Archive for the ‘Comedy’ Category
March 23rd, 2009 | 
Author: Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 3
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 09/09/2008
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Awesome
This series is great, the addition of Devito in the second season is great, making the third amesome. I can’t wait for the fourth season to hit the market
5 Stars A Great Buy!
I really enjoyed this DVD. I would recommend it to anyone who has a quirky sense of humor.
5 Stars Favorite show
Came upon this series through “On Demand” on my cable tv. It was season 4. I loved it so much I ordered seasons 1, 2 and 3. Loved every minute of it. Can’t say any more than that! Don’t miss the “Dance Off”.
5 Stars Sweet deal
Got this for my brother for christmas for 20 bucks at the time. The cheapest elsewhere was 30 bucks, so i’m glad i bought it off amazon. Nicely packaged. He loves this show 
5 Stars Funniest Show on TV
You definitely have to have a specific type of humor to get this show. It is, hands down, one of the funniest out there right now. Great writing and great actors. I am not sure it will be funny to everyone, but you outside-of-the-box comedy enthusiasts (you know who you are!) will really like this!
Warner Bros Romance Classics Collection Palm Springs Weekend Parrish Rome Adventure Susan Slade
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 01/27/2009 Rating: Nr
User Ratings and Reviews
4 Stars ROME CONQUERS OVER THE REST
The stand out film in this Romance Classics Collection from Warner Brothers is “Rome Adventure” the only film that one might consider a classic among the bunch. With a star making performance in her first film Suzanne Pleshette commands the screen and makes the film all hers. She is both engaging as an actress and a timeless beauty as well and proves she was a star who should have been bigger. Perhaps her resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor hindered her value at the studio, who knows? Her equally beautiful co-star not Troy Donohue but the city of Rome. Rarely has the city been more gorgeously photographed and here it is indeed presented as lovingly by the cinematographer Charles Lawton Jr. as he presents us with Miss Pleshette.
In a stand out performance Angie Dickenson nearly steels the picture as a wicked temptress. She is a joy to watch and a real guilty pleasure to boot as she vamps her way across most of Italy and half of Europe.
Delmar Davies directed the film (as he did “Parish” and “Susan Slade”) with flair and his trademark penchant for the melodramatic. “Rome Adventure” is the best of the lot in this collection. The rest of the films vary from overcooked melodrama to silly camp teen comedy.
“Susan Slade” comes in second place with a first rate cast of veterans and young stars of the time. The wonderful surprise here as in “Perrish” is that Connie Stevens is such a fine actress. She shines as an innocent sheltered girl forced to grow up fast in a world of very narrow and strict mores. It is also a visual treat to see San Francisco, Carmel, and Monterey in the early 1960’s shot so memorably in all their glory..
In “Perrish” Connie is a Real Bad Girl and she brings a touch of class, defiant pride and honor to the role that one would not expect from her. The other plus in this long tale of tobacco plantations in Connecticut is the last screen appearance of Claudette Colbert. It is just a treat to watch her in action with all her signature gestures and “Shoot my face from the left side only” moves that made her a star and so good at playing wise strong mothers.
“Palm Springs Weekend” weighs in as a campy lightweight “Where The Boys Are” where all the “teens” are played by actors nearing thirty. This film is a silly throwaway that is the perfect vehicle for the decidedly doughy and charmless Troy Donahue. This collection should really be called The Troy Donahue Collection since he stars in all for epics. In sad fact the films suffer for his presence. “Parrish”, “Susan Slade”, and “Rome Adventure” would have been much better with a lead that could act. I found myself pining for the films to rise from under his dead weight. Tab Hunter was truly missed.
The prints are good and the sound quality fine on all four films. So this collection is for die-hard Donahue fans and worth buying for “Rome Adventure” above all the rest.
5 Stars CTC TROY DONAHUE
I watched this film a long time ago I was only seventheen years old so that’s why I’d like to watch it again.
4 Stars Troy Donohue
Any time I see the name Troy Donohue, my mind automatically goes back to the time I was growing up in the late 1950s and early ’60s, a great time with wonderful memories.
I saw “Palm Springs Weekend” at the RKO Albee a beautiful golden-age theater in downtown Brooklyn, New York. The film holds many pleasant memories and is an all-around enjoyable experience. I even own the soundtrack album with Troy singing “Live Young.” About ten years ago, I sent Troy some lobby cards, from some of his films, to his home in California. I got them back signed in less than a week.
I can’t wait to get this set. Now if only we could get Warner Bros. to release some of their classic series from the late ’50s/early ’60s, including the ones Donohue starred in: “Hawaiian Eye” and, especially, “SurfSide 6,” one of my all-time favorites. I also wouldn’t mind seeing them release Troy’s large-scale western “A Distant Trumpet,” as well.
5 Stars Worth Every Penny
Today I received the box set of Romance Classic Collection(Parrish/Susan Slade/Rome Adventure /Palm Springs Weekend). When the movies were first released in the theaters I was between 13 and 16 years old and madly in love with Troy Donahue. I had his pictures plastered all over my bedroom walls. At the time I didn’t know there other actors in the movies! I was too busy looking at Troy. The movies are beautifully done. Old fashioned love stories with beautiful music and scenery. Except for Palm Springs Weekend which is a light weight comedy. (Jerry Van Dyke stole the movie)Troy even sings the title song!Not a great singer, but who cares, he’s Troy Donahue.
I highly recommend these movies as well as A Summer Place to anyone who loves loves stories the way they are meant to be. After seeing these movies I’m a teenager again madly in love with Troy Donahue.
5 Stars Rome Adventure finally out on DVD!!!!
My review goes for ROME ADVENTURE alone, I love this movie, and was able to treat myself with a copy, in Brazil, ROME ADVENTURE is presently being sold separately (not a boxed set).
The movie is fantastic, having enduring more than 4 decades, what proves its qualities, the picture quality is ok, however, the sound is not good, as a matter of fact, it’s awful, since it only has the original mono track. We’ve waited for so long for this to come out on DVD that I think we, fans, deserved better treatment. It could contain the original mono audio track, for purists, but why not include some remastered DD 5.1 or even DTS to enhance the magnificent score by Max Steiner’s? Wonder how great it would be to hear AL DI LA, sung by Emilio Pericolli, in glorious DTS 5.1? Maybe in a near-future Special Edition, with 2 discs, containing all the extras that this edition lacks, with remastered audio and video quality. Perhaps even better, why not release this title in glorious Blu Ray, with uncompressed audio? This is the kind of picture that will look simply stunning in HD, with a compatible excellent audio score, I just look forward to adding this title on BD to my collection. Anyway, meanwhile, let’s give some money to the studios, they may be needing it after all, because tey will surely release a better edition some time in the future, making us double dip once more. But I strongly reccomend this title while we are deprived to see a film like this in all its glory, this copy should do well enough, after all, as I said, the video quality is not that bad, of course it’s no HD, but as fas as the sound concerns, they surely could have made an extensively better job than this. Enjoy Rome Adventure, the most cheap quick trip to Italy for sure! Great film, indeed.
Madagascar Escape 2 Africa Full Screen
Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 02/06/2009 Run time: 89 minutes Rating: Pg
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Madagascar-Escape 2 Africa……….It’s Crack-a-lackin’…….
One of the few animated sequels that surpasses the original….and you can quote me on that, folks. Given, it’s not quite as funny as the original but it isn’t supposed to be because there’s a lesson to be learned with this movie. See, the film tells us in a back story that Alex came to the zoo, originally, from Africa. Poachers try to capture him but he escapes in a crate(of all things) and floats all the way to America(where the Central Park Zoo takes him in). Fast forward to present day, the penguins renovate a downed airplane and volunteer to return everybody, including King Julien, Maurice, Mort, and the chimps, to New York. Sadly, they run out of gas and crash-land in Africa where Alex reunites with his Mom and Dad. Makunga, a lion who is vying for control of the leadership of the pride, uses Alex to his advantage to take control. This is where things get interesting.
One thing I’ve learned in my years of watching movies is that, when you’re following up a film that scored big at the box office, you’ll have to exceed all expectations and improve on everything(and I do mean everything) that made the original so successful. While I loved the recent release of Open Season 2(and recommend it), it still lacked that certain somethin’-somethin’ that made the first film so great. Yet, Dreamworks outdid themselves with this sequel and I applaud them.
Directed by Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, the feature stars: Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Chris Rock, Alec Baldwin, Bernie Mack, Sherri Shepard(The View), Will,i.am, Andy Richter, Cedric the Entertainer, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Bonus Features include:the ‘Making of Escape 2 Africa’ featurette which explores putting together the sequel, an entertaining bit on voice casting, a bit on the research done in Africa to make sure this film looked authentic, MAD Music Videos, and the ‘Test Flight of Air Penguin’ game.
If you haven’t checked out Madagascar-Escape 2 Africa, do so now. You’ll be glad you did.
2 Stars A Children’s Movie With Racist Comments
This movie, while entertaining, has a racist theme. The phrase “cracker lackin” is uttered again and again. Can you imagine the contoversy, if this were an equivilent racial slur against black, or any non-white race of people? I suppose that “cracker lackin” means “a place without white people,” because of the context that it is used in. Because of its repeated use, I have deducted two stars. I deducted one more because the movie was not as entertaining as the original.
Beyond Reba - Season 5
 Reba - Seasons 1-5 |
 Reba - Season 4 |
 Reba - Season 3 |
Stills from Reba - Season 5 (Click for larger image)
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User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Everyone loves Reba!
We’ve collected the 1st four seasons of REBA and were so thrilled to see they finally came out with the 5th Season on DVD. It is awesome. Our entire family loves to watch it over and over again. We love the entire series and anxiously await the release of Season 6!
5 Stars Reba Season 5
The item came right away and in mint condition. An excellent tv show to see!
5 Stars funny and entertaining!
If you love Reba, you will love season 5. I love this show and i hate that it only lasted 6 seasons. It is a must see and will get you hooked from the first episode!
5 Stars Reba
Reba is the best. Fun for the whole family. Too bad the show isn’t still running. They need to bring her back.. Can’t wait for season 6
5 Stars One of the best.
Been waiting for a while to have the Season 5 series. I just loved Reba and have all the rest of the other series and now I have them all. So if there is a bad day with nothing on TV to watch, I can have a whole day of Reba.
Expelled No Intelligence Allowed
Ben stein travels the world & learns an awe-inspiring truth .. That educators & scientists are being ridiculed denied tenure & even fired - for the crime of merely believing that there might be evindence of design in nature & that perhaps life is not just the result of chance. To which ben says enough!. Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 10/21/2008 Starring: Ben Stein Run time: 90 minutes Rating: Pg
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Good movie
This movie was good for as long as I got to watch it. It was damaged and we could only watch half of it. Would very much like to see the rest but don’t want to order it and have another damaged one arrive. All of the cd’s and dvd’s that I have ordered from Amazon have been damaged in shipping one way or another. This one is the only one that I haven’t been able to enjoy the whole thing.
5 Stars Truly Amazing
This is the most important movie in our lifetime. This is a true revelation of the intrisinc bias that has engulfed the biology field for so long. We do not have the freedom to study and research the possibility of intellectual design, not necessarily creationsim, as a possiblity of how the earth came about. We are brain-washed in our schools that somehow by chance that we derived from proteins that randomly came together and that through time we somehow evolved into what we are today! True and Honest BS! Ben Stein brings an intersting point: if you look at the intracies of the cell there can be no way that it can be randomly combined by chance. Educate yourselves about how the cell works and you will discover everything has its own special function, it is truly an amazingly engineered design that could not have possibly derived from chance. Amazing Movie!
4 Stars Expelled raises serious questions
Ben Stein does an important service to the questioning of the science community’s orthodoxy in his documentary EXPELLED. While he leaves open the question of Intelligent Design, he does demonstrate that the community most noted for its open inquiry is if fact closed to any questioning of its orthodoxy, even by its own members. The excommunications come in the form of dismissals, non-advancement in rank and inability to publish. In reality, the spirit of inquiry was much richer in medieval universities that it is in our contemporary academies. Isn’t this a shame? I hope Ben Stein continues to throw stones at these glass cathedrals and expose the real Grand Inquisitors.
4 Stars Very Good and Thought Provoking
It is so clear that the liberal media and science is lying to us to cover up the existence of God. This movie will help you see the side that science, media, and society as a whole doesn’t let you see.
5 Stars Fascinating & Amusing!
I really liked this documentary. It had a sense of irony and a clear point to be made. However, it had a lot of information presented in a logical sequence. It didn’t say “God created life & we can prove it”. It said “DNA & the fascinating complexity of the living cell structure proves that life did not happen randomly all by itself”. Now whenever I hear the term “Intelligent Design” I will think of this movie. I hope they show this movie in the schools like they showed “Inconvenient Truth”, which is actually not very factual, in my opinion.
The Powerpuff Girls The Complete Series 10th Anniversary Collection
In the city of Townsville, the frustrated Professor Utonium is gathering all the ingredients to make a perfect little girl (sugar, spice, and everything nice). But when his lab assistant, a monkey named Jojo, causes the accidental addition of Chemical X to the mix, the Professor ends up with not one but 3 perfect, powerful little girls. It soon becomes obvious that Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are not normal girls, they have superpowers and have not yet learned to control. The girls are treated like outcasts because they have inadvertently wrecked Townsville in a superpowered game of tag. To win the hearts of the people of Townsville, the girls are tricked into making a deal with Jojo who plans to take over Townsville. As the girls foil this threat and defeat an army of superpowered monkeys, the Powerpuff Girls learn that with great power comes great responsibility. Set includes all 78 episodes plus the holiday special and fans’ favorite extras on six discs, plus a custom panoramic poster designed by series creator Craig McCracken.
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star Don’t Order if You’re In a Hurry
I ordered this on February 2 for a Valentine’s Day gift. It told me that it would mail in 7-10 days. Well it didn’t. It will not make it for Valentine. I am not happy.
5 Stars 10 years…. Has it been really that long?
I am so looking foreward to this.
The Powerpuff Girls has to be by far, the most popular series The Cartoon Network ever aired. It is still extremely popular today, due to it’s overall creative writing, old school animation, and the extreme cuteness of it’s three main characters, wich need no mention here.
Who would have thought that Craig Mc Cracken’s short student film would have spawned two pilots, (Meat Fussy Lumpkins and Crime 101), six seasons worth of 7 minute shorts, one theatrical movie, and a Japanese Anime, let alone an entire fanfiction industry that continues to thrive.
The Powerpuff Girls is one of those rare tv shows that will never die, due to it’s hardcore fans, and the new fans that will discover it down the road. The animation is far from Disneyesque, but it’s sheer fun, pop culture status, and entertainmentvalue will make it a fan favorite for decades to come.
5 Stars Awesome
Hi everyone. I am 21 years old and I was 11 when the Powerpuff Girls first premired on Cartoon Network. I love this show. I was making a big fuss to get it. Awesome show in an awesome package that anyone who loves the PPG will be dying to get. I love my dvd and I watched the whole series in four days.
5 Stars Thanks Cartoon Network!!
No long review here;just wanted to say that yes,I am a guy,and yes I thought this was a great cartoon!One of the reasons is because it had some of the best villains ever! I always thought MO–JO JOJO! was a scream with the way he talked.Also can anyone say that the demonic HIM was not one of the freakiest villains in a kid’s cartoon show!? The Gang Green Gang’s Ace,Snake,Grubber,Big Billy and Lil Arturo also provided some good laughs!
Thank you Cartoon Network! Now please just do the same for some of your other cartoon hits like Dexter’s Lab,Billy and Mandy etc.
4 Stars YAY!
I’m 16, I remember when I was a lot younger before my mom decided to buy cable sitting in my room staring at a fuzzy screen which was supposed to be Cartoon Network, regardless of the fuzz I could at least hear some of the shows, this happened to be one of them. When we finally got cable I didn’t stop watching it, every time it was on I made the effort, and then it was taken off… I was devastated.
My two friends and I had even designated ourselves each a character when we played at recess, we made necklaces and everything. So I’m sitting there, watching tv, and I see the commercial, and I TWEAKED OUT. My mom was in the next room and came in to see what was wrong, I asked her if I could get it, and she just smiled at me and said sure. I pre-ordered it two days early and have been anticipating it’s arrival.
And now, my whole elementary school life, is sitting in front of me, in an organized series of disks, waiting to be watched and it’s memories to come flowing out of every crevice of my being. =D I’m SO HAPPY.
Night Court The Complete Second Season
Disorder in the court! Judge Harold T. Stone, Dan, Bull and Selma return for a rollicking second season of dispensing justice to the assorted nuts of Night Court. New to the courtroom: Noo Yawk-savvy defender Billie Young and Vietnam vet Mac Robinson, the court clerk. On the 22-episode docket: an invisible man, a mogul madam, a lovelorn nun, hookers, pickpockets, flashers, wackos, weirdos, gonzos and great guest stars, including Michael Richards, Stella Stevens, Jack Gilford, John Astin, Lou Ferrigno and, as substitute defender Christine Sullivan, Markie Post, who will become a full-time cast member in Season 3. Join the fun as Judge Harry throws the book at crime–the joke book
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars This is great!!
I was surprised to see this at the store; season 1 being available for years, even though everybody knows the show is remembered for Markie’s and John’s antics against each other. Season 2 is the real ’season 1′ as the show only gets better from here on.
(Okay, the real first season isn’t exactly _bad_ by any measure, but season 2 onward are gravy on the goose.)
Now if John Larroquette’s post-Night Court solo show would get released as well…
5 Stars Well Worth The Wait!
Well, Night Courters, we finally got our Season 2 after much protesting! Let’s bask in this glorious moment! Any fan that doesn’t pre-order or grab a copy at the nearest brick-and-mortar on the release date is crazy! Now that we’ve got more Night Court coming, let’s get The John Larroquette Show on DVD as well! Spinoffs (I use the term lightly) Hearts Afire and Dave’s World have been available for a while! Come on, guys! We can do it!
5 Stars Finally!!
So happy to hear that Season 2 of Night Court will finally be released. I have one question; I can watch post-season 1 episodes on a local TV channel, as with the original Kojak series some time ago. These were not bootleg episodes (I have my own horror stories about that), so these shows have got to be coming from somewhere. How can TV stations broadcast these post-season 1 episodes when the originating studios have only released Season 1?
5 Stars About time
Well 4 years after season 1 and now we get season 2, while any fan knows the first few seasons weren’t the best, looks like WB has heard our cries! let us hope the rest of the seasons don’t take as long!
5 Stars Release date is February 3, 2009
We should be seeing Amazon adding this title for pre-order soon. It looks like SRP will be 29.98. Here is the press release on it…
Disorder in the court! Judge Harold T. Stone, Dan, Bull and Selma return for a rollicking second season of dispensing justice to the assorted nuts of Night Court. New to the courtroom: Noo Yawk-savvy defender Billie Young and Vietnam vet Mac Robinson, the court clerk. On the 22-episode docket: an invisible man, a mogul madam, a lovelorn nun, hookers, pickpockets, flashers, wackos, weirdos, gonzos and great guest stars, including Michael Richards, Stella Stevens, Jack Gilford, John Astin, Lou Ferrigno and, as substitute defender Christine Sullivan, Markie Post, who will become a full-time cast member in Season 3. Join the fun as Judge Harry throws the book at crime…the joke book!
Episodes:
The Nun
Christine and Mac (a.k.a. Daddy for the Defense)
Billie and the Cat
Pick a Number
The Computer Kid
Bull Gets a Kid
Harry on Trial
Harry and the Madam
Inside Harry Stone
The Blizzard
Take My Wife, Please
The Birthday Visitor
Dan’s Parents
Nuts About Harry
An Old Flame
The Gypsy
Battling Bailiff
Billie’s Valentine
Married Alive
Mac and Quon Le: Together Again
World War III
Walk, Don’t Wheel
How I Met Your Mother Season Three
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 10/07/2008 Run time: 440 minutes Rating: Nr
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Legen-Dary
HIMYM never disappoints as Season 3 steps up to the plate as usual. You can’t go wrong with watching a marathon of this show.
5 Stars Legendary!
I love How I Met Your Mother so much, the characters are so well crafted and the stories are amazing, I hope they continue with this level of quality for many seasons to come.
5 Stars best. show. ever
I LOVE HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER! This show has to be one of the best shows on television. It’s so witty and the concept of the show is really awesome. I am dying to figure out who the Mother is, I have a couple theories, but I just can’t wait to find out!! Highly recommended, and I can promise you won’t regret it!!
5 Stars This DVD set is Legen.. wait for it… DARY!!!
Hey this show is hilarious and NPH is the funniest part of the show. If you’ve never seen this show but you liked Friends you will probably LOVE it!
4 Stars One of the best on TV
Great show, great characters! You will absolutely love this show. It drops a little from the 2nd season but still a must have in the library.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XIV
From 1988 to 1999, the crew of The Satellite of Love skewered bad movies and in the process made them masterworks of comedy. Now comes their awe-inspiring 14th collection of the most hilarious episodes from Mystery Science Theater 3000. Join Joel, Mike, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot as they supply their own playful brand of commentaries on some of the most misunderstood masterpieces of cinema : Mad Monster, Manhunt in Space, Soultaker, and Final Justice.
Bonus Features:
* Brand new interview with Soultaker star and mst3k favorite Joe Estevez
* Brand new interiew with Final Justice star Greydon Clark
* Mike, Tom and Crow on the espn show Cheap Seats Without Ron Parker
* Original Mad Monster trailer
* 4 limited-edition mini-posters
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Keep them coming!
You can’t stop the Misties! The box sets keep coming, and the episodes are still as fresh as ever! This box set is a real treat with the inclusion of a season one episode, and the special features are as special as special gets! Soultaker has always been a favorite episode of mine, and the others are just as priceless. Keep them coming!
1 Star Poor
No extras worth mentioning, only one episode per disc? Come on. I would like to think we have moved past having only one show per disc. With the capability of Today’s dvd’s, we should be having at least 2 episodes per disc. I’m sick of them releasing these sets with barely any extras and a clear lack of interest in making a quality DVD set.
5 Stars More MST3K. This is, how you say, “good.”
What? More MST3K? Indeed there is, and this is a pretty good basket to watch spanning multiple eras of this long-lived (and much missed) comedy series.
103- Mad Monster (with Commando Cody/Radar Part 2) Definitely a curiosity, AFAIK this episode hasn’t been seen on TV in maybe 15 years or so. There was somewhat of a moratorium on Season 1 during the early- to mid-90s period, only lifted for a very brief period in 1995. A lot of this episode is nascent MST3K, and not very polished, but it does offer a view of the evolution of the series. Quite bluntly, there is a lot of dead space and it’s not funny in places, but still a worthwhile investment of 90 minutes.
413- Manhunt In Space - this is the reason to spend your hard-earned cash on this set. A hilarious episode from MST3K’s Joel-era Comedy Central heyday, and little-seen for over a decade without trafficking in gray-market bootleg video copies. Has a “General Hospital” short (actually a 15-minute vintage episode from the 1950s), and the main feature is a typical 1950s television space opera. There is a typically insane invention exchange (beanbag pants)
1001- Soultaker Where 103 “Mad Monster” is rough, this is MST3K in its most polished form. There’s a ridiculous sci-fi/horror movie at its core involving grim reapers and one of Martin Sheen’s relatives. However, the reason this episode is great is the temporary return of two former MST3K performers and writers, TV’s Frank and Joel. The host segment subplot involves malfunctions on the Satellite of Love, and a mysterious visitor trying to make contact and fix the problem. Frank shows up as a Soultaker, much in the same fashion that goofy characters from the movie would show up at the end of the episode in the Comedy Central era. Recommended, and it’s great that we have this on DVD.
1008- Final Justice Maybe a bit of a disappointment, only because this episode aired very frequently towards the end of the series. Still, the Joe Don Baker jokes inexplicably never wear thin. An incomprehensive and inconsequential plot involving a Texas lawman’s manhunt from the southwest to Malta are a perfect backdrop to vicious riffing…the host segments are only ok, I could do without hearing “Goosio” again for the rest of my life.
In summary, can’t speak for the Shout Factory packaging and extras, but the episodes themselves are worthwhile and great to have archived in DVD.
5 Stars Four great episodes, including one from Season One!
Shout Factory’s second 4-disc DVD MST3K release features two episodes hosted by Joel Hodgson from the Comedy Central years and two hosted by Mike Nelson from the Sci-Fi Channel years of the show.
103- Mad Monster (with short: Commando Cody And Radar Men From The Moon - Part 2)
This season one gem features George Zucco and Glenn Strange in a 1942 film about a mad scientist that turns humans into monsters by injecting them with the blood of wolves. Even in 1942 this was silly, rehashed horror fodder from better movies. George Zucco’s usual decent acting helps make this at least amusing. Glenn Strange often played monsters in films of the time. The short is perhaps the funniest part of this episode. Joel and the ‘bots always struck comedy gold when making fun of Radar Men From The Moon in several season one episodes. This episode also features the hilarious sketch where Tom Servo (Josh Weinstein) makes a pass at a blender!
413- Manhunt in Space (with short: “General Hospital” - Segment 1)
This 1954 TV space adventure will have you in stitches. The effects are less than state-of-the-art even for the day, although they were so expensive they contributed to the show being canceled! Rocky Jones is a square-jawed fisticuffs wielding spaceship pilot with REALLY goofy sidekicks, including Winky, a young man who acts like a kid, and Bobby, a little kid that acts all grown-up. Then there’s short-skirted Vena, his bright female crewmate that gets treated like, well, like women were mostly treated in the US in 1950’s TV. Finally, there’s elderly and brilliant Professor Newton, who in spite of being a genius, makes just enough miscalculations to get them into real trouble. Joel and the ‘bots offer endless riffs about anything and everything during this one, it’s terrific fun. Host segment highlights include the “space modifiers” sketch and the ‘bots playing soap opera after the General Hospital short. Somehow, MST3K manages to make the dull-as-dishwater paced General Hospital short really funny as well. Personally, I love this episode. Rocky Jones and other similar rocketship space adventures always worked well on the show. They are lighthearted fun and the writers wrote hundreds of great jokes for all of them.
1001- Soultaker
This 1990 hokum about souls trying to get back to their bodies while evading the angel of death, who is also an angel of mediocre acting, is entertaining only because MST3K is making fun of it. Wait till you see the wooden acting of Joe Estevez and the huge-headed Robert Zdar. Calling their performances funny is an understatement; you have to see this to believe it. This episode of MST3K features guest appearances by creator and former host Joel Hodgson and former writer and performer Frank Conniff.
1008- Final Justice
This Joe Don Baker film from 1985 is a decent episode from MST3K’s final season. Once again, Joe Don plays a cop who “doesn’t play by the rules”, another bad Dirty Harry rip-off anti-hero character. It’s basically Mitchell with location shooting in Malta. There are some pretty girls, dumb action sequences, lots of violence, continuity errors, and a somewhat predictable ending. As usual, the MST3K writers have a fairly easy time making fun of the film’s action “star”. Note that the film’s writer and director, Greydon Clark, was also responsible for the film Angel’s Revenge shown in episode 622 of MST3K.
Extra features on the DVDs include:
* A new interview with “Soultaker” star Joe Estevez.
* Mike, Tom and Crow’s appearance on ESPN Classic’s “Cheap Seats Without Ron Parker.”
* An interview with “Final Justice” writer and director Greydon Clark.
5 Stars ShoutFactory Strikes Again with another cool set
The latest box sex from Shout Factory in my opinion this is worth owning. If you are a fan of the show you probably own most of these sets anyway,with die hard fans owning them all,whether or not you like the episodes,you do get them on superior quality DVD. The set contains 4 mini posters,basically the artwork of the DVD sleeves on a mini poster that fits inside the box. All the DVD have their own slim cases just like the 20th Anniversary set.
This set contains 2 Joel and 2 Mike episodes. They are as follows
MAD MONSTER - Episode # 103 This is a campy (of course) B movie with George Zucco making an ape like monster out of Glenn Strange (Frankenstein’s monster in House of Frankenstein and Dracula) - This is a Season 1 show, you can see the earliest work by Joel,Trace,and Josh - this is show # 103 in the series - so it is very early - the earliest episode on DVD. It has different shades of silhouettes too. It shifts from gray to black depending on the movie. The quality of this DVD there is a little bit of minor blips here and there, and the transfer for Mad Monster isn’t that good, but the movie is a public domain title that Alpha DVD has released, but the host segment scenes’ quality is fine. This one has the segment where Tom is romancing a blender and Joel drinks from it. Tom says “youre drinking from my girl” A great Josh line as the first Tom Servo. This is a fun early episode, great from a historical standpoint, and a chance to see a Season 1. Best Brains said these werent their best shows, and maybe they weren’t but these are still interesting and fun to watch at the very least. I feel the MST3K Crew have nothing to be embarrassed about. Season 1 is part of the evolution of MST & I urge Shout Factory to release more from the first Season. How else can we see Josh as Tom Servo or Dr Erhardt ??
MANHUNT IN SPACE Show # 413 - This is a Rocky Jones scifi cheese that kids used to watch on the weekends. Basically it is a low budget that hampers its efforts. The show also has a General Hospital Short.Not considered a mega popular episode,but certainly a good one/a solid episode, with a minor low budget science fiction episode. The first of 2 Rocky Jones movies. This one has some great dialog in the movie like the “gay nightlife” and Winky says “Ride the Rocket”. The skits were ok-good, Joel looking stoned in this one. Mike Nelson, who went on to be Mike Nelson after Joel left, was Winky in the hexfield view screen in a segement.
SOULTAKER - Episode # 1001 Mike on SciFi - This one has Joel returning to the SOL and meets Mike - this is considered a very key episode. Joel returns to save the ship because Dr. F had planned for the SOL to be destroyed after 10 yrs. It was really cool having Joel and Mike ‘meet’. Joel goes back to Earth leaving Mike on the SOL to be a man. You have to sit through a tedious movie about Joe Estivez trying to collect souls to get to the segments. TV’s Frank also guest stars as a Soultaker and gets along with Bobo (they play ringtoss with Bobos soul). This has the Joe Estivez interview about Soultaker and MST3K. It is pretty decent & insightful about the making of Soultaker (he felt it was a good movie and thought it was scary,hmm)
FINAL JUSTICE - Episode # 1008 is another Mike on the SciFi Channel- It’s a Joe Don Baker movie, nuff said,here. Joe Don was a huge target for Best Brains. Popular episode because of this. Joe Don is a sheriff who has to chase down a man in Malta. Honestly, it is not all that bad of a movie. I personally found it more entertaining action wise than Mitchell. I loved the segment at the end where Mike thinks he is going back to Earth like Joel did after watching a Joe Don Baker film. This has a couple of bonus features including an interview with Greydon Clark.
Overall the set is a nice blend of titles, and basically reminds me of any of the last couple of Rhino sets with the features. it is nice to have these all in nice clear transfers (even though the movies themselves havent been remastered, the segments look great)
ShoutFactory is closing on on getting all the Season 10 titles on DVD that they can get it seems (I doubt they can get Squirm, Diabolik or It lives by Night anytime soon). I am thankful as are many MST3K fans that ShoutFactory is releasing these, whether you like an episode or not, at least they are still coming out on DVD.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona Blu ray
Studio: Genius Products Inc Release Date: 01/27/2009 Run time: 96 minutes Rating: Pg13
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars First Guy Ritchie, now Woody Allen
2008 seems to be the comeback year for two great filmmakers who, before this summer, seemed to be trying to branch in ambitious but unworthy films. Guy Ritchie’s comeback to form was Rocknrolla, now Woody Allen’s is Vicki Chrisitina Barcellona.
If you haven’t seen this film I don’t want to give too much away. It’s not a twisty plot or anything, but most of the enjoyment of this film comes from it’s suprises. Needless to say, the cast couldn’t be better and every single actor is perfectly charming. Penelope Cruz is a standout and Javier Bardem’s unstable ex-wife, but you knew that already (considering the oscar-buzz).
Another plus: Woody Allen himself is NOWHERE to be found (in ANY incarnation)! I’m the type of person who stopped liking Allen himself post-ANNIE HALL, so I was delighted that I didn’t have to sit though another film with his annoying self-character on screen, or anyone else PLAYING him. Okay so Vicki and Christina are kinda-sorta the Allen character but you soon forget this as the movie progresses and each of the two actresses come into their own portrayls.
The DVD transfer is damn-near perfect and even on a small screen is able to bring out Barcelona’s beauty (it was obviously shot on location!).
The movie’s charming, fun, never too serious and always beautiful. This one’s a winner!
4 Stars My new favorite Woody Allen film
I thought this film was fantastic - aesthetically, in script, in casting, and in storyline. Yes, the film is a bit slow and winding, and No, it does not give into a fantasy-happy American ending. That’s the best part. Penelope Cruz was beautiful and quite funny at times. If nothing more, this film made me open my eyes to the ways of love and lust, as well as made me want to visit Espana as soon as possible.
2 Stars Somewhat engaging, but ultimately dissapointed
Definitely carried by the strength of the actors and some intelligence of the dialogue, but in the end the story melts away like an icicle. Once again Woody shows his lack of skill in writing overly dramatic material.
More dissapointing, in the end it’s fairly misagynistic on women as all three either self-destruct or wander aimlessly thru life. A brief hand full of comic moments douse the emotional banality of the story. I enjoyed the spanish locale as a twist of the allen discography, but that ultimately didn’t save this lemon.
2 Stars Falls below expectations
Leonard Maltin recommended it and from the minute I saw the clips I wanted to see it. I felt the same way about “The Remains of the Day” back in the 90’s and that film turned out to be excellent. Instead of renting Vicky Chr… I decided to buy it sight unseen which I don’t take lightly being unemployed. That mistake cost me $22.
Twenty minutes into Woody Allen’s latest had me asking “when is it going to get good?” I was asking myself that all the way to the end. I usually like “slice of life” films such as the aforementioned “Remains of the Day” or “Un Coeur en Hiver”. Those films have scenes that you want to see again such as when Emma Thompson wants to know what kind of book Anthony Hopkins is reading and backs him into a corner. In VCB there’s not one scene I want to see again and the only couple who have any chemistry together is the male lead and his ex-wife, Penelope Cruz, and that’s only when they’re not fighting.
I gave this film two stars. I would have given it 2.5 if it were possible. It would be an OK rental but I don’t recommend buying it. Sorry Amazon.
5 Stars very good
I enjoyed this film for its precision. Allen knows exactly what he wants and the actors are on the same wavelength. That, my friends, is relaxing. It is not that he brings a light touch to the set. And it is not about intelligence or (gracias a dios) humor. Rather, it is about art of being with people, observing, experiencing, participating … and making films. The Craft.
These days it seems that in Woody’s hands even a cliche becomes poignant, like a wink from a beautiful passerby. He creates a paradise and then takes it away; after all, this is about life.