1.33:1 Fullscreen

Bettie Page Collection, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 15th, 2005

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Synopsis

Cult Epics has done a real service by assembling this boxed set. While I would hesitate torecommend each disc on its own, as a collection, this is a valuable historical document, andBettie Page fans should be in heaven.

Bettie Page Bondage Queen is probably the strongest collection, assembling some 25bondage shorts by Irving Klaw (complete with voice-over introduction). Klaw contributes somemore shorts (of Bettie dancing) to Bettie Page Pin Up Queen, b…
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Kung Fu – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 15th, 2005

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Kwai Chang Caine is back for another season of mayhem and mistaken-accusations on the second season of Kung Fu. How is it that trouble never ceases to track this guy down? It seems that every episode begins with Caine walking along, minding his own business, and the next thing you know, he is accused of murder. It would be ridiculous, if it wasn’t so fun to watch!

The themes of these episodes have evolved from the basics covered in season one. In the first season, racism was a dominant theme of the s…
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Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2005

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Ah, the 80’s. I remember slapping on the vinyl for the new Def Leppard album, “Pyromania”. And what an album it was. “Photograph”, “Rock of Ages”, the list of singles go on. Def Leppard seemed to be poised for superstardom. Then tragedy struck. Their drummer lost his arm in a car accident. But they still rocked on. “Hysteria” was their most popular album, but a bit too sugary for me. Now we have a movie that charts the rocky road to stardom and beyond, Hysteria: The Def Leppard Story is a heavy m…
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Soap – The Complete Third Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 3rd, 2005

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Soap is a curious soap opera parody from the late 1970?s. It has a quality ensemble cast, Richard Mulligan, Robert Guilliaume, Katherine Helmond, and much younger Billy Crystal (to name a few). Soap was a bit groundbreaking for its time, as it tackled some hot button issues (homosexuality being one). But the show is committed to its ridiculousness; alien abductions, demon possession, and prison breaks confirm Soap?s bizarre and wacky charm.

Audio

The Dolby Digital 2….
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Taxi – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2005

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There is cause for joy for TV sitcom fans. Taxi‘s second season is now on DVD. It’s an important season to own, since the show develops more memorable characters like Reverend Jim and Simka (played by the great Christopher Lloyd and Carol Kane). But series regulars, like Alex, Latka, Louis, Nardo, Tony, and Bobby Wheeler, all show more depth here. Taxi really came into its own in the second year, and its multiple Emmy awards were justified. All 24 episodes are here. Farcical but human, Taxi…
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Star Trek Voyager – The Complete Seventh Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 30th, 2005

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In Season Seven, Voyager returns home and like Deep Space Nine and The Next Generation, the third Star Trek spin-off wraps up. The final episode “Endgame” is not as dramatic as the finales for the other shows. I guess it becomes anticlimactic when you have known for 7 years how this was going to end. The f/x are some of the best in Trek TV history, however. This is truly a visually stunning episode. The season is about on par with Season 6. Stories continue to grow stale. Even the Seven of Nine s…
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I Love Lucy – The Complete Third Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 26th, 2005

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Synopsis

Season Three of the much-loved series, and the ad copy can describe what’s here better thanI could. I quote: “Laugh out loud as Lucy and Ethel rip each other’s dresses to shreds during theirtelevised duet of Cole Porter’s ‘Friendship.’ Watch the fireworks when Lucy has to go 24 hourswithout telling a fib. Follow Lucy as her quest to recover a contest-winning dollar bill lands herin a giant starch vat.” And so on. This is the series that pretty much set the standards for sitco…
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First Daughter

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 25th, 2005

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Written by Jason Franz

Synopsis

First Daughter is a coming of age drama/comedy about Samantha Mackenzie (Katie Holmes), the Presidents daughter, who is eager to start her college/adult life. Directed by Forest Whitaker and based on a story co-written by Jerry O’Connell, I had no idea what I was in for.

The flim starts with a quick montage of Samantha’s childhood growing up with political parents. We’re looped into the story as she heads towards her first year in college, and her first…
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Leave Her to Heaven

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 24th, 2005

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Synopsis

Cornel Wilde, a writer with a disabled younger brother, meets the gorgeous Gene Tierneyon a train, and it’s love at first sight. At least, on his side of the equation. For her, it’s moreobsession at first sight (and this because Wilde looks just like her excessively beloved — andlately departed — daddy). After a whirlwind courtship and marriage, they appear to settle down tohappily married life, but Tierney is ferociously jealous of anyone who might be taking Wilde’satten…
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Letter to Three Wives, A

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 22nd, 2005

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Synopsis

Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell and Ann Sothern are three wives in an upper-middle-classneighbourhood. Just as they head off on an outing with a group of children, they receive a letterfrom the narrator (a silken-voiced Celeste Holm) that she has left town with one of theirhusbands. Which one? Unable to get home until the end of the day, the three women must waitand wonder, and in flashback we see the strains in each of their marriages. Crain is the formerfarmgirl who doesn’t f…
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Metallica – Some Kind of Monster

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2005

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Exit light…enter night. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster is a documentary about the inner workings of the band. But it’s not a “behind the music” type piece or a concert movie. The filmmakers attempt to gnaw away at the troubling trials of fame, addiction, and friendship. It’s fascinating stuff. Now, I’m not a big fan of Metallica, but I’ve been in creative collective situations. The personal relationships are constantly shifting. You bicker one minute, you love one another the next. In Metallica’s cas…
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Homicide Life on the Street – The Complete Fifth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 20th, 2005

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The best way to describe Season 5 is the calm before the storm. The two more prominent women, Russert and later Kay, leave the show. The season begins with Frank dealing with returning to work after his Season 4 ending stroke. Michelle Forbes of Star Trek: The Next Generation fame opted to join the Homicide cast, giving up the chance to star in the Deep Space Nine edition of Trek. She became Baltimore’s newest M.E. and would be in for a stormy ride. The show maintains its gritty feel and camera movements continue to …
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Star Trek Voyager – The Complete Sixth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 20th, 2005

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Season Six signaled the inevitable decline of Star Trek Voyager. While there were certainly strong episodes, such as Pathfinder, there were far too many episodes like The Spirit Folk. The addition of the Borg children was, perhaps, the final push into the abyss. They are constantly irritating. It’s like a pack of Wesley Crushers without the passion. Voyager may have been struggling to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, but it was clear the writers were struggling even harder to keep the show fresh without resorting to o…
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Crusade – The Complete Series

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2005

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The rise in popularity of TV on DVD has brought about an interesting side effect. Namely, shows that would have previously faded into oblivion after a few airings are now finding a new audience. Often, such as in the cases of Firefly and Boomtown, audiences (and networks) are discovering that they may have pulled the plug too soon on some shows. While Crusade doesn’t exactly fit into this category, it does prove itself to be a show with promise, that may have developed into something special if i…
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Lost in Space – Season 2 (Volume 2)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 16th, 2005

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The second volume of Lost In Space Season 2 is pretty much like the first. I’m still not sure I like the idea of splitting seasons. The reason given was that stores were refusing to carry a higher priced season set. This set does contain one of my favorite of the entire show. “Trip Through The Robot” is an obvious “Fantastic Voyage” rip-off but is a terribly entertaining romp. The stories continued their slide into even sillier tales and lower budget monsters. Gene Roddenberry often told the tale of how CBS pi…
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What’s New, Scooby-Doo? Volume 3 – Halloween Boos and Clues

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2005

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Ahh, Scooby-Doo. The cartoon of my youth is back with all new episodes. Luckily, the new episodes haven’t meddled too much with the classic formula, as so often happens with remakes of movie and TV shows. There are four episodes included in this collection, each dealing with a different spooky mystery. Trampy Fred and Daphne, sexually confused Velma, baked Shaggy and their English-speaking dog are all here, and their trippy hippy van as well. You know them, you love them. Scooby is back!

Audio

Everybody Loves Raymond – The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 13th, 2005

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Sometimes, titles can be misleading. In fact, in our modern high-octane marketing culture, that’s often times their function. For instance, despite the rumors, everybody does not love Raymond. Furthermore, I do not love Raymond. I find the show bland and predictable, and the acting is consistently sub-par. However, just because it’s not my kind of thing, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s bad. A Room With a View was nominated for Best Picture, but I found it so detestable that I couldn’t even make …
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Pauly Shore Is Dead

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 13th, 2005

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Synopsis

Pauly Shore’s career spirals down into the toilet in the wake of a disastrous Fox sitcom.Desperate, he fakes his own death, thus boosting his popularity. His plan seems to be working,until the terrible backfire when he is caught and sent to jail.

There’s a halfway clever conceit here, given that Shore co-wrote, co-produced and directedwhat plays partly as an exercise in self-loathing, a perspective that viewers can only heartilysupport. There are some amusing cameos…
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SpongeBob SquarePants – Home Sweet Pineapple

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 9th, 2005

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Synopsis

Eight more episodes of adventures with SpongeBob and friends. One of the highlights is thetitle episode which reworks an old comedy chestnut (two sleepers fighting over the bedclothes)into a moment of truly sublime hysteria. There are plenty of other comic gems, and I will confessthat, over the years, SpongeBob has grown on me. Yes, I’m a fan now. I would be giving thiscollection a higher rating, but the fact that two of the episodes (“Band Geeks” and “RippedPants”) have al…
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Marks Brothers Silver Screen Collection, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 7th, 2005

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Synopsis

These films represent the Marx Brothers at their most anarchic and creative. Though theymade other very strong films, these are the comedians at their peak.

The Cocoanuts (1929) is the most dated of the bunch. The pacing is pretty sluggish,but we are also at the dawn of sound movie here. Groucho runs a Florida hotel here, and thisprovides a suitable setting for varied shenanigans as well as plenty of dancing girls. The film alsohas a certain charming rawness …
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W.C. Fields Comedy Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 4th, 2005

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Synopsis

Here we go, five W.C. Fields movies, and the range of the collection should be very pleasingto fans. The earliest feature here is 1933’s International House. This uses the slightpremise of a crowd of eccentric characters assembled in a Shanghai hotel to see a new invention(a television, here called a “radioscope”) to showcase a parade of comic and music stars, amongthem Fields, but also George Burns and Gracie Allen, Cab Calloway, and that supreme master ofcom…
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That’s So Raven

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 29th, 2004

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That’s So Raven features Raven (or the artist formerly known as Raven Symone) as a sassy teen who gets into hilarious teen situations. Sound familiar? Raven seems a little Lizzie McGuire-esque, but the difference is in the main character. Raven has psychic powers. That’s right. She has the supernatural ability to see events that may (or may not) have happened. Freaky.

That’s So Raven: Supernaturally Stylish is a DVD that features four episodes from the Disney TV series. An…
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Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 23rd, 2004

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Synopsis

Apocalypse picks up where the first Resident Evil left off. The sinisterUmbrella Corporation re-opens its underground lab, and in so doing unleashes the T-Virus onRacoon City. The metropolis is cordoned off to contain the infection, and there are only a handfulof survivors left who, led by the now superhuman Alice (Mila Jovovich), must escape the citybefore it is sanitized (i.e.nuked).

The scale is far more grandiose than the first film, and there is m…
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Beverly Hillbillies, The

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 23rd, 2004

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”Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed…”. Yes we all know that familiar strain. Now…The Beverly Hillbillies is the movie adaptation of the popular television show. I was never a fan of the original show, but I can see its charm. And I’m not a fan of the movie, which doesn’t have much charm. Penelope Spheeris directs, and the deft comic touch seen in Wayne’s World is not evident here. There are only so many “fish out of water” jokes one can take in 90 minutes. When there are four writers…
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Epoch: Evolution

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on December 22nd, 2004

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Synopsis

Ten years after the events of Epoch 2000 (didn’t see it? then be prepared to beconfused), scientist David Keith and his son (apparently the result of an immaculate conceptionthanks to alien intervention) are on the run from the Genesis Coalition (a well-funded group ofnutcases devoted to expunging all things alien from the world). Alien rock formations, called“toruses” (they look like frozen tornadoes) rise from the ground, and good guys and bad guysdescend on them to discov…
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