Blu-ray Review: Passengers
Directed by Rodrigo Garcia (Nine Lives) and written by Ronnie Christensen, Passengers is a mystery-cum-romance film. The plot is constructed in such a way that all the different plot points come together at the end, for a revelation that resets everything we have learned up to that point. The problem is, Garcia and Christensen are […]
Blu-ray Review: The French Connection II
History has shown that film sequels can be a risky proposition; for every Godfather II, there’s a Grease 2. While The French Connection II certainly isn’t the failure that was Grease 2, it has been well documented that neither Gene Hackman nor the any of the filmmakers were very pleased with the film. Released in […]
DVD Review: Transformers Animated – Season One
Transformers Animated – Season One is the latest in a long line of animated Transformers cartoon, following the disappointment that was Transformers Cybertron. Taking its cues from the Michael Bay movie (The AllSpark, Megatron crash-landed on Earth, big explosions, lots of noise) Transformers Animated has changed pretty much everything about the mythology of the series […]
DVD Review: There Will Be Blood (2-Disc Collector’s Edition)
Loosely based on Upton Sinclair’s 1927 novel, Oil!, directed, produced and written by Paul Thomas Anderson, There Will Be Blood is the story of one man’s fervent need for money and power; A need to control everyone and everything he comes in contact with. A boy he raised from infancy as his own son and […]
DVD Review: Perfect Strangers: The Complete First & Second Seasons
Perfect Strangers, you remember it. Balki Bartokomous (Bronson Pinchot) from the island of Mypos shows up unexpectedly to live with his distant cousin Larry Appleton (Mark Linn-Baker) in Chicago. The two couldn’t be more different. Balki is a wide-eyed fun loving guy (he sleeps with a stuffed lamb), while Larry is tense organized and methodical.
Music Review: Xanadu On Broadway: The Original Broadway Cast Recording
Having suffered through the train wreck that was the movie version of Xanadu so many years ago, I expected Xanadu On Broadway: The Original Broadway Cast Recording to bring back bad memories of kitsch and the sad, downward trajectory of Olivia Newton-John’s career. Xanadu was supposed to make Olivia a movie star for the ages. […]
Music Review: Mannheim Steamroller – Christmas Song
Chip Davis, better known as Mannheim Steamroller, once wrote advertising jingles with Bill Fries and helped him create the popular C.W. McCall character, the man behind the 1976 hit “Convoy.” Shortly after that, Davis started recording what he called “18th century classical rock” — classical music performed on electric bass and synthesizers. He eventually came […]