In my experience there are three types of comedians: 1.) Ones that are good at standup but bad at a series 2.) Those that are good in a series but not so great at stand up. 3.) Those who can do both. Want to guess which one Jim Gaffigan is? The standup comedian, known for his clean brand of comedy, gets his own series loosely based on his life. He’s a bit of a slob, he’s occasionally lazy, and he is without a doubt addicted to junk food. Rounding out the season are a group of instantly recognizable stars like Chris Rock, Steve Buscemi, Hannibal Burress, and Macaulay Culkin…or is he Macaulay Culkin? (Inside joke, you’ll get it once you watch).
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There seems to be so much information and films about Helter Skelter and the atrocities Charles Manson and his followers committed.  Though the notorious Sharon Tate murder took place decades ago, it continues to be a crime that fascinates people to this day.  As interest in the story continues to thrive in the media, whether it be in books or various films, it seems it’s getting harder to find a fresh spin on the story, or at least one that will garner more attention.  Manson’s Lost Girls is a new extension to the story about the events that led up to the fateful night that would forever leave its mark on America pop culture, but does it bring anything new to the table?  Well, it doesn’t present a new perspective on the crime spree, but sadly its execution is a well-polished mess that simply doesn’t add up.
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Bob Newhart is one of the last in a dying breed of comedians, at least on television. He had a reserved, almost deadpan delivery that drew your attention not because of raunchy material or manic display of hijinx. He was obviously comfortable with being the brunt of all of the jokes. His half embarrassed and half sly-dog grin become a staple in our living rooms for four decades. Newhart was his second situation comedy following a respectable run as a stuttering stammering psychologist with a wacky set of patients and friends. The Bob Newhart Show ran from 1972 to 1978. Just four years later Bob was back on our television screens with Newhart, and it was as if he hadn’t missed a beat
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“’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. Would it, like so many revisited shows from my youth, ultimately disappoint? Or would it hold up fifty years after it was originally broadcast, viewed as it would be by the far more jaded, cynical man I’ve grown into?
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What are you willing to do to save the life of someone you love? Would you sail across an ocean? Battle a cyclops or fire-breathing dragon? Or maybe smuggle a substantial amount of drugs across the United States-Mexican border. In Crossing Point, one man is pitted across immeasurable odds to accomplish such a task. Young lovers Michael and Olivia are enjoying a vacation in Baja with close friends. A clear romantic, Michael is ready to leave behind his club days and commit to the love of his life. Their happily ever after is derailed after Olivia is abducted by a drug cartel, and Michael is tasked with smuggling their product across the border into the United States in 12 hours.
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I was entirely too young to remember even the syndicated run that my mother was watching in the late 1960’s. Under more normal circumstances that would not matter as I could introduce myself to this world with the DVD release. That was before 1987 and the release of Brian De Palma’s classic film. Honestly, I simply can’t watch these episodes without thinking of that movie. For an entire generation that film has defined these characters and that time. It’s unfortunate, really, because this 1960 series had a lot going for it, particularly when you look at what else was on television at that time. Never before had such brutal violence in such a starkly real world graced the black and white sets of America.
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“I’m gonna let ’em know that Dolemite is back on the scene!” 

Rudy Ray Moore can’t act to save his eternal soul. In fact, everything about Dolemite makes an Ed Wood film look like a Cecil DeMille epic masterpiece. So what is it about this cheap blaxsploitation film that gives it legs over 40 years after it was first released? If I could truly answer that, I would have the answer to Life, The Universe And Everything. What I can tell you is that when I found out that Dolemite was coming here to be reviewed, I couldn’t hide that big wide grin on my face for hours.
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