Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 28th, 2009
“You wanna be where everybody knows your name”
Cheers was that kind of place that songs have been written about. Billy Joel’s Piano Man describes such a place where the patrons are, for the most part, regulars, and pretty much family. In the days before huge screen televisions and satellite networks, Cheers would likely have been considered a sports bar. In those days the sports was more the talk of the place and not merely gathering to watch 127 games at a time. The bar’s owner was Sam Malone (Danson). Sam was a washed up baseball player for the local Boston Red Sox. He was a pitcher who liked to drink a bit too much. So, what does he do? He buys a bar. Actually the character has kicked the drinking and is always seen sporting a bottle of water. At first his bartender was his old baseball coach, until Nicholas Colasanto passed away after 3 years. Coach was replaced by Woody, played by Woody Harrelson. Woody was a farm boy with naiveté and small town charm reminiscent of Radar from MASH. His innocence was often the butt of the jokes. In a strange coincidence, the show’s popular theme song, performed by Gary Portnoy, sounded a lot like Harrelson’s voice, and for years it was believed by anyone too lazy to read the credits that Harrelson sang the tune. The barmaid was Carla, played by Danny DiVito’s wife Rhea Perlman. She reminded us a lot of her husband’s Louie character from Taxi. She was abrasive, sarcastic, and more than willing to kick a guy when he was down. She had a soft spot for Sam, however, and was often protective of him. Kirstie Alley played Rebecca Howe, an on again off again romantic interest for Sam and also on again off again owner of Cheers in later years. She replaced Shelley Long, who played Sam’s romantic interest and barmaid Diane for the first half of the show’s run. The steady customers offered most of the stories for Cheers. Cliff, played by John Ratzenberger, was a postman who spent more time nursing a beer than actually delivering the mail. He often joked about how hard it was to fire a civil service employee. He was a know-it-all and too often bored his comrades with longwinded explanations for even the simplest concepts. His best friend was Norm (George Wendt). Norm was one of the more popular patrons, greeted with shouts of “NORM” whenever he entered the bar. He sat in the same stool, usually griping about his life but unwilling to move off his seat and actually do anything about it. He was married to an unseen wife who worked while he loafed at Cheers. Finally, Kelsey Grammer played psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane. You might recognize that character the most, because he got his own show after 9 years on Cheers which lasted another decade. Frasier was the elitist who acted superior to the others but deep down just wanted to be one of the guys.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2009
Humboldt County, the new independent comedy-drama from writers/directors Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs, sneaks on to shelves this month with a quietude as serene as its iZLER-composed musical score. Despite apt writing and direction, this slice-of-life piece simply fails to assert itself and leaves viewers with an indifference to the material.That’s not to say Humboldt County lacks competence. There isn’t a bad performance in the film. Two performances, in fact, are absolute dynamite. The always dependable Brad Dourif does what he does best, playing the crazy eccentric type, but this time he has a very human twist that endears him to the audience like never before. And Madison Davenport, a stunningly talented child actress, marks her debut with a strong performance that captures every scene she’s in.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 28th, 2009
The Great Polar Bear Adventure is indoctrination pure and simple. Disguised as a warm and fuzzy nature show in the realm of Meerkat Manor and its like, this film has really only one theme.: Humans are very bad creatures, for the most part. It follows the plight of a family of polar bears who can no longer find the frozen ice river floes that provide them with tasty seal meat. The reason, of course, is what the bears call the two legs. Somehow the bears know that it is the two legs that are causing the winter to grow shorter and the ice flows to disappear earlier every year. Of course, for the last two years ice floes have returned to normal, but let’s not confuse the issue with the facts. Eventually the bears are driven closer to a two leg settlement where they are forced to rummage through trash piles in order to survive. Eventually one of the rare good two legs darts them and takes them further north where they can roam and survive…for now.
Whatever your politics, I would hope that the idea of using children’s entertainment to push an agenda would not be why you might buy a video for the kids. There are plenty of good programs out there, so that it doesn’t seem necessary to have to have a conversation with your kids to explain why humans are so evil. Not the message I would want to send to children. Sure, the bears are cute and the CG animators did a great job of making it look like they were actually speaking. I don’t even mind a moral or a good message at the end of a kid’s show, but I assure you that you will find this program heavy handed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2009
Imagine waking up in the morning and opening your eyes only to be greeted by more darkness. You feel your way out of bed. Scoot your feet slowly across the floor to make sure you’re not bumping in to anything. You make it to the kitchen and feel around for cabinets. Based on the shape of the objects you find inside them, the sounds those objects make (if any), the texture of their contents, you manage to make breakfast. The rest of the day consists of listening to the TV or radio and more feeling and sensing your way through life. Now imagine having such an affliction while living in abject poverty and being looked upon by the dominant culture as demon-possessed and deserving of your state.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2009
Here we go with four more cruel experiments inflicted on Joel, Mike, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot on the Satellite of Love. The Mad Monster is a 1942 proverty row epic with George Zucco as a mad scientist giving future Frankenstein Monster Glenn Strange transfusions of wolf blood, with predictable results. Manhunt in Space is a Rocky Jones, Space Ranger adventure – multiple TV episodes pasted together into one dreadful piece of SF idiocy. Soultaker has the unfortunate Joe Estevez, under the orders from Angel of Death Robert Z’Dar, tracking down four teens who are supposed to have died in a car crash. Finally, Final Justice sees Joe Don Baker as a Texas Ranger confronting the mob in Malta. But of course.
Naturally, the real interest of these releases is not in the films themselves (which are, with the partial, nostalgic exception of The Mad Monster, utterly unwatchable), but in what Joel or Mike (depending on the episode) and the ‘bots do with the films. Two hits here, and two misses. The comments aimed at The Mad Monster and Final Justice are disappointingly unimaginative. The failure of the latter is a special sore point, since MST3K’s previous shot at Joe Don Baker, Mitchell, is one of the series’ masterpieces. This time around, the boys don’t have much to say other than to comment on the man’s eating and digestive habits. On the other hand, inspiration was at hand for both Soultaker and for a good chunk of Manhunt in Space (i.e. the first half, and with the accompanying episode of General Hospital).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 27th, 2009
So there's this group of flight attendants, and we follow their swinging adventures and affairs on and off planes. One, for instance, hopes to be an actress, and hooks up with an advertising executive. And if you care what the plot of “the first 3D sex film” is, you need your head examined. Much of the what goes on is mind-numbingly banal (SEE Wine being poured SEE Drinks being mixed HEAR Dull conversations ), though the acid trip that leads one woman to make out with a lamp in the form of a greco-roman head is something you don't see every day.
The film is an object lesson on how far mere novelty can take a film – it was a huge success at the time, and 3D was, in 1969, a rarity again after its initial craze in the 50s. So there are numerous shots of legs and pool cues (and feet) jabbing at the camera, enough, presumably, to have kept audiences entertained while everything else remained mundane beyond words. Or, so the situation is for most of the running time. But the last act takes a sudden turn into the starkly dramatic, and becomes very dark indeed. It is also rather more imaginatively shot than most of the rest of the film. The ending is a vicious sucker punch that must be seen to be believed, and suggests that the filmmakers were storing all of their creative juices for the cruel finale. In fact, as the accompanying featurettes reveal, the dramatic plot was added to the film after the rest of it was completed, and indeed, after it had already been released in some markets. In the final analysis, this is a vital piece of low culture.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 27th, 2009
On July 20th, 1973; Bruce Lee left our world. The world he left was never the same, but somehow his fans and directors carried on in their own way. The fans he left behind were hoping for a great martial artist that could be just as good as the late Bruce Lee. The directors he left behind were hoping to capitalize on the look of Bruce Lee and find one who not only looked like Lee but performed like him. What happened as a result of all this? A whole lot of bad kung-fu films known as Bruceploitation films. These films ranged from the normal to the obscene including one where Bruce Lee fights James Bond & Dracula in Hell. Unfortunately for the Dragon Immortal set, that one did not make it. But this collection brings together ten that did.
This boxset of 10 movies on three discs brings together the best and worst of the films in the Bruceploitation era. Who am I kidding? These are all pretty bad. But let us analyze the wreckage and see if anything is salvageable. There is one movie called Fist of Death (Jackie & Bruce to the Rescue) where the old kung-fu master of the village gets killed by a gang simply known as the YMCA. The YMCA? Are they lead by an Indian and a cowboy who sing about a “Macho Man”? Incidentally the gang's logo says YMGA but every actor in the movie calls them the YMCA. This all leads to some rickshaw driver who plays the Bruce Lee role and beats the gang and saves the day.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 27th, 2009
The Cambodia’s K11 red light district might sound to some like a good time. The fact is that the K11 district is home to such horrific acts such as child slavery & prostitution. It’s sleazy, filthy and about as immoral as you could imagine. Guy Moshe decided to tackle this subject when he directed the 2006 movie: Holly. Guy had to make sure that he brought the harsh reality to screen in a proper fashion. In doing so, he made quite possibly the most uncomfortable film this reviewer has seen in a long time.
Patrick (played by Ron Livingston) lives in Cambodia playing cards and getting rid of stolen goods for his pal Freddy (played by Chris Penn). He’s become immune to the effects of the world in chaos around him. Crime is rampant and the Cambodian world is oozing with underage women who are sold in slavery. Then they are forced to work in brothels catering to everybody from locals to the government to travelers who come to the area just for the immoral delights.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 26th, 2009
“This motion picture is principally based upon the book “Wallace” by Marshall Frady and other historical sources. Certain events, characters, and dialog have, nonetheless, been created or altered for dramatic purposes”.
In other words, this should not be taken as an historical record of the controversial George Wallace. If anything, the film attempts to soften his personality some. One of those created characters is Archie, a trustee attending to the needs of the residents at Alabama’s Governor’s Mansion. We are meant to see Wallace and the events of the tumultuous era through his eyes. It’s not told from his perspective, mind you, but we are intended to share his reactions and emotions along the way.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2009
“They’re longtime friends on separate life paths, but they share a horrific destination, where a seemingly innocent incident from their school days comes back to terrify them. Something, someone wants payback.”
If there was an award for cramming the most horror movie conventions into one film, Amusement should win it hands down. You’ve seen it all before: young couple stranded on a trip, that pesky rural shortcut, psycho truck driver, isolated house in the woods, spooky gothic looking hotel, ingenious little torture contraptions, a maze of traps and filthy bloody rooms, a demented clown, escaped psycho returning to the scene of his childhood to kill, and the usual assortment of sundry death scenes. In just a little under an hour and a half you get to see parts of Saw, Nightmare On Elm Street, Friday The 13th, Hostel, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and even Killer Clowns From Outer Space. A pretty solid collection of hits, but ultimately Amusement is a jack of all trades and the master of none.
