Knots Landing: The Complete Second Season

Long overdue on DVD is this second season of the long running spin-off of Dallas. The first season was released over three years ago, but due to tepid sales, it’s been a long, dry wait for fans of this immensely popular soap. Thank goodness Warner Brothers is giving it another go, because Knots Landing was a weekly staple throughout the ‘80s, and now that Dallas is nearing the end of its releases, this is as good a time as any to get people interested in what was actually a very different kind of soap. Not just different than Dallas, mind you, but different than most of the other primetime soaps of the period. Whereas Dallas, Dynasty and Falcon Crest were all about wealthy folk, Knots was decidedly middle-class in its points of view. These characters didn’t have a lot of money; they were just average people, living in a coastal suburb of L.A., trying to do their best to make it through all the sticky situations that came their way.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Pulling: The Complete Season One

According to the Urban Dictionary, “pulling” is British slang for:

1. To kiss someone; to initiate a seduction.
2. To kiss and/or fool around with someone in competition with one's friends to see who can put up the highest numbers or attract the most beautiful people around, as much for sheer entertainment's sake as for personal satisfaction. Occurs most frequently in pubs and bars.

That definition doesn’t stop Pulling co-creator/writer and star Sharon Horgan from pulling a fast one on the viewer in the series’ first scene. The episode begins with Donna (Horgan) in bed with her schlubby fiancé, Karl (Cavan Clerkin), pulling away at his nether regions. After he climaxes, she gets up, seemingly having done her duty, while he reaches over to a potted plant, breaks off a leaf, wipes himself clean, and deposits the jizz soaked flora behind the nightstand. This is followed by a comically graphic shot of Donna eyeing Karl in the bathroom mirror as he cleans up his undercarriage.

The sequence is fairly tame, even tasteful, for this show.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Never Say Never Again: Collector's Edition

Often viewed as the ugly stepchild of the James Bond movies, Never Say Never Again may be the most polarizing movie to feature the martini-swilling superspy (unless, of course, one counts the ‘67 spoof Casino Royale – but really, who would?). But can a Bond movie starring Sean Connery ever really be that bad? It depends who you ask. While this re-release isn’t exactly brimming with extras, there’s just enough on here to give some insight into a production about which most people (myself included) are largely ignorant.

The movie is usually described as “a remake of Thunderball,” which isn’t quite the truth. As it turns out, the one thing producer Jack Schwartzman (the late husband of Talia Shire, as well as father of Jason the actor and John the cinematographer) was basically forbidden to do was remake Thunderball. Due to legalities too complex to elaborate on here, the producers were instead allowed only to work from Ian Fleming’s original text to create their version of this story. Pretty much anything created for the previous movie that wasn’t in the book was off limits.

This in and of itself makes the movie a curiosity piece, as it’s the only time in Bond film history that we’ve gotten two different versions of the same Fleming story (again, let’s not bring the Casino spoof into the equation). The final product really doesn’t bear much resemblance to the ‘65 outing. It features some of the iconography and many character names are the same or similar, but otherwise it might as well just be another James Bond movie (especially when one considers how similar all the movies in the franchise are to one another.) Further, Thunderball is actually a pretty boring movie, and while many a criticism may be launched at Never Say Never Again, boring probably wouldn’t be the first word used to describe it.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

My Own Worst Enemy: The Complete Series

It’s always sad when a series doesn’t get a fighting chance and is quickly canceled before it even really gets to prove itself. My Own Worst Enemy was such a series on the fall 2008 schedule, and it only managed to rack up a whopping nine episodes before NBC announced it was axing the entire affair. The show is by no means remarkable programming, but it does roll along quite nicely, with enough twists and turns to keep it interesting for the less than half a season of it that was produced.

Of course, lest anyone call me on the carpet for being hypocritical, I can’t say I watched past the pilot last year, so I’m just as guilty as the rest of you for not tuning in. The pilot actually may have been a big part the problem – in attempting to create an immediate hook with which to grab viewers, the more interesting, character-driven aspects of the show weren’t really present for that first hour, and the show’s central gimmick (around which the pilot is built) is one of its less interesting features. And yet without the gimmick, all the other cool stuff couldn’t happen and there wouldn’t have been a show at all.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Rhoda: Season One

By the end of the fourth season of Mary Tyler Moore, the character of Rhoda Morgenstern had become so popular – as did Valerie Harper herself – that the producers were faced with a dilemma: give her a spin-off or lose her altogether, due to other offers coming her way. And so the series Rhoda was born. The premise saw her returning to New York to visit her family, only to fall for a guy named Joe Gerard (David Groh). The pair got on so well, in fact, that they were married eight episodes into the first season. The producers would later admit that the development was a mistake, as taking Rhoda out of the singles scene took away a lot of what made the character. As a result, in Season Three, Rhoda and Joe actually divorced, which makes watching this set an ever so slightly depressing affair, since you know that the marriage is doomed.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Natalie Wood Collection

Natalie Wood wasn’t really what you’d call a great actress, but she was a great movie star. These days Hollywood seems to have far more of the latter than the former, so it could be argued that her screen presence helped pave the way for the molds of today. She had an endearing, girl-next-door quality that kept her in demand through most of her career, which ended tragically when she drowned in an accident in November 1981.

Over the years, Wood dipped her toe into many a genre: drama, comedy, farce, musicals, westerns, and sci-fi, to name but a few. This box set is a real mixed bag and certainly covers the gamut. As it collects only some of her Warner Bros. features, it’s by no means definitive, but it is an interesting look at the wide range of her work, and through these six movies you can very much see the actress growing up onscreen. Further, each disc features a classic Warner Bros. cartoon, which, to my mind, should be mandatory on every WB DVD.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

The Rorschach Hurrah Picture Show

"The crowd is curious, but well behaved." - Les Nessman, five time winner of the Buckeye Newshawk Award, as well as the recipient of the Silver Sow and the Copper Cobb Awards.

Les pretty much summed up how the Jackie Earle Haley signing went yesterday afternoon at Atomic Comics and Gaming here in San Antonio. I'd like to say I was surprised by how many people showed up, but truthfully I wasn't. While I don't have an accurate head count, there must have been at least 300 people milling in and out of the place over the course of 2 hours, smack in the middle of a Thursday afternoon workday. The place was packed, and it's not as if Atomic is an especially large place. Yes, Watchmen may well have detractors, but its San Antonio fans came out in full force, and the store was selling all manner of merchandise for their Jackification. One fan even presented Jackie with a painting of Rorschach, pictured at right behind my friend Suzanne (click to enlarge). Although I wasn't there to witness that moment, my other half, Jeanne, told me about it later on, as she was in the midst of the fray for about the first hour. Being a print journalist, believe it or not, still has its perks.

I've actually got a lotta love for fans, since, well, I am one...but I haven't done much in the real world of fandom for a number of years, so it's a strange and fascinating place to wander back into. Gone are the days of fandom being exclusively the domain of the socially inept; these days fans live next door to you...they're your lawyer, doctor...or your wife. I wanted to approach the signing not as a buddy of the honoree, but as a fan. I took in my copy of the graphic novel (which, by the way, was given to me by my online Farscape bud Tyler Trafford) and a Rorschach action figure that was given to my kid by his girlfriend, intent on getting Jackie to sign both. Turns out there was a two item limit...Suzanne had four items - and two were for our mutual friend Lee Sparks, who lives in Austin. Lee is Watchmen crazy, and has been, I suspect, since the individual issues were first published. So that Suzanne didn't have to make a choice, I made it for her: I blew off getting either item I brought signed so that Lee could have both of his items inscribed by the Mighty Pen o' Haley. It's probable that this was all splitting hairs, as I seriously doubt Jackie would've turned me down...but that would've defeated the point...which was to be a fan. As far as Jackie goes, I might not get another chance to simply behave like a fan. Honestly not sure if I care whether or not he ever signs my crap. Nothing to do with Haley...I've just got no love for autographs in general. (Although a Tom Baker scribble might actually mean something...)

Jackie's been pretty open with me (and many others in interviews) that he really embraces fan culture, and at this point considers himself to be a huge fan himself. This is one guy who won't be telling groups of Watchmen devotees to "get a life" anytime soon. (No disrespect to The Shat intended - he is, after all, Denny Crane.) It was a grand afternoon, in that respect, as I can't imagine that five years ago Jackie ever considered the notion that he'd someday be looked at as a badass superhero to so many. Perhaps the vestiges of Kelly Leak have finally disappeared, and when, in casual conversation his name is mentioned, it will be linked with the real identity of one Walter Kovacs, rather than the Bad News Bears...not that there's anything wrong with being a Bear, mind you.

Jackie Earle Haley isn't someone who ever expected to get another chance. He is not someone who’s tried to cultivate a look that appeals to the Hollywood machine. He’s not someone who tried to do much of anything other than be Jackie. His flame shone brightly for a short period of time and he’s now been granted another go at it. This almost never happens for a talent of his ilk. Talent - that’s the key word here. The guy is talented. His early work hinted at it, but his new work – much of which has been informed by life - has cemented it. Many people have trod similar stomping grounds, and few have gotten that second chance. If so, then Jackie should inspire those people. He isn’t a John Travolta – someone who’s reinvented variations of himself several times over. There’s the child actor, the huge gap in between, and then…today. Today doesn’t even remotely resemble Kelly Leak. It’s easy to say “resurgence,” but what about “renewal?”

But enough about Jackie. I love him, and hopefully you, as a viewer of his various works, love him too...

This must close with some hard talk of Watchmen. To say the movie has been received with mixed reviews might be lowballing it. I've read more critical pieces of this movie than I have for any movie in years - just to see what folks are saying. The good reviews, of course, put a big ol' grin on my face...but the negative ones, especially the overwhelmingly negative leave me wondering if these people have seen the same movie I have (four times at the time of writing)...or more importantly - what has happened to the audiences of the '70s, who enjoyed being challenged when they went to the movies? Had Watchmen been released 20 years ago, would people be so quick to call bunk?

The superhero movie genre has become so dominant in the past seven or so years. It's also become mostly predictable. As much as I personally disliked The Dark Knight, I'd be foolish to deny that it didn't buck the trend. Yet I adored Iron Man, despite having no investment in the concept. But Watchmen the movie is in a league of its own. It bears almost no resemblance to either of those benchmarks. It doesn't look or feel like anything that's come before it.

Does it work - like the graphic novel in relation to its predecessors - as a sly response to the fare that's surrounded it? I dunno. If I gave more of a fuck about superhero movies maybe I could say. Aside from the first two Spider-Man flix, the rest (yes, even Iron Man) leave me unwilling to return for future dissection. Regardless - love it or hate it - is there anything else like it in the genre? If people aren't enjoying Watchmen, it's because people don't take the genre seriously...or because they take it too seriously. My first reaction to the film was, "Well, that's probably the best movie they could've made based on that source material." After the second viewing, I was in "Oh-My-Fucking-god" mode. If you've only seen it once, I urge you to see it again. Some movies, for better or worse, just work that way. Watchmen is one of them. My bud Taylor, who's 19, and who I convinced to see it with me on viewing #4 , said to me tonight, "When's that coming out on video? Man, the morning after I saw it I realized how much I liked it."

And if you think Malin Akerman fails to deliver then you are clearly a gay man. And I do love gay men...but it's a huge shame you can't dig on the Laurie Jupiter, because she just makes my heart ache in a way Alan Moore completely failed to.

(It has come to my attention that the previous paragraph may be perceived of as offensive at worst, or nonsensical and without merit at best. It probably would've been better had I included a squid.)

Jackie Earle Haley at Atomic Comics

For those of you in San Antonio...

(click jpeg to enlarge)

Doctor Who: The Key to Time (Special Edition)

Surely there isn’t a slice of Doctor Who with a more bloated reputation than Season 16, also known as “The Key to Time.” Often times remembered as a jewel in the classic series crown, such an opinion can only be the result of someone who hasn’t seen this material in a long time. Don’t get me wrong, “The Key to Time” isn’t bad; it’s just wildly uneven, lacking in focus and objective. The season of six stories is united by the Doctor’s quest for the all-powerful MacGuffin, which is split into six pieces and spread out across the universe. The pieces of the Key are disguised and could take any shape, and so part of the fun is in the unexpected forms they take. And, of course, it’s never just simply a matter of the Doctor showing up and collecting each piece. He manages to find himself embroiled in six very different adventures along the way. Accompanying him on his journeys are the Time Lady Romana (Mary Tamm) and his faithful robotic computer K-9 (voiced by John Leeson).

Read the rest of the review for the rerelease of "The Key to Time" by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Watchmen Set Visit

Will the Doomsday Clock strike twelve when Watchmen finally hits theatres on March 6th?

The amount of hype surrounding Watchmen seems almost unprecedented, particularly for an R-rated movie based on source material by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons which, despite years of critical lauds, can still best be described as cultish. As early as last July, the first full-length trailer appeared (attached to The Dark Knight), followed shortly thereafter by a front cover on Entertainment Weekly, which used the film as the centerpiece for a Comic Con story. Warner Brothers has maintained the momentum month after month ever since. But then, of course, there was the lawsuit brought on by Fox, which was followed by a period of uncertainty. Fans held their breath. Would we even get to see Watchmen on the long-promised release date? The suit was eventually settled out of court for an undisclosed sum, as well as a share of theatrical profits, and everyone could breathe easy again. With March right around the corner, the WB publicity machine again kicked into overdrive, and in the last few weeks, it's been almost impossible to be a movie fan of any kind and not be aware that this film is coming soon to a theatre near you.

Read the rest of this piece, which details my visit to the Watchmen set, by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Being There

These days, it seems almost impossible to bring up Being There without some unimaginative goon coming along and comparing it to Forrest Gump. That’s unfortunate, because if, like me, you’ve got little patience for that particular Zemeckis opus, you may be inclined to skip Being There altogether. This would be a grave mistake. The big difference between the two films is that Gump wants to be an important film, but in doing so, it achieves the opposite. Being There, on the other hand, has no such aspirations and manages to become an important film because it isn’t trying so hard. And if you’ve never seen the film and think you know everything there is to know about Peter Sellers, then Being There will show you the actor as you’ve never seen him before.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

The Last Detective: Complete Collection

In a TV age when we are continually exposed to the grittiness of shows like The Shield and Criminal Minds, a series like The Last Detective is quite an antidote to the seemingly never-ending bleakness of cop procedurals. Based on a series of books by writer Leslie Thomas, the show follows the cases of Detective Constable Dangerous Davies, played by Peter Davison of Doctor Who and All Creatures Great and Small fame. “Dangerous” is an ironic nickname for the guy, as he’s anything but. It almost seems to be a joke on the viewer as well, since over the course of four seasons and 17 installments, we never actually learn his real name. (Is it somehow possible that his first name is Dangerous?) Dangerous is the kind of underdog that you can’t help but root for. He is the butt of many a joke from his colleagues, his superior hates him, and he routinely gets shit on by life. And yet he’s an immensely likable guy – a regular Joe completely unlike most of the cops seen on TV. I dare say that maybe he’s even Britain’s version of Columbo.

Read this entire DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Children of the Stones

The creepy English village is one of those TV and movie archetypes that’s been done to death, yet nevertheless remains an effective storytelling tool. Add into the mix another tried and true gimmick – the prehistoric stone circle – and you’ve got Children of the Stones, an unsettling little thriller made in 1977 for Britain’s ITV. The series, which spans seven 30-minute installments, was aimed at children, but as is often the case with fare from this time period, it will most definitely appeal to adults as well. You might even have vague memories of it if you were lucky enough to have Nickelodeon in the early 80s, as here in the States it was shown on the anthology series The Third Eye.

Astrophysicist Adam Brake (Gareth Thomas of Blake’s 7) and his son Matthew (Peter Demin) travel to the tiny hamlet of Milbury for the sole purpose of researching the stone circle that surrounds the town. They’re welcomed with open arms by the unusually polite townsfolk and quickly settle into a new (albeit temporary) life. Well, it’s supposed to be temporary. The father and son team will eventually discover that leaving Milbury is considerably more difficult than entering.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

The Marshalls (Season Three)

Brand new at Funny or Die is a wicked parody that blends two of my favorite shows into one 8 minute bit of madness. What would happen if Doctor Who materialized in the Land of the Lost - and specifically towards the end of the show's crappy third season? The hard-drinking Uncle Jack Daniels is unquestionably a highlight. From Philly-based filmmakers Beth Kellner and Scott Johnston, click here to view The Marshalls (Season Three).

Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.0

At this point in its timeline, Battlestar Galactica simply works better on DVD. This batch of episodes, which makes up the first half of the show’s final season, was incredibly frustrating to watch upon broadcast. Of course, the commercial breaks are a given annoyance, but the cinematic flow of the series wasn’t helped by the seven-day breaks between installments. Furthermore, the episodes contained in this set are almost entirely character-driven. At the close of the third season, viewers were left with two big developments that would drive the fourth and final season: the revelation of the identity of the twelfth and final Cylon, and whether or not Earth would finally be reached. One of these is seemingly addressed in the final moments of 4.10, “Revelations,” but it’s a torturous road getting there.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Doctor Who: "Four to Doomsday" & "The War Machines"

It’s mere coincidence, and yet seemingly noteworthy, that “Four to Doomsday” should be released on DVD just days after the youngest actor ever to play the Doctor (Matt Smith, who’ll take over from David Tennant in 2010) has been unveiled to the public, since before Smith, Peter Davison held the “youngest actor ever to play the Doctor” spot. While “Doomsday” wasn’t actually Davison’s debut, it was the first story he filmed, and therefore it could offer us some insight into what we might expect from Smith in his first outing. But what’s perhaps an even more interesting parallel is that following David Tennant today is probably not that far removed from following Tom Baker back in the early ‘80s. How do you follow an actor who has so thoroughly embedded himself into the public consciousness that he’s thought of by many as irreplaceable? By pulling a Roger Moore, that’s how; by doing your own thing, and putting your special stamp on it without thinking too hard about the slippery slope you’ve signed on to navigate.

Read the rest of the DVD review of "Four to Doomsday" by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Throughout most of the William Hartnell era of Doctor Who, stories basically fell into one of two categories: tales set far in the future or adventures set way in the past. But then “The War Machines” came along and changed everything by presenting a story set in London of the present day. Given that so much of the series today is reliant on such stories, it’s almost hard to believe there was a time when it wasn’t the norm, and yet for the first three seasons, the here and now wasn’t even a factor in the program.

Read the rest of the DVD review of "The War Machines" by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Nip/Tuck: Season Five, Part One

Nip/Tuck is the kind of show that people often refer to as a guilty pleasure. Normally, that’s a phrase that seems sort of hollow to me. After all, if you enjoy a TV show or movie, why feel guilty about it? But in the case of Nip/Tuck, and coming from someone who’s been with it every sordid step of the way, I can understand where the guilt might start creeping in. It is, after all, tasteless, vulgar, trashy, over-the-top fare that most people probably don’t care to admit they enjoy. I can count the number of people I know that watch it on one hand. And, yet, it’s FX’s biggest ratings grabber, so either I move in some strange circles, or some people are lying about what they’re doing on Tuesday nights.

Read the entire DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Bullz-Eye's 2008 Year End TV Review

I'm a little late in linking to this here at the Morgue, as it's been up at Bullz-Eye for about a week now - but in case you've not yet sifted through our collective wares, the goods remain relevant.

From the intro:

Join us, if you will, as five of Bullz-Eye’s finest take a look back at what they loved and loathed throughout 2008…and if you spot anything that sounds interesting to you but you haven’t yet checked out, we recommend doing so now.

Because if you don’t watch it today, it might not be there tomorrow.

Read the entire round up by clicking here and then clicking on the individual boxes from each writer. Be sure to check out Will Harris' list, as his is the most exhaustive, and certainly the most fun.

Swingtown: The First Season

Back when Swingtown debuted this summer on CBS, there was a mild hoopla surrounding the series. Mike Galanos of Headline News devoted a segment to its supposed rampant amorality on the day of its premiere, boldly proclaiming that network TV had, once again, stepped over the line, that our children should be protected from such filth, and so forth and so on. It goes without saying the Parents Television Council got involved and raised their usual stink as well.

Funny thing is, such criticism quickly waned in the subsequent weeks, as anyone who actually tuned in saw that it was a surprisingly sweet and moral show about being true to yourself and the ones you love – even if that means inflicting the occasional heartbreak. What was most noteworthy about the hypocrisy – which mostly arose from people who hadn’t even watched Swingtown – is that its characters were refreshingly honest with one another. If you openly swing with your partner, it’s considered amoral; if you cheat without their knowledge, well, somehow that’s okay to show on television. Well, actually it’s not, as I’m sure the PTC will tell you, but we see it so often that we’ve become all but desensitized to it. And don’t me started on the amount of senseless violence you can find on the networks any given night of the week. Oh crap, I’ve just turned into the very watchdogs I despise.

My point is this: Swingtown is a remarkably nice TV show, given that most TV isn’t about being nice anymore.

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.

Night Gallery: Season Two

Director Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, the Hellboy films) is a massive Night Gallery fan – so much so that he not only contributes three commentary tracks to this set, but was directly instrumental in finally getting Season Two released on DVD. Indeed, he’s such a Night Gallery enthusiast that when he begins his first of three commentaries for the set, he even bemoans the fact that he only gets to do three. Accordingly, when watching these episodes, it doesn’t take long to see the series’ influence in his work, especially in something like Pan’s Labyrinth, which may as well be a movie-length episode of Night Gallery. But more on that later....

Read the rest of this DVD review by clicking here and visiting Bullz-Eye.