Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2009
William Conrad was no stranger to audiences when Cannon joined the Quinn Martin stable of television dramas. In fact, most folks knew his voice before they got to know his trademark girth. Conrad was the original Matt Dillon when Gunsmoke was a radio drama. When the drama entered the visual medium of television, even Conrad admitted later that the audience, who thought of him as tall and handsome, would have been disappointed. His voice lent authority to any role he played, and on radio his size was never an issue. He was famous as the voice of the stern narrator in the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons who often crossed the laws of the trade and interacted with the title characters. He was also the voice that narrated the struggles of Dr. Richard Kimble on The Fugitive, another Quinn Martin production. He continued to narrate series intros even after his own success. He gave us the informative opening dialog in Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. As a voice, Conrad was one of the best, but when CBS approached Quinn Martin asking for a television vehicle for Conrad, it was a huge gamble. The gamble, of course, paid off… well… huge, and Cannon became an iconic figure in television. Cannon was so popular he was showing up on other shows as well. He appeared on the pilot for Barnaby Jones. The show ran 5 seasons and returned with appropriately enough The Return Of Frank Cannon tele-film in 1980. It is also interesting to note that Conrad, while greatly overweight, lived to be 74.
Frank Cannon was unlike any detective we’d ever seen on television before, or since. He was known as a high priced PI with a taste for the finer things in life, particularly fine food. His appearance was counter to all of the rules about rock-jawed handsome detectives who ran around shooting it out and beating up the bad guys. Cannon was a big man and wasn’t about to do much running and fighting. He wasn’t totally different, however. Cannon had a lead foot and could run a car chase with the best of them. He was smart and often a bit flashy in his technique if not in his appearance. It was also rare for a series to have a lone regular to carry the … um… weight. Conrad was up to the task and made the show and the character a permanent part of our pop culture.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 8th, 2009
The main plot of the film is that of a young woman from Brazil named Priscilla, whose student Visa expires and is lead into working as an exotic dancer. The title of the film comes from the ad posted by the pimps and promoters of exotic dancers “Waitresses Wanted.” The film is bookended by the profiles of all the dancers featured in the film, all of whom are from a different nation, all beautiful, and all arrived in Canada with different careers in mind than to get involved with Columbian pimps or Russian mob lords.
Priscilla is taken under the wing of Milagro, a fellow stripper who is known for recruiting new girls and the two start up a romance that leads them away from their shady work. I don't exactly buy the immediate seduction of Priscilla by Milagro. It seems to occur simply because the writer wants it to occur. Priscilla is not as strong as she claims to be and cannot get into or out of the stripper life without someone leading her, and she is very easily lead. There is a recurrence of memories and images of Brazil, obviously meant to be Priscilla's. These find a way of attaching themselves to Milagro as she continuously brings up her desire to escape to Brazil, which may explain her attachment and excitement for Priscilla. To Milagro, Priscilla is a part of what she really wants in the end, and as the twists start arriving at the climax of the film, we find out just how significant all of these ties really are.
Posted in: Podcasts, Random Fun by Gino Sassani on June 5th, 2009
I had the chance to chat with Chris Lemmon on the phone today.
While Chris has done a little acting over the years we all knew his Dad, Jack Lemmon.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 5th, 2009
Recipe for Ramen Girl (serves 4)
Take one American girl, preferably in her early 20’s, and place her in Japan.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 5th, 2009
In Tranzit is one of these odd films that you can never quite get a handle on. Even now I’m not exactly sure what kind of a film it was intended to be. While it takes place at the end of World War II and involves some Nazi officers in a Russian POW camp, I’m not sure that the film has all that much to do with the war, or POW camps for that matter. The film remains a kind of abstract art form with a rather loosely told story.
A group of German World War II prisoners arrive in an isolated Russian POW camp that is run by women. At first they are quite harsh in their treatment to their charges. It’s obvious that most, if not all of them, have lost family to the Nazi brutalities of the war. As the prisoners begin to spend more time at the camp the hostilities between the groups begin to soften. The first step is taken by the camp doctor, Natalia (Farmiga) who is married, but her husband has suffered severe head traumas that have made him a mute shell of a man. She falls in love with one of the camp prisoners. Eventually some of the other women form attachments to the men. The camp is often visited by Pavlov (Malkovich) who also begins by appearing quite inhumane but eventually softens as the film progresses. The prisoners are not to be quartered here permanently. The camp is a “Tranzit” camp as the film’s title suggests.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 5th, 2009
Forever Strong is a classic example of sports melodrama. The only wrinkle to this film is the sport. The sport in question, is not typical at all (i.e. Football, Basketball or Hockey) it is Rugby. The film revolves around a rambunctious youth, Rick Penning (Sean Faris) who runs into trouble with the law and is shipped out to a juvenile detention centre. He is introduced to Marcus (Sean Astin) who is an administrator and acts as Rick’s sponsor. After the initial introduction, Marcus uncovers Rick’s passion for Rugby and encourages him to play for his old team. Rick decides to play and the emotional journey begins from there.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 4th, 2009
In a village where there is a great deal of time (there are months whose days are numbered in the 40s), the local witch gives birth to the title character. Twenty years later, Babine is the Village Idiot. Though he is a thoroughly gentle soul, he also becomes the scapegoat for every ill, real or imagined, that befalls the villagers. Fortunately, he has some champions, including Toussaint Brodeur (played by director Luc Picard), the local fly-raiser. But then the church burns down, and terrible trouble looms for Babine in the person of the new, fanatical village priest.
Obviously, as the above synopsis suggests, we are in the realm of the utterly fantastic here. Narrated by storyteller Fred Pellerin, whose tales form the basis of the script, Babine is endlessly inventive, at the cost of being a bit too episodic for its own good (something that Picard, during his commentary track, admits he struggled with) and giving short shrift to some of its striking characters. There is no denying, however, that its world-creation is very successful. The film is a visual feast, one very much on par with the likes of Tim Burton, and this achieved with a fraction of the budget of its Hollywood equivalent.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2009
It seems that every studio with a Nazi war film is scrambling to get it released about now. The Tom Cruise film Valkyrie has caused about as much Nazi fever as I’ve seen in recent years. Unfortunately, that means we’re going to see a lot of films that wouldn’t otherwise see the light of day, most for good reason. Fortunately, it also means that some truly classic titles that got hidden away for decades because there is a perceived lack of interest suddenly surface like a German U-Boat about to pounce on an unsuspecting battleship. Man Hunt is absolutely one of the latter. If you haven’t ever seen this Fritz Lang masterpiece or have only experienced it through a bad late night television print, this is one of those rare opportunities that simply must not be missed. Valkyrie might be the reason that Fox has released this movie now on DVD, but it is a far superior movie that deserved a good print back in the early days of the DVD format. Whatever the reason, there is cause to celebrate that Man Hunt is finally here.
The story was originally published as a serial novel called Rogue Male written by Geoffrey Household. Alan Thorndike (Pidgeon) is a world renowned hunter. It’s the peak of Nazi Germany, and Thorndike is on what he describes as a sporting stalk. He wants to see if he could get close enough to Adolph Hitler to bring him down with a shot. He gets into position and dry fires his rifle. A second thought has him loading the weapon, but he is caught before he can bring down his prey. Caught, he is mistreated and asked to sign a full confession that he was sent by England to assassinate Hitler. The statement isn’t true, so Thorndike refuses to sign it. He withstands all manner of torture and persuasion. Finally the Gestapo gives up and tosses him from a cliff, intending to “discover” his body the next day while on a convenient hunt. But Thorndike survives the fall and makes his way back to England, protected by a young boy (McDowall) on a Danish freighter. All is not safe for him back in England. The Gestapo has followed him home, and now the great hunter is the hunted. He befriends a naïve young girl, Jerry (Bennett) but eventually finds himself in a confrontation with his old Gestapo nemesis.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2009
For most of us, we thought it was a crime when Eddie Murphy hijacked the Dr. Dolittle brand back in 1998. He turned a classic into yet another assembly line crude humor product. The original material was carelessly sacrificed for the sake of another Eddie Murphy romp. Well, it was harmless enough, I suppose. But then the sequel and direct to video follow ups began. Eddie was out, and so were the fart jokes and other bodily function staples. Now after a couple of direct to video attempts we get Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts, and suddenly we actually miss Eddie Murphy.
The series of direct to video films has focused on Dolittle’s young daughter, Maya (Pratt). She also has her dad’s ability to talk to the animals. With each film we hear that the Doc is off around the world somewhere helping out some animals. In the latest outing, Maya wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and be able to help the animals she can speak to. She’s a couple of weeks from entering college with the ultimate goal of becoming a veterinarian. But she’s really not too happy with the 7 years of study she has before her. So, when she gets an opportunity to help out some animals now, she follows the dream. Enter reality star Tiffany (Moss). She’s a Paris Hilton clone complete with her pampered little dog. It appears that her pooch is feeling a little depressed of late. She comes to Maya to ask her to talk to her dog and see if she can help. So Maya flies to Hollywood where she instantly discovers two things: Tiffany’s princess is actually a prince, and there are a lot of temptations in the hip world of stars and lights. That includes star Brandon Turner (McLaren) who she immediately falls head over heels for. It turns out that Tiffany’s agent has been trying to get a Dolittle in his fold for years. So, he tempts Maya with a reality show where she can “help” celebrity animals. Of course, she has to learn that she can’t really help anybody just yet. Just being able to talk to them doesn’t mean she can help them.
![Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/dr-dolittle-million-dollar-mutts-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2009
“So he Lord God banished him from the Garden Of Eden to serve the ground from which he had been taken.”
I love playing video games. I have since I was in my early 20’s and the first home console systems were being launched. Today I play platform games on my PS3. One of the unfortunate trends to come to modern video games is the ability to provide longer and more elaborate cut scenes. If you’re not familiar with the term, a cut scene is that little cartoon bit inside of your game experience. They often introduce the game and also serve as break points between levels or significant achievements. The first cut scene I was ever aware of was the little interludes in the arcade game, Ms. Pac Man. They were short and gave your fingers a quick respite to work out the cramps and prepare for more action. But larger data storage has led to longer and more elaborate examples of the scenes. Now, most gamers are hitting buttons hoping to bypass the event and get back to kicking some butt. There’s nothing more frustrating than watching one go on and on and on while you wait for some action. It’s become about as entertaining as waiting for a disc to load up. Why am I telling you this? Because, that’s exactly what Eden Log feels like through its entire run. It’s nothing more than one long cut scene. And there’s no action for your fingers when it’s over except the satisfying sound of the disc ejecting after you’ve worked some magic on your remote control.
![Eden Log [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/eden-log-blu-ray-large.jpg)
On The Web
Sponsors
