Reviews From A Fishbowl...

Blu-ray Review: Shrek the Third

2008-10-12T18:22:00.000-05:00

I remember reading Shrek when I was little. I loved that book. That book is also why I initially hated the first Shrek movie. Sure, there was an ogre and a princess ogre he falls in love with, but the movie wasn’t really anything like the book. After pretending it wasn’t supposed to be based on the children’s’ book by William Steig, I gave Shrek another chance and loved it. Then I loved Shrek 2. I was skeptical of Shrek the Third because let’s face it, rarely does it seem trilogies keep up pace with the first or even second movie.

For many, Shrek the Third doesn’t cut it. The story is extremely similar to that in the first movie. By this point, the pop-culture references don’t seem so clever and the potty humor hasn’t matured. Instead Shrek has a nightmare of hundreds of baby ogres throwing up all over the place — quite possibly the creepiest scene in any animated flick I’ve seen. But I actually like Shrek the Third. I liked how the characters from other fairy tales were doing their parts to save Far Far Away. And while I knew how it would play out, I still enjoyed the ride to get there.

Shrek the Third follows our beloved ogres Shrek and Fiona after the king of Far Far Away dies. Shrek hopes to return to his life of farting and mud back at his swamp home but the issue of successor to the throne isn’t exactly one that can be ignored. So Shrek sets off with his loyal sidekicks Donkey and Puss in Boots to find Artie, the only other heir besides Fiona. Meanwhile, Charming rallies the fellow fairytale bad guys to take over the kingdom. Saving Far Far Away from Charming might be the same basic idea as found in the first, the details are different enough to make it worth watching.

The voices behind our charismatic characters help make the movie. Mike Myers voices Shrek, Eddie Murphy is Donkey, Cameron Diaz is Princess Fiona, and Antonio Banderas is still the lovable Puss in Boots. However, Justin Timberlake joins as the voice behind Artie. All of the actors ham it up to make the animated characters memorable.

But what really makes the flick a success is the animation team. I truly think Shrek the Third is by far the most impressive visually of the trio of Shrekiliciousness. It really stands out on Blu-ray too. The animation pops to look as if it isn’t just an animated movie but perhaps something more. You can see the details in the hair on the characters or fibers of fabric on their clothes. It starts off strong with Charming’s hair billowing in the wind so clearly. The transfer is in 1080p so the pop in colors and sharpness is visible throughout the film. The high definition almost distracts from the movie because the animation stands out so beautifully. However, there is a difference in the Blu-ray release and that of the earlier HD-DVD version — an issue of depth of field. There is more detail in the background elements instead of blurring them slightly to differentiate the foreground and background. This isn't just an issue with Shrek the Third but it seems to be common with Blu-ray releases. So while it is beautifully detailed, it is a bit odd.

The audio is in Dolby TrueHD 5.1 showing crisp dialogue throughout with the ambient sounds adding depth but never overpowering or distracting the audience from what is going on. Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also available in Dolby Digital 5.1.

There are tons of extras on the Blu-ray release, many of which were on the HD-DVD release but some are improved upon or even new. The coolest feature, if you ask me, is the Picture-in-Picture feature called “The Animators’ Corner” with interactive storyboards of deleted scenes pitches. There’s a pop up video track called “Shrek’s Trivia Track” about production info, and “The World of Shrek” with biographical info on the actors and movie. There are also your typical behind the scenes and outtakes features in “Lost Scenes,” “Big Green Goofs,” “The Tech of Shrek,” and several more.

I think Shrek the Third is definitely worth watching. But if you already purchased it when it was released on HD-DVD you can skip this Blu-ray release, as it is pretty much the same.

DVD Review: Another Cinderella Story

2008-10-06T20:51:00.001-05:00

A Cinderella Story was cute. I like the cheesy family flicks that would be found on the likes of Disney or ABC Family. But what I don’t want is a ton of rip-offs of the same modern translation of yet another story. Each new movie is worse than the one before it. And a lot has to be said for originality, unfortunately Another Cinderella Story lacks that. The Cinderella-esque story has been done before. The dancing story has been done before. And both had much better versions than this. It’s a good thing I don’t have testicles because I promise they would have castrated themselves and run away after watching this movie.

Another Cinderella Story is the tale of Mary, our modern-day Cinderella. She lives with the fading popstar diva Dominique and her two step-sisters. Mary dreams of dancing and hopes to go to a dancing school. Then we have current pop-heartthrob Joey Parker who has come home to go back to school. Throw in a masked ball (because so many high schools have those), replace a missing slipper with a missing mp3 player, and you have this take on the classic tale.

Just what did this DVD get right? Well, it has an insert to get your digital copy of the movie for your computer. So if for some reason you need to watch a movie on your computer or portable device and don’t want to pay for a better movie, you can. The movie also looks fine, so at least it doesn’t look like something your little sister recorded on a digital camera. No really, it looks like your typical DVD these days — not as finely detailed and fluid as a blu-ray, but we weren’t expecting that. The kids in the movie are cute, I have no idea who any of them are (other than Jane Lynch of course) but they did a decent job. I guess I’m not the hip Highschool Musical type. None of the dancing blew me away, but I didn’t laugh the way I do during So You Think You Can Dance auditions either. Apparently the boy actually sings pop music, but the music was just generic pop Backstreet Boys could have done ten years ago that didn’t have the muster to become a hit single. But again, I didn’t laugh the way I do during American Idol auditions.

What did the movie get wrong? Well, the age difference in the leads apparently got some remarks. I agree that our Cinderella looks young, but honestly he does too. As far as chemistry between them, I don’t think we ever get many scenes with them other than when they are dancing or singing - and anyone can do that well together if given enough training and practice. I also think Jane Lynch’s character fell flat. She was underused so her bits missed the target and instead of being funny were simply annoying.

There are a handful of special features on the DVD. It has music videos and sing-a-longs, though none of them were compelling. There are several behind-the-scenes looks - at Mary, Joey, and the fashion. There is also a look at the dancing in the movie. As seems to be the norm these days, Another Cinderella Story is double-sided so you can watch in either widescreen or full-screen, though I am unsure of why anyone would opt to watch something in full-screen.

I’d only recommend Another Cinderella Story to those with kids who eat up all movies like this and to those who haven’t seen A Cinderella Story or any of the dancing movies that actually made it to the theaters.

Blu-Ray Review: The Love Guru

2008-09-27T20:18:00.001-05:00

The Love Guru can very easily be called a really dumb movie. But unlike most dumb comedies these days, it actually made me laugh. Perhaps it is because a lot of Mike Myers’ golden lines are ad-libbed, but the humor in The Love Guru isn’t as predictable so the surprise factor goes a long way. And while I won’t say I think everyone needs to rush out to buy the movie, I do think it is worth renting at the very least.

The Love Guru is an "East meets West" comedy starring Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, and Romany Malco. Not counting his voice-over work, Mike Myers makes his return to the screen after a five-year absence as the Guru Pitka, who is trying to beat Deepak Chopra as the world’s best self-help guru. Pitka and his team decide that helping a hockey player fix his marriage and win the Stanley Cup will be their key to success. And it is that tale that The Love Guru follows.

Pitka is a popular relationship guru with some popular followers — Jessica Simpson, Val Kilmer, and Mariska Hargitay make cameos. His teachings don’t really follow any religion and even his greeting is made up, hence Mariska Hargitay’s appearance. Some of Pitka’s antics are the same potty humor we come to expect from Mike Myers, like the extended diarrhea noises in the bar or game of stink mop where they fight with mops dipped in urine. Of course, what would a movie about a love guru be without the guru’s own romance?

Guru Pitka is like a fake philosophy-touting Austin Powers, with similar quirks and gags as found in the Austin Powers flicks. But those work for Myers so while sex gags, catch phrases, and silly costumes aren’t new to the big screen, they still garner giggles from the audience. The plot is somewhat petty and perhaps considered racist — he’s a white dude speaking with a bad Indian accent — but if not taken seriously, this movie is still 86 minutes of entertainment. I don’t think it has hit the mark of Austin Powers, so it may not be a home run of a return to the big screen, but as I said earlier, it is a dumb movie.

Guru is on DVD and Blu-ray now. I know that Blu-ray is more expensive, but if you haven’t watched it yet you really should. Even if you aren’t someone who can spot the difference between something shot on film versus video, you will definitely notice the difference in quality seen on Blu-ray. The picture is clearer and more detailed, but at the same time smoother. The difference is similar to that of a cheap digital camera's photograph as compared to a high-quality professional photograph. That's just part of the beauty seen in the 1080p high definition transfer. And if you have surround sound set up, you're in for a treat because Guru is in Dolby Digital TrueHD — which uses surround channels to help get a crisp sound to complement the visual beauty of Blu-ray.

There are several special features on the DVD set. There are some of the typical features: deleted scenes, outtakes, and a couple of behind-the-scenes looks at how they made The Love Guru. They look at the thoughts behind Myers’ character, how they trained the actors in the hockey rink, and some of the puppetry in the movie. However, unlike many other movies out there, all the special features are also presented in high definition. I think the neatest feature is the second disc in the set, though. It is a digital copy (it’s protected, folks!) so you can easily put the movie you purchase on your computer, iPod, or other portable device so you can watch it whenever or wherever you want. I know I like the ease of putting a movie I’ve spent money to buy on my iPod instead of having to also buy it on iTunes to be able to watch it at the gym or on a plane.

TV Review: The Big Bang Theory The Complete First Season

2008-09-15T22:33:00.000-05:00

I have a thing for dorks. That dictated my desire, no my need, to watch The Big Bang Theory. I quickly fell in love with Sheldon (Jim Parsons) and Leonard (Johnny Galecki). The two are roommates and physicists; they know everything about integrals and black holes but have little to no knowledge of women. That is plenty apparent when the blonde bombshell Penny moves into the apartment across the hall and Leonard makes a bumbling idiot of himself and Sheldon is more interested in watching Battlestar and mentions that they tried masturbating for money.

Joined by Raj and Wolowitz, they make a 30-minute sitcom that easily found its way on my Must-See list. Everyone quickly learns to head for the hills when Sheldon gets sick because he’s easily the neediest person alive. Tempers flare when Sheldon and Leonard present a paper at a symposium, but luckily Wolowitz videotapes the entire thing so the dork fight can be viewed over and over on YouTube. Leonard has a semblance of social skills but Sheldon prides himself on one thing – being the smartest person around and even that gets fractured when a child prodigy tours the university where our favorite geeks work.

As far as special features go, The Big Bang Theory is short on special features, but honestly who watches those all that much? The only feature is a behind the scenes look at the creation of the show called “Quantum Mechanics of The Big Bang Theory.” However, the show’s creators do have some help of actual physicists to help the jargon and information be accurate to allow Big Bang to be a genuinely smart show. Now no one can say intelligence isn’t entertaining. Plus, it is sort of nice to see the nerd cast as the hero instead of a sidekick who gets a few chuckles. Maybe it can prove that the nice guy really does get the girl, even if the plot of a beauty among beasts isn’t something new.

Luckily, the ensemble cast works well together with each individual bringing something to the table – from comical timing to a simply refreshing presence. And let’s face it; the casting is what makes the show a hit. The wrong group of actors could have seen Big Bang fall flat very quickly. I enjoy the show a great deal, but there isn’t much a show can accomplish in a 30-minute time slot that could be considered revolutionary. But in a world of hour-long dramas, it’s good to have a witty sitcom that hits the spot.

DVD Review: Gossip Girl The Complete First Season

2008-08-24T19:01:00.001-05:00

Canceling Veronica Mars left a void in my CW viewing. Fortunately, Kristen Bell is involved in a new teen drama — even if only as the never-seen, snarky narrator. Gossip Girl may not be about a sarcastic teen detective, but the private-school offerings do serve up some guilty pleasure fodder. Throw in the fact I went to prep school and the show was almost guaranteed to be a hit -- at least for me.

Gossip Girl is the deliciously racy new CW offering of The O.C.’s teen-soap experts. This batch of privileged teens attend an Upper East Side prep school and take the life of luxury to an extreme the likes of Marissa and Summer couldn’t even imagine in Newport Beach. Nay, their lavish lifestyles aren’t contained in ocean-side mansions. The Waldorfs, van der Woodsens, and Archibalds are used to expensive Manhattan hotel penthouses, champagne, and randier sex lives than the stars of Debbie Does Dallas. That’s merely the tip of the iceberg of gossip for which these teens live or guilty pleasures thrive. Strangely, these underage elitists never seem to have a problem drinking in NYC’s hottest bars. Stranger still is lack of smoking cigarettes, apparently smoking is worse than casual sex under the influence of who knows what or drug overdoses.

Cecily von Ziegesar’s young adult series of a mystery blogger known only as Gossip Girl serves as the inspiration for the teen drama where an instant can change friends into enemies and enemies into your only ally. The juicy gossip of Serena van der Woodsen (Blake Lively) and her BFF Blair Waldorf (Leighton Meester) are enough to get Gossip Girl on monitoring groups like the Parents Television Council. The juicy details that kick off the series are enough to make some parents wish they could lock up their children to keep them pure as Serena returns from an abrupt disappearance to boarding school a year earlier. Why did she leave? Because she had drunken sex with her best friend’s boyfriend of course. But don’t worry because Blair returns the favor to her boyfriend by sleeping with his best friend -- her first time in a limo no less.

But nevermind the naughtiness the parents don’t like, the overboard and extreme nature of Gossip Girl is everything we viewers want in our guilty pleasures. Even more desirable is the first season being out on DVD. The DVD set includes typical special features like unaired scenes (at least two episodes on each disc have them), gag reels, music videos and behind-the-scenes looks. Also included is a downloadable audiobook of one of the popular novels read by Christina Ricci. Warner Brothers are also taking a green-approach by packaging the five discs into the space of one.

Even though the storylines are over-the-top, these young actors bring their characters to life. Dan Humphrey (John Tucker Must Die’s Penn Badgley) and Serena van der Woodsen give all TV couples a lesson in what chemistry looks like. His younger sister Jenny (Taylor Momsen) gives a chilling performance as the girl who goes to almost no ends to make it into the popular crowd. And while Serena’s charisma makes her beauty non-intimidating, Blair is the one who really steals the show. It’s pretty powerful when someone can do all in her power to oust her best friend from the in-crowd and still illicit sympathy from the audience. Naturally everyone on the screen is gorgeous and represents the people we sometimes dream about becoming.

If you want a glimpse into the life you wish you had, I’d recommend you buy the complete first season of Gossip Girl. XO XO.

DVD Review: My Sassy Girl

2008-08-19T22:24:00.001-05:00

When I heard they were turning the Korean romantic comedy My Sassy Girl into an American movie, I had mixed feelings. First, I was excited because I highly enjoyed the Korean original. But I was also skeptical because it seems many Asian movies translated into an American version simply aren’t as good. Either way, I knew just had to see My Sassy Girl.

Bring It On’s Jesse Bradford and The Girl Next Door’s Elisha Cuthbert are Charlie Bello and Jordan Roark. Yann Samuell directs in what appears to be his American directorial debut. Victor Levin took on the task of crafting an English screenplay based on the original film’s screenplay by Jae-young Kwak. The story is based true stories Ho-sik Kim posted online before compiling the relationship woes into a novel.

My Sassy Girl is the tale of the first and last time Charlie Bello falls in love. From their initial meeting, trouble is the name of the game. Imagine an amorphous mass of dating disasters and you get an idea of the relationship between the young couple. Some mysterious force with the strength of gravity between two planets must be at play between Charlie and Jordan as the relationship truly makes no sense on the surface. Everything seems pitted against the two of them. Things suddenly come to a halt when the two write letters confessing their love for each other. Agreeing to meet a year later to read the love letters together, Charlie and Jordan go their separate ways.

I won’t ruin the end of the movie for you – whether they end up together or miss each other reading the letters by a day. You will just have to rent the movie to see how the story ends. There is, however, a strong message behind the romantic woes — a tale of destiny. We can’t sit and wait for destiny to happen, but we must build the bridges ourselves.

The film is certainly similar to its Korean counterpart. The storyline is the same, with a few details changed to make sense in a different culture. The intro matches that of the original movie, but in a less creepy sort of way. Whereas the Korean movie has an animated intro with weird babies suckling at their mothers’ breasts, the American movie shows a montage of events with bright, yet simple sets to illustrate Charlie’s life to this point.

It seems the only thing that doesn’t fully translate into the new movie is the humor. My Sassy Girl is touted as a romantic comedy, and the Korean version very much is. The mishaps are construed in a way to be charming. However, they lose some of the funny appeal in the new film. Not that the movie is a complete bore, it just seems somehow more tragic.

My Sassy Girl has a direct-to-DVD release in late August 2008. While I wouldn’t tell anyone to rush out to rent it, the movie is definitely worth picking up on a rainy day.

Movie Review: The Great Debaters

2008-01-08T23:13:00.000-06:00

I love the Disney-esque stories of the underdog beating all odds to achieve something everyone said they couldn’t do. I like to feel good. Sure, we know they’ll come out on top before we even see the movie, but the heartwarming hope is still nice to watch. I don’t care for the ones that are overly sentimental and gag inducing, but when the movie is well done it just hits the spot. The Great Debaters is that sort of film.

Denzel Washington, as both the director and a star of the movie, manages the perfect balance between feel-good and real so The Great Debaters isn’t just syrupy sweetness. Yes, we know they just don’t make movies inspired by true stories that don’t somehow have a happy ending. Heck, this story was so touching as to make Oprah Winfrey want her Harpo Films company to produce it.

The Great Debaters is about the 1935 debate team from all-black Wiley College in Marshall, Texas. There are four students on the team: the 14-year-old prodigy James Farmer Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), handsome troublemaker Henry Lowe (Nate Parker), the first female on the team Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), and Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams). The film follows their journey from tryouts until the climatic face-off with Harvard University. Okay, so the movie takes some liberties as the team actually went up against the University of Southern California, but the idea is the same. Naturally there are some side-plots to help keep some tension in the story that might otherwise be too formulaic and safe. And since they live in the Jim Crow South, you can imagine some of the issues dealt with in the movie.

With seasoned greats like Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker (no relation to the young Denzel Whitaker), the acting starts off on a strong foot. Throw in the four talented young actors and The Great Debaters avoids one-note roles, for the most part. But the characters with little-to-no depth also have entertaining performances even if they do rely heavily on stereotypes.

The production design is also excellent and does a lot to capture the feel of 1930’s Texas. The sets, costumes, and props work together well, so well in fact they really are merely the background instead of a distraction as seems to be a common shortfall for contemporary movies. And while the film does play it safe a lot of the time, there are some moments where lines of comfort are crossed to show what life for these young students might have been like.

In fact, I think the only thing that didn’t work for The Great Debaters is some of the subplots that add little to nothing to the story – the romance for example. That and the Wiley team always debate for the side of the arguments they already agree with. It would have been interesting to see them debate against integration or something that would have proven to be difficult for the kids. The Great Debaters does follow the profitable and formulaic sports plot, simply substituting debating and arguments for sports and balls. But it does make for a movie the entire family can enjoy with some educational aspects thrown in the mix.

As a side-note, I can’t help but notice Denzel Whitaker’s name as being a hybrid of the two, more established actors in the film. Luckily for him, I don’t think it will be difficult for him, or any of the young actors really, to own up to the name.

Movie Review: Lars And The Real Girl

2008-01-06T14:39:00.000-06:00

I enjoy subtle, sarcastic, and dark humor so seeing a preview for Lars And The Real Girl was all it took to garner my interest. Oddly enough, I had just watched a documentary on people who had “relationships” with the life-size sex dolls that made for another reason to see a movie about just that.

While the idea of a movie centering around a lonely man who orders a customizable doll online to be his girlfriend sounds depressing, Lars And The Real Girl is actually full of hope and love. Sure, it examines the life of a lonely soul, but it focuses more on how loving and supportive a community can be.

Lars (Ryan Gosling) is a lonely man who has retreated into a hermit-like shell and finds physical contact literally painful. Being the nice twenty-something man that he is, those around him worry about his solitary life and push the idea of dating on him like hotcakes. His news of having a girlfriend shocks those who know how uncomfortable he finds attention from others to be; even more shocking is their discovery that Bianca is in fact an anatomically correct mannequin. Yes, the sort of doll with holes in all the right places for one’s enjoyment.

Ryan Gosling truly must be a genius. He plays Lars so well that he becomes real and someone you care about. His expressions and movements bring to life Lars’ emotions so we know how he feels without anyone having to spell it out. Gosling plays Lars in such a way that his delusions seem real without taking over the film to make it about his affliction. His impairment is merely a means to tell a much bigger story.

While the film could be one big opportunity for jokes and crass humor, the filmmakers instead choose to present real people with both strengths and weaknesses that the audience begins to admire in some way. They could have easily made an exploitation film instead of a heart-warming story that is at the same time endearing and tragic.

The subtleties in the film are intelligent and easy to miss. The costumes have motivation and the changes in them reflect the growth of characters through the film (pay attention to the blanket-turned-scarf Lars wears for an example).

I find most character study films to be nothing but dull and drab but all the elements of Lars pull me in in such a way where other films fail – it makes me actually care about the characters and want to see how things will resolve. Ironically, Lars, along with his delusional faults, presents the community around him with a sign of sanity. Lars And The Real Girl brings to life a hope in community, finds respect for traumas, and shows the difficulty some have with maturing.

And no, Lars doesn’t use Bianca for her intended purpose.

Movie Review: No Country For Old Men

2008-01-06T01:04:00.000-06:00

Everyone I know loves No Country For Old Men. I even heard several people talk about how it is the best movie they have seen in years. I couldn’t disagree more. I actually hated the movie. But I also understand how it is a good movie all at the same time.

Let me start by saying I thought the actors are all great; the casting was spot on for this film. They deliver their lines in such a way that the movie brings to life Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same title. Tommy Lee Jones is able to deliver a performance with restrained emotion while still coming off as passionate. Each glance Javier Bardem makes adds to how creepy his character is – in fact he is perhaps the most evil man I have ever seen in a movie.

The cinematography is also something to be complimented. Each shot and display of color truly makes West Texas come alive. It emphasizes the size and dusty climate beautifully without going over the top. The camera work helps maintain the chase elements into what is ultimately a character driven story. And therein lies the rub.

I don’t like movies where nothing happens. If it is dialogue with nothing for me to grasp onto, I get bored. Don’t get me wrong, I like most of the Coen Brothers’ movies. In fact, I think I enjoy all of them but O Brother, Where Art Thou? and for many of the same reasons. Something about the story keeps the chase and thriller aspects under such constraint that it is as if nothing really happens. Sure, people are being murdered by an air compressor powered cattle stun gun, but in a way that fails to shock me. And perhaps the lack of shock is what makes Javier Bardem’s performance believable. The story manages to make action seemingly nothing and any build up of anxiety completely disappear. It fails to suck me in to care what happens to any of the characters. I neither want nor hope against what any of the characters are trying to accomplish.

This film confuses me in that I think it is great as a film but also find it to be absolutely boring. The problem for me is the story. All the cinematic elements are as perfect as anyone could have made it. The music, the editing, the directing is all spot on. I appreciate No Country For Old Men as a body of cinematic art but hope to never waste what to me feels like an eternity in watching it again. But then, I also don’t like any of Cormac McCarthy’s novels.

DVD Review: Scrubs - The Complete Sixth Season

2007-11-27T13:16:00.000-06:00

Scrubs is one of the plethora of hospital shows on television. But unlike the rest, it is a 30-minute sitcom. Sure the show deals with some less-than-happy subject matter, but each episode has its funny moments that endear the series. It is also one of those rare shows where the reruns are just as funny as they were when they originally aired. While I have to say the first two seasons were pure gold, season six is still full of great television.

The sixth season of Scrubs had some interesting storylines. JD gets his doctor girlfriend Kim pregnant, Dr. Cox’s wife is pregnant, Carla and Turk have their baby, and Elliot gets engaged to Keith. The season also dealt with more serious issues than previous seasons seem to have touched on. Carla deals with postpartum depression. Nurse Roberts not only winds up in the hospital but also dies. JD has to deal with his thoughts on becoming a father when his girlfriend moves away and breaks up with him. Sure, this season focuses a lot more on the serious aspects of relationships than the first five seasons, but Scrubs hasn’t lost its focus of being a hospital comedy. Dr. Kelso, Janitor, and Ted continue to bring their humorous touches to the life at Sacred Heart Hospital.

Discussion of the sixth season cannot be complete without a mention of “My Musical,” the musical episode of Scrubs. The song and dance routines embrace the spirit of the show by having the serious up against the humorous. Personally, my favorite songs were “Guy Love” and “Everything Comes Down To Poo.” Obviously I am not the only one who enjoyed those songs, as they were one of the multiple Emmy nominations the episode received. Another new thing worth mentioning about the sixth season is characters other than JD narrated a few episodes; in fact some of the more minor characters took over.

Many feel this season stumbled to a point that wasn’t at the standard previous seasons had set. Luckily, Scrubs regained its footing before the end of the season, which had been hinted at being the final season. The creators of the show have agreed to a seventh season, but it is coming to an end. I appreciate ending the show before it goes to utter crap and there really is no reason a television series needs to be around for a decade or more. Unfortunately, the current WGA writers strike threatens Scrubs from airing a complete final season. In fact, it is rumored that the finale may not be shown until it is released on DVD.

The special features include a making of the musical episode. It includes glimpses at why they made the episode, how the cast and crew felt about it, and the special people they brought in to make it perfect. The next one is called “Judy Reyes Keep Talking” which looks at everything Carla – from auditioning, to her relationships with the other characters, to struggles Carla faced on the series, and what is up next. Naturally, a collection of deleted scenes is included but it takes on a different approach than most by showing the scene as aired before the deleted version is shown. Similarly, there is a feature showing alternate lines than the ones used in the show. “The Third Tier” is the next featurette and it is about characters that were initially meant for one joke and ended up with a recurring role. Following is “The Debra and Stephanie Show” which is another look at the musical episode. There are the commentary tracks for each episode and an Easter Egg — if you don't want spoilers for the seventh season, I recommend you not try to find this.

Overall, the sixth season of Scrubs is chock full of scalpel sharp wit and unforgettable characters with their quirks. Like the first five seasons, Scrubs - The Complete Six Season DVD is a must-have set for your television DVD collection.

DVD Review: Veronica Mars - The Complete Third Season

2007-11-13T01:26:00.000-06:00

Veronica Mars came to a cruel fate. It was a great show, had a fan following, and received critics’ praises. Usually, that is a recipe for a long-running series, or so you would think. Not so much for Veronica Mars, which was canceled after only three seasons. Now people are hoping for something like Firefly/Serenity with a feature film version, or perhaps a made-for-TV movie and some comics.
For those who live under a rock in a cave and never saw Veronica Mars, you’re lame. Okay, in all seriousness it is worth checking out. Veronica is a teen girl who works for her dad, who happens to be a private investigator. He used to be the sheriff but some stuff went down so he was fired and then he gets to be sheriff again, and well, that’s a different story. Veronica has a knack for investigating things herself, which naturally gets her some side jobs, and some unwanted trouble. Each episode has its own contained mystery, and then there are arcs within the series that work out over anywhere from seven episodes to the entire season.

Season Three saw Veronica in college. She’s up to her same tricks, discovering who a campus rapist is, what really happened to cause the dean's death, there’s even a nerd in love with a prostitute he wants to save. While the third season wasn’t as strong as the first two, even the weakest episodes of Veronica Mars were heads above the best episodes of most TV shows on the major networks.

As far as the DVD set of Season Three is concerned, five discs are your typical bundle of episodes. None seem to have commentary tracks available. But the little booklet that comes with the DVDs is nice enough to include the original airdate, who wrote each episode, and who the director was .The true gem is the sixth disc – it is why any fan of Veronica Mars must get the third season DVDs right now.

The first special feature is one of the best features I’ve ever seen on any DVD set ... ever. It is called “Season 4 Presentation” and is a teaser of what the next season would have been if the show lived to tell the tale. Veronica is a special agent in the FBI and just as prickly as ever. The next featurette is “Pitching Season 4” with supervising producer Dan Etheridge and creator Rob Thomas (not the Rob Thomas from Matchbox 20). It discusses how the new direction of the next season came into being – from the concept of Veronica in the FBI to the color shift to give the show a new look.

Then there is a multi-part feature called “Going Undercover with Rob Thomas” and the sections are ‘Main Titles: Why the Change?’, ‘Rob’s Directing Experience,’ ‘Favorite Guest Star Moments,’ ‘Veronica Mars: Mean Girl,’ ‘The Politics of Veronica Mars,’ ‘Favorite Veronica and Logan Moments,’ ‘Favorite Veronica and Keith Moments,’ ‘Do-Overs?’, and ‘Highlights.’ Thomas and Dan Etheridge host this special feature as well. It sort of serves as the commentary that is lacking in any individual episodes on the other discs.

But wait, that’s not all. The next feature is the Webisode Gallery, which is more of a goofy look at some of the crew and actors on the show. Then there are some of your typical deleted scenes with an introduction from show creator Thomas. Finally, there is the Gag Reel.

Overall, the special features alone are reason to buy the third season of Veronica Mars. Add in the fact that Veronica Mars was a great show and there really is no reason it shouldn’t be part of your DVD library.

DVD Review: Transformers

2007-10-30T23:29:00.000-05:00

I grew up watching Transformers as a kid. I had the toys, sheets, even costumes to be a number of different Transformers. Watching the movie, I was both very skeptical and extremely excited. In fact, the only thing I was truly weary of was that it was a Michael Bay movie.

Fortunately, Transformers rocked my face off. For those who live under a rock, the Transformers movie is about a boy who has some special information, only he isn’t aware of that fact. The Autobots are sent to protect the boy and the information from the evil Decepticons. The movie follows the obstacles, victories, and some killer action sequences in just what this information is and why it is so important.

Transformers is the movie that will bring out the inner child in all of us. If it doesn’t, I’d argue you have no soul. Even if Michael Bay isn’t one of the more well-liked directors out there, Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Rachael Taylor, Anthony Anderson, Jon Voight, and several others truly worked together to bring this story to life. Transformers isn’t meant to be some deep movie with a lot of meaning, so if that is what you want, look elsewhere. But Transformers is a fun and exciting story with a great soundtrack. The CGI was well done and didn’t distract from the movie, as sometimes is the case.

The DVD is a two-disc special edition. The first disc contains the film in widescreen format enhanced for 16:9 televisions. The sound is Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 available in English, French, and Spanish with subtitles available in the same three languages. The first disc also contains a commentary track by Michael Bay.

The second disc has three special features. The first is titled “Our World” and is a series of “behind the scenes” looks at how Transformers was created: the process of hiring teams and creating the script, how the casting was done, the special effects, and the locations of the shoot. The next featurette is called “Their War” which looks at the history of Transformers in all its incarnations and how that influenced the creation of the robots in the movie. The final featurette is “More Than Meets The Eye” and has three parts. The first details the desert fight scene’s development. The next part deals with concepts the filmmakers wanted to fit into the movie. Finally there are trailers with the first teaser and two of the theatrical trailers for Transformers. Really, the only thing missing that I expected to be included was a series of deleted scenes. The features alluded to them so it made their absence more disappointing.

However, as a whole, Transformers is more than worth buying. It is also available in HD DVD.

DVD Review: 28 Weeks Later

2007-10-21T20:10:00.000-05:00

I have to admit, when 28 Weeks Later came out in theaters I had no interest whatsoever in seeing it. To me it seemed like one of the sequels that should never have been green lit. But I also didn’t like 28 Days Later as much as most people. Now that 28 Weeks Later is on DVD, I figured I would give it a try.

I am shocked to admit it, but I like 28 Weeks Later a lot more than 28 Days Later. For starters, it is a completely different genre. Instead of being a horror, it is much more of an action/thriller. There aren’t really moments where something unexpectedly pops out at you as in the first movie. But what I really appreciate is 28 Weeks Later doesn’t have the creepy, crazy rape thing going on in it. I don’t really like sexual assault in my entertainment. And it certainly wasn’t necessary in the first movie.

28 Weeks Later picks up with a few survivors holed up together to hide from the dangers outside. Unfortunately, some of the infected find them and it seems only Don escapes. Cut to 28 weeks after that and some people are slowly moving back into London, under an American-led NATO group. Don’s two children are two of the other survivors (they were abroad during the infection) and they believed their father when he tells them that mommy had been eaten until they happen to find her. Strangely, she doesn’t look much worse than you would expect from someone who has been fending for themselves for 28 weeks. And if you only learn one thing from watching 28 Weeks Later, let it be that kissing someone with a horrible disease is a very bad idea.

The chase is on after the deadly kiss. The zombies are faster and deadlier. They don’t simply bite their victims but go for ripping apart the arteries. These zombies are full of rage and very little else. Yet this time around, the infected maintain some element of humanity deep within.

The movie also blends genres in its visual appearance. At times it looks like your typical hit movie, while other times it looks more like a photojournalist has documented an actual catastrophe. The blending of styles works well to give 28 Weeks Later a grittier feel. 28 Weeks Later also looks more at the choices we make in the face of disaster. The line between saving lives and exterminating the deadly infection is a blurry one with some questionable responses. Yet those responses are what drive the movie.

Special features are par for the course on DVDs these days. 28 Weeks Later includes commentary with the director, some deleted scenes, the theatrical trailer, and trailers for a few other movies. “Code Red: The Making of 28 Weeks Later” is a mini-featurette with a look at how the sequel was made, from the original inspiration and how it evolved into the film they made. Next is “The Infected” which is hopefully self-explanatory, but in case it isn’t, “The Infected” is a featurette looking at the infected extras in the movie. Finally there's another feature called “Getting Into The Action” and it details more of the actual action in the movie and the differences that set 28 Weeks Later apart from 28 Days Later. After these features are two looks at an animated comic book version of the story, “28 Days Later: The Aftermath Stage 1 Development” and “28 Days Later: The Aftermath Stage 3 Decimation.” They are an interesting take on the story but I haven’t any clue as to how many stages there actually are, or why only the first and third appear on the DVD.

The DVD is in English 5.1 Dolby Digital and in Widescreen. There are options for closed captioning, French and Spanish Dolby Surround with subtitles available in English or Spanish.

DVD Review: Jericho The First Season

2007-10-21T18:07:00.000-05:00

I was hooked on Jericho from the first commercial I saw. I made it a point to make room for the show in my appointment TV watching. I easily watched each episode at least twice. The show is far from being cheery, yet it still holds onto a glimmer of hope. It also makes you think about what life would really be like in such a situation.

Jericho is about a small Kansas town and their survival after a nuclear attack on the United States. They have no idea if there are other survivors or if they are alone to rebuild. The show chronicles what would be very real problems like food shortages and looting and then goes a bit further to show war-like skirmishes between neighboring towns that had very different responses as to how to survive.

Jericho is another in the growing popular ensemble-cast thrillers. The thriller aspect comes in from living in a basically post-apocalyptic world. But sprinkled throughout the chaos are stories of the people of Jericho: who they are, their relationships with each other, and what secrets they aren’t telling anyone else. The setup has drawn a lot of comparisons to Lost, just without the supernatural aspect.

What makes Jericho so gripping, and perhaps timeless, is the invisible enemy. Without knowing who is attacking the US or why, it puts a real spin on the plot. I think the mysterious forces behind the nuclear attacks also force the audience to wonder how they would react in such a situation: would they maintain law and order or would it be a free for all?

The casting of the show also works in its favor. Skeet Ulrich (Scream) is the lead and is equally strong and vulnerable, which makes his character more compelling. He’s also ridiculously good looking, so you know some love triangles are in for the making. The cast of Jericho is rounded out by Gerald McRaney (Major Dad, Simon & Simon), Ashley Scott (Birds of Prey), Pamela Reed (Proof of Life), Kenneth Mitchell, Lennie James (Sahara), Sprague Grayden, Michael Gaston, Erik Knudsen (Saw II), Brad Beyer, and Shoshannah Stern (Weeds) who is really deaf.

The special features on Jericho: The First Season are fairly typical extras these days. Most of the episodes have deleted scenes, commentary, or even both available to watch. The sixth disc also has two mini-featurettes. The first is called “Building Jericho” and is a behind the scenes look at how the first season of Jericho was made – from audition tapes, to building the back lot, special effects, and even how fan feedback affected the season. The next feature is a mini documentary called “What If” that looks at possibilities of actual nuclear attacks in the past, present, and future. It chronicles the history of nuclear weapons with stock footage and interviews with various people. The feature also discusses responses to disasters, with Hurricane Katrina being a big example of how it can go wrong without a plan in place.

Technically speaking, Jericho: The First Season is in widescreen format, enhanced for 16:9 televisions. The sound is Dolby Digital English 5.1 Surround with options for subtitles in English, Spanish, and Brazilian Portuguese.

I highly recommend Jericho be added to your DVD collection.

Movie Review: Scarecrows

2007-10-09T19:31:00.000-05:00

I like to spend the entire month of October preparing for Halloween, mostly by watching all the scary movies and B horror flicks I can get my hands on. Scarecrows starts with the credits in red, letting you know you’re in for a delicious treat. And let’s just let it out there in the open, I’ve always found scarecrows to be creepy and scary.

Scarecrows begins with a greedy criminal deciding not to share the loot from a great heist – sure it isn’t a rare theme, but something had to set up why this man was alone in the country and why the other guys were hunting him down, right? Problem is, there are all these damn scarecrows everywhere. And they’re obviously pissed off. Oh, they are alive and don’t seem to die easily.

Like any B horror worth watching, there’s not much by way of the plot to distract you from the sheer creepiness of killer scarecrows. There’s also the necessary blood and gore for the gross-out factor. Scarecrows was obviously made with a smaller budget as static shots of scarecrows and creepy scenery fill in a large bulk of the movie. A lot of the dialogue takes place over the paramilitary radios; I can’t decide if the voice over adds to the disturbing atmosphere or emphasizes the cheesy acting that is characteristic of the genre, perhaps it does both. And yes, the movie shows the same shots of the same freaky scarecrows multiple times, but somehow each time seems more ominous and disturbing. The most disturbing part of the movie is when the dog eats the blown up remains of a scarecrow and his victim.

There is no explanation as to the origins of these creepy cornfield creatures, nor any clues as to what happened to the residents of the farm. Were the three former inhabitants the scary scarecrows running amuck or did they come to the same fate as the thieves? The lack of background does serve to make the idea of scarecrows with a vengeance seem even scarier. The director, William Wesley, makes excellent use of the dark atmosphere by playing up the menacing shadows. But other than that, Scarecrows is really just out to give you the creeps and a scare. And there is no better timing than with Halloween around the corner to pick up the DVD of the cult classic.

There are absolutely no special features -- the DVD menu has three options: play movie, language selection, and scene selection – so the nitty gritty movie is all you get. However, it is in widescreen format enhanced for 16:9 televisions. The sound is in English Dolby Surround, with options for Spanish Stereo or French Dolby Surround along with English or Spanish subtitles. Scarecrows is an 83-minute flick from 1988 and certainly worth watching this Halloween.

Music Review: West Indian Girl - 4th & Wall

2007-10-09T00:38:00.000-05:00

Once a pop duo, West Indian Girl is now complete as a rock sextet. Named after a strain of LSD, original members Robert James (vocals/guitar) and Francis Ten (bass) are joined by Mariqueen Maandig (vocals/percussion), Mark Lewis (drums/backing vocals), Nathan Van Hala (keyboard), and Amy White (keyboard/backing vocals) and the six-piece rock outfit has the sophomore West Indian Girl album, 4th & Wall, ready for an October 23, 2007 release. If you just cannot wait, don’t fret too much as the first single, “Blue Wave,” is already available on iTunes. The band also has a few tracks up on their MySpace page.

The album is named after the corner where the band’s studio is. The warehouse is in a part of Los Angeles that isn’t really a tourist destination, in fact it is the type of neighborhood your mother told you to avoid, as influencing the beachy sounds of the album -- they are surrounded by a community of homeless people, rats, and excrement. However, being aware of their surroundings is also the only inspiration the sound needs as they dream up visions of a better place. To that end, West Indian Girl succeeds.

The catchy guitar riffs and synth that caught our attention with their first single, “What Are You Afraid Of,” are back yet fleshed out with the additional personalities the band has picked up along the way. And don’t worry, there are still references to mind altering substances present throughout the new album. 4th & Wall will definitely make you long to have the days of summer back as the ocean seems to be a main character of the album.

“Get Up” certainly has potential to pop through the airwaves with brilliant harmonies and solid orchestration. “To Die in LA” is a rocker strengthened by the great synth we’ve come to expect from West Indian Girl. With the howling harmonies, “Sofia” may very well be my favorite track on the album. The enthralling hook in “Blue Wave’ makes it a perfect choice to be the first single. “All My Friends” is a foot-tapping trippy tune that further makes the point that 4th & Wall is the antithesis to the surroundings in which it was created. The CD is certainly worth a listen.

The complete track listing for West Indian Girl’s 4th & Wall is:
1. To Die in LA
2. Sofia
3. Blue Wave
4. All My Friends
5. Indian Ocean
6. Up The Coast
7. Solar Eyes
8. Lost Children
9. Back to You
10. Rise From the Dead
11. Get Up

West Indian Girl also has a few upcoming tour dates. Those of you on the West Coast are lucky dogs. Let me know if you catch a show, I’d love to hear about it.
October 19 at Winstons in San Diego, CA
October 20 at Spaceland in Los Angeles, CA
October 21 at the Monterey Fairgrounds in Monterey, CA as part of the Monterey Music Summit
November 1 at the Billboard Conference in Lost Angeles, CA
November 10 at The Independent in San Francisco, CA

DVD Review: What About Brian The Complete Series

2007-09-25T16:37:00.000-05:00

It seems the creators of Alias and Lost have fallen into a rut with the first being over and a scheduled ending in sight for the second. Unfortunately, What About Brian fell into that rut.

What About Brian is about a circle of ridiculously attractive friends and their problems. Brian love Marjorie and she might love him, but she’s engaged to Brian’s best friend Adam. Brian’s sister Nicole is trying to get pregnant but something tragic also happens. Their friends Dave and Deena tried to have an open marriage and now have to figure out how to handle the fall-out from that. Oh wait, they also have some friends, Ivy and Jimmy, who are secretly rich but hiding it.

The entire series of What About Brian is 24 episodes with the five-episode first season and an additional 19 for the second season. The core of the cast included Barry Watson (7th Heaven), Matthew Davis, Sarah Lancaster (Everwood), Rosanna Arquette, Rick Gomez (Band of Brothers), and Amanda Detmer (Boys and Girls). While the characters were interesting in and of themselves, they failed to carry the show. Without further development, What About Brian seemed to end up unrealistic with pretty people living in pretty homes with seemingly pretty problems that made the characters too hard to identify with to make the show appointment viewing. The show was pleasant; it just sort of got boring.

Figuring out where the Bonus Features were wasn’t as easy as most DVD sets since they weren’t listed on the cases of the DVDs along with which episodes are on each disc, but like most DVD sets they are on the last disc. The first is an unaired episode that was originally meant to be the last one of the first season. There is also a featurette is called “Calling All Friends: The Story of What About Brian” and is a behind the scenes look at the series from the eyes of the cast and crew. The last featurette is “What About 3: The Season That Never Was” giving a glimpse into what might have happened if the series had been around for a third season.

And last there is the Audio Commentary with writer/director Dana Stevens for the last episode of the series. The commentary is interesting in giving more insight on how the season changed with news that it was being cut to 19 episodes from the original 22 ordered and looking in hindsight that it is in fact the last episode of the series.

The series is presented in Widescreen format, enhanced for 16:9 televisions. What About Brian is in English Dolby Digital 5.1 with options for French and Spanish subtitles.

Ultimately, What About Brian wasn’t perfect television, but nothing was really wrong with the show either. It’s a charming look at friends and love, even if it isn’t all that realistic. The DVDs are certainly worth watching if you haven’t seen the show and want to watch a sweet, syrupy drama.

DVD Review: NUMB3RS The Third Season

2007-09-25T13:47:00.000-05:00

If crime-solving shows aren’t your bag, you’re hard pressed to find much on television these days. In a world full of CSI and Law & Order and their various incarnations in different cities, it is fairly difficult for a new cop show to come on the scene and offer something new to its audience. NUMB3RS is able to give a fresh perspective by focusing on the importance of math. The show also allows enough focus on the personal lives and relationships between the characters that it isn’t just some formulaic way to solve a crime. But the character development doesn’t fall into the trap of being reminiscent of a soap opera, the drama is stuff that explains who the characters are as we already see them. And thankfully there aren’t the cookie-cutter one-liners being spouted horribly from characters we don’t really like that much anyway (David Caruso on CSI: Miami anyone?).

NUMB3RS is an FBI crime drama based in Los Angeles. But the LA in the show is more a reference than a location because it really could be happening in any city. The lack of pretty shots of the city help NUMB3RS maintain a more universal appeal. The show keeps it’s appeal for those who, like me, stopped taking math after high school by creating analogies about what the math is figuring out. The analogies aren’t the strength of the show and some of them are even quite boring, but they distract you enough from the equations being scribbled furiously that you think you understand exactly what is going on.

The Special Features for the third season of NUMB3RS are spread out over discs four, five and six. All the discs except for four have at least one episode with commentary available. Disc four has a featurette titled “Crunching NUMB3RS: Season 3” that looks at the importance the third season has for the series and the various ways the show changed. The fifth disc has a featurette called “Eppes Central” detailing the house used as the Eppes home and why they ultimately had to recreate the home on a sound stage. The final disc has two special features: a tour of the set house and a blooper reel.

Technically speaking, the DVD set has what you come to expect these days. It has a widescreen version enhanced for 16:9 televisions; the sound is Dolby Digital 5.1 English with Closed Captioning. The 24 episodes and special features are spread over six discs.

If you are a fan of the plethora of crime-solving dramas on television, NUMB3RS: The Third Season is worth adding to your collection. The show itself is worth giving a second look if you’re sick of all the forensic following franchises because it doesn’t have the same formulaic approach. Then for you Northern Exposure fans, Rob Morrow is one of the leads, playing FBI agent Don Eppes. Charlie Eppes is Don’s math whiz brother, played by David Krumholtz, and Judd Hirsch plays their father, Alan Eppes.

DVD Review: Brothers and Sisters - The Complete First Season

2007-09-18T13:24:00.000-05:00

"Brothers and Sisters" is ABC’s new drama about a contemporary American family, dysfunction being a major character. However, no matter what their individual problems are, the Walkers come together and find strength as a family. The first season follows the Walkers after the patriarch of the family dies. Along with news of their father’s death, the five children discover some well kept secrets including a mistress and illegitimate daughter.

"Brothers and Sisters" also has a cast that blends seasoned actors with some newer faces. I first tuned into the show because Sally Field plays the mother. The idea of a television show detailing an older woman’s life was new and casting Sally Field struck me as a perfect choice. Not being a fan of "Ally McBeal", I was a bit concerned about Calista Flockhart, however where Ally was unsure, Kitty Walker is strong and driven. By the same token, I was a huge fan of "Alias", so Ron Rifkin, Patricia Wettig, and Balthazar Getty were major draws for me. Rachel Griffiths ("Six Feet Under"), Emily VanCamp ("Everwood"), Matthew Rhys, Dave Annable ("Reunion"), and Rob Lowe ("The West Wing") add to the ensemble cast and truly make it feel like a family. Sure, it has some soap opera elements, but that keeps audiences watching and distracted from their own lives – because hey, at least we aren’t that messed up.

What is most refreshing about "Brothers and Sisters" is Kevin Walker. He’s one of the siblings, a successful lawyer with relationship issues... oh, and he’s gay. But unlike most gay characters on television, his sexuality isn’t his entire identity. While it is a part of Kevin, he isn’t a stereotype or stock character, but more representative of a real person. Kevin's gayness is no more his sole defining characteristic than Justin’s addiction troubles are his or Kitty’s conservative views are hers; yes, these are big parts of who the characters are but not their sum total.

The first season of "Brothers and Sisters" is now available on DVD. The 23 episodes are in the six-disc set. The special features include your typical outtakes, audio commentaries, and behind the scenes glances at the show. There are two different featurettes giving a behind the scenes glimpse; one features the three Walker brothers (Balthazar Getty, Dave Annable, and Matthew Rhys) giving the audience a tour of the facilities while the other feature gives a more in depth look at the show from the conception to the cast, crew, and a funny vignette detailing how much the Walker family drinks.

Another jewel among the special features is an episode, originally the second, that never aired. While the show didn’t suffer from the episode not being broadcast, it is nice to see a bit more detailed look at how things happened in the beginning. The remaining bonus feature is a comparison between the Walker family business and the Olin family working on the show (Ken Olin is a director/producer, his wife is actress Patricia Wettig, their son Cliff Olin is a staff writer and daughter Roxanne Olin has been a guest). One thing that would have been interesting to include is some of the original pilot shot before Sally Field replaced Betty Buckley.

Technically, the series is in Dolby Digital 5.1 and in Widescreen format enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Subtitles are available in English, French, or Spanish. The series is rated TV 14.

Overall, "Brothers and Sisters" is well written and wonderfully acted. The DVD of the first season would be a good addition to anyone’s collection.

DVD Review: Raise Your Voice

2007-08-31T13:44:00.000-05:00

"Raise Your Voice" isn’t a Disney movie, but it could have been. It is the story of Terri Fletcher finding her voice. It begins with a happy teen, Terri (Hilary Duff), and her older brother Paul (Jason Ritter). Unlike most teen siblings I’ve come across, they get along famously. Terri and Paul sneak out to go to a concert and are in a car wreck on the way home. Paul dies and Terri doesn’t want to ever sing again. The problem with that is Paul sent in a DVD to a prestigious summer music program as his sister’s application and she was accepted. From there you can guess the rest; Terri makes new friends, discovers new love, and once again finds her voice.

For those looking for a wholesome movie, "Raise Your Voice" definitely fits the bill. Hilary Duff’s Terri sings in the church choir, listens to Christian music, and finds solace in going to church. Those who find Duff attractive will find lots of shots of her in tight tank tops. And those who enjoy the feel-good movies that could be on Disney Channel or Lifetime will enjoy the message.

That being said, "Raise Your Voice" is a bunch of clichés thrown together in an attempt to be a modern day "Fame" but failing. The script is lacking, the acting isn’t great, and the music isn’t exactly compelling. Though to be perfectly honest, pointing out all the ways the film fails to soar is sort of like beating a dead horse. But to be fair, it is only a PG-rated film. The thing I found most distracting was the presence of a lot of “pretty shots” that really didn’t add anything but time.

The Special Features on the DVD include five deleted scenes, a reel of outtakes, a behind the scenes look at the making of the movie, an orchestra sequence showing clips from the movie and the recording of the score, a music video for Hilary Duff’s “Fly”, an interactive jam where you make your own music, the theatrical trailer, and previews for other New Line releases. In addition to that material, the DVD has features and web links accessible on your computer running Microsoft Windows. I don’t have a PC, so I am not sure what those materials might be.

The DVD itself is dual-sided with Widescreen or Full Screen versions of the movie on either side. The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 in English with options for English or Spanish subtitles.

Overall, the movie isn’t one I’d rush out to buy but it is 107 minutes of harmless entertainment the family can watch together.

DVD Review: The Flying Scotsman

2007-08-29T21:46:00.000-05:00

The thing about movies based on true stories is you can pretty much guess how it will end, even if you aren’t familiar with the people who inspired it. The underdog always comes out on top. These stories give us hope that our own average lives might somehow take a turn and be inspirational. These stories also show us the importance of working towards accomplishing our dreams; miracles won’t just drop into our laps. These stories also tell us there might be some nasty bumps before we find our happy endings.

Such is the truth of The Flying Scotsman. It is based on the real story of Scottish cyclist Graeme Obree. Not quite a rags to riches story, it follows Obree from being a cycling courier to breaking cycling world records with depression and suicidal thoughts thrown in the middle. The film is done well enough, though I am not sure it would be so compelling if it weren’t true. But fans of cycling and those who like any movie based on a true story will enjoy the film. The Flying Scotsman isn’t a bad film; it just fails to capture your emotions the way more successful inspirational sports films do.

But The Flying Scotsman, directed by Douglas Mackinnon, does provide a new twist in the big obstacle being suicidal tendencies. The cycling races in the film add to the feeling of despair because it was Obree on an empty track. Perhaps the obstacle didn’t present itself big enough or long enough to reel in the audience. Showing the madness to be deeper and darker might have helped us want him to succeed. The battles between Obree and the World Cycling Federation (based on the Union Cycliste Internationale) were interesting and perhaps could have been expounded upon. The film was too much of Obree’s successes with not much of his obstacles getting in the way preventing the true inspirational nature of Graeme Obree’s successes from coming through.

It is interesting to know that the real Graeme Obree was a technical consultant for actor Johnny Lee Miller (who plays Obree) during the shooting of the film and rebuilt some of his exceptional bikes for the production. Johnny Lee Miller also did most of the cycling himself with only a few of the biking shots being done by his double.

The DVD is scheduled to release September 18, 2007. It is dual sided with both Widescreen and Full Screen versions of the film on one disc. The audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 in English with options for subtitles in English, French, or Spanish. Three trailers (Beyond the Gates, Rescue Dawn, Death At A Funeral) are the only extra on the DVD. The film is 96 minutes and rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements and strong language.

The Flying Scotsman stars Johnny Lee Miller, Billy Boyd, Laura Fraser, and Brian Cox.

Armstrong's Team Discovery Calls It Quits

2007-08-11T16:06:00.000-05:00

The sport of cycling’s image is tarnished. At least for now.

Team Discovery may have won the sport’s most prestigious race, but they are disbanding at the end of the season. In February, Discovery Channel announced this would be their last year of sponsoring the cycling team that was previously the US Postal Service Team, the team Lance Armstrong belonged to when he won a record number of Tours de France (7 wins in a row). And with winning 8 of the last 9 Tours, at least the team is going out on top.

The disbanding of Team Discovery is certainly a sign of troubles in the world of cycling, but on top of that it is a sad note for American Cycling. Sure, the team isn’t made up of only Americans, but the work of Lance Armstrong and the team has given cycling a bigger chance in the United States. It propelled a cyclist’s name into American homes and hearts. The team’s success helped the sport find new fans in a country where cycling isn’t often thought of. Then again, it’s also the only International Cycling Union’s ProTour team based in the US. Armstrong’s first team, and the first American squad to race in the Tour de France, quit cycling in 1996 when they couldn’t find a new sponsor after losing Motorola.

It seems cycling’s current bout with scandals and controversies is too much for companies to want to sponsor a team; after all they might be a bunch of dopers. Even though the team owned by San Francisco’s Tailwind Sports (partly owned by Lance Armstrong) had been in talks with several potential sponsors, all the recent doping allegations have made for an environment not conductive to investment. The team’s owners realized it was a difficult spot to be in and chose to step aside instead; a decision made more difficult after the team and individual wins in the Tour de France last month.

A cycling team needs the funds of a sponsor to exist. The teams earn money not from ticket sales or TV rights, but from sponsors. Unlike companies who buy naming rights of stadiums or sponsor teams in other sports, a cycling team’s name is the sponsor and therefore a riskier investment. The Austin, TX based team was also looking for a three year commitment of $15 million annually. But doping scandals aren’t the only problems sponsors have to worry about. Last month it was clear that leadership within the sport couldn’t get along with the governing body of the Tour de France (ASO) saying they didn’t want to work with the International Cycling Union (UCI) next year.

The team will still ride in the Tour of Spain and the first Tour of Missouri later this year. However, the 27 cyclists of Team Discovery will need to find new teams for the 2008 season. While none of the riders on the team have ever failed a drug test, they are not without suspicions. This year’s Tour winner Alberto Contador held a press conference Friday in Spain to deny the allegations that have plagued him recently – he was one of the Spanish cyclists cleared during the Puerto Operation with new accusations emerging following his Tour win. Armstrong had dodged allegations throughout his career. Team Discovery even fired its lead rider this year, Ivan Basso, when he was involved in doping investigations.

Armstrong said he is confident cycling will not only continue but will thrive, but that it won’t happen in the next year. Let’s hope he’s right.

Save Veronica Mars

2007-06-08T19:12:00.000-05:00

It seems Veronica Mars fans aren’t quite ready to throw in the towel. At least not yet.

Last year’s attempt to save Veronica Mars worked, so why not try another “Save Veronica” campaign? Oh wait, they do have one going on. This year Veronica fanatics are sending a sweet message to the head of The CW, Dawn Ostroff. They are working together to ship Mars Bars and marshmallows to her office in California. Hopefully the reasoning behind the Mars Bars is pretty obvious, but you might wonder why marshmallows are included in the delicious demands for more Veronica Mars. In the pilot episode of the show there is a memorable line saying, “Veronica Mars, she’s a marshmallow.” Plus, marshmallows are lighter with cheaper shipping costs and can pile up pretty quickly to make a large shipment.

But how did this year’s campaign to save TV’s hottest detective start? The guys at Ain’t It Cool News came up with the bright idea to send Mars Bars to The CW. The Indian Food Store sells imported Mars Bars (from England) on Amazon. One day he woke to realize Veronica Mars fans had purchased more than 600 bars from him in under three hours. Jumping on the Save Veronica bandwagon, The Indian Food Store is now offering free shipping to the CW building. The store has also started a blog with information about the campaign to save Veronica Mars and how more folks can contribute.

Not only is the seller offering free shipping, but they’ve set it up where the code VERONICA will ensure your scrumptious purchase will be included in the delectable attempt to save Veronica Mars. Ain’t It Cool News has the shipping address for your convenience. So go on and save Veronica Mars, you know you want her.

Elton John - Rocket Man: Number Ones

2007-05-09T17:49:00.000-05:00

No matter what your musical taste prefers, chances are you’ve heard of Elton John. A multiple Grammy winner, humanitarian, and flamboyant superstar, Elton John has been a huge success on the music scene since 1970. His first release was Empty Sky in 1969 with his most recent being Rocket Man: Number Ones, a collection of 17 of his biggest hits. Wisely, the CD isn’t a compilation of only his Number One Singles, but also includes several of his more well known songs that didn’t quite make it into that number one spot ("Rocket Man" only made it to sixth spot on US pop charts). Instead, Rocket Man adds those few songs that most people have heard and think of when Elton John is mentioned; the CD just wouldn’t feel complete without them. And it certainly wouldn’t be fitting for the eccentric 60-year-old to leave his audience wanting. But of course, 17 songs fall short of being able to be truly comprehensive of Elton John’s great songs of the past 40 years.

Is it worth buying another album of greatest hits from Elton John? He has already released such collections on Greatest Hits (1974), Greatest Hits Vol. 2(1986), The Very Best of Elton John (1990), One Night Only (2000), Greatest Hits 1970-2002 (2002), with many having a separate release in other countries and other compilation albums such as Love Songs and Duets. If you don’t own any of those, then the question is most assuredly you should purchase it. While Greatest Hits 1970-2002 is probably the most in depth greatest hits release, sometimes having a single disc with music spanning his career really is better than two discs. In that instance, Rocket Man is also worth purchasing. Then, you could be like me and simply be obsessed with Elton John when there is no question in your mind on if you will buy it. It is also a great collection of songs for someone unsure of which Elton John to purchase.

I honestly only have two complaints about Rocket Man: Number Ones. The first is my favorite song, "I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues", isn’t included. The real complaint is the version of "Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me". It is a live recording, which is never my personal preference unless I am actually watching it live. Not only is it live, but George Michael sings most of it and not Elton John.

I do enjoy the cover art a great deal and it is truly representative of Elton’s career. Perhaps it is an homage to the Sgt Pepper cover, but it shows Elton John throughout the four decades of his musical career. The liner notes also give you information about the songs, which albums they were first a part of and when they reached their hit status.

Track Listing:
1.Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (3:14) - Cash Box Pop, 1973
2.Bennie & The Jets (5:23) - Billboard Pop, 1973
3.Daniel (3:54) - Billboard A/C*, 1973
4.Crocodile Rock (3:55) - Billboard Pop, 1973
5.Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds (5:56) - Billboard, 1974
6.Philadelphia Freedom (5:20) - Billboard Pop, 1975
7.Island Girl (3:43) - Billboard Pop, 1975
8.Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (w/Kiki Dee) (4:35) - Billboard Pop & A/C, 1976
9.Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (3:50) - Billboard A/C, 1976
10.Sacrifice (5:06) - U.K. Pop, 1990
11.Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me (w/George Michael) (5:38) - Billboard Pop & A/C, 1992
12.Can You Feel The Love Tonight (4:01) - Billboard, 1994
13.Your Song (4:05)
14.Tiny Dancer (6:18)
15.Rocket Man (4:41)
16.Candle In the Wind (3:50)
17.Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting (4:54)

*A/C is the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Amanda Bynes is Lovewrecked

2007-03-08T17:22:00.000-06:00

I'm a sucker for made for TV family movies. When I saw the ads for Lovewrecked, I knew I just had to watch it. Amanda Bynes was enough to sell me on the movie, as she was hilarious in She's The Man. She's a pretty good comedic actress who isn't afraid to use her whole body; screwball comedy is her thing. Chris Carmack was the second selling point. He was Luke in The OC, you know the kid whose dad was gay. I knew the combination had to be a treasure of an ABC Family movie.

Jenny (Amanda Bynes) and her best friend Ryan take a summer job working at a Caribbean resort. Jason Masters (Chris Carmack) is the hot pop star who happens to vacation at the same resort. All high school girls have a nemesis and Jenny's is Alexis. Unfortunately for Jenny, Alexis is working at the resort on the same summer program. All is going well until a storm finds Jenny and Jason Masters marooned on a deserted island, or so they think. Love blossoms, reality hits, and love blooms again. It's your typical ABC Family movie sort of plot.

Really the worst things about the movie are the effects and transitions. The things they had to fake for the movie are obvious, but they aren't plentiful nor the point of the movie. The transitions are overly cheesy and apparent, but again not the point of the movie. However, the scene when Ryan is massaging a woman from the Midwest is quite gross.

The movie is a cute although predictable film. Without Amanda Bynes it probably wouldn't have been worth watching. Plus, there's a girl fight for all the men out there. The plot seems to drag on for a bit in the middle. As Amanda Bynes seems to be running out of steam the movie comes to a quick conclusion. It almost seemed forced. Some of it comes out of nowhere and makes little sense. Perhaps some elements were cut for timing purposes.

Lovewrecked is a step down from She's The Man, but still a nice little romantic comedy. It is obviously still targeting the tween demographic and would be perfect to watch during a slumber party. Perhaps director Randal Kleiser (Grease, The Blue Lagoon) has lost a bit of his touch and instead set up sketches for Bynes instead of a more coherent film. However, Bynes is able to chalk up some chuckles.

The DVD includes three deleted scenes. None of them are that compelling and easy to see why they were cut from the film. However, I'm unsure of why they were included in the Special Features, as they don't hold much on their own either. The other Special Feature is the trailer. The trailer is a pretty good one, but again you can tell it is an ABC Family type of movie.

The audio is in English 5.1 with subtitles available in English for the hearing impaired or in Spanish. The sound has a rear channel noise in the opening concert scene that is a little off putting, but it isn't a problem through the whole movie.

Lovewrecked will be available on DVD March 13, 2007.