Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on June 13th, 2012
“You're the good kind of addict. You're the I-got-messed-up-with-the-wrong-girl-and-ended-up-on-a-blow-bender addict. But Ertz is the Skeevy-old-man-who-got-caught with-a-crack-pipe-and-the-17-year-old-from-Speed-Racer addict.”
Where season seven of Entourage was all about the hard life and times of Vinnie Chase (Adrian Grenier) and company stumbling through the shallow traps of an impossibly expensive Hollywood lifestyle: i.e. growing addictions, porn star girlfriends, and desperate career moves, Entourage: The Complete Eighth Season is all about redemption through hard choices.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 13th, 2012
The wife and I have spent quite a few weekends within the last year going to antique shops and malls, flea markets and basically any place where we might go through a pile of stuff to find that one special item for our collection. The search has produced many interesting items and it brings us joy to see all of the items that simply do not show up in a retail store. Today, we are reviewing American Pickers volume 3, a show that lives on the art of finding that next treasure by going through America’s backyards.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 12th, 2012
-"And what do I say when they ask me why it wasn't regulated?"
-"No one wanted to. We were making too much money."
At first glance, sitting down to watch a film about the financial meltdown of 2008 seems only slightly more fun than going through the actual meltdown again. Fortunately, director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) and a towering ensemble cast — I felt like I'd died and gone to Character Actor Heaven — mostly keep Too Big to Fail away from CNBC territory and deliver a brisk, entertaining film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2012
"I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop. I work here with my old man and my son, Big Hoss. Everything in here has a story ... and a price. One thing I've learned after 21 years? You never know what is going to come through that door."
Remember that PBS show where some old-stuff expert would come to your town and sift through a lot of junk that folks found in their basements or attics?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2012
"I'm Brad Meltzer. I've spent my life collecting stories. The best include signs, symbols, and coded messages that are hidden in plain sight. Some have become the basis for my novels. But I've only scratched the surface of what's out there, and now History has given me the resources to investigate the rest. This is Decoded."
What if I told you there was an author out there who was known for writing novels that include historical conspiracies, secret societies and buried treasures, and that this author has found a way to parlay his moderate writing success into a television series for History?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on June 11th, 2012
“Ugh. How many times do I have to explain this to you? If you see the neighbor's house getting broken into, it's probably Karl high out of his mind thinking he's locked out of our house.”
When it comes to office based slacker comedies, Mike Judge’s Office Space still sets the gold standard. Workaholics wishes it could be as quotable and timeless as Office Space, but settles for goofy, instantly forgettable juvenile ramblings suitable for a stoner’s short term memory. Much like the boy’s prank of choice, involving a dollar bill wrapped around poop, Workaholics looks good on the surface, but is pretty much the same old crap underneath.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 6th, 2012
"Make no mistake. Blood will be spilled. Lives will be lost. Fortunes will be made. Men will be ruined. There will be betrayal and scandal and perfidy of epic proportions."
With a statement like that, how can you not want to check out AMC's newest drama series Hell On Wheels? I've been told the title sounds like it's about motorcycle gangs, and I couldn't agree more. The term refers to the mobile tent city that housed the workers on the Union Pacific Railroad and the support entourage the camp attracted. It was a virtual tent city that had all of the essentials: a church, bar, and whorehouse.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 5th, 2012
"I'm yelling for society, for everybody! It's not just me!"
That's Larry David chastising a dog walker who didn't bring along a bag to clean up after her pooch, but that statement also tidily summarizes the premise of Curb Your Enthusiasm. After 11 years, seven seasons and 70 episodes of over-analyzing and kvetching — and after pulling off an incredibly well-received Seinfeld reunion in season 7 — a small part of me wondered if David had anything left to complain about heading into season 8. I should've known better.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2012
For most of the last decade or more CBS has dominated the primetime drama market on network television. One of the reasons, of course, has been the prevalence of top-flight crime dramas like the NCIS and CSI franchises. From 2003 until 2009 the Thursday line-up on the eye network included the blockbuster pairing of the original CSI and Without A Trace. Both were products of filmmaker Jerry Bruckheimer's television stable. While CSI focused on the science behind a criminal investigation, Without A Trace took the more traditional route of the human element to the FBI's Missing Persons Unit.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 29th, 2012
Often in columns, writers are basically forced to do enough research on their own to qualify as experts. But that is not always enough. Sometimes, we are a lot better off if we just consult an expert from the get-go and ask them all of the pertinent questions we need answered. My wife happened to be that expert I needed for the latest season of True Blood, Season Four. Without her, Sookie Stackhouse might just be another girl from the Jersey Shore. Wait, which show am I reviewing again?
