Category: TV DVDs (Page 24 of 54)

Claymore: Chapter Three

January 31, 2009 /

The third volume of the “Claymore” series is arguably more focused than previous installments, but that doesn’t necessarily make it better. Though it’s nice to have a batch of episodes that tells a contained story for once – in this case, Clare’s battle with a sadistic Claymore named Ophelia – none of them are especially memorable. After teaming up with four other Claymores in the second half of Chapter Two, Clare just doesn’t seem as interesting when she’s on her own. In fact, I was beginning to hope that the rest of the series would revolve around this newly formed group taking down the Organization that has targeted them as potential Awakened Beings. Those familiar with the manga would probably tell me to relax, because that’s exactly what happened in the original story, but with only 12 more episodes to go, here’s hoping the gals reunite sooner rather than later. After all, for as much fun as it is to watch Clare get chopped to pieces only to be resurrected Darth Vader style, the last thing we need is for the story to slow down just before it approaches the final stretch.

Click to buy “Claymore: Chapter Three”

TV, TV Anime, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

Killing Hitler: The True Story of the Valkyrie Plot

January 30, 2009 /

If you went into Bryan Singer’s “Valkyrie” without knowing anything at all about the many plots to kill Hitler throughout his reign of power, then you probably enjoyed the film a hell of a lot more than those who were already familiar with the history of those events. Indeed, you may have walked out of the theater with an interest in learning more about what really happened…and that’s where “Killing Hitler: The True Story of the Valkyrie Plot” comes in. While it does flesh out the events prior to Claus Von Stauffenberg’s actions in a manner which “Valkyrie” fails to do (kids today don’t know nearly as much about World War II as you think they do), the proceedings are a bit dry. It does indeed serve the purpose of educating viewers in a less dramatized fashion…and, more importantly, without the distraction of having one of Hollywood’s top actors playing the part of a German officer…only WWII buffs will be left breathless. And possibly not even them.

Click to buy “Killing Hitler”

Reviews, TV, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

Make ’em Laugh: The Funny Business of America

January 30, 2009 /

Simply put, the three-DVD set of PBS’ six-part special on comedy in America is a must-have for any fan of comedy. Hosted by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaris, “Make ’em Laugh” traces the origins of the wiseguy, the oddball, the breadwinner, the satirist, the pratfaller, and the groundbreaker in incredible detail, combining footage of the masters at work (both movies and TV) with interviews of dozens of comedians, writers and producers. (Holy cow, was Jack Benny’s writing staff an All-Star lineup of funny.) It’s all very informative, but if the set has one flaw, it’s in each show’s tendency to stop the timeline around 1989, which results in the omission of several prominent modern-day comedians (Bill Hicks, Patton Oswalt and Sarah Silverman, to name a few). That will happen, of course, when trying to condense 80 years of comedy into six hours. Each disc also contains extended interviews with dozens of comedians, and a couple bits of guys telling their favorite jokes. Great stuff, across the board.

Click to buy Make ’em Laugh: The Funny Business of America

Humor, Stand-Up Comics, TV, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

Moonlight: The Complete Series

January 26, 2009 /

“Jericho” fans seemed bewildered when, after all the hype their show received upon its last-second reprieve from cancellation, its second season didn’t find a huge surge in viewership. They shouldn’t have been. There have been precious few occasions when series have been saved from oblivion and suddenly had the masses respond by saying, “Wow, you guys were right! This is awesome!” That’s just not how the mind of the average TV viewer works. They’re not thinking, “Say, if all these people like the show that much, there must be something to it.” Obsessive fans freak out the average TV viewers, and their actions generally only serve to convince Joe Average that this show, whatever it may be, can’t possibly live up to the hype that’s being heaped upon it, and since it can’t, then why bother tuning in?

But here’s a dirty little secret for you: the minds of critics have been known to work the exact same way.

“Moonlight” seemed like a perfectly viable concept when it was originally pitched by CBS. Certainly, “Angel” fans were immediately on edge when word got out about this new series about a vampire private detective…and so, for that matter, were the rabid “Forever Knight” aficionados… but, still, it was going to be produced by David Greenwalt, who had actually worked on “Angel,” so there was hope that the vampire mythos would at least be done right. But then things got a little dodgy on the creative end, with cast and creators being switched out left and right, including the aforementioned Mr. Greenwalt, and critics were left lingering in wait for a pilot episode that took forever to come to fruition. Once it did, we were grumpy and, frankly, we just couldn’t see what all the fuss was about…but, dear God, those Alex O’Loughlin fans sure as hell could. They attacked in droves, criticizing my opinion of the series while invariably finding a way to mention how incredibly hot O’Loughlin was in the role of Mick St. John (the aforementioned vampire), yet they rarely offered much in the way of reasons beyond his sex appeal for me to give the show a second chance.

So I didn’t…until now.

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Actors, Actresses, Celebrities, External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV, TV Action, TV Dramas, TV DVDs, TV Sci-Fi

Kids Today: “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes”

January 24, 2009 /

And to think I originally only requested this DVD in order to make my daughter happy. Little did I know that it would result in a trip to Wikipedia that would completely blow my mind…but before we dive into that ridiculousness, how about a little background material first?

In case you’re not familiar with the trio known as the Chipettes, they are, as you might well have deduced, the female equivalent of the Chipmunks. Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor – for those are the girls’ names – came into existence for two very simple reasons: the Chipmunks’ creators, Ross Bagdasarian and Janice Karman, wanted a chance to do some girl-sung tunes, and because it came them the chance to deal with issues that girls were going through that boys wouldn’t necessarily be dealing with. (Don’t be disgusting: Bagdasarian clarified, “We had a baby girl at the time. We wanted to let her know she can be president, or a soccer champion, or whatever.”)

As Ally (my daughter) watched these six Chipette-centric episodes of “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” she seemed very annoyed by the fact that the opening credits in no way spotlighted the girls. “I thought you said this was the Chipettes,” she grumbled. I assured her that, although these were technically the adventures of the Chipmunks, the Chipettes would feature heavily in all of them; she seemed placated once they finally turned up, thankfully, and sat happily through the entire DVD.

Oh, if you’re wondering, the episodes that have been included are “May the Best Chipmunk Win” (Alvin and Brittany compete for the position of School President), “Operation Theodore” (the Chipettes work as candy-stripers and lose a patient), “Sisters” (Brittany wants to join a sorority but ends up changing her mind after a poignant performance of “Material Girl”), “The Greatest Show-Off on Earth” (the Chipettes join forces with the Chipmunks to save a circus), “My Fair Chipette” (Jeanette competes against Brittany in a beauty pageant), and “Tell It to the Judge” (Brittany and Alvin battle each other in a “People’s Court” parody). In short, if your kid likes the Chipmunks cartoons, then they’ll like this DVD…and if you’ve got a daughter, then she might be even more entertained than usual.

Now, about this Wikipedia entry…

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External Entertainment, External TV, Reviews, TV, TV DVDs

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