Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2005
After a very successful 11 year run on NBC, the cast, crew and writers of Frasier decided to call it quits. Unlike other series that went on far too long and seemed to die a slow and painful death, the Frasier team left an indelible mark on television history with excellent writing and great comedic performances. Just to give you an idea about how important this series was in the history of television, over the course of its run it garnered over 37 Emmys for excellence in acting, writing and direction in a comedy ser...es.
While so far there are only three seasons of Frasier available on DVD from Paramount, they followed a successful formula set by Friends – release the final season/episode while the hype is at it’s maximum. So I guess if you have not watched the series during it’s original broadcast and are only familiar via the DVD format, then you really should not watch this and wait for another 3 years for Paramount to release seasons 5 – 10 (Season 4 comes out February 1, 2005).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 20th, 2005
The best way to describe Season 5 is the calm before the storm. The two more prominent women, Russert and later Kay, leave the show. The season begins with Frank dealing with returning to work after his Season 4 ending stroke. Michelle Forbes of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame opted to join the Homicide cast, giving up the chance to star in the Deep Space Nine edition of Trek. She became Baltimore’s newest M.E. and would be in for a stormy ride. The show maintains its gritty feel and camera movements continue to ...eep viewers on edge.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2005
The rise in popularity of TV on DVD has brought about an interesting side effect. Namely, shows that would have previously faded into oblivion after a few airings are now finding a new audience. Often, such as in the cases of Firefly and Boomtown, audiences (and networks) are discovering that they may have pulled the plug too soon on some shows. While Crusade doesn’t exactly fit into this category, it does prove itself to be a show with promise, that may have developed into something special if i... had been given the time.
Crusade is a spin-off of the popular sci-fi program Babylon 5. This time, however, instead of the action coming to the cast, the cast goes to the action. The basic arc of the show involves a spacecraft and crew that have been charged with finding a cure for a virus that will kill all of the inhabitants of Earth within five years. It is this tie to Earth and humanity that makes the show so accessible to people that are not traditionally sci-fi fans. This also gives the show something of a tie to the original Star Trek series that started it all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2005
The second volume of Lost In Space Season 2 is pretty much like the first. I’m still not sure I like the idea of splitting seasons. The reason given was that stores were refusing to carry a higher priced season set. This set does contain one of my favorite of the entire show. “Trip Through The Robot” is an obvious “Fantastic Voyage” rip-off but is a terribly entertaining romp. The stories continued their slide into even sillier tales and lower budget monsters. Gene Roddenberry often told the tale of how CBS pi...ked his brain about how to achieve sci-fi looks with a TV budget. The story goes they feigned interest in his Star Trek pilot to pick his brain. It doesn’t look like they got as much out of the deception as Roddenberry might have thought.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 14th, 2005
First off, let me say that if you have only seen Showgirls on VH-1, then you haven’t had the full experience. It’s bad on network television, but the sheer scope of how truly awful it is can only be experienced in the full, uncut version. Laughing at an idiot is one thing. Laughing at a naked idiot is something else entirely. It’s amazing how un-sexy this film really is. Showgirls is funny in the same way that it was funny to make fun of the fat kid riding in the front of the bus in Junior High. ...art of you feels sorry for Elizabeth Berkeley, and part of you secretly gets a certain satisfaction out of watching her fail so horribly and famously on film. The point is, this film is truly enjoyable, in the most twisted of ways.
This trashy flick is the very definition of a film so bad that it’s good. For those of you that live in a cave in Afghanistan, this is the story of a small-town girl who goes to Vegas to make it big as a showgirl (because you have to have goals, right?). Once she gets there, she finds that Sin City is called that for a reason, and she fights through catty co-workers, sleazy managers and her own blind ignorance to get her shot at the big time. I think I might have died of boredom if this movie wasn’t so gloriously horrible.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2005
Sometimes, titles can be misleading. In fact, in our modern high-octane marketing culture, that’s often times their function. For instance, despite the rumors, everybody does not love Raymond. Furthermore, I do not love Raymond. I find the show bland and predictable, and the acting is consistently sub-par. However, just because it’s not my kind of thing, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s bad. A Room With a View was nominated for Best Picture, but I found it so detestable that I couldn’t even make ...t through the whole thing. People are different, and their DVD viewing preferences are as well.
All 22 episodes from the first season of this highly-rated show are included on this set, including the series pilot. Pilots are invariably awkward, but this seems to be an exception. There are some genuinely funny moments here, and though there are a couple plot lines and character traits that are different from the directions the show eventually went in, the pilot is pretty true to the rest of the season and the series. One of the hallmarks of this show is its consistency, and the comedy has been consistent since episode number one. Unfortunately for me, I don’t care for Ray Romano’s brand of humor.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 7th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 4th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 6th, 2004
Despite season two's unquestionable quality, Smallville's third season is probably its best -- and with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel now completely off of television, it's pretty much the only thing around that can fill the whole supernatural Scooby gang void.
Of course, one of the big reasons that Smallville helps fill that spot so well is because it has a lot of the same ingredients that powered Whedon's universe along in its prime: that is, it has a ton of supernatural special effects, and a heal...hy but intimate cast of likeable heroes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 2nd, 2004
Things were pretty much over the peak when Voyager warped into Season 5. The Seven Of Nine tension was begin to feel played out by now. The prominence of the girl Naomi I found to be a bit irritating. This would also be a year of rebellion as quite a few crew members cause Janeway more than her fair share of grief. The Borg continue to be the master villains and account for the bright spots in an otherwise mediocre season. Season 5 does bring us to that magical 100th episode with “Timeless”. “Dark Frontier” would be...ome the first Trek episode ever presented as a “Star Trek TV film” Yes, there were many 2-parters, but “Dark Frontier” was not filmed or broadcast as a 2-parter.
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