What happens when two young men let their love of movies, comic books, and all things “geek” take over their lives? They run away from their families, bringing only the most essential DVDs and comics to their secret, highly fortified underground bunker in sunny Southern California, where they start recording podcasts that will change the world.
Are they heroes?
No.
Are they geniuses?
Far from it.
Are they the future of this planet?
I sure hope not.
Simply put… Matt Cohen and Jesse Rivers are “Bagged and Boarded”.
BAGGED & BOARDED #35: We Have The Internet Now – In which Matt and Jesse take a break from geek talk, unveil a new trivia contest, offer up the next round of commentary choices, and get into another one of their good old fashioned “debates”. Pick a side, hoist a sign, and join the march. It’s about to get all corporal in this piece.
[CONTENT WARNING]:This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
The weekend’s here. You’ve just been paid, and it’s burning a hole in your pocket. What’s a pop culture geek to do? In hopes of steering you in the right direction to blow some of that hard-earned cash, it’s time for the Quick Stop Weekend Shopping Guide – your spotlight on the things you didn’t even know you wanted…
(Please support Quick Stop by using the links below to make any impulse purchases – it helps to keep us going…)
Yes, I know I’m a little close to the material – but you know what? I’d still recommend you pick up a copy of Shootin’ The Sh*t with Kevin Smith: The Best of SModcast (Titan Books, $14.95 SRP). It may seem an odd proposition to read transcripts of the Kevin & Scott Mosier’s podcast, but the strength of the material means the comedy translates to the printed page quite nicely. Go. Buy it.
The miniaturization of video cameras is beginning to frighten me. This terror is completely overridden by the geek delight in holding a digital memory camera that’s only slightly larger than a chapstick tube. The camera I speak of is the Micro Camcorder Pro ($99.99), and it captures 640 x 480 x 25fps video onto a microSD card (a 2gb card is included), downloadable via USB. Sweet. And scary.
Sadly, we’ve now reached the limit of the currently produced episodes of The IT Crowd (MPI, Not Rated, DVD-$24.98 SRP) with the release of the 3rd season – although, thankfully, creator Graham Linehan is hard at work writing the next batch. Still, the wait will be a long one, so it’s probably best to fill it re-watching the first three seasons again and again. Bonus features this go round include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and outtakes.
I’ve seen the episodes a half-dozen times each (I often replayed them while working), but it’s the mark of a classic show that I’m looking forward to digging into the 3rd season set of 30 Rock (Universal, Not Rated, DVD-$49.98 SRP). Yes – I am. The 3-disc set contains all 22 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, a table read, deleted scenes, a gallery, outtakes, and more.
Yes, it really has been 100 episodes since the squarepanted sponge of Bikini Bottom first made his way onto our TV screens. How do I know this? Because there’s now an uber-deluxe box set titled Spongebob Squarepants: The First 100 Episodes (Nickelodeon, Not Rated, DVD-$99.99 SRP), which is exactly that – 14 discs in a lucite holder, containing those titular episodes. Not only that, there’s also audio commentaries, featurettes, a music video, and even an in-depth, candid documentary on the show’s origin and evolution from the production team., It’s almost as good as getting the Krabby Patty formula.
They’ve been released what seems like a half-dozen times by at least three different companies, but this is the first time that Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection (Lionsgate, Rated G, Blu-Ray-$29.99 SRP) has been released in high definition. Not only that, but A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave are joined by the newest short, A Matter Of Loaf And Death. Bonus features include audio commentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes.
Abrams is fast becoming a real juggernaut with their incredible Abrams ComicArts imprint, as they’ve been releasing some absolutely top-notch tomes that belong on your shelf. Like, now. First up is a loving, in-depth tribute to The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God Of Manga (Abrams Comic Arts, $40.00 SRP), which chronicles the life and output of the creator of Astro Boy, and a Japanese legend. The massive hardcover even comes with a bonus DVD featuring a documentary about Tezuka. Also available is Manga Kamishibai: The Art Of Japanese Paper Theater (Abrams ComicArts, $35.00 SRP), which illuminates the ancient art form that preceded Manga in the hearts of the Japanese people.
Much like Pineapple Express, those going into Observe & Report (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$28.98 SRP) expecting a simple-minded laugh-fest – a Paul Blart: Mall Cop, if you will – will certainly be surprised by just how much depth there is in the tale of mall security guard Ronnie Barnhart (Rogen). Which is not to say there aren’t laughs – there’s just a lot more than that, too. In what’s rapidly becoming a trend for Warners, all of the bonus features are reserved for the Blu-Ray edition ($35.99 SRP), which amounts to a featurette, the “Forest Ridge Mall: Security Recruitment” video, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
Have I mentioned before just how much I’m enjoying Warner Bros.’ On-Demand DVD service at WarnerArchive.com? I have – numerous times – because it’s great to see a company find a way to make smaller catalogue titles available to fans when economic realities prevent a full-fledged commercial release. Case in point are a trio of new titles that have been added to the site – King Vidor’s Lightning Strikes Twice (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$19.95), Robert Duvall, Richard Harris, and Shirley MacLaine in Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (Warner Bros., Rated PG-13, DVD-$19.95) and the cult classic Penn & Teller Get Killed (Warner Bros., Rated R, DVD-$19.95), which was actually directed by Arthur Penn.
Does anyone still watch Ugly Betty (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$59.99 SRP)? Did the second season lose them all? Did this 3rd season outing bring any of them back? If it did, here’s the DVD set, with audio commentaries, featurettes, webisodes, deleted scenes, and bloopers.
Serial womanizer Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey finds his plans to bed a bridesmaid at his brother’s wedding is derailed by the supernatural guidance of his departed uncle (Michael Douglas), who originally instructed him on his boorish ways, to mend his ways and find true love (in the form of Jennifer Garner) in the tolerable rom-com Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past (New Line, Rated PG-13, DVD-$28.98 SRP). A Blu-Ray edition ($35.99 SRP) is also available, which seems to be where they put all of the bonus materials missing from the standard release – featurettes and deleted scenes.
Comedy Central may have killed their much-missed show, but at least there’s still live performances to keep The State alumni David Wain, Michael Showalter, & Michael Ian Black together, as you’ll see on Stella: Live In Boston (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$14.99 SRP), which finds the trio taking the stage in Fresno. Sorry – I mean Boston. In addition to the show itself, the DVD features a trio of Wainy Days webisodes, 3 Michael Showalter Showalter episodes, footage from the 2003 Fez performances, and an encore.
Despite further muddying already cloudy waters with divergent continuity, the biggest drawback of the axed Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP) was that is was just, well, boring. I never found myself caring for the plight of mama Connor and son, and the Terminator out to protect them (Summer Glau). Check out the second (and final) season and see if you care. Bonus features include audio commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel. A Blu-Ray edition ($79.98 SRP) is also available with identical bonus materials.
When his wife and child are murdered by a serial killer, a celebrity psychic renounces his conning past and devotes himself to using his observation and analysis skills to bring killers to justice in The Mentalist (Warner Bros., Not Rated, DVD-$59.98 SRP). The 6-disc set contains all 23 first season episodes, plus featurettes, deleted scenes, and a gag reel.
It may not be the best sitcom that ever came down the pike, but I still love me some Mr. Belvedere (Shout! Factory, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP). The 3rd season set contains all 22 episodes, plus a few cast commentaries thrown in for good measure.
It pretty much sums itself up in the title – Marvel: The Expanding Universe Wall Chart (Universe Publishing, $45.00 SRP) is a massive fold-out history of the equally massive Marvel Universe, illuminating not only the characters but also their shared history (what nerds call “continuity”).
When a killer begins copying the murders found in novelist Rick Castle’s stories, the author is enlisted by the NYPD to help bring the murderer to justice in Castle (ABC Studios, Not Rated, DVD-$39.99 SRP) – a collaboration he’s more than willing to milk for his next book. The 3-disc set features all 10 episodes, plus audio commentaries, featurettes, and bloopers.
Really, the only purpose that Ghost Whisperer (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$63.98 SRP) serves is to give steady work to Camryn Manheim and Jamie Kennedy. Beyond that, I’m not sure exactly what people see in it. But see something they do, as the fourth season is now available, containing featurettes and webisodes.
It seems Warners believes that audiences were simply dying for an origin prequel to their middling live action Scooby-Doo franchise, which means we know have Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins (Warner Bros., Rated PG, DVD-$27.95 SRP). Yes, the gang gets together. For the first time. To solve a mystery. Bonus materials include featurettes, a music video, and a gag reel. A Blu-Ray edition ($35.99 SRP) is also available.
I can’t have been the only one not surprised that Brotherhood (Paramount, Not Rated, DVD-$42.99 SRP) didn’t make it past 3 seasons, as its story of family, politics, and organized crime never did seem to find its footing. The 2-disc set contains the final 8 episodes, and zero bonus features.
Oh, Disney Channel – why are your tween/teen comedies just so unrelentingly bland? It’s no wonder iCarly is kicking your ass in the ratings – one has only has to look at the episodes featured on the inaugural DVD release of the new Jonas Brothers sitcom Jonas (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP) and see its tired writing and limp execution. If that weren’t enough of an example for you, look to what could – with another batch of shows – have been a really fun crossover, as a trio of Disney Channel sitcoms merge into Wizards On Deck With Hannah Montana (Walt Disney, Not Rated, DVD-$19.99 SRP). Sadly, it’s not that fun – just messy.
Already known for their stellar work, occasionally Sideshow Collectibles manages to even surpass themselves – and such is the case with their Iron Man Mark I Maquette ($399). Taken from Tony Stark’s rough-and-tumble, cave-cobbled armor from the beginning of Iron Man, the 1/4-scale maquette features detailed, accurate sculpting, and spot-on paint job, and even a chest light feature. And, if you get the Sideshow exclusive version, you get a swappable bonus head, which allows you to flip up the visor to reveal the sweaty visage of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Stark.
So there you have it… my humble suggestions for what to watch, listen to, play with, or waste money on this coming weekend. See ya next week…
Adult Swim’s Dana Snyder and FRED’s Ken Plume set out to have a literate conversation between two pals, but inevitably devolve into a verbal, and funny, free-for-all full of bickering, infighting, and the special kind of male bonding that comes from conflict expressed through the podcast medium.
Actor/comedian/raconteur Dana Snyder, you’re certainly aware, is Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Master Shake, Squidbillies‘ Granny, Minoriteam’s Dr. Wang, and The Venture Bros.‘ Alchemist. Available for weddings and bar mitzvahs (bat availability pending), you can keep tabs on him via his website, www.eyeofthesnyder.com.
Ken Plume is the editor-in-chief here at FRED. He is a friend of Dana’s, as well as his arch-nemesis.
KEN P.D. SNYDECAST #114: Baby Driver – Ken & Dana return from their journeys and leap right back into their normal chit-chat, discussing everything from the history of Vaudeville to the world’s worst car salesman.
[CONTENT WARNING]:This podcast may contain some foul language and horribly off-color jokes. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
(This review discusses these two movies in great detail. )
There are two things that need to be said about Whiteout. First, it is based on a comic book. Second, it sat on the shelf for two years.
Whiteout is based on the graphic novel by mystery-novelist-turned-comic-writer Greg Rucka and award winning illustrator Steve Lieber. Once the movie was made, however, with Dominic Sena (Swordfish, Kalifornia) directing and four writers ““ Jon Hoeber, Erich Hoeber, Chad Hayes, and Carey W. Hayes ““ as the credited adaptors, the studio, Warner, shelved the film for two years when shooting ceased in 2007. Thus there is a certain youthful freshness to the face of lead actress Kate Beckinsale, as Carrie Stetko, a U. S. Marshall assigned to the American scientific station at the South Pole, which is about to close for its six-months-of-night hiatus. At the last minute, a corpse turns up out in the ice, which undoes a carefully orchestrated crime scheme by some of the residents. Stetko solves the crime but at the cost of being isolated at the base for six months.
Whiteout has many of the basics of the mystery thriller genre as we have come to know it in the last few years. There is a deadline that frames the action and squeezes it into a set amount of hours, in this case the sun going down. The main cop has a troubled past (she was betrayed by a partner), which she is trying to get over (the television series Warehouse 13 has a similar premise with its female investigator). There is an interloping federal agent who is a high profile suspect, numerous suspicious co-workers, and several set pieces, among them an ax-chase and a fight in the middle of a snow storm. The movie also evokes with Alien by having Tom Skerritt play the part of a kindly old retiring doctor.
Unfortunately, the movie is as inert as the wintry terrain in which it is set. The heroine is blurrily sketched, and unappealing, and we don’t see why she is still fretting over a justified shooting in her past. The co-workers and the villains all look the same. The action sequences are hard to follow. And when the mystery is “solved,” it seems so trivial in relation to the labors endured to get you there.
Each new comic book adaptation disappoints in a different. The problem with Whiteout is that the source isn’t all that interesting to begin with. It’s fairly conventional mystery material in a “unique” setting, and the changes made in the transfer to the screen (making Stetko less hard looking) only make the film even more conventional.
Jennifer’s Body is much more effective. I didn’t expect to like it, but it proved to be a much more charming and entertaining variation on the teen horror movie than anticipated.
The Oscar and Emmy winning screenwriter of the film, Diablo Cody, is the new Tarantino, a screenwriter poised to take over the town and inspire a clutch of fanatic followers. She has a column in Entertainment Weekly and a Showtime TV show and also helped produced Jennifer’s Body. But though she has the image of a tattooed hard drinking rebel there is a conservative steak to her work. The EW column thus far has been a self-glorifying journey through the nostalgia of her childhood interests, and the career making Juno was at heart a conservative vision of maternity. On the other hand, no major motion picture or TV series these days can endorse abortion. The dominant culture somehow demands that decry abortion, probably for fear of a backlash. As Nabokov said in an afterword to Lolita, no American work of fiction will ever concern itself with happy incest, an atheist who dies contented in his sleep, or a fruitful interracial marriage. He could have added to the list a tale about a successful, problem-clearing, and life-saving abortion (though Third Watch tried at the start of its second season).
Having taken on unwed pregnancies in Juno, here in Jennifer’s Body Cody conceives a tale about eating disorders. Of course the subject matter is coded. Jennifer (Megan Fox) is possessed by a demon and consumes the entrails of high school classmates susceptible to her human charms.
The only person standing between Jennifer and Hell on Earth is Anita “Needy” Lesnicki (Amanda Seyfried). If Jennifer is the school’s designated hot girl. Needy is its class nerd. Yet Jennifer uncharacteristically loves her as much as the audience loves Needy, with her complex adoration of Jennifer and her glasses and eccentric clothes and her big man’s sports watch (when she finally has sex with her boyfriend ““ being a girl nerd Needy gets to have a boyfriend ““ her watch is the only thing she doesn’t take off, an erotic dream come true for some of us). But also her competence and bravery. In the old days ““ well, at least the 1950s ““ women in horror and science fiction were reduced to tears and faints by the threat of violation. Today they fight back. It is a form of progress.
Here’s what happens. Needy goes with Jennifer to Devil’s Kettle’s only music club, The Carousel. Jennifer has a groupie-ish fixation on the band Low Shoulder, led by Nikolai Wolf (TV’s Adam Brody). Though Jennifer is hot for sex with anyone from the band, the group at first considers Needy, but Wolf, drawing upon his own small town wisdom, asserts that Jennifer is more likely to be a virgin. The band, it turns out, needs a virgin for a sacrificial rite of appeasment to the devil so that they can rise to success, like John Cassavetes in Rosemary’s Baby. This plays into a pet theory of mine ““ that all Hollywood celebrities have sold their souls to Satan. How else to explain the rise of such stars as Sylvester Stallone from mere extras in films like Bananas to writer-star of Rocky?
In any case, the procedure goes awry ““ it turns out that Jennifer is not a virgin. As a consequence, as Needy learns when she researches the topic in the school library, Jennifer has become some kind of portal for a demon on earth, a demon with a hunger for human flesh. When Jennifer zeros in on Needy’s boyfriend Chip (Johnny Simmons), a line is drawn between the two lifelong friends.
The film ends on note of Kill Bill-like tragedy. Institutionalized (and we know this from the opening scene), Needy now lives with the secret knowledge that she saved Devil’s Kettle. Normally, a movie like this would end with her behind bars, but Cody has a few more cards to play. Needy escapes, and hitchhikes away, driven past a highway warning sign that reads Low Shoulder. But the movie doesn’t end there, either. In a terrific end credit sequence we see the results when Needy, who has been changed forever and will remain an outcast, finally catches up with the suddenly popular rock band (apparently they didn’t need the sacrifice in the first place). This is a wonderfully poignant ending, deeper and more evocative and more truly tragic than a typical horror film.
Cody also cunningly plays with eating disorder issues in the tale, but it is so coded you might not notice. Consumption is a running theme of the film, be it liquor by underage kids or tomorrow’s uncooked meat dragged right out of the fridge. Will teenage girls make the connection? Jennifer gains strength by eating; she is weakest when she is underfed by going too many hours without killing a boy. This mirrors mere biology, but in the eating disorder mentality the opposite is true. Strength comes from starvation, thinness, denial. You could argue that the movie subtly endorses under-eating, since Jennifer becomes a demon. But in the newly mixed up psychology of Needy, the satisfaction of hunger is a positive force.
The film is also an exploration of the complexities of female friendship, disguised as a horror film. Why does Jennifer take on Needy as a friend? For one thing, she is the only other sharp person in the school. Keep your friends close, but your potential enemies ““ or lesbian lovers ““ closer. The tension underlying Jennifer’s friendship with Needy is shown in a quick moment when Jennifer pushes Needy playfully up against a door. She does it way too hard. The complexity of Needy’s affection for Jennifer is revealed in a strange spectrum of emotions on her face as she watches Jennifer while Low Shoulder plays.
Jennifer’s Body is not quite as fun as you want it to be, and it doesn’t reach the heights of insight of earlier teen girl friendship movies such as The World of Henry Orient, Thirteen, Havoc, Haven, My Summer of Love, and Don’t Deliver Us from Evil, but it certainly makes some new and interesting points. As Jennifer says about Needy, her childhood friend, “Sandbox love never dies.”
SEATTLE — Dalton Trumbo was one of the biggest names in screenwriting who for the longest time wasn’t allowed to show his name on the screen. He won two Oscars, but wasn’t allowed to step onto the stage.
At the peak of his career in 1947, he was brought before the House Un-American Activities Committee to testify about communists in Hollywood films. Like other screenwriters before the HUAC, he refused to answer the questions. Their decision to not name names got them blacklisted in the industry and sent to prison. After nearly a year behind bars, Dalton secretly returned to screenwriting. He used fake names and front writers on various project. It wasn’t till 1960 when his name accompanied Exodus and Spartacus that the blacklist was broken.
Trumbo is a documentary about the writer that was originally a play written by his son Christopher Trumbo. The play had actors reading the letters written by Dalton over the course of his plight. The documentary was also written by Christopher as it mixed the letters with vintage with Dalton. Actors such as Dustin Hoffman, Liam Neeson, David Strathairn, Donald Sutherland and Michael Douglas read the letters of Dalton. It is a testimony to a man who survived and allowed his talent to shine in the darkest of hours.
I had a chance to swap questions via email with Christopher Trumbo about his father, the film (which is just out on DVD from Magnolia Home Entertainment) and Christopher’s own career as a screenwriter that included Ironside and Quincy.
Party Favors: How were royalty payments worked out when your father was writing under pen names? Or did they not have them at that time?
Christopher Trumbo: Writers didn’t receive residuals until 1960 or 1961; after the WGA went on strike in 1960.
PF: How did you feel about the experience of showing Trumbo at Durham’s Full Frame Documentary Film Festival?
Trumbo: I was enormously pleased with the film’s reception at the Full Frame Festival, all the more so because of Elizabeth Edwards’ introduction. The festival itself was a delight, I was treated better than I deserve, and Durham seemed a charming town.
PF: What was the most unusual thing you learned about your father while working on the documentary?
Trumbo: I don’t think I learned anything new about my father from working on the documentary. But I always learn from the actors who read the letters. Each of them, and there have been many by this time if you include those who associated themselves with the play, brings a unique sensibility that continually adds to my knowledge.
PF: Did you feel closer to your father during the process of making the film than when he was around?
Trumbo: No. But the film and the play focused my attention on trying to give as accurate a picture of him as I could to everyone associated with the production. Not only who he was or why he did one thing rather than another, but how the events of his life were tied together and the evolution of his ideas.
PF: Do you think you’ve figured out all the films he worked on under fake names?
Trumbo: No, and I don’t think anyone will. In the end, it’s not that important. Remember, he worked on many films he wouldn’t have been associated with had he not been blacklisted and sometimes desperate for a job.
PF: What did you think of Ann Coulter attempting to buff up the image of Joe McCarthy?
Trumbo: I suppose it keeps her busy, and that’s not a bad thing. The world is filled with opportunities for mischief.
PF: Do you find it ironic that your father won for The Brave One and Roman Holiday, but didn’t get to collect his Oscars, but Ring Lardner Jr. got to pick up the Oscar for MASH when he admitted that not a single line he wrote in the script made it to the screen?
Trumbo: Ring received the Oscar for “MASH” after he had become “un-blacklisted,” so there is really no comparison with “The Brave One” and “Roman Holiday.” Mike Wilson and Carl Foreman also received Oscars posthumously, in their case for “Bridge Over the River Kwai.”
For reasons that I am sure are clear to the Academy those Oscars were never alluded to or presented on television at Academy’s annual award ceremonies where sleek golden statuettes are bestowed upon the chosen, or in some cases to a surviving relative of the intended recipient if there has been a death.
The Academy did sponsor public ceremonies for blacklisted writers where Oscars changed hands, but the occasions were of a quiet nature, the kind of ceremony that appears to be reserved for screenwriters who wrote clandestinely. The fact that Academy changed its rules at one point in the 1950s to make sure that a blacklisted writer would not receive one of its awards may have something to do with its later reluctance to acknowledge the achievements of blacklisted writers in the same way they would recognize any other writer. Second class ceremonies for Trumbo, Wilson and Foreman.
PF: Do you think it was fair for the Academy to remove Ian McLellan Hunter’s name from the Oscar for Roman Holiday?
Trumbo: The Academy has its own rules. I don’t believe that fairness has anything to do with its considerations.
PF: What was it like establishing yourself as a screenwriter? Did your father’s name help or hurt during meetings? Did it give you a good sense of what sort of people you were dealing with?
Trumbo: To tell the truth, I’m not sure that my father’s name helped or harmed me. Maybe some of each, but if so my guess is they balanced each other out.
PF: When you wrote on Ironside, did you keep having to worry how you’d get the wheelchair into the locations since it was before they made buildings handicap accessible?
Trumbo: Ironside was much too clever to let lack of wheelchair access stop him from seeing justice done. His assistants, by the way, were quite nimble.
PF: What was it like working on the script for Quincy? Did they provide the scientific research? Did you get to write, “That’s tantamount to murder?”
Trumbo: Neither the network, the studio, or the people working on “Quincy” provided me or my co-writer, Jeff Freilich, any scientific research. We did it all ourselves.
I can’t imagine writing tantamount in dialog except as a possible rhyme for catamount, and then only if the character is reciting a limerick.
PF: Have you seen people change their opinion of your father after seeing the film?
Trumbo: I don’t know if anyone has changed their mind about my father as a result of seeing the film, and if they have, I haven’t been told. I’m certain there are people who had never heard of Trumbo who now have an opinion of him, and what that opinion is remains a mystery to me.
CHILD LABOR LAWS
In an attempt to cash in on using my offspring as a stepping stone to a Ryan Seacrest produced reality show; here’s the start of a series called, “Things I Can Tell My Daughter While She Hasn’t A Clue What I’m Saying.” Today’s topic is Disney films.
I’m ready to party with Michael Lohan and Jon Gosselin.
HALFTIME
This geezer tells me that he no longer watch the NFL games on TV because they cut away at halftime to the studio for game updates instead of showing 12 minutes of cheerleaders entertaining the crowd. I didn’t have a heart to tell the oldtimer that halftime at NFL games isn’t that exciting and doesn’t involve cheerleaders doing high school level routines. Got to let the man die with a fantasy intact.
The goal of any sports franchise at halftime is to get your ass in line for another two overpriced cups of beer. Entertainment detracts from that circle of cash. Although at Bengals-Browns games, halftime is when they have suicide prevention counselors next to the urinals.
BEAM ME UP 1080P
Star Trek – The Original Series: Season 2 Blu-ray gives us high definition transfers of the show with both the original effects and new CGI enhanced effects as options. You can choice if you want old school Trek or cyber school images. The second season (of three seasons) is memorable for one major reason: Tribbles! Those cute fuzzy balls of joy appear in “The Trouble with Tribbles.” The disc also contains the Tribble episodes from the animated cartoon series and Deep Space Nine. “Amok Time” has Spock returning to Vulcan to mate. Except it’s more complicated there than a bottle of Jack Daniels and a copy of Roxy Music’s Avalon. “Mirror, Mirror” puts Kirk into an alternate universe where the Enterprise crew are out of control. “Patterns of Force” takes the crew to a Nazi planet. “Bread and Circuses” switches it up to a Roman planet. Not to be confused with “Who Mourns for Adonais?” with an alien thinking he’s a Greek god. It’s a fine 26 episodes on the second season. The best bonus feature is “Billy Blackburn’s Home Movies.” He was the silent crewman who filled in for Sulu on the bridge. Turns out he had plenty of duties on the show playing monsters and aliens, but still had time to break out his movie camera to gets glimpses of the show. The remastered high-def image is space age superiority when compared to the old DVDs. This is the ultimate version of Star Trek: Season 2 that should sit on your TV next to your Klingon to Vulcan Dictionary. The Season 3 Blu-ray is scheduled for Dec. 15.
BLU-RAY FEAR-FEST
The Hannibal Lecter Collection Blu-ray gives us the first three films featuring everyone’s favorite cannibalistic shrink in 1080p glory. Manhunter was Michael Mann’s attempt to bring the Miami Vice style to the world of Cinemascope. The camera angles are sleek and the soundtrack dominates the action. William Petersen (C.S.I.) is the FBI profiler brought back into action to hunt down a serial killer who kills families. Petersen’s technique is to get into the head of the killer. This takes him into dark places. He gets a little assistance from Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox) in hunting down a serial killer nicknamed the Tooth Fairy (Tom Noonan ofMonster Squad). The big finale is all timed to Iron Butterfly’s “Inna Gadda Da Vida”. Silence of the Lambs is the Oscar standard for serial killer films. Nearly 2 decades later, the interaction between Jodie Foster’s FBI agent and Anthony Hopkins’ version of Lector is thrilling. Ted Levine (Monk) is peerless as the Jame Gumb torturing Brooke Smith (Weeds). Keep an eye out for the legendary Tracey Walter (Repo Man) and Charles Napier (Squidbillies). Hannibal lets Anthony Hopkins take Hannibal on a tasting tour of Italy. Julianne Moore takes over Jodie Foster’s role. This is a semi-love story where Ray Liotta gets served like monkey brains. The transfers on all three films look great. There are no bonus features so don’t dump your DVDs if you upgrade.
Child’s Play Blu-ray reminds us why it’s not good for cops to shoot down killers inside toy stores. In this case, the killer transfers his evil soul into the body of a Chucky doll. And this little creeping plastic boy is ready to continue life-taking. He wants to put his soul into his new owner. This is what spurred the long running series. There’s loads of bonus features and a DVD copy for you to let the kids watch in the back of the mini-van. It’s a great way to get them to shut up about going to Toys-R-Us.
Wrong Turn -Blu-ray reminds America why under all circumstance, there is no good short cut that involves cutting through West Virginia. Two cars make the wrong turn and end up wrecking in the middle of nowhere in the backwoods mountains. You’d figure this could be a cute romance with Jeremy Sisto (Six Feet Under) working his magic on Eliza Dushku (Dollhouse) and Emmanuelle Chriqui (Sloan on Entourage). But before this can turn into a Cinema After Dark masterpiece, a pack of mutant cannibalistic hillbillies attack them. Why do these toothless wonders have to interrupt the love? This film reminds us why it’s best to take the long way to Raleigh, North Carolina. Amongst the bonus features is a commentary track with Dushku contributing.
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End – Blu-ray takes us back into the West Virginia hills. This time Henry Rollins is the host of a survivalist reality competition show. He drags six kids into the wilderness with the quest of seeing which one can thrive. However mutant cannibal hillbillies aren’t part of the pre-production schedule. Did the PAs remember to get model release forms signed by the hillbillies? Shame there aren’t more reality shows that mix their cast with inbred cannibal hillbillies. This would be great upgrade for Hell’s Kitchen. The bonus features allow us to study the thespian techniques of Henry Rollins.
Misery – Bluray is also another warning tale involving evil people you can encounter in the mountains. However instead of an inbred cannibal, writer James Caan encounters uber-fan Kathy Bates when she saves him from a snowy wreck. While he recovers at her house, she gets a sneak peak at his upcoming novel. She’s doesn’t like his latest plot twist and decides to give him attitude adjustment involving a lighter fluid and sledgehammers. Bates won the Oscar for being the ultimate psycho fan and she’s extra creepy in Hi-Def. They include the DVD version as a bonus. It contains all the special features including several pieces on stalking fans. There’s a commentary track from Rob Reiner.
DVD SHELF
The Paul Newman: The Tribute Collection contains 13 of the icon’s finer screen moments. The set includes The Long, Hot Summer, Rally ’round the Flag, Boys!, From the Terrace, Exodus, The Hustler, Adventures of a Young Man, What a Way to Go!, Hombre, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Towering Inferno, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson, Quintet and The Verdict. Has it really been a year since Newman passed away? He was one of finest actors, a fun race car driver and a great salad dressing chef. His best three films in this box set are The Hustler, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Verdict. Although for pure dumb fun, put on The Towering Inferno. He’s the architect of a skyscraper that catches fire because of cheap wiring. It’s up to Newman, Steve McQueen and O.J. Simpson to save the party in the penthouse. One thing you’ll realize after a few of these films is that Paul Newman knew how to act with a drink in his hand. This collection goes perfect with a bag of Newman’s Own popcorn.
The Haunted World of El Superbeasto allows Rob Zombie to bring motion to his outrageous comic creations. The main hero is a Mexican wrestler who has branched out to making adult films and fighting Dr. Satan (voiced by Paul Giamatti). Turns out the ultimate in evil is going to marry Rosario Dawson. Superbeasto doesn’t care too much, but superheroine Suzi X (Sheri Moon Zombie) makes it her business while she’s fighting nazi zombies. It’s kind of like an Adult Swim project except with tons of female nudity. They have plenty of great actors contributing voices including Clint Howard, Sid Haig, Geoffrey Lewis, Laraine Newman, Danny Trejo and Elvira. Unfortunately there’s no bonus feature of them in the vocal booth. They do have moments that didn’t make the cut.
Taxi: The Fourth Season finally arrives after four years since the release of Season 3. Talk about a slow cab ride. This is the series that launched the career of Jeff Conaway into Celebrity Rehab stardom. This season he pops up until he’s completely written out. Who needs him when you’ve got Tony Danza? “Jim the Psychic” has Christopher Llyod (Back to the Future) swear he sees the death of Judd Hirsch. Part of the vision come true enough to spook Danny Devito that his favorite cabbie is going to bite it. “Vienna Waits” has Judd and Marilou Henner take a B-roll tour of Europe. Will their vacation lead to a romantic getaway? Or will Judd be a big tool? A slight warning that there are a few musical moments clipped. A guitarist song to Henner on the airplane is grounded. The 24 episodes have plenty of laugh worthy moments especially with the antics of Andy Kaufman as Latka. The fifth (and final) season is scheduled for Dec. 22
Mitch Fatel Is Magic: Live, Extended & Uncensored brings us the dirty Rain Man of comedy. Mitch has nailed the man-child voice without it being irritating. His observations about sex, oral sex, breasts and sex with animals are disturbing and on target. The Oral sex with closed eyes routine has been proven true by medical science. “The handjob is the ugly stepsister of all the jobs,” he declares. He’s like a third grader explaining sex on the playground if the kid figured out how to get past his parents’ web-block program on the computer. He mentions how finding out his date had sex with a horse would be a bit of a bump in establishing a relationship. Unlike the short Comedy Central special, the DVD performance is 65 minutes without any bloopers. And what’s the point of missing out on Mitch discussing golden showers? For those fearful of comedy magic – it’s just one trick at the start. The bonuses on the DVD include cut jokes including his Christian Bale moment, animated version of his matching bra and panties joke and fans testifying to Mitch being a pervert. This is the perfect gift to send the Duggar family.
The Ghost Whisperer: The Fourth Season brings us more Jennifer Love Hewitt talking to dead people. This is a big season since Jennifer’s Melinda ends up marrying Jim Clancy (David Conrad). Even on their honeymoon, she can’t stop seeing ghosts. Which is strange since most honeymooners don’t see what’s on the other side of their hotel room door. She also gets knocked up. The scary season finale has her discover the date of her death is her due date. Is it a spoiler if CBS is advertising a fifth season is going on the air with Jennifer? Bonus features include the webisodes, interactive games a tribute to Jamie Kennedy joining the show as Eli James. In case you don’t read People Magazine, Kennedy is Jennifer’s boyfriend. Guess he’s getting career advice from Tom Arnold.
Friday 13th The Series: The Final Season gives us the last 19 episodes of the syndicated series that ended in 1990. Not to give away any secrets, but Jason Voorhees doesn’t make a cameo in the final episode. The show has Louise Robey and Steve Monarque running around the country retrieving evil items sold from an evil antiques store. The series was shot in Canada so the guest stars are probably more famous for readers in Toronto. “Crippled Inside” is an early break for Dean McDermott before he made a career out of shagging Tori Spelling. “Year of the Monkey” has Tia Carrera (Wayne’s World). Colm Feore (Slings and Arrows) proves he’s “Mightier Than the Sword.” The final episode “The Charnel Pit” has Robey fall through a painting and meet the Marquis de Sade. She gets laced up and ready for a flogging.
Director Brett Ratner The Shooter Series: Volume 1 is the backstory to the man who took the helm of the Rush Hour films. This is a collection of his music videos and commercials. Among the videos are Madonna’s “Beautiful Stranger,” Wu-Tang Clan’s “Triumph” and LL Cool J’s “Pink Cookies in a Plastic Bag Getting Crushed By Buildings.” Now that’s a title of a song that always needs to get referenced in reviews of NCIS: Los Angeles. Ratner provide commentary to all the projects. A 33 minute documentary is a celebrity testimonial to his talent. Best moment is him showing Jessica Simpson how to strut around the General Lee in her “Boots Were Made For Walking” video.
Triangle brings together a threesome of legendary Hong Kong directors on one project. Johnny To (The Heroic Trio), Tsui Hark (Once Upon a Time in China) and Ringo Lam (City On Fire) each wrote and directed a 30 minute segment of the film. Three men desperately in need of cash get involved in a robbery scheme that turns into a treasure map. It gets good and twisted when a shady cop banging one of their wives muscles his way into the action. There’s plenty of action on the screen from this trio.
Fame: The Complete Seasons 1 & 2 tones down the movie about the high school for the performing arts. It’s still a drama about talented high school students that want to perform, but they’re not merely as messed up as real art school kids. Debbie Allen is the dance instructor that stirs the pot. Benjamin Hague is the music teacher who wants to get these kids to reach deep down for their art although he doesn’t like synths. Gene Anthony Ray is the dancer who must overcome his educational deficiencies to keep learning how to move. It’s a nice primer for anyone thinking they should apply to an art school. The first 38 episodes on 8 single-sided DVDs.
Brotherhood: The Final Season wraps up the Showtime series about two powerful brothers in Rhode Island. Tommy is a moving up fast in state government. Mike is also making a power grab in the local crime world. The show has a gritty real feel like The Wire. Unfortunately it never quite grabbed the cult love which explains why it only got 8 episodes in its farewell lap. Luckily all three seasons are now on DVD so you can rediscover it on your own time.
Life On Mars: The Complete Series adapts the Manchester sci-fi cop drama to the gritty streets of New York City in 1973. They did a good job in the casting of the US version with Jason O’Mara as Detective Sam Tyler, Harvey Keitel as Lt. Gene Hunt, Michael Imperioli as Det. Ray Carling and Gretchen Mol as Annie Norris. In case you haven’t seen the original, while on a case in 2008, Sam Tyler gets knocked out. He wakes up and it’s 1973. He can’t figure out if this is a coma dream or if he really went through a slip in time. He has to keep up his job as a cop, but he no longer has modern crime fighting tools like cellphones and the internet. He’s at the mercy of Keitel, a cop who likes to beat out confessions. There’s constant hints that something is weird as Sam sees little robots and hears voices from the future. The show was just a little bit too weird for American audiences and lasted only 17 episodes. A bonus feature here has Lee Majors visiting the cast. How will Michael Imperioli’s mustache react to meeting the Six Million Dollar Man?
CSI NY: The Fifth Season brings us more criminal tales from the rotten core of the Big Apple. “Veritas” has Gary Sinise being found after being kidnapped at the end of last season. However he can’t be much help since a concussion has made him forget what happened. Elias Koteas (Crash and Exotica) guest stars so you know trouble is around the corner. “Page Turner” has a woman turn up dead at a Maroon Five concert. Coincidentally, the only reason I’d be at a Maroon Five concert is because someone killed me and dumped my body in the cheap seats. You wouldn’t sniff a corpse in the crowd with their crap coming out of the speakers. “My Name is Mac Taylor” has a serial killer taking victims who have the same name as Gary Sinise’s character. “Forbidden Fruit” has a woman die after eating the latest miracle fruit. Did Oprah and Dr. Oz promote this episode? There’s 25 episodes this season.
Ugly Betty: The Complete Third Season wraps up what might be the end of the Ugly era. Rumor has it that the next season America Ferrera is getting a makeover on scale with The Devil Wears Prada. For this season, we get a little taste of crazy with Lindsay Lohan as a guest star. Seems like she was supposed to last a little longer in the role, but she drove the producers nuts. I’m shocked. Supposedly she was more out of control than her back biting character who uses and abuses Betty. As a bit of a rest, they also cast the always charming Bernadette Peters (The Jerk). She still looks great after all these years.
Castle: The Complete First Season has all 10 episodes of the mid-season replacement series. The premise has Rick Castle (Nathan Fillion) being a famous crime writer who gets called by the NYPD when a serial killer is copy-cat killing based on his novels. He hooks up with Det. Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) to follow the case. He starts to work on his next book with a fictionalized version of her as his new lead character. The show harkens back to Remington Steele in tone and chemistry between the two leads. There’s also a Rockford Files vibe since Stephen J. Cannell cameos. A bonus feature lets Cannell take center stage.
The Hills Run Red claims that in 1982 the original version of The Hills Run Red was released and quickly pulled from theaters because it was just too disgusting. The prints were destroyed and the cast vanished. This movie is about the mystery of that movie. Did it really exist? Young filmmaker Tad Hilgenbrinck can’t stop investigating it. His main lead is Sophie Monk. She’s dancing in a stripclub. Unlike Megan Fox in Jennifer’s Body, Sophie drops her top while shaking it in the champagne room. She guides Tad and his friends out to the rural location of the film. Turns out her co-star is still on the scene. The bloodbath continues since someone wants to make a sequel. There’s a 28 minute behind the scene documentary to remind us this was all just a film, although it’s still a very gory film.
Welcome to our weekly round-up of featured giveaways here at Quick Stop. Every Wednesday, we’ll present a new clutch of DVDs, books, and other cool stuff you can take a shot at winning. All you have to do is click on the graphics below to be taken to their respective contest pages. And good luck!
In conjunction with Universal Home Video, we’re giving away a three (3) copies of 30 ROCK: SEASON 3 on DVD.
In conjunction with MPI Home Video, we’re giving away a five (5) copies of THE IT CROWD: SEASON 3 on DVD.
SModcast is the meandering palaver of a pair of dudes whose voices are so dull, they don’t deserve to be on the radio (and, hence, aren’t). Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier are SModcast.The best thing about SModcast? It don’t cost nothing.
SModcast 94: Bar SMitzvah –
In which our heroes discover the Middle East.
[CONTENT WARNING]SModcast features harsh language and even harsher notions of propriety. Listener discretion is advised.
Yes, I know I’m a little close to the material – but you know what? I’d still recommend you pick up a copy of 
The miniaturization of video cameras is beginning to frighten me. This terror is completely overridden by the geek delight in holding a digital memory camera that’s only slightly larger than a chapstick tube. The camera I speak of is the 
Sadly, we’ve now reached the limit of the currently produced episodes of 
I’ve seen the episodes a half-dozen times each (I often replayed them while working), but it’s the mark of a classic show that I’m looking forward to digging into the 3rd season set of 
Yes, it really has been 100 episodes since the squarepanted sponge of Bikini Bottom first made his way onto our TV screens. How do I know this? Because there’s now an uber-deluxe box set titled 
They’ve been released what seems like a half-dozen times by at least three different companies, but this is the first time that 
Abrams is fast becoming a real juggernaut with their incredible Abrams ComicArts imprint, as they’ve been releasing some absolutely top-notch tomes that belong on your shelf. Like, now. First up is a loving, in-depth tribute to 
Much like Pineapple Express, those going into 
Have I mentioned before just how much I’m enjoying Warner Bros.’ On-Demand DVD service at WarnerArchive.com? I have – numerous times – because it’s great to see a company find a way to make smaller catalogue titles available to fans when economic realities prevent a full-fledged commercial release. Case in point are a trio of new titles that have been added to the site – King Vidor’s 
Does anyone still watch 
Serial womanizer Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey finds his plans to bed a bridesmaid at his brother’s wedding is derailed by the supernatural guidance of his departed uncle (Michael Douglas), who originally instructed him on his boorish ways, to mend his ways and find true love (in the form of Jennifer Garner) in the tolerable rom-com 
Comedy Central may have killed their much-missed show, but at least there’s still live performances to keep The State alumni David Wain, Michael Showalter, & Michael Ian Black together, as you’ll see on 
Despite further muddying already cloudy waters with divergent continuity, the biggest drawback of the axed 
When his wife and child are murdered by a serial killer, a celebrity psychic renounces his conning past and devotes himself to using his observation and analysis skills to bring killers to justice in 
It may not be the best sitcom that ever came down the pike, but I still love me some 
It pretty much sums itself up in the title – 
When a killer begins copying the murders found in novelist Rick Castle’s stories, the author is enlisted by the NYPD to help bring the murderer to justice in 
Really, the only purpose that 
It seems Warners believes that audiences were simply dying for an origin prequel to their middling live action Scooby-Doo franchise, which means we know have 
I can’t have been the only one not surprised that 
Oh, Disney Channel – why are your tween/teen comedies just so unrelentingly bland? It’s no wonder iCarly is kicking your ass in the ratings – one has only has to look at the episodes featured on the inaugural DVD release of the new Jonas Brothers sitcom 
The Oscar and Emmy winning screenwriter of the film, Diablo Cody, is the new Tarantino, a screenwriter poised to take over the town and inspire a clutch of fanatic followers. She has a column in Entertainment Weekly and a Showtime TV show and also helped produced Jennifer’s Body. But though she has the image of a tattooed hard drinking rebel there is a conservative steak to her work. The EW column thus far has been a self-glorifying journey through the nostalgia of her childhood interests, and the career making Juno was at heart a conservative vision of maternity. On the other hand, no major motion picture or TV series these days can endorse abortion. The dominant culture somehow demands that decry abortion, probably for fear of a backlash. As Nabokov said in an afterword to Lolita, no American work of fiction will ever concern itself with happy incest, an atheist who dies contented in his sleep, or a fruitful interracial marriage. He could have added to the list a tale about a successful, problem-clearing, and life-saving abortion (though Third Watch tried at the start of its second season).
In this episode, I’m having a bit of a chat with comedian, raconteur, bon vivant, and star of Dave’s ARGUMENTAL, 
