last soul, the town to know taken against their will.”

I’m not the type that scares easy, and I’m not overly superstitious. But when it comes to urban legends, I know there are a few things I never intend to do: I never intend to say “Bloody Mary” three times in the bathroom mirror, I never intend to mix Pop Rocks and Coke, and, if there is a legend about a witch that will come after you if you break one of windows of her house, guess what? I won’t be picking up a rock. Mind you, this is less about fear and more about having no desire to deal with the consequences if I’m wrong. If only the teens of The Wicked shared my views.

“Texas Territory. In 1821 it was known as ‘Téxas’, and its inhabitants were known as ‘Texicans’. This is the story of their fight for freedom. This is the story of Texas.”

Texas. Just the name of our nation’s second-largest state evokes images of cowboys, gunfights, scenic vistas, and much more. Few states have the combination of history, natural beauty and colorful characters that Texas does. These factors have provided a wealth of stories, and James A. Michener’s Texas (based off Michener’s best-selling novel) recounts one of the most tumultuous times in the state’s history.

“If you have a tender soul, brace yourself.”

Sometimes I’ll get a stand-up comedy DVD and wonder how to write the review differently from other stand-up routines because there was simply little-to-no difference between the acts. Everyone just about knows — or should know — the basic formula. A guy walks out on stage and, for 45 minutes to an hour, delivers self-deprecating humor with the goal of receiving a few laughs. But then there are the comedians like Bo Burnham and Jeff Dunham, who at least try to bring something new to the stage by using music or puppets. In the case of Kristen Schaal, the mold continues to break as she delivers a stand-up performance unlike any other. This isn’t to say she delivers a perfectly amazing set, but it was refreshing to see something outside the formula of the standard routine.

I should start by saying I just re-watched the 1939 version of Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon on Turner Classic Movies, and I fell in love all over again. Olivier was never more magnetic, naturalistic and appealing than he was as Heathcliff. I have watched it many times and Wuthering Heights has been done many times. There have been recent versions with Ralph Fiennes and Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception). This is not one of those versions.

This version is by the adventurous — some would say radical — filmmaker Andrea Arnold. When she first started making films as a director, Arnold made shorts and won an Oscar for a film called Wasp. Both of her first two feature films — Red Road and Fish Tank — won the Jury prize at Cannes. She is a big believer in the Dogme 95 style founded by Lars von Trier, but only as a general philosophy. She does not adhere specifically to all the rules of that movement. Arnold does use the hand-held camera almost exclusively, which gives all of her films — including this one — a documentary feel. There is no music in her version of Wuthering Heights, except for those moments that are generated by the characters in the scenes (though there is a Mumford and Sons song at the end), and the film uses mostly untrained “actors.” It also hopes to shake things up by having the Heathcliff character be black.

There has always been something about anime, as well as role playing card games like Pokémon and Kaijudo, that I’ve never quite been able to understand the draw towards them. When my friends talk about these games — with their booster packs and leveling up — all I can do is smile, nod my head, and pretend I have the slightest inkling at what they are talking about. Surely I can’t be alone on this. So when it came time to settle in and give Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters a spin, I was reluctant; I hoped, perhaps, I could gain some insight into what some of my friends were talking about.

Before I go any further, I should mention the Dragon Strike DVD is only a five-episode arc and is not a reflection of the show or an entire season. The story arc, I’m guessing, takes place a while after the characters and the two worlds that exist have been established. So it did take me some time to just figure out what was even going on. But with that in mind, I wanted more by the time I was through the third episode.

"You call this plain clothes?"

Few shows in television history have the kind of storied history that you'll find with Cagney & Lacey. The show's own story would make for compelling television drama in its own right. It didn't end with simply trying to get on the air. The trials continued through three cancellations and an unprecedented recasting of a lead...twice. It's no small miracle that the show made it at all, let alone lasting for six years and a total of over 130 episodes and television movies.