Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 27th, 2011
A young man wants to stimulate the economy of his tiny community, mostly for the sake of his parents struggling motel, and inadvertently welcomes what would become the original Woodstock festival into his back yard (literally).
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 25th, 2011
Not quite a concert film, not quite a drama. This film follows a young man named Bruno, who sleeps with his life long crush, the night before she moves from Toronto to Paris. On this final night, Broken Social Scene are playing a free show and Bruno uses a connection to get backstage passes as a last ditch effort to win over his crush. All the while, we are treated to a multi camera view of that very same concert, running the duration of the entire film.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 23rd, 2011
If one were to look at my media collection, one would probably assume in advance that I have a lot of stand-up comedians. On the contrary, I have only a few stand-up discs because I tend to be critical of their replay value. I have the classics such as Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, George Carlin as well as a couple of more recent acts such as Joe Rogan and Lewis Black. However, my curiosity was peaked when I heard about Louis C.K. He has been called the George Carlin of today, a very tall order. Well here is hoping that he lives up to most recent special: Hilarious.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 22nd, 2011
A young Cambodian boy, named Sokvannara “Sy” Sar, is spotted performing a traditional dance by the film’s director and American Dance patron Anne Bass. She immediately takes note of his smooth talent and figures he has massive potential as a classical ballet dancer. Sy is given a rare chance to audition at the School of American Ballet in New York and then proceeds on a unique and fast-paced journey through a new world of dance, in a nation that is completely alien to his homeland.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2011
The Freebie is a festival friendly drama-comedy about Darren (Dax Shepard) and Annie (Katie Aselton) ailing sexual relationship. The film is interested with relationships after they pass the lust stage. How do couples maintain a healthy romantic relationship? Darren and Annie strive for ways to spice up their situation and the idea eventually becomes one night of freedom from each other to explore other options.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 20th, 2011
Denis Leary and Friends presents: Douchebags and Donuts includes stand up sets from Adam Ferrara, Lenny Clarke, Whitney Cummings and Denis Leary. Also, there are musical performances by The Enablers featuring the Rehab Horns. All proceeds from this event (as well as portions of the DVD sales) went/go to Denis Leary’s charity, The Leary Firefighters Foundation.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 20th, 2011
An ex-con trying to pull one last heist is sucked into a booby trapped house and must face against a madman who is torturing the family within. The makers of 3 SAW films (and not the first three) have ventured into familiar territory of nonsense gore, whisper thin plot, and then even more nonsense gore.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2011
“’Have gun, will travel’ reads the card of a man. A knight without armor in a savage land…”
Those words ended every episode of Have Gun Will Travel, sung by Johnny Western in a time that such words could be sung without irony. Outside of Richard Boone’s black-clad, craggy Rhett Butler gone-to-seed gunfighter, that song was all I could really recall about this venerable Western from television’s golden age.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2011
Written by Diane Tillis
Magic is a source of great debate. From the great magicians like Harry Houdini to the modern magicians like David Blaine, they continue to force their audiences to pick a side of the debate. Should you believe the truth of the trick? On the other hand, you could forget the truth and believe in the magic. Which side would you choose?
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2011
Written by Diane Tillis
When I first heard about Hot in Cleveland, I thought the show would be a modern remake of The Golden Girls. Both shows have four older, single women, living under one roof, as they try to survive each day with a little bit of humor. Before watching the show, I was worried that Hot in Cleveland would appear to be a hasty decision by TV Land because they wanted to jump on the Betty White bandwagon
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2011
Written by Diane Tillis
You know him from Baywatch, Knight Rider, and America’s Got Talent. After nearly four decades in the entertainment business, David Hasselhoff created quite a name for his career as a pop icon. Now at a point in his dwindling career, Hasselhoff takes the plunge to be the center of attention at a Comedy Central Roast production. The man of a thousand voices, Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy), hosts the production.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 18th, 2011
A young dreamer named Power is fired from his mining job just before his union-leader father instigates a strike. Wishing he could be a drummer, but never getting the chance to play an actual kit, Power does not know what to do with his constant ambitions that make him air-drum 24/7. Fate steps in and he discovers an underground movement of air-drumming that all leads to a major event in New York city where he will have a chance to face off against a billionaire country-music star, who just so happens to be the son of the evil Copper Mine owner who is treating his Union friends, and family, so unfairly.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 15th, 2011
George Papdapolis (Alex Karras) and Katherine Calder-Young (Susan Clark) meet on a Greek cruise, and, after a whirlwind romance, return to Chicago. They’re a bit of an odd couple – she’s a blue-blood, complete with male secretary, and he’s an ex-football player. The cross-class romance is barely underway, however, when they suddenly find themselves the guardians of the unspeakably adorable seven-year-old Webster (played by twelve-year-old Emmanuel Lewis) after his parents die (George had agreed to be his godfather back in the day).
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Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 15th, 2011
Johnathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels was never meant to be a children’s tale. It is one of the most corrosive satires in the English language, one that has lost none of its brilliant venom over the passage of centuries. But endless bowdlerizations have given its first two sections (the voyages to Lilliput and Brobdingag) the reputation for being children’s classics.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 14th, 2011
This documentary tracks a year in the life of Joan Rivers. We begin at a relatively low ebb in her career, with her finding it difficult to land desirable gigs. She throws herself into the production of an autobiographical play that debuts in Edinburgh, and her hope is that the London reception will be glowing enough to provide enough momentum for a Stateside production. Meanwhile, she and daughter Melissa are contestants on Celebrity Apprentice. As the film follows the ups and downs of these efforts (concentrating particularly on the play), Rivers opens up about her life and career.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 12th, 2011
I have never watched Little House on the Prairie, so I admit to having no frame of reference when I approached this set, which actually contains two separate made for television movies: Beyond The Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Beyond The Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder Continues. Now, since I’ve used up a large portion of my review space just mentioning the titles of these two films, I will try to be as succinct as possible.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 11th, 2011
“The Giants who formed this world and now seem to live in it in chains are actually the cause of its life and the source of all activity. But the chains are the cunning of the weak and tame minds…”
Confused yet? That’s how Bitter Feast opens, and while it does have a witty premise, the film continues to confound and confuse throughout. The opening poem is the backdrop for a game that turns violent between two brothers in a wooded area. I have to be honest. It made my brain literally hurt trying to figure out what director Joe Maggio was trying to say.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 11th, 2011
Written by Diane Tillis
24 is a political-thriller television series that spans eight seasons. The show focuses on Jack Bauer, a prominent and controversial agent within the Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Jack Bauer using the real-time method of narration. The episodes are marked by the hour with onscreen digital clocks.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 6th, 2011
In one of Stephen King’s most popular stories, at least of those translated into films, a prison inmate sits in his cell and dreams of escape. His fantasy is to escape into the welcoming arms of Rita Hayworth. While that particular element wasn’t to be found in the film, it was important enough in the original story to warrant mention in the original title, which was Rita Hayworth And The Shawshank Redemption. It was a nod to the pin-up status that the actress had in early younger days. In my generation it was Farrah
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 6th, 2011
Written by Dave Younger
Set in 1945 Germany, WWII is winding down, and The Japanese have just surrendered. A bunch of American officers have commandeered a castle outside of Frankfurt, Germany, and the discovery of a wine stash leads Colonel Jack Durant (Billy Zane) to thinking: What else could Princess Sophie have hidden before she fled? Jack is first seen flirting with Lt. Kathleen Nash (Lyne Renee), but she’s not buying.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 4th, 2011
I’ve seen some dysfunctional families on television over the years. Haven’t we all? It’s fun to laugh at someone else’s flaws. Along comes Showtime, and it’s rather hard to classify the series The United States Of Tara. This one takes dysfunction to a whole new level. Tara (Collette) suffers from multiple-personality disorder. Laughing yet? She has managed to control the problem by using medications and attending frequent therapy sessions. But the medication is sapping her creative ability.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 3rd, 2011
Futurama was the brainchild of Simpson veterans Matt Groening and David X Cohen. With the growing popularity of their iconic cartoon, it was no surprise that Fox would tap the team to bring another show to the network. When Futurama premiered in 1999, it was a combination of The Jetsons and The Simpsons. That would be ironic for those of us who think the Simpsons theme is a direct knock off of The Jetsons. It was 1000 years in the future, and the joke was that no matter how much things changed, they hadn’t really changed at all.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 3rd, 2011
From beginning to end, the emotional impact of Prayers for Bobby will leave you reaching for a tissue.
The screenplay for Prayers for Bobby is from the biographical novel by Leroy Aarons about the Griffith family. Sigourney Weaver plays her role as the matriarch Mary Griffith perfectly. Mary Griffith (Sigourney Weaver) is a devout Christian who believes that by the power of God and of prayer, all problems have a solution.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 3rd, 2011
Paul Rudd is desperate for a promotion. Moving from the drudgery of the sixth floor to the executive seventh will, he feels, cement his financial status and convince his girlfriend (Stephanie Szostak) to marry him. Opportunity knocks, but also has a price: he must find an idiot to bring to boss Bruce Greenwood’s dinner party, where these unfortunates will be ridiculed. Rudd doesn’t like the idea, but then he (literally) runs into Steve Carrell, a man of such transcendent idiocy that Rudd can’t resist the siren call he represents. But before they can make it to the dinner, Carrell’s well-meaning stupidity threatens to completely derail Rudd’s life.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 2nd, 2011
8 corporate hopefuls gather at a mysterious location and are instructed to take one final exam as a final test to see which one will walk away with a prestigious job at a major company. The trouble is their exam papers are blank, and it would seem that there is not even a question to answer. For 80 minutes each must solve the puzzle without being disqualified by breaking one of the few rules, all of which double as a riddle/clue to solving the exam question and answer.
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