FRED Entertainment

CHICAGO – We are on the cusp of a golden age of nostalgia TV. The previous era of greatness was in the late ’70s when indie UHF stations competed against their network VHF rivals. The plucky UHFers attracted a devoted audience with prime rerun series, non-Hollywood blockbuster movies and local sports programming. They made after school hours special by running Batman and Ultraman instead of soap operas and talkshows. For those old enough, there is a nostalgia to these stations. Boston’s WLVI-56 and WSBK-38 were my childhood favorites. What ended this era could be summed up in three hideous events: ownership by VHF stations, infomercials and mini-networks. My last visit to Boston was rather sad when I turned to those two stations only to witness how they’d been castrated by lazy programming directors.

So where’s the silver lining at the funeral of the airwaves? When TV went from analog to digital, station had the ability to put out multiple signals along with their high definition signal. This meant that one station could offer its own mini-cable network. The stations set up signals that would broadcast the weather 24 hours including live Doppler radar in the early days. They created news network channel by rerunning their 6 o’clock news around the clock. CBS stations used it to run all the basketball game feeds during the opening of March Madness. You might not know about this if you have Direct TV or Dish since they don’t’ like carrying substations as part of your local content. But stations needed more entertaining programming to lure the people to the substation universe. They smart ones went back to the golden visions of UHF. Retro Television Network became the pioneer when spread across the country. Now there’s three other channels seriously aiming for the nostalgia crowd by piggybacking on network signals.

Retro Television Network immediately filled the gap left by poor programming at TVLand. When RTV made its initial impact mixed Paramount and Universal’s vaults with plenty of shows that weren’t getting love on DVD such as Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and That’s Incredible. They even brought back the glory of Love American Style. Small children were exposed to Cannon. Because of various issues, the channel lost Paramount’s vault. They do provide early Bill Cosby action with I Spy and The Bill Cosby Show from when he was a gym teacher. They even have Movin’ On with Claude Akins (Sheriff Lobo). The channel still has two hosted movie shows. Wolfman Mac’s Chiller and Off Beat Cinema. Their film selection is the public domain usual suspects that once clogged the $1 DVD bins at Dollar Tree.

THIS-TV was the next substation to arrive on my dial. The channel’s big get is access to MGM’s film vault. This should be an amazing resource since it includes the American International Pictures releases. This was America’s prime indie studio from the 50s to the start of the ’80s. They put out the Beach Party flicks, the Vincent Price – Roger Corman – Edgar Allen Poe shockers, the best of Blaction and biker flicks. Pretty much all the stuff you’ve seen on the video shelf noted as Midnite Movie Double Features. These were the films that dominated UHF stations in the ’70s. While THIS shows the films, they haven’t made a concerted effort to package the titles properly. What’s wrong with scheduling certain genres for certain nights? Why not a week of Pam Grier movies at midnight? THIS isn’t all movies since MGM’s vault also contains Sea Hunt, Green Acres and Mister Ed. It’s just a shame they lack the ability to create the genre slots. I’m also annoyed that they didn’t work out a deal with Elvira to host the cult AIP gems instead of only hosting public domain titles. THIS at this moment is a lost opportunity.

Antenna-TV has a mix of old TV shows and movies thanks to their deal with Sony. They’re the place for Dennis the Menace, Father Knows Best, Sanford and Son and Hazel. Sally Fields gets a double shot with Gidget and The Flying Nun. The big issue I have with them is their doubling up of the sitcoms. Why must they run two Leave It to Beavers at 11 p.m. They used to run Soap. Why not use that time slot for a Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Fernwood Tonight? I’m upset that they yanked off Three’s Company since they also worked into the mix The Ropers and Three’s A Crowd. The Ropers had the greatest theme song in the history of annoying theme songs. But on the weekends they run S.W.A.T. and The Monkees. They need to dip into the Sony vault to get Square Pegs for the weekends. They did smartly run Dean Martin’s Matt Helm movies as double features.

COZI-TV was just launched by Comcast-Universal-NBC-Cabletown. They are like Antenna except they also feature a few “lifestyle show” to appeal to folks who keep the house. I don’t get the channel since it’s currently on a handful of stations at this point. Their schedule doesn’t look as cool as it should be. Sure they have Charlie’s Angels, The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man, but they mini-marathon them each night. You can get the DVDs for those shows rather cheap at this point if you just want a night of Farrah, Lindsay and Lee minus commercials for scootarounds and oxygen. They really need to dip into the failed shows in the Universal vault. Where is Manimal? Instead of Brilliant Yet Canceled that ran on Trio, Cozi could host a “What Were They Thinking” series. Super Train? Cop Rock? Emeril? My major reservation is that NBC-Universal has done such a pathetic job over the years with SyFy, Cloo and Chiller. The channels start out looking nice with proper programming. After a while, they schedule devolves into all day marathons of a single show or lame monster flicks.

ME-TV is currently the gold standard of sub-stations. This is what you thought Nick at Nite and TVLand were going to be. Their programming is goes from the classic warhorses of I Love Lucy and Dick Van Dyke Show to the nearly forgotten of Mr. Lucky. Their mornings have Dobie Gillis, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction and Donna Reed. The evenings bring The Odd Couple, Mary Tyler Moore and Bob Newhart. Overnight you can get more Combat and Twelve O’Clock High. Saturdays are classic cult with Batman, Lost In Space, Star Trek, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Svengoolie. Unlike other horror hosts in the substation universe, Svengoolie has the classic Universal Monsters in his rotation. He recently had a heart issue so that means I’ll be waiting longer for the premiere of Killdozer on the show. The only drawback to the channel is sometimes they run digitally sped up tapes. This gets annoying when everyone talks like chipmunks and moves like Keystone Kops. But it did make me run out and buy the DVD set of Honey West to watch Anne Francis at the proper tone.

If you can only bend your HD antenna to receive one of the substations, ME-TV is the way to point. Currently there’s no real way to measure the audience so this is the time when programmers can have fun with the slots. Attract the cultists to the channel. Dig into the vaults to find shows that need a fresh loyal following and not rely completely on the warhorses. One element I haven’t seen is a substation programming heavily with British TV shows. The older titles that BBCAmerica would rather ignore in their race to become SyFy Jr. Enough Dr. Who. Bring on Doctor In the House. Why not feature the British shows that were turned into American hit shows?
Thanks to the digital substations, I can almost contemplate cutting the cable.

A MUSIC MOMENT

I’m getting sick of “modern” movies that have to use hits from the ’80s for their trailer soundtrack. There’s enough vibrate new tunes being made by bands. Did all the cool movies of the ’70s have to resort to Benny Goodman to tease in a crowd? Of course not. Scanners can easily be a great band for the makers of Francis Ha to use instead of Bowie’s “Modern Love” from 1983. The band’s music has been used on American TV shows so they’re not that alien to music supervisors. The Camden band’s Mexico EP is now out. Their upcoming album Love Is Symmetry is due out later this year. Here’s “Control.”

VINEGAR SYNDROME

Drive-In Collection: Expectations & Confessions is a double feature that might have played a cinderblock X-rated theater on the fringe of your city back in 1977. The two adult features were directed by Anthony Spinelli, the man behind Suckula and Talk Dirty to Me. Both movies deal with women having Belle Du Jour interludes. They risk their dull straight lives for carnal pleasures. Expectations has Delania Raffino play a bored housewife looking for a little excitement. She swaps identities with Chris Cassidy. Being a swinging girl suits her as Joey Silvera arrives in time to let her know Chris wasn’t a prude. She’s down to play in her new identity. She eventually hooks up with Desiree West. Chris gets a bit more fun when she hooks up with someone extremely close to Delania. The movie makes you wonder if Delania has a split personality in this flesh fantasy. Confessions lets Kristine Heller play the bored married wife. She releases her libido when she hooks up with a biker. This leads to adventures as a hooker and Domme. This is the kind of movie that couldn’t be made now simply from the scene of her between posters of Jane Fonda and Marlon Brando. Cindy Johnson (real name Kristine Heller) has acting chops when she’s not handling the physical duties of the role. The trailer for the collection might be a little bit too naughty to watch at the office. You might want to wait until you’re at Great Aunt Anna’s house to press play. This is a well-balanced double feature since the movies share a common theme without looking like complete clones.

Sadly the Drive-In Collection: Savage Water & Death By Invitation has been delayed. I really enjoyed this double feature especially Savage Water‘s fatal river rafting trip out West. This might be for the best since Savage Water‘s director Paul Kener has the camera negative.
Next on their schedule is a Blu-ray of The Massage Parlor Murders. This one takes us back to when Times Square was a seedy wonderland without Donkey Sauce. There’s double dose of extreme vintage fun with Anatomy of a Psycho & The Lonely Sex from 1961 & 1959. The Suckers & The Love Garden bring us back to the early ’70s with backwoods naughtiness. All three sets are due out on April 9. This spring, let the sleaze blossom.

BLU-RAY HEAVEN

Veep: The Complete First Season is Julia Louise-Dreyfus’ best attempt to break the Seinfeld curse by going over to HBO. Her New Adventures of Old Christine finished a dozen episodes short of the sweet 100. She knows that Larry David is the only member of the gang to have scored a major hit outside of Monk’s Diner with Curb Your Enthusiasm. Thus she’s found the right vehicle for herself on HBO’s Veep. She’s a former senator who had a good run for president, but came up short. Her primary opponent reluctantly picked her to be vice president on the ticket and it’s turning into a fate worse than filibuster. Basically she’s able to tap into her Elaine persona as the woman who thinks she’s in control when everything is really a disaster. She is in a constant state of compromise and fine print in her quest to do something with her day outside of waiting for world leader funerals. She has a crack staff that spends most of their time putting out fires started by the Veep on TV. She’s got just a touch of Joe Biden on her tongue. The biggest casting thrill is Anna Chlumsky returning as the Chief of Staff. The star of My Girl gets to grow up. Matt Walsh is great as her communications director who created a fake dog so he can have an excuse to not work around the clock. There are only 8 episodes for the first season, but the political comedy is so rich, it feels like 24 episodes. The big running joke is her wanting to set up a Clean Jobs Commission, but big oil wants a fat seat at the table. Her bad ratings make her a hard sell to fellow party members that are frightened to appear in public with her. She’s ultimately Vice President of the Rodney Dangerfield Fan Club. The boxset includes the episodes on Blu-ray, DVD and digital copies. You can watch episodes while stuck in Beltway traffic. The bonus features include several making of docs and plenty of deleted scenes. They illustrate the timing of a poorly placed blunder in the cable news era. Twelve audio commentaries are provided to explore every aspect of the show. This is the best thing Julia Louis -Dreyfus has done since she went to prison on Seinfeld. The second season starts April 14 on HBO.

Futureworld takes me back to a time when the CBS Late Movie used to have the sequel to Westworld in heavy rotation. The movie has Delos, the futuristic pleasure resort rebooted. The owners swear they fixed all the bugs that turned the robots into killing machines. They even shut down the Westworld facility so that pesky robo-cowboy (Yul Brynner) won’t terrorize people. They have brought back the robotic hookers. In order to hype the safer place, Delos is entertaining a TV network news official (Blythe Danner) to give them a puff piece. What they don’t count is Peter Fonda tagging along. He’s one of those pesky newspaper reporters that must get the truth out to the masses. But the operators of Delos has a great way to avoid any negative publicity. They’re making robots of their guests to spread the good news. Can Peter Fonda escape? And why is his only hope Stuart Margolin (Angel on The Rockford Files)? This is still exciting science fiction from that time just before Star Wars. The 1080p image really brings out the creepy nature of Yul when he’s in full robo-cowboy mode. There’s also the original trailer, radio spots and still photos.

DVD SHELF

West Point: The Television Series is the TV show that made it possible for me to exist. My dad watched the series in 1957. The tales of cadets at the Military Academy made him focus on getting into the college. If he hadn’t gone to West Point, he wouldn’t have met my mother and been able to woo her with his discipline, manners and attitude. He would have just been a troublemaker roaming around Dedham until he became a part of The Friends of Eddie Coyle.. I owe my very existence to a TV show. West Point remains an entertaining anthology series after all these years. This isn’t about the same batch of cadets going from Plebe to Officers. There are a few actors that come back for a few episodes, but this is not Glee at West Point. The casting directors did an amazing job of finding a future generation of stars to play a future generation of officers. Right off the bat “The Mystery of Cadet Layton” has Martin Milner (Adam-12) getting on a plebe’s case. “The Operator and the Martinet” gets Chuck Connors (The Rifleman) up against Robert Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.). “His Brother’s Fist” punches Leonard Nimoy (Star Trek). Even though West Point was a men only college at this time, there are actresses on the show. Before she was stuffed in a bottle, Barbara Eden (I Dream of Jeannie) pops up in “Decision.” “Heat of Anger” burns with Henry Silva (Ocean’s 11). “White Fury” blazes a really young Clint Eastwood (Fist Full of Dollars). “Ambush” tops it with Steve McQueen (Bullit). Dad let me know that neither Clint or Steve was around when he arrived at the Academy. “Manhunt” loses a cadet in the woods after he gets snake bit. His only hope is James Best (Dukes of Hazzard) tracking him down. The show has plenty of scenes shot at West Point so graduates of the Academy will get glimpses of their old haunts. This is a show that deserves to be rediscovered and not just because of the impact it had on my father’s life.

MadTV: The Complete Second Season was a bit of a departure for its 14 season run since it was the only one that featured guest hosts for all the episodes. This additional star power helped publicize the show as it chipped away viewers from Saturday Night Live. While the show would continue to have guest appearances, this was the only one where the guest hosts were worked into a majority of the sketches. They have a strange mix of hosts ranging from Ice-T, Joe Rogen, French Stewart, Neve Campbell to Pauly Shore and David Faustino. They also pay tribute to the greatness by nabbing Rodney Dangerfield. The show seems to get further away from Mad Magazine this season even though they still have a few Spy vs. Spy short cartoons. Cast member Nicole Sullivan (King of Queens) was coming into her own with her various characters including the Vancome Lady. This was the last season for Orlando Jones when he seemed ready to be the Chevy Chase of MadTV. What the hell happened to Orlando Jones? The guy was great this season. Maybe he should get a gig on Community? The most fascinating moment off camera moment of the season is when Artie Lange vanished from the show after the Andrea Martin episode. You might want to sit down before reading this, but Artie was fired because he had a substance abuse problem. Who could have imagined that happening? Artie would make a comeback as Howard Stern’s new Jackie until…he vanished because of substance abuse problems. MadTV: The Complete Second Season has great gross moments like when they present a maxipad that can last all year. The sketches have fun with the personalities of the mid-90s and the fun wraps up with LL Cool J.

Father Dowling Mysteries: The Final Season sadly brings to an end Tom Bosley’s crime fighting days. The mystery solving priest wasn’t blessed. The show had to deal with a strike, a network change and finally a timeslot about The Simpsons & The Cosby Show. Why had God punished Father Dowling so harshly? Sadly enough the third season was the only full season for the show. I swore this show lasted as long as Matlock. Dowling (Happy Days‘s Tom Bosley) is a priest who likes to meddle in area mysteries with Sister Sam (Tracy Nelson). The divine duo can run circles around the cops because they answer to a higher authority. There’s plenty of guests including David McCullum (NCIS) as part of a royal switch involving a Sister Sam look alike marked for death in “The Royal Mystery.” John Vernon (Animal House) gets in Nunicide during “The Undercover Nun Mystery.” “The Christmas Mystery” makes Santa look like a killer. This should be featured in the War on Christmas. A serial killer comes after Dowling in “The Priest Killer Mystery.” David Hemming (Barbarella) crops up in “The Mummy’s Curse Mystery.” Overall the 22 episodes are fine for the mature mysteries category. Now that all the episodes are on DVD, you can watch them with Matlock. It’s such a shame that Father Dowling was martyred by Bill Cosby and Bart Simpson.

Secret Millionaires Club: Volume 1 stars Warren Buffett hanging out with a bunch of kids hoping to strike it rich. The Hub series really does have Buffett reading his character’s lines. He dispenses common sense advice in the world of small fries wanting to be Big Moguls. He reminds the kids that you have to work to make things work. Warren also brings his cool friends along to give pep talks to the kids who don’t want to hear from an elderly billionaire. “Be Cool to Your School” brings Jay-Z to the fold. He reminds the kids to follow their dreams. “Elena’s Shaqtastic Adventure” surprisingly features Shaq. I had a dream that he wasn’t going to be a dud when he signed with the Celtics. How’d that work out? “Avast Ye Downloads” warns the kids about illegally downloading music. Nick Cannon teaches that lesson. Who knew these people hung with Warren? So far these are the only 6 episodes that have been released. It’s a fine educational economic cartoon. Although Warren Buffett looks like he’s that old man that used to wear a mask and scare people until those meddling kids and their dog put an end to his hijinks. There’s also 5 webisode cartoons with shorter lesson for the kids.

The High Fructose Adventures of Annoying Orange: Escape From the Kitchen should not be watched if you have a slightest of headaches. They aren’t lying in the title. The Annoying Orange is really annoying. Imagine if Ernest and Fred were ground into pulp and injected inside citrus fruit. They’d be Annoying Orange. The Cartoon Network series is about the Orange, his fruit friends, a loud marshmallow and Nerville (Toby Turner) and their life at the fruit cart. They mostly battle evil vegetables. The DVD contains the first 10 episodes. “Dr. Strange Plum” pays tribute to Clue. They even have the smarts to hire Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show). “The Lords of Fruitbush” spoofs The Warriors which is always a good time. Parents who have sensitive ears might want to push play and immediately flee the TV room. He is truly the most annoying character in the history of the world. Naturally little kids will love him.

Quincy, M.E.: Season Five brings us more of America’s favorite medical examiner. Quincy: M.E. was a major hit by season five. Quincy (Jack Klugman) made viewers fascinated by his ability to break down a crime within the body of a victim. His only major help was Sam (Robert Ito). “No Way to Treat a Flower” kills victims with marijuana. But instead of a Reefer Madness situation, the killer dope comes from the fertilizer. “Dead Last” is a racing death that involves Memphis Mafia member Red West. “By the Death of a Child” makes Robert Loggia a Prime Minister. “Never a Child” exposes the lurid world of teen hookers. “Hot Ice” involves people smuggling diamonds inside pace makers. Edward Grover gets to play the customs agent wanting to shut down the ring. Grover returns in “Diplomatic Immunity. “Sweet Land of Liberty” turns Sam’s buddy into a cop killer. Why? Could have been exposed to LSD in a government test? “Murder by S.O.P.” puts Quincy in jail. But he’s put to work when a fire breaks out in the cells. A gymnast pumping performance enhancing drugs drops dead in “The Winning Edge.” “Deadly Arena” kills people with food at a sporting event. This was another great season for Quincy poking dead bodies to get the truth.

Duke is one of Steven Weber’s most challenging roles. Weber plays a marine sergeant who gets messed up on his final tour of Iraq. He can no longer deal with his wife and kids like he did before. He decides the best thing he can do for them is to hit the road with his dog Duke. But his time on the road doesn’t go well either. Within a few years, he’s still a drifter. He gives the aging dog to a vet clinic, but will things only get worse for him without his best friend. Can he reconnect with his family? This Hallmark movie isn’t a sappy greeting card. Weber uses every tool in his acting kit to make you forget he was that guy on Wings.

Shaman, Healer, Sage focuses on Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D. who left the world of modern medical science to explore the world of shamans in the Inka and Q’ero world. The documentary reflects his book of the same name. He speaks of energy medicine. The filmmakers follow him around parts of South America as he makes contact with those that heal to prevent illness. He speaks of being influenced by his nanny into the mystic arts. The film isn’t like the normal wall to wall talking heads documentary. There’s plenty of time to illustrate rituals and recreate moments from Villoldo’s life. Your eyes are allowed to breathe in the elements that attract Villoldo. The nearly hour long bonus feature Energetic Interventions is more of Villoldo’s work. He guides viewers through Chakras, the Illumination Process, Soul Retrieval and Symbolic Death Rite. Villoldo has that perfect calm voice for guiding and explaining these concepts to viewers.

Motorway mixes cops and fast cars in Hong Kong. A group of hot driving cops are assigned to a division bent on busting the drag racing underworld. Their focus is to locate a notorious driver who has never been caught. Can he resist the speed bumps? Director Soi Cheang has his stunt team race over what seems like every strip of pavement in Hong Kong in daring chase scenes. This is the kind of speed porn you’d get on Top Gear with the biggest stars being the cars. Actors Anthony Wong and Shawn Yue do their best, but the cars run the show. This is like a John Woo flick that’s more into RPMs than bullets. Motorway is much better than that last Fast and Furious flick.

The Real Vikings Collection brings together three of the Norseman documentaries that ran on The History Channel. “Foot Soldiers: The Vikings” lets host Richard Karn (Family Feud and Home Improvement expose the fact that Vikings never wore horns on their helmet. The pretty much just had metal helmets sans cow horns. Karn makes a good narrator for a non-dramatic documentary. “The Vikings: Lost Worlds” feels like the normal History Channel documentary setting an ominous tone with the rapid soundtrack. The highlight is digitally recreating how Vikings truly lived in their heyday. “Viking Terror” calls the Vikings “the Hell’s Angels of the Middle Ages.” Host Terry Schappert is a Green Beret bent on understanding the military power of the Vikings. He wants to experience the way the Vikings fought. He gets fully equipped for battle like a Norseman. This episode is from Schappert’s Warriors series from 2009. The three specials give plenty of background for fans of the History Channel’s new series Vikings.

MLB Superstars: Impact Players reminds us that opening day of baseball is just around the corner. Did the San Francisco Giants really win the World Series again? The special reminds us that there is a changing of the guard happening as Chipper Jones, Derek Jeter and David Ortiz are no longer the youngsters. Here’s the 25 players under 30 that will be the superstars for the next decade. Who is on the list? Quite a few are easy picks like Prince Fielder, Stephen Strasburg, Matt Kemp and Bryce Harper. The editors make sure that these picks are given massive highlight packages to defend the choice. The bonus features include a special on Walk-Off wins and Phenom Firsts. The Giant’s Matt Cain’s perfect game gets reduced down to the highlights as he shut down the Houston Astros. Colorado Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki’s hits for the cycle against the Cubs gets remembered. Here’s some clips of Mike Trout’s amazing rookie season.

Curandero: Dawn of the Demon is lovingly brought to you by Robert Rodriguez (Grindhouse). Director Eduardo Rodriguez is not a relative. Although after watching the film, he seems more like Eli Roth’s cousin. A satanic drug cult gets busted in Mexico City, but they’re not backing down. They’re laying down the curses. The local police chief hires Carlos Gallardo to perform a purification ritual at the jail. But does he have enough mojo to clean up the curses? The Satanic cultists refuse to lose. It’s kinda of like The Excorcist meets Assault on Precinct 13. The demon effects and the cinematography make this look very convincing as a cops versus demons flick. The movie has a Spanish soundtrack, but the English dub sounds great so you don’t have to read subtitles unless you’re a stickler.

Cyberstalker reflects the real fear of a daughter being pursued by a creep online. Think of all the pictures, information and secrets that a kid can put out on Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Instagram? Mischa Barton (The O.C.) is a girl who has a creep after her. But this isn’t just the normal cyberstalker who enjoys pursuing over a 56K modem. The opening is stunning as the stalker goes beyond the internet and the phone. He will not be denied Mischa. I would have guessed that Perez Hilton would be the true suspect seeing how his old website used to rag hard on Mischa after she left The O.C.. This is the perfect TV movie as they give us the new fear. This movie is so great. It’s like Tori Spelling TV movie great. Plus after watching Cyberstalker, I now abuse the phrase, “Flintstone Files.” You might not want to watch this film online since you might be watching with undetectable company.

LONDON – You can’t keep a wicked Cylon down.

Battlestar Galactica is back with another time during William Adama’s life explored. Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome takes us to the early years of the battle between humans and Cylons. Straight out of flight school, Adama (Skins‘ Luke Pasqualina) gets assigned to the Battlesstar Galactica. Instead of getting a Viper to attack the Cylons, he’s stuck on a Raptor with Coker Fasjovik (Stargate Atlantis‘s Ben Cotton). They think they’re assigned a boring missions when they take aboard a passenger, but they end up in the heart of the battle. The movie works for people who haven’t sat through all four seasons of the revived BSG.

In an interesting pattern release, Machinima originally ran a cut of the movie as a 10 part webisode series. The movie currently airs on Syfy. A longer cut of the film will be released on February 19th with a home video package with Blu-ray, DVD, digital download via iTunes and Ultraviolet streaming access. There’s no news if you can buy a 4K version for UHD.

To celebrate the release, the Party Favors was invited to join a conference call featuring Luke Pasqualina and Ben Cotton. The duo called in from both sides of the Atlantic. Luke was in England where an ambulance siren dominated part of the chat. Ben was somewhere in North America. Yet you could sense that their time working together on the project had made them good pals as they swapped off answering questions like a doubles tennis team.

This wasn’t Ben’s first time in the Battlestar universe. He played the role of Terrified Man in Battlestar Galactica: Razor. When my question time came up, I asked what was it like to return to project?

“Well for Razor. I mean I was there for a day,” Ben said. “It was fairly short and sweet; I think I was in and out by lunch. I was playing a character. You barely saw my face.”

He gets to show a lot more of his face in Blood & Chrome and had more meals at the studio.

“I think we had 15 shooting days and then we rehearsed for another week before that. So the process was a far greater undertaking for sure. There was a character there.” Viewers won’t confuse his Coker with the Terrified Man.

Jonas Pate directed the film. He and his twin brother Josh Pate had made their mark back in the ’90s with films and the series Surface and Good vs. Evil. Jonas had directed an episode of the revived Battlestar Galactica. I asked what’s it like to work with half of the Pate brothers?

“I’ve only met Jonas,” Ben said. Before he could say too much, an ambulance with sirens blaring went past Luke. The conversation had to take a pause.

“For me I absolutely – I loved it,” Luke chimed in. “I absolutely loved working with Jonas; just from the moment I met him and in the screen test to the day we wrapped on that show. Jonas just gave us nothing but confidence in ourselves and in the show. And he, you know, he’s a big Battlestar fan himself. So he’s so passionate about working and directing us. And, you know, he was just really passionate about the material and to kind of see that passion in someone that’s directing me it really does reflect on you as an actor.”

“Absolutely,” Ben seconded.

“And I think I speak for Ben when I say that as well. It really was,” Luke said.

“Absolutely,” Ben agreed.

“It really was,” Luke said. “You know, he made us feel nothing but entirely relaxed and so cool and calm. He never lost his head and it was just – you know, just to see that kind of level of – kind of security in himself was brilliant. It really did help us with our performances.”

“I thought it was wonderful,” Ben said. “I thought Jonas gave us all kinds of freedom. You know, like Jonas is what I would call an active director. It was about – you know, at some points I thought, you know, he’s allowing us a lot of nuance; a lot of things that you’re allowed to do more in film than in TV because most of the time in TV it’s hurry up, hurry up, hurry up. And you got to talk fast as part of the process. And Jonas would allow us to find it and to do the work and to have relationship that was a little bit beyond just the work which I think really helped to create chemistry between the characters.”

That was the end of our part of the phone conference. But a few interesting points were brought up as answers to the questions of others.

Before assuming the role of William Adama, Luke did swap emails with the second William Adama, Edward James Olmos (Lorne Greene died in 1987). What did the two actors chat online about?

“None of it was about the work in terms of material, script and performance,” Luke said. “It was all about what to expect. I didn’t want any advice in terms of performance from Eddie because seeing Adama at the age I portray him compared to the age Eddie portrayed him is two completely different stages of anyone’s life. I didn’t want anything Eddie said to me to upset my interpretation of material.”

What’s remarkable about Blood & Chrome is the lack of real sets. After the revived series wrapped up, the props and sets were sold or destroyed. The new film was a digital production. What was the biggest challenge to the actors?

“The hardest part was the helmet,” Ben said. “It’s hard to breathe in those helmets. I didn’t find it to be too much of a challenge.

“I was kind of daunted by the whole thing when I first realized the scale of how much green screen we’d be using,” Luke said. “Our props and a lot of the foreground stuff on our sets were props we could touch and move around. The hardest thing for me was the stuff in the space ship. When something hit the windscreen or something flies over our head, we only had a tennis ball to follow. We adapted to it a lot quicker than we thought.”

“It becomes a little bit like a black box theater situation,” Ben observed. You just have to use your imagination.

The lack of scenery to chew allowed the actors to focus on each other.

“It really came from me and Ben becoming such close friends,” Luke said. “We didn’t feel that we didn’t have to hold back on any kind of performance. If I wanted to shout at him, I could shout at him. If I wanted to laugh at him, I could laugh at him. If I wanted to scream in his face, I could scream in his face. We had so much confidence in our performance. Jonas (Pate) gave us a lot of free range as far as improvisation. If anything was out of character, they just didn’t use it in the final edit.”

“It was really fun,” Ben said. “You get to work with an actor who is going to hand it back to you when you hand it to them. It just kind of rises. It keeps going and keeps going. It was cool, really cool.”

Neither actor knew if there would be any further adventures of Adam and Coker, but both sounded eager to work together.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome Blu-ray contains has deleted scenes and a featurette about the visual effects. The Blu-ray also has a DVD, a way to download a digital version and stream from Ultraviolet so you can enjoy the film while being pursued by Cylons.

BIG TV

I’ll admit that I drooled at the news of a 110″ Ultra High Def TV that delivers the 4K image. But then it hit me – what is anyone really going to do with such resolution? My local Fox and ABC stations run their signal at 720P. The same is true for ESPN and dozens of other cable stations. It’s just hard to get excited over a technology that costs more than my house yet provides less content than a doorknob. It’ll be ready for me in a decade.

FULL FRAME PASSES

The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is April 4-7 and the passes are on sale. Come on down to Durham, North Carolina for the friendliest film festival. Here’s the info:

Want to get tickets to your favorite docs at Full Frame before they go on sale to the public? Then don’t miss out on your chance to purchase a PASS to our 16th annual festival! Quantities are limited, so act fast – only the 15 PASS and 20+ PASS remain!

THE 15 PASS ($225)

ONE ticket to 15 films/events, EARLY access to tickets (Mar 20-Apr 1), UNLIMITED access via the Last Minute Line, FREE tote bag and festival program book

THE 20+ PASS ($550)
ONE ticket to 20 films/events, FIRST access to tickets (Mar 18-Apr 1), FIRST access to seating, ACCESS to the festival’s Hospitality Suite, UNLIMITED access via the Last Minute Line, FREE tote bag and festival program book

HOW TO PURCHASE A PASS
ONLINE: https://store.fullframefest.org/Online/default.asp
BY PHONE: 919.684.4444, Mon-Fri 11am-6pm
BY MAIL: 2013 Pass Mail-In Order Form available HERE
IN PERSON: at the Duke University Box Office, Mon-Fri 11am-6pm

BLU-RAY HEAVEN

The Insider was a rather shocking film back in 1999 when it dared to show how network news would kill a story to not upset powerful corporations. Of course this was done when TV news became a cheap media that overflows with pundits and low hanging fruit stories. Jeffrey Wigand (Russell Crowe) is a scientist willing to blow his non-disclosure agreement to expose how cigarette makers spike their smokes with addictive agents. Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino) is a 60 Minutes producer eager to bust the story. But the network isn’t too eager to make it a major exposure. Why? Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) isn’t ready to go to the ropes for this story. Early in his TV career, Wallace was the spokesman for Parliament cigarettes, a product of Phillip Morris. Was he tainted by his former paycheck?. The focus of The Insider is how CBS is scared at exposing corporate secrets even if they are destroying the health of Americans. Director Michael Mann gets underneath the conflict between journalism and corporations doing each other a favor. By the end of the movie, you’ll not want to smoke or trust TV news. Crowe gets to show off his acting muscles as he aged up for the role. The film was up for numerous Oscars, but got smoked by American Beauty. The bonus features are a seven minute vintage production featurette and the trailer.

That Obscure Object of Desire comes from the blissful imagination of surrealist Luis Bunuel. Fernando Rey (The French Connection) is a rich man who falls hard for a flamenco dancer. While that part sounds conventional enough, the movie is told in flashback with the dancer being played by Carole Bouquet and Angela Molina with a random swapping. This is a twisted love between the old man and the dancer. She teases him and he pleases her. She claims a man that might be her love is a fake boyfriend. He kind of buys it. But how long can this go on? There are plenty of surreal touches on the screen including the ending. Bunuel didn’t compromise even if the movie could have so easily been a normal romantic comedy. The movie was nominated for Best Foreign Film and Best Adapted Screenplay in 1977. Bonus features include an interview with both actresses that played the dancer and “A Portrait of Luis Bunuel.” This is a fine 1080p transfer of a classic film.

DVD SHELF

The Hardy Boys: Season Three marks two major changes for the series that was a Dynamite magazine favorite. Fans might be wondering why this boxset isn’t called The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries: Season Three. Well it turns out that Pamela Sue Martin quit the show during season two. They had brought in a replacement Nancy Drew for a few episodes. Things had to change just because Shaun Cassidy and Parker Stevenson were no longer teens tagging along with their detective dad. Thus this season Frank and Joe became the Hardy Men. “The Last Kiss Of Summer” starts Joe (Cassidy) falling in love and bent on marriage. But the romance ended quick when they get into a car wreck caused by a drunk driver. Joe recovers from his injuries, but she’s dead. He devotes his life to track down the killer. Turns out the guy is being watched by the feds so they’re not going to cuff him for a mere drunk driving homicide. Joe goes rogue to befriend the killer and bring down his mob empire. Mills Watson best known as Deputy Perkins on Sheriff Lobo gets to play a mean hood. Kevin Tighe (Emergency!) gets to ignore a wreck on the side of the road. Anne Lockhart (Battlestar Galactica) is a confused girlfriend. The end of the show sets up this season as Joe and Frank get hired by their dad to join the Justice Agency. The two teens now have full time jobs as undercover agents. “Assault on the Tower” shows how dangerous the new gig can be when dad vanishes in London. The boys team up with Patrick Macnee (The Avengers) to find the abductors. Macnee has fun with his John Steed image. “Search for Atlantis” gets more adult when the boys join a dig in Greece looking for heroin. John Colicos takes time off playing Baltar on Battlestar Galactica to be a suspected narcotics kingpin. “Defection to Paradise” is a two part special that brings the Bread. David Gates brings all the seventies superhits of Bread when he performs. Frank and Joe are brought onto the Hawaiian show when Gates’ amp is missing after a gig in the U.S.S.R. Nehemiah Persoff isn’t happy about things. They really shot part of this show in Hawaii unlike their other foreign locations. The sad thing is that making the Hardy Boys more adult didn’t snag more viewers from 60 Minutes on Sundays at 7 p.m. The show only made it to 10 episodes before the brother uncovered the axe. What a shame since this is my favorite season of the series even without Nancy Drew action.

Matlock: The Eight Season s the penultimate time that Ben Matlock (Andy Griffith) rule justice with a noble heart and a hotdog addiction. This was his second season shooting out of Wilmington, North Carolina so there’s a pep to Matlock’s courtroom swagger. He enjoyed home cooking even if it was a hotdog. This season marked the end of Conrad Masters (Clarence Gilyard) as Andy’s go to guy. His role was completely taken over by Cliff Lewis (Daniel Roebuck). But don’t feel bad for Gilyard since he’d soon nab a role on Walker Texas Ranger. “The Play” puts Matlock on stage in a small role. The part grows when he has to defend the director. Rene Auberjoinois gets to break the fourth wall. “The Fatal Seduction” involves Jeri Ryan. She’s tied in with a two murders in North Carolina. “The View” puts Matlock in a Rear Window situation. “The Last Laugh” makes Matlock defend a comedian accused of killing the comic that dissed him onstage. This has nothing to do with Joe Rogen versus Carlos Mencia. Milton Berle is involved in the die laughing drama. “The Haunted” is a plastic surgery gone really bad. John de Lancie (Q on Star Trek: The Next Generation) gets to nip tuck. “Matlock’s Bad, Bad, Bad Dream” makes him imagine he’s defending a client in 1932. What makes it a nightmare is the arrival of Jeff Conway (Taxi). “The Murder Game” has Matlock stuck at a murder mystery weekend with the gang. But things turn real fast and Matlock gets to play real lawyer once more. “The P.I.” screws up the photo subject on a stakeout. George Peppard (A-Team & Banacek) gets to tangle with Matlock when is plan falls apart. “The Idol” makes Ben defend a guy who emulates his style. John Beck (Moonpie in Rollerball) is part of the problem. Only one more season until the end.

Gunsmoke: The Seventh Season, Volume 2 has the cast not looking too worn out as their first hour long season comes to an end. What’s the secret to not letting Marshal Dillon (James Arness), Chester (Dennis Weaver), Doc (Milburn Stone) and Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake) looks chipper? The show had the guest stars taking up a lot of the extra screen time. The visitors to Dodge City get to carry the plenty of the stories while the cast supports them. Edgar Buchanan (Petticoat Junction) is a drunk rescued from the side of the road in “Old Dan.” He wants to stay clean, but he misses the drink so much. When he loses his reserve, things go out of control. “Catawomper” gets Chester in trouble when the woman he woos turns out to be using his as tool against her ex-lover. Dick Sargent (Bewitched) and Frank Sutton (Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.) are mixed in with the yanking. Claude Akins (Sheriff Lobo) gets to play Mexican in “He Learned About Women.” Chester gets captured by comancheros and needs to escape. “Reprisal” tells the tale of a rancher who enjoyed leaving the wife at home while he enjoyed getting drunk and gambling with strange women in Dodge City. He goes out of control one night and Matt has to put him down. The nice wife wants a piece of Matt. “Wagon Girls” brings a wagon train of women through Dodge City. They’re off to marry rich miners in Colorado. Matt suspect they’re being scammed. Amongst the brides-to-be is Ellen Burstyn. William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show) is part of the heartbreaking mess. “Cale” makes Carl Reindel a suspect when he wakes up in the barn during a horse theft. All you need to know about “The Boys” is that it features Harry Dean Stanton (Big Love), George Kennedy (Cool Hand Luke) and Michael Parks (Kill Bill). The transition to full hour worked for Gunsmoke since it allowed the series to be more cinematic than radio drama with pictures. It should also be noted that bartender Glenn Strange had previously played Frankenstein’s monster in House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The bonus feature is a few words from the sponsors.

Bonanza: The Official Fifth Season, Volume 1 & 2 keeps the Cartwrights still battling on and off their huge Ponderosa ranch. “She Walks In Beauty” makes Hoss (Dan Blocker) think Gena Rowlands (Woman Under the Influence) loves him. Turns out she’s got eyes for his brother Adam (Pernell Roberts). Charles Dickens arrives for “A Passion for Justice.” Jonathan Harris (Lost In Space) plays the novelist who has a bumpy stay at the ranch. “Calamity Over the Comstock” lets Calamity Jane(Stephanie Powers) drop by the ranch. She’s looking for Little Joe (Michael Landon). “Journey Remembered” lets Ben (Lorne Greene) tell Hoss about his mother. “The Legacy” lets James Best (Dukes of Hazzard) play evil when he arrives at the ranch after a stay in prison. James Doohan (Scotty on Star Trek) has a bit part. Things get goofy on “Hoss and the Leprechauns.” “Ponderosa Matador” has the boys tangle for the affections of a senorita. They settle it like men with a bull fight. “Alias Joe Cartwright” gets the boy in trouble when an escaped prisoner looks like him. His hope of freedom involves two Kubrick actors: Keenan Wynn (Dr. Strangelove) and Joe Turkel (The Shining). “Bullet For a Bride” turns Joe into a groom thanks to a ricochet. Denver Pyle (Dukes of Hazzard & Grizzly Adams) gets into the wedding action. “King of the Mountain” brings on Slim Pickens (also from Dr. Strangelove). They find another Cartwright in “Return to Honor.” Turns out Guy Williams (Zorro & Lost In Space) is Will Cartwright, Ben’s nephew. He sticks around for several other episodes He’s not as clean cut as the boys. “The Saga of Muley Jones” has the FDA’s allowance of Strother Martin (The Wild Bunch). Hoss gets his order for Chinese fireworks lost in translation. What he gets in back is a Chinese bride played by Marlo Thomas (That Girl). Does he have to return her? “Enter Thomas Bowers” creates an issue when a famous singer arrives to perform at the Virginia City Opera House. The guy looks like a runaway slave since he’s played by William Marshall (Blacula). That’s right: it’s Hoss meets Blacula. “The Dark Past” brings Dennis Hopper (Blue Velvet) into town. There’s 34 episodes spread over two volumes that are sold as a season set. There’s plenty of extras including the original bumpers and ads. Dan Blocker and Lorne mock themselves on The Andy Williams Show. There’s a lot of photos and the review from the New York Times. Lorne Greene chats with the CBC since he’s Canadian.

The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams: Season Two is the finale of the beloved ’70s nature show. Grizzly Adams (Dan Haggerty) headed to the wilderness when he was accused of a crime he didn’t commit. The first half season of the show proved popular. Dan himself became a superhero by anchoring the NBC team on Battle of the Network Stars. The 24 episodes bring back the heartwarming charm of Grizzly and his pet bear Ben. Denver Pyle (Dukes of Hazzard) returns as Mad Jack, the pal and biographer of Grizzly. Quite a few people wander past Grizzly’s cabin. “Gold Is Where You Find It” reteams Larry Storch and Forrest Tucker (F Troop and The Ghost Buster). I won’t give away the plot of “The Spolers.” Don Lynch (Mr. Haney on Green Acres) cause the trouble. “The Seekers” spots Keenan Wynn (Dr. Strangelove). “The Skyrider” soars with Russ Tamblyn (Twin Peaks). “Once Upon a Starry Night” glows with Ken Curtis (Festus on Gunsmoke). While the show only lasted a scant season and a half, Grizzly Adams made its mark. Dan Hagerty is as much a ’70s icon as the cast of CHiPs, Love Boat or Welcome Back, Kotter.The show blended a nature special with an adventure series. The show did get resolved with a TV movie years later, but that’s not included here. If you’re a fan of the show, you can call up Dennis Hof’s World Famous Bunny Ranch and get Dan Haggerty to officiate your wedding. Sadly enough Ben the Bear as passed away so you’ll have to

The Bouquet is a heartwarming tale of family that fits perfectly into the spring season. Kristy Swanson (Buffy the Vampire Killer) returns home for a family emergency. She’s been a way for quite a while. Her sister (Alberta Mayne) is the one who stayed home and helped take care of the family’s flower business. Turns out things aren’t going to so great on the ledger books. Kristy thinks she has a solution, but her sister is bitter since she never cared about helping anyway. Can Kristy reach a common ground with her sister and do what’s truly the best for the family? Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) gets pulled into the blooming relationship. The bonus feature is a behind the scenes glimpse. It’s a DVD worthy of being sent with a bouquet of flowers.

The Liability brings Tim Roth back to be a buttkicker after his time on Lie to Me. The movie is a flip on his time in The Hit. Except instead of being the assistant to a hitman, he’s not the old timer having to show the ropes of the killing game to the rookie hoodlum. The kid (Skins‘ Jack O’Connell) isn’t supposed to be a hoodlum. He wrecks an expensive car and mom’s boyfriend isn’t happy that the slacker boy doesn’t care. To pay off the car, the boy gets a job as the driver for Tim Roth. Did I mention Tim and the mom’s boyfriend are part of the mobster world? The kid gets a journey into a world of hookers and bullets. Will he bond with mom’s man or end up in a shallow grave? This is my favorite Roth performance in a long while. The bonus feature is a behind the scenes featurette.

Sinister takes us back to the world of 8mm films from the producer of Paranormal Activity and Insidious. The movie opens with home movie footage of a family of four being hung from a tree limb. Ethan Hawke (Before Sunrise) has moved into the area to write his latest true crime book. There’s a hint that he’s supposed to be Joe McGuiness (Fatal Vision) based on his Bennington t-shirt. What he hasn’t quite explained to his wife and kids is that they’re living in the murdered family’s house. Fred Thompson takes a break from reverse mortgages to play the sheriff who doesn’t like the kind of books Hawke writes. This immersion investigation gets off to a bizarre start when he pokes around in the attic and finds a crate of 8mm films. Turns out they aren’t holiday flicks of the hanging family. There are other families in the footage meeting their demise. Hawke does his best to find clues in the frame. Hawke’s family starts to freak out from being in the dead family’s house. He also freaks out in the dark house that has plenty of creaks and bangs. Who is Mr. Boogie? Best to watch this with the lights out and the surround sound cranked.

The Men Who Built America is the History Channel’s series that covers the icons of the Industrial Revolution in America. Over the course of eight episodes you’ll catch up on all that history you failed to cover in high school when the school year ended right after the Civil War. The series starts with the death of Lincoln so you can finally catch up on your education. The big names are here including Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan and Vanderbilt. The show mixes dramatic recreations with modern experts pontificating about the impact. The show does point out that their empires weren’t forged with a gentle hand. A lot of people got paid the price for them to become the corporate elite. Blood flooded as workers battled with company paid hired goons and detectives. The unions evolved from these struggles. The production is rich in drama for the recreation scenes. The bonus features are sequences clipped from the TV cut.

Swamp People: Season 3 takes us back down to Louisiana for gator hunting season. These men have a limited time to hunt down the reptiles and sell their skins for fashionable clothes. It’s a dangerous profession. They use a lot of ingenuity to capture their prey. Bruce hires an Iraqi war vet to be a sniper. My favorite moment of the season is when two hunters have to figure out a unique way to float the dead gators to their boat on the other side of a levee. Besides the teeth of the gators, the hunting season gets dangerous when a Hurricane is coming at them. They can’t afford to take the day off since that would cut into their quota. Mitchell Guist passed away during this season from a non-gator related incident. The 22 episodes are spread over 6 DVDs. The bonus feature is about a half hour of scenes clipped before broadcast. The new season of Swamp People starts on Feb. 20.

Black’s Game reminds us that a plus for national healthcare is not wondering how your victims will pay their hospital bills when you beat them down. Who would expect Iceland to have a criminal underworld? They’re a land of volcanoes, snow and pixies like Bjork. But they do have an underbelly between the ice and lava. A kid gets in trouble and needs a pal to help bail him out before the law comes down on his ass. Trouble is the cost of the help is membership into his pal’s criminal organization that deals drugs. Turns out the kid has a natural talent for the seedy business and rises fast in the ranks. But is his heart really into it? The movie’s executive producer is Nicholas Winding Refn, the director of Drive starring Ryan Gosling. It has a great look and feel as the camera visits places in Iceland that aren’t shown on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. While there is an English dub track, it sounds like it was recorded by the folks who do the sight impaired description tracks. You’ll want to hear Black Jack in the native tongue with English subtitles. There’s a segment about the film from an Icelandic TV station. The interviews are subtitled.

Storage Wars: Volume 4 has 16 exciting episodes about the people who bid on abandoned storage lockers in California. This is pretty much the beginning of the end for Dave “Yuuuuuuuup” Hester. He’s currently suing the show claiming that it’s rigged and that many of discovered prizes are put into the boxes by the producers. It’s easy to tell that this isn’t just a camera crew following storage auctions. Right off the bat there’s not thousands of out of work actors dressed like Let’s Make A Deal eager to get screen time on a hit series. There’s no stranger with fat wads of bills making Barry Weiss look broke. These auctions are a controlled environment. This fact is perfectly acceptable to me since the highlight of the show isn’t the junk inside the lockers, but the trash tossed between the regular bidders. I’d watch just to see Jarrod and Brandi bicker to the point of murder-suicide. Darrell Sheets and his son aren’t quite so entertaining since they appear to be reality acting when they have issues with each other. Nabila arrives as the new guest bidder. She made a fortune off Paris Hilton’s locker and seems eager to see if Kim Kardashian forgot her bill. The episodes start with the trip to San Francisco that ended season two and the first half of season three. The Bonus feature is about 40 minutes of cut scenes. There’s a lot of great extra Barry moments. Barry should have been made Secretary of State. This guy knows how to chill people out and has experience with drones. Is Storage Wars real or fake? What matters is that it remains the most entertaining of all the Storage auction shows .

The Garfield Show: Spring Fun Collection has six episodes of the CGI cat adventure. Garfield is the lasagna eating cat who hates Mondays and abuses his dog pal. While it doesn’t quite feel like it with the recent blizzards, Spring is about to get sprung. “The Big Sneeze” has Jon (the human) sneezing when he’s around Garfield. Can he really be allergic to his cat? Will he have to send the kitty away? “Farm Fresh Feline” takes the cat and his pals into the country side. Can they really fool the lazy Garfield into doing chores? “The Bluebird of Happiness” sings for his life. Garfield must save his winged friend from being Harry’s dinner. “Stealing Home” isn’t about baseball. A stray cat named Bruno highjacks the house. Can Garfield restore order before Jon gets inside. “The Mole Express” destroys the backyard with the underground critters. “Parrot Blues” upsets people when a talking bird says evil things. There’s 5 bonus extra short cartoons included.

Martha & Friends: Martha’s Magnificent Egg takes the home entertaining Queen into a CGI universe. Not only is she animated, Martha has been turned into a little girl who still has all her crafty skills. She looks ready to hop in the Mystery Machine and expose old men with Scooby-Doo. The episode is just in time for Easter. Martha and her friends make Easter eggs. The person with the best egg gets to visit the White House for the egg roll. Marta and her friends do their best to visit 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. While this sounds like a strange concept, my three year old was curious about the crafts and the theme song. There’s also four webisodes about Valentine’s Day, cupcakes, more eggs and cool crafts. There’s even downloadable projects and recipes that make fun times with the kids. This seems to be a great way to get the kids eager to decorate the house for the upcoming holiday.

Slugterra: Return of the Shane Gang has arrived on DVD.

My Little Pony, Friendship Is Magic: Pinkie Pie Party is a reason to bake a cake. The episodes included in the collection are “Feeling Pinkie Keen,” “Party Of One,” “Baby Cakes,” “A Friend In Deed” and “Too Many Pinkie Pies.” Who is Pinkie Pie? According to my preschool daughter, Pinky Pie is the best of all the ponies. She sings and has a baby alligator. What more can you want from a horse that knows how to bake? “Feeling pinkie Keen” explores her ability to know when something is going to go bad. “Party of One” has everyone coming up with an excuse to skip Pinkie Pie’s latest party. Are they really all busy? Why would they blow off the promise of a cake with candles? “Baby Cakes” makes Pinkie Pie babysit twins. It’s not an easy job. “A Friend In Deed” brigs a donkey into town. Can Pinkie Pie become a friend to the long ears? “Too Many Pinkie Pies” lets the pony get invited to too many events scheduled at once. She comes up with the right solution: cloning. The daughter was excited at seeing so much Pinkie Pie with the push of the play all button. The bonus features include Sing-Along moments and a Party Activity Kit. The DVD is a Walmart exclusive so Bronies will have to gallop over to get it.

Undefeated was a major surprise when it won last year’s Oscar for Best Documentary. The film about a high school football team had the same title as a lame Sarah Palin movie. This is not about a woman who can see Russia from her front door. This high school is rather troubled. The opening scene has the volunteer coach loses a few starters to gunshots. But this team is able to pull it together to have a great season. The filmmakers follow the players as they attempt to focus on the field and survive in the outside world. One of the kids becomes a hot recruit thanks to a youtube video. The harsh business of high school football really gets explored. You feel the difference between their program and the rich kids’ schools. The kids are really open with the filmmakers talking about their game and dreams. You feel nervous for them since there’s a chance they might get shot in their rough neighborhood. A couple of the kids are positively scary including the seemingly bipolar Chavis. This is so much better than so many of the ESPN documentaries on 30 at 30. The documentary voters of the Academy has come a long way since when they dismissed Hoop Dreams back in the 90s because it was video and not film. The movie gives a fine understanding about the players underneath the helmets. The bonus features include a commentary track with directors TJ Martin and Dan Lindsay discussing their time with the team to create such an intimate portrait. The Blu-ray brings out the texture of their lives.