Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 23rd, 2010
"Legend has it, in the mystic land of Prydain, there was once a king so cruel and so evil that even the gods feared him. Since no prison could hold him, he was thrown alive into a crucible of molten iron. There, his demonic spirit was captured in the form of a great Black Cauldron."
The Black Cauldron was released in 1985, but not to the usual fanfare that usually accompanies a Walt Disney animated feature, and with good reason.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 23rd, 2010
Written by Diane Tillis
Broken Lizard is the comedy group composed of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske. I recognized the group as the minds behind the films Super Troopers (2002) and Beerfest (2006). They decided to return to their comedic roots and go on tour in this DVD comedic show at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, California. The five men would take turns to perform a solo sketch. It allowed the audience to distinguish them as individuals.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2010
“Some people say that fairies are the stuff of fantasy. They think the world is just what you can touch and hear and see, while others say the tales and legends cannot be dismissed. They believe with all their hearts that fairies truly do exist. Through all of time, human beings and fairies never met, till one special summer that we shall not soon forget.”
Tinker Bell has been a Walt Disney icon almost since its inception. The character has gone way beyond her appearance in Peter Pan. In the decades since, she has come to represent the magic of Walt Disney and its many incarnations.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2010
"If you people spent less time thinking about sex and more time concentrating on comic books, we'd have far fewer embarrassing moments."
Finally a situation comedy for geeks. Ever since Urkel went from being a one-off character on Family Matters to the star of the show, the geeks have been looking for their own series. With The Big Bang Theory you get plenty of geek factor with a healthy dose of laughter. I honestly haven't laughed this much at a situation comedy in decades.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2010
In 1993, three of the most influential executives in the entertainment industry decided to pool their talent, resources, and connections into the power company called Dreamworks. It was Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and music mogul David Geffen who formed the studio, at first to contribute to other films in production by other studios. It's no surprise that the studio's first impact was in contributing special effects. In 1997, the studio decided to begin creating their own brand of films. The first of those efforts was the Nicole Kidman/George Clooney post-Cold-War thriller, The Peacemaker.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2010
Alan Ball was pretty much an unknown to anyone but a few Hollywood insiders and fans of such television shows as Grace Under Fire and Cybill, where he wrote a mere total 10 episodes combined. When he began to shop the idea for American Beauty, he had originally conceived it as a stage production. Truth be told, he wasn't sure that there was a studio out there that would touch the awkward dark idea. But Dreamworks was still a young company with big ideas. If there was a studio out there that was going to take a flyer on a young talent with an oddball script, it was Dreamworks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2010
"The story I'm about to tell you is Camp Little Moose's darkest secret. A tale so terrifying, if your parents knew, they'd never a sent you here in the first place."
Scooby Doo has spanned generations and over 40 years. Since the 1960’s the name and conventions have become a part of the pop culture. The original cartoon series had a series of conventions. The Scooby Gang would drive around in their green Mystery Machine van and solve ghostly mysteries.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2010
When Jim Henson had finally finished up with The Muppet Show, it was time to take his puppet creations in a slightly different direction. Fraggle Rock, like The Muppet Show before it, was originally produced and aired outside of the United States. With the Muppets it was England that gave the guys their break. This time it was CBS in Canada. The show did quickly find a home in the United States, this time on cable. HBO was just beginning to stretch its legs and break out of its reputation as merely a place to watch movies after their box office run was completed. The network also had a bit of a reputation as more of an adult network.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 21st, 2010
The only difference between this collection of episodes and the one I reviewed on this site previously (https://upcomingdiscs.com/2010/07/20/madelines-great-adventures/ ) is the Halloween theme implied in the DVD's title. In fact, in terms of quality and material I could almost quote that review word for word. So feel free to refer to my previous review and I hope to avoid redundancies while writing this latest one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2010
I've seen a ton of lawyer shows over the years. Pretty much any variation that's been tried, I've likely seen at least an episode. I generally like lawyer shows. I thought I'd seen pretty much everything in the genre until The Good Wife came to me from CBS Home Video. I was surprised that the series had somehow escaped my notice the last television season. I couldn't really find anyone who had seen even an episode of the freshman drama. It was time to give it a try. Turns out that there are still a few new tricks out there in the field, and The Good Wife has done a pretty good job of grabbing my attention, as it should yours.