Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 7th, 2010
"Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain. I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end. I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend. But I always thought that I'd see you again."
After nearly 40 years since they had worked together, James Taylor and Carole King finally see each other again, at least on stage. The two worked together for about two years from 1970 to 1972. They shared each other's songs and played off and on sharing the same musicians as friends and backup band. The era was an important time for each of these artists. It was the time when they were working on what would become their breakout albums and stardom down the road. For Carole King it was her Tapestry album, and for James Taylor it was Sweet Baby James. Part of the memories they created together was a series of gigs at L.A.'s famed Troubadour Club in 1971. This release finds the duo once again back at the Troubadour Club, only 40 years later, 40 years older, and 40 years wealthier. It's a throwback to an earlier time both for these musicians and the fans that drove them to their inevitable stardom.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 7th, 2010
In countries all over the world, there is still the prevalent issue of not being able to read. Even in advanced countries such as the United States, there are reports that suggest that many adults don’t ever pick up another book after leaving college. This reviewer was fortunate enough to have two adults in his life that read to him all the time when he was an infant and thus developed a desire and ability to read very early on. But for those who don’t have that luxury, perhaps they can find entertaining television programs such as Ghostwriter.
Jamal Jenkins (played by Sheldon Turnipseed) and his father (played by Samuel L. Jackson) are working in the basement of his family’s brownstone. Jamal’s father finds an old trunk that he was looking for and starts to pull it out. The father nor Jamal notices that the trunk knocks over an old book and the pages release a spirit. As they leave, the spirit follows Jamal.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 4th, 2010
For anyone who still engages in serious debates over who would win, Thor or the Hulk, here is a series that will send you into paroxysms of nerd joy. The premise here, in the spirit of violent apples and homicidal oranges, is to scientifically (more or less) explore who would win in one-on-one battles between an Apache and a gladiator, a viking and a samurai, a Spartan and a ninja, and so on. We even have the IRA versus the Taliban. Weapons, armor, and tactics are all examined, demonstrated, and fed into a computer. The data is then dramatized at each episode's climax.
It really is difficult to respond adequately to this specimen. This is one of those ideas that is utterly whacked, but has also been pretty obviously lurking in the male psyche since time immemorial. The presentation is pure cheese, all flashy graphics and clenched-teeth narration, and the actual battles have more than a whiff of Kirk versus the Gorn about them. If you want great fight choreography to go along with your strange pairings, you're probably better off sticking to playing Soul Caliber IV. All the same, the sheer oddity of the enterprise makes it hard to tear one's eyes away.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2010
“William Banks has saved 257 people from addiction to drugs, sex, and gambling. He’s not a cop. He’s not a superhero. He’s just a man with a calling. This is his story.”
What he is, is Benjamin Bratt, returning from the thespian dead as William Banks, better known to the show’s fans as The Cleaner. Bratt hasn’t been seen much since he left the gig at Law & Order. I almost didn’t recognize him here. But he’s returned in style. The Cleaner has all the characteristics of a police procedural series with a lot more excitement. His methods are often harsh. He’s your worst nightmare of an intervention. When Banks is called in, you haven’t hit rock bottom. Rock bottom has just hit you. The character is a recovering addict himself and does this as a way of making amends. Of course he doesn’t work alone. He’s assembled a kind of Impossible Mission Force-style team that helps with each case. Together they form a private company that a family member can call when they tire of a friend or family member’s addiction. The series was based on the real life story of Warren Boyd, who also acts as one of the show’s producers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2010
"Compulsive Hoarding is a mental disorder marked by an obsessive need to acquire and keep things, even if the items are worthless, hazardous, or unsanitary. More than 3 million people are compulsive hoarders. These are two of their stories."
The reality television craze has entered its second generation. In the beginning, shows merely found folks who were willing to put themselves in odd circumstances for the chance to earn some big payday. That first wave included such shows as Big Brother, Fear Factor, and Survivor. These shows quickly evolved, or devolved, depending on your point of view into the relationship game. Instead of cash, these contestants went looking to marry, most often a millionaire. It turns out that Chuck Barris actually invented the reality show in 1965 with The Dating Game and later with The Gong Show. He discovered, way ahead of his time, that we wanted to see real people make complete fools of themselves for love or money. When the writers’ strike hit, these shows became a gold mine to network executives looking to fill prime-time slots. That's when everyone noticed just how cheap these shows were to make.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2010
“This is the PAX Space Laboratory. We were working on an experiment in suspended animation...”
The release of Strange New World on the Warner Archive label is another example of just what a great idea this system from Warner Brothers really is. We're talking about an obscure title here that had zero chance of ever reaching a standard release on any of the available formats. This is where the Archive Collection makes these kinds of cult-favorite shows and films accessible to the fans out there who have long felt forgotten. So, wake up from your long slumber and join me on an unexpected visit to the Strange New World.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 31st, 2010
Many people look around today and say we are perhaps going through one of the most corrupt times in the history of the world. Government spending is out of control, rights seem to going by the waste side and human liberties are forgotten in travesties of justice. But what they don't know is that many years ago, life was cheap and rulers often gained absolute power by the most despicable of methods. However, what some people forget, the History Channel does remember Ancients Behaving Badly.
Ancients Behaving Badly is a documentary series on the History Channel that chooses an infamous leader from ancient history and goes into great detail about their rule. Let's take for example, Caligula, the first leader presented and a fairly easy target to spend time on. Caligula, the third Roman emperor who despite living only a shade under four years in power broke all the rules and was famous for debauchery and murder on the grandest scale.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 28th, 2010
"This is Fairfax County in the state of Virginia. I was born here. It's peaceful, beautiful, and a long long way from Wyoming; beautiful, too in its special way. Vast, proud and lonely; it's my country now, Wyoming. But not exactly a peaceful one."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 28th, 2010
One of the most basic pleasures in my soul is received from a great stand-up comedian. I grew up with the likes of Richard Pryor, George Carlin and Robin Williams. As a result, I listen to many stand-up specialists whenever I can, some are funny, some are not so funny and some I don't know if I'm listening to comedy or amateur hour at 1 in the morning. Today's special is David Cross, experienced to the stand-up scene in a brand new special. Let's see how it goes.
A little bit of history on David Cross, he's 46 and even though you might struggle to remember what he has been in, most likely you have seen his face before. He's been in the Ben Stiller Show, Arrested Development, and Mr. Show. More recently, he has been a part of the Alvin and the Chipmunk movies and even did voices for a few video games. In his personal life, he's a proclaimed atheist and is dating Amber Tamblyn who is well smoking hot and about twenty years younger.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2010
In June of 1982 I was fishing in a secluded mountaintop lake with my friend Willie Nelson. No, he wasn't the country singer. He was a State College, Pennsylvania DJ. He is a giant kind of fella who stands about 11 feet tall in his socks. It was a Sunday night, June 20th, the night before my birthday, and we decided to spend an all-nighter at the lake fishing. The place was in the middle of a wooded area, and there was nothing around for miles. Just before midnight and my birthday, we both saw something I'm sure we will never forget. I've since lost track of Willie. Last I heard he was living on a boat in L.A. So if you're out there, buddy, drop me a line. What we saw was a series of bright lights in the sky. They were flying extraordinarily close to the ground and moving quite slowly across the sky. What impressed both of us most of all was that they never made a sound. At first we suspected they were individual objects. I remember thinking they might be missiles of some kind. But as they flew overhead, the space between them blocked out the stars. It was a solid object. We went immediately back to the radio station and phoned the FAA, local airport, and whomever else we could think of. It was a hell of a thing. I still don't know what we saw that night, but it still appears vividly to me if I close my eyes. I wrote down the experience as a song for my Invented Memories album, which I will include at the end of the review should you be interested in hearing it.
We're not alone. I don't mean in an extraterrestrial sense. I mean as witnesses to an unidentified flying objects. There have been millions of such reports over the decades. Often these sightings are dismissed as coming from crackpots or just someone desperate for attention. The government has waged a long campaign to discount these sightings as either unreliable or something more explainable like weather balloons or flares. But there have been some very credible witnesses over the years, people you would be hard-pressed to lump into any of the categories I've named. We're talking trained observers with sterling reputations. Together many of us reject these government claims of what we might have witnessed. To those claims we join in unanimously: I Know What I Saw.
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