Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 10th, 2006
When MTV picked up The Tom Green Show, they opened the floodgates to a whole new (and bizarre) genre of television; reality pranks. "But what about Candid Camera?", you might ask. That show was close to this genre, but not quite the same. This new breed of prank show takes much more from reality shows such as The Osbourne's than their earlier counterparts. In these new shows, the prank is not really a one-time event as much as it is a lifestyle. The main target of Bam Margera's pranks are his loving and amazingly understanding parents. Viva La Bam is much less physically harmful than Jackass... and much more entertaining. Part of what made The Osbourne's so addicting was the fact that for as odd as the family was, it was clear that they still genuinely loved each other. There is something of that spirit here as well.
So the show is entertaining enough. However, there are only 6 episodes on this disc. It is as if the producers of the disk know that they are offering a poor product to the consumer, as a note on the back of the package clearly states, "This is not the complete first season and contains no bonus features." If that's not the studio's way of saying "this is a poor product", then I don't know what is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 10th, 2006
Synopsis
Laurel and Hardy’s career highs were all at Hal Roach Studios, and these three films are from their Fox period, in the twilight of their filmography. It is hard to call any of these classics, but there is still some very worthwhile comedy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 10th, 2006
The original 1959 version of The Shaggy Dog is notable for two reasons. First, it is the first live action film that Disney ever produced. They had created some animated features, of course, but this was the company's first real foray into the live action market. Secondly, the film marks the screen debut of Annette Funicello, a name certain to be familiar to fans of later Disney films. Later known as “America's Sweetheart”, Annette became a staple of the popular teenage beach movies of the 60's.
This ...VD release is notable for a couple of reasons as well, though they are not nearly as positive. The box states that this disc contains the original theatrical release, but it then goes on to say that the cut includes 10 additional minutes of footage. How can the same cut include both the original theatrical version and 10 minutes of additional footage? The disc also contains a second, colorized version of the film. Any true cinephile will tell you that colorization is a horrendous practice that completely changes the original vision of the filmmaker. So what consumers are left with is two versions of The Shaggy Dog, neither of which is the original. Clearly, this disc was released solely as an additional money making scheme to tie-in with the theatrical release of the remake, but at the very least I was expecting to find the film in its original format. That's just common courtesy. This is just the kind of horrible decision making that has plagued Disney over the past several years. Walt Disney would never have let such poor decision making go unchecked.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 6th, 2006
Ever since the original Survivor first became extremely successful, it seemed like every network was trying to get a piece of their own reality television fame. We had FOX give us The Chamber and MTV throw us the Jackass series. One had success while one crashed and burned very quickly. This proved that not every idea would make a successful reality show. Naturally FOX is not one to give up and knew what to do next. Coming off her, probably, un-welcomed fame, Paris Hilton was approached by FOX to...star in a reality series called The Simple Life. The show would team Hilton and her childhood friend Nicole Ritchie together while they live with one family in the middle of nowhere.
After two successful seasons of The Simple Life where Paris and Nicole stayed with just one family, the creators of the show thought it would be interesting to see how Paris and Nicole would react to staying with multiple different families dealing with multiple jobs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 6th, 2006
One of the great things about television today is the trend of extreme diversification. Where there used to be a specialized channel called ESPN, that has now been broken down into ESPN Deportes, ESPN2, ESPNews, ESPN U... the list goes on and on. Whatever your interest, there is a very specialized niche available that it fits into. The nice thing is, all of this specialization has allowed some truly creative (and bizarre) programing to creep out onto the airwaves. Robot Chicken is a great example of this trend... It is a wildly creative stop motion animation show created and produced by Seth Green that parodies pop culture using pre-existing action figures. One episode parodies The Real World by showing what would happen when characters such as Batman, The Incredible Hulk and Wonder Woman are made to live together in a house. Quite literally, if you name the pop culture reference, it is here, from American Idol to Kill Bill to Dawn of the Dead. There's even a Two Guys, A Girl and a Pizza Place reference here... and that's all packed into just the first episode!
I had never even heard of this show before I was sent this DVD set to review, but I am a complete and total convert now. I am sometimes amazed at some of the truly funny stuff that is out there that I have never even heard of. This show deserves to find a wider audience. Hopefully this DVD release will do for this hilarious series what it did for Family Guy and Firefly.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 5th, 2006
First things first; there was a big hullabaloo about the fact that this is not the first season of Beavis and Butt-Head, but merely the first volume. Turns out, there are some episodes that Mike Judge has decided he didn't care to see again, so now nobody can see them again. Personally, for a show like this, it really makes no difference to me. If you are the kind of person who is going to be bothered by that, however, then consider yourself warned.
Also gone are the music videos, which is a bigger deal to me. Some of the best parts of the show were hearing the fellas' comments about Alice in Chains or Bono from U2. There are a fair number of music videos included with the DVD release of this title, but they are conspicuously missing from the UMD release.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 4th, 2006
For those Flintstones collectors out there, the ride is almost over. Season five of this show's six season runis now available on DVD. Of course, this show will never completely go away, and for good reason. The Flintstones was quite progressive for its day. Not only was it the first prime time cartoon program to develop a following, but it also has other things in common with modern animated sitcoms. It is easy to see traces of the characters of Homer Simpson and even Peter Griffin in these episodes. F...ed means well, but it is abundantly clear that Wilma is the brains of the family. This is a plot device that has almost been taken for granted today.
There are 26 episodes in this season, and each one includes some great laughs that easily translate to today's modern lifestyles. Though the show was created in the 1960's, it is still funny to see Wilma hang clothes on a clothesline with birds, or to see Barny fix the garbage disposal by poking it in the hindquarters with a stick. Our tools may have changed, but the personalities still ring true today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 4th, 2006
Synopsis
I have to write an open letter to those who are (deep breath) fans of teen idol used-to-bes Scott Baio and Willie Aames. What the hell is wrong with you people? Did the online petition have THAT many signatures that it had to be recognized and acted upon? Did you really need to have the theme song to Charles in Charge on DVD? I admit, it’s a little bit catchy, but if you watch all 22 episodes in one setting, you need to up your lithium dosage. I know and understand that Universal is catering...to the VH-1 “I Love the ‘80s” crowd by releasing shows like this onto disc, but let’s exercise some sort of restraint, huh?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 3rd, 2006
When it absolutely positively has to be there by next month.
ABC made an effort to bring back the western in 1989. But The Young Riders was more of an extension of the popular Young Guns films than the traditions of Gunsmoke or Bonanza. I didn’t catch this show on its original run, so the DVD’s were a particular treat. A chance to see something new. Still, I never could shake the feeling that I’d seen it all before. Give ABC credit for a decent cast of upcomers. The production values were also far great...r than one usually finds in a network drama series. The major flaw was to base the series on the Pony Express. The premise required the characters to be out on runs for nearly a month at a stretch, which would leave very little time for the interaction and continuity necessary for an ongoing series. The Young Riders solved that problem the old fashioned way. They simply ignored it. The result was a show increasingly less about the Pony Express and more about life on the station’s ranch. The action was more or less provided with the cast helping out damsels in distress and fighting bad guys. It’s a wonder any mail got delivered at all. In an effort to forge some name recognition, the characters are made up from mostly misplaced western legends. If you are at all annoyed with glaring historic inaccuracies, this is not the show for you.
If you can get past the flaws of the premise, there really is some quality television to be found here. The locations are a treat for the eye. John Debney’s music is a wonderful fusion of Western and modern sounds. The cast is also quite a treat. Anthony Zerbe creates a compelling character with his Teaspoon Hunter, the station manager and father figure for the young recruits. Homicide’s Melissa Leo counters as the matriarch figure on the ranch. She is joined by her future Homicide partner’s brother, Stephen Baldwin, as Buffalo Bill Cody. Another famous brother, Josh Brolin, played Wild Bill Hickok. In one of the film’s greatest believability stretches we find Yvonne Suhor as Lou, a girl passing unconvincingly as a boy. Ty Miller plays the enigmatic “The Kid”..
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 2nd, 2006
There may have never been a more aptly-named television show in history than Jackass. For those who don't know, this show is comprised of a collection of short clips of “stunts” that push the limits of common sense and decency. While the majority of these stunts amount to little more than idiots with a camcorder, and some are just downright disgusting (do I really need to see some guy throw up a goldfish?), some of the segments honestly are quite funny. Giving your buddy a Billy Ray Cyrus haircut will always b... funny. Having two broken arms and asking total strangers to “help you out” by unzipping your fly is the stuff of classic set-up shows like Candid Camera. However, for the overwhelming majority of this disc, the clips on this disc can best be described at a lame brained attempt at humor.
Audio
