Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 19th, 2010
G.I. Joe the Movie was originally supposed to be a real box office movie. It was to be the first of three animated motion pictures put out by Hasbro Toys. The other two were based on Transformers and My Little Pony. However, production delays caused the other two to go first. When Transformers and My Little Pony did poorly (gee, never would have guessed that a talking magical pony failed to grab box office sales), it was decided that G.I. Joe would go the direct video route. Years later, it still proved to be arguably the best of the three.
It seems that Cobra Commander and Serpentor just can’t get along. They constantly bicker as to who is in charge of Cobra and would rather accuse each other of incompetence than figure out how to defeat G.I. Joe. It is at that moment that a woman breaks into the Terrordrome. Cobra Commander tries to rally the troops and goes off to find this stranger leaving Serpentor behind. However, the woman still makes it to the Cobra Leader.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 19th, 2010
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. This DVD collection is better than some because it includes films from four different seasons to give you a good sample of the overall series.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 14th, 2010
Street Hawk is an adventure series about a young cop named Jesse Mach, played by one-time 80s pop idol Rex Smith, who gets injured on the job and is selected to be a part of an experimental motorcycle / vigilante program (funded by the government), that is helmed by computer genius Norman Tuttle, played by a pre-Murphy Brown Joe Regalbuto.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 12th, 2010
Marvel Superhero cartoons come and they go. For every Spider-Man cartoon, there is an X-Men cartoon, or Wolverine or perhaps even Iron Man gets one. Some of them last more than one season but more often than not they are replaced by shows telling the same stories but in a different style. Marvel Superhero Squad show attempts to break the mold by providing fresh stories with a rather interesting and unique animation style.
Super Hero City is a vast metropolis full of super-heroes and civilian life but chaos has taken hold. It seems that Doctor Doom and his Lethal Legion are looking for scattered Infinity fractals which hold great power. With each one collected, they are closing to building an Infinity Sword, a source of ultimate power. However, standing in their way is the Super Hero Squad and consists of six primary members.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 8th, 2010
"Barugon: The Freezing Monster - This carnivorous reptile, a nightmare cross between a monitor lizard and a chameleon, is found only in New Guinea's Valley Of The Rainbow. It is born every 1000 years, according to legend, from an egg resembling a large opal. It has a long, darting tongue used as a battering ram, while the tip sprays a freezing mist that immobilizes its prey..."
Ask anyone about Japanese monster movies and Gamera usually won't be the first name that comes into their minds. Godzilla would likely dominate the conversation, and for most of the last 60 years the folks at Toho have been synonymous with large monsters. But they didn't exactly hold a monopoly on the big beasts. Kadokawa Pictures had their own little monster franchise going on. From 1965 through the 1970's the studio would produce 8 Gamera films in all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 8th, 2010
Swamp Thing the series was one of those shows that certainly be considered a guilty pleasure. Like the Incredible Hulk, Swamp Thing told the story of a scientist who is forced to live his life transformed as a mutated green monster. However, this particular green monster is not a drifter, he is forced to live his life in the swamp where the elements in turn give him great power. But in return, he must protect the swamp from people who would cause the ecological system harm.
The Swamp Thing (played by Dick Durock) is a large green monster who patrols the swamps of nearby Houma, Louisiana and knows the evil men do. For you see, he was once a man by the name of Alec Holland. Alec was a scientist and professor who was caught in a malicious chemical burning at the hands of Dr. Anton Arcane (played by Mark Lindsay Chapman).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 6th, 2010
Everybody’s favorite Small Wonder is back for another season. Most of you will remember my first season review of Small Wonder. The show wasn’t as great as I remember but if Shout Factory is willing to release a second season on dvd, I’m willing to give the show another try. Let’s see how the Lawsons and Vicki spend the next twenty four episodes of mayhem and laughter.
Vicki (played by Tiffany Brissette) is adapting well to human life. She participates in many chores and even participates in home schooling with Joan (played by Marla Pennington-Rowan). She plays with Jamie (played by Jerry Supiran) and even has learned how to slam the door in the face of Harriet (played by Emily Schulman). If Vicki had feelings, it would be safe to say that she could be described as happy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2010
"You may think this silly, but ever since I can remember I had this urge to be a knight. Not in armor or anything like that. Just in spirit. You know, to help the helpless. To find a wrong and right it. Then somewhere around 13 or 14 it sort of all became an urge to save beautiful damsels in distress. I just wish that somewhere in all of those books I read about knights and dragons they'd have warned me about damsels wearing little straw hats."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 8th, 2010
A spin-off from Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life centered around four residents of the Eastland Academy for Girls and their headmistress, Mrs. Garrett (Charlotte Rae). The four girls were characterized in strokes as broad as they way their physical types were presented: Blair (Lisa Welchel), rich, spoiled and blonde; Jo (Nancy McKeon), tomboy and brunette; Tootie, nosy and African-American; Natalie (Mindy Cohn), fun-loving and overweight.
The actual humour in the series is pretty pitiful – in other words, standard sitcom quips that might pass for wit if you're about five. However, like its parent show, it would consistently tackle difficult subjects. In this season, that means the likes of abortion, drunk driving, and hearing loss. Nothing subtle, and much that is painfully earnest here, but at least there is also a little bit of ambition in the stories, so credit where credit is due. The lead-in to the season was the TV movie, The Facts of Life Goes to Paris. While the dire nature of the humour is even more apparent here, now that the laugh track has been stripped away, the shooting was actually done on location, which is, frankly, more than I was expecting.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 7th, 2010
In countries all over the world, there is still the prevalent issue of not being able to read. Even in advanced countries such as the United States, there are reports that suggest that many adults don’t ever pick up another book after leaving college. This reviewer was fortunate enough to have two adults in his life that read to him all the time when he was an infant and thus developed a desire and ability to read very early on. But for those who don’t have that luxury, perhaps they can find entertaining television programs such as Ghostwriter.
Jamal Jenkins (played by Sheldon Turnipseed) and his father (played by Samuel L. Jackson) are working in the basement of his family’s brownstone. Jamal’s father finds an old trunk that he was looking for and starts to pull it out. The father nor Jamal notices that the trunk knocks over an old book and the pages release a spirit. As they leave, the spirit follows Jamal.
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