Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TV. Show all posts

Saturday, June 17, 2017

Have a Saturday Morning Cartoons Marathon!


If you're in your 30's, like I am, then you mostly likely grew up watching cartoons every Saturday morning. You know, back way before the Federal Communications Commission mandate, which required networks to air at least 3 hours of educational program per week - aka, killing Saturday Morning Cartoons forever.

Yes, you can still find plenty of new cartoons on cable channels; some even have 24 hours of animated programs, but it just doesn't feel the same as it did in the late 1980s and the early 1990s. Thankfully, many of our cartoon favorites are now available on DVD, so we can watch them anytime we like. We can even have a Saturday Morning Cartoons Marathon, if like.
14 hours 20 minutes: $19.98; Mill Creek Ent.

Now available from Mill Creek Entertainment are 'the complete series' sets of Where On Earth is Carmen Sandiego? and Archie's Weird Mysteries.

Where On Earth is Carmen Sandiego? is based on a series of computer games. It aired on the now defunct Fox Kids block from 1994 to 1999, lasting for only 40 episodes. The series won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Animated Program in 1995.

The series centers on the ACME agents Ivy and Zack, whom happens to be brother and sister. In each episode, the duo tries to track down Carmen Sandiego, the leader the organization V.I.L.E, who is always stealing a historical artifact. With the help of the Player (a live-action kid who is playing  a computer game), Ivy and Zack follows the clues left behind by Carmen to solve the mystery and retrieve the missing artifact.

The DVD set has 4 discs (10 episodes per disc). There are no special features or extras, though there is a bonus episode from the short-lived series Liberty's Kids.




14 hours 52 minutes; $19.98; Mill Creek Ent.
Way before Archie and his pals were rebooted in the hit CW series Riverdale, there was a short-lived 1999 series, titled Archie's Weird Mysteries, that aired on PAX (now known as Ion Television).

Lasting for only 40 episodes, the series centered on Archie (now a school reporter) and his friends, as they investigate strange occurrences around Riverdale. The episodes were basically spoofs of low-budget B-movies from the 1950s, involving encounters with Frankenstein's monster, werewolves, mad scientists, UFOs, zombies, and vampires.

The DVD set has 4 discs (10 episodes per discs). There are no special features or extras, though there are bonus episodes fro Sabrina: The Animated Series, Sabrina's Secret Life, and Mona the Vampire. It comes with an instant digital access code that be redeemed at www.millcreekent.com/redeem.


Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Review & Giveaway - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks



Now available on for Digital Download from HBO Home Entertainment is The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks. Written & directed by George C. Wolfe, the film stars Oprah Winfrey, Rose Byrne, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Courtney B. Vance, Reg E. Cathey, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, and Leslie Uggams.

Based on the book of the same name by Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks follows writer Rebecca Skloot (played by Rose Byrne), who seeks out to learn the history of Henrietta Lacks, an African American whose cancer cells were the source of the HeLa, the first immortalized cell line. Rebecca seeks out Henrietta's children in the hope of letting her write about their mother.

Upon meeting Henrietta's emotionally-drained daughter, Deborah Lacks (played by Oprah Winfrey), Rebecca learns the Lack family never authorized the harvesting of Henrietta's cancer cells back in 1951. Over the years, scientists have used the cancerous cells in medical research and for commercial purposes.

Together, Deborah and Rebecca chronicles Henrietta's life, leading them to understand the meaning beyond her death.

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Popcorn & Coffee: Banshee: Season 4 Digital HD


Now available to purchase on Digital HD from HBODigitalHD.com is Banshee: Season 4, the final season of the hit Cinemax action/crime series.

The series centers on an ex-con (played by Antony Starr), who had spent the last fifteen-years in prison for apparently stealing $15 million in diamonds. Now as a free man, he sets out to locate his ex-lover Anastasia Rabitov (played by Ivana Miličević) as she was the one in possession of diamonds before he went to prison. Anastasia is now living in Banshee, Pennsylvania (Amish country) under the name Carrie Hopewell, where she married and raised two children during the last fifteen-years.

With a ruthless crime boss, Rabbit' Rabitov (played by Ben Cross), hot on his trail, he takes the identity of the Banshee's newly-appointed sheriff, Lucas Hood, who was killed in a bar fight. Though the town is part of the Amish country, there is plenty of murders & crimes to keep Lucas busy.

The official "Season 4" description:

This MAX action drama charts the final twists and turns that follow Lucas Hood, an ex-convict who assumed the identity of sheriff in the Amish-area town Banshee, where his former lover and partner-in-crime was living under her own alias, Carrie Hopewell. The final season takes place two years after Lucas gave up his badge after a bloody, multimillion-dollar heist at the Camp Genoa Marine Base which proved costly: Carrie's husband Gordon was killed, and Lucas's longtime computer-hacker partner, Job, was abducted by a shady criminal ring. After settling a score with a "recruiter" from Lucas's past whom he hoped would have intel on Job, Lucas went on a bender before being rescued by an unlikely savior, Proctor's niece.

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Popcorn & Coffee: Airwolf: The Complete Series


Not Rated; 3811 minutes; $44.98; Amazon; Mill Creek Ent.
Now available this month for the first-time in the United States from Mill Creek Entertainment. is Airwolf: The Complete Series, featuring all 79 episodes from the 1984-1987 series. There are no special features or extras or on the 14-disc set. The complete series is also available on Blu-ray. The first season was also released on a two-disc DVD set.

Created by Donald P. Bellisario, the original 97-minute pilot centers on Airwolf, a high-tech helicopter developed by The Firm, a division of the CIA), being stolen its designer,  Dr. Charles Henry Moffet. The Firm's point man, Archangel (played by Alex Cord), makes a deal with Stringfellow Hawke (played by Jan-Michael Vincent) - String will steal back Airwolf in exchange the government's help in locating his brother whom went MIA during Vietnam War. 

Along with his friend Dominic Santini (played by the late Ernest Borgnine), String travels to Libya to retrieve Airwolf. After the mission is a success, String refuses to return Airwolf to The Firm, hiding it in a cave in the "Valley of the Gods," until The Firm locates his brother.

After the pilot, Seasons 1-3 focused String and Dominic using Airwolf to go on missions that were funded by The Firm. To boost ratings, season two added Jean Bruce Scott as pilot Caitlin O'Shannessy. Sadly, this move didn't help much as the series was canceled by CBS after three seasons, but that wasn't the end of the series as a fourth season was ordered by USA Network.

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Popcorn & Coffee: Airwolf: Season One


Not Rated; 589 minutes; $9.98; Amazon, Mill Creek Ent.
Prepare for a nostalgic blast this month as Mill Creek Entertainment with be releasing several 80s television titles to DVD, including the recently released Airwolf: Season One, featuring all 11 episodes, including the original pilot movie. There are no special features or bonus extras on the two-disc set.

Created by Donald P. Bellisario (NCIS), Airwolf premiered on CBS in 1984 as a mid-season replacement, kicking off with a 97-minute movie that would later be re-edited and released as a a feature film overseas.

The pilot movie centered on a top-secret high-tech battle helicopter being stolen from the government agency known as the "Firm." The Firm sends in Archangel (played by Alex Cord) to recruit Army veteran Stringfellow Hawke (played by Jan-Michael Vincent) to lead a mission to recover Airwolf. Hawke agrees if only his friend Dominic (played by Erenest Borgnine) helps him. Plus, Hawke wants the government's help in finding his brother who is MIA.

After successfully recovering Airwolf, Hawke refuses to return it to the government, hiding the helicopter where nobody would ever find it. The rest of the series follows a week-to-week formula with "The Firm" assigning missions to Hawke and Dominic.