Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 7th, 2008
I’ve spent more than a few hours in the company of Ray Harryhausen over the years. I’ve handled many of the original armatures and have seen the original hand drawn storyboards and conceptual drawings he had created for most of his films. Maybe that’s why I love his films so much. I doubt it. They do speak for themselves and you owe it to yourself to see three of his best pictures, which have been collected here in one set.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 7th, 2008
On the surface it would seem that Linewatch is going to tackle the controversial illegal immigration debate that is going on in the
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on November 7th, 2008
A few weeks ago, I sung the praises of Forrest J. Ackerman and the childhood joys his Famous Monsters of Filmland gave me. Now comes sad word, already up on numerous websites, that he is ailing, and the end is very soon. (I have seen some statements that, in fact, he passed on yesterday, but nothing, fortunately, that strikes me as authoritative, as of yet.)
Assuming, then, that it isn’t too late, I will also pass on that he is receiving cards at the following address:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 6th, 2008
James West (Conrad) was a Union Army vet. He’s the kind of act first think about it later kind of guy. Artemus Gordon (Ross) was a typical con man. He could create the most convincing disguises and was also a master of sleight of hand. Together they worked for the Secret Service in the days of the western frontier. The two of them were the prototype of the future spy. They would use incredible inventions and Bond-like gadgets, along with their own skills at trickery, to investigate major Federal crimes, often plots against the
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 5th, 2008
What can I say about Showtime’s huge hit, The L Word? If you don’t already know what this show is about, and I was surprised at the number of people I talked to who didn’t, then I’m pretty sure this isn’t the show for you. Remember the old days when you used to watch
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 5th, 2008
After 7 years JAG had pretty much settled in. It’s usually at this time that a show has to shake things up a bit or become somewhat stagnant. I think that JAG took the latter course. I have to believe that much of the creative talent was already working on the NCIS spin-off that was now 2 years away. The characters don’t appear to be taking any risks, and there is a little more of a return to the soap opera elements that began to fade away, making it a better show for some time.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on November 5th, 2008
Episodic Gaming, Circuit City closings, & Wii RPGs? - Welcome to the column that would get out and vote if only there was a candidate that supported more hot women in gaming known as Dare to Play the Game.
Yesterday was Election Day in the grand ole United States of America. While I could go on a nice rant about the person who got elected, this is not a politics column and I tend to steer far far away from such discussions. Did I vote? No, I can't support either of the candidates when each are about as phony as a $3 dollar bill. Sure, I might lean a certain way but until I feel strongly about somebody, I'm not going to spend my time to vote. Selfish, no; lazy, perhaps; but mostly a very cynical point of view. Another thing, I live in Texas, a large Republican state. My vote matters about as much as a penny in a bank vault of millions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 4th, 2008
A combination of controversial subject matter and the physical transformation of Jared Leto garnered this film considerable attention (positive and negative). Leto here morphs into an uncannily accurate physical recreation of Mark David Chapman. The film follows Chapman on his fateful trip to New York City. Over the course of three days, he hangs around outside John Lennon's home, becomes friendly with fellow fan Lindsay Lohan, and endlessly ruminates about how the events in his life are paralleling The Catcher in the Rye, and (rather less explicitly) why he's going to kill Lennon.
Leto is unrecognizable, and disappears completely into the role. But is the film a good one? It is somewhat limited by the fact that nothing much happened during Chapman's stay in NYC prior to the murder, and so nothing much happens here, either, beyond Chapman acting so obviously insane it's a wonder no one had him locked up within minutes of arrival. Does the film give us some insight into the mind of the killer? Only a little. It hints at motivation, but those hints are only really clear if you're already pretty familiar with the case. In other words, the picture doesn't bring anything new to the table. It's a striking work, but not an altogether successful one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 3rd, 2008
Before I watched X-Men, before I watched Scooby-Doo, there were shows on my television like Sesame Street, Electric Company, and so forth. The purpose of these shows was to entertain & educate. There was also a range of 3 minute shorts that ran during Saturday morning cartoons on ABC that served a similar purpose. They were collectively called Schoolhouse Rock. From talking about Adjectives to Multiplication to our good ole Government, they helped to inform as well as entertain. In preparation for the 2008 election, Disney decided to come out with a compilation of fourteen Schoolhouse Rock shorts about everything from the Preamble to the Electoral College.
It’s a long long wait while I’m sitting in committee. But I know I’ll be a law someday, at least I hope and I pray that I will. But today I am still just a bill. That is probably the most famous short in all of Schoolhouse Rock. The “I’m Just a Bill” song. Three minutes of goodness about how government lawmakers decide whether or not to make a tiny piece of paper’s dreams come true. There is another short about Tax Man Max who tells you that Tax is that familiar melody, sinful and true. He isn’t whistling Dixie. He speaks the truth I tell ya. Did you also know that You Gotta be Cool when you’re walking on Wall Street? Buy low, sell high, take a piece of the pie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 3rd, 2008
As I get older, I still find myself watching a lot of cartoons. New ones, blue ones, ones that I have no idea how they got made in the first place. So, with this practice I often run into cartoons that I have never seen but feel the need to give them a chance and see if they have any draw whether to kids, parents or me the cartoon nerd who enjoys such things. In my review pile, I stumbled upon one such cartoon and that was Pucca. From a critical eye, one might dismiss the odd characters and strange style rather quickly. However, to the careful eye one might find something a little more entertaining.
Pucca lives in Sooga Village. She is consumed by one thing and one thing only, the pursuit of love. Or more importantly the love of a silent ninja named Garu. Garu might run from her kisses but he can not deny the constant trappings of the kung fu queen. They each have a best friend. Pucca has Ching, a very cute and very happy girl who looks like a reject off the Powder Puff squad. The best friend of Garu is a Bruce Lee look-a-like named Abyo who manages to rip off his shirt every episode at the earliest convenience. Together they fight in a series of eleven episodes against various forces including Tobe, the deadly ninja who is trying to beat Garu at his own art.
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