Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 25th, 2012
My wife Sarah is not a normal bird, I have deeply accepted this. To be honest, if she was anything resembling normal, I probably would not be madly in love with her. But with her quirky ways, I am to a point where I know her likes and dislikes. Every once in a while, she does throw me off, especially when it comes to which cartoons she likes to watch. One of her favorite cartoons that she likes to watch goes by the name of Rocko’s Modern Life. It just so happens that today’s review goes over the second season. Let us see what it has to offer.
Since this site was not able to review the first season (which is only eleven and a half bucks at Amazon currently), I figured I would go over the characters and the show’s premise before diving into a few episodes. There are basically 3 major characters, 2 large supporting characters and then a whole boatload of characters that show up here and there.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2012
It sounds like nothing new. Hard-boiled detective uses computers and other forms of technology to solve cases. It isn’t anything new, except the detective in question is Joe Mannix, and the series started in 1967. The computer that Mannix used took up an entire room and was queried using cardboard punch cards. This wasn’t science fiction. We’re not talking some newly discovered Irwin Allen series. Mannix didn’t go after aliens or robots. This was a down-to-earth gritty detective show. Mike Connors played the tough-as-nails detective. He was perfect for the part and blended into the role seamlessly for eight years.
The show was created by the team of Link and Levinson, who later gave us the detective in the rumpled raincoat, Columbo. It was groundbreaking in so many areas. While it might not be remembered today as one of the top detective shows, there can be no argument about the impact Mannix had on the genre. A decade later one of my favorite television detectives, Jim Rockford, would borrow rather heavily from Mannix. Like Rockford, Mannix was getting beat up a lot. They both had the same sense of style, wearing rather ugly sport jackets. Neither was afraid to bend the rules, or the law, when necessary. Again like Rockford, Mannix often falls for the wrong girl at the wrong time. Mannix was good with a gun and equally adept with his fists. The show received a ton of controversy from the start for the amount of violence it employed. Tame by today’s standards, Mannix was quite aggressive for its time. The joke was that the show’s producers mandated a fight or car chase every 15 minutes whether it was needed or not. I’m sure that wasn’t true, but nonetheless the show opened the floodgates for the detective shows that followed. In this first season, Mannix worked for the enigmatic detective agency, Intertect. They supplied him with the latest in modern technology and with his cases. His main company contact was Lou Wickersham, played by Joseph Campanella. Now Mannix is on his own and begins to resemble more and more these detectives that would eventually follow in his tire tracks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 23rd, 2012
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table has always been an interesting subject for me to research and learn about. It is a story of chivalry, adventure, and fantasy. It has great characters and even though it is hard to pinpoint an actual person in history that this legend could be assigned to, nobody can neglect the impact it has had on English culture. The History Channel decided to give us a collection of specials on the subject entitled: King Arthur and Medieval Britain
There are five specials included in this 2 disc package. They are basically programs that aired on the History Channel or A&E from the last 15 years on the subject of either King Arthur or Britain during this time period. The time period they are discussing is primarily 5th-6th century A.D. and it spreads to roughly 12th century where a lot of this material was written down by various authors.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 23rd, 2012
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table has always been an interesting subject for me to research and learn about. It is a story of chivalry, adventure, and fantasy. It has great characters and even though it is hard to pinpoint an actual person in history that this legend could be assigned to, nobody can neglect the impact it has had on English culture. The History Channel decided to give us a collection of specials on the subject entitled: King Arthur and Medieval Britain
There are five specials included in this 2 disc package. They are basically programs that aired on the History Channel or A&E from the last 15 years on the subject of either King Arthur or Britain during this time period. The time period they are discussing is primarily 5th-6th century A.D. and it spreads to roughly 12th century where a lot of this material was written down by various authors.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 18th, 2012
Written by Joe Gause
After watching this movie, it really makes me wonder how Hollywood is still allowed to make movies. Although funny in some points, all in all, it’s a very run-of-the-mill college movie. Basically, the story centers around Paul Tarson (Christopher Gorham), a college student who is unable to make decisions, especially when it comes to where he wants his life to go. He is given a chance to follow in his father’s (Ralph Williams) footsteps and be a college professor. As he ponders if this is the road he wants to follow, he ends up falling in love with a student (Arille Kebbel) and thus sparks a typical college love story with all the ups and downs (gee, I think I’ve seen this movie before a hundred times). Just when you thought it couldn’t have any more story lines, Paul decides the meaning of his life is to win a pub trivia contest with his two drinking buddies. So he blows his college professor interview, sleeps with his student girlfriend in the library, and enters the trivia contest.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 12th, 2012
And so, for the second time, Hawaii Five-O has reached the end of its run. The first time happened on April 5th, 1980 when the final episode aired. Now the series ends its run of DVD releases as Paramount now issues the 12th and final season of the landmark series. There will be a third ending, let's hope not for a long time when the revival series closes its doors in the future. For now fans can be content that they can finally complete their collection of the original series.
Have you ever walked down the street and heard a chorus of “Five Oh” making the rounds? In street lexicon, that means the police. It’s a warning to the drug dealers and any other illegal activities that the police are on the way. That’s just one of the ways that Hawaii Five-0 has invaded our pop culture. Who hasn’t heard the phrase, “Book him, Danno”? It’s no surprise, because until Law & Order, Hawaii Five-0 was the longest running crime drama on television. It started in 1968 and didn’t end until 1980 when the production staff and facilities were immediately retooled to produce Magnum P.I., which was an unofficial spin-off of Hawaii Five-0. While he never actually appeared on Magnum, Five-0’s McGarrett was often referred to by characters on the series. The series continued for a few years in syndication where the episodes were all mixed up. These DVDs allow the first chance since their original broadcast for these episodes to air complete and in the correct order. While continuity wasn’t huge, as there were few actual story arcs beyond the episodes, there were minor changes that made the show look strange in syndication. The final season was aired under the title “McGarrett”.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on January 4th, 2012
“I've gone and torn my family apart and I'm truly sorry.”
I have a confession to make; I first started watching Big Love for what I thought would be the salacious subject matter. Polygamy seemed tawdry and unnatural. I wanted to see how HBO handled it. Soon after watching I was touched by the depth of love and commitment this family had for each other. The underbelly of polygamy, religious compounds teaming in underage wives, forced submission, murderous vendettas and false prophets, certainly held a certain freak show quality to it, but what Bill Henderson (Bill Paxton) was attempting somehow seemed somehow precious and sacred.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 24th, 2011
With smaller cable networks stepping up in the last few years and producing high-quality, original programming, we are living in a veritable Golden Age of television.
And yet.......
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 23rd, 2011
Most people know me to be a pretty big fight fan (with the exception of boxing which has gone tremendously downhill since the eighties). I love wrestling (even though it is scripted) and watch a great deal of Mixed martial arts, better known as MMA. The thrill of combat, the fascination of pure athleticism and talent is what straps me to my seat and never lets me go. I had the immense pleasure to catch the movie Warrior before it hit theaters and now I get to visit it a second time on DVD.
(*Author’s Note: Most of this is borrowed from my review when I watched it in theaters. However, I have added a few notes along with video/audio/extras. Enjoy.*)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 22nd, 2011
In college, after years and years of being bullied, picked on and everything else, I just wanted to vanish. The bbs/internet scene was in vogue at that time and I developed the moniker of Kedrix, the Forgotten One. I still use it from time to time. The truth is, I as well as many other people do want to be remembered and not forgotten. Our movie today, Snowmen deals with that very same subject. Hopefully, this movie is not forgettable.
Ahhh, the simplicity of snowmen on a cold winter’s day. Billy Kirkfield (played by Bobby Coleman) puts together some small snowmen as he watches another kid (covered in snow clothes) move in to a local house. Billy tries to say hi to the new kid but the bundled kid reaches down for a piece of ice. Billy protests the oncoming ice shot but to no avail. So, Billy does as any other kid would do and returns fire. But the unnamed kid has catlike reflexes and is able to dodge each and every snow ball thrown.
