Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 4th, 2011
Good grief, these people again. I had previously shared my thoughts on this program when reviewing the third season on this site: https://upcomingdiscs.com/2010/03/13/designing-women-season-3/ I shall expand on this but assure you that little has changed in my sour opinion.
This season was the last to feature Delta Burke and Jean Smart, who comprised of half of the leading cast. This does not mean there are any climatic finale moments where the friends become sentimental for one and other. This season seems to stay the course of mediocre comedy it had for 4 seasons previous, except perhaps for a little more applause added character's entrances.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 28th, 2011
It is 1979. While filming a Super 8 horror movie, a group of young friends on the cusp of adolescence witness a spectacular train wreck. They later discover that they accidentally captured evidence that there was an alien creature on the train, and it is now loose in their small town. But if the mysterious disappearance of dogs, engines and (increasingly) people wasn’t trouble enough, the military descends upon the community with an agenda far more merciless and inhuman than that of the alien itself.
I was 12 in 1979, and I was shooting Super 8 monster movies, so I get the nostalgia that writer/director J.J. Abrams is going for here, and this is an utterly unapologetic exercise in nostalgia. Abrams is is out to recreate the experience of a Spielberg movie from that era, and with the man himself acting as producer, the mission is accomplished. Super 8 plays like the Lost Spielberg Movie, with all the wonder, thrills, and sentimentality one would expect. There is so much here that works beautifully. The young cast is terrific, the dialogue crackles, the effects are spectacular, and the creature is both menacing and sympathetic, like some unholy version of ET reworked by H.P. Lovecraft.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 11th, 2011
In the 1980’s, I feasted on a bevy of animation growing up. I watched typical cartoon shows like Transformers, G.I. Joe, and Voltron. Honestly, my habits were to watch every piece of animation that came across in those days at least once. Yes, even the Care Bears. But sadly despite all of that, I completely missed some great ones. One of those truly great ones was the Robotech series. Now, with an 85 episode behemoth of a complete series set, I get a chance to rectify that grave injustice.
Robotech originally ran March of 1985 in the United States. It had started out as a Japanese series and then Harmony Gold USA came in, reworked the dialog and content so that they could sell it to stations in the US as first-run syndication. However, Harmony tried hard to include most of the complexity and drama of the source material. Producer Carl Macek supervised the proceedings and the sweeping epic was born. The show did very well and had attracted a more mature audience that was not expected.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 9th, 2011
The Cartwright boys continue to do right on the Ponderosa Ranch in the state of Nevada. Having lasted 14 seasons, the series was relatively young in Season 2 but had already established Ben Cartwright and his three boys (from three different mothers) as household names on American television.
Plot wise, a good chunk of the stories revolve around the importance of having land. The Cartwrights hold the most lucrative plot in the area, and many a villain tries to find devious methods of taking it from them. Unlike fellow Old West programs like Gunsmoke, Bonanza took a sometimes comical approach to the resolving these conflicts, and guns were hardly ever drawn.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 8th, 2011
"Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking." - General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces."
World War II was a turning point in American history unlike any other in the 20th century. America went from being an industrial power to becoming a world superpower. It came at great sacrifice, and we lost almost half a million people in the effort. The war to end all wars didn't quite live up to its promise, but the sacrifices of the men and women who served shaped the world for the decades that would follow. There have been many films about the war. They run from the patriotic to the bravado. Steven Spielberg perhaps gave us the closest thing to actual combat with Saving Private Ryan. It shouldn't come as any surprise that he would team up with his Ryan star and develop what is perhaps the most important mini-series in television history ... twice.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 2nd, 2011
Personally, I do not watch much reality television. Most “realities” they present is quite boring or scripted. However, as of late I have started to watch reality shows that I have dubbed, “One Man’s Junk is another Man’s Treasure.” My two favorites are Storage Wars and Pawn Stars. The idea that just because one person might think it is a piece of crap, the next might think it is worth a ton of money. Today’s review is the second volume of American Pickers. Will it be another diamond in the rough?
So, as I asked myself when I unwrapped this sucker, what exactly is American Pickers about? Well, there are these two guys, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz who roam the United States in search of knick knacks, car parts, collectibles, anything that will bring them money. A picker. Their method is somewhat unorthodox as they actually visit people’s homes, storage sheds, and any other place where somebody have stored their collection.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 29th, 2011
Season 2 of the Tyler Perry-created series continues misadventures of Leroy Brown (David Mann), who, last season, opened up a seniors’ residence. This season has all the characters firmly in place, and the stage is set for no end of misguided schemes and misunderstandings, all of which conclude with lessons learned and heartstrings tugged.
If the above sounds a little generic, that’s because so is the series, and furthermore, I’m referring to an archaic quality to this series’ generic nature. Put another way, this is an unapologetic (though it should be deeply ashamed) throwback to situation comedy’s dismal era of the 1980s. The performances broad, unfunny caricatures, all squealing yelps and bugging eyes. The laugh track comes in on every other line, underscoring just how desperately unfunny the dialogue is. As for the plots, I cry mercy. Brown hopes to get rich marketing his family’s barbecue sauce, Brown becomes an over-demanding patient after being grazed by a bullet, Brown wins twenty bucks in a lottery and becomes a gambling fiend, and so on and so on and so forth. Storylines that would creak even if the main character were named Ralph Kramden, overlaid with thudding sanctimony and Real Social Issues.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 25th, 2011
Even though I love the game, I have not watched too much baseball in the last few years. This goes double for games not involving the Philadelphia Phillies. I still keep up with it, still analyze the standings and box scores but for some reason I do not watch as many games as I wish too. The odd thing is when I get sets like the one I'm reviewing today, I am 100% excited. Perhaps it is because I have nothing vested in it. The games are already played, the result is already known, I can simply appreciate the game that way it is supposed to be. The magical game of baseball.
2002 was the first time in baseball history that two wildcard teams made the World Series. The Anaheim Angels had finished 99-63 (Oakland and New York won 103 games a piece that year) while the San Francisco Giants went 95-66 (The Braves were the standout in the NL winning 101 games). However, when the Angels took out the Yankees and the Giants took out the Braves in the first round of the playoffs, baseball fans knew that they were in for something special come the Series. After the League Championship series with the Angels and Giants both crushing their opponents (Twins and Cardinals), it was time to play the big one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 20th, 2011
It is that time for more cartoon goodness from the people at Nickelodeon. As we have seen, I seem to attract odd cartoons to review. Let’s see, there is a dude with a football as a head, a beaver with a surfer voice or perhaps a monster who has to carry his own eyeballs. This time I lay witness to a Cat and a Dog conjoined at the stomach devoid of tails or hind legs. What sounds like a bad science experiment might be full of cartoon love.
CatDog started out as a sneak peek cartoon before the Rugrats movie. In April of 1998, forty initial episodes were ordered. When it was all said and done, it would last half a dozen years and sixty eight episodes. It was not an overly strong cartoon but it would go on to accumulate a fairly quiet fan base and some minor nominations for an Annie as well as a Kid’s Choice Award. One might think with this mediocre run that the cast of voice actors was mediocre. That would be completely wrong.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 11th, 2011
For nine seasons and several TV-movies afterwards, Raymond Burr was Los Angeles based defense attorney Perry Mason. His adventures have been well-reviewed by my compadre Gino on this very site (https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=perry+mason) so I shall do my best to avoid redundancies while I speak of Season 6.
The formula (for lack of a better term) of each episode maintains in the sixth season. The primary suspect is profiled, caught and examined in the first half of each story. When things do to trial, the true guilty party is found out, often on the witness stand, as Perry's uncanny winning streak gets the best of those who try to hide the truth from him. Said winning streak might spoil one's enjoyment of the show since the outcomes can be predicted during the opening titles screen, but the crimes (murders) are elaborate enough to maintain interest for the most part. At the same time, I feel it should be noted that the pacing of the show can often be slow. Think of it being a closer relation to Matlock than the sexier modern Legal dramas like The Practice. Not to say that it is better to have attorneys with chiseled jaws or short skirts versus methodical investigation and character development, but you had better prepare yourself for a lot of men in suits standing in one spot speaking their thoughts aloud.
![Band of Brothers / The Pacific (Special Edition Gift Set) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/band-of-brothers-the-pacific-spe-large.jpg)
