Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2009
To the point, Criminal Minds is very compelling television. Ever since The Silence Of The Lambs and perhaps long before, we have been fascinated by serial killers and the profilers who try to get inside their heads. To see evidence of the continuing trend, one needs only look toward the success of films like Zodiac and shows like Dexter. Of course, serial killers are not the only prey this FBI team pursues, but they are certainly the marquee item on the agenda. To be sure, there are equally disturbing subjects such as arsonists, bombers, kidnappers, and rapists to give the show a touch of variety, but let’s face it, it’s the killers that keep us tuned so attentively
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2009
Ken Olin is truly a great talent that I’ve followed back when he played the snotty detective Garibaldi on Hill Street Blues. Since then he’s done some wonderful work behind the camera, and Brothers & Sisters certainly shows his influence; however, this is not some of his best work. The show often leans on clichés and gets awfully lazy in moving forward at times. I do see the great family of characters they created here, but fail to find them interesting beyond the life breathed into them by their performers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2009
The residents of Wisteria Lane have become household staples in the last four years. Even after watching the show, I’m still not sure I understand what it’s about, but I’ll try and give my take on it anyway. It would appear to this reviewer that the show owes at least part of its genesis to the HBO hit Sex And The City. There is the same narrative angle, this time by a deceased member of the group. Still, that narrative contains many of the same kinds of observations as the HBO show and appears to imitate it as often as not. The show also deals with the exploits, often sexual, of a group of women. This time they are married, but that doesn’t seem to stop the flings, or at least the fantasies any.
Posted in: Game Reviews by Michael Durr on September 1st, 2009
People rarely look for depth when it comes to games released on Xbox Live Arcade. This method of gaming mostly sees games that are puzzlers, recreations of once forgotten gems and the occasional sports diversion. A better word for these type of games: time wasters. However, most players wanted something more than a dumping ground for the newest falling block game, they wanted an awesome game in a small package at a thrifty price. Little do they know then that the people at Chair Entertainment have responded to that call and provided us with a game called Shadow Complex.
![Shadow Complex [Online Game Code] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/shadow-complex-online-game-code-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 31st, 2009
If you are a fan of the original Kolchak: The Night Stalker, you were more than likely disappointed in the remake a couple of years ago on ABC. Your hope is now once again restored. Supernatural is the closest thing I’ve ever seen to The Night Stalker. Like Kolchak, the Winchester brothers are faced with weekly incarnations of evil. They’re forced to research these legends and figure out a way to stop them. As Kolchak discovered, it’s a thankless job. Sure, Supernatural is populated with all sorts of beasties and nasties, but it also manages to hold on to a sense of humor that rounds out these adventures to make this one of the most entertaining shows around.
![Supernatural: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/supernatural-the-complete-fourth-s-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 31st, 2009
“Now this might be the room of any small boy, but it happens to belong to a boy named Christopher Robin, and like most small boys, Christopher Robin had toy animals to play with. And together they had many remarkable adventures in an enchanted place called The Hundred Acre Wood. But out of all of his animal friends, Christopher Robin’s very best friend was a bear called Winnie The Pooh.”
“Oh Bother”A.A. Milne was quite an eclectic writer. He wrote murder mysteries that even appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 31st, 2009
“I wish. I wish the Man In The Moon for health and happiness and laughter soon.
From morning to night He sleeps so bright. He’s always there, The Man In The Moon.”
The world is watching one of the most spectacular meteor showers in 10,000 years. Unfortunately, it is discovered too late that a rather large 19 kilometer chunk is headed directly for the moon. When it impacts, the asteroid takes a pretty good chunk of the moon away.
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on August 30th, 2009
Another book review today, as there's a delightful new tome on the shelves: Scott Stine's Trashfiend: Disposable Horror Fare of the 1960s & 1970s. With a title like that, I don't think I need to explain why it falls within this column's purview. Sharing its focus with Stine's short-lived zine of the same name, this is a loving but open-eyed survey of a wide array of horror offerings that are bad for us in the best way possible.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 27th, 2009
The longest running show in prime time doesn’t feature cops, doctors, or lawyers. It’s hard to believe that The Simpsons have existed as long as the Fox network. While the series didn’t really begin until Fox’s second year, the characters were part of The Tracey Ullman Show, which did start the first year of Fox. Who could have guessed that an animated short from an otherwise horrible and doomed variety show would explode into such a phenomenon. The Simpsons have not only dominated the pop culture; they have placed…everything else into context with their show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 27th, 2009
Charlie Sheen is an unlikely actor to star in a television sit-com. Even after watching the show, I’m not sure how anyone came up with the idea in the first place. He has little to no comedic timing, and he’s about as funny as a funeral. The thing that works here, however, is that he really doesn’t need to be all that funny to make this show work. Sheen pretty much deadpans his entire performance, which generously enough works rather well teamed with the more manic comedy of Jon Cryer. Throw into the mix a rather extraordinary young child actor in Angus T. Jones
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