Who doesn’t have a soft spot in their heart, if not their DVD collection, for The Andy Griffith Show? The denizens of Mayberry have been with many of us our entire lives. For most of America, The Andy Griffith Show has become the template for any small rural town. The characters stand as prerequisite citizens in any said town. The town drunk, the local barber, the motherly little old lady, and the corner mechanic all look like Otis, Floyd, Aunt Bee, and Goober to most of us now.

Las Vegas has a credo of sorts: What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Well... not anymore. Las Vegas tells all in a new smart and often sexy NBC series. Most of the cast was chosen for their more physical attributes; however, the performances are not bad either. James Caan takes a surprising journey to TV land. The part of an ex-CIA boss fits Caan like one of Sonny Corleone’s tailored suits.

The series always features special guest stars, often playing themselves. The lineup of guests includee Vegas names like Penn&Teller as well as box office champions that include Dennis Hopper and Sean Astin.

Synopsis

The setting is a prestigious black college, and the set-up is along the lines of what you would expect in a college-set musical: conflicts between the black-uniformed frat brothers and the political activists (of which the leader is a young Laurence Fishburne), gender wars and misunderstandings right, left and centre, and plenty of music. It’s all very lively, but not nearly as funny as Lee clearly thinks it is (see notes on commentary below). The bigger question is whether the satire and po...

Synopsis

Two girls meet on the beech, and a lifelong friendship is formed. Hilary is the shy rich girl (horse riding and the whole thing, don’t you know) and she grows up to be Barbara Hershey. CC is the working class extrovert, and becomes Bette Midler. As adults, they become roommates, and we follow the entire arc of their friendship through their lives, with conflicting romances, plenty of ups and downs, and then, in the last act, the inevitable Hollywood Fatal Illness.

My sarcastic capi...

Only could Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the (gulp) geniuses behind South Park, could come up such a wildly crazy (and funny) film such as Team America: World Police. What is so wild about this film you ask? Well, the actors are marionette puppets, every other word is an f-sharp, and almost every big Hollywood actor is portrayed negatively. And what is wrong with this? Absolutely nothing. This film will not be for everyone, but for the loyal fans of South Park, this film is pure bliss. Not o...

Synopsis

Diabolik (John Phillip Law) is a master criminal, pulling off one spectacular robbery after another to the endless frustration of the police. Ruthless and amoral, he nonetheless deeply loves Eva (Marisa Mell), and will risk everything to protect her. As his crimes become ever more spectacular, and the government teeters on the brink of chaos, even organized crime is pressed into service in order to capture the man.

There were plenty of films of this type in the late sixties in the ...

Only could Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the (gulp) geniuses behind South Park, could come up such a wildly crazy (and funny) film such as Team America: World Police. What is so wild about this film you ask? Well, the actors are marionette puppets, every other word is an f-sharp, and almost every big Hollywood actor is portrayed negatively. And what is wrong with this? Absolutely nothing. This film will not be for everyone, but for the loyal fans of South Park, this film is pure bliss. Not o...

Lost Lake is an incomprehensible mess. Think David Lynch with less sense. If that makes any. The story takes place at an isolated ski lodge. Cue the entrance of exotic hottie Kat Walker (played by Angel Boris). The movie is hard to describe. Let’s just say…the ski lodge has some really weird guests. And pee can make frozen privates thaw from metal. Didn’t you know that? An avalanche also comes into play. Kat starts having “visions”. I dunno. The plot is convoluted and makes Mulholland D...

Synopsis

For awhile, the jokes made by people like Chris Rock were geared towards HBO being a naked channel, with 38 different versions of the Real Sex show that they would air on their 12 channels (my numbers may be off, but not by much, which is scary) were pretty dead on. But, as part of their documentary series America Undercover, an hour of time was spent discussing the happiest place on Earth, the Moonlight Bunny Ranch in Nevada, where prostitution is legal and the party never ends.

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Synopsis

Sydney is a poker-faced professional gambler with a soft heart for a hard luck story. He plays guardian angel to unlucky John and a hooker, Clementine, whom he grows to love like family. When John and Clementine’s honeymoon night leads to a disastrous hostage situation, Sydney takes care of it, as usual. But when slick casino pro Jimmy threatens to reveal a secret from Sydney’s past that could destroy his relationship with the newlyweds, Sydney decides to hedge his bets and not leave anything to ch...