Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 3rd, 2007
The Drew Carey Show originally aired its pilot episode in 1995, focusing on a simple group of friends living their simplistic lives. Known for its everyman characters and situations, the show enjoyed a 9-year run on ABC, getting yanked from the schedule in 2004. Drew Carey and Bruce Helford, who both continued to write for the show in the following seasons, created the show with the premise of Drew Carey’s life if he hadn’t become a comedian and pursued a different career. I wasn’t even aware that this show wa... going to be released on DVD anytime soon, so I was happy to see that it was.
The show focuses around a close group of friends and their relationships, romantic lives, and their jobs. The main characters, Drew (Drew Carey), Kate (Christa Miller), Oswald (Diedrich Bader), and Lewis (Ryan Stiles) are life long friends’ living there everyday lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Drew works at a department store as a mid-level manager, Kate bounces from job to job and lands one working under Drew, Lewis is a janitor at a drug company, and Oswald is a delivery driver. None of them are too adamant about their jobs, but enjoy each other’s company and drinking beer. Some of the shows greatest moments occur while Drew is sitting in his cubicle, where behind him sits Mimi. She’s quite the heavyset make up ridden, trash talking assistant for Drew’s boss. The two share witty insults towards each other and often prank each other as well. Outside of the work world the group all have romantic lives, but only Drew’s and Kate’s get top billing. As the season goes on their relationships face problems and at other times look strongly optimistic, making for pretty entertaining side stories.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 29th, 2007
Synopsis
*Booming Voice*, "When we last left the Venture Bros season 1, the incredible arch-villain Monarch had been imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit and the Venture Bros were suffering from the loss of their boys Hank and Dean, Meanwhile..." *Monarch voice*, "Where the heck are my cue cards, can't an arch-villain get some normal cue cards for once and how come there is nothing about the sweet Dr. Girlfriend anywhere in here, I mean who really cares about the f****ng V...nture Bros and their miserable excuses for children; Buddy Holly and Fred from Scooby Doo?" *Twenty-one and Twenty-four* "Sorry Monarch." So welcome to another exciting season of the Venture Bros, arguably one of the best animation series on television. Hopefully you know the main characters by now as this is season two. (and thankfully the series has been resigned for a seasons 3 & 4, however we might not see them until 2008). Venture Bros can be described as 4 parts Johnny Quest, 1 part Hardy Boys, 1 part Tick, and even a little Scooby Doo and then throwing that into a big sarcastic machine with lots of sexual innuendo and tons of other classic references before spitting out an animation show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 28th, 2007
Synopsis
When I heard about Loonatics Unleashed the cartoon show, I like many heard it from the web critics. "We can't stand it", "It's ruining the image of the Looney Tunes", or just simply "It sucks" were their cries. However, what I also found interesting in my research is that these comments mostly came before the show even aired. So, the web critics sport superhero abilities I see. They should be villains on this show. Anyhow, needless to say I was a little worried when I saw it at t...e end of my review queue. But what I did find was a little gem of a cartoon show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 26th, 2007
Synopsis
Well, time may not have been too kind to George Lazenby since he assumed the tailored suits of James Bond for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but considering how well Daniel Craig did in Casino Royale, and the basic storyline is the same for both films, why do people still want to bash Lazenby now? Is it because he wasn’t a carbon copy of his predecessor, Sean Connery? Who knows?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 24th, 2007
Ahead of the pack with eight nominations, Dreamgirls had a lot of buzz leading up to this year’s Academy Awards. In the midst of it all, there was talk of a surprise standout performance by American Idol alumnus Jennifer Hudson in her first film role, and even more surprisingly, Pluto Nash – I mean, Eddie Murphy was up for best supporting actor.
With that many nominations, Dreamgirls, in yet another surprise, was not up for the coveted best picture Oscar. And after the dust settled, the film had been honored with just two of the golden statues, for Jennifer Hudson as best supporting actress and best achievement in sound mixing. No best picture nod and so few wins seemed to say, ‘yeah, your movie had a lot of good parts, some even great, but they didn’t add up to something more.’
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 22nd, 2007
Synopsis
The first thing that surprised me when I did some minor research on The Addams Family was that as a show, it was barely on for a cup of coffee, lasting two seasons. Maybe because it was on around the same time as The Munsters shortened its shelf life. However three decades later, the film (and its sequel) helped propel it into fan appreciation.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 18th, 2007
Planet Earth – The Complete Series presents the original U.K. broadcast version with narration by David Attenborough, not the version airing on Discovery narrated by Sigourney Weaver.
Have you ever sat back and wondered about the sheer size and shape of our world, its diversity of habitats or the incredible variety of life we share it with? It’s hard to get your head around it all, especially when most of us are living out our existences in one tiny slice of the place, with the only the odd vacation ...roadening our horizons.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 16th, 2007
Synopsis
When the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series came out on DVD, they decided to go the 12 episodes on one disk Volume approach. Sure it was only $10, but when you are looking at near 200 episodes and realized that it would 16+ volumes to make it complete, it was a bit overwhelming. Add that to the fact they were only releasing a new volume every 4-6 months, you were looking at well over 5 years to get all of the episodes. Plus some major shelf space. Thank ...goodness after 6 volumes, they finally realized their error (took them long enough) and released Season 4 in one nice gulp. All 40 episodes spread over 5 discs. Less compression and a higher production value all around.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 14th, 2007
Synopsis
Baseball films always hold a place near and dear to me. I would go see them with my dad when I was a kid and enjoy the plight of a team or an individual with a desire to win and overcome the odds. Sometimes it would be funny (Bull Durham), sometimes it would be sad (Eight Men Out), sometimes it would be uplifting (Field of Dreams). However, all of the above movies would have never been as successful without one movie in particular. That movie is The Natural . The Natura... (starring Robert Redford & Glenn Close and so many other great actors & actresses) is the story of a fairy tale; one where Roy Hobbs (Redford) grows up with a great gift. The gift to play baseball better than anybody who has ever played the game. However, fate deals him a cruel hand as he encounters a mysterious woman (played by Barbara Hershey) who guns him down with a silver bullet. This ends his career for the next sixteen years until he battles back to find a spot on the Knights, a last place professional team in search of a hero. From here, this is where the story begins of a man battling his health and his demons to capture the pennant and to have his name remembered for ever.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 13th, 2007
Synopsis
Ian Fleming’s The Man With the Golden Gun was the only posthumous release for the established actor, and the book was such a success that producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman decided to try and recruit Roger Moore for the role immediately after You Only Live Twice to capitalize on the success of Fleming’s book. However, it wasn’t meant to be, and the film’s production was delayed several years while the George Lazenby era came and went, not to mention the Sean Connery era leav...ng and returning, only to leave again. When Moore came on, Live and Let Die was the first book they adapted, and The Man With the Golden Gun finally came to fruition in 1974.
