Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 23rd, 2010
Written by Diane Tillis
Broken Lizard is the comedy group composed of Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter and Erik Stolhanske. I recognized the group as the minds behind the films Super Troopers (2002) and Beerfest (2006). They decided to return to their comedic roots and go on tour in this DVD comedic show at the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, California. The five men would take turns to perform a solo sketch. It allowed the audience to distinguish them as individuals. In between each solo, anywhere from two to all five of the comedians would perform a group sketch. The sketches would be related to a shared experience or be a re-creation of a social event such as Susan Boyle’s introduction on Britain’s Got Talent.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2010
"The story I'm about to tell you is Camp Little Moose's darkest secret. A tale so terrifying, if your parents knew, they'd never a sent you here in the first place."
Scooby Doo has spanned generations and over 40 years. Since the 1960’s the name and conventions have become a part of the pop culture. The original cartoon series had a series of conventions. The Scooby Gang would drive around in their green Mystery Machine van and solve ghostly mysteries. Fans of the show quickly grew to learn that these spirits and goblins were usually just normal people using scare tactics to get revenge or make a profit. The cartoon classic spawned music albums, live action movies, and several new shows and animated features.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2010
When Jim Henson had finally finished up with The Muppet Show, it was time to take his puppet creations in a slightly different direction. Fraggle Rock, like The Muppet Show before it, was originally produced and aired outside of the United States. With the Muppets it was England that gave the guys their break. This time it was CBS in Canada. The show did quickly find a home in the United States, this time on cable. HBO was just beginning to stretch its legs and break out of its reputation as merely a place to watch movies after their box office run was completed. The network also had a bit of a reputation as more of an adult network. Fraggle Rock was the perfect opportunity to expand on both fronts. The show developed a cult following, but never achieved quite the reputation and numbers that the Muppets had done. Still, it was a staple on the cable network for 5 years.
Fraggles are furry little animals that live underground. Each Fraggle is unique in many ways. They all have their own color and look. They pretty much live a simple life of socializing and having fun. In the world of the Fraggles, there is also a family of giant troll-like creatures called Gorgs. The Ma and Pa Gorgs considered themselves the King and Queen of the land, but Junior was the only other Gorg in the kingdom. He loved to try and catch the Fraggles, who would often raid his garden for their favorite food, radishes. There was also an entrance to Fraggle Rock in the workshop of Doc and his dog Sprockett. Doc was blissfully unaware of the Fraggles living under his home. But, Sprocket was always trying to alert him to their presence. In the final episode, Doc finally learned of the existence of the creatures.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 21st, 2010
The only difference between this collection of episodes and the one I reviewed on this site previously (https://upcomingdiscs.com/2010/07/20/madelines-great-adventures/ ) is the Halloween theme implied in the DVD's title. In fact, in terms of quality and material I could almost quote that review word for word. So feel free to refer to my previous review and I hope to avoid redundancies while writing this latest one.
There is no Halloween in Paris so most all of Madeline's adventures on this disc require her and her friends to travel elsewhere, mostly the United States. There are a couple that lead them to Madrid and Egypt but both are not directly about Halloween but some other “spooky” theme.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2010
I've seen a ton of lawyer shows over the years. Pretty much any variation that's been tried, I've likely seen at least an episode. I generally like lawyer shows. I thought I'd seen pretty much everything in the genre until The Good Wife came to me from CBS Home Video. I was surprised that the series had somehow escaped my notice the last television season. I couldn't really find anyone who had seen even an episode of the freshman drama. It was time to give it a try. Turns out that there are still a few new tricks out there in the field, and The Good Wife has done a pretty good job of grabbing my attention, as it should yours.
The series is not really a lawyer procedural, at least not on the surface. The first images of the pilot lead us to believe we aren't getting a legal drama at all, but a political one. Chicago's State's Attorney Peter Florrick (Noth) is walking to a podium with a large anxious crowd of press with microphones and cameras flashing. He's clutching the hand of his wife Alicia (Margulies) as he approaches the buzzing audience. The event turns into a scene we've seen quite frequently of late. A politician must apologize for a sex scandal with his bewildered wife standing beside him trying to hide all of those feelings of anger and betrayal that you know she must be feeling. Florrick is resigning his office, admitting to indiscretions but denying reports of corruption that have apparently been looming over his administration. At first you are sure, in spite of the show's title, that this is Peter Florrick's story. It's not. From this point on the focus will be almost entirely upon Alicia.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2010
"Sherlock Holmes, the immortal character of fiction. Created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, he's ageless, invincible and unchanging. In solving significant problems of the present day, he remains -- as ever -- the supreme master of deductive reasoning."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 20th, 2010
A nunsploitation box set was always an inevitability, and here the good people at Cult Epics chime in with just such a collection, one limited to 2500 copies. There are only two films here, but they are two good ones, the works of strong directors. One is a distinctively idiosyncratic work, showing the unmistakable hand of its filmmaker. The other will quite simply knock you out the back wall.
Behind Convent Walls is Walerian Borowczyk's contribution to the subgenre. A repressive abbess rules her convent with an iron fist (not to mention the blade concealed in her cane), but the sexuality of the nuns will not be repressed, and it will make its presence known, whether through rebellion or madness. The film defies any linear summary, given that it is almost impossible to tell the nuns apart, and the various incidents are not only disconnected, they take place with very little motivation or logic. Instead, we have a strikingly beautiful exercise in pure cinema. The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror, on the subject of Borowczyk's Docteur Jekyll et les Femmes, notes, “Borowczyk's imagery, here fed by his fetishistic fascination with all things antiquarian, is often stunning and the film becomes a sort of still life in which familiar yet alien objects … seem imbued with a secret significance all their own.” Exactly the same is true for Behind Convent Walls. While nowhere near as powerful a film as The Beast, it is nonetheless well worth one's full attention.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 20th, 2010
This documentary follows four different families as they await the date for a charter school lottery in Harlem. As the date approaches, we bear witness to the heated debates that go on between those that wish to implement more charter schools (a charter school being one similar to public schools but relies on stringent academic results and standards from its students and operates as an autonomous public school) into a “project” area, and members of the community who believe that their children would be excluded and object to the idea of closing public schools who have failed to produce positive results.
This film clearly has an agenda, and so comparisons to the likes of An Inconvenient Truth have been made. The key difference between this film and Al Gore's, aside from style and topic, is that The Lottery allows both sides to speak their minds and address their concerns. It is the difference between simply saying the other side is wrong versus allowing them to speak so that the folly in their arguments will present themselves naturally. Harlem Success Academy is the organization running the charter schools, and have proven their worth to both the neighbourhoods they exist in, and the nation as a whole. The debates they enter can be frustrating to watch as they are often vicious attempts to mudsling (politicians) or ignorant bravado (community members led by a hired protest group) versus reason (Harlem Success Academy) and endorsements (members of the Harlem community whose children have all been accepted into the schools despite parental history of prison, drugs, lack of money etc.). If they are not entered into unnecessary and hurtful debates, they are also bogged down by bureaucracy and challenges presented by the teacher's unions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 18th, 2010
This documentary is a mainly a sea of praise for the late guitar legend, as it promises to not focus on “drudging up scandal and outworn hypothesis about his lifestyle and ultimate death.” historical footage tells the biographical portions while high-profile interviws with the likes of Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead), Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones), Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills & Nash) and moany more, plus narration by super-fan Slash (Guns N Roses).
As the early history of Hendrix is told, namely when he was brought to England, where he made a name for himself, a baffling series of celebrities' names are dropped as noted admirers. For example, one London club concert featured in its first few rows, all of the Beatles, most of the Rolling Stones, Cream, Steve Winwood, and The Who...all there to see Hendrix redefine the sound of the electric guitar. The filmmakers use this explosion of legendary names to gain interest in the audience, which is a fine tactic. They save biographical details for the second act but never let up on the limitless line of admirers, celebrity or otherwise. As a matter of fact, the amount of praise borders on being redundant for it seems relentless, but such a subject truly deserves every word the interviewees have to say.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 18th, 2010
After a series of releases from erotic cinema specialist Tinto Brass's early career, Cult Epics now gives us one of his latest works. Marta (Anna Jimskaia) loves her husband Dario (Max Parodi), but he has become inattentive and selfish in bad, when he shows any interest in sex at all. Feeling lonely and unappreciated, Marta takes in the sights of Mantua, and in a museum she encounters Leon (Riccardo Marino, who is no more French than I am Martian), a sexually aggressive alpha male with whom she begins a passionate affair, with an eye (of course) to re-igniting Dario through jealousy.
As one would expect of a Tinto Brass film, this is a very handsome, lush affair, with some striking compositions and sets. There are moments at a swanky outdoor party that bring to mind the likes of Peter Greenaway. At this party, various characters (including Brass himself) get into a brief philosophical discussion on pornography and sex, and this moment encapsulates the Achilles' Heel of Brass's oeuvre. He has always struck me as a filmmaker who is nowhere near as clever as he thinks he is. His early work, especially Deadly Sweet, is, I think, the most interesting, because its self-indulgence is married to an insanely excessive cinematic frenzy. Bored with what's on screen? Wait five seconds. Here, though, the more disciplined technique is accompanied by a deeply pedestrian story. Revive your marriage through an affair? Ye godz, that's a storyline that dates back to the Triassic period. Meanwhile, Brass gives his obsession with rear ends free rein. He's certainly a filmmaker who is true to his passion, but the drooling male fantasy can get a bit embarrassing.
