Neshoba county, Mississippi is where the “Mississippi Burning” murders took place back in 1964. For those that are not familiar with the tragedy, a trio of individuals went down to one of the most rural areas in the South, in the hopes that they could go and get a number of African-American voters registered to vote. Rather than allowing that to happen, Edgar Ray Killen and a number of other…
It is surprising that El Superstar is director Amy French’s first feature film. This mockumentary is cast in the fashion of predecessor films (in spirit) like This Is Spinal Tap or A Mighty Wind. Juan Frances (John French, Amy’s brother) was abandoned by eir real parents in Beverly Hills, but was given a second shot at life through the caring arms of eir nanny (Lupe Ontiveros, As Good As It…
It surprises me that some of the films by storied director Federico Fellini have not been given their time in the sun. The Criterion Collection has presented viewers with a stunningly sharp transfer of Amarcord, eir 1973 film about life in fascist Italy, presenting it on the Blu-Ray format. Amarcord is an interesting movie for those in current (and even then-current) United States, as it provides so many similarities and…
Mojo Bones may just be the world’s best collection of legendary and otherwise amazing musicians. This hour-long film has twelve different five-minute clips of musicians as diverse as BB King, Little Richard, Otis Redding, The Doors, and Jimi Hendrix. While each of these artists could conceivably have four and five DVD sets full of their live performances (if not deserving more), Mojo Bones gives viewers a little snippet of each.…
This 1983 version of a Sherlock Holmes tale is helmed by Ian Richardson (BBC’s House of Cards) as the gumshoe. This iteration was part of an aborted six film deal between Sy Weintraub (Tarzan director) and Otto Plaschkes (The Homecoming, Hopscotch), and preceded the ITV Sherlock Holmes series.
I believe that it is just because ornithology is not my cup of tea, but I cannot recall any movie or documentary about birds that I find myself having to watch again. Ghost Bird is a film for casual fans of documentaries as well as those that wish to use it as a teaching tool. Ghost Bird is a documentary about the Ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird that was thought to…
First off, there is a full hour and a half of Max & Ruby episodes here. This far outstrips many other companies’ offerings in the childrens’ video market. Secondly, the episodes here represent different themes and morals, ensuring that the replay value for this collection is high. Max & Ruby: Bunny Tales is a value-priced collection (with an MSRP of well under $20), and will be one that children continually…
I finally realized I was addicted to realty programming about 10 minutes in the first episode of Ice Road Truckers. The concept for this History channel show is fairly simple: Take a handful of truck drivers, through them up in frozen Alaska and train cameras on them as they haul massive loads up steep mountains with narrow, snow clogged roads and in some very frightening cases, over frozen lakes. The…
For fans of the sixties Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, the release of this DVD set is both a happy and a sad event. The show finally has its last few episodes brought to the DVD format, but that’s exactly it – there are no more parts of seasons to be released. The show did not lose a step despite being on the air for four seasons; “Nightmare”…
Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 is the rare example of a sequel (and a direct to video one) being better than the original outing. The voice work is stronger, owing much to the presence of veteran voice actors like Miguel Ferrer (Delgado) and a whole slew of past and present Disney stars (BridgitMendler – Appoline and Emily Osment – Pep). While only a few years removed from the original, the film…
Despite having such a nice live performance recorded this year on MIG Music, I must admit I was not too familiar with Lopez’ stuff. Where ey has done some solo albums as well as a stint in Band of Trouble, I feel that ey work here surpasses anything previous captured on disc. This DVD captures Lopez along with Al PahanishJr (drums) and Toni Valdez (bass) for eir Rockpalast date in…
This is the definitive release surrounding the musical side of Andy Williams’ career, with each disc showcasing a different side of the legend. Couple that with a number of great featurettes rounding out the rest of the release, and what viewers will have with this sub-$40 set is something that will do perfectly as a birthday or Easter present.
Mill Creek knows how to pull series from well beyond the grave and provide viewers with an experience that many of them have not had since the show originally aired. For those that were not alive or watching NBC from 1985 to 1987, Stingray was a Stephen J. Cannell (The Rockford Files, The A-Team) production. Provided further energy through the inclusion of a number of different musical interludes, Stingray is…
By the time the 14th season of E.R. hit the air, the show had long since stopped being water cooler fodder at work the next day, which is a shame because the show had finally hit a comfortable groove. ER proved years ago that it’s not always the actors that make the show. With the exception of maybe Law & Order, no other drama managed to be as successful as…
A quick note before the review truly begins – there are a number of different releases that fans of Transatlantic can sink their teeth into. While we are reviewing the 2 DVD version, fans of audio can pick up a 3 CD version and those that wish to have both can pick up a bundled package. Saying that, we were lucky enough to have over five hours of footage from…
Every year, it seems as if there are a number of films that look to cash in on a successful original or first sequel. Many of these films are devoid of solid or interesting content, and seem to be questionably made. For example, Bring It On has spawned a number of sequels while Spiderman 4 looks to be trucking pretty nicely in development. However, Step Up 3 largely avoids many…
There is a sense present among a great segment of the population that those individuals that are into classical music, be it playing or just listening, are somewhat aloof and are not in touch with the rest of society. They Came To Play, a documentary surrounding a number of amateurs looking to win the Van Cliburn Foundation’s Piano Competition, so compelling. When focusing in on each of the different contestant,…
Paper Man is a film that I felt completely went under the radar when it received a limited release in April 2010. MPI is releasing the DVD (and Blu-Ray) of the film, and hopes that the title gains cult status. At a quick glance, the cast is strong enough to match that of a Farrelly Brothers or Apatow flick; Kieran Culkan, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, and Jeff Daniels all play…
It takes a hell of a classic sci-fi film to merit such careful restoration, especially one that that seemed largely lost among the scores of other similarly-themed films that were released in the same general period. Robinson Crusoe on Mars benefits from its director, Byron Haskin. Haskin’s previous coup de grace was The War of the Worlds, a film directed over a decade before Robinson Crusoe on Mars’ 1964 release.…
The plot behind The Winning Season goes all the way back to The Bad News Bears: one-time star athlete, now a loser doing menial jobs is brought in to coach a team of misfits and manages to turn their luck around. Though thanks to stellar casting and solid acting from the leads, The Winning Season manages to overcome all the baggage it’s been saddled with and the result is a…