Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 25th, 2007
OK, it's difficult to talk about Season Three of NCIS without talking about what happened in Season Two of the show, so I'd suggest anyone reading this who hasn't seen it to skip ahead to the next paragraph. OK, done. Season Two of NCIS brought in a cast change that virtually nobody saw coming, let alone the cast member who indicated they wanted to leave anyway. Agent Todd (Sasha Alexander, Mission Impossible: III) had been shot and killed by a terrorist, and her comrades made concerted attempt to avenge her death at the beginning of Season Three.
(OK, spoiler over, come on back). Still, the cast felt a little bit incomplete. Enter Agent Jen Sheppard (Lauren Holly, Dumb and Dumber), to fill the void. At least the remaining members of the cast were still around so that Holly's breaking in period could be a slow and gentle one. You still have the unofficial head of the group in Leroy Gibbs (Mark Harmon, St. Elsewhere), the young stud who frequently clashes with Gibbs when it comes to style points in Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly, Dark Angel), and the resident tech geeks in McGee (Sean Murray, Hocus Pocus) and Abby (Pauley Perrette, Brother Bear). Holly's character also has a past with Gibbs as it's discovered later in the show, which adds another layer to the relationship of the characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 21st, 2007
Synopsis
To Catch a Thief has a lot going for it. For starters, two of the most marketable faces of their time playing opposite one another, in a film directed by one of the greats of cinematic history. What’s so wrong about that? John Michael Hayes (Peyton Place) adapted David Dodge’s novel, which Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho) directed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 21st, 2007
Synopsis
The 4400 Season Two left us on quite the cliffhanger. The returnees had been taken off the promicen inhibitor, thus enabling their abilities to return to normal strength. Ryland (played by Peter Coyote) was exposed as the one behind the cover up and went straight to trial. Isabelle (played by Megalyn Echikunwoke); infant daughter of Richard & Lily Tyler(played by Mahershalalhashbaz Ali and Laura Allen respectively), had grown up quite quickly as she was found in Shawn Farrell's (played by Patrick Flueger) office. Meanwhile, the two main protagonists' Tom Baldwin (played by Joel Gretsch) & Diana Skouris (played by Jacqueline McKenzie)are dealing with events of their own in addition to their casework at NTAC (National Threat Assessment Command).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 8th, 2007
Beverly Hills 90210, although I never watched this growing up, I knew a lot of people who did. Often compared as The OC of the 90’s, the show does in fact share a lot of similarities with The OC; two popular primetime soap operas based around the posh lives of rich teens. The main difference between the two shows is the fact this 90210 lasted 9 seasons and 10 years on air, which made for a vast array of storylines and ever developing characters. Some people might not remember the show all ...hat much, but I’m pretty sure everyone remembers the teen idols that it produced which include Luke Perry and Jason Priestley. Of course the storylines are at times a little over the top, but also address serious problems that teenagers and young adults might deal with, but in an entertaining manner.
Incase you don’t know, Beverly Hills 90210 takes place in Beverly Hills, California a city known for its exclusivity ranging from shopping to housing. These elite teenagers enjoy a posh lifestyle that is a constant drama fest. From love triangles too serious issues like child abuse, divorce, and teenage pregnancy - this show has it all. In true soap opera fashion these mid to late twenty actors play seventeen year olds, but I can get past that I just thought I’d throw that out there.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 8th, 2007
I will admit that on occasion I have enjoyed a romantic comedy or two, and when I initially saw the trailer for Failure to Launch, I anticipated it to make the list. Aside from the film’s stars Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey, Failure to Launch has a rather well assembled list of co-stars, including Kathy Bates (Misery), Terry Bradshaw (Former NFL Quarterback), Justin Bartha (National Treasure), and Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers). Sounds good enough, how does it turn out?
Matthe... McConaughey plays Tripp, he enjoys a successful career as a high end boat broker, he drives a Porsche, and he spends all his free time outdoors maintaining his six pack. Sounds like quite the bachelor. There’s only one drawback - he’s 35 and he lives with his parents. Whenever a relationship is getting too serious he brings the girl home, she discovers he lives with his parents, and as a result breaks up with him. Life seems good for Tripp and his buddies who also live at home, they spend their free time swimming with the dolphins, mountain biking, rock climbing, paintballing, and well anything physical. Well, things turn upside down when Tripp’s parents hire Paula (Sarah Jessica Parker) to get Tripp to fall in love and finally get him to move out. But things get complicated when Paula actually starts falling for Tripp. Was their love doomed from the beginning? Or will these two end up with each other? Well, I think you all know the answer, but to find out for sure you’re going to have to watch the movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 6th, 2007
Dreamgirls created a substantial amount of buzz when it was first released at the end of 2006, and has since won two Academy Awards. Although this movie never really struck me as being something I just had to watch, I've been curious to check out what all the praise was about. For those of you that don't know, Dreamgirls is a musical, a whole whack load of singing intertwined with the ongoing plot; much like Grease or Chicago. Like most musical films, Dreamgirls is adapted from a pl...y of the same name, and inspired by the history of Motown Records.
The film takes place during two separate eras, the first taking place between 1962 and 1965. We then skip ahead a few years where the story continues between 1973 and 1975. Back in Detroit 1962, a trio of women (Jennifer Hudson, Beyonce Knowles, and Anika Noni Rose) known as The Dreamettes enter a talent competition with the hopes of awing the crowd with their apparently sensational singing. Things work out even better than they could have hoped when the R&B superstar James "Thunder" Early (Eddie Murphy) is in the need of backup singers for his evening’s performance. Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx) an aspiring young Cadillac dealer further arranges with Early's manager Marty (Danny Glover) for The Dreamettes to tour as backup singers. As time goes on, the group rapidly gains popularity and Curtis turns his Cadillac dealership into an office for his newly formed record label, Rainbow Records. After a short period of harsh times the group finds their way to the Apollo Theater and other top clubs. Along with the success comes a number of problems for the group, affairs, payola schemes, and betrayal amongst each other.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 13th, 2007
Synopsis
This is a collection of eight SpongeBob cartoons, generally (but not exclusively) focussed in and around the Krabby Patty. The title story, which is a two-parter, explores the Krabs and Plankton’s shared tragic history, and what led to their endless rivalry. The level of hilarity remains as high as ever (including some extremely squirm-inducing moments in “Fungus Among Us”), but I can’t help but feel that this is a bit too naked a money grab, given that everything here will wind up in one se...son box set or another.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 4th, 2007
David Lynch’s twisted horror/crime/comedy/grotesque/soap opera came to a close with this season, wherein we learn who killed Laura Palmer, who shot Agent Cooper, and what at least some of the secrets of the Black Lodge are (the Lodge being a threatening, supernatural space). Viewers coming into this series without having seen the first season (got 120 bucks to buy it used on Amazon?) will be hopelessly confused, and we can only hope that a reissue of where it all began is not far down the road. And though many people thought that the show went off the rails in the second season, there is so much here that is deliriously funny, macabre and mystical that it remains one of network television’s finest hours.
Audio
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 31st, 2007
Prior to this review, my familiarity with Jeff Foxworthy began and ended with his famous stand-up routine, "you might be a redneck if". That's how this comedian made it big back in the early to mid-90's, but his attempts at television, which is the usual next step for stand-ups, have failed.
And so, apparently, it goes for Foxworthy's Big Night Out, which aired last year on Country Music Television. This 2-disc release presents all 12 episodes of the sketch-comedy variety show that never really got off the ground. In the past, Foxworthy has explained his sitcom cancellations by arguing that the big networks just didn't know how to market his brand of common man, redneck comedy to a national audience. Surely, though, CMT is the place to be for Foxworthy. After all, country fans are just a bunch of gun-toting rednecks with single-digit IQs, right?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 31st, 2007
The Odd Couple on DVD was something that admittedly was a long time coming out on DVD. The set was previously available as a Time Life exclusive, and now Paramount has come to the rescue, releasing this as a standalone set. From the Neil Simon play (not to mention inspired by the 1968 film with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau), the show chronicles the lives of roommates Felix Unger (Tony Randall, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?) and Oscar Madison (Jack Klugman, 12 Angry Men), one's a neat freak, the other lives like a slob, and they live in New York.
The show could have easily capitalized on the success of the movie, but it helped break away from it by letting Klugman and Randall make the characters their own. In addition, their chemistry was also something that was crucial for the show's success, and it completely worked. Not to mention a guy named Garry Marshall helped get the show realized. Let me see, helped get Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley on air, not to mention writing for greats like Lucille Ball, Dick Van Dyke and Jim Nabors back in the golden days of television.
![Failure to Launch [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/failure-to-launch-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Dreamgirls (Two-Disc Showstopper Edition) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/dreamgirls-two-disc-showstopper-edition-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
