Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 17th, 2009
Girlfriends has turned out to be a very successful show. It lasted eight seasons and one hundred seventy two episodes. Despite the lack of a proper final episode, it should have a lasting place in television history. In 2006, they ran a special episode which ended up being a backdoor pilot for the series called The Game. With the 4th season of this show currently in negotiations with the BET network, it was only fitting to start releasing Season sets. But would it be as good as the show that it spun off from?
Melanie Barnett (played by Tia Mowry) is in love with Derwin Davis (played by Pooch Hall). Melanie wants to go to John Hopkins medical school but there is one problem, Derwin has been drafted to play professional football by the San Diego Sabres. Melanie decides to forgo John Hopkins against her parent’s wishes and join Derwin in San Diego.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 16th, 2009
Grey’s Anatomy follows the life and tribulations of a group of interns at Seattle Grace Hospital. There’s certainly nothing original about the premise, except that the story is told by one of the more unlikely characters, Dr. Meredith Grey (Pompeo). As a lead she’s really not all that remarkable, but the show doesn’t put everything on her narrow shoulders. The series is populated by a solid supporting cast, giving it all a far more ensemble feel despite the title. James Pickens, Jr. is perhaps the most extraordinary actor in the show. He’s underused, but steals every scene he’s in. His Dr. Webber is a powerfully serious voice in an otherwise often frivolous world. Chandra Wilson as the intern teacher Dr. Baily is another standout performance, offering tremendous range. Her character, often referred to as a Nazi by her interns, is capable of outstanding empathy just when it’s required. Too many of the characters serve as eye candy, but I can’t say that any of them don’t have some good acting chops.
With all of that said, season 5 is not the way to have your first Grey’s Anatomy experience. I strongly recommend you begin at the start if you are not sure about this show. While I was able to gain some appreciation for the show, I had to work harder for it by starting so late. If you already like the show, nothing I could say would keep you from continuing your collection here. For those of you up on what’s going on, here’s the kind of stories you can expect in season 5: The biggest impact story thread has to be Izzie’s brain tumor. It also leads to a return by Supernatural’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Denny character. Yeah, I know he died, but he learned a thing or two from his stint on Supernatural. Actually it’s Izzie’s tumor that allows us this return visit. Not really a spoiler here, as the show did a huge amount of promo spots talking about Denny’s return and Izzie’s illness. Another huge milestone is the addition of Rome’s phenomenal actor Kevin McKidd as new Dr. Owen Hunt. It’s a great character, possibly one of the best in the series. He’s a military doctor, so adds quite a bit of a new dynamic to the series. He’s going to be challenging the methods and techniques of the hospital. Controversy reaches Grace when a death row inmate wishes to donate his organs. The problem is that the execution will render his organs unusable. He’ll have to be killed at the hospital by someone on the staff. Mark tries to perform a face transplant. Unfortunately, it is still the romantic entanglements that drive this series.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 15th, 2009
“Harper’s Island is 37 miles off the coast of Seattle. 7 years ago, 6 people were murdered here, presumably by a man named John Wakefield. They were the first ever recorded murders in the history of the island. They will not be the last.”
Whap, Gurgle, Snap. No, that’s not the sound of the latest craze in breakfast cereals. It’s three episode titles to the limited run series, Harper’s Island. This is one of those one season high concept shows that crop up from time to time. With television spots that at first made it look like another in the reality TV wave, it didn’t get quite the buzz I’m sure was hoped for. We were promised a murder every week, and we got it. The episode titles represent sounds we might imagine each murder producing. Where the show just couldn’t make a killing was in the ratings. It was never intended for anything but one season, which was good, because it didn’t stand a chance of getting renewed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2009
“For those of you just joining us: What you are looking at is the work of ZFT, a terrorist organization responsible for at least a half a dozen biological attacks over the last several months. Everything we know thus far can be found in your packets (or Blu-rays), including a copy of their manifesto which elucidates their ideology and their methods. Which boils down to the following: Attempting to provoke or prepare for a war. With who? That’s the question, isn’t it? What we do know is that these bizarre acts seem to be increasing in frequency and that their targets are unpredictable and therefore unprotectable. Those of you assembled in this room now have a clear-cut goal…”
That goal is to rush out and pick up the high definition, Blu-ray release of the first season of JJ Abrams latest television enigma, Fringe.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2009
“Happy 200th, everybody. Only 75 shows in the history of television have reached 200 episodes. Only 4 other shows currently on the air have produced 200 episodes, and of those only 2 feature live actors. And, it’s worth noting that both of those shows were in the top of the Nielsen ratings before CSI came along and knocked them off of that perch.”
And, after 9 years and over 200 episodes, CSI has enjoyed an almost unprecedented near decade as the number one show in the country. It’s a rare thing to go so long and keep the core of your team intact. Up until now CSI has added characters, but has not lost a major character. But things are about to change. If you’re a fan of the original idea, this is an important season set to own. It’s all going to change quite significantly in season 9. William Petersen leaves mid-season. Dourdan is also already gone. The actor found himself in a considerable legal jam and was forced from the show. His character gets killed off in the beginning of the 9th season. Finally Jorja Fox, who had been playing a several year game of I quit/no I don’t with the series, finally opted out at the end of season 8. Petersen will remain as an executive producer.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 8th, 2009
If someone told you there was a movie out there starring David Carradine, Bruce Dern, and Rip Torn as three retired sea captains sharing a house together, what would your expectations be? I personally would expect a raucous production with colorful characters and a whole lot of the kind of scenery-chewing that those three guys are known for. However, set it at the turn of the century, fill it with unmemorable supporting actors, and change its title from Chatham (not a great title I admit) to the far more generic The Golden Boys, and it doesn’t take a perch in the crow’s nest to see that this schooner is close-hauled and tacking into the wind. See what I did there? I cleverly used nautical terminology to illustrate the disappointing quality of a movie about sailors. Now I feel like a big-time reviewer.
The DVD cover trumpets the quotation, “A cross between Grumpy Old Men and Three Men and a Baby”. This quote is attributed to Cindy Adams of the New York Post, and I’m not sure which film she watched, but it certainly was not this one. The three lead characters are not grumpy, there isn’t a baby to be seen anywhere, and the romantic rivalry for the affections of Mariel Hemingway amounts to nothing and, in fact, is pretty much nonexistent. I looked up the source of the quote and found that it didn’t even come from a review, but from a puff piece she wrote about Rip Torn. This gives you an idea of how desperate the publishers were to find a way to market this thing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2009
To the point, Criminal Minds is very compelling television. Ever since The Silence Of The Lambs and perhaps long before, we have been fascinated by serial killers and the profilers who try to get inside their heads. To see evidence of the continuing trend, one needs only look toward the success of films like Zodiac and shows like Dexter. Of course, serial killers are not the only prey this FBI team pursues, but they are certainly the marquee item on the agenda. To be sure, there are equally disturbing subjects such as arsonists, bombers, kidnappers, and rapists to give the show a touch of variety, but let’s face it, it’s the killers that keep us tuned so attentively to Criminal Minds.
Let’s not take anything away from the show’s true force here. This is an excellent cast being fed brilliant scripts playing to an awesome crew. Everything just clicks on this series, and it only got better in the second year. I am truly impressed with how much these characters are fleshed out and how much we learn about them without the need of office romance. No precious show time is squandered on excessive personal life stories. We’re given just enough to bring the characters alive beyond their team dynamic, which is quite strong. Each character is constructed through the subtle nuances the actors infuse their performance with. From the moment you watch your first episode, you will find this team believable enough to care about them and their work. Surprisingly, the show often gets muddled in a ton of exposition, but somehow it’s carried off by the cast so that you never find yourself going numb with clinical information overload. Granted, the material itself is attention-worthy, but these guys pull it off no matter how interesting the information might be. Add to the stellar portrayals a writing team second to none in the industry. The support teams do everything they need to make sure these talents are never wasted.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2009
Ken Olin is truly a great talent that I’ve followed back when he played the snotty detective Garibaldi on Hill Street Blues. Since then he’s done some wonderful work behind the camera, and Brothers & Sisters certainly shows his influence; however, this is not some of his best work. The show often leans on clichés and gets awfully lazy in moving forward at times. I do see the great family of characters they created here, but fail to find them interesting beyond the life breathed into them by their performers. This is a case of ego getting in the way of great potential. The writers and producers are trying way too hard to do something special. True greatness often requires the least effort. My advice to Olin and company is, play to the strengths of this great cast, and then get out of their way as often as possible.
Sally Field plays Nora Walker. Her husband has just died and left her with a lot of unanswered questions in her life. She soon discovers a twenty year affair and some even more serious hanky panky with the books of the company the family owns. Her emotional ups and downs can be about as compelling as television can get. Callista Flockhart plays the best opposite Fields as the errant, and of course, conservative, black sheep of the family. The moments they share have given me a greater respect for Flockhart than her previous roles have. It is a little much watching her call someone else skinny. Ron Rifkin steals every scene he’s in as the old fashioned Uncle Saul, proving that Alias was no fluke for this accomplished actor. Rachel Griffiths again hides her English accent to show that if nothing else, she does a good job of crying. The remaining cast of Dave Annable, Balthazar Getty, and Matthew Rys are often just as nice as the three brother siblings on the show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2009
The residents of Wisteria Lane have become household staples in the last four years. Even after watching the show, I’m still not sure I understand what it’s about, but I’ll try and give my take on it anyway. It would appear to this reviewer that the show owes at least part of its genesis to the HBO hit Sex And The City. There is the same narrative angle, this time by a deceased member of the group. Still, that narrative contains many of the same kinds of observations as the HBO show and appears to imitate it as often as not. The show also deals with the exploits, often sexual, of a group of women. This time they are married, but that doesn’t seem to stop the flings, or at least the fantasies any. Finally, the best correlation between the two shows is how much both depended almost entirely on the personalities of the women themselves instead of any particular element of story or concept. Here the women are the concept. In the first season it appears young housewife Mary Alice (Strong) commits suicide. She now looks down (or up, I guess) on her neighbors, offering the commentary that is the show’s narration. At the end of each episode she offers some tidy little wrap-up, adding comments on how the lives of these women are evolving.
The plot is pretty much standard soap opera fare. There are love triangles, diseases, and the typical complications you can find on any given weekday during the networks’ afternoon programs. Of course, here we have prime time production values and a decidedly A cast of actors. It’s very likely that Desperate Housewives might have actually benefited from the writer’s strike, which reduced the run of episodes down to 17. The writers spent more time dealing with the characters and less trying to pretend they were creating compelling drama. Where the show works is in these quirky, almost black comedy moments between the characters. Since there is no “story” to really speak of, I guess it’s more important that you meet the residents of Wisteria Lane. Susan (Hatcher) is married to Mike (Denton). She’s kind of an airhead and is the housewife most likely to be on the outside of a joke or reference. Her husband might or might not be a murderer. Perhaps denizens of the show have a better grasp of the 411 on that situation than I got. Susan was raising her daughter Julie (Bowen) on her own before she married Mike. Julie shows far more maturity and intelligence than her mom. Lynette (Huffman) was once a big time corporate executive who is now raising four kids and is married to Tom (Savant) who also left corporate America and runs a pizza shop. They are also raising Tom’s daughter from a previous affair, who absolutely hates Lynette. Katherine (Delany) is the local “perfect housewife”; she’s a cooking champion and is a bit of a snob, refusing to share her lemon meringue pie recipe with anyone. She and gynecologist husband Adam (Fillion) are the newest residents of Wisteria Lane. Bree (Cross) is a rival to Katherine in all of this homemaking stuff, but it appears they learn to work together before the season ends. Bree is married to Orson (MacLachlan), who has had more than one ex-wife turn up dead. Unfortunately for Orson, it is the husbands that are expendable in this show. Last but certainly not least is Gabrielle (Parker). She’s obviously the best looking of the group and acts like she knows it. Her husband is the town’s mayor, but she spends far more time with lover Carlos (Chavira). She has expensive tastes and wants to be pampered. Together these ladies go through guys and catfights like they were pitches at the All Star Game.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 31st, 2009
“Now this might be the room of any small boy, but it happens to belong to a boy named Christopher Robin, and like most small boys, Christopher Robin had toy animals to play with. And together they had many remarkable adventures in an enchanted place called The Hundred Acre Wood. But out of all of his animal friends, Christopher Robin’s very best friend was a bear called Winnie The Pooh.”
“Oh Bother”A.A. Milne was quite an eclectic writer. He wrote murder mysteries that even appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. From that fertile mind would also come a place known as the Hundred Acre Wood. In that select place some of literature’s finest characters had the greatest adventures any boy could imagine. And adventures are certainly no fun on your own. Young Christopher Robin was joined by Piglet, Tigger, Owl, Rabbit, Eeyore, and, of course, Winnie-The-Pooh. Who didn’t fall in love with that silly old bear… Winnie-The-Pooh. OK, so maybe Dahmer or Bundy might have been exceptions. Still, anyone growing up in the last 30-40 years who isn’t a psychopath has had a love affair with Winnie-The-Pooh, all stuffed with fluff.
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