Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 16th, 2013
Half of this story deals with a group of teenage faeries, who are smitten with some cute boys from a neighbouring magical kingdom, trying to connect with said boys. The other half deals with this same group of faeries and boys fighting against a trio of evil witches trying to steal all of the world's “positive magic.” In both halves there is a lot of girlish giggling, butterfly fluttering and sparkly colours....the enemy of any diabetic epileptic.
The plot wavers between flighty (pun sort of intended) teen romance, where the faeries focus their magical powers on obtaining cute-boys and cute-animal companions, and a action-fantasy filled with large scale battles with nightmarish monsters, complete with mass destruction of buildings, swordplay and vicious exchanges of energy blasts.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 12th, 2013
Modernizing Sherlock Holmes has been a popular trend in film and television lately. We have seen two slick action film adaptations courtesy of Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes and its sequel), a contemporary BBC adaptation (Sherlock) and now there is Elementary, which transplants Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion Watson from Victorian Era England to modern USA (New York, more specifically).
Jonny Lee Miller's portrayal of Holmes makes me want to start drawing comparisons to the title character in the medical drama House. Both shows surround an eccentric, drug-addict savant who blazes beyond socially acceptable behavior to a series of “aha!” moments. Granted, said “aha!” moments are much less contrived and formulaic than they are in House. It takes a little while for the show to get it's legs, but it does. The creators are clearly hoping the eccentric charm of Holmes can shoulder the burden of maintaining audience interest. Said eccentricity can come off a bit aimless at first. Sherlock has the ability examine people almost perfectly, yet the writers do not seem to have the character fully figured out, and there are too many moments where Holmes' odd behavior seems a bit tacked on, such as when he hypnotizes himself to get through an addiction support group meeting.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 26th, 2013
Any story about a hidden world that exists just outside the view of human eyes is bound to fire up your imagination. It helps explain why the Toy Story movies and Monsters Inc. are some of the most beloved family films of the last 20 years. Epic — the latest offering from Blue Sky Studios — seeks to capture some of the inventive magic of those Pixar films, but too much of the movie winds up playing out like a generic hero’s journey. Thankfully, there are still plenty of things to like in this animated hit, which suggests there’s a big world of little people out there.
“Many leaves, one tree. We’re all individuals, but we’re still connected.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 25th, 2013
Chicago Law firm Lockhart & Gardner is facing bankruptcy so each attorney works harder to reel in high profile clients so that they can save themselves from being sold, or shut down. Meanwhile Alicia Florrick (played by Juliana Margulies), who is an attorney at this firm, is caught amidst her husbands election campaign for the office of governor, as well as the temptation to become either an Equity partner in her current firm, or leave to be a name partner in a brand new one.
The fight against bankruptcy eats up at least half a season's worth of storytelling. I'll confess that I find it a bit hard to root for people that talk in terms of millions of dollars, and never have to relinquish their luxurious homes or lifestyles at any point during their struggle to lose their debt. Thankfully the trustee appointed to aid them is played by more subdued by still very charming Nathan Lane, and the cases the attorneys take on during their duress get increasingly engrossing. Said cases keep their topics very current with political references like the gun control debates and the actions of Anonymous (the protest group) becoming key issues.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 17th, 2013
For nine seasons and several TV-movies afterwards, Raymond Burr was Los Angeles based defense attorney Perry Mason. This character’s verbal gymnastics, and uncanny hounding for evidence makes his famous winning streaks seem not just plausible but rather entertaining to behold. His adventures have been well-reviewed by myself and my reviewing compadre Gino on this very site (https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=perry+mason).
The formula (for lack of a better term) of each episode maintains in this second half of the final season. The primary suspect is profiled, caught and examined in the first half of each story. When things do to trial, the true guilty party is found out, often on the witness stand, as Perry’s uncanny winning streak gets the best of those who try to hide the truth from him. Said winning streak might spoil one’s enjoyment of the show since the outcomes can be predicted during the opening titles screen, but the crimes (most often murders) are elaborate enough to maintain interest for the most part. At the same time, I feel it should be noted that the pacing of the show can often be slow. Think of it being a closer relation to Matlock than the sexier modern Legal dramas like The Practice. Not to say that it is better to have attorneys with chiseled jaws or short skirts versus methodical investigation and character development, but you had better prepare yourself for a lot of men in suits standing in one spot speaking their thoughts aloud.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 17th, 2013
It is very common for Nickelodeon to release these sorts of compilation sets. Previously I had covered their themes of Learning the ABCs as well as their Christmas release (as found here: https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=nickelodeon). This time we get 6 different Nick Jr. programs focusing on the "Wild West" (aka, country music, cowboys hats and horses).
Bubble Guppies: If I may start this review with a bit of rude frankness, I would sooner gargle thumb tacks than sit through a whole episode again. The story lacked any real imagination. It's the same worn out, condescending slow-talk that many children's shows adopt. The main characters have fins...that's seems the be the lone distinguishing factor. Other shows offer so much more than this one. Don't waste your little one's time with this.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 17th, 2013
Best known as the launch point for Michael J Fox's career (along with a major booster from the Back to the Future films), Family Ties was a decently delightful series that may now be mostly remembered via the many references placed into Family Guy (creator Seth MacFarlane has noted it as one of his all time favourites). It has been previously covered very well on this site, which can be found at this link: https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=family+ties
In this, its final season, we see a number of major events occurring inside and outside the Keaton Family. There are many very serious scenerios occuring in this comedy, such as when Steven, the father of the family (played by Michael Gross, whom I best remember from his role in the Tremors series) has a heart attack in a three-part story arc called Heartstrings, or when the Keatons defend their new African-American neighbours after they become the target of racist actions committed by other people in their neighbourhood in a two-parter called All in the Neighbourhood.
The focus of the overlapping narrative is placed onto the exodus of Michael J Fox's character Alex as he receives a lucrative job offer in New York city, a story that runs right to the finale of the show itself. Throughout all seven seasons we saw the comedic conflict between the fiercely Republican Alex and his former hippy parents and the show completes the arc by having Alex follow his capitalist minded ambitions to Wall Street, but not before reaffirming his loving connection to his entire family.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 2nd, 2013
I’ll say this about a program that has remained consistent in quality for twenty seasons…it makes for challenging reviews. Talking about each season of Gunsmoke is difficult in that you either write briefly to try to avoid redundancies, but might seem too hasty, or you have to labour over each episode, in which case, you’re only going to have hardcore fans paying attention. Since this website has touched on previous seasons: ( https://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=gunsmoke ) I shall opt for the former option, and hope y’all out there catch that I’m not being hasty…but respect a show that warrants no fresh complaints after 9 years a-runnin’ thus far.
The format has been full hours stories since season 7 and it hasn't lost any steam in season 9. The cast saw a little shifting as Ken Curtis' character Festus is introduced just before longtime sidekick Chester (played by Dennis Weaver) departs at the end of this season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 1st, 2013
This is the third stab at making an animated series about these radical reptiles. This lone DVD acts as a sampler of seven episodes taken from the middle of its first season, instead of the complete season set. (A common move from Nickelodeon.) These episodes introduce the characters well enough that it will make you curious to see more of what this series has to offer.
This is the first series presented as a 3D computer animation. The graphics are nicely rendered, but are sometimes hard to see since the movements, especially during fight scenes, are incredibly frantic. I certainly hope the fact that I find the pacing too fast isn't a sign of old age arriving. The animators have clearly gone through a lot of trouble choreographing a fight that can sometimes have at least a couple dozen characters interacting (a very difficult thing to manage) and I'd appreciate it more if the speed didn't make me feel like I need to feed the DVD Ritalin.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 25th, 2013
I don’t care if it makes me sound like an awful human being, but I wanted The Demented to be much nastier than it actually was. The packaging for this straight-to-Blu-ray offering trumpets the fact that it’s “from a co-producer of A Nightmare on Elm Street” and producer Steven Monroe, who directed the I Spit on Your Grave remake. Since I’m not delusional, I didn’t expect this film to be nearly as good as a horror classic like Elm Street. But I also didn’t think it was unreasonable to expect the competent thrills of the Spit remake. Instead, the filmmakers have given us a sub-SyFy gloss on 28 Days Later... and dozens of other (infinitely superior) horror movies.
If you’ve ever seen a horror flick, you know this story. Six young, pretty things — who happen to be conveniently paired off — convene at a remote location for some party time, but end up fighting for their lives. In this case, we have college friends hanging out and hooking up at a rich friend’s Louisiana estate. A rogue terrorist attack on the Gulf Coast unleashes a biological weapon that turns the infected into rabid and fast-moving killers. (Horror fans who passionately hate the idea of “fast zombies” just clicked away from this page.) How do we know a rogue terrorist attack occurred on the Gulf Coast? Glad you asked: the father of one of the characters calls the house where they’re staying and hilariously literally says, “there’s been a rogue terrorist attack on the Gulf Coast.”
