The Monkees’ first and last TV special is a time capsule of the 60s.
Review by KC Carlson First of all, despite what it says on the back of the box, the disc does NOT take 18 C batteries (not included). There’s obviously no slot in the DVD to put them! (Oh, and they’re really grumpy about exchanging 18 opened C batteries down at the Buy More. Word to the [...]
To lighten the mood, I watched an old favorite, A Fish Called Wanda. The Collector’s Edition just came out, finally, and the movie is still as enjoyable as I remember. A Fish Called WandaBuy this DVD What was that quote about Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers? “He gave her class, and she gave him sex”? That [...]
Quick takes on the old movies I watched one month, featuring Bogie, Bacall, Harlow, and Shearer.
I really shouldn’t pay attention to movie reviewers (which also calls my whole purpose into question, but never mind that now). They panned this film. KC and I just went to see this Beatles musical, and I loved it! Maybe more than he did, which is kind of odd, since he’s one of the world’s [...]
I have a new cheap DVD to enthusiastically recommend: the Airplane! “Don’t Call Me Shirley!” Edition. This modern classic started a whole new genre of film comedy: the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink free-association goofball approach to humor. Even knowing all the jokes, rewatching the movie, a good proportion of them are still funny. Airplane!Buy this DVD It’s surprising just [...]
Right now, Amazon has the Ally McBeal Complete Series box set available at 50% off, which puts it just under $100. Ally McBeal: The Complete SeriesBuy this DVD set I gave up on the show a few seasons in, so I’ve never seen the later episodes with either Robert Downey, Jr. or James Marsden. I’m looking [...]
I haven’t been out to the movies in months, so today, we decided to see two. What can I say, lately whatever I’ve been doing I’ve been OVERdoing. American Dreamz — Not as great as I’d hoped, unfortunately, but still funny. I liked that the characters were obviously identifiable but more three-dimensional than mere impersonations, [...]
I wasn’t the only person who had the idea to interview artist Steve Lieber about the release of the Whiteout movie. Only Mike Russell did it as a comic. It’s part of his “CulturePulp” series, covering Portland, Oregon-area events in comic form. This interview is cleverly done, with allusions to the story only readers will [...]
Quick takes on the old movies I watched one month, featuring some classic musicals.
Laura — A classic film noir, beautifully done, with some nice DVD extras. I’ve always liked Waldo Lydecker’s acerbic bon mots and I envy his bathroom. (He writes newspaper columns in his bathtub, using a swing-arm typewriter holder, and the whole space looks bigger than my living room.) Also on the disc (not currently in [...]
After being reminded of this show by my readers, I was able to find a set of Automan episodes online. There were only 13 of them, aired in 1983-1984. Automan puts a slight science fiction overlay onto the traditional hour-long cop show. Desi Arnaz, Jr. plays Walter Nebicher (a name that exists only so people [...]
Two films with the same plot, where a free-spirited singer shakes up a group of professors.
KC wants to go see The Dark Knight soon, before we hear too much about it. I’m not really interested — I can’t see clips without thinking how tragic it was to lose Heath Ledger — but everyone expects me to see it, and I want to keep him company. (We’ll see Mamma Mia! first, [...]
The Batman Anthology, a collection of the four previous Batman movies, now out of print on DVD, has been announced for March 10. They’re pushing the announcement that this will be the first time the movies are available on Blu-Ray, but the regular editions will be coming back into print as well. Batman AnthologyBuy this [...]
Over the weekend, I decided to rewatch all the Beach Party movies, the American International teen film series that started in 1963 starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. Here’s the list, with IMDB links. Beach Party/Bikini BeachBuy this DVD Beach Party Muscle Beach Party Bikini Beach Pajama Party Ski Party Beach Blanket Bingo How to Stuff a Wild Bikini If you’ve never seen [...]
Now that I’ve made it to the conclusion of my beloved Remington Steele series (even though at the end, I was counting chapters until it was put out of its misery), I wondered what I should watch next. My darling husband solved that problem by giving me another 80s TV series DVD set: Beauty and [...]
While I was on vacation at the beach, I watched the thematically appropriate One Crazy Summer, starring John Cusack and written and directed by Savage Steve Holland. Better Off DeadBuy this DVD So now that we’re back, we watched their earlier collaboration Better Off Dead (just re-released in the “I Love the 80s” line with goofy [...]
I’m surprised to see Birds of Prey out on DVD, since I discovered recently that few people remembered it. It ran only 13 episodes in 2002 on the WB, which may have been part of the problem — there wasn’t a WB affiliate in our city at that point, for instance. And it didn’t have [...]
If you ever thought Buffy the Vampire Slayer would be even cooler if Buffy was a Japanese schoolgirl doing stylized wirework martial arts, have I got the film for you. Blood: The Last Vampire is about a schoolgirl who’s more than human, a samurai, and out to kill “the deadliest vampire of all” with the [...]
