Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 4th, 2005
Synopsis
The Amityville Horror (1979) remains one of the most successful haunted house movies ever. Based on a supposedly true story (emphasis on “supposedly”), the film sees George and Kathy Lutz (James Brolin and Margot Kidder) buy their dream home, only to be driven out by supernatural events (little girl makes friends with demonic piggie, blood runs from the walls, and so on). In scenes that have so little to do with the rest of the action they might almost belong to a separate movie, Rod ...teiger overacts to a degree excessive even by his own none-too-restrained standards as the priest who is targeted by the evil in the house. Too tame to be truly frightening, the film succeeds thanks partly to its “true story” aura, but most especially because of the design of the house, whose eye-like windows made it the most recognizable of all cinematic haunted houses.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 3rd, 2005
If you’re not the type who enjoys watching complete seasons of your favorite show on DVD, this set was made for you. Mad About You has already had its complete first and second seasons released on DVD, but this collection takes the best episodes from the show entire run, and slams them out in this “Best of” collection.
I for one, as a completist, prefer complete seasons over these best-of collections. I find the flow very disjointed, with each episode having very little to do with each other.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 28th, 2005
The Monterey Pop Festival has been mostly ignored by a lot of people, compared to the two other two large concerts that occurred after it, Woodstock, and Altamont. Those who do remember Monterey always mention the one incident it is most known for, Jimi Hendrix’ appearance on the U.S. stage. Jimi had been tearing it up in England, and he ended by setting his guitar on fire, which turned out to be a defining moment in music history. Criterion brings this event and others back to life in a comprehensive 3 disc set which is designed not only to showcase Jimi’s set during the show, but also breathes new life into the festival in general. Artists who appeared were The Who, Simon and Garfunkel, Otis Redding and Janis Joplin, to name a few.
The festival was shot over 3 days, and the DVD set is broken up into 3 parts: the film of the festival on disc 1, the performances of Jimi Hendrix and Otis Redding take up disc 2, and almost 2 hours of outtake performances comprise disc 3. Disc 1 is the film of the festival. The usual components of a music concert documentary are here, including footage of crowds and artists flocking to the show, and some behind the scenes logistics, but that footage is quick, and it runs for about 10 minutes before the performances start. The performances are edited together fairly abruptly with almost no fanfare in between songs. The film is only 79 minutes, so I can‘t understand the need to get everything crammed in here as much as possible, but that helps to make the second and third discs a relief to see.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 28th, 2005
Good Times is one of several shows from the 1970’s to trace its origins back to All In The Family. Florida was the maid to Maude, Edith’s cousin, who also got her own show. It wasn’t very long before Good Times became the Jimmie Walker show. His ghetto witisms and trademark “Dyn-o-Mite” exclamation took any attention from the other cast members. In the Fourth season John Amos left the show and his character, James, was killed in an accident. Esther Rolle would also depart for a time after this season. It’s no surprise that JJ’s role was beginning to increase and perhaps peaked here in Season Four.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 28th, 2005
What better a place to bring a city’s resurgence than Miami? The area would arguably look different if there was a different TV show that sparked a commerical revival. With Michael Mann in the producer’s chair, along with producing partner Anthony Yerkovich (whose only other cop drama he produced was Hill Street Blues), the flashy cop drama was the reason why a lot of people decided to stay home on Friday nights.
In terms of episode content, there was a lot of formulaic cop drama things, and the usua... clichéd dialogue is prevalent. I found myself shuddering at some of the things I heard when I was watching this first season of episodes again. But there are very good episodes within this run. Aside from the introduction of Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) to Crockett (Don Johnson) in the first episode, along with Tubbs’ pursuit of the drug dealer who killed his cop brother, No Exit features a young Bruce Willis as an arms dealer with a dark side. Milk Run has Crockett helping a couple of naïve college kids nab a cocaine dealer and get home safely, and Dennis Farina (who later starred in Mann’s TV project Crime Story appears periodically throughout the season as a drug dealer who evades arrest, and later, witness relocation. And what may be the best episode, Evan features an old partner of Crockett’s and the friction that still exists between them and a deceased partner. Set against a couple of really cool Peter Gabriel songs, this episode is probably the best of the season in my opinion.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 23rd, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 19th, 2005
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 13th, 2005
This show the bomb diggity yo! Seriously though, Jonny Quest in a way revolutionized cartoons in the sense of realism that they tried to convey. Some of the cartoons that have come out since have done a pretty good job of it, but not too many shows were touching on topics such as laser technology, rockets and other concepts then looked at as “futuristic.” And put up against other shows of that era, the animation on Jonny Quest had an almost comic-book like feel to it, and it was a nice change of pace from the ...artoony feel of the Jetsons.
The show is focused around Jonny, his father, Dr. Benton Quest, the inventor and pre-eminent scientist of the era, Race Bannon, a man assigned to guard the Quests from any potential threats, as his innovations when in the wrong hands could pose a danger, Jonny’s friend Hadji, from the streets of Calcutta, and Jonny’s dog bandit, named for a patch of black fur that runs around his eyes like a mask, hence the name. The group traveled to exotic locations for every episode, battling numerous villains, some real, some not, some we’ll just call “fabled,” like gargoyles and abominable snowmen. For its 40th anniversary, Warner Brothers rolls out the 1st season of Jonny Quest, all 26 episodes, in all its glory, as part of the Golden Collection of animated DVD releases from Hanna-Barbera.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 13th, 2005
I must admit that season 5 of South Park was not one of my favorites. I didn’t mind the more permanent death of Kenny. OK, I did mind losing Kenny, but that wasn’t what really brought the series down. It appears that the crudeness found in season 5 has no other purpose than for shock value which in itself is lost on South Park fans. You just can’t shock us anymore.
An episode with a running counter for how often SHIT appears is a perfect indication of how run down things had gotten. Don’t get me wrong. The...e’s still some real funny... well... Shit in this season. Butters annoys me. I think he’s intended to, but he really annoys me. I think the only reason I laughed at all this season is because I can’t help laughing every time Cartman says or does anything. I think one of the reasons for South Park’s drop comes from the domination of Trey Parker.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 11th, 2005
It’s hard to imagine that just 10 years ago Steven Bochco stirred up a hornet’s nest with the introduction of NYPD Blue. I say hard to imagine because after just three seasons The Shield has taken commercial TV to heights unimagined by anyone 10 years ago. Vic Mackey doesn’t just rough up suspects. He controls the streets he patrols. He’s not even above killing another cop to keep his thumb on crime in the Barrio district of L.A. Michael Chiklis, once known as the fatherly kind cop on The Commish, has t...tally sold us on this almost irredeemable renegade.
While F/X is a cable network, it still relies on the same advertising spots that the other networks depend on as their lifeblood. Unlike HBO or Showtime, F/X must also comply with stricter guidelines for decency. The Shield pushes that envelope to the very edge. Cinematography is gritty and often documentary in style. The music is harsh. The stories are extremely tight. Not a minute is wasted on superfluous trivia. This show grabs you in the first minute and reluctantly lets you go in the closing credits, only to lie in wait with another compelling episode to begin the cycle again.
