Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2007
I grew up on a steady diet of horror hosts. In the
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 25th, 2007
Shout Factory has begun to release DVD editions of Elvira’s Movie Macabre, the cult hit TV show from the 80s wherein our curvaceous goth host makes off-colour jokes and pokes fun, during the commercial breaks, of the movies she’s showing. Up on the chopping block in this set are Gamera, Super Monster and They Came From Beyond Space.
The former was the last Gamera film until the revival in the 90s, and is a thoroughly weak entry. An evil spaceship (suspiciously resembling a Star Destroyer, but introduced to us through the excitingly cinematic technique of ILLUSTRATIONS) is heading towards Earth. Acting in our defense is a trio of superwomen and Gamera, who battles, through the miracle of stock footage, his former foes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 20th, 2007
Since Mystery Science Theater 3000 came to an end, fans have been having to make do with various second-best replacements. The most obvious one has been Mike Nelson’s solo commentaries on the likes of Reefer Madness and House on Haunted Hill. Though his efforts have been amusing, they have like the lunatic fun generated when he had Tom Servo and Crow to bounce off. With The Film Crew releases, we have the closest thing yet to a return of MST3K, as Nelson is reunited with Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett (who were the ‘bots). Playing themselves, they are a trio of working joes whose job is to provide commentary tracks to undeserving films. We don’t see their silhouettes, but we hear their exchanges over the course of the film. The result is pretty damn funny.
Killers from Space is a hilariously dismal 1954 SF opus from W. Lee Wilder (Billy’s singularly untalented younger brother). The boys give this tale of Peter Graves encountering aliens with ping-pong-ball eyes a deserved trouncing. Their work is easily on par with their MST3K days, and some of their post-film antics (which I will not spoil here) have me cackling even as I write these words. This really is the next best thing to MST3K.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 23rd, 2007
Video games (especially those with platformer elements) were easy fits for syndicated cartoons. I spent a lot of time watching the Super Mario Super Show despite the show's silliness and use of Captain Lou Albano. Another show I naturally watched in the same vain was the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Featuring Sonic, the speedy blue hedgehog and his sidekick Tails (something resembling a fox but with two tails) would face off against Dr. Robotnik and a legion of robots that wanted to take over the planet Mobius. These robots included Scratch (a chicken), Grounder (the gadgets robot) and a less used Coconuts (monkey bot regulated to sanitation duty). The original series would run 65 episodes and a special before spinning off into a somewhat darker show dubbed just Sonic the Hedgehog.
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog worked in a lot of areas. It was entertaining, using its slapstick humor to keep the plot moving for the entire 22 minutes. Sonic might have been an ego-maniac but it wasn't so overbearing that it took away from the cartoon (except the phrase "I'm waiting"). The villains were extremely entertaining as Dr. Robotnik came to life better than expected since the video game series was fairly new and it didn't really have much to draw from. Even the main robots were fun to watch, well with the exception of Scratch who to be honest was just plain annoying. The show also served to create many sub-villains and sub-heroes that held interest and were sometimes multi-dimensional. In fact, they even created a few characters that switched sides and did so in a way that made sense.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 23rd, 2007
Synopsis
I started watching cartoons in the 80's growing up and remembering most fondly cartoons like Transformers, Batman, Thundercats, TMNT and so forth. Oh I've had my fill of Looney Tunes and appreciate them greatly. But once you go past Looney Tunes a lot of the older cartoons escape me (with the exception of Droopy and Scooby Doo). Good examples are the Flintstones and almost anything out of the Hanna-Barbara lineup like Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound. So imagine my ...confusion when I received Batfink - The Complete Series across my reviewer table. Batfink was a cartoon series that originally ran in the late 1960's with influences like the Green Hornet and Batman which also ran at this time. The series was created by Hal Seeger and basically featured three main characters; Batfink, Karate and the Chief.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 25th, 2007
Since its premiere in 1994, Inside the Actors Studio has been a fascinating talk show for film fans and aspiring actors, writers and directors alike. Each episode a famous guest � usually an actor � is interviewed one-on-one by host James Lipton, followed by questions from the student audience.
If you�ve never seen the show, this three-disc set would make a fine introduction. Inside the Actors Studio: Icons features episodes with four towering entertainment personalities. In chronological order, star...ing with the series� first episode, the �icons� are Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Barbara Streisand and Robert Redford.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 16th, 2007
Since its premiere in 1994, Inside the Actors Studio has been a fascinating talk show for film fans and aspiring actors, writers and directors alike. Each episode a famous guest � usually an actor � is interviewed one-on-one by host James Lipton, followed by questions from the student audience.
In early 2006, one such guest was Dave Chappelle (Chappelle�s Show). Chappelle�s appearance followed some controversial events in his life, mainly his surprising exit from his mega-hit Comedy Central sh...w during production for its third season, followed by a mysterious trip to Africa, which triggered media rumors of mental instability and drug addiction.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 8th, 2006
Synopsis
Here we go again. Punky Brewster (Soleil Moon Frye) is pretty comfortably ensconced in the home of Henry Warnimont (George Gaynes) now. The season follows Punky through the usual round of problems at school, with friends, with boys, and so on. Will she do her homework and get to a rock concert? We await the answer on the edge of our seats. Frye is a few years older now, and so is moving from precocious youngster to tiresome tween. Lessons are learned in the most painfully didactic and mundan... fashion. The laugh track kicks in mechanically everytime Punky moves. This is sitcomus moronicus at its most depressing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 11th, 2006
Synopsis
Long before she paired up with Phil Donahue and the two went on to do..who knows what, Marlo Thomas appeared in some smaller TV shows from in the early '60s, until she got a break when she was given a TV show to utilize her talents. That Girl is the story of Ann Marie, who decided to move to New York City to try to find steady work as an actress, and over the course of the show's five year run, Ann Marie's exploits are documented in situation comedy fashion.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 4th, 2006
Before it became a somewhat famous regional barbecue house (I kid, I kid!) red, hot and blue was another name for the Red Hot Organization, a group designed to help fight the AIDS epidemic. Back in the early and mid '90s kids, AIDS was raging on through the land, and Ronald Reagan did nothing to stop it. In fact, he was injecting homosexuals with AIDS while delivering crack into the ghetto.
Liberal accusations aside, this republican does acknowledge that AIDS is a terrible disease and we have lost a lot of people (talented or otherwise) to it, and the efforts made by various communities have been admirable. The Red Hot Organization was another in a group of musicians and artists that wanted to do something about research and awareness. The unique slant on their entertainment message was to have various artists of the time cover some old Cole Porter songs (Porter was a well-known homosexual composer whose life Kevin Kline depicted in the film De-Lovely). Not that unique you say? Well, the artists also did some videos directed by some famous (or at least recognizable) directing names, which is where we come in. The videos (and a remastered CD of the songs from the "Red Hot + Blue" album) have been released for everyone to relive again.
