FRED Entertainment

LOS GATOS – It’s been nearly a year since I killed my Netflix account and I really don’t miss it as much as others feared. There was a strange pang in my gut when I went online to cut the cord. A deep chill went down my spine from the future pain of not seeing red envelopes in my mailbox every again. But it had to be done.

I was a serious Netflix junky when I joined in the early Aughties. I used the 3 out plan as if it was the 8 out plan. Because of my situation, my mailman would drop fresh titles in the slot around 10 a.m. and I could have 2 or all three in the 5 p.m. mailbox that evening. I had memorized the pick up times for every mailbox within two miles of my house. I became good pals with Teddy the Mailman. We’d talk a bit while he sorted all the deliveries into the apartment mailboxes. He gave me the tip to tape a “Knock Please” directly over the front doorbell so people wouldn’t wake up the newborn daughter. We exchanged Christmas gifts instead of me just leaving a seasonal tip.

Some people used Netflix rentals to burn their own copies of films. That wasn’t me
I was an avid viewer. A cinema and TV junky who lived for his daily fix. Netflix fed my habit like no other and at a reasonable price. After dealing with the $4 a day VHS rental, Netflix’s low monthly price was salvation. It really was an all you can eat buffet of images. I watched more films in those early years than my time at film school. Unlike VHS, DVD promised me proper aspect ratios so I was really seeing the film instead of a pan and scan glimpse. I was finally able to make a huge dent in the Psychotronic Film Guide. It was so easy to dig through an entire director’s work or pick through a genre. I could catch up on TV shows that I’d only heard about, but never glimpsed because of lame local TV programmers. My queue had 300 titles and I could turn those over in months instead of years.

In the beginning of our relationship, Netflix did its best to grab up all the DVDs that were being put out by major and minor distributors. They even had copies of the documentary I associate produced. Once I learned the secret of sending in DVDs on Saturday to ensure the new release titles arrived on Tuesday, it was bliss. This was heaven and the reason why I rarely stepped inside the local videostores to rent anything off the shelf. When all those stores shut down, I didn’t shed a tear. There would be no blues sung for Blockbuster as it went belly up. I was too busy drowning in a sea of red Netflix return envelopes.

But then Netflix CEO Jeff Hastings began to destroy all the things that made his company something I would defend in public. Slowly he stopped stocking all the titles that were coming out on DVD. The fresh cult items weren’t popping up on the queue. The ones he did have started to disappear. The maybe we’ll get it portion of my list grew rapidly as rare DVDs became extinct. He made deals with the major studios to stop offering new titles until a month after their release in retail stores. Somehow he wanted me to think that this was an amazing deal that I would embrace. Even when the new titles were offered, there seemed to be fewer copies offered. It would take months to finally have a fresh title come off the queue. Odds were high it’d arrive the same night of the HBO premiere. Hasting’s big focus was the streaming service.

This was the future of the company since it turned them into a true entertainment machine like Time-Warner, MTV Networks and Starz. You want to watch a movie without commercials, you could cut the cable TV cord (although not your cable modem) and just let Netflix entertain your evening. No longer would you have to wait days to see your movie or TV show. It was instant gratification. Netflix even makes its own shows like HBO and Showtime including “House of Cards,” “Orange Is the New Black” and the new season of “Arrested Development.” The original shows wouldn’t be made available to the Netflix members that just wanted to rent shiny discs. The DVD portion of the company became a burden to Hastings. He had to tolerate those old luddites who weren’t going to leap into the future of streaming. But he didn’t have to love us anymore.

While nobody at Netflix is going to admit it, the company seemed bent on making the DVD renter get frustrated and swap over. The company was sick of paying postage and employees that worked at the warehouses receiving and shipping the DVDs. So they let quality go to Hell. This is the same business strategy employed in the late ’80s by record companies when they screwed with vinyl to make sure we’d be happier just paying a little more to get the album on CD. Netflix would wait an extra day before claiming they’d received a DVD from me. I know that this was being done since I would send 2 discs in the same envelope and yet they arrived a day apart at the warehouse. More and more DVDs would show up looking like they’d been used as a beer coaster or with cracked inner holes. The quality control seemed to be a forgotten element. The lack of new titles became frustrating. Red Box would tease me at what I couldn’t get from Hastings. Netflix just wasn’t fun anymore. Which is the big reason why I went online and killed my membership.

I didn’t go cold turkey. A friend had left their password in my smart TV so I could watch the streaming version. But instead of being my new best friend, Netflix streaming became an annoying neighbor that teased me with promises and only came up with excuses when it counted.

The streaming version of Netflix became equally frustrating as the DVD version. Anytime my kid would ask about a movie that wasn’t in my personal stash, I’d naturally search for it in the Netflix catalogue. Instantly I’d be told that it didn’t exist, but they’d suggest something that the kid never desired as a substitute. Even the grown up titles seemed as frustratingly limited as the OnDemand selections offered by Cinemax. Every day a movie I wanted to watch would no longer be offered. Often I’d try to binge watch TV episodes only to get the second show to refuse to load up. Or the resolution quality would drop to VHS levels. Sure it was enjoyable to catch the new season of Arrested Development and the first season of House of Cards. But the seasons were short and you could watch them all in a day or two. Then what was I supposed to do for the rest of the month? Most of the time was waiting for that stupid “loading” bar to crap out on me. When my friend canceled their streaming account, I didn’t feel the need to even use the free trial month to extend the experience.

Netflix is embraced as the future of entertainment delivery, but for me, the company is in the past. It doesn’t feel like the brave solution for television. Hastints is the lame local TV programmer who acts like he’s so superior in taste when he’s purely pedestrian. But since he’s appealing to pedestrian crowd, Netflix won’t worry about falling down anytime soon. For me, I’ll just now mourn the loss of Dave’s Videodrome because it’s time to realize the destruction that I contributed to happening in a disruptive moment.

NFL SET FOR FALL

The NFL is riding high. The ratings at amazing. They make billions off their TV contracts. There seems to be no limit for growth. Except the ceiling is about to be hit. Think that’s unthinkable? Look at what happened to NASCAR.

The big thing that drives the sport appears to be Fantasy Football. It doesn’t seem like ESPN can do a single real player update without telling the viewers how it’ll affect their Fantasy Football team. Notice that sports announcers won’t reflect how a coach’s decision to go for a field goal instead of a touchdown will affect a betting line. Somehow Fantasy Football where a billion dollars is wagered by fans wanting to win their league isn’t viewed as a gambling operation by EPSN and the NFL Network. But Fantasy Football at its core is all about the money. Instead of picking if a team wins or loses, you get to create a mutual fund of players from different teams that can all be winners even if their team sucks. The person with the winning “team” gets the big bucks. At some point, people are going to tire of the fantasy game. This will happen the same way people tired of Boy Bands, MySpace and Robot Fighting. Their mothers will call them up for tips on who to draft and the game loses all its charm.

The second big threat to cause the league to go downhill is a reluctance for parents to let their kids play football. Mothers are finally understanding that concussions aren’t cool. That overbearing coaches who have the kids practicing in 100 degree weather with the warning that “water is for pussies” aren’t colorful. That junior high kids shouldn’t have the knees of an 80 year old grandmother. If Mom doesn’t want junior to be a football hero, who will be the NFL player 10 years down the road? The concussion business is only going to get worse as research gets clearer. We are now being told of guys who played 10 years in the pros getting brain damage that leads to depression and suicide. A few reports have gotten out about guys who only played in college having Hall of Fame symptoms. But there’s a lot of men who are suffering that merely played in high school. I know a couple men who have the same complaints as the pros of memory loss and depression, but never got a scholarship to a SEC school. They have fond memories of high school where their coach demanded they lead with their helmet during tackles. They had more concussions that dates with cheerleaders. They were told to walk it off when they had their bell rung.

When Robin Williams killed himself, did anybody ponder if his time playing high school football contribute to his depression? The family probably didn’t care about getting Williams’ head scanned for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. But he did play back when coaches didn’t give a crap about the health of students. Remember that most concussion occur during practice when players have to give their all so the coach knows they’re ready to play and not be on the bench.

The NFL is doing its best to make people ignore the whole concussion business by attempting to pay attention to it. The other night Roger Goodell and a few concerned mothers had a lame infomercial on the NFL Network insisting that it’s good to let your kid play football. It had all the in-depth sincerity of Vince pimping the Shamwow. Goodell wants to calm everyone’s fears without having to really do any of that science business. He must keep the feeder chain intact. He needs those Pop Warner kids to keep on coming. How about this, before a parent wants to decide if their kid should play football, maybe they can take a peek at Earl Campbell’s knees.

The Ray Rice ugliness is also causing people to question the point of football players. Goodell thought he was being a badass for suspending Rice for a whole two games after knocking out his future wife in an Atlantic City elevator. During a preseason game, the Baltimore Ravens fans gave Rice a big standing ovation when he hit the field. Who knew throwing a knockout punch at a loved one could make you beloved. The NFL spends so much time and money trying to make women embrace the sport. And yet the sport only suspends a guy for two games for beating up a prime demographic? Then when the inside the elevator footage gets leaked out, Goodell and the Ravens finally take what Rice did seriously. Maybe it was the whole spitting on a woman twice before knocking her out that got to Goodell? Such hypocrisy should be expected for a multi-billion corporation doing its best to protect the brand. Goodell learned nothing from Penn State. He did the least he could do to hide a nasty situation. The Ravens wanted their player back on the field. This is the same team and league that had no problem with Ray Lewis being part of a double homicide. ESPN now has to act like they were duped by their semi-support of Ray Rice. EPSN also had no problem hiring Ray Lewis and letting him talk about Ray Rice. Sure Lewis claims his situation is different. Lewis’ victims didn’t get to marry him.

NASCAR used to think it was never going to stop growing in popularity. It was poised to be the next NFL. Now their ratings are slumping. Fans are no longer coming out to the race track. NASCAR keeps changing their championship to excite the meh fans. And their star racer ran over a driver on a dirt track. Now it’s the NFL’s turn to realize the game can change.

VINEGAR SYNDROME

Graduation Day is an early stab at the slasher genre during the time of Friday 13th and Prom Night. The school year is wrapping up at Midvale High School, but there might be a few less students collecting their diplomas at the commencement ceremony. There’s a killer on the loose and it’ll be a bit of time before anyone realizes that these aren’t independent accidents. Who could have killed the school’s top female track star? There’s a lot of suspects especially ones still wearing leisure suits in 1981. The big star of the film is Christopher George (Rat Patrol) as the school’s driven track coach. The film was produced by Troma who had it originally distributed by Columbia Pictures. The movie was a huge hit back in 1981 when the kids were aching to see fellow students hunted down and killed by mysterious strangers. Today’s teens much prefer The Hunger Games where they get to hunt down and kill classmates. While Vinegar Syndrome has cleaned up the image for Blu-ray release, they’ve maintained the gritty feel to the low budget production. You’ll feel a bit dusty when the killer wanders through the dirty boiler room of the school. The musical moments really get to shine at the dance scene. The bonus features include interviews with star Patch MacKenzie, Director, Herb Freed, producer David Baughn and editor Martin Jay Sadoff. Baughn gives a commentary track along with one from The Hysteria Continues.

Peekarama: Cry for Cindy, Touch Me & Act of Confession is a triple feature from director Anthony Spinelli. The three films have a little fetish for everybody looking for a Times Square flashback. Cry For Cindy copes with the suicide of a call girl. What drove her to such a decision? Her funeral turns into stories about Cindy and the various things she did to make clients happy. Touch Me is a rather feel good story from Spinelli. A bunch of hot couples meet up for their encounter group. Except they do more than sit around in chairs, drink coffee and whine about their day. These people are ready to undress and face their mental issues that prevent them from experiencing total pleasure. This film seems like a great episode of HBO’s After Dark documentary series. Act of Confession is a fine piece of nunsplotation. A young woman gets ready to become a full time nun in the convent. To prepare herself for the major event, she makes sure she’s ready for a life that pays little mind to the libido and the desires of the flesh. Don’t watch this with your Holy Roller Great Aunt in the room. This one was transferred from the only surviving 16mm print so it’s a bit more grainy than the first two films. This give the movie the perfect forbidden feeling. The three films are spread over 2 DVDs to keep them looking better than when they were released in the early 1970s.

Peekarama: Mai Lin Vs. Serena & Oriental Hawaii is a double feature from director Carlos Tobalina. Mai Lin vs. Serena is a rather meta movie. The two starlets are in a competition to see which one of them can earn the right to star in Carlos Tobalina’s next major adult film. The two ladies do their darndest to top each other in how they can heat up the screen. Jade Wong and Herschel Savage get into the various demonstrations of pleasure. The joke of course is that both ladies are going to win since this is Tobalina’s movie. It’s kinda like Survivor except much more interesting than a bunch of unwashed people in the wilderness. Oriental Hawaii is a precursor to AirBnB. And older couple decide to make a little cash renting out the rooms in their house. They tell their grown children to share rooms or else. Well the else turns out to be an orgy with the new renters. They score a couple of college girls in the guise of May Lin and Jade Wong. These two women aren’t afraid of doing more than renting a bed in the house. Both films feature their trailers.

Prisoner of Paradise once more gives us that wonderful Polynesian sets that Bob Chinn gave introduced us to in Sadie. This time the set is being used for completely evil purposes. The new residents are Nazis operating in the Pacific. The only two things that can stop their evil plan is John Holmes and…John Holmes’s johnson. Holmes gets to flex his acting muscle by playing a sailor who ends up stranded on an uncharted island in ocean. He figures he’s just got to deal with the Japanese. But no. There amongst the islanders is an output of Hitler’s dream. Mainly a fat Nazi guy and his two hot assistants including the platinum blonde beauty of the legendary Seka. The things John Holmes has to do to save American in World War II should have given him a Presidential Medal of Something from Bill Clinton. Jade Wong also appears as one of the non-Nazis. Chinn’s wonderful set does its job of making things look more realistic than the normal adult feature period piece set.

BLU-RAY HEAVEN

The World Wars is the History Channel’s interesting way to connect World War I and World War II. The group biography follows how the major figures of World War II were transformed by their experiences in World War I. If you’re like an average student, World War I is the overlooked war. Mainly this is from an education system where American History classes ran out of school days right after the Civil War. World War II was something that always got attention on the weekends thanks to McHale’s Navy and Hogan’s Heroes. But World War I just lacked the public relations push to matter. Part of it can be blamed on the lack of color footage. Trench warfare just never had the same pull like an atomic bomb. But this great conflict which was original as “The War to End All Wars” shaped the men such as George Patton, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Benito Mussolini, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle and Adolph Hitler. This is not a six hour mini-series that will sum up everything you need to know about both Wars. People who were not listed previously will not get that much coverage. It is important to recognize what past experiences allowed Patton to view battles that gave him the attitude that powered his tank corp. There’s an hour worth of bonus footage that was cut from the film so your dad will want to watch it again. It’s good to see the History Channel didn’t try to connect all of these historically significant leaders to items being sold on Pawn Stars.

DVD SHELF

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Complete First Season is a rather amazing bit of action television. The series picks up where The Avengers left off. Although this is a semi-alternate universe where the major superheroes are only discussed. The agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. must deal with the up and coming superheroes. The crew is led by Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). This leads to a major mystery since Agent Coulson didn’t do so well during The Avengers. There are a few cameos from the big Marvel movie stars including Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders). The team hopes around the world in a special plane that includes Coulson’s prize Corvette. The show works because it’s able to get audiences used to characters that just might crop up in the upcoming Marvel major movies. There’s a major geek out moment when Patton Oswald appears. The show allows viewers to get a greater sense of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s work atmosphere when Captain America isn’t in the building. As the season progresses, the office politics grows nasty. Turns out some people at the company might have lied on their resumes and still are working for their evil corporation. The final episodes see Coulson and his youthful crew fighting against other people in business suits for control of their destiny. The show works on the same level as The X-Files and The 4400 when it comes to dealing with the unknown in human form.

Here’s a little behind the scenes action that’s one of the bonus features on the boxset.

Prisoners of War: Season Two is 14 more episodes of the series that Showtime’s Homeland is based on. If you’re a fan of Homeland, don’t avoid this show for the fear that it’ll somehow spoil the adventures of Carrie Mathison. The folks behind Homeland have not been merely translating the Hebrew scripts. Prisoners of War starts out differently with two Israeli military POWs returning home with the remains of their friend who was on a secret mission in Lebanon. The season starts off with the stunning news that the remains don’t belong to the dead soldier. The show focuses on the two men attempting to regain their former life after 17 years away. The duo also have to deal with what they’ve become at the hands of their captors. Are they a threat to Israel? It’s a riveting show that will elevate your Homeland experience. The dialogue is subtitled for those who don’t understand Hebrew. There have only been two seasons produced and aired of the series so you’ve caught up with the viewers in the Holy Land. Supposedly Season three is being written at this time. The bonus features include interview with the actors and a commentary track from the show’s creator Gideon Raff.

Dynasty: The Final Season – Volume One & Volume Two brings to an end the feud between Carringtons and Colbys. How could this have happened? The easy answer was that the Reagan era was coming to an end. The easier answer was that ABC no longer wanted to pay for the expensive production that wasn’t scoring the massive ratings. The sad answer is that Dynasty had one of its best seasons with a producer poached from Dallas figuring out how to make compelling narratives even with major cast issues. Linda Evans had already announced that she was bowing out this season. Joan Collins’ pricetag meant the show could only afford her for 13 of the 22 episodes. The new producer and his crew set to work with these major restraints. They figured out the proper gimmick for Linda’s Krsytle to spend more time in the show without appearing in episodes. John Forsythe (Bachelor Uncle) spends a lot more time with the kids on the show. This is a good move since it means more time with Heather Locklear and Emma Samms. Plus they bring in Stephanie Beacham as Sable Colby to sizzle in Denver. Now that Dynasty has wrapped up, can we see the two seasons of The Colbys get released on DVD?

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella: 50th Anniversary Edition brings the classic TV to DVD. This is a simply lovely production that aired on CBS. This musical is perfect for those who dream of going from scrubbing the floors to being the loveliest girl at the royal ball. Lesley Ann Warren is perfect as both the ashen girl being kept down by her stepmother and stepsisters and the transformed beauty. The music is grand on a Broadway scale. Ginger Rogers and Walter Pidgeon are stellar as the King and Queen. Celeste Holm is magical as the Fairy Godmother. Stuart Damon is so fetch as the Prince. There’s such a joy that comes from the musical that’s still irresistible after half a century. The show was shot on videotape, but looks rather sharp. The DVD’s bonus feature is a featurette with Warren and Damon discussing their magical fairytale romance before the cameras.

My Little Pony – Friendship Is Magic: Spooktacular Pony Tales are six episodes that are perfect for little one wanting equine scares for the Halloween season. “Boast Busters,” “Stare Master,” “Luna Eclipsed,” “Sleepless In Ponyville,” Caste Mane-ia” and “Bats!” will make you shake your hoofs in fear. There needs to be a warning that small kids watching this DVD set will come up with a more complex Halloween costume than originally planned. My daughter is now hinting that she wants to be Rainbow Dash and a vampire at the same time. The big bonus feature is a sing-along song that’s perfect for the kids to scream out when it comes time to go trick or treating.

Perry Mason Movie Collection has released the three double feature DVDs individually that were boxed up for Volume Two. Double Feature 4 includes: “The Case of the Scandalous Scoundrel” puts Perry and Della Street (Barbara Hale) on the cover of a tabloid for an alleged affair. Robert Guillaume (Benson) is the publisher spreading such a lie. When he ends up dead, Perry must find the real killer. William Katt (The Greatest American Hero) is Paul Drake Jr, Perry’s main investigator. “The Case of the Avenging Ace” puts Larry Wilcox (CHiPs) in cuffs for homicide. Erin Gray (Buck Rogers) and Patty Duke (The Patty Duke Show) are tangled in the military intrigue. Double Feature 5 includes: “The Case of the Lethal Lesson” and “The Case of the Lady in the Lake” which busts David Hasselhoff for killing his rich wife. What? The Hoff? There’s more hunk on the screen with the arrival of John Beck (Rollerball). Still it’s the young Hof in serious trouble and not a cheeseburger in sight. Double Feature 6 includes “The Case of the Musical Murder” has a Broadway director dying and an underling behind bars. Somehow Jerry Orbach and Debbie Reynolds might be part of the encore for elimination. “The Case of the All-Star Assassin” has a hated pro sports team owner found dead. Nobody loved the guy. What sort of major sports team owner can be so hated? The star guests include Deidre Hall, Bruce Greenwood (Exotica), Shari Belafonte and Pernell Roberts. Volume 4 with the next 6 cases is due out October 7.

State Trooper: The Complete Series brings the excitement of cases from the Nevada State Police. The show recreates major crimes that get covered by Officer Rod Blake (played by Rod Cameron). The series ran from 1956 to ’59 so it reminds us of all the glorious crime that happened during those Happy Days. Rod gets a little help from local sheriffs played by Robert Armstrong and Don Haggerty. If you’re a fan of vintage crime show, this will be pure law and order bliss over the course of 104 half hour episodes. There’s plenty of guest stars wrapped in the lawbreaking. You’ll get a glimpse of Claude Akins (Sheriff Lobo), Lee Va Cleef (The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), Deforest Kelley (Star Trek), Jeanette Nolan, Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty) and Carolyn Jones (The Addams Family). Even though State Trooper had more than enough episodes to keep itself in syndication for decades like Highway Patrol and Dragnet, this is my first exposure to the show. Perhaps it was kept off the air by the Nevada tourism mob. Why would they want America knowing about all the crime about Las Vegas and Reno? The cool bonus DVD gives us various Westerns that had Rod Cameron guesting including Tales of Wells Fargo, The Men From Shiloh and Alias Smith and Jones. Timeless once more has introduced me to a show that TVLand forgot.

The Curse of Oak Island: Season 1 is the History Channels’ series about a small island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Rick and Marty Lagina have bought up most of the island. They’re obsessed with the story of buried treasure on their property. The legend has it that seven people must die on the island for the secret location to be reveled. So far only six people have dropped dead on the rock. Sadly History Channel didn’t go Battle Royale on the Lagina brothers with a Thunderdome edict that only one brother shall live. The brothers do their best to find the treasure without beating to death an unsuspecting hobo either. They explore various landmarks on the island including the mine shaft. They even go to major terraforming extremes to uncover unseen territory. They find out quite a bit about the property during their explorations over the five episodes. The DVD set includes 25 minutes that weren’t shown on TV as the big bonus feature.

Burning Blue is a trip back to Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the military. The movie plays out Tarantino’s hunch that Top Gun is gay cinema on the downlow. Two top U.S. Navy pilots get drawn into one military investigation only to have the true nature of their relationship exposed. Can their military conduct breaking forbidden love survive the crash and burn? The movie does a fine job of mixing the dangers of being a military pilot with the fear of allowing others to know their true desires. The bonus features include a commentary track from director DMW Greer. There’s several deleted scenes and a featurette. The DVD includes the ability to access the Ultravoilet stream and download.

Transformers: Beast Machines – The Complete Series is the follow up series to Transformers: Beast Wars. The show ran in 1999 for 26 episodes that deal with Optimus Primal and his crew returning to Cybertron. Instead of getting a hero’s welcome, they find a rather deserted place. What has happened? A deadly virus has struck and they quickly learn has infected them. Thankfully they are saved by a rebooting into technorganic warriors. This is good because Megatron had taken control of the streets using evil robots. Besides the usual battles outside, the Transformers must deal with the organic issues in their technological bodies. The series does its best to be a bit more adult entertainment and less motion catalog for moving more Transformers products. The CGI looks impressive for its time.

The Big Sleep is best remembered by me as playing in the same Twin theater as Star Wars back in 1978. There was not much desire in me to see a remake of a Humphrey Bogart classic. Robert Mitchum (The Friends of Eddie Coyle) was not going to keep me from seeing Han Solo. So I wrote it off. The film received a bit of a revival when Ray Regis ran it one night back at the NC School of the Arts as part of his Film Noir class. I will not fault my younger self for dismissing it. This is a film that requires a bit of age since Mitchum on the cusp of losing his prime. Director Michael Winner is best known for Charles Bronson flicks such as The Mechanic and Death Wish does his best to transfer the plot to England. The movie sticks with Raymond Chandler’s tale of a family being blackmailed and needing private detective Sam Spade to stop it. The cast is star studded. Jimmy Stewart is the father of Sarah Miles and Candy Clark (The Man Who Fell to Earth). Joan Collins (The Bitch) is part of the scam. Oliver Reed (Gladiator) and Richard Boone (Have Gun – Will Travel) might want to trump Spade. The adaptation doesn’t suffer by making the action take place in the ’70s instead of flashingback to 1930s. They also are able to have things be a bit more edgy on screen than what Bogart was allowed. It’s R rated for a reason. The bonus features include a trailer, a vintage behind the scenes and a commentary track from Winner who passed away back in 2013. The movie works well for fans of Film Noir who want to see something more contemporary with a little color.

BERLIN – There’s a comical joy when Me-TV and Antenna TV announce their upcoming Fall season’s schedules and viewers freak out. The two channels run shows from the ’50s to the ’80s so they really aren’t offering anything new. These two channels have done a fine job of attracting the audience that TVLand has ignored. They’re shuffling the deck of classics with a few semi-forgotten titles that deserve a larger audience. Even when they drop a show, odds are that it will return in a few years.

However viewers freak out with every change. Thanks to social media, all the ‘”how dare you mess with my show” complaints are easily accessible. Each tease about a “new” show coming to either channel (and Cozi-TV) are greeted with a mad battle between viewers. It’s a mini-“Save Star Trek” movement when Adam-12 vanishes from the dial (although it’s going to another digital substation). People freak out when their show disappears from Netflix streaming, Hulu or other services as if any of these outlets will contain the same shows until the day you check out of the hospice.

Rarely does anyone chime in with “Guess I’ll have to buy the complete series on DVD.” Which ought to be the proper response to anyone who care enough about the show to whine directly to the station. A lot of times the complete series on DVD isn’t that expensive. All five seasons of Charlie’s Angels currently can be nabbed for $25. If you need your Farrah fix, it’s all ready to be enjoyed without 20 commercials for medical supplies and cheap insurance. Or are you addicted to reverse home mortgages?

It’s understandable that people would be upset at the removal of shows that haven’t been released on DVD. And it’s hard to fault people for not recording all the episodes since the DVR has made that impossible. The replacement for the video recorder won’t record 100 episodes of the same show. Even if it did, they hard drive would crash and everything vanishes at once. You’re stuck staring at a blank screen. It’s painful. I’ve had it happen. All those episodes that have yet to see the light of a shiny disc. But the number of shows that aren’t on DVD will be getting incredibly small in the coming months. A lot of wish list items are pre-order realities before Christmas.

CBS DVD is packaging together a bunch of shows for complete series boxsets including Charmed, Family Ties, Beauty and the Beast, The Tudors, Reno 911! and Taxi are due out before the Christmas rush. Those boxsets alone give you a wider variety of programming than 95% of all cable channels that seem to exist with reruns of their top show.

Batman The Complete Series Limited Edition Blu-ray (Nov 11) is an answer to my prayers since they started putting out Blu-rays. A few people are grousing online that the boxset is priced too high. We’re talking about a chance to see Julie Newmar in high definition. I’m already crying at her impending beauty in a 1080p resolution. Those curves in her Catwoman suit are going to slice apart my TV screen. Don’t call my house when this arrives in the mail. I will be ignoring the world as I worship the feline goddess.

Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Complete Series (Oct. 21) brings the most insane Saturday morning show to blu-ray. This is the only kid show where I’ve been told by a puppeteer that they were doing drugs while making it. Why doesn’t this get rerun on normal TV channels? The answer is simple: It’s not normal. The Blu-ray promises to bring out all the color insanity and details that couldn’t be exposed on the DVDs.

WKRP in Cincinnati: The Complete Series (Oct. 28) is another set that was screwed up and abandoned after only the first of its four seasons came out a few years back. But now it’s back and Shout! Factory has been doing it’s hardest to clear the various songs that played on the series. The original season one DVDs were chopped up to the point of pure pain. There’s excitement in getting to see the full Dr. Johnny Fever epic. Not to mention the joy that is Loni Anderson in her prime.

Sgt. Bilko – The Phil Silvers Show: The Complete Series (Nov. 4) promises to let my DVR do less work since it’ll no longer have to record Bilko in the wee hours on Me-TV. Bilko was given a compilation and single season release before being backburnered. What a tease for one of the great military comedies. Now all four years will be in a single box. No more waiting to see if the next season will be released.

The Jeffersons: The Complete Series (Dec. 9) gives us all the love of George and Weezie in their deluxe apartment in the sky. This promises to be a heavy box since the show lasted 11 seasons. No news if there will be a bonus feature dealing with Sherman Hemsley’s love of prog rock bands.

Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series is already out so you can get your complete Sweathogs fix. This was also a show that originally had the first season released in 2007 and then was abandoned. Fans were rather upset at the absence of the three remaining seasons. Shout! Factory has stepped in to give it a complete boxset. But cease the whining and bitterness. Welcome Back, Kotter takes us back to a time when Brooklyn was not run by douchebag trust fund kids wearing tiny hats and worshipping Lena Dunham. The Brooklyn of 1975 was a rough affair. Mr. Kotter (Gabe Kaplan) was an aspiring teacher who had his worst nightmare happen by being assigned to James Buchanan High School. This was the same school that he had terrorized as a student. Even after all these years, his old gang the Sweathogs still has memorable members. Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta) was the handsome goofball in charge of them. Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillo) was the class clown with a laugh only Fran Drescher could love. Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington (Lawrence HIlton-Jacobs) was the suave athletic member. Juan Epstein (Robert Hegyes) was the neighborhood threat with a note from his mother for all excuses. It’s funny to think that TV stations and concerned viewers feared this quartet would glorify gangs in school. These guys were lovable lunkheads instead of violent, drug dealing hoodlums. The show became an immediate sensation since they were a little more edgy than the gang on Happy Days.

The boxset has all 95 episodes that were made over it’s four year run. The first three were the glory days. They’d open with Gabe telling a family related joke to his wife Julie (Marcia Strassman). The catchy theme song by John Sebastian would give the flavor of Brooklyn life. Gabe would show up at school and get the business from the Sweathogs and Vice Principal Mr. Woodman (John Sylvester White). Gabe would do his best to inspire the Sweathogs. Eventually something would stick on them to make them better people. It was an entertaining formula.

The fourth season is a portrait on how everything can go wrong to a successful show and kill a shot at the prized fifth season. The first thing that happened was John Travolta becoming a major movie star. He dominated theaters with Saturday Night Fever and Grease. Unlike Michael J. Fox, Travolta wasn’t going to waste a hot year playing Vinnie. He only made it to 8 episodes. Kaplan got into a nasty contract fight with executive producer James Komack which also limited his appearances. For some reason they decided to make Julie work at the school. They also brought on the New Orleans relocated Beau De LaBarre (Stephen Shortridge) to take up Barbarino’s desk space. This was not a good move since Shortridge looked older than Mr. Woodman. Making matters even worse, Komack replaced the entire writing staff. The show was moved from its timeslot to make space for Mork and Mindy. The season was such a disaster that Nick at Nite held back on these episodes when they reran Kotter. But it’s a good thing to watch the episodes since they’re such glorious disasters. It’s easier to watch them on DVD since you don’t have to sit through all the commercials to get to the Brooklyn messes. Unlike earlier boxsets from Shout!, there are few bonus features. Hegyes and Palillo died in 2012 so they weren’t around for commentary tracks. Kaplan was probably busy playing Poker. The two bonus features are from the original season one release. A short documentary interviews most of the cast about the show. There are also the screen tests for the Sweathogs. Delving through the boxset, it’s easy to feel welcomed back.

SCREAM FACTORY

The Legend of Hell House is an impressive haunted mansion flick from 1973. A rich old man wants to know if there’s life after death. He pays scientist Lionel Burnett (Clive Revill) a fortune to spend a week in the “Mount Everest of haunted houses.” Lionel brings along two psychics. Florence Tanner (Pamela Franklin) is a spiritual psychic who is new to the game. Ben Fischer (Planet of the Apes‘ Roddy McDowall) is a physical medium who was the only one to escape a previous visit to Belasco House. Burnett’s wife also joins him since she loves him. Turns out that Emeric Belasco was a rich hedonist who had no limits to what he enjoyed in his mansion. He doesn’t want to merely scare the ladies in his house. He wants to ghostly seduce them. This is an erotic possession. The script was written by Richard Matheson based on his book. He gets away with quite a bit of naughtiness for a PG rated film. This isn’t for teens. The film has a great Hammer Horror feel with the fog wrapped around the mansion and the proper amount of cobwebs. The bonus features include an interview with director John Hough and audio of Pamela Franklin talking about being seduced by a ghost. Legend is legendary.

Without Warning dares to show what happens when four groovy teens take their van up to the lake and encounter an invasion of character actors. David Caruso, Lynn Theel, Tarah Nutter and Christopher S. Nelson refuse to listen to Jack Palance (Ripley’s Believe It or Not). They have no idea that Cameron Mitchell and his kid have been attacked by living alien throwing stars. They should have known that Larry Storch (F Troop) and a pack of Cub Scouts were taken over by the alien. The teens just want to have a little fun in the water. But very quickly they learn that sometimes you need to listen to over the top actors. Besides the alien lurking in the woods, the kids have to deal with Martin Landau (Mission: Impossible). He’s in full losing it Vietnam Vet mode. When him and Palance go at it, this is the second coming of King Kong vs. Godzilla. They made Neville Brand (The Untouchables) look like a minimalist performer. The film is great in a cheesy ’80s kids in trouble with aliens mode. What’s amazing is that Palance and Landau would both win Oscars years after their thrilling face off. The film looks fine thanks to the cinematography talent of Dean Cundey. He went on to shoot Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and Roger Rabbit. What’s interesting is that this is the first time Without Warning has been legally released on home video. How can a horror/sci-fi film from 1980 had missed out on Beta, VHS and laserdisc? This is a movie whose cult is based on odd HBO screenings and a lot of passed around hometapes. The film does need a major warning that your HDTV might be damaged by the extremely pasty skin of David Caruso.

Pumpkinhead: Collector’ Edition is what happened when special effects wizard Stan Winston was finally given a chance to direct his own creation. Winston was on a hot streak in the ’80s with his creature creations for Aliens, Terminator and Predator. So people were eager to see his own horrific vision. He brought along Lance Hendriksen (Aliens) to give his vision a good start. Lance is a simple guy living out in the boonies running a gas station with his son in the middle of nowhere. Naturally a bunch of loser kids from the city come out to go nuts on their motorcycles. Something goes wrong and Lance is furious. He wants revenge against the yuppie scum. He goes to a witchy woman to conjure a beast that will do his will. Lance discovers that while Pumpkinhead can do his bidding, there’s a harsh price. Pumpkinhead has a good old time tracking down the kids. The bonus features help elevate the movie. “Pumpkinhead Unearthed” is an hour long documentary about what went into letting Stan finally direct. “A Tribute to Stan Winston” lets his associates remember how he made them part of his team. Stan passed away back in 2008. The screenwriter and members of the effects team contribute the audio commentary. Pumpkinhead has run as part of Cinema Overdrive and was a great crowd pleaser.

Motel Hell: Collector’s Edition is a film about quaint hotels and artisan food. The film has built a great cult following over the years simply because of the amazing title. Who wouldn’t appreciate that spin on the videostore shelf? The film combines the joys of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Psycho which makes sense since both movies are about Ed Gein. The Motel Hello is run by Farmer Vincent (Mr. Burn’s favorite star Rory Calhoun) and his sister (Porky’s Nancy Parson). Beside offering a sweet place to rest your head, Farmer Vincent has the best smoked meats around. What’s his secret? John Ratzenberger (Cliff on Cheers) learns the hard way. The Farmer harvests weary travelers on the road. He just doesn’t go all Cannibal Holocaust on the people. He has his way of getting things just right. Farmer Vincent has trouble when takes a liking to one of his victims (Nina Axelrod) . He nurses her back to health, but this might be the death of the Farmer if she uncovers his secret operation in the barn. Rory is great as the cannibal bed and breakfast links guy. Wolfman Jack does a supernatural job as a tv preacher in a white suit. Director Kevin Connor does the audio commentary to discuss the tone of the film. He also talks on camera for interviews that include the writers, producers and cinematographer. A piece pays tribute to Ida Smith. There’s also chats with actors remembering their time in the barn. The transfer looks so much better than the Midnite Movie Double Feature DVD. Also includes a Blu-ray.

Phantom of the Paradise: Collector’s Edition is the ultimate way to enjoy an amazing musical that deserves its cult following. Brian de Palma and Paul Williams (Smokey and the Bandit) teamed up for a tale of the evils of the rock and roll industry. Winslow Leach (William Finley) is a serious singer songwriter whose musical based on Faust catches the ear of recording wiz kid Swan (Paul Williams). But their partnership ends quick when Swan steals the songs and gets Winslow stuck in prison. Winslow escapes and attempts to stop the pressing of his music. This goes wrong and the disfigured Winslow ends up haunting Swan’s Paradise theater. The only thing he desires is for Phoenix (Jessica Harper) to sing his songs. Swan wants the overpowering Beef (Gerrit Graham) to belt them out. Like all creative differences, this won’t end nice. The Blu-ray gives more bonus feature than a hardcore Winnipeg fanatic would desire. A French documentary covers the film with the key cast and crew. There’s new interviews with de Palma and Williams. There’s an additional interview with Williams done by Guillermo Del Toro. They have alternate takes. They show the original Swan Song footage that had to be covered up after Led Zeppelin’s Peter Grant disapproved. This is a must buy for fans and people who are intrigued by the trailer.

VINEGAR SYNDROME

Drive In Collection: In Search of Bigfoot & Cry Wilderness delves into the ’70s fixation with sasquatch that ended up with him being a regular on The Six Million Dollar Man. And the creature is back with people on cable channels looking for him. This double feature shows where he’d been originally tracked. In Search of Bigfoot is a documentary about Bob Morgan’s three month expedition in the Washington woods looking for footprints, clumps of fur and feces. He talks with people that claim they’ve encountered the hairy creature. But it doesn’t seem like he’ll have a spotting. Cry Wilderness is a fictional account of people meeting Bigfoot. This is a weird film about Bigfoot spiritually linking with a kid. Somehow the creature knows when the kid’s dad is in trouble. The film is weird which makes sense when you realize it’s from the same people who gave you Night Train to Terror. Both films are safe for family viewing if you have bigfoot fanatics in the house.

Peekarama: The Ultimate Pleasure & I Am Always Ready is a double feature from director Carlos Tobalina. The movie has a plot about a couple having relationship issues. She’s rather cold. He gets hot when a guy dies in his cab and leaves behind a suitcase full of cash. He eventually uses it to get them treatment. This therapy mainly consists of her taking a drug and getting freaky with the staff. Who can’t see that sort of care working out for all involved? Paul Thomas (Jesus Christ Superstar) has a role. This film has the strangest moment when the “AIDS Ambulance Service” arrives to pick up a guy in San Francisco in 1977. Talk about a company that needed a new name in a few months. I Am Always Ready sounds like the motto most of the actors on this film told the director to get the part. A rich woman decides to make her own adult movie and top it off with her hooking up with John Holmes. The real highlight of the film is when the Gong Show‘s Unknown Comic pitches in. The woman sounds like Rona Barrett.

Peekarama: Gail Palmer’s Tropic of Desire & Fantasy World brings us back to the question: Did Gail Palmer really make these films? Seems that Bob Chinn was the man behind the woman. Tropic of Desire has amazing sets that appear to have been repurposed from Chinn’s Sadie (also available from Vinegar Syndrome). There’s no real issue with them reusing the sets since they looked good the first time around. Now they’re used to create a brothel on a tropical island. The sailors arrive for a good time. The plot doesn’t overburden the action. There’s intimate scenes with the couples hooking up to swing music. It’s rather sophisticated feel. Fantasy World uses some of the sailors set up to take us on a liberty break in San Francisco. Fantasy World is a dirty theater that lures guests onto the stage to live their fantasies. Paul Thomas sings the theme song. This double feature shows Chinn and his crew cared about making things look good on the screen. The bonus features are trailers for both films.

Peekarama: Purely Physical & Cathouse Fever explores the early ’80s output of Chris Warfield. Purely Physical tells of a young woman who gets a job as the night clerk at a motel. Turns out most of the people checking in aren’t using the beds for sleeping. Fans of the classics will enjoy the scene with Aunt Peg. She does a solo scene after night clerk refuses to join in the fun. Eventually she decides to take advantage of her employee discount. Cathouse Fever is a disease that needs a telethon to help pay for tab at the Bunny Ranch. An update secretary (Becky Savage) quits her job and moves to Nevada to live the dream of being a legal hooker. It doesn’t really look like they left Los Angeles to make the film. There’s some fun with sound effects in a few scenes to pump up the comic moments. The joy in the film is how they rip off Ted Nugent’s “Cat Scratch Fever” in the trailer. The spoof improves the song.

BLU-RAY HEAVEN

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is the post-Avengers outing for the military superhero. This movie quickly has become one of my favorites of the recent Marvel outings. Captain America (Chris Evans) is having a bit of an identity crisis. He’s getting frustrated with his work with S.H.I.E.L.D. He doesn’t like how Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) doesn’t give a full picture of their missions. Agent Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johnansson) always has her own orders. Before he can get too frustrated at the organization, someone does an ambush on Fury in the middle of D.C. traffic. A hitman known as the Winter Soldier is in town and means business. He kills Fury and Robert Redford takes control of the agency. It’s a conspiracy film where Redford might be the puppet master instead of the exposing agent as he did in All the President’s Men and Three Days of the Condor. The action is extremely over the top which is great. Captain gets a fighting pal in Sam Wilson. Anthony Mackie). The man knows how to work a wingpack. Eventually he becomes the Falcon. Mackie was at NCSA when I was there. It’s good to see an alumni getting to soar on the big screen. The film is a complete thrill ride with Captain America at the helm. It’s been a good year for Evans between this and Snow Piercer.

Rosemary’s Baby stars Zoe Saldana is the 3 hour miniseries that ran on NBC. This is a good version to watch if you don’t want to explain Roman Polanski to your children. The miniseries changes things around so that Rosemary (Zoe) and her husband (Patrick J. Adams) are now living in Paris instead of New York City. They’re still a young couple eager to make it in an expensive city. They quickly fall in with a rich and powerful couple that are eager to help them in various ways. Of course little does Rosemary know what’s expected in return. She’s excited to finally be pregnant, but gets anxious that their new friends want the baby. Saldana does a fine job stepping into Mia Farrow’s iconic role. The Blu-ray comes with a Digital HD Ultraviolet access so you can watch it from a hospital’s maternity ward.

The Quiet Ones is another spooker from the revived Hammer films. The story takes us back to 1974 when Hammer was still making flicks with Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. In place of them we get Jared Harris (Mad Men) as a professor leading a group of students on an experiment. They want to find out if a young girl is possessed, evil or just stuck with an unknown disease. They break out the cutting edge media recording devices of ’74 to capture this on film. It’s got quite a few jolts as the girl gets to unleash on her observers. This is supposedly based on a real event. Director John Pogue gives a commentary track. There’s also a documentary about making the film and the opening. There’s a digital HD ultraviolet stream and download in case you need a fright away from home.

DVD SHELF

Newhart: The Complete Fourth Season marks the first time the show didn’t have any major changes. The cast was set for the rest of its 8 season run. Bob Newhart turns Dick Loudon into a man who runs a rustic Stratford Inn, writes a book and hosts a talkshow on a local TV station. Even with so much to do his wife Joanna (Mary Frann) has time to make changes in their life. Handyman George (Tom Poston) keeps up his strange ways. Stephanie (Julia Duffy) keeps dodging her housekeeping duties. Michael (Peter Scolari) keeps up the trouble with his yuppie ways. Don’t forget frequent visits from Larry, Darryl and Darryl. “Pirate Pete” makes Bob a substitute for the kiddie show host. However Bob’s changes to the format screw things up at the station. “Candidate Larry” puts an unlikely candidate for mayor on the ballot. He promises a critter in every pot. “The Geezers in the Band” reminds Bob that he’s getting old when his wild jazz pals arrive for a timid time. “Write to Privacy” has Stephanie read Michael’s diary. “The Shape of Things” introduces America to Stephancizes. This episode has Mary Frann in spandex. This is another fine season for a sitcom that really does go up there with The Bob Newhart Show.

Martial Arts Movie Marathon 2 includes four more Hong Kong action films that will enhance your Chop Socky diet. The Fate of Lee Khan is the classic tale of fighters during a Civil War having a major throwdown. This is another installment in the Angela Mao Ying retrospective Shout! Factory has been doing. Shaolin Boxers is the classic tale of a school training fighters with the hopes of taking on the goons that are making villagers live in fear. James Tien of Fist of Fury and The Big Boss is the star. The Young Dragons marks the arrival of John Woo as a feature film director. If you forget his recent junky Hollywood pics, this is an exciting thing to see. He’s grasping his bullet ballets that made The Killer and Hard-Boiled amazing masterpieces. A gang terrorizes a small town and kills the cop. His daughter vows revenge on the goons. The Shaolin Plot is about a fighter who lies in order to get his hands on various guides to fighting. He might have gone too far when he arrives at the Shaolin Temple in disguise. Sammo Hung and Tien star in the film. This marathon is a great way to spend the time between weekend football games.

Perry Mason Movie Collection Volume 3 is another 6 episodes from Raymond Burr’s return as the greatest lawyer ever. Secretary Della Street (Barbara Hale) and investigator Ken Malansky (William R. Moses) are his main support team. “The Case of the Poisoned Pen” exposes a bestselling author as a book thief. He’s so evil that even Cindy Williams (Laverne and Shirley) is considered a suspect. “The Case of the Desperate Deception” lets Perry Mason meet Ian McShane (Deadwood) in England. “The Case of the Silenced Singer” puts Rex Smith in a grave his widow as the prime suspect. Angela Bassett and Vanessa Williams get to share the screen. “The Case of the Defiant Daughter” teams up ’60s spy idols Robert Culp (I Spy) and Robert Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.). “The Case of the Ruthless Reporter” brings back Philip Michael Thomas (Miami Vice) as the sports anchor who might have killed someone at a TV station. “The Case of the Maligned Mobster” makes Perry prove a kingpin didn’t kill his wife. There’s still two more sets of Perry Mason movies to come. It’s nice to see Raymond Burr bringing the role into the ’90s.

Gunsmoke: The Tenth Season – Volume 1 & Volume 2 brings the show to it’s halfway point since it lasted two decades on the air. They still haven’t reached the time the show used color film. These are still hour long black and white episodes. The 36 episodes from 1964 focus on the major figures of Dodge City: Marshall Matt Dillon (James Arness), Doc (Milburn Stone),Kitty (Amanda Blake), Quint Asper (Burt Reynolds) and Festus (Ken Curtis). “Blue Heaven” has Kurt Russell (Overboard) as a runaway kid coming into town. “Crooked Mile” has Quint bullwhipped by George Kennedy. Why? Cause George doesn’t want his daughter spending time with him. “Hung High” brings Robert Culp to an execution. “Jonah Hutchinson” features Richard Anderson (Bionic Woman) dealing with family issues. As mandated by the FDA, “Innocence” features Claude Akins (Sheriff Lobo). ‘Song for Dying” gives Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) a chance at Dodge City greatness. Strange to think that there’s still another season of black and white episodes. CBS really didn’t like color televisions.

Escape to Grizzly Mountain isn’t quite a Grizzly Adams movie, but it really is. It’s a time travelling tale about Jimmy (Miko Hughes) wanting to save a baby bear from a circus. He finds a time tunnel that can take the bear back to 1841. Trouble happens though when a woodsman named Jeremiah (Dan Haggerty) comes through to modern times and gets to experience a shopping mall. Remember that Dan Haggerty isn’t playing Grizzly Adams. He’s a whole different character who will appeal to fans of Grizzly Adams.

Home Is Where the Heart Is about two people with wounded dreams uniting down in Texas. A hometown girl returns after her Hollywood dreams don’t turn out. She arrives at her mother’s funeral and gets the shock of a half-sister. Even more traumatic is that she’s now the legal guardian. The only thing making her feel good is an ex-NFL player. The two seem to bond over their fates. They come up with a way to revitalize their town. Except the plan hits a snag when something really goes wrong. John C. McGinley has a supporting role. He still has his Scrubs charm. It’s a fine family drama about broken dreams and saving what means the most to you.

The Men From Shiloh Special Edition wasn’t a new Western series. This was the final season of The Virginian complete with The Virginian (James Drury) as part of the cast. This ninth season has a bit of change in that the Shiloh Ranch has a new owner in Colonel Alan MacKenzie (Stewart Granger). He’s an Englishman so there’s a bit of learning the ropes in his storylines. There’s also an immediate change in the opening titles to reflect the arrival of the Spaghetti Westerns. This show was a bit more able to deal with it since it ran in a 90 minute timeslot. They made 24 feature films for the final season. The producers were able to hire Ennio Morricone to compose a new theme song. Along with keeping The Virginian, Trampas (Doug McClure) was back. In a surprise, they brought on Lee Majors as Roy Tate. Majors had just wrapped up The Big Valley so he knew his way around a horse. He grew a mustache for the role so people wouldn’t confuse him for Heath Barkley. The show dealt with the four figures not quite working together. There were plenty of guest stars. Desi Arnaz appears in “The Best Man.” Janet Leigh arrives for Jenny. Anne Francis makes her mole felt in “Gun Quest.” James Gregory and Ricardo Montalban team up for “Last of the Comancheros.” The show did well in the ratings so there’s no slippage in script quality. The name change without the Virginian riding off made it an odd way to go out.

Locke is a driving film on all levels. Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) gets behind the wheel and his life completely changes. He plays Ivan Locke, a family man who is well respected in the concrete game. Except in barely 90 minutes, he abandons his job and family to do what he considers is right. He also thinks he can put everything else right. His solitary journey across England has him talking to his wife, boss, son, co-worker and the woman that’s changing everything for him. Hardy does a exceptional job in keeping up the energy in basically a one man show on wheels. This ought to be considered the prequel to Hardy’s upcoming turn in Mad Max: Fury Road. There’s a digital copy so you can watch this while driving the same roadways as Locke. Writer-director Steven Knight contributes a commentary.

The Marx Brothers TV Collection contains what the brothers did in the ’50s and ’60s on television. Groucho, Chico and Harpo weren’t content with just being faces on the late night movie with their classic comedies. They still had plenty to offer on various TV shows as guest actors and just being guests. “The General Electric Theater: The Incredible Jewel Robbery” is the last time the brothers appeared in one show. The special has Harpo and Chico on a confusing crime spree that pays off in the end. Also at the end is a visit from Groucho that blows away the quiet production. The 3 DVD collection has dozens of show that the brothers can turn upside down without much effort. They brothers end up on celebrity sports shows about golf, pool and Bridge. Jack Benny has an episode where he sneaks onto You Bet Your Life to take money from Groucho’s duck. Chico’s failed musical show that featured him owning a hang out next to a college features a young Andy Williams. They dig up the English version of You Bet Your Life. There’s so much here that is fantastical to watch after only reading hints about them in Marx Brothers biographies. If you own all the movie boxsets and the You Bet Your Life collections, this is a must buy.

Decline of an Empire will best be remembered as the final film made by Peter O’Toole. This might also be the final film of Edward Fox (Edward and Mrs. Simpson). In a sense this is the end of empire since there will be no more times for O’Toole to be an ancient ruler. He’s not the lead here. The film follows Constantine (Jack Goddard) who joins the Roman Legion so he can travel the world and locate a missing friend. Turns out he’s good at being a soldier. He quickly rises up the ranks until he’s in control. He discovers his friend is being held hostage by a rival. He braces his army for an all out attack of West vs. East. This is the story of St. Katherine of Alexandria.

They Came Together is a romantic comedy from the director of Wet Hot American Summer. Paul Rudd (This Is 40) and Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) are a couple that aren’t supposed to fall in love. He works for a giant candy company. She runs a small candy store. He wants to smash and destroy her. But romance gets in the way. The film does its best mock the conventions of the cute meet. The movie has a lot of familiar faces in odd roles. How often does anyone say “romantic comedy co-starring Michael Shannon (Man of Steel)? Women should be warned that the movie dares combine the hunky talents of Christopher Meloni, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and John Stamos. Jack McBrayer might make your date lose interest in you. The bonus features include the table read from the San Francisco Sketchfest. Director David Wain and Michael Showalter laugh it up on the audio commentary.

Tarzan is a CGI and modernized retelling of the Edgar Rice Burroughs tale of the boy raised by apes. This version has the Greystone family visiting Africa in a helicopter. It crashes and only their young son survives. He thrives and becomes a beast in the wilderness. Years later, he meets Jane. She enjoys her new friend. The problem is other humans are also in the jungle. They’ve got major weapons and hard hearts. Tarzan must save his human and animal friends from these outsiders. The CGI looks good. The action isn’t too intense for an elementary school aged child. The bonus features include a piece on making the film and what actors did to play gorillas. There’s also a Digital Ultraviolet copy for streaming.

Mumfie’s Quest the Movie brings back the tale of a little elephant on an awfully big adventure. Mumfie hits the road for kicks, but finds a greater purpose when he meets Pinkey. Her mom is stranded on a rather depressing island. They take that direction to not only reconnect with her, but to bring a little joy to her location. It’s a big mission that’s only slightly smaller than Mumfie’s heart. The film originally came out in 1994 although odds are high that this was long before the target audience was born. This is old hand painted animation which is always fun to share with a little one.

Romance Classics contains 3 BBC-A&E mini-series that made people flock to the cable network. Pride and Prejudice was a major event when it aired back in the mid-90s. Jane Austen’s tale of Elizabeth Bennet (Jennifer Ehle) and Mr.Darcy (Colin Firth) was packed with restraint and passion. This was one of the first VHS sets that people rushed out to buy instead of merely wait to rent the various tapes. Ehle and Firth’s romance holds up after all these decades. Victoria & Albert about the love affair involving Queen Victoria. The production is well cast with Diana Rigg (Game of Thrones), Nigel Hawthorne and Jonathan Pryce (Brazil). Will she be wooed by Prince Albert? Strange to think his name would be linked to prank phone calls and private parts being pierced. Neither of these events are part of the film. Edward & Mrs. Simpson is about the American woman who was able to make King Edward give up the throne. Edward Fox and Cythina Harris bring the unexpected passion to small screen. This is a trio of British lust that will keep your TV set busy for a blustery weekend.

75 Years of WWII contains 4 of the History Channel’s specials about the war that changed the world.D-Day in HD gives a clear view of the day the Allied Forces attacked the French coast. They’ve gone back and found the best footage of this messy and chaotic day. The special gets descriptions from both sides of the battle line. Bloody Santa Cruz delves into to the Pacific theater when the USS Hornet went down. Enterprise Versus Japan focuses on the turning battle when the aircraft carrier took out a large chunk of the Japanese navy. Ultimate WWII Weapons dips into the technological advances created during the battles. It ends with the atomic bomb. This collection is a fine way to grasp an understanding of what went on during these monumental battles of WWII.