diabolikdvd.com.jpg

1.33:1 Fullscreen

Boy in Blue, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 23rd, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

The film’s prologue informs us that the sport of sculling captured the nation’s attention long before baseball or football came along. We’re told that this activity created a national obsession with much the same pitfalls of modern sports. Somehow I can’t imagine, in this age of sports bars and ESPN, that rowing would demand the attention this boast assumes. I don’t remember my grandfather or great grandfather for that matter reminiscing about some great rowing move he witnessed with his dad as a child. The film al…
Read More

Simpsons – Kiss and Tell – The Way We weren’t

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

The longest running show in prime time doesn’t feature cops, doctors, or lawyers. It’s hard to believe that The Simpsons have existed as long as the Fox network. While the series didn’t really begin until Fox’s second year, the characters were part of The Tracey Ullman Show, which did start the first year of Fox. Who could have guessed that an animated short from an otherwise horrible and doomed variety show would explode into such a phenomenon. The Simpsons have not only dominated the pop culture; they have placed…
Read More

Monty Python’s Flying Circus: Graham Chapman’s Personal Best

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Eric Idle, Kohn Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and of course Graham Chapman formed Britain’s most famed comedy troupe. The exploits of Monty Python’s Flying Circus were truly “something entirely different”. Their off the wall antics have written an entire chapter in the story of pop culture. There certainly is not near enough space here for me to give the group its just due. So I won’t even try. If you’ve never heard of them, then stop reading, crawl back into the rabbit hole you’ve been living …
Read More

Adventures of Superman – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

The Adventures of Superman – The Complete Second Season is the last of George Reeves’ Superman character. It’s also a loving tribute to a show that didn’t really deserve it. I respect television shows and movies from yesteryear – in many cases, I even prefer them – but it’s hard to justify the shallow plots and poor character development this show has to offer. I’m sure nostalgia buffs reading this are screaming “Blasphemy!” as we speak, but honestly… how can this show be justified on merits of good writing an…
Read More

Emergency – Season One

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 21st, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Jack Webb built an empire out of the police drama. Dragnet laid the foundation that 50 years of cop shows would stand upon. In 1972 Webb turned his attention to the relatively recent phenomenon of the paramedic. Based on a California law, the Wedsworth-Townsend Act, which created one of the first paramedic programs, Emergency brought the exploits of these young, daring rescue workers to our living rooms every week.

Roy DeSoto (Tighe) and John Gage (Mantooth) were pioneers in the paramedic field. They would be stationed out of L.A.’s real station 51.
Read More

Lady and the Tramp: 50th Anniversary Edition

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

The yesteryears of Disney were full of classic movies from Aladdin to 101 Dalmations. Each of those films holds a special place in my heart due to its warmth and very colorful, cute story. Having never seen Lady and the Tramp before picking up this early copy, I didn’t know what to expect of the film. Many declare it to be one of Disney’s best, which is certainly a remark that is quite distinguished. Would Lady and the Tramp capture my emotions and heart like so many old, classic Disney fi…
Read More

Sex and the City Essentials – Breakups

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Sex and the City Essentials: Breakups is a little introduction type collection into the famed HBO series. Here we get three episodes about the various Breakups in the show. The first episode is entitled Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and is about Carrie deciding to chose her honesty first. This causes her to lose Aidan in the process. The second episode is entitled I Love a Charade and is about Samantha’s wrath for Richard. The final episode is entitled The Post-It Always Sticks Twice and is about …
Read More

Sex and the City Essentials – The Best of Mr. Big

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Sex and the City: The Essentials – Mr. Big is a release, which serves no purpose that can’t otherwise be obtained from watching reruns on TBS. True, the series is edited for television, but a show should not have to resort solely to objectionable content to build a relationship with its audience. That’s not to say it can’t, but if you’re interested in trying out Sex and the City, I doubt it’s to see how many breasts, penises, and profane words you can see and hear, respectively, in a half-hour of televi…
Read More

Walt Disney’s Funny Factory with Donald, Volume 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

This disc is one of those classic cartoon sets that is marketed directly to children alone. Serious animation collectors will no doubt go for Disney’s fantastic Walt Disney Treasures releases instead of a one off release such as this one. This disc is one of those products that is set up as a quick point of purchase sale for parents that need something to throw in the DVD player while in the mini-van, or to keep the kids entertained while the parents are busy doing laundry or making dinner.

The simple …
Read More

Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson Uncensored!

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 17th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Untroubled by charisma, Jimmy Kimmel hosts this concertedly nasty roast of Pamela Anderson. The roasters include Tommy Lee, Adam Carolla, Sarah Silverman, Andy Dick, Bea Arthur, and Courtney Love. They all mangle each other as well as the guest of honour. So many jokes involve Anderson’s breasts and Lee’s penis that the they get rather boring (scratch that: EXTREMELY boring), but there are a few very funny bits. The highlight is Bea Arthur’s reading of Anderson’s novel Star. Arthur’s …
Read More

Poltergeist: The Legacy – Season 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 10th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

These are the adventures of the Legacy (whose front is the Luna Foundation), a secret society dedicated to protecting humanity from the forces of darkness. And wouldn’t you know it, those pesky forces are present around every corner in the form of somewhat ramshackle special effects. The leader of the group lost his father to demons as a child, and now carries on the good fight. Every episode sees the group up against another nasty ghost or other supernatural force. Points must be given for …
Read More

Missing – Season 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 9th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

FBI trainee and psychic Caterina Scorsone is suddenly graduated because her abilities are needed on a missing person case, and so begins her partnership with borderline rogue FBI agent Vivica A. Fox. And there’s the premise set up: each episode, someone else is missing, and CSI meets the X-Files, but with none of the panache of either show. The dialogue is pseudo-hard boiled, and Fox is no more an federal agent than I am the Pope (I highly doubt those stiletto-heeled, snakeskin boots are eit…
Read More

Supercross

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

One of the unfortunate responses to the emergence of a successful movie is the appearance of copycat films. When Gladiator won the Academy Award for Best Picture, all these sword and sandal flicks went into production. Now we have epics such as Troy, Kingdom of Heaven and Alexander to show for it. Sometimes, the backlash is even worse when the hit film is a bit of a surprise hit. Such was the case with The Fast and the Furious. Now, I really enjoyed Furious, but I knew on the…
Read More

Cary Grant Box Set, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 8th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Though they span a mere five years of his career, these are some of Cary Grant’s best films. They are also among the directors’ best films. Viewers wanting to see comedy from Hollywood’s Gold Age at its best and most sophisticated will be amply rewarded by spending a few evenings with this collection.

Holiday (1938) sees Grant engaged to the snobbish Doris Nolan. The real prize in her family is Katharine Hepburn (natch), who will ultimately break from her families more stult…
Read More

Christmas with the Kranks

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 7th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

The most amazing thing about this one-joke movie is that it was based on a John Grisham novel: Skipping Christmas. Chris Columbus certainly does not display his biting wit and the skills he debuted with Gremlins 20 years ago. It’s hard to imagine this is the same guy who kicked off the Harry Potter series.

When their daughter joins the Peace Corps and leaves for South America during the Holidays, the Kranks decide to skip Christmas altogether and go on a cruise with the money they save. Why these altern…
Read More

Funny Factory with Mickey Volume 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 7th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

I have always held a place in my mind and heart for the warmth of Mickey, even though I usually prefer the antics of Goofy or Donald Duck. Mickey just seems to have that innocent, charming look to him that one would not picture as someone who would get into mischief. This is probably why Disney slowly phased Mickey out of cartoon shorts and relied more on Donald Duck, Goofy and the rest. Funny Factory with Mickey Volume 1 contains 8 Mickey shorts totaling 61 minutes.

The 8 cartoons we are given range…
Read More

Undeclared – The Complete Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 5th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Judd Apatow and Paul Feig may have been stung by the criticism and cancellation of their show Freaks and Geeks back in 2000, but that did not deter them from pressing forward with another project. Freaks and Geeks was about a group of kids growing up in high school in the 1980s, while Undeclared is about the first year of college for a group of kids.

Now there are a lot of similiarities between Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared, but I’ll focus on some of the bigger things, b…
Read More

Stormy Weather

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 5th, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Knowing that Stormy Weather is the title of a song that helped vault Lena Horne (The Wiz) into celebrity fandom, I had very little other ideas about her. But the cool thing that I discovered while watching the film is that, for the age of this film, it’s better than anyone would possibly think.

Horne plays Selina Rogers, a beautiful talented singer who was dating the head of an entertainment show that came through New York. She catches the eye of Bill (Bill “Bojangles” Robin…
Read More

Hill Street Blues – Season 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 3rd, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

“Let’s be careful out there…”
The men and woman of Hill Street Station, a fictitious police precinct in Chicago, have found it rather difficult at times to live by their sergeant’s admonition. Steven Bochco’s award winning police drama changed most of the rules for a one hour television drama. Some of Hill Street’s trademark style has become rather ordinary over 20 years later. Bochco protégés now dominate the scene. Dick Wolf (Law and Order), David Kelley (The Practice), David Milch (Deadwood), Scott Brazil …
Read More

Flash, The – The Complete Series (1990)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

This short-lived series was based on the popular DC Comics character, The Flash. Barry Allen (Shipp) was a crime lab technician, long before CSI made the job trendy. When lightning interacted with an unknown chemical compound as only comic cosmic events can, Allen receives a powerful jolt. The injury results in a dramatic change in his metabolism. Now supercharged, his body is capable of moving at supersonic speeds. Complete with a bright crimson costume appropriately modeled after the swift Greek god Mercury, The …
Read More

Tracey Takes On… – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

I would be a fool if I downplayed Tracey Ullman’s talent. She is a woman with anomalous abilities that most performers couldn’t dream of acquiring. She is an accomplished singer, a chameleon-like comedienne, and a serious actress – all in one unbelievable package with a multitude of awards to verify her capabilities. She’s also quite attractive when the light hits her a certain way, but she has a knack for too often burying that beauty under clever disguises. All these features result in a performer, who can do just …
Read More

Heat Wave

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 2nd, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Blair Underwood plays Bob Richardson, who moves from Alabama to California with his brother and parents. The African-Amercian family has high hopes of finding a new land of opportunity, but racism and poverty are just as prevalent here. Richardson becomes a reporter, and he is on the scene for the Watts riots of 1965. Families and friends are torn apart in that violence, but his reporting is a landmark work.

A strong cast (notably featuring James Earl Jones) makes an impression, an…
Read More

Sing Along Songs – You Can Fly

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 1st, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Disney has released a DVD that appears to be part of a compilation, and provided some karaoke subtitles and marketing it as a sing-along entitled “You Can Fly”. With animated (but dated) introductions by Disney characters, the songs featured are from such films as Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, Mary Poppins and Dumbo.

For those who enjoyed Disney films in previous years, some of the obscure songs (along with some of the more popular ones) have been resurrected on …
Read More

Buffalo Soldiers

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 1st, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

Danny Glover is a Sergeant in a cavalry regiment of African-American soldiers. He and his men are tasked with tracking down Apache leader Victorio, who has proven himself to be a brilliant and dangerous fighter. This mission would be difficult enough, but there is also the deep prejudice of the white commanding officers to deal with.

Racial politics are up front and centre from the moment the credits end, with Glover arresting Texas Rangers in the midst of hanging Apache children. …
Read More

Aristocrats, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 1st, 2006

Buy at Amazon.com

Synopsis

I never thought that a 90 minute documentary surrounding one joke could be so entertaining. And for all the praise that critics have heaped onto The Aristocrats, I was curious to see what the hype was. The film’s creators, comedians Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) spend the time interviewing many different comedians, and all of them share their thoughts about the joke. But it does a little more than that. Along with various versions of the joke, there is a deconstruction…
Read More

«< 38 39 40 41 42 >»