MGM HOME ENTERTAINMENT AND THE MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO
HOST 25TH ANNIVERSARY REUNION FOR A SERIES THAT SET NEW STANDARDS FOR WOMEN IN TELEVISION
A CONVERSATION WITH THE CAST AND CREATORS
OF THE 14 TIME EMMY-WINNING® SHOW
‘CAGNEY & LACEY’
‘Cagney & Lacey’ Debuts On DVD May 8th
WHO:
The Museum of Television & Radio and MGM Home Entertainment celebrate television’s prime-time pioneer series “Cagney & Lacey” with a red carpet event at The Museum in Beverly Hills, featuring four time Emmy-winner Tyne Daly (Det. Mary Beth Lacey), two time Emmy-winner Sharon Gless (Det. Sgt. Christine Cagney), writer/executive producer Barney Rosenzweig and co-creator Barbara Corday. Also in attendance will be talent who appeared on or were influenced by the show including Helen Mirren (Best Actress Academy Award winner “The Queen,”), John Karlen (Harvey Lacey “Cagney & Lacey”) and many more.
WHAT:
Celebrate the 25th anniversary reunion, the impact of this groundbreaking series, the DVD debut, and the release of Barney Rosenzweig’s behind-the-scenes tome “Cagney & Lacey…And Me.” The cast and creative team behind “Cagney & Lacey” discuss the critically acclaimed series and answer questions from the audience about the unprecedented program which redefined pop-culture gender roles, tackled controversial, previously taboo topics and earned 36 Emmy nominations during its six-year run.
WHERE:
The Museum of Television and Radio
465 North Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
WHEN:
Monday, April 30, 2007
5:00 p.m.: Press Check-In
5:15 p.m. – 6:15 p.m: Red Carpet Arrival
6:15 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.: Reception
7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.: Panel discussion
*********************************
These kinds of events at the MTR are usually recorded and end up available on the MTR website. I will post info if this becomes available as it certainly sounds facinating.
Also, the official Cagney & Lacey website is up and running. Take a look.
Monday, April 30, 2007
Daly and Gless reunite to discuss Cagney & Lacey.
DVD Releases for May 1st.
Alpha Dog (2007) Dir.: Nick Cassavetes; Ben Foster, Shawn Hatosy, Emile Hirsch, Christopher Marquette, Sharon Stone, Justin Timberlake, Anton Yelchin, Bruce Willis. (Universal)
Click here to order Alpha Dog from Amazon.
An Officer and a Gentleman Special Collector's Edition (1982) Dir.: Taylor Hackford; Richard Gere, Debra Winger, Robert Loggia, Louis Gossett Jr. Extras: Commentary by director Taylor Hackford, "An Officer and a Gentleman: 25 Years Later" retrospective documentary, "Return to Port Townsend" featurette, "True Stories of Military Romance" featurette, "The Music of An Officer and a Gentleman," "Gere and Gossett: Hand to Hand Combat," photo gallery. (Paramount).
Click here to order An Officer and a Gentleman SCE from Amazon.
Fletch: The Jane Doe Edition $19.98 Chevy Chase, Tim Matheson Extras: Just Charge It to the Underhills: Making and Remembering Fletch, From John Cocktoaston To Harry S. Truman: The Disguises, Favorite Fletch Moments, Theatrical Trailer (Uni)
Click here to order Fletch (The Jane Doe Edition) from Amazon.
The Hitcher (2007) Sean Bean, Sophia Bush, Zachary Knighton, Kyle Davis, Neal McDonough. Extras: "Road Kill: The Ultimate Car Crash" featurette, "Fuel Your Fear: The Making of The Hitcher" featurette, "Chronicles of a Killer" featurette, "Dead End" featurette, deleted scenes. (Universal).
Click here to order The Hitcher from Amazon.
Tyrone Power: The Swashbuckler Box Set Five-disc set with "The Black Rose," "Blood and Sand," "Captain From Castile," "Prince of Foxes" and "Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake," $59.98 or $19.98 each. (Fox).
The Black Rose (1950) Dir.: Henry Hathaway; Tyrone Power, Orson Welles, Jack Hawkins, Michael Rennie. Extras: Power biography, photo gallery.
Blood and Sand (1941) Dir.: Rouben Mamoulian; Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell, Rita Hayworth. Extras: Commentary by cinematographer Richard Crudo, restoration comparison.
Captain From Castile (1947) Dir.: Henry King; Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb. Extras: Commentary by film historians Rudy Behlmer, Jon Burlingame and Nick Redman; "The Leading Ladies" featurette; photo gallery.
Prince of Foxes (1949) Dir.: Henry King; Tyrone Power, Orson Welles, Wanda Hendrix. Extras: Isolated score and FX track, Movietone News: "Tyrone Power Weds Linda Christian in Rome Ceremony," photo gallery.
Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942) Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, George Sanders, Frances Farmer, Elsa Lanchester, John Carradine. Extras: Isolated score, photo gallery.
Click here to order Tyrone Power: The Swashbuckler Box Set from Amazon.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Complete rundown of known cast for James Lee Burke's In the Electric Mist (with Confederate Dead).
Goodman, Sizemore and others join in the cinematic fun.
“The image of the dead girl's body lingered in detective Dave Robicheaux's mind as he drove home. After seeing the young victim's corpse, the last thing he needed to come across was a drunk driver. But when he saw the Cadillac fishtail across the road, Robicheaux knew the driver was in trouble. What Dave didn't realize, was that by pulling the car over, he was opening his murder case wider than he could ever imagine.
"The driver, Elrod Sykes, in New Iberia to star in a movie, leads Dave to the skeletal remains of a black man that had washed up in the Atchafalaya swamp. So begins a mystery that takes Dave back to an unsolved murder -- a murder that he witnessed in 1957. Haunted by the past as he confronts the gruesome present - day rape and murder of young prostitutes, Robicheaux must also contend with a new partner from the F.B.I., and the local criminal gentry. But for Dave, the answers he seeks lie somewhere in the bayou mist with the ghosts of soldiers long since forgotten... “
I have run a couple of pieces on the film version of James Lee Burke’s In the Electric Mist (with Confederate Dead). Since the last one, I have a few more names, some notable names, to add to the list.
So here is a rundown of everyone that I know is in the film.
Tommy Lee Jones is heading up the cast as detective Dave Robicheaux. Dave is a police officer in New Iberia, Louisiana. He lives with his wife Bootsie and their adopted daughter Alafair.Jones won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for his portayal of Marshal Samuel Gerard in The Fugitive, a film that will be famous if only for being one of the last films to star Harrison Ford while he actually cared about his acting. Jones was also nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in Oliver Stone's JFK.
Jones also won an Emmy for playing convicted killer Greg Gilmore in 1982's The Executioner's Song.
His first notable performance was opposite Faye Dunaway in The Eyes of Laura Mars.
Legendary musician Levon Helm will play confederate General John Bell Hood. Helm is best known as a member of the Rock n Roll Hall of Famers The Band.
Helm has worked with Jones before in A Coal Miner’s Daughter and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada.
In Electric Dead, Dave sees visions of the long dead general of the Confederate Army.
Also starring in the film is Ned Beatty as Twinky Lemoyne, an owner of a local sugar refinery and co-owner of a security firm. He is also an investor in the movie that is filming in town. Robicheaux suspects Twinky of having ties with Baby Feet Balboni, local mobster that Dave suspects in the killing of some prostitutes.
While Beatty has been in a ton of movies, he has been immortalized for his very first film performance as the guy made to squeal like a pig in Deliverance. Seriously, Ned could win ten Oscars and still be remembered for that role. I wonder how many folks still ask him to squeal.
John Goodman is Baby Feet Balboni. Baby Feet is a brutal crime boss that also has a stake in the film. He and Dave grew up together. Dave considers him the lead suspect in the murders of several prostitues.
Goodman played Tom, husband of Roseanne in the sitcom Roseanne and racked up eight Emmy nominations while on the show (he also was nominated for his leading role on the miniseries Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long). His film career has had it's ups (Barton Fink, Monsters Inc and Oh Brother Where art thou?) and it's downs (King Ralph, The Flintstones and The Blues Brothers 2000).
Tom Sizemore is Det. Lou Girard. Lou is a friend of Dave’s. This is not surprising as the two are very similar; both are good, honest cops. Lou’s life is in shambles as he is still struggling with his wife leaving him. He contacts Dave when he finds a victim whose murder is similar to one that Dave is investigating.On the occasions when he is sober (and not in jail), Tom generally plays grade A bad asses in films like Saving Private Ryan (Sergeant Mike Horvath), Black Hawk Down (Ranger Lt. Col. Danny McKnight) and Heat (Michael, part of Robert De Niro's crew of bank robbers).
His first film role was as a prison inmate (Dallas) in Sylvester Stallone's Lock Up. How Ironic.
Peter Sarsgaard is playing Elrod T. Sykes. Sykes is a movie star and lead in the film that is being shot in town. Dave pulls him over for drunken driving. Elrod, an alcoholic whose self-desrtuctive nature is clear, tries to get out of a ticket by sharing info on a body he spotted. The body brings back a very old case that Dave has a personal connection to.
Peter played Mark, sidekick to Andrew (Zach Braff) in Garden State and also starred in the underrated thriller The Dying Gaul as well as the gripping Boys don't Cry. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for 2003's Shattered Glass.
His big screen debut was in Dead Man Walking.
Kelly MacDonald is playing Kelly Drummond. Kelly is the female lead in the film, and is Elrod’s girlfriend. She is with Elrod when he is pulled over.
Kelly made her debut in impressive fashion, seducing Ewen McGregor in Trainspotting. She had focal role in Robert Altman's fantastic Gosford Park, playing Mary, servant to Maggie Smith's Constance Trentham , who sort of walks us through the film.
She picked up an Emmy, and was nominated for a Golden Globe, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for The Girl in the Café in 2005.
Justina Machado is FBI agent Rosie Gomez. Rosie is sent to New Iberia and works with Dave.
Justina played Vanessa Diaz, the wife of Federico Diaz (Freddie Rodriguez) in HBO's Sex Feet Under. She, along with the rest of the cast, won the Screen Actor's Guide Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2001.
Mary Steenburgen is indeed playing Bootsie Robicheux, Dave’s wife. Bootsie is described as “intelligent, sensual, well-read and pragmatic. She helps Dave with the bait and boat shop. She is fearful that Dave’s involvement in the investigation of these murders will fuel his dark side.
Mary won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her supporting role in 1980's Melvin and Howard. She has appeared in such films as Powder, What's Eating Gilbet Grape and Philadelphia. She most recently starred in the television series Joan of Arcadia.
John Sayles is playing Michael Goldman, the director of the film within this film. Sayles has twice been nominated for an Oscar for his screenplays for Lone Star and Passion Fish. He is a very talented director that tends toward independent ensemble films.
Pruitt Taylor Vince is Detective Lou Girard. Lou is an old friend of Dave’s. Described as sort of a “run down version of Dave,” Lou finds a body that was similarly murdered to the one Dave is investigating.
Lou is very loyal to Dave and willing to risk his own life for his friend.
Vince is a character actor that has appeared in dozens of films including Angel Heart (his first real film role), Beautiful Girls, Identity and Natural Born Killers.
He won an Emmy for his guest appearance on Murder One.
James Gammon is also on board. Gammon is best known for playing Lou Brown, coach of the hapless Cleveland Indians in the comedy Major League.
French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier (Round Midnight) is directing, with husband/wife team Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski providing the script. The couple previously wrote The Pledge for Sean Penn.
Round Midnight has wonderful atmosphere. Tavernier should do a great job of giving the film a fantastic vibe, allowing the Louisiana setting to become a major part of the film. He has won numerous major awards around the world, including the Bafta Award (British Academy Film Awards) and the The César award (Main film award in France) as well as awards in Italy, Denmark, Japan, Turkey, Norway and Spain.
In the Electric Mist recently started filming and is scheduled to be released on Dec 10th of this year.
This one looks like it might be done right.
Friday, April 27, 2007
DVD Review: NCIS: The complete third season.
Paramount Home Entertainment
Near the end of filming on NCIS's second season, Sasha Alexander, who played Special Agent Kate Todd, asked out of her contract, overwhelmed by the show's physical demands. Alexander's departure was written into the show as Kate Todd's shocking death at the sniper rifle of nemesis Ari Haswari (Rudolf Martin).
From the start of the third season, Kate's death realistically affects the rest of the team. The demanding Gibbs lightens up on his charges while office prankster DiNozzo does a bit of growing up. The show's creators also take the opportunity to add two strong female characters: Mossad Officer Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) and new NCIS Director Jenny Shepard (Lauren Holly).
The forward, sensual David is quite a change from straitlaced Kate Todd. Her gradual grasp of American slang is believable and provides opportunities for humor. David also lends the show more international flavor, widening its range of stories. Meanwhile, Shepard appears as Gibbs's former partner, now his boss. She can hold off his flinty attitude as well as his gruff charm.
The success of these changes coupled with crisp camera work and dependable writing helped NCIS reach a new ratings high.
--Gerald So
For more words from Gerald, check out his blog: If You Want to Know About My Life...
Read More......
Thursday, April 26, 2007
New filming done for Blade Runner.
Yes, you read that correctly. There has, apparently, been some new filming for the twenty five year old movie.
Joanna Cassidy, on her official website, had the following posted:
Joanna has just finished re-shooting her scenes from the original BLADE RUNNER movie. Joanna is wearing her original outfit (which she kept over from the first production). These new scenes will be part of the upcoming special BLADE RUNNER DVD re-release. Check back for more details.
Joanna played a replicant named Zhora.
I must confess I am skeptical has to how they can shoot new footage when the actors are 25 years older. There is only so much make-up can do.
But, it should be very interesting to see just how different this version is. As I understand it, Ridley Scott had complete control over the entire project so this will be exactly what he wants the film to be.
Later this year, Blade Runner: The Final Cut will be released in theaters for the 25th anniversary of the original cut of the film.
They will also release a new DVD box set that feature, in addition to the Final cut, the Original U.S. Theatrical cut, the Expanded International Theatrical cut and 1992's Director's cut.
You know that at least one person will watch all of these versions in a row.
Ok, time to let Blade Runner go. No more versions of it.
For anyone that is not familiar with it, Blade Runner was released in 1982. It was directed by Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator) and was based on Phillip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
Deckard (Harrison Ford) is a Blade Runner, a police man of the future who hunts down and terminates replicants, artificially created humans. He wants to get out of the force, but is drawn back in when 4 "skin jobs", a slang term for replicants, hijack a ship back to Earth. The city that Deckard must search for his prey is a huge, sprawling, bleak vision of the future. This film questions what it is to be human, and why life is so precious.
I want to thank Sean for sending me a link to Joanna's web site, since it is not a site I normally check out.
DVD Review: Criminal Minds: The First Season
Paramount Home Entertainment
In my on going quest for entertainment on DVD I purchased Criminal Minds. I hadn't seen it on network television because I just don't watch TV anymore. What drew me to this particular series was the FBI profiler aspect and two of the stars, Mandy Patinkin and Thomas Gibson probably best known for Dharma and Greg.
Patinkin plays James Gideon who is just coming back to the unit after a medical leave. He's obviously the agent people defer to and has the most experience of the group. Gibson plays the number two man, Aaron Hotchner who is very by the book. The rest of the team is made up of hard working people all specialists in something or other. I particularly like the genius 24 year old Spencer Reid played by Matthew Gray Gubler, he's subtly funny and humble and adds a touch of humanity to the team, though probably by accident. I find the characters much more believable than the agents or cops in a lot of other shows. You don't get the feel that they are always posing and waiting for a close up.
It is typical of television crime dramas in that as soon as the unit is called in, they manage to solve the case, no matter how long it may have been running, but that's a minor point. The show focuses on more than just serial killers, they hunt wackos of all types. The show is fast paced, written intelligently and is visually pleasing to boot. All in all it's damn good entertainment.
Jon Jordan
Click here to order Criminal Minds: The First Season from Amazon.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
DVD Review: WKRP in Cincinnati season one.
MGM/Fox Home Entertainment
“Baby, if you’ve ever wondered, wondered whatever became of me. I’m living on the air in Cincinnati, Cincinnati WKRP.”
In the interests of full disclosure, I must confess that I am a HYOOOGE fan of WKRP in Cincinnati.
Set in the late 70s, WKRP follows the lives of a rock n’ roll radio station. We have an odd little news director (Les Nessman), a fast-talking sales manager (Herb Tarlek) and a DJ (Dr. Johnny Fever) that occasionally needs to look at his coffee mug to remember who he is.
The first episode shows the station from easy listening to RnR. The scene were Johnny officially changes the format alone is worth the cost of this set. But that is not all! We are also treated to one of the true classic episodes: The legendary turkey drop. If you can sit through that and not laugh, you simply don’t have a funny bone.
If that is not enough, we also get the Scum of the Universe!
The bonus features are a tad on the skimpy side, especially when you think about how long they have had to work on this, but that hardly matters because the show is so good.
A word of warning: the episode Turkeys Away has a commentary track, don't bother with it. It simply features Loni Anderson and producer/creator Hugh Wilson laughing over the best parts.
Also, a lot has been made of the removal of classic rock songs from season one. While this is true, it really does not detract from the show. The reality is that the humor, or at least much of it, comes from the writing and the exceptional chemistry of the cast.
Plus, people from Fox have said that the music was removed for financial reasons and that if season one does well, they would like to retain the original music for the forthcoming seasons. In other words, if we buy it, they will give us the episodes with original music intact.
The 80s may have given us The Cosby Show, and the 90s Seinfeld and Friends, but my heart belongs to the big WKRP in Cincinnati.
Jeremy Lynch
Click here to order WKRP in Cincinanati: Complete First Season from Amazon.
Click here to an interesting article on the cost of licensing music.
Braff will not be Fletch.
In the last year, there has been a lot of talk that Zach Braff (Scrubs, Garden State) would be playing a young Fletch in Fletch Won, a new film based on the works of Gregory Mcdonald.
The wisecracking reporter first came to the big screen, played by Chevy Chase, in 1985's Fletch.
While it was a modest success, it was bashed by both critics and fans of the McDonald novels. There was then a sequel, Fletch Lives, in 1989, but the less said about that the better.
TVGuide.com is reporting that Braff has now passed on playing the investigative reporter because of scheduling conflicts.
Director Bill Lawrence said "Zach is writing and directing his own film [Open Hearts] at Paramount. I'm very happy for him. We were looking forward to doing this thing together, but when you get an opportunity like that, you've got to take it."
Lawrence is now in New York looking for a new actor to play Mr. Fletch.
While this will be Lawrence's first time directing a film, he has plenty of experience in television as the producer/writer of Scrubs as well as a stint as exec producer of Spin City.
This is unfortunate, I thought Braff could have been quite good in the role.
DVD Review: The Aura
The Aura
IFC Films
The Aura, written and directed by Fabian Bielinsky is a crime film which makes obvious Bielinsky’s love for noir and caper films.
Esteban Espinosa played by Ricardo Darin is a rather strange man. A taxidermist with a habit of being precise and careful he also suffer epilepsy. During the calm before these fits he sees that he could commit a perfect crime. An opportunity to prove he can do it presents itself, however the reality of the act is much different than the visualization of it.
Ricardo Darin is wonderful in this role and it’s hard to take your eyes off of him. Bielinsky also nailed it with a tight plot and superb story. While a terrific crime movie, it’s also an interesting look at a man finding out who he really is. In this genre it’s hard to be refreshing and new, but The Aura does it. I really enjoyed this film
The movie is in Spanish with subtitles. Extra features include a making of featurette and a musical montage.
Jon Jordan
Click here to order The Aura from Amazon.
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
DVD Review: Kidnapped.
I know, I know, in every third TV show or movie someone gets snatched for ransom, and it generally holds about as much dramatic tension as washday. (Maybe less.) We've seen it too many times to care. Not so fast, discerning viewer; you've never seen it like this...no reason to trust me on this one, but do it anyway. Kidnapped will pop your ennui, and we both know how you love that.
There were a surprising number of promising series this season that shortly ran out of steam; Smith, for one. Kidnapped started strong and got jarringly better each week. Writing: superb. Acting: at least that good. Direction: masterful, atmosphere to burn; maybe the best drama I've ever seen on television.
This is not a review. It's a valentine.
When I outline the plot, you'd likely think 'Yawn, same old stuff'', but it's like making love (Kama Sutra and contortionists aside); there's only so many ways to go and the magic is in the handling of the proceedings, not necessarily reinventing the exercise. Like the difference between a picture of food and a meal. The notes are the same but the song is very different and beautifully rendered. And to carry the music simile still further, it is how it comes to make you feel, for therein lies the magic. I'd seen it all before too and most of the time I felt like a sandwich. Kidnapped is so very real I sometimes felt like a peeping tom. (That's when I knew they owned me.)
Sure, there were a couple of bad signs in the beginning- the hero, the independent kidnapping specialist, is called Knapp. Someone ought to be slapped. And Jeremy Sisto the actor playing him, came on looking only slightly cleaner and better dressed than your average refugee. There, I thought, goes the ball game. Now if he is smarter than everyone else in the world except maybe Stephen Hawking, this is sick making and gets no more of my electricity. But no, the unfortunately named Mr. Knapp is an unusually rounded character with more facets that a rock stars nipple ring. And he ain't alone, not by a long shot. Delroy Lindos' F.B.I. agent Latimer King is a man of many parts and he shows you most of them, spinning and turning. Turner (Carmen Egojo), Knapps' associate--besides being lovely--is a computer/electronics/information wizardess who plants a homing device in Knapp's wallet, somewhat to his surprise ("How'd you get into my wallet?"). She also knows where his rubber bullets are ("In the box marked Rubber Bullets."). The Techno-Magi has become required in current mysteries or thrillers and I haven't seen it done any better.
Which brings us to the Cains, Conrad (Timothy Hutton) and Ellie (Dana Delaney). Nice piece of casting. When their only son is grabbed on his way to school one morning, his bodyguard shot and left for dead (more on him later), these two do more acting with fewer words than I think I have ever seen. It's already been made clear, by this point, that all is not caviar and cold duck in their marriage; but the scene where he makes her a cup of tea in the kitchen, one sleepless night, is so genuinely tender it could bring a tear to your eye. No doubt this is a pair of pros with material they can get all their teeth into, and with no intention of leaving hungry.
Virgil, the boy's bodyguard and friend, is beautifully rendered by Mykelti Williamson (Bubba of Forrest Gump). Coincidently--it at first appears-- Virgil is Latimer King's brother-in-law. The plot doesn't thicken, it sets up like portland cement. Leaving his hospital bed to go after Leopold, "Because I told him I'd be ready," he saves more bacon than vegetarianism.
It becomes pretty clear pretty early that this is no garden variety kidnapping, but if not that, what? Too well funded and too well planned and just too much for a take-the-money-and-run affair. I half expected people to start baying like Bloodhounds as it wound down.
This is what television could be and so rarely is and the best series you never saw.
The Special Features are nicely done but too brief (bet you never thought you'd hear me say that), barely brushing the storyline with some very good stuff on word and name meanings.
Lee Crawford
Read More......
DVD releases for April 24th
Just want to start by giving everyone a heads up. There are several new titles in the DVD Calendar, including The Prisoner (season one, vol one), JAG (Season Four) and Dexter (season one) just to name a few.
Columbo: Mystery Movie Collection (1989) $26.98 Three-disc Set (Universal)
Click here to order Columbo: Mystery Movie Collection 1989 from Amazon.
Deja Vu (2006) $29.98 Denzel Washington Extras: The Surveillance Window featurette, deleted scenes and more to be announced.(Buena Vista)
Click here to order Deja Vu from Amazon.
Kidnapped: The Complete Series (2006) $49.95 Three-disc set, Jeremy Sisto, Dana Delaney, Timothy Hutton. (Sony)
Click here to order Kidnapped from Amazon.
Click here to read Lee's review.
NCIS: The Third Season (2005) Six-disc set with 24 episodes, $64.99. Extras: Cast and crew commentaries on select episodes, "The Real N.C.I.S. Declassified" featurette, "Hit the Head" montage, "The Women of N.C.I.S.," "N.C.I.S. Season of Change," "The Round Table." (Paramount).
Click here to order NCIS - The Complete Third Season from Amazon.
Gerald So will have a review for us in the next week or so.
Thr3e (2007) Marc Blucas, Justine Waddell, Laura Jordan, Max Ryan, Bill Moseley. Seminary student is targeted by a madman who plays deadly games with him. (Fox).
Click here to purchase Thr3e from Amazon.
Until Death (2007) Jean-Claude Van Damme, Stephen Rea, Rachel Grant, Mark Dymond. Dirty cop falls into a coma after a gunfight, awakens a "new" man, and tries to make amends by cleaning up the bad guys. (Sony).
Click here to order Until Death from Amazon.
WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete First Season $39.95 Three-disc set with 22 episodes. Extras: Commentary on some episodes featuring writer Hugh Wilson and star Loni Anderson and Do My Eyes Say Yes? and A 'Fish Story' Story featurettes. (Fox)
Jaime Weinman has a list up detailing which songs have been cut. It is worth reading.
Click here to an interesting article on the cost of licensing music.
Click here to order WKRP in Cincinanati: Complete First Season from Amazon.
I will have a review up in the next couple of days.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
DVD Review: Last King of Scotland
Idi Amin Dada was, from 1971 to 1979, the President of Uganda. President is a little misleading, as Amin came to power via a military coup. His reign is famous for it's brutality. An estimated 300,000 to 500,000 were put to death under his rule.
In the Last King of Scotland, Forest Whitaker plays the Ugandan dictator and steals the show.
It is Whitaker’s mesmerizing performance gives The Last King of Scotland a boost and takes the film from being a modest fictional account of infamous Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, to one that draws the viewer in, not letting go until the last frame of film has passed. This is truly a case of one performance elevating a movie to another level entirely.
The film is told from the perspective of Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), a young Scottish doctor acting as the personal physician of Amin. For the record, there never such a person, but his addition gives a human perspective to the atrocities that occurred, since we witness things with him.
Whitaker’s performance of Amin is amazing. He delivers a complex portrayal of a very charismatic, very paranoid ruler. It is easy to see how Amin drew people in but, in the blink of an eye, his capacity for incredible violence is all too clear.
One thing I really must give praise for is the restraint Macdonald showed in terms of violence and brutality. It would have been very easy to go overboard with the gore. Instead, much of the violence is implied. An excellent job is done of creating a very tense setting with an inescapable sense of dread that builds as the film progresses.
The Last King of Scotland is certainly worth seeing, but don’t confuse the Oscar-worthy performance with this being an Oscar-worthy film.
The extras include some deleted scenes that were shed due to time constraints. These are mainly minor character scenes, but still worth watching. Director Kevin MacDonald provides commentary (optional) that is interesting.
MacDonald also has a commentary track for the film that has its moments. Not to knock the director, but I would have enjoyed hearing the thoughts of Mr. Whitaker instead, or at least in addition.
We also get a few featurettes: Capturing Idi Amin is around thirty minutes and gives us a behind scenes look, as well as providing some historical data. The most interesting part of this is some comments from various locals. This helps hammer home the impact the brutal dictator had.
The other two are much shorter and look at the cast and their performances. One, "Forest Whitaker: Idi Amin", has Forest offering his thoughts on the role and his approach to it. The other, "Fox Movie Channel Casting Session", is a mix of interviews with supporting cast members.
I would suggest seeing The Last King of Scotland. If for no other reason than it is the film that got Forest Whitaker the praise he so richly deserved.
Click here to order The Last King of Scotland from Amazon. Read More......
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Legendary Band member, Levon Helm, to play Confederate dead in Burke's Electric Mist.
Legendary musician Levon Helm will play confederate General John Bell Hood in the big screen adaptation of James Lee Burke's In the Electric Mist (with the Confederate). Helm is best known as a member of the Rock n Roll Hall of Famers The Band.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Some tidbits for Gone Baby Gone (including release date.
For me, one of the most eagarly awaited films this year is Gone Baby Gone. I am a huge of Dennis Lehane (author of the awesome book of the same name) and have been anticipating this film for quite some time. Hoping and praying that director Ben Affleck does the novel justice.
As a result of this, I have been keeping my nose to grindstone, my ear to the ground, my eyes glued to...you get the idea.
Here are some assorted tidbits. Some of these may already be known to some of you.
*Gone Baby Gone will have a limited release on Sept 27, that is official. I have been told, but this is not confirmed, that the nationwide release date is Oct 5th.
*The film is carrying an R rating, which should be no surprise to anyone that has read the book. The scene where they enter the house of the child molesters is supposed to be every bit as disturbing as it is in the book.
*I spoke with somebody that had seen a very early cut of the movie and he enjoyed it quite a bit. He said what he saw still needed a lot of editing, but that it was good. This jives with comments I have read.
*Casey Affleck is said to pull off the role (of Patrick), with a hardness not previously seen by him.
*The rapper Slaine is supposed to be quite good as Bubba. This is good to hear as a weak Bubba would simply crush me.
*Michael K. Williams is Devin. Williams is best known for playing Omar on HBO's The Wire. This should be fantastic, Williams is amazing as Omar.
*John Aston is playing Poole, Remy Brousssard's (Ed Harris) partner. Aston is an excellent character actor is best known as Det. Sgt. John Taggart in Beverly Hills Cop I & II.
DVD Review: Smokin' Aces.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Harrry Potter producer/director to bring Riordon's juvie novel, The Lightning Thief, to the big screen.
Variety is reporting that Christopher Columbus, producer of the Harry Potter films and director of the first two, will be directing and producing the bring screen version of Rick Riordon's The Lightning Thief.
The Lightning Thief is the first of a five book series of fantasy novels for children.
What if the gods of Olympus were alive in the 21st Century? What if they still fell in love with mortals and had children who might become great heroes -- like Theseus, Jason and Hercules?
What if you were one of those children?
Such is the discovery that launches twelve-year-old Percy Jackson on the most dangerous quest of his life. With the help of a satyr and a daughter of Athena, Percy must journey across the United States to catch a thief who has stolen the original weapon of mass destruction – Zeus’ master bolt. Along the way, he must face a host of mythological enemies determined to stop him. Most of all, he must come to terms with a father he has never known, and an Oracle that has warned him of betrayal by a friend.
In addition to the New York Times bestselling Percy Jackson novels, Rick is also an award-winning mystery novelist. His Tres Navarre Series has won the Edgar (Mystery Writers of America), the Shamus (P. I. Writers of America) and the Anthony (Handed out by the attendees of the World Mystery Convention AKA Bouchercon) awards.
Writer announced for upcoming Hardy Men movie.
Back in Febuary, I wrote about the upcoming Hardy boys movie. The film will be called The Hardy Men and feature the detecting brothers as adults. Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise will star.
Now a new writer has been announced.
Simon Kinberg will handling script duties. Kinberg has previously written Mr. & Mrs. Smith, XXX 2: The Next Level and X-Men: The Last Stand.
As I understand it, Kinberg will be writing a completely new story for the film.
Mark Perez, proud author of the screenplay of 2005's Herbie Fully Loaded, had written a previous draft.
While I did enjoy Mr. & Mrs. Smith, the addition of the writer of X-Men III and XXX 2 does little to make me think this will be anything other than a train wreck.
The Hardy Men will feature the brothers, now grown up and estranged, reuniting to solve a crime.
Shawn Levy (The Pink Panther remake, Cheaper by the Dozen remake) will be directing.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
DVD releases for April 17th.
April 17th
Last King of Scotland (2006)Forest Whitaker Extras: Commentary by director Kevin MacDonald, deleted scenes, "Capturing Idi Amin" documentary, fetaurette about Forest Whitaker portraying Idi Amin, "Fox Movie Channel Presents: Casting Session - The Last King of Scotland (Fox)
Click here to purchase The Last King of Scotland from Amazon.
Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Sixth Season (1989-90) Five-disc set with 22 episodes $49.98 (Universal)
Click here to order Murder, She Wrote: The Complete Sixth Season from Amazon.
Not Just the Best of the Larry Sanders Show Four-disc set with 23 Larry Sanders Show episodes and more than eight hours of newly produced material. Extras: Documentary: "The Making of The Larry Sanders Show"; "Trio" featurette; "Personal, Intimate, Indulgent Meetings With My Friends That Are Meant Only for Me to See": interviews with Alec Baldwin, Ellen DeGeneres, David Duchovny, Tom Petty, Jerry Seinfeld, Sharon Stone, Jon Stewart and Carol Burnett; interviews with Penny Johnson, Wallace Langham, Scott Thompson, Janeane Garofalo, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Sarah Silverman, Jeremy Piven, Bob Odenkirk and Linda Doucett; deleted and extended scenes; alternate takes; commentary and documentary introduction on "What Have You Done for Me Lately" with Garry Shandling and Peter Tolan; commentary and documentary introduction on "Hank's Night in the Sun" with Garry Shandling and Todd Holland; commentary and documentary introduction on "Putting the 'Gay' Back in Litigation" with Garry Shandling and Judd Apatow; commentary on "Flip" with Garry Shandling and Peter Tolan. (Sony).
Click here to order "Not Just The Best Of Larry Sanders Show" from Amazon.
Smokin' Aces Jermy Pivens, Ben Affleck Extras: audio commentary (with writer/director Joe Carnahan and editor Robert Frazen), a second commentary (with Carnahan, Common, Christopher Holley and Zach Cumer), deleted and extended scenes, outtakes, the "Cowboy" ending and 3 featurettes (The Line-Up, The Big Gun and Shoot 'Em Up: Stunts & Effects). (Universal)
Click here to order Smokin' Aces from Amazon.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Warner's volume four of the Noir Classic collection to be released on July 30th.
On July 31st, Warner Home Video will release volume 4 of their Noir Classic collection.
The Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 4
Act of Violence (1948)
This grim melodrama stars Van Heflin as former World War II pilot Frank Enley, a respected contractor and family man, whose wife is played by Janet Leigh. When his troubled, crippled bombardier (Robert Ryan) shows up with a gun and a score to settle, it becomes apparent that perhaps neither man is what he seems to be. Director Fred Zinnemann (The Day of the Jackal) guides a searing Act of Violence, “the first postwar noir to take a challenging look at the ethics of men in combat” (Eddie Muller, Dark City: The Lost World of Film Noir).”
Special Features:
Commentary by Dr. Drew Casper
Act of Violence: Dealing With the Devil.
Theatrical Trailer
Mystery Street(1950)Murder lives on Mystery Street. John Sturges (The Great Escape) directs a revealing-“CSI”-type film about a Boston cop (Ricardo Montalban) called upon to solve the mystery surrounding a skeleton found on a Cape Cod beach with the help of a Harvard forensic expert (Bruce Bennett).
Special Features:
Commentary by Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward
Mystery Street: Murder at Harvard
Theatrical Trailer
Crime Wave (1954)
Legendary director Andre de Toth (House of Wax) was at the helm of this outstanding, but little-known L.A. noir about three escaped convicts from San Quentin who rob a gas station and kill a motorcycle cop. The hardboiled cop heading the manhunt is Sterling Hayden (The Asphalt Jungle).
Special Features:
Commentary by James Ellroy and Eddie Muller
Crime Wave: The City is Dark
Theatrical trailer
Decoy (1946)
Recent Film Noir festivals have provided an opportunity for audiences to rediscover truly forgotten films. Such is the case with Monogram Pictures Decoy, in which a drop-dead gorgeous dame Margo Shelby, played by British newcomer, Jean Gille, revives her gangster boyfriend after he dies in the gas chamber, not because she’s so fond of him, but because he knows where the loot is buried. This is a film that very few people have ever seen, but will likely be the subject of much cinephile discussion after its broad availability in this new Film Noir V.4 collection.
Special Features:
Commentary by Stanley Rubin and Glenn Erickson
Decoy: A Map to Nowhere
Theatrical trailer
Illegal (1955)
When his career as a D.A. unexpectedly collapses, tenacious Victor Scott turns to defending criminal lowlifes. Edward G. Robinson plays Scott in this snappy remake of The Mouthpiece (1932) directed by Lewis Allen (The Uninvited). Film buffs’ moments include Jayne Mansfield’s scenes and real-life art expert Robinson’s comments on a crime lord’s collection of paintings.
Special Features:
Commentary by Nina Foch and Patricia King Hanson
Illegal: Marked for Life
Behind the Cameras: Edward G. Robinson
Theatrical trailer
The Big Steal (1949)
Out of the Past’s Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer reteam in The Big Steal, speeding along Mexican roadways in pursuit of a grifter who has a suitcase that may be stuffed with cash. This film, both tense and humorous at the same time is directed by Clint Eastwood’s filmmaking mentor, Don Siegel.
Special Features:
Commentary by Richard B. Jewell
The Big Steal: Look Behind You
They Live By Night (1948)
Young escaped convict Bowie (Farley Granger) and Keechie (Cathy O’Donnell) just want to let their new love blossom. But thugs like Chicamaw 'One-Eye' Mobley (Howard da Silva) have other ideas, forcing Bowie to be their accomplice. They Live By Night, a story of doomed and desperate love is director Nicholas Ray’s (Rebel Without a Cause) debut, and is “one of the most poignant and unforgettable noirs ever made” (The Movie Guide).
Special Features:
Commentary by Farley Granger and Eddie Muller
They Live By Night: The Twisted Road
Theatrical trailer
Side Street (1950)
In Side Street, Granger and O’Donnell team again as struggling marrieds in an unforgiving Manhattan. In a moment of weakness, the letter carrier gives in to temptation and steals what he thinks is a few hundred dollars. But its $30,000, tied to some ruthless blackmailers, and Granger’s attempt to return it puts him in deeper peril. Anthony Mann (Border Incident) directs with a flair that makes the city a key player in this noir nerve-jangler.
Special features:
Commentary by Richard Schickel
Side Street: Where Temptation Lurks.
Theatrical trailer
Where Danger Lives (1950)
Robert Mitchum, playing a doctor smitten with desire for a beautiful patient (Faith Domergue) who’s brought in after an attempted suicide, journeys Where Danger Lives when the would-be lovebirds go on the lam. Ahead is Mexico, miles back is the husband’s (Claude Rains) corpse. But the final destination for the illicit pair could be a dead end in this dark gem of a film directed by John Farrow (The Big Clock).
Special Features:
Commentary by Alain Silver and James Ursini
Where Danger Lives: White Rose for Julie
Theatrical Trailer
Tension (1950)
Noir favorite Audrey Totter (The Set-Up) leaves her mousy but devoted spouse (Richard Basehart) for another man, and the Tension mounts as he plots revenge, then sees his plan take an unexpected turn. Cyd Charisse, Barry Sullivan and William Conrad co-star in a bitter tale of the postwar American dream frayed into nightmare.
Special features:
Commentary by Alain Silver and Elizabeth Ward with Audrey Trotter
Tension: Who’s Guilty Now?.
Theatrical Trailer
Sunday, April 15, 2007
New Die Hard box set coming June 19th.
Fox has announced that, on June 19th, they will be releasing a four-disc set of the Die Hard series.
Disc 1: "Die Hard" Widescreen Feature with optional Commentary by director John McTiernan and production designer Jackson DeGovia, Additional scene-specific commentary by special effects supervisor Richard Edlund, Subtitled commentary by various cast and crew, Branching version with the extended power shutdown scene, DVD-ROM - script-to- screen comparison.
Disc 2: "Die Harder" Widescreen Feature, Directors commentary, HBO Special Featurette, 4 Deleted scenes, The Bad Guys, Interview with Renny Harlin, 3 broken-down visual effects, 3 side-by-side comparisons, 4 trailers, 2 TV spots, 2 stunt vignettes.
Disc 3: "Die Hard with a Vengeance" Widescreen Feature, Directors commentary, CBS Special: A Night to Die For/ McClane, HBO Special Featurette, Alternate ending, 3 special effects vignettes, Bruce Willis interview, Villains with a Vengeance, 7 special effects , Stunt studies, Storyboard sequence, 2 trailers, 10 TV spots.
Disc 4 Bonus Disc: LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD trailer, Wrong Guy, Wrong Place, Wrong Time: A Look Back At Die Hard, The Continuing Adventures of John McClane.
The fourth disc does have new features, but pretty much everything else was on earlier releases.
Retail price is $39.98, but you can almost certainly pick it up for less. Since the fourth in the series, Live Free or Die Hard, is coming out on June 27th, this is clearly being released to cash in on the renewed publicity the series will get.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
It's Tax TIme
In honor of April and the looming tax deadline I want to make an offer.
Any subscriptions coming in during April will get an extra copy of the magazine.
Just add to the note (or message on paypal) "7 instead of 6" and you'll get an extra copy in your subscription.
It's good till the end of the month.
Friday, April 13, 2007
DVD Review: Murder in Suburbia - Series 2
Acorn Media
Call me unsophisticated, but I don't really like police procedural shows. While I acknowledge that forensic science has revolutionized police work, I don't find watching detectives discover brain tissue in the sofa cushions all that entertaining; just fascinating in a kinda ooky way. (I also happen to be a charter member of the "David Caruso Can't Act" club but don't get me started on that.) It saddens me to think that the American television audiences may have become too jaded by CSI to enjoy a cheeky little whodunit like Murder in Suburbia.
Caroline Catz and Lisa Faulkner play police detectives Kate "Ash" Ashurst and Emma "Scribbs" Scribbins in the British suburb of Middleford. The two are opposite in personality and in apparel. Ash's clothes and hair are sleek and businesslike. Her interview style is intense, confrontational. Scribbs is more free spirited in her dress and more instinctive in her dealings with people. Friends on and off the job, both are single and looking for the right guy. When they aren't interviewing suspects, they are engaging in commiserative confabs about the woeful lack of good men.
The show is full of subtle humor. In Episode 1, titled "Witches", Ash and Scribbs investigate the occult murder of a schoolgirl. In one scene, we listen to them chatting as they wait to interview a suspect while, in the background, the school chorus gravely sings a SATB arrangement of the Pet Shop Boys cynical "Suburbia". Not your standard glee club fare.
Much of the appeal of the show is found in the odd denizens of Middleford, like the finicky dog owner with a barking Big Ben doorbell, who is suspected of killing the owner of a kennel for accidentally allowing a stray mutt to "shag" her pedigreed poodle.
She describes the lasting damage the encounter caused: "She still has nightmares. Whenever she sees a whippet, she bolts."
The closest thing to police procedure we ever see is when they recreate a crime scene on Scribb's desk using Star Wars action figures. So, if you're into autopsies and doing your David Caruso impression in front of the bathroom mirror, go watch CSI. But if you like quirky characters and wily humor, give Murder in Suburbia a chance.
Naomi J Krueger
Click here to order Murder in Suburbia series 2 from Amazon.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Get ready for Get Smart!
There has been a plan to make the popular spy spoof television show Get Smart into a movie for years. It never seemed to get past the talking stages.
Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada, The Princess Diaries) will play Agent 99, Smart's sidekick. Anne has shown she can be funny, I am talking about Princess Diaries, not The Devil Wears Prada. Before you say anything, Princess Diaries was all over cable, it was hard to miss it...besides, it was actually pretty decent.Duane Johnson AKA The Rock (The Scorpion King, WWE) will play Agent 23.
Academy Award-winner Alan Arkin (Now doesn't that sound better than Academy Award-winner Eddie Murphy?) will be replacing Eddie Platt as the head of CONTROL, the agency that they work for.
Terrence Stamp (The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Superman II) will star as Siegfried, an agent of CHAOS, an organization of evil. How much better, for a badguy, can you get than General Zod??
I think the cast sounds pretty darn good.
But now we get to the people behind the camera:
Peter Segal (Tommy Boy, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps) is directing. Segal is responsible for the attroicous remake of The Longest Yard. Now I don't deny he has had box office success, but I am skeptical that he has the ability to make film that is clever as well as funny.
Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember wrote the screenplay. They previously collaborated on Failure to Launch and were executive producers for the sitcom Odd Man Out. Remember that one? Me either.
Matt Ember has also written for The Wayans Brothers and Grace Under Fire, while Astle has written and produced Coach. Yuck.
So you see, it is a mixed bag.
Get Smart is currently filming in L.A., with plans to shoot in Washington D.C. and Montreal, and has a scheduled release date of June 20, 2008.
Click here to watch the trailer. Read More......
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
DVD Releases for April 10th.
The Aura (2005 -- Argentina) Ricardo Darin, Dolores Fonzi, Pablo Cedron. Psychological journey into the head of an epileptic man who works out the perfect heist. (Genius Products).
Click here to order The Aura from Amazon.
Vince mentioned this one in the comments section. Thanks for giving us a heads up. Click here to read Vince's thoughts on The Aura.
Payback Straight Up: The Director's Cut (1999) Dir.: Brian Helgeland; Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, David Paymer, Lucy Liu, Kris Kristofferson. Never-before-seen footage. Extras: Commentary by writer-director Brian Helgeland, "Paybacks Are a Bitch: On Location In Chicago," "Paybacks Are a Bitch: On the Set In Los Angeles," "Same Story, Different Movie -- Creating Payback: The Director's Cut ," "The Hunter: A Conversation With Author Donald E. Westlake." (Paramount).
Click here to order Payback - The Director's Cut (Special Collector's Edition) from Amazon.
Based on a novel by Richard Stark (AKA Donald Westlake), Payback didn’t do very well in the theatres. And that is unfortunate because it has some fine performances (James Coburn is great in a very small role) and is better than many have made it out to be.
Having said that, director Brain Helgeland has gone back and recuthe film so it is more in line with what he wanted it to be.
Randy watched it and found it very different from the original version. He will be bringing us a comparison of the two next week.
Major League Wild Thing Edition (1989) Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen, Rene Russo, Wesley Snipes, Dennis Haysbert, Bob Uecker. Extras: New interviews with Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen and Dennis Haysbert; commentary by writer-director David S. Ward and producer Chris Chesser; behind-the-scenes featurettes "My Kinda Team," "A Major League Look at Major League" and "Bob Uecker: Just a Bit Outside"; alternate ending; tour of Cerrano's locker; photo gallery. (Paramount).
Click here to order Major League (Wild Thing Edition) from Amazon.
In theory, this should have been just another wacky comedy, but the cast had real chemistry and Major League was not only a box office hit, but garnered critical praise.
We get relatively unknown Wesley Snipes and Dennis Haysbert (The Unit, 24) joining forces with Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen and Corbin Bernsen, none of whom were exactly at the prime of their career. But the aforementioned chemistry made Major League a real treat.
Murder in Suburbia Series 2 (2004) Two-disc set with six episodes of the complete second seasonof the BBC America mystery series about a pair of female detectives who solvecrimes in an upscale English suburb. (Acorn Media).
Click here to order Murder in Suburbia Series 2 from Amazon.
Naomi will be bringing a review of this later this week.
The Streets of San Francisco -- Season One, Volume One(1972)Four-disc set with 14 episodes, Michael Douglas, Karl Malden $42.99. Extras: Army Archerd interview, pilot presentation. (Paramount).
Click here to order The Streets of San Francisco -Season 1, Vol. 1 from Amazon.
If you are like me, you mainly remember Karl for his American Express commercials. But once upon a time, he was a no-nonsense cop that worked hard protecting The Streets of San Francisco. Michael Douglas starred as his partner in the early days,but was replaced by Richard Hatch (Apollo from the original Battlestar Galactica) later on.
If all goes well (and our copy shows up), Mr. Jon will be giving us the lowdown on this in the near future.
Monday, April 09, 2007
NBC pulls Andy Barker, P.I.
The trades are reporting that Andy Richter's detective comedy Andy Barker, P.I. is being pulled from it's Thursday slot. Six episodes were produced, with four having been aired.
The final two episodes will be broadcast on this Saturday, from 7pm to 8pm cst.
In the show, Andy Richter played a cpa that moves into an office that was formerly occupied by a P.I. Upon being mistaken for the retired P.I., Andy starts to moonlight as one.
Though it has received much critical praise, the show simply has not picked up strong enough ratings. This should not come as a shock to anyone, since it was put up against ratings monsters like CSI and Grey's Anatomy.
A pity they did not chose to put it in a more nurturing slot where it could grow and develop it's own audience. But then NBC also chose to put Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Kidnapped into slots that were they did not fit, or with lead-ins that did not have the same kind of audience.
TORCHWOOD
TORCHWOOD
Captain Jack rocks. Gwen is the bomb! Owen is a naughty boy….. in a
good way. Tosh is unlucky in love but great with everything else, and
Ianto…. well I love him too.
In many corners of my life I could be severely whipped for the
confession I’m about to make. I never cared for the Doctor. The new
Dr. Who while definitely a curiosity, lost me after two episodes. Blame
Billie Piper. So when the ever enthusiastic Jon Jordan announced he’d
purchased the spin-off on the new WHO I figured I had eleven hours to
catch up on my reading. I am now another eleven hours behind in my
reading.
TORCHWOOD (and work on the anagram here) is the saga of a
hush-hush organization founded by Queen Victoria after she was
rescued from werewolves by the Doctor in an episode of Dr. Who.
“The twenty-first century is when everything changes and we’ve got to
be ready”
Before the pilot airs we’ve met Jack. Last seen coming back to life in
the 51st century, this affable con-man shared a few adventures with
Rose and the Doctor and somehow ended up in today’s Cardiff,
running Torchwood. Don’t worry, Clews will be revealed. Jack is larger
than life. Over sexed and alone at the same time. He can’t die and
therefore is sometimes afraid to die. He is a leader. Jack’s journey
through season one will break your heart AND give you balls.
Gwen is introduced to us as an everyday copper whose job overlaps
that of the team’s. Gwen possesses the gift of empathy and soon
becomes an asset to the Torchwood staff. Eve Myles is beyond good
in this role. Gwen is my favorite T.V. gal in the last five years; a femme
through and through. Melding her everyday life to the demands of
TORCHWOOD is a journey I’ve entirely enjoyed.
The rest of the cast is also fab, if not as developed as our two leads.
Character assets and weaknesses are revealed through such good
writing and superb acting that when the climatic episode of the first
season takes place their behaviors are entirely believable.
The first season of Torchwood has everything: There’s murder,
mayhem and sex, of both the human and alien kind. There’s a
dedicated workforce trying to save the rest of us from ourselves.
Carefully nurtured stories and sub-plots can reach well into the future.
Russell T. Davies (Queer As Folk, Dr. Who, Touch of Evil) is a
producer of serial television with few peers. Urgency , eminent peril,
girl on girl, and yes, even boy on boy…. With TORCHWOOD, he’s
given this viewer MUST SEE T.V.
TORCHWOOD is now available in region 2 DVD but never fear people.
BBC America has seen fit to bring it to the States. It will debut this
summer.
Ruth
David Ignatius novel coming to silver screen with DiCaprio, Ridley Scott.
Last Spring, in my Eye on Hollywood column in Crimespree magazine, I reported that screenwriter William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven, The Departed) and Director Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien) were joining forces to bring David Ignatius' forthcoming novel Penetration to the big screen.
Well, the novel has a new name, Body of Lies; and a star, Leonardo DiCaprio.
Variety is reporting that Mr. DeCaprio is in discussion to play the lead, a CIA opperative that is sent to Jordan after an Al Qaeda opperative that is rumored to be planning an attack on the United States.
Scott and Monahan previous worked together on 2005's massive turkey, Kingdom of Heaven.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Film Review: Grindhouse
Cheese. The word for the day is Cheese.
Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez have teamed up to give us a pair of B-grade flicks full of babes, zombies, killer cars, badasses, guns and...Well, cheese.
Grindhouse is a pair of full length quick and dirty horror flicks and a handful of trailers for movies that don't exist. The intent is to paid homage to the old grindhouse theaters of the 70s that regularly played the B-grade horror films and exploitation flicks.
To further simulate this, Grindhouse has missing segments and scratchy, often grainy, images.
Robert Rodriguez offers up Planet Terror. Here we have your basic Living Dead-on-the-loose flick. Some questionable activities at a local military base has resulted the nearby residents wandering around, oozing pus and craving the kind of meal that just is not acceptable in modern society./getpreview.aspx?id1=436fe99b-e573-4a0b-991d-b2186ed6d60f&id2={a03ab543-74a3-4fe4-a969-ab929c3f514a}.jpg)
So we have our nasties, now we need our folks in peril. For them, we have a fun bunch of lowlifes, including Cherry (Rose McGowan) a saucy go-go dancer that ends up with a machinegun in place of a leg, her ex Wray (Freddie Rodiguez), bickering married doctors (Delightfully played byJosh Brolin and Marley Shelton) that you likely don't want working on you, a pair of identical twin babysitters and the owner of a local BBQ shack.
Mr. Rodriguez delivers gore by the bucketful. He also gives us some sick humor and a trashy film that will draw you in while making you ill./getpreview.aspx?id1=436fe99b-e573-4a0b-991d-b2186ed6d60f&id2={7fe0a9a1-96b7-4248-8f30-f01797d53a7c}.jpg)
Quentin Taratino gives us Death Proof. Three gals out on the town for a little fun run into Mike (Kurt Russell), a grizzled, yet charming, stunt man. He offers one of the lasses (McGowan doing double duty) a ride home. Alas, she never makes it there. Mike's car, a jacked up Dodge Charger, is Death Proof...if you are the driver.
Later, Mike runs into another group of ladies. But this group, taking a break from working on a film set, is not as helpless. This bunch features stuntwoman Zoe (played convincingly by stuntwoman Zoe Bell), who proclaims "There's no point to living in America unless you drive a Dodge Challenger."
Not surprisingly, she happens to drive one. Accompanied by Abernathy (Rosario Dawson) and Kim (Tracie Thoms), Zoe soon finds herself in one of the coolest, craziest car duels in the history of films.
Death Proof does indeed have the aforementioned car duel, but it also has some really great dialogue. The racy, frank banter among the girls is first rate. Zoe Bell is a hoot and Kurt Russell does a great job as our villain.
Between the two, I would say that Death Proof rises above Planet Terror. Nothing wrong with PT...at least nothing that was not intentional... but DP has a vibe that makes it special. The dialogue is great, something that Tarantino has always done well, and the chase scenes are breathtaking.
If you have never been a fan of horror films and/or B-grade flicks, this package is not likely to win you over. If you think John Carpenter is awesome, strap yourself in for a lewd and gory ride.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Jim Henson co. to tackle Edward Gorey's Doubtful Guest.
This is not really crime related, but it does feature two things I love: Jim Henson (or rather Jim Henson's company) and Edward Gorey.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Two new trailers for Live Free or Die Hard (AKA Die Hard IV) online.
June 27th will bring us the fourth installment in the Die Hard series. This one is entitled Live Free or Die Hard which, I suppose, is a better title than Die Hard IV.
A couple of new trailers have hit the net. I thought I woudl share them with you.
Click here to for the international trailer.
Click here to new trailer that is not the international trailer.
Click here to go to Live Free or Die Hard website.
This time around evil, greedy criminal mastermind Greg (Timothy Olyphant) has decided to attack the Nation's computer infrastructure. It just so happens that Mr. John McClane (Bruce Willis) is around. This is, of course, bad news for Greg. We all know that Mr. McClane has a history of screwing up the plans of evil, greedy criminal masterminds.
Live Free or Die Hard also stars Jeffery Wright (Syriana, Casino Royale), Maggie Q (Rush Hour 2, Mission Impossible III) and Justin Long (Plays the Mac computer in the Apple ads).
Robert Parker's Jesse Stone coming to DVD.
On June 12th, Sony Pictures Home Entertainement will be releasing Jesse Stone: Night Passage and Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise. Both are based on the novels of the same name by Robert B. Parker.
Jesse Stone: Night Passage is a prequel to 2005’s Stone Cold, and originally aired on CBS January 15, 2006. Co-starring Stephanie March (TV’s “Law & Order: SVU”) and Stephen Baldwin (The Usual Suspects), the telefilm depicts Jesse Stone’s (Selleck) first days as Paradise, Massachusetts’ Chief of Police. He must immediately find the killer of his predecessor, plus investigate a domestic violence situation involving the city’s resident hothead (Baldwin), whose ties to a local bank manager expose a money-laundering scheme.
Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise is a sequel to 2005’s Stone Cold, and originally aired on CBS April 30, 2006. Co-starring William Devane (TV’s “Knot’s Landing”), the TV movie finds Chief Stone (Selleck) settling into his new life in Paradise when he becomes obsessed with finding the killer of a teenage girl. His quest to solve the murder unearths facts indicating there is more to the girl’s history than originally suspected and the new clues lead him to probe the Boston underworld.
Be sure to check the Crimespree Cinema DVD Calendar for other forthcoming releases.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Bourne 2-Movie Collection has bonus material for Ludlum fans.
On July 24th, Universal will be releasing the Bourne 2-Movie Collection. In addition to containing The Bourne Identity and The Bourne Supremacy, it will have a third disc with the following featurettes: Who Was Robert Ludlum?, The Ludlum Supremacy and The Ludlum Ultimatum.
Be sure to check the Crimespree Cinema DVD Calendar for other forthcoming releases.
DVD Review: The Good Shepherd
Universal Home Entertainment
"Robert DeNiro is a God among men!", some would say. I wouldn't. I would say he is in a class of actor with very few members. (Of course Tom Green is in a class of actor with very few members. But he would be on the polar opposite of the scale from Mr. DeNiro.) It seems that Robert DeNiro would have to work very hard to deliver a bad or even ho-hum performance. I also would have to say there is not a movie of his that I have seen that I haven't liked, though I haven't seen Rocky and Bullwinkle. Why do I bring up Robert DeNiro? Because he directed and co-stars in The Good Shepherd.
Matt Damon plays a man who is recruited out of college into the OSS (the secret organization that spied for the allies in World War II), then is chosen to lead the development of the CIA (to "do what the OSS did during the war, but here at home.").
The movie co-stars Angelina Jolie as his wife, John Turturro as his partner/lacky, Alec Baldwin as his FBI "friend," William Hurt as his mentor, Michael (Dumbledore the second) Gambon as his "morally questionable" college professor (of course I mean "morally questionable” for World War II era America, now he would be no big deal). Timothy Hutton, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci play smaller roles.
The movie itself is very good. Well made, and well acted. Matt Damon was outstanding as a stoic man of that era, showing little emotion. Having said that, this is not a movie for someone with a short attention span; you have to pay attention or you will be lost.
For extras there are only deleted scenes, which are actually pretty cool. They delve deeper into Matt Damon's character's marriage problems and also show an entire sub-plot that was cut out--in the movie they were able to dispose of that sub-plot with one sentence. (...Which I thought was interesting, but then I am a geek.)
So, in the words that my 11th grade composition teacher told me never to use: “in conclusion," I would say definitely get/rent/buy/steal/borrow/On-Demand this movie.
P.S. Robert DeNiro is a God among men!
Randy Otteson
DVD Releases for April 3rd.
The Good Shepherd (2006) Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie $29.98 Extras: 16 minutes of deleted scenes, more tba (universal)
Click here to order The Good Shepherd from Amazon.
Click here to read Randy's review.
The King Maker (2005) Gary Stretch, John Rhys-Davies, $24.96. Portuguese soldier-of-fortune travels to the Orient in search of his father's killer only to become implicated in a conspiracy to dethrone the King of Siam. (Sony).
Click here to order King Maker from Amazon.
Law & Order: The Fifth Year (1994-95)$59.95 (Universal)
Click here to order Law & Order: Fifth Year from Amazon.
The Natural (Director’s Cut) Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger. Exras: "A Natural Gunned Down" The stalking of Eddie Waitkus, "Clubhouse Conversations", Extra Innings 1: Slow Motion" featurette, "Extra Innings 2: Uniform Color" , "Extra Innings 3: The Sandberg Game", "Extra Innings 4: The President’s Question", The mythology of The Natural, "The Heart of The Natural" & Three "Creating The Natural" featurettes, as well as video Introduction by Barry Levinson & Digitally Remastered Audio and Video. (Sony)
Click here to order The Natural (Director's Cut) from Amazon.
The Untouchables: Season one volume one, (1959) Robert Stack. (Paramount)
Click here to order The Untouchables - Season One, Vol. 1 from Amazon.
Jon will be bringing us a review later this week.
Next week will bring us the new director's cut of Payback (Based on the novel by Richard Stark AKA Donald Westlake), as well as volume one of the first season of The Streets of San Francisco.
Jeremy
Monday, April 02, 2007
DVD Review: Hawaii Five-O
Hawaii Five-O is quite possibly the longest running cop show on TV, it was on for twelve seasons running from 1968 to 1980. One of the reasons for the success was Jack Lord. Lord had a commanding presence on the screen, enough that they replaced him as Felix in the Bond movies for fear of over shadowing their star. He’s a no nonsense cop who is un corruptible and always gets the job done. Hell, I'll admit it, I still want to be Jack Lord! The supporting cast was also strong with James MacArthur as Danny Williams and a host of local actors making up the 50 team.
I put in the first season a little nervously, I have very fond memories of the show and I was hoping I would see the show I remembered, not a dated over done tv show. I was wrong to be worried. While naturally a bit dated, it is almost 40 years old, the police work holds up, the acting is still strong, and its jus beautiful to watch. I did recognize a few actors and actresses including Sally Kellerman. It doesn't really take much to get past the clothes and the portrayel of hippies with their cool talk daddio.And I actually appreciate a plot that revolves around slipping an old man acid.
Special features are slim, but there is a very nice show taped for Hawaii Television doing a look back at the show with interviews and great stories. The shows were all remastered as well and came through very sharp and with great sound quality. That sound quality really came through when the theme song kicked in, I had it up really loud!This is a great addition to any collection of crime or mystery related DVD.
Jon
Buy Hawaii Five-O the first Season Here
Read More......
Sunday, April 01, 2007
"Harrison Ford chickened out" of Walk Among the Tombstones.
A couple of years ago, it appeared that not only would Lawrence Block's A Walk Among the Tombstones get made, but that it had a decent shot at actually being....well, decent. Joe Carnahan (Narc) was slated to direct with a script from Scott Frank (Get Shorty, Out of Sight, Minority Report, The Lookout) and Harrison Ford as Scudder.
Well, it never happened.
The reason: "Harrison Ford chickened out."
That is the answer coming from director/writer Scott Frank.
Frank is currently promoting his amazing new film, The Lookout (I hope to have a review up in the next day or so), and recently did an interview with Suicide Girls and touched on why Tombstone has not been made.
DRE: I know this may be an old project but any idea what’s going to happen with the adaptation of A Walk Among the Tombstones?
SF: On the record I can tell you I hope it gets made. It’s all about having the right cast once Harrison Ford chickened out.
DRE: What made Ford decide to not do it?
SF: I think he was concerned about the darkness in that character.
DRE: It’s interesting because I read that he has no desire to do smaller or independent films.
SF: He said that to us. He said his customers wouldn’t want to see him in something like this, to which I would argue I’m not sure he has the same customers that he once had. I think there are a lot of people who’d love to see him in this. I still would love to see him do this movie. It’s the perfect movie for him but who knows?
I can't help but think that A Walk Among the Tombstones might have done for him what Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta: Give a sagging career a desperately needed boost.
But considering the level of quality of Mr. Ford's recent films, maybe his backing out was a good thing.
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