Disc Reviews

X-Box’s first venture into the racing genre gave us Project Gotham. A great looking title with its own unique charms but also had a fair number of shortcomings. Would the sequel address these shortcomings and live up to the hype? In a word: YES.

Graphics

Easily the one of the weirdest (if not the weirdest) concepts to ever grace the small screen, Space Ghost Coast to Coast is a bizarre talk show hosted by a minor 60’s cartoon hero Space Ghost. Repeated animation clips are used to have Space Ghost “interview” such luminaries of the mid 90’s (the show ran on Cartoon Network from 1993-1996) such as Slash, Hulk Hogan, Bobcat Golthwait, Michael Stipe from REM (promoting Monster), and The Jerky Boys.

The basic premise has Space Ghost asking inane questions to hi... guests only to have them respond in equally confusing ways. The guests are interviewed before hand in the studio and clips of their discussions are spliced into the conversation with Space Ghost. Intertwined into this is Space Ghost’s ongoing conflict with the leader of the band – Zorak an man sized evil preying mantis and his producer Moltar – some evil dude with a bucket on his head. These two are constantly insulting Space Ghost. He is occasionally aware of this and responds by threatening to blast them with his space wristbands. This very unusual combination provided some rare moments of hilarity but all too often felt myself wondering “was there something more to that comment that I am missing?” This is definitely a show that would have it’s devoted fans, similar to shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000 (of which I was a big fan), but would have a hard time appealing to the audience at large.

There have always been directors that have stood out in the public consciousness. Scorsese. Spielberg. Hitchcock. Lynch. These are all directors that have a specific vision. With very few exceptions, if you came across one of their films on television on an average Saturday afternoon, it wouldn't take too long to figure out who the director was. They each have a very unique cinematic style, usually based in dramatic films.

Oddly enough, Rob Reiner also fits into this category. His light comedies all have a ...pecial feel to them, and even the bad ones are uniquely pleasing. A kind man hiding behind an emotional facade, a quirky but charming woman and a classic soft jazz soundtrack is all it takes to make one of his light-hearted modern classics.

There have always been directors that have stood out in the public consciousness. Scorsese. Spielberg. Hitchcock. Lynch. These are all directors that have a specific vision. With very few exceptions, if you came across one of their films on television on an average Saturday afternoon, it wouldn't take too long to figure out who the director was. They each have a very unique cinematic style, usually based in dramatic films.

Oddly enough, Rob Reiner also fits into this category. His light comedies all have a ...pecial feel to them, and even the bad ones are uniquely pleasing. A kind man hiding behind an emotional facade, a quirky but charming woman and a classic soft jazz soundtrack is all it takes to make one of his light-hearted modern classics.