DVD Review: Funny Games
With films like Cache and Piano Teacher, Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke has shown a desire to observe unsettling human behavior and dramatize the response to it. That said, the purpose of Funny Games is to provoke and disturb the audience as much as possible. While Funny Games is likely to scare some to the point […]
DVD Review: Hawaii Five-0 – The Fourth Season
For me, Hawaii Five-0 still remains one of the coolest cop shows in television history. Though the series ceased production in 1980 after a very successful twelve year run on CBS, Hawaii Five-0 continues to run in syndication throughout the world and selected episodes of the show can be seen on demand via streaming media […]
DVD Review: Mama’s Boy
Diane Keaton has made some great films in a career that has spanned almost forty years. She won a Best Actress Oscar in 1978 for her role in Annie Hall and has been nominated for the coveted award on three other occasions. While Jon Heder lacks the Oscar pedigree of Diane Keaton, with Napoleon Dynamite […]
DVD Review: Numb
Admittedly, I was originally interested in watching Numb strictly because of the involvement of Friends star, Matthew Perry. I knew nothing about the films storyline or its writer/director, Harris Goldberg. Upon receiving the DVD, I decided to look up Harris Goldberg on IMDB.com. My heart sank when I realized he was responsible for writing The […]
Music Review: Peggy Lee – Make It With You/Where Did They Go
By the time 1970 rolled around, Peggy Lee had been making records for nearly thirty years, been nominated for an Academy Award, and several Grammy Awards. She took home a Grammy in 1969, for Best Contemporary Vocal Performance, Female for “Is That All There Is?” Having accomplished so much and with musical tastes changing so […]
DVD Review: Drawn Together – Uncensored! Season Three
Comedy Central’s Drawn Together was originally conceived as a cartoon spoof of reality television series such as Big Brother and The Real World–eight distinctly different characters are flu8ng together and forced to put up with each other . Throughout many strange and outright bizarre adventures, the eight roommates push each other’s buttons and tear each […]
DVD Review: The Bill Engvall Show – The Complete First Season
Bill Engvall is a stand-up comedian probably best known for his participation in the Blue Collar Comedy Tour (BCC).Engvall’s stand up routines mostly concerns his observations about comments he finds stupid and shtick about everyday life. Given the success of BCC, it is no surprise that TBS gave Engvall a shot at his own series. […]
DVD Review: Gunsmoke: The Second Season – Volume 2
Gunsmoke is one of the most beloved shows in television history. The series ran on CBS from September 10, 1955 to March 31, 1975 for 635 episodes. Gunsmoke actually began as a radio show in 1952 and remained on the air until 1961. On radio, actor William Conrad (Cannon), played marshal Matt Dillon and was […]
The 100 Greatest Live Rock Albums – 100 – 90
As a music fan and collector, I’ve always enjoyed live albums. There’s nothing quite like a musician or a band playing at it’s peak, with the audience responding to the music. There are literally thousands of live recordings out there that would fall under the rock genre. As a result, picking the 100 greatest among […]
Music Review: Peggy Lee – All Aglow Again
The compilation All Aglow Again! was originally released on Capitol Records’ discount-priced Starline label in May of 1960. At the time, the goal was probably to get Lee’s 1958 mega-hit “Fever” on LP for the first time. Previously, the song had only been released as a single, so Capitol Records executives likely saw a way […]