Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2010
"When I was young, about eight or so, I tried making friends with God by inviting Him to my house to watch the World Series. He never showed."
Jim Carroll was a promising young high school athlete. He was seduced into the dark nature of New York City's underbelly of drugs and violence. During his youth he was also an aspiring poet, who kept a poetic journal of his thoughts before, during, and after his slide into addiction. When he finally did manage to climb out of the hole and gain his sobriety, the entries became a popular piece of literature. Carroll ended up going on reading tours and doing various things to try and help others who might have fallen into the same trap. Director Scott Kalvert attempts to bring these "Basketball Diaries" to life with Leonardo DiCaprio in the role of Jim Carroll.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2010
Perry Mason did it for lawyers. Marcus Welby did it for doctors. From 1969 to 1976 and beyond Robert Young was the face of the television doctor. The actor was so identified with his part that he dealt with fans and their medical questions his entire life following his portrayal of Marcus Welby. In those days there wasn't a medical doctor on the planet, real or fictional, who was more recognizable than Welby. The show pretty much wrote the book on the television medical drama. It doesn't matter if your a fan of House, ER, Grey's Anatomy, or any of a hundred other medical dramas that have come and gone since that time, each of those shows owes more than a little of it's existence to Marcus Welby, MD.
In the 1950's Robert Young was that model parent in Father Knows Best. It's likely that audiences first fell in love with his wise and caring style. There was something about both the character and in the man himself that just caused America to trust him. It was no surprise that when the Marcus Welby creators were looking for a doctor that could, above all, exhibit those same qualities that Robert Young would get the call. And it didn't matter that Young considered himself retired from show business for the last 6 years. But Marcus Welby was a role he just couldn't turn down. It was another gentle character with wisdom and common sense beyond his years. The Doc was a general practitioner in California. To him his patients were people. He would treat the individual as well as whatever ailment was proving to be the problem. He took the tough cases, often seeing some slight symptom that others would miss. That's because he paid attention to his patients, and they couldn't help but trust him with their lives. More times than not, that trust was rewarded with a full recovery. But, even when Welby couldn't beat a disease or injury, he always added something to the patient’s life. It might be helping them to come to terms with their own mortality. He might heal a family rift. Sometimes he just offered a kind word at just the right time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 10th, 2010
In September of 1993, an animated series using the wonders of stop-motion animation was broadcast on ABC. The name of the series was called Bump in the Night. It would run for twenty six episodes, spanning over two seasons. It was created and directed by Ken Pontac and David Bleiman. It also featured the vocal stylings of Jim Cummings, a man perhaps most famous for his Winnie the Pooh performance.
Mr. Bumpy (for his warts) is a small, green and purple monster who lives under the bed of a ten year old boy. He loves to eat socks, dust bunnies, snot filled tissues and other assorted things most people would consider disgusting. His disposition can be easily described as vile but yet easy going. Oh yeah, if you haven’t figured it out yet, he doesn’t brush his teeth.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 10th, 2010
A short time ago I had the unexpected pleasure of watching and then reviewing Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself. I say unexpected, because I was looking for the typical Madea antics and ended up drawn into a compelling gospel musical that was inspirational and entertaining without ever feeling like I was sitting in mass listening to a long homily. Now I've just had the opportunity to see Stan Foster's The Preacher's Kid. There's no doubt that Foster has been inspired by the Black Theater productions of guys like Perry. There appear to be a couple of inside swipes at Perry in the film. I call them swipes, but it's more likely they are loving jabs. I get the impression that Foster is a fan of Perry's and, unfortunately, has tried hard to imitate his style. The result is certainly not a terrible film at all. It's just not a very good one, either.
The plot is based on the biblical parable of The Prodigal Son. In this case it's the Prodigal Daughter. Bishop King (Williams) is a hard taskmaster for the Lord. He has a thriving community congregation that features one of the nation's best gospel choirs. Of course, the choir stars his own daughter Angie (Luckett) as the soloist. They are on their way to a huge competition in New York City, and everyone expects that Angie's going to lead them to the promised land, so to speak. But Angie is getting restless. She has dreams of a recording contract and fame and fortune. She's tired of giving up so much for the Lord and longs for a little Angie time. Her rigorous schedule doesn't even allow time to catch a movie from time to time. She and close friend Marcia (Kelly) sneak away to a club where a has-been recording artist Devlin (Tank) is partying. The girls make his acquaintance, and he is taken with Angie. He invites them to attend a performance of his gospel play called Daddy, Can I Come Home. Angie loves the production and is invited to a diner to eat with the cast and crew, where she loudly declares that she absolutely must be a part of the production. An impromptu audition wins her the part of understudy to the lead. It's her father, the Bishop, who she can't convince. She leaves even after he warns her that he wants nothing to do with her, should she go. Not very Christian, for a Bishop that constantly asks everyone around him: What would Jesus do? Certainly, he wouldn't disown his kin. So Angie goes on the road with the production. She is seduced by player Devlin and quickly falls into the temptations of the road. Before very long, she's drinking, taking drugs, and sleeping with the abusive star. Meanwhile, her church must prepare for the competition without their star singer. Angie soon discovers that the life she coveted isn't all that she hoped it would be. She must endure betrayal and abuse from Devlin while finding her dream of one day singing the lead doesn't look very promising at all. And, like The Prodigal Son of the Bible, Angie wants to go back home.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 10th, 2010
I grew up on Bill Cosby. He was everywhere when I was a kid. Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids were on my television every Saturday morning. My parents had all of his records, and I can remember borrowing them when I finally got a player of my own. I played Chicken Heart so often I think I wore away the grooves on the track. Of course, you youngsters out there have no idea what I'm talking about when I mention grooves and wearing them out. That also means that you remember a very different Bill Cosby show. Most of us think about that huge hit in the 80's. Cosby played a doctor, and he was married to a lawyer and this wealthy family had a ton of kids. The show was an instant hit. But it wasn't the first attempt at situation comedy from Bill Cosby. Back in 1968 he was the star of a very different comedy series on television. It was The Bill Cosby Show.
In this series Cos played Chet Kincaid, a high school gym teacher and athletic coach. It wasn't really a stretch, you see, because The Cos actually studied PE at Temple University with his eye toward just such a possible career. Of course, stardom interfered with those plans, and I don't think anyone has been complaining too much. The series is too eclectic for its own good. While Chet's career should be the focus, many of the episode take him out of the school and place him in oddball situations. Episodes deal with his aunt's will and a missing Abe Lincoln letter, a flood while Chet deals with a neighbor in labor, and Chet leading a group of inner-city kids on a failed attempt to get out and camp in nature. From the start, you can see that Cos is trying to bring a more intimate approach to his comedy, but it usually misses the mark completely. His natural charm and demeanor carry the day, but there's a reason why the series only lasted three seasons. He would hone those skills later to deliver one of the biggest shows in television history.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 10th, 2010
Pulse:
Plenty of Japanese horror films have storylines that vary from the oblique to the opaque. Pulse is no exception, so forgive me if this synopsis is a bit confusing (or confused). An internet website offers visitors the chance to see actual ghosts. Viewing the footage seems to make one vulnerable to an actual visitation, and when someone encounters a ghost, that person withdraws from others, shunning all society, and becomes consumed by loneliness to the point of suicide or something even more bizarre. All of this is slowly being uncovered by two groups of friends, even as the plague of ghostly encounters spreads far and wide.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2010
During the chaos of a mutiny, three British officers in India get their hands on a great treasure. They do not do so honorably, however, and, mistrustful of each other, make a blood pact, which cannot be broken without suffering a terrible curse. Decades later, the three have experienced very different fortunes, and vengeance has come to call. Irene (Susannah Harker), the daughter of one of these men, seeks the help of Sherlock Holmes (Charlton Heston!) and Dr. Watson (Richard Johnson). There are many dark deeds to unravel, and along the way, Watson and Irene fall in love.
The reason for this obscurity's arrival on home video is obvious, what with the Guy Ritchie movie doing the same. While this effort is far less problematically revisionist than Ritchie's, it still presents much for the Holmes fan to struggle past. Apart from the squirm-inducing age difference between Johnson and Harker, there is, of course, the supremely odd casting of Heston as Holmes. In fact, Heston had played the part in the stage version of this story, and to his credit, he does have a solid grasp on the character, and his English accent is serviceable. His angular features are also right for the part, though there is also a muscular physicality to Heston that makes his Holmes seem just as likely to punch through a wall as solve a mystery. And Heston is one of those stars who never disappears into a role, and so one is always conscious of watching Heston, not Holmes, on the screen. As for the film itself, its stage origins remain obvious, despite the many locations. This is an entertaining enough oddity, but no more.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2010
Having accidentally blinded a singer during a contract killing, hit man extraordinaire Chow Yun-Fat, consumed with guilt, becomes the woman's protector, and seeks redemption by finding some way to restore her sight. Meanwhile, Danny Lee is the plays-by-his-own-rules cop on his trail, and inevitably the two men will find themselves as unlikely allies in gigantically operatic gunfights.
I can remember when John Woo was still a name whispered with reverence by cult film fans, and his films were only available on grey market VHS or import laser disc. In fact, I first saw The Killer on one such disc, in Cantonese with Mandarin subtitles, reading a transcription of a translation, desperately trying to grasp the gist of the action. It was worth the effort, though, for I had never seen action sequences like these. Today, of course, the situation is very different. Woo's films are readily available, Hard-Boiled's sequel is a video game (Stranglehold), and his stylistic characteristics have become clichés. The passage of time and over-familiarity have arguably robbed the film of some of its power, while making the OTT sentimentality harder to take, but the fact remains that this is still a seminal moment in action filmmaking.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2010
We are in the midst of the Great War. Michael Dunne (Paul Gross) is a Canadian solider recovering from physical and psychological wounds. He falls in love with his nurse (Carline Dhavernas), and when her asthmatic brother enlists, Dunne heads back to the trenches to protect him, and the two men wind up at the gigantic, murderous battle that gives the film its name.
Writer/director/star Gross has an almost messianic commitment to Canadian film and Canadian history, and here he combines his obsessions in a 20-million-dollar effort that is, by the standards of the Canadian film industry, nothing short of gargantuan. And to his credit, the battle scenes are impressive. The editing is frequently startling and brutal, in keeping with the events themselves. On the other hand, the romance is painfully hackneyed, and the naked appeals to national pride can be rather wince-inducing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 8th, 2010
Volume Five of the Animated Series known as X-Men is now upon us. Included here are the last fourteen episodes that haven't been put on disc for the masses. There is a lot going on in these twenty one minute chunks. There are some good things, bad things, funny things and more confusing things than probably should be in a children's animated show. So let us spend some time, the final time with our beloved mutant friendly superhero group.
The fourth season had left us on a climatic showdown. The four parter: Beyond Good and Evil had showed us some strange alliances as well as X-Men fighting together to save the day. Apocalypse was put away for another day as he could not defeat the mutant superheroes. Peace had come to the planet Earth even though we all the knew that it could not last. So we dive right into the final Volume of the X-Men.
![The Basketball Diaries [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-basketball-diaries-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Preacher's Kid [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/preachers-kid-blu-ray-large.jpg)
