Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 15th, 2012
"...So when I walked into the hair cutting place, I was taking a leap. But I wasn't doing it for a guy — I was doing it for me."
Season 2 of Felicity features Keri Russell getting one of the most infamous haircuts in TV history. When people think of super-producer J.J. Abrams and his television projects, images from Alias, Fringe and a little show called Lost probably spring to mind. On the other hand, a significantly smaller portion of weirdos the TV-watching population may think of the relationship dramedies Abrams has produced, such as What About Brian, Six Degrees and Felicity, by far the best of this latter group. (Then again, Felicity — co-created by Abrams and Matt Reeves — resorted to time travel towards the end of its run, so it probably has more in common with the producer's genre shows than you think.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on May 10th, 2012
“If my family can’t live in this house, you sure as hell can’t either!”
Daniel (Frank Grillo) and Beth (Jaime King) Sohapi picked up a great deal on a recently foreclosed house, and they’ve invited a handful of friends over to celebrate. A tornado threatens the area, but everyone is partying in the basement, which has been recently reinforced as a tornado shelter. Things look great in suburbia until three frantic and deadly bank robbers, Ike (Patrick Flueger), Addley (Warren Kole), and Johnny (Matt O'Leary), return to their childhood home following a botched bank robbery. Johnny is dying from a gunshot wound, their accomplice in the robbery made off with all the stolen cash, and the boys lost their secure contact phone to mother. Now, on top of that, they discover the home they grew up in is no longer theirs as mother lost it to foreclosure, a fact they would have known if they could have contacted her after the bank heist. Well, when life gives you lemons… They decide to hole up in the house until mother (Rebecca De Mornay) and sister Lydia (Deborah Ann Woll - Jessica from True Blood) arrive to sort things out, keeping the current residents and their guests as hostages. Things turn from bad to worse for the victims when mother shows up and takes charge. With the authorities closing in and the outlaws in need of $10,000 to secure their escape across the border into Mexico, desperation ups the ante in what these home invaders are willing to do to get what they need from the new homeowners and their most unfortunate guests.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 10th, 2012
"My name is Charles Carmichael, and I have one final question for you. Have you ever had to subdue a Basque terrorist on a Swiss train? Or fight your way through the jungles of Southeast Asia? Or, take out an arms dealer with a penchant for murder and ice cream? Well... we have."
And, if you've been a fan of Chuck for the last five years, you know exactly what we're talking about here. And, for now, the ride has come to a close. Fear not, fans. This is quite a satisfying ending. And when you consider that by rights the show should have gone away after the second season, if you trust those guys at the Nielsen's, we've been given quite a lot of bonus time with Chuck.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 9th, 2012
This series from Comedy Central began as a low-budget film hosting show in a small television station in Minnesota. It was the brainchild of Joel Hodgson. It ended up running for 11 years and a feature film version. Mystery Science Theatre is an acquired taste. For me, I’ve really got to be in that certain mood to watch it. That’s the beauty of these DVDs. You pop them in when you’re ready. The idea is pretty whacked. Depending on the season you’ve got, Joel or Mike is trapped in space on the “Satellite of Love”. Doomed to spend his life watching very bad films, our hero makes the best of a bad situation. He uses his resources to construct a couple of robot pals. There's Crow T. Robot (Beaulieu), Tom Servo (Murphy), and Gypsy (Mallon). Part of an experiment together, they watch the films from the front row, constantly ranting throughout. If you’re like me, you’ve invited a few friends over to watch a schlock festival. The movies weren’t as important as the banter you created while watching. That’s exactly what you see here. The silhouettes of our host and his robots dominate the lower portion of the screen, where they provide alternative dialog and sometimes witty commentary on the action. The two evil station owners/mad scientists send them a new bad film each week to observe their reactions to the bombs. The films are broken up by off-the-wall skits and fake commercials to alleviate the tedium. The collection includes two Mike and two Joel episodes.
If there is a theme to the set it is that three of the four films are from Robert L. Lippert.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 9th, 2012
The 2012 baseball season has started and this might be what we call a rough year. My team, the Phillies are 14-16 and 5 games out of first. What is worse is that going up and down the roster, I do not see too many familiar faces. Sure, there are injuries and sure there are over 130 games left, but I do not see it improving any time soon. But today is not about the Phillies, today is about a team that has been around for 50 years and is full of history. I present to you, the Houston Astros.
October 19th, 2005. The Houston Astros are one batter away from doing something for the first time, entering the World Series. But opposite them is the St. Louis Cardinals, and they are in Busch Stadium. However, fate would be with the Stros on this date as they get the final out and go on to the World Series. Then they got swept by the Chicago White Sox in four games. Whoops, but let us not dwell on that and concentrate on the good memories of Astros baseball.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 8th, 2012
"Every insect lives for just one purpose: Survival of its own kind."
In 1997 Guillermo del Toro made his first English-language film. Mimic was based on a rather creepy short story by Donald A. Wollheim. Unfortunately, for del Toro and film fans everywhere, the director had more than his fair share of struggles with the studio powers that be, and he never really had the chance to make the movie he really hoped to make. The result is certainly an atmospheric and interesting film, but one wonders what the movie might have been like if del Toro had had his chance to make his own movie. A few years ago we were given at least a glimpse into what that would be like with the home video release of a Director's Cut of the film. While it doesn't allow the fanciful director to include those shots he never got to shoot, he describes this version as the closest to his vision now possible. No question this version of the film is the anchor for the new Mimic 3-film collection just out from Lionsgate on high-definition Blu-ray release along with the two direct-to-video sequels, which del Toro had nothing at all to do with.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 7th, 2012
When people think of super-producer J.J. Abrams and his television projects, images from Alias, Fringe and a little show called Lost probably spring to mind. On the other hand, a significantly smaller portion of weirdos the TV-watching population may think of the relationship dramedies Abrams has produced, such as What About Brian, Six Degrees and Felicity, by far the best of this latter group. (Then again, Felicity — co-created by Abrams and Matt Reeves — resorted to time travel towards the end of its run, so it probably has more in common with the producer's genre shows than you think.)
Anyway, we're here to talk about season 1. Felicity Porter (Keri Russell, in her star-making performance) is a smart, responsible California teen who suddenly decides to follow high school crush Ben Covington (Scott Speedman) to college at the fictional University of New York, despite the fact that Ben barely seemed to be aware of her existence prior to a brief exchange at their graduation. Season 1 follows Felicity throughout her freshman year as she tries to establish her independence.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 3rd, 2012
In terms of major conflicts involving the United States, the Korean War has sort of gotten the short end of the cinematic stick with American audiences. Most people can easily rattle off their favorite movies dealing with World War II, the Vietnam War or the U.S. Civil War, but when it comes to the Korean War the options are comparatively more limited. Off the top of my head, there's M*A*S*H, the original Manchurian Candidate, and Don Draper suffering one of the most famous cases of identity theft. (I realize Mad Men is a TV show, so forgive me for reaching.)
The Front Line — a fine, Korean-produced drama — attempts to present the final days (and hours) of the war on both an epic and personal level, and mostly succeeds.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 3rd, 2012
As of late, I have found myself picking up some classic albums by Madonna. Her early stuff mostly, but I have even picked up Truth or Dare on Blu-Ray within the last week or so. Why? I honestly can not explain. Maybe I miss her voice, her sex appeal and the music that has made her a legend. What I did not expect was that I was going to be reviewing a movie directed by her. So let us sit back and see how the movie W./E. plays out.
A faint radio plays out. It talks about the greatest love story of the 20th century or the king who gave up his throne for the woman he loved. Wallis Simpson was her name and she started a constitutional crisis when the King of England, Edward VIII decided to leave the throne to marry this woman. They became the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The legend lives on today. An answering machine clicks after Walli is told that she is loved but will be alone that night.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 1st, 2012
When I was a kid there was one summer when all of the radio stations were playing a song called Billy Don't Be A Hero. Somehow I don't think that Billy Bretherton was quite what they had in mind. Sure, Billy goes where most of us would be afraid to tread, but he's also got to be the biggest crybaby sometimes. Hero or not, Billy and his brother Ricky have put in a fourth season of Billy The Exterminator, and it's now available on DVD.
Billy Bretherton is the owner of Vex Con Pest Control in Shreveport, Louisiana. It's a family-run business. Mom is the office manager and takes all of the service calls and then dispatches the technicians to their various jobs. Dad is the office mascot. He's had a heart attack along with a few other medical scares, so he's not really very hands-on. You might say his main job is to worry and complain. Mary is Billy's wife. She quits halfway through the first season, appearing only a couple of brief moments in the second season. Still, she's a part of the opening credits. Ricky is Billy's brother and often his partner on many of his two-man jobs. It's interesting that we're constantly told that Ricky is deathly allergic to wasp stings. One sting and it's an airlift ride to the ER, Billy is always reminding us. But when a wasp call comes in, who do you think Billy takes along to help? Of course, it's Ricky. Mom always reminds us of the allergy and admonishes Billy to be sure his brother doesn't get stung. It's things like this that make this the most frustrating A&E series I've ever watched.
