Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 9th, 2011
Here is a forgotten 80s, romantic dromedy that may have been forgotten for a reason. Various love triangles arise around the setting of a Demolition Derby. Jamie Lee Curtis and Patrick Swayze star in a tale packed with the usual 80s comedy tent poles such as weird dreams, screwball scenarios, and youths having to stand up for the little guy.
Cody (Curtis) might lose her Derby site until a recent high school graduate stumble into her life to help, and perhaps steal her heart. Meanwhile a derby rider (Swayze) is pulling his life together after his long time girlfriend starts having an affair. The story runs through the sort of formula we've all seen before, with those aforementioned signifiers of its place in the American 1980s along with familiar 80s actors appearing. Heck, they even have cameos by John and Joan Cusack and Michael Winslow (yes, the guy who does the sound effects from Police Academy) sneak in. The performances are acceptable, the gags are not the freshest, and the romance is jammed with heartache and conflict.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 9th, 2011
The king of the parodies has been consistent in the studio, in videos and on stage for nearly 3 decades. This DVD allows him to prove the latter. Though various costume changes and instrument shifts, Al and his longtime band mates delight a packed Massey Hall in Toronto.
The lion's share of the set list is dedicated to Al's latest release Alpocalypse. Of course, a few of his staples, such as “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Amish Paradise” and “Fat” have to be present. There is also a lot of fan service made during a medley of 11 songs, new and old, played at the halfway point of the concert. During this set of songs, when it seems appropriate, Al will assume the lead character of the song . This sometimes means he's adopting the persona of the performer he is parodying, such as donning a blonde wig and thrashing about the stage ala Kurt Cobain, becoming the cartoonish version of an artust that has appeared in one of his music videos, such as Al's infamous fat suit for the “Fat” parody of Michael Jackson, or something completely original, such as his unnerving but amusingly lecherous lounge singer character for “Wanna B Ur Lovr,” who prowls through the audience seeking female targets to leer at while he croons sexual innuendos at them.
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 October 28th, 2011
In the world of Marvel comics Captain America was indeed the first Avenger, and as the full title implies we're going quite a way into the past to create this hero. But the first shall be last, and it's certainly true on this long road to the May 2012 release of The Avengers on film. You see, this is the final piece to the puzzle for that great assembly of heroes. We've had two chances to witness both The Hulk and Iron Man and a recent film introduction to Thor. Other characters like Black Widow and Hawk Eye came as guests on the other films. But the introductions are now complete.
Steve Rogers (Evans) is a 98-pound weakling. He's the guy you see in the comics all right. The guy getting sand kicked in his face on those old Charles Atlas ads we used to read on the comic back pages. But he has a heart of solid gold, and he doesn't like bullies. So when Hitler and his boys begin to goosestep over Europe, he tries desperately to enlist. Each time he's shot down and denied his chance to contribute to the cause. That is, until he comes under the eye of Professor Abraham Erskin (Tucci). He has been tasked with reproducing a Nazi experiment to create a supersoldier. He admires Steve's heart and decides to make him the test subject. The experiment works, and Steve receives super strength and agility. But he can't seem to win the respect of Colonel Phillips (Jones). And when Erskin is killed in a Nazi invasion, not even a brave performance to get the bad guy convinces Phillips to give him a chance. He remarks: "I was promised an Army, and all I got is you". But the papers noticed his performance, and soon the country was shouting for Captain America.
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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 11th, 2011
An aging soap opera starred, played by Sally Field, is the target of a jealous supporting cast and a conniving producer (Robert Downey Jr.). The head writer of her show (Whoopi Goldberg) seems to be the only ally she has as a former love's character (Kevin Kline) is recast to throw her off her game, along with a mysterious family member barging into her world and work life.
Soapdish relishes in Soap Opera story tactics just as much as it wishes to lampoon them. Twists, secrets, romance, backstabbing, tears, sex changes, melodramatic speeches...all of these elements are parodied in the show within the film, but also work their way into the real-life drama of these characters. The success of this film relies on being able to display how ridiculous soap operas can be while still selling the audience a complete (and often over-the-top) soap opera tale. This is truly a soap opera world as nothing is grounded in reality (Abandon all hope, Vittorio De Sica fans who enter here). The plot twists are painted in broad strokes and the physical comedy bits are motivated by pure nonsense. That considered, it is a truly funny journey peppered with some outstanding yet subtle visual gags (constantly panning past beefcake actors in the production hallways for example).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 7th, 2011
A few years back, Paramount released all eight of the studio’s Friday the 13th films in a so-called “Ultimate Edition.” With cut versions of the films and no 3D, it wasn’t really that ultimate. So here we are again, with another Ultimate Edition (also Limited!) and this time, the package is much more worthy of the name, bringing together all the deluxe versions of the series.
As those deluxe editions have previously been reviewed on this site, I am now going to surrender the floor for a while. The comments below on Part 1 are by Aric Mitchell, and on Parts 2-6 are by Gino Sassani. I’ll come back for 7 and 8.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 5th, 2011
Previously on this site I had reviewed Season 4 of this legendary program (https://upcomingdiscs.com/2010/10/15/gunsmoke-season-4-volume-1/) and Season 5 still predates the major changes that occurred over this show's 20 year run, primarily consisting of supporting cast changes so that review can just about double as fair coverage of this season as well; which I hope conveys a testament to this show's consistency of quality and not to my personal laziness as a writer. Indeed, this season continues to provide entertaining evidence as to why this show lasted so long and remains beloved to this day.
James Arness' Marshall Matt Dillon keeps a stern, watchful eye on the city of Dodge. The stakes were always high in each episode's adventure, and any slip up, be you a hero or villain, could cost you your life. Being a production from the late 1950s we do deal with more than a few character stereotypes. The gypsies are devious, the natives are primitive, and the white yokels are frighteningly ignorant and violent. Dillon, as the final word of the law in all situations, makes a decent mediator and remains without prejudice so long as you keep on the happy side of his law...or you end up on the business end of his gun in many cases
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 30th, 2011
John Candy has always been one of my favorite movie comedians. Something about Candy, regardless of whether he was doing a sketch in SCTV, playing Uncle Buck, or a private investigator in Who’s Harry Crumb, he just seems like a guy that is the friendly uncle everybody loves. It could be the meanest character on paper but he comes across as a big teddy bear. Today, we explore a title called Planes, Trains and Automobiles. He plays a Shower Ring salesman, that sounds like a teddy bear to me.
New York City, two days before Thanksgiving. Neal Page (played by Steve Martin) is busy waiting on his boss to make a decision about which cosmetics ad to go with. The guy just can’t make up his mind and Neal has a 6:00 plane ride to Chicago to catch. Finally Neal is able to leave and runs out the door and goes down the elevator out to the street. There is a very long line to deal with to get a cab and it looks like Mr. Page is going nowhere fast.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 30th, 2011
Leslie Nielsen was once a serious actor. He starred in one of the most important science fiction films ever made, Forbidden Planet. He was a staple on the 1950’s television dramas. His unique features and voice made him a busy character actor all the way until the 1980’s. That’s when the cornball kings Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker cast him as the “don’t call me Shirley” Dr. Rumack in Airplane. From that moment on Nielsen went from being a serious actor to becoming the face of an entire comedy genre of corny films. If there was a subject to spoof throughout the 80’s and 90’s, you could count on Leslie Nielsen having a prominent role. Two years after Airplane he had a television series, for all of 6 episodes. It was a cop show spoof called Police Squad. In the show he stared as Detective Frank Drebin, a modern day Inspector Clouseau. He would bumble his way through the show’s unique cases, always finding a way to stumble on the solution. The only case he couldn’t crack was how to get people to watch the show. The brand of humor that Nielsen is now famous for has a very narrow niche. You either get it or you don’t. You either like it or you don’t, and most of America decidedly didn’t.
So what do you do with a miserably failed television show that ran just 6 episodes? You make it into a series of major motion pictures, that’s what you do. Six years after the series was gone and forgotten, the Abrahams/Zucker team decided to take it to the medium they’ve had so much success in already. What didn’t work at all on television appeared to have new life at the box office. The film brought in an impressive $79 million, which was a phenomenal number for a comedy in 1988. It went on to become the 8th highest grossing film of 1988. With a production budget of only about $20 million, this was a cash cow Paramount couldn’t afford not to milk. They did indeed go to the well twice more, with the bottom falling out on the third try. The audiences loved it, but they could only take so much.
![The Naked Gun: From The Files of Police Squad (1988) [Blu-ray] - Starring Leslie Nielson, Priscilla Presley, O.J. Simpson (2011 - Blu-ray) dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-naked-gun-from-the-files-of-po-large.jpg)
