Childrens Hospital: Complete First and Second Seasons
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 28th, 2011
One could say that I watch a healthy dose of Adult Swim. My favorites are Robot Chicken and the Venture Bros but I usually find that I can enjoy just about any of the shows given a few episodes and the inability to change channels. Seriously, the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network produces quality television and stuff you won’t find anywhere else. Childrens Hospital is one such show that explores the lighter side of medicine. As long as there aren’t any clowns in this, we should be okay.
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Leaving Las Vegas (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 28th, 2011
“I don’t remember if I started drinking because my wife left me or my wife left me because I started drinking.”
Nicolas Cage has played quite an array of oddball characters in what has to be one of Hollywood’s most eclectic careers. But whatever your favorite might be, this is the one that earned him an Oscar. The movie also earned Elisabeth Shue her only nomination for an Oscar. While those were not the only nominations for this cult favorite film, that’s really where the money is.
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Reagan
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 28th, 2011
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
It’s the oath that every president has taken since George Washington. In that time 42 men have taken the oath. (Cleveland has been counted twice because his two terms were not consecutive). Each of them have their defenders, and each of them have their detractors. Few have stirred as much emotion on both sides of the political aisle as Ronald Reagan.
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Dirty Tricks
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 27th, 2011
Dirty Tricks stars Martin Clunes as Edward, an underachieving English teacher. Edward meets an accountant (Neil Dudgeon) and begins an affair with his wife, Karen (Julie Graham). When Karen unfortunately passes away, the aging detective (James Bolam) assigned to the case, suspects Edward is involved. Edward is a charming protagonist at first and suddenly the lies and absurdities begin piling up.
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Ice Road Truckers: Deadliest Roads: Season 1 (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2011
“In the world’s highest mountains are roads only the best can survive. It’s a whole new challenge for the top ice road truckers. They’re taking on the world’s deadliest roads to prove there’s no route they can’t conquer, and no load they can’t haul…”
The Ice Road Truckers are back, but it’s not the haul roads of Canada or Alaska they’ll be facing this time.
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Brad Meltzer’s Decoded: Season 1
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2011
“I’m Brad Meltzer. I’ve spent my life collecting stories. The best include signs, symbols and coded messages that are hidden in plain sight. Some have become the basis for my novels. But I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s out there, and now History has given me the resources to investigate the rest. This is Decoded.”
What if I told you there was an author out there who was known for writing novels that include historical conspiracies, secret societies and buried treasures, and that this author has found a way to parlay his moderate writing success into a television series for History?
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The Hustler (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 25th, 2011
I’m kicking myself. Martin Scorcese’s The Color of Money has long been a favorite of mine, but for some reason I never knew it was a sequel to The Hustler, a film 25 years older and three times better.
Starring a young Paul Newman (Road to Perdition) in a role that earned him his second Oscar nomination, The Hustler is about a cocky pool player hustling his way to the top. When “Fast Eddie” Felson (Newman) challenges undefeated straight-pool champ Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason,…Requiem for a Heavyweight) to a high stakes game,
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Gnomeo and Juilet (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 24th, 2011
The story of Romeo and Juliet is a story that is retold at least once every generation. It can be retold using a different time period or with alien races or perhaps even in a thirty second commercial. It is a fairly easy story and parts can be tweaked given the audience and intention. So begins the story of Gnomeo and Juliet. Take one part animation, one part garden gnomes and a dose of laughter that could be just what the classic play needs. Or it could become a tragedy of the highest order.
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I Am Number Four (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 23rd, 2011
When I was a kid, I always wished and hoped I had super powers. Frankly, I did not even think my parents were my parents, rather hosts for somebody who would eventually change the world. Somewhere along the way, I grew up (kinda) but always wondered what would happen if things were different. I Am Number Four explores the story of a teenager who could change the world with his powers if he can simply stay alive long enough. By the way, I still don’t think my parents were my parents.
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The Rite (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 21st, 2011
“Do you believe in Sin?”
The Exorcist was one of the most chilling films ever made. William Friedkin used subliminal images as well as those quite famous scenes of Linda Blair being taken over by Satan himself. Ever since that time filmmakers have been trying to cash in on the phenomenon. Exorcism movies have become almost a sub-genre in the horror field. There have been everything from no-budget to mega-budget attempts. There have been both sequels and prequels to the original film.
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The Terminator (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 20th, 2011
“The machines rose from the ashes of a nuclear fire. Their war to exterminate mankind had raged for decades, but the final battle would not be fought in the future. It would be fought here in our present… Tonight.”
Where were you on Judgment Day?
If you don’t know what the original Terminator film is about by know, I’ll still tell you.
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The Usual Suspects (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 20th, 2011
The Usual Suspects is a most unusual movie, and in this case, that is a good thing. The Usual Suspects keeps you interested throughout its entirety by making you think and trying to figure out what will happen next. If only today’s movies did the same thing!! As this has been one of my favorite movies of all time, the excitement I felt when I received this in the mail today could only be compared to a young child on Christmas morning.
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Beverly Hills Cop (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 19th, 2011
“The heat is on…”
From the bouncing opening music by Glenn Fry to the final frame of Eddie Murphy’s smile, Beverly Hills Cop has established itself as a classic. Now finally out on Blu-ray, the film shows us all over again why we fell in love with it almost 20 years ago. Murphy hasn’t been as funny since, but we’ll always have Beverly Hills and Axel Foley.
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Daydream Nation (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on May 19th, 2011
Precocious teenage girls are movie mainstays for a few reasons. They tend to be cute, for starters. They give young audiences someone to identify with and perhaps envy, because the movie girls get to say and do things that would get their real-life admirers grounded at best, imprisoned at worst. We have our favorites, of course, going all the back to The Bad Seed, The Children’s Hour and the original Lolita. More recently, we’ve been perversely charmed by sexually manipulative antiheroines
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Manchurian Candidate (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 19th, 2011
During the Korean War, a platoon led by Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra is captured and sent off to Manchuria. Here the men are brainwashed into believing that Harvey saved them all in an incredible feat of heroism (which he did not) and that he’s a loveable guy (which he isn’t).The unfortunate Harvey is programmed to become a remote-control assassin. Back in the States, Sinatra is plagued by nightmare memories of the experience, and gradually comes to believe that something … really did happen.
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Brotherhood
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 19th, 2011
When I got to college, I had no idea what I wanted to be. I had signed up for computer science so I could go on to be a video game programmer. The truth is, I placed that as my major because I did not know what else to put. As luck would find it, five years later would get me a degree in Finance which I have never used in the professional world. But there was one thing in college I knew for sure. I wanted nothing to do with any fraternity and I am guessing Brotherhood is not going to change this opinion.
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Dahmer Vs. Gacy
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 18th, 2011
“The two most infamous mass murderers battle for the top spot.”
Of course, Dahmer and Gacy were not mass murderers; rather they were serial killers by definition. But you get the idea. So I’m predisposed to forgive the tag line for that small error. What is less easy to forgive is the fact that the title itself is misleading as hell. There is a very weak encounter between these two guys, but it is not the ultimate monster smash-up this kind of title traditionally represents.
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The Twilight Zone: Season 4 (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 17th, 2011
“You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension— a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.”
This was a special year for the series. While the experiment only lasted a season, this collection features 1-hour episodes. These haven’t shown up in syndication very often, so you might be less familiar with these episodes than any other year.
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Dementia 13 (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 17th, 2011
In 1972 he made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. A couple of years later he followed it up with one of the finest sequels in Hollywood’s history. Of course, I’m talking about Francis Ford Coppola. His movies are often considered epics. When Coppola paints, he tends to paint big. But it wasn’t always like that for the once young director. He learned his trade, oddly enough, from the master of the B movie, Roger Corman. It was there that he learned to do more with less. It was there under the tutelage of Corman that Coppola
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All in the Family – The Complete Ninth Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 17th, 2011
There were a lot of changes in store for the Bunkers in the 9th and final season. The biggest change was the addition of Stephanie played by Danielle Brisebois. She was the daughter of one of Edith’s cousins. The girl was originally left with the Bunkers for what was supposed to be a temporary situation. Of course, the couple gets stuck with the 9-year-old girl and have to raise her. The matter is made worse when Archie discovers she’s Jewish.
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The Clowns
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 17th, 2011
Clowns have been a recurring obsession for Fellini, by the director’s own admission, and after having been memorable presences in his films (perhaps most notably in La Strada), here they have an entire film devoted to them. Fellini here offers a mixture of biography, documentary and comedy. The film opens with a young boy (meant to be Fellini) first encountering (and being frightened by) clowns at the circus.
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Thor: Tales of Asgard (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 16th, 2011
Recently, I saw the brand new live-action film of Thor in 3d on a giant IMAX screen with some close friends (watch for the Hawkeye cameo!). All of us thought the movie was pretty good (though we really didn’t see the point of 3d, big shock). As to be expected, I knew (and hoped) an animated feature of Thor with his big hammer was right around the corner. However, when I received said feature, Thor was right on it, but he was holding a sword? This requires some further analysis.
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The LXD: The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers – Seasons 1 & 2
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on May 16th, 2011
LXD is a two seasons of collected web shorts, originally appearing on ‘Hulu.’ A secret society is recruiting dancers and each short reveals prospects who demonstrate masterful performances of different, modern dance techniques.
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The PJ’s: Season One
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 12th, 2011
“Once upon a time in the projects…”
Eddie Murphy co-created this controversial situation comedy that aired first on Fox and was later picked up by the WB. It was quite an original undertaking. The show was made using stop-motion. The process was very much like the traditional claymation process that brought such classic favorites like Gumby to life. But since the models were made of foam instead of clay, the process was dubbed foamation.
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The Black Sleep
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on May 12th, 2011
“Beyond any terror ever known, The Black Sleep, it wakes the dead, plunging you into a reign of terror.”
London, 1872. Dr. Cadman (Rathbone) has discovered an ancient drug that mimics death in every way. It puts the person in a deep sleep he refers to as the black sleep. He considers it to be an important step in his surgical experiments. He needs a capable assistant. Dr. Ramsay (Rudley) has been convicted of killing a man. He is about to be executed when Cadman uses his drug to help the condemned man escape the noose.
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