10/22/07 Review: The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume One

This Emmy award winning series kicks so much ass it’s not even funny. The box set for Volume One has been HIGHLY anticipated and I think everyone is glad that it is finally out. In case you don't remember, this series from George Lucas ran on TV from 1992 to 1994, and had young Indy explore many fascinating people and events in history. Now that series is out on DVD, it can be shared with new impressionable minds, in addition to the people that grew up with the series (like yours truly).

Just where does young Indy take you throughout this first collection of the series? You’ll travel to places as fascinating and loaded with history as Egypt’s Valley of the Kings, Kenya, Russia, Vienna and Ireland. The storylines completely enthrall you, and you’ll just want to keep on watching.

Not only do the 12 discs in the box set contain seven feature-length episodes, but you also get 38 in–depth documentaries!

The documentaries go perfectly with the seven feature-length episodes because they include commentary from historians and scholars. These documentaries contain interviews with such diverse people as General Colin Powell and Deepak Chopra. You also get an interactive timeline, a video game and a historical overview.

All in all? Buy The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Volume One. You’ll be quite satisfied you did.

10/31/07: Buried Alive DVD Review

Directed by Robert Kurtzman, Buried Alive follows a group of college students as they take a road trip to a desert cabin. A very remote cabin.

As the evening develops, the friends engage in some salacious behavior and "extreme partying". But the fun and games stop when they notice that they are not alone. A corpse that has been buried alive on the property begins to terrorize the friends with plenty of gore.

Tobin Bell from SAW is in Buried Alive, and he seems to be the only good thing about this film. That...and the gratuitous nudity.

There are a couple lame moments that may make you jump, but all in all... I wasn't intrigued and I was not scared. If you are a horror film conniseur, then leave Buried Alive buried.

11/1/07: Elvira

I Spent Halloween With Elvira!
There’s all this Elviramania going on now--- she was just on our show Spread Entertainment, has a new reality show “The Search For The Next Elvira” and now, here I am reviewing her new DVD, right after Halloween! 

For a good portion of last night, I handed out candy to the kiddies and had a spookfest watching the “Elvira’s Movie Macabre” double feature of b-films “Maneater of Hydra” and “The House That Screamed.” You can find these on any bad “15 movies for $5” compilation at any Best Buy around the country, but what you don’t get unless you have this DVD is Elvira’s commentary!

For those of you who don’t know, Elvira used to host a TV show called “Elvira’s Movie Macabre” on late nights in the 80's where she would play b-rated horror and sci-fi films with her own comedic commentary before each commercial break. I never saw the show when it originally aired, but always heard about it, so it makes me happy that its available on DVD to experience! It exceeded my expectations. The movies are really bad, and Elvira’s humor compliments how bad the films are.

Elvira is the alter-ego of Cassandra Peterson and she’s a true comedian. Did you know that she was a part of the popular Groundlings comedy troupe alongside Pee Wee Herman and Phil Hartman? She created her Elvira character shortly after Paul Reubens created Pee Wee. :) 

The “Elvira’s Movie Macabre” DVD collection has a great selection of cheesy b-films, and if you’re not in the mood for hearing Elvira’s commentary during the films, you can choose to watch them without her commentary.

11/12/07: What will Rob say?!

Today on the show Rob will be reviewing the film "P2", which is out in theatres now. And he is calling it the worst film out there.

Want to know why? Make sure to watch the show at 3 pm ET.

Stone the flamin' crows.

11/13/07: Darfur Now

I had a chance to see the documentary 'Darfur Now' recently. I highly encourage
everyone to go see it...I will post a review later but wanted to see what you all thought of the film. The documentary essentially serves as a call to action--so
what do you think? Did it succeed?

A cool Web site you can check out is www.darfuractnow.com. You can find out how to use your voice to help...and it's so very easy. So please, take a look. Lend your voice and help to stop the atrocities in Darfur.

Atonement on DVD

I started watching this film presupposing I already knew the plot of the film. Rich girl falls in love with poor guy, guy goes to war, girl is sad.  This film is so much more than that.

This is a love story seen from a third party point of view.  Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) falls in love with farm boy Robbie Turner (James McAvoy) but it is Cecilia's sister, Briony Tallis, which determines the fate of this young couple.  Briony claims she saw Robbie abducting her friend and he is sent to prison where he strikes up a deal to fight in the war in exchange for his freedom. 

I really enjoyed the plot of the film and the approach it took on a story that has been told for centuries.
Director Joe Wright did a phenomenal job with the cinematography and even the score of the film is unique using a type writer as an instrument.

Atonement is a film to own. It’s a classic love story that people will watch for years to come. 

Cloverfield on DVD

J.J. Abrams' Cloverfield is officially my new favorite monster movie.  The idea of taking an epic story and revealing it through the eyes of a guy and his handy cam is revolutionary.  One of my favorite scenes in the film occurs when character Hud Platt falls to the ground and pans his camera up to reveal the monster.
The behind the scenes footage is great because it shows how much time it takes to make camera shots look amateur. It also goes into how they managed to keep this film a secret until its release date.
Cloverfield is a movie that will change how epic movies are made. This is a must own.