Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 23rd, 2009
Written by Adrienne Ambush
See it with someone you ****
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2009
In the first season, Melinda was joined by her friend and business partner Andrea (Tyler). At the end of that freshman season, Andrea was killed and became a pawn in a good vs. evil struggle between Melinda and a mysterious “wide-brimmed hat man”. I was sorry to see the character literally depart the show, but I thought that cliffhanger was one of the more effective moments I’ve seen. The sacrifice of the character provided an ending I’ll admit I never saw coming. To replace Andrea, Camryn Manheim from The Practice joined the cast as Melinda’s new partner Delia in the second season. The better addition to the second season cast was Jay Mohr as Professor Payne, who develops a very interesting chemistry with Melinda. He was only intended as a short arc character, but the relationship was quite a dynamic one from the start. But now Mohr has left the show. Jamie Kennedy has replaced him as Melinda’s professor answer man. Kennedy’s Eli James actually shares Melinda’s gift, somewhat. While he can’t see ghosts, he can hear them. His dynamic is not near as good as Mohr’s was, and I missed Mohr greatly in this season. That isn’t so much true for series star Jennifer Love-Hewitt, who ended up hooking up with Kennedy in real life.
The show’s most basic premise remains intact. Melinda Gordon is a newlywed and owns the antique shop in a quaint New England town. From childhood she has had the “gift” of being able to see the ghosts of those restless departed souls unable to cross over into the great beyond. If this sounds familiar, it should. Remember little Haley Joel Osment from The Sixth Sense? Like his character, Cole, Melinda takes the responsibility of helping these spirits accomplish some unfinished earthly business so that they can move into the light. The series almost always ends with some tearjerker moments as a loved one is connected, through Melinda, with the departed friend or family member.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2009
“About this startling new show as a whole, we say this. When ordinary people of our real world encounter the chilling world of the unknown, when normal men and women take that one step beyond, that we think is incomprable drama, all the more memorable and amazing because these strange adventures are true, absolutely true.”
The stories from One Step Beyond were reportedly true, but to paraphrase a rather disingenuous former president, it all depends on what your definition of true is. In interviews many of the writers later admitted that much of the material came from a couple of reference books. The idea was a truly reported one, but the story was pretty much created. The series was directed and hosted by John Newland and ran from 1959 to 1961. The shows were half hour and sponsored by Alcoa. In syndication the series was often called Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond. In 1978 the original creative team of creator Merwin Gerard and host/director Newland attempted to revise the series calling it The Next Step Beyond. But the show was not picked up.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 22nd, 2009
Written By Matthew Wiley
Good Dick follows a poor guy (Jason Ritter) living out of his car and working at a video store who takes a liking to one of the store’s customers, a lonely coffee shop girl who is not interested (Marianna Palka). One night after renting/recommending the girl some erotica, he decides to follow her home; he even parks his car across the street and sleeps outside of her apartment. He finally buzzes her apartment saying that he is with UPS to get into her building, later saying that his great aunt lives in her building. She is not a fan of his advances, but after a while and many attempts by him, the two develop a quirky relationship. She always acts mean towards him despite his generosity towards her. Even though she pushes him away all the time, he continues to be persistent. Eventually, the two begin watching porn together and he starts to sleep on her couch, one night winning a bizarre bet to sleep with her in her bed. After he tries to get her to meet his friends/coworkers, she begins to act crazy, much crazier than normal. It seems no matter what he tries to get her to like him, she always gets psychotic. Just when it seems that the two will make it together, she freaks out worse than the time before.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 21st, 2009
Some of you might remember my review of the first two volumes of X-Men, the Animated Series. After the first thirty plus episodes, I secretly hoped that I would be able to bring you reviews of the rest of the series. Luckily, I was blessed enough to make this a reality when I received volume 3 & 4 at my door just before my fall vacation. How sweet it is.
When we last left the X-Men at the close of the original Phoenix Saga, Jean Grey in the form of the Phoenix had defeated D’Ken and saved the universe from the power of the M’Kraan crystal. In such, the crystal (with D’Ken trapped inside) had to be taken far away and flown directly into the sun. Phoenix accepts this mission and the mind of Jean Grey says goodbye to her fellow X-Men.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 21st, 2009
Written by Adrienne Ambush
Nightmare on Elm Street it is not, but Wallace & Gromit’s: A matter of Loaf and Death is anything but a movie you should let your kids watch without parental supervision.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on September 21st, 2009
Henry Lee Lucas tortured and murdered hundreds of people. He spent most of his formative years being brutally assaulted by his mother and half brother. Henry spent most of his life in prison and whenever he was released the temptation for murder was too much. Drifter: Henry Lee Lucas picks up during his last release from prison in 1975 and his subsequent arrest in 1983. Henry Lee Lucas (Antonio Sabato Jr.) joins forces with Ottis Toole (Kostas Sommer) and Becky (Kelly Curran) and they embark on one of the most prolific killing sprees in American history.
Unfortunately, Antonio Sabato Jr. cannot provide the performance that this film needs. Henry Lee Lucas is a deeply disturbed and mangled personality. The lead actor cannot be a former Calvin Klein underwear model. The audience does not get the desired impact from the emotional scenes and the film struggles considerably from his performance. When an entire film is centred around one character, the lead needs to shine. The budget that is required to get some reasonable talent was probably not available. However, the casting just seems off in every role. The three lead characters are all too "good looking" to be playing their roles. The cast needs to be as unattractive as their roles indicate. The casting is the biggest concern with this effort.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 18th, 2009
This film is like the Ice Storm in warmer weather. Another portrait of burgeoning suburbia in the 1970s as an island from the rest of civilization instead of an off-shoot. Two families, who are long time friends, coworkers, neighbours and sometime secret lovers, are going through major changes as the children are just about grown, and the parents are falling apart to affairs, tensions and the appearance of Lyme disease in one household.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 17th, 2009
I love CSI and have been an avid fan from day one. I think it brought a fresh look to the procedural crime dramas that have long ago become just a little stale and predictable. The problem is that the series has gone the Dick Wolf route of branching out so that the final product might be a little diluted. Unlike the Law & Order franchise, each version of CSI has attempted to take on a unique look and style to reflect the location without giving up those elements which are the tradition of the series. CSI: Miami is by far the inferior of these three shows. In trying to create a slick glitzy Miami feel, the show has gone the way of style over substance. While the oversaturated colors and bright locations might make for a more visually stunning series, it tends here to overshadow the meat and potatoes of CSI, the stories. I get the impression that the show wants badly to recreate the Miami Vice accomplishment of trend setting fashion and style. Those days are long gone, and CSI has an entirely contrary mission that is weakened weekly by this overboard attempt to look good. The show is also beginning to adopt the 24 style of multi frames for no other reason than they think it looks cool. The show doesn’t respect the audience enough to believe they will buy into the series without all of these high tech distractions. It’s a shame, really, because I had higher hopes for this version of CSI, as I happen to live in Florida. Unfortunately most of CSI: Miami is shot in L.A. with the exception of a few overused establishing shots. Let me tell you, L.A. doesn’t look anything like Miami. Perhaps the show should consider dropping all of the fake glitz and move to location where they can take advantage of the city in a far more realistic way.
The series follows the CSI model set forth in the original Vegas version of the franchise. The lead CSI here is Horatio Caine played by former NYPD Blue actor David Caruso. Caruso left that series because he fancied himself better as a big movie star. Several failed leading roles later he finds himself back playing virtually the same character here. It’s the same Caruso odd speaking pattern, only this time he has a lab coat to go with that gun. Adam Rodriguez plays Caine’s favorite among his lab partners, Delko. He shares a bit of history with Delko. They’ve had a few off the reservation missions together and have bonded somewhat. Delko wants to be just like Caine. Next in the pecking order is Ryan Wolfe, played by Jonathan Togo. Togo is the Greek tragedy character here. It seems that every year this guy is getting the worst of it, from losing his hearing to getting roughed up by the Russian mob. He was a cop and transferred over to the CSI unit in season 2 under Caine’s wing. Emily Procter plays Calleigh. She’s the ballistics expert and all around tough girl with a disarming southern accent. She makes a living by being underestimated. By far the most annoying character is Eva La Rue’s Natalia. Her love lives and former life baggage turn her more often than not into the helpless whimpering damsel in distress. She’s by far the most frustrating character in the entire franchise. If I have to hear her whine one more season… Rex Linn plays the crew’s uniformed cop buddy, Frank Tripp. He’s getting more and more screen time and acts as the audience’s representative on the show. He’s a good tough cop, but the science just goes over his head. New to the 7th season is Megalyn Echikunwoke, please don’t make me spell that last name again, as the new medical examiner on the series, Dr. Tara Price. She’s a huge change from the previous pathologist whom I’m sure fans are already missing. She’s got a bit of a ‘tude. She also flirts too much, while Alex always had this almost unnatural respect for the dead.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 17th, 2009
Shonda Rhimes had a big hit on her hands with Grey’s Anatomy, so after five years she did what comes naturally in her situation. You spin the success off in the hope that the fans just can’t get enough in just one night. At first it appeared to me she had chosen the wrong character to put out on her own. I mean, I never considered Kate Walsh as Addison to be one of the show’s more compelling characters. The show was presented as what the business calls an imbedded episode on Grey’s. What that means is that the situation is set up during one of the original show’s episodes. In this case a two parter called The Other Side Of Life. The idea is that you want to be sure that your existing show’s fans at least watch the pilot in the hope that they will consider it a part of their beloved series. I got to watch that episode when I was called upon to review the fifth season of Grey’s. I was new to the whole universe, so I believe I was able to approach the spin-off more objectively. To tell the truth, I didn’t like it at all. And so I considered Private Practice to be doomed even before I saw the first stand alone episode. That wasn’t boding well when I received this truncated season one set to review recently. True, I had warmed up to Grey’s by then, but I was still a bit put off by the new show. I watched it anyway.
Dr. Addison Montgomery (Walsh) is looking for a change. She’s feeling a little burned out in Seattle at Grace Memorial Hospital, where she carries a ton of baggage. She heads down to L.A. to visit a friend who has his own clinic in the sunny city. The clinic practices something called co-op medicine. Specialists from various fields come together to treat their patients in a more holistic manner. Dr. Naomi Bennett (McDonald), specializing in fertility, and her ex-husband Dr. Sam Bennett (Diggs) run the place. Dr. Violet Turner (Brennemen) is the clinic’s shrink. I guess you could call her a shrinking violet. Dr. Cooper Freedman (Adelstein) is the pediatrician. Dr. Peter Wilder (Daley) is the herbal medicine specialist. He’s also got a rep for sleeping with all of the other women and even running some out of the clinic. Dr. Charlotte King (Strickland) is a troubled soul who can’t sleep and has an apparent addiction to pills. Finally there is Dell (Lowell) the office assistant and “pretty boy”. Because of the strike there are only 9 episodes spread over 3 discs.
