Showing posts with label television. Show all posts
Showing posts with label television. Show all posts

Monday, September 23, 2019

Blu-ray Review: Damages: The Complete Series


*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon
I spent the last few weeks binge watching Damages: The Complete Series ($99.98; 46 hours 17 minutes) which was released to Blu-ray by Mill Creek Entertainment earlier this year. I believe it's also available on DVD.

Created by Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler, and Daniel Zelman, the series starred Glenn Close and Rose Byrne. The series aired from 2007 to 2012 and won four Emmy awards. The first three seasons aired on FX and the last two seasons were on Direct TV's Audience Network.

The series centers around a fresh out of law school Ellen Parsons (played by Rose Byrne) who gets a job at the law firm "Hewes & Associates" which is owned by Patty Hewes (played by Glenn Close). During the first season, she's assigned to work on the Arthur Frobisher case. The only reason she was hired in the first place is because of her soon-to-be sister-in-law, who's connected to Frobisher (played by Ted Danson).

Each season centers around a different case with a slew of cast members and guest stars, including William Hurt, Marcia Gay Harden, Timothy Olyphant, Martin Short, Lily Tomlin, John Goodman, Ryan Phillippe, Dylan Baker, Janet McTeer, Jenna Elfman, and John Hannah.


Final Thoughts

Friday, August 30, 2019

DVD Review: The Spanish Princess (Season One)


*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.

WALMART
Now available to own on DVD from STARZ and Lionsgate Home Entertainment is The Spanish Princess, featuring all 8 episodes from the limited series. It's also available to own Blu-ray and Digital. There are no special features or bonus extras on the 3-disc DVD set.

The Spanish Princess is a sequel to 2013's The White Queen and 2017's The White Princess, all of which are based on the historical novels by bestselling author Philippa Gregory. No, there isn't an actual novel titled The Spanish Princess. The limited series is adapted from two titles -  The Constant Princess and The King's Curse.

The series spans the year 1501 to 1509 and centers around Catherine of Aargon (played by Charlotte Hope), the young Princess of Spain who has been promised the English throne ever since she was a little girl. She is sent to London to marry the young Prince Arthur (played by Angus Imrie). Just as her dream of becoming queen is about to come true, the unexpected happens - Prince Arthur dies!

Almost everyone at the court wants Catherine to return to Spain as soon as possible, especially King Henry VII's mother, Lady Margaret Beaufort (played by Harriet Walter) who has a twisted hatred for her. Despite being unwanted, she is determined to become queen and sets her eyes on marring her brother-in-law, Prince Harry (played by Ruairi O'Connor).

The Spanish Princess is returning for an 8-episode second (and final) season on STARZ in 2020.



Final Thoughts

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Midnight Horror Review: Forever Knight: The Complete Series


*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon
Does anyone actually remember there being a "Crimetime After Primetime" lineup airing on CBS during the 1992-1993 season late-at-night after the local news?

I was an eleven-year-old in 1992 and I have no memory of any television shows airing that late. Then again, I had a curfew in 1992 and wasn't allowed to stay up late on school nights." Weekends were a completely other story as I would stay up past midnight to watched the edited versions of Tales of the Crypt on Fox.

Anyway, the first season of the cult Canadian vampire series Forever Knight aired on CBS during their "Crimetime After Primetime." After the entire lineup was cancelled to make way for Late Show with David Letterman, the second season moved to syndication and the third & final season aired on the USA Network.

Mill Creek Entertainment recently released Forever Night: The Complete Series DVD set (TV-14; 52 hrs 43 mins; $64.98) featuring all 70 episodes! There are no special features or bonus extras. 

Forever Knight is a reworking of the television movie Nick Knight starring Rick Springfield that aired on CBS in 1989. For the series, Geraint Wyn Davies took over the role of Nick Knight, a vampire who works at as a nighttime detective for the Toronto police. He was born in A.D. 1200. As adult, he was forced to fight in the Crusades to avoid facing a murder trial which he was being accused of killing his love, Gwyneth. He returned to Europe after the Crusades where became a drunk. Eventually, he meets the vampire Janette DuCharme (played by Deborah Duchêne) and along with her master, Lucien LaCroix (played by Nigel Bennett), they seduce him into becoming an immortal. After many many years of killing innocent humans, Nick turns his back on being a vampire and goes on a quest to redeem himself.

As a cop, Nick Knight uses his supernatural abilities to protect the innocent and to capture the bad guys. The only human who knows of his "curse" is medical coroner Natalie Lambert (played by Catherine Disher). And of course his maker LaCroix knows all about Nick's past and will do anything to make sure he stays a vampire forever.


Final Thoughts

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Blu-ray Review: The Big C: The Complete Series


*This is a sponsored review. All opinions are 100% mine.

Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon
I'm mostly clueless when it comes to SHOWTIME as I don't have a subscription to the cable service. Besides from Shameless, Masters of Sex, and Penny Dreadful, I have no idea what programs on air on it. So, it shouldn't be a surprise that I'd never heard of the series The Big C until it was released on Blu-ray ($54.98; 20 hrs 36 mins) way back in April by Mill Creek Entertainment, featuring all 40 episodes.

Created by Darlene Hunt, The Big C stars Laura Linney as Cathy Jamison, a 42-year-old high school teacher who learns she has terminal (stage IV) melanoma. She's doesn't want to burden her childlike husband, Paul (played by Oliver Pratt), their teenage son, Adam (played by Gabriel Basso), or he unemployed and homeless brother, Sean (played by John Benjamin Hickey).

With little time to live, Cathy or more or less has a midlife crises and temporarily kicks Paul out their home because she's tired of taking care of him. She befriends her elderly widowed neighbor, Marlene (played by Phyllis Somerville), as well as her oncologist, Dr. Todd Mauer (played by Reid Scott) and an overweight student, Andrea (played by Gabourey Sidibe). Besides her doctor, Marlene is the only person who knows about her illness for most of the first season.

Despite knowing she's going to die soon, Cathy decides to live each day to fullest!


 Final Thoughts

Thursday, May 9, 2019

DVD Review: The Adventures of Robin Hood: The Complete Series


Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon
Hopefully, I'm not the only one who's tired of the countless remakes and reboots of Robin Hood! Hollywood has milked the folk hero story to death!! And many of the recent takes on the character have been horrible.

Well, it's a good thing us fans can go back and watch the better versions (movies and television series) on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital. Mill Creek Entertainment will be releasing The Adventures of Robin Hood: The Complete Series DVD Set ($34.98; 59hrs 33mins) on May 14th; which features all 143 episodes from the classic British series on 11 discs. There are no special features or bonus extras; though it does come with a Digital code that can be redeemed and streamed on Mill Creek Entertainment's website.

The Adventure of Robin Hood aired on ITV in the UK and on CBS here in the United States from 1955 to 1959. The series started Richard Greene as Robin of Locksley, a Saxon nobleman who returns home to Nottingham from the Crusades and quickly becomes an outlaw. He teams with the other Sherwood Forest outlaws and eventually becomes their leader (a.k.a. Robin Hood) by the end of the second episode. Along with Little John (played by Archie Duncan), Friar Tuck (played by Alexander Gauge), and their merry men, Robin Hood robs from the rich and gives back to the poor, as well as outrunning the Sheriff Nottingham (played by Alan Wheatley).

Other cast members included Bernadette O'Farrell as Maid Marian in Seasons 1 & 2, Patricia Driscoll as Maid Marian in Seasons 3 & 4, and Ian Hunter as Sir Richard of the Lea.

FYI: Richard Greene reprised his role as Robin Hood for the 1960 Hammer Film Productions' feature film  Sword of Sherwood Forest. It was basically a retelling of how Robin Hood met Maid Marian. None of the other cast members from the series returned.


Final Thoughts

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Blu-ray Review: The Shield: The Complete Series



Mill Creek Entertainment; AMAZON

Now available on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment is The Shield: The Complete Series (TV-MA; $229.98; 70 hours 23 minutes). All 88 episodes have been remastered in 4K. The 18-disc set features all the special features that were included on the previously released DVD sets, as well as brand-new special features exclusively for this release.

Created by Shawn Ryan, The Shield aired on FX from 2002 to 2008. The series centered around Detective Vic Mackey (played by Michael Chiklis), a corrupt police officer who is the leader of a Strike Team in the fictional Farmington district (a.k.a. - "the Farm") of Los Angeles. His team includes Detective Shane Vendrell (played by Walton Goggins), Detective Curtis "Lem" Lemansky (played by Kenny Johnson), and Detective Ronnie Gardocki (played by David Rees Snell). There was a fifth member of the team, Detective Terry Crowley (played by Reed Diamond), but he was killed off at the very end of the pilot episode.

Mackey tries to have a normal life, but his marriage to Corrine (played by Cathy Cahlin Ryan) is very rocky at best. After learning that both their two younger children have autism, Mackey is more than determined to give them the best care for them, which leads to him breaking the law on multiple occasions.

At work, Mackey is constantly in trouble with his superiors, Captain David Segovia, Captain Monica Rawling, and Captain Claudette Wyms (played by Benito Martinez, Glenn Close, and CCH Pounder), as well as Detective Dutch Wagenbach (played by Jay Karnes), who all would like to expose Mackey for who he truly is - a corrupt cop!

Other cast members include Catherine Dent, Michael Jace, Paula Garcés, and David Marciano.

 
Brand-New Special Features are:
  • The Shield Reunion” – cast & crew reunion special to reminisce and reflect on being a part of this landmark series.
  • The Shield: A Retrospective” – a look back at the lasting impact the series has had on TV and how its themes are still relevant today.
  • Restoring The Shield” – a behind-the-scenes look at the technological processes involved in the High Definition upgrade.
  • The Critical Response to The Shield” – how critics initially received the series and if/how their opinions changed throughout the duration of the series’ run.
  • "The Shield Writers Room" Reunion from the ATX Festival Panel.

Older Special Features are:
  • Cast & Crew Commentaries
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Season 1 Epilogue
  • Wrap Day: Season 3 Teaser
  • "Breaking Episode #315" Making-of Documentary
  • "Under the Skin" Featurette
  • "Delivering the Baby" Featurette
  • Wins and Losses - Season 6 Prequel
  • Season 6 Featurettes
    • Saturn's Sons
    • Two Directors
    • Full Circles: Franka Potente
  • Nobody Expects to Lose, Nobody Expects to Die: The Shield's Final Season
  • Last Call: The Final Episode



Final Thoughts

Sunday, December 9, 2018

Blu-ray Review: The Awesomes: The Complete Series


Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

If you're getting tired of the kid friendly superhero movies and television series, then look no further as The Awesomes: The Complete Series ($29.98; TV-14; 11 hours 8 minutes) is on available on to own Blu-ray, courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment. A digital code is included which an only be redeemed at: www.millcreekent.com/redeem

Created by Seth Meyers and Mike Shoemaker, The Awesomes was animated superhero show for adults that aired on Hulu for three seasons (30 episodes). It featured the voice talents of current and past Saturday Night Live stars, including Ike Barinholtz, Bobby Lee, Taran Killam, Paula Pell, Emily Spivey, Kenan Thompson, Bill Hader, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, Kate McKinnon, and Andy Samberg.

The Aweseomes is set in a world where Mr. Awesome had lead a group of superheroes to protect the planet against all evils. However, things changed quickly when Mr. Awesome announces his retirement and leaves his son Prock in charge. The public, media, and the government have absolutely no faith in Prock. To make things worse, the other superheroes have all left the Awesomes.

With his best friend Muscleman and their only paid employee, Concierge, at his side, Prock recruits a new team of superheros - Frantic, Gadget Gal, Impresario, Sumo, and Hotwire. Despite the team's amateurish style, these not-so superheroes are determined to save the world against Dr. Giuseppe Malocchio and other supervillains.



Final Thoughts

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Holiday Gift Guide: Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection





Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

During my childhood I would watch one or two older movies on AMC (before they had commercials) every weekend, which a few of my favorites were the Blondie & Dagwood films, Tarzan serials, and the Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis comedies. Besides from the Blondie films, the others are hardly ever aired on cable anymore, but luckily for me most of them are available to own on DVD.

Early this year, Mill Creek Entertainment released the Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection (Not Rated; 29 hours 18 minutes; $29.98), which contains three separate releases -  Comedy Triple Feature with Jerry Lewis, Comedy Double Feature with Dean Martin, and Televisions Greatest Comedy Tea with Marty & Lewis.

Comedy Triple Feature with Jerry Lewis features the following films:


  • Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (1967; G) - Jerry Lewis stars as George Lester, an American con artist who married a rich British woman. After turning his wife's home into casino, she threatens to leave him, so he comes up with a scheme to win her back.
  • Hook, Line & Sinker (1969; G) Jerry Lewis stars as Peter Ingersoll, a former insurance salesman who believes he doesn't have much time to live. He maxes out his credit cards and takes a fishing trip.
  • Three on a Couch (1966; Not Rated) Jerry Lewis stars as Christopher Pride, a businessman who is soon to be moving to Paris for a year. He wants his fiance Dr. Elizabeth Acord (played by Janet Leigh) to go with him, but she is dedicated to three of her patients, who are all single women with relationship troubles. He takes it upon himself to get each of her patients to fall in love with him, so they will no longer need Elizabeth as their shrink.

Comedy Double Feature with Dean Martin features the following movies:


  • Who Was That Lady? (1959; Not Rated) - The film involves Dean Martin helping his best friend David (played by Tony Curtis) come up with an outrageous excuse to explain to his wife (played by Janet Leigh) why he was kissing a younger woman in his office.
  • How To Save A Marriage And Ruin Your Life (1967; Not Rated) - Dean Martin plays David Sloane, who is best friends with Harry Hunter (played by Eli Wallach). Harry has been having affair for quite some time, but wants to put end to the relationship to help save his marriage. This is where David decides to do him a favor by giving Harry's mistress a better offer. However, due to a misunderstanding David ends up wooing the wrong the woman.

Television Greatest Comedy Team Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis contains over 20 hours of their performances from the Colgate Comedy Hour, a variety show that aired from 1950 to 1955. Guest stars include Frank Sinatra, Jack Benny, Dorothy Dandridge, Burt Lancaster, and Rosemary Clooney.

Final Thoughts

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

DVD Review: The Resident: The Complete Season One


Fox; 615 mins; Not Rated; Amazon
The last thing network television needs is another medical drama, as there are already way too many of them, but here I am writing a review for The Resident: The Complete Season One DVD, which was recently released by Fox Home Entertainment. There are no special features or extras on the three-disc set.

Created by Amy Holden Jones, Hayley Schore, and Roshan Sethi, the series stars Matt Czuchry, Emily VanCamp, Manish Dayal, Shaunette Renée Wilson, Bruce Greenwood, Moran Atias, Merrin Dungey, and Melina Kanakaredes.

The series centers around the medical staff at Chastain Park Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Manish Dayal plays Devon Pravesh, a first-year medical intern who is assigned to a third-year resident internist, Conrad Hawkin (played by Matt Czuchry).

Hawkins is a hot-head doctor, who wants Pravesh to do exactly as he says to do. He's a little bit of a risk-taker, but he also cares very deeply for each one of his patients. When he's not attending to his patients, he's trying to get his ex, nurse practitioner Nicolette "Nic" Nevin (played by Emily VanCamp), to take him back. He also likes to bunt head with the chief of surgery, Randolph Bell (played by Bruce Greenwood), an aging doctor who will do anything to keep his position at the hospital.

Episodes on the DVD set include:
  • Disc 1
    • Pilot
    • Independence Day
    • Comrades in Arms
    • Identity Crisis
  • Disc 2
    • None the Wiser
    • No Matter the Cost
    • The Elopement
    • Family Affair
    • Love Lost
  • Disc 3
    • Haunted
    • And the Nurses Get Screwed...
    • Rude, Awakenings and the Raptor
    • Run, Doctor, Run
    • Total Eclipse of the Heart




Saturday, October 13, 2018

Blu-ray Review: Ash vs Evil Dead: The Complete Collection



Lionsgate; Not Rated; 14 hrs 20 mins; Amazon
Arriving on Blu-ray & DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment on October 16th is Ash vs Evil Dead: The Complete Collection, featuring all 30 episodes on a six-disc set.

Based on the characters created by Sam Raimi, the series is a sequel to the original Evil Dead trilogy with Bruce Campbell returning as Ash Williams, who once battled the evil forces of the Necronomicon.

For the last 30 years, Ash hasn't done too much with his life. He still works as a stock boy, smokes pot, flirts with almost any woman in his sight, and he still drives the old Delta. Late one night, he smokes Marijuana with a hooker and accidentally reads from the Necronomicon, which unleashes the evil Deadites upon Michigan.

This time Ash doesn't have to fight the Deadites alone, as he teams up with his young co-workers Pablo and Kelly (played by Ray Santiago and Dana DeLorenzo) to become an unlikely demon hunting trio. They must stop an immortal being named Ruby (played by Lucy Lawless), who happens to be the creator of the Necronomicon, from unleashing more Deadites.

Season Two brings Ash, Pablo, and Kelly out of demon hunting retirement after the Deadites attack them. This leads them to travel to Ash's hometown of Elk Grove, where they meet his grumpy father (played by Lee Majors). It seems the entire town still blames Ash for the brutal murders of his sister, girlfriend, and two friends that occurred over thirty years ago. He told everyone the Deadites had killed them, but nobody believed him. Well, they're going to have no choice but to believe him when Ruby's Deadites wreck havoc all over town, which eventually leads Ash to time travel to 1982 before he originally encountered the Necronomicon.

Ash met his teenager daughter Brandy (played by Arielle Carver-O'Neill) during the third and final season. And he also meets his identical evil spawn that was created by Ruby, who is once again trying to kill Ash and pals.

Blu-ray Special Features include:
  • Season One
    • Inside the World of "Ash vs Evil Dead"
    • How to Kill a Deadite
    • Best of Ash
    • Audio Commentaries
  • Season Two
    • Season 2 First Look
    • Inside the World of "Ash vs Evil Dead"
    • Up Your Ash
    • Women Who Kick Ash
    • Puppets Are Cute
    • Dawn Of The Spawn
    • Bringing Henrietta Back
    • The Delta
    • How To Kill A Deadite
    • Fatality Mash-up
    • Audio Commentaries
  • Season Three
    • Season Overview
    • Inside the World of "Ash vs Evil Dead"
    • Audio Commentaries




Monday, October 1, 2018

DVD Review: The Gifted: The Complete First Season


Fox; 569 mins; Amazon

Available now on DVD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment is The Gifted: The Complete First Season, featuring all 13 episodes from the 2017-2018 series.

Created by Max Nix, The Gifted is set in the X-Men film universe, but in an an alternate timeline where the all of the X-Men have vanished. All that is left is an underground network of mutants, who are being chased down by the Sentinel Services agency.

The series stars, Stephen Moyer (True Blood), Amy Acker (Suits), Natalie Alyn Lind (The Goldbergs) and Percy Hynes White (Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb) as the Strucker family. Also featured in the series are Sean Teale (Voltron) as Eclipse/Marcos Diaz; Jamie Chung (Gotham) as Blink/Clarice Fong; Emma Dumont (Pretty Little Liars) as Polaris/ Lorna Dane; Blair Redford (CSI) as Thunderbird/John Proudstar; and Coby Bell (The Game) as Sentinel Services Agent Jace Turner.

The Gifted centers around Reed and Caitlin Strucker, a husband and wife who are trying to protect their mutant children, Lauren and Andy, from being taken by the Sentinel Services, which is lead by Jace Turner. The Strucker family takes refuge with an underground network of mutants, which consists of Sonya Simonson (Dreamer), John Proudstar (Thunderbird), Marcos Diaz (Eclipse), Lorna Dane (Polaris), and Clarice Fong (Blink).

While the mutants aren't outrunning the Sentinels and their robots, they must find a way to stop Roderick Campbell (played by Garret Dillahunt), a military researcher who is obsessed with capturing the Strucker children. To make matters even worse, the Hellfire Club is slowly rebuilding their mutant army against humanity.




Final Thoughts

Monday, September 24, 2018

Masters of Sex: The Complete Series Blu-ray Review


Mill Creek Ent., TV-MA; 43 hrs. 44 mins; $69.98



Now available on Blu-ray from Mill Creek Entertainment is Masters of Sex: The Complete Series, featuring all 46 episodes from the 2013-2016 Showtime series.

Developed by Michelle Ashford, the series is inspired loosely based on the non-fiction book Masters of Sex by Thomas Maier, which was based on the real-life Masters and Johnson research team. The series stars Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan, Caitlin FitzGerald, Teddy Sears, Nicholas D'Agosto, and Annaleigh Ashford.

Set in the 1950s to the late 1960s in St. Louis, Missouri, the series centers around Dr. William Masters (played by Michael Sheen), a gynecologist at the Washington University who is obsessed with studying sex, which at the time there was no official research on the subject. Despite objections from Provost Barton Scully (played by Bea Bridges), Dr. Masters begins his research outside the office, which involves looking through a peephole while a prostitute, Betty Dimello (played by Annaleigh Ashford), is with her clients.

Eventually, Dr. Masters persuades Scully to let him begin his sex study at the university. Believing his current secretary isn't up to the task to search for volunteers for the study, he hires Virginia Johnson (played by Lizzy Caplan), who quickly becomes his assistant and later his research partner.

Life was a little different back then, so the subject of "sex" was a little taboo and so was Masters and Johnson's research. Throughout the series, Masters worked at three different hospitals before opening up his own independent research institution with Johnson. Masters and Johnson would later co-write the book Human Sexual Response.



Bonus Features include:
  • NEW Commentary on the Pilot with actors Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan, Caitlin FitzGerald, Teddy Sears, writer Michelle Ashford, & executive producer Sarah Timberman
  • Over 40 minutes of Deleted Scenes
  • Making Masters of Sex
  • A Masterful Portrayal: Michael Sheen as Dr. Masters
  • NEW Ahead of Her Time: Lizzy Caplan as Virginia Johnson
  • NEW The Real Masters: A Conversation with Thomas Maier
  • NEW Surprising Facts About Sex: The Masters’ Great Discoveries
  • The History of Sex
  • NEW The Women of Sex
  • NEW The Men of Sex: Actors’ Roundtable


Final Thoughts

Friday, September 21, 2018

DVD Review: MacGyver: Season Two


Lionsgate; 16hrs 19 mins;$29.98


Available now on DVD from CBS Television Studio and Lionsgate Home Entertainment is MacGyver: Season 2, featuring all 23 episodes from the 2017-2018 season.

Based on the 1985-1992 series of the same name created by Lee David Zlotoff, the reboot stars Lucas Till, George Eads, Tristin Mays, Justin Hires and Meredith Eaton. Unlike the original series, the new series is less MacGyver and more like Mission: Impossible, with the title character being one member of the Phoenix Foundation team. 

The first episode of the second season (DIY or DIE) centers around MacGyver (played by Lucas Till) coming to a dead end on the hunt to find his missing father. However, he does find his father's watch, which could hold clues to his location. As the season unfolds, MacGyver begins to believe his boss, Matilda "Matty" Webber (played by Meredith Eaton), is somehow involved with his father's disappearance.

Meanwhile, the team is still on the hunt for the escaped assassin Murdoc (played by David Dastmalchian), who is terrorizing them throughout the season. Also, MacGyver and his team travel around the world stopping terrorist, thieves, and other baddies.




Special Features include:
  • "MacGyver" in Cuba
  • Saving the Day: Season 2
  • "MacGyver": Special & Visual Effects
  • Gag Reel
  • Deleted Scenes

Final Thoughts

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Happy Endings: The Complete Series Blu-ray Review


Mill Creek Ent.; 20 hrs 20 mins; TV-14; $49.98


Many short-lived television sitcoms have never gotten released to DVD; let alone, many series never get released to Blu-ray, but that isn't the case with the 2011-2013  ABC comedy series Happy Endings. The series received "the complete series" DVD and Blu-ray treatment last month, courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment.

Created by David Caspe, the series is set in Chicago and is  centered around the breakup of Alex (played by Elisha Cuthbert) and Dave (played by Zachary Knighton) on their wedding day, which changed the lives of their friends - Alex's older sister, Jane (played by Elia Coupe), Jane's husband, Brad (played by Damon Wayans Jr.), Dave's soon-to-be roommate, Max (played by Adam Pally), and Penny (played by Casey Wilson).

Similar to How I Met Your Mother and Friends, Happy Endings follows the dysfunctional adventure of six best friends. After the breakup with Alex, Dave moves in with his gay friend Max. Later, he quits his job and starts a food truck business. "Ditzy" Alex owns a clothing boutique called Xela (Alex spelled backwards). Jane is a control-freak who wants the perfect suburban life. Brad is always trying way too hard to prove he is still manly. Penny is always on the lookout for her future husband. And Max is the gang's unemployed freeloading slob, though he does start his own limo driving service during season two.

Special Features on the Blu-ray set include:
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Outtakes
  • Parodies
  • Cast Interviews



Final Thoughts

Thursday, August 2, 2018

Counterpart: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review

Lionsgate; Not Rated; 9 hrs 17 mins; Amazon


I have spent the last two nights binge watching Counterpart: The Complete Season Blu-ray, which arrived in stores this week from Lionsgate. It's also being released to DVD.

The pilot episode debuted on Starz in December 2017, but the series didn't officially begin until late January 2018. Despite low-ratings, the series has garnered high praises from critics.

Created by Justin Marks, the series centers around Howard Sink (played by J. K. Simmons), a kindhearted man working for the United Nations agency called the Office of Interchange in Berlin. His life is very simple, he goes to work, visits his comatose wife at the hospital, goes home, and repeats the cycle. After being denied a promotion, he meets his doppelganger who is also named Howard (or otherwise known as Howard Prime).

Howard (also known as Howard Alpha) learns that during the the latter years of the Cold War, the East Germans created a portal to a parallel universe in the basement of a building that would later become the Office of Interchange headquarters. An assassin from the Prime World named Baldwin (played by Sara Serraiocco) is loose in the Alpha World with a kill list. One of the people on that list happens to be Howard's wife, Emily (played by Olivia Williams).

Howard Prime is a field agent who retrieves anyone who goes rogue and crosses over to the Alpha World. To protect his wife, Howard Alpha switches places with Howard Prime. Though he has strict orders to stay inside Howard Prime's apartment, Howard Alpha ventures outside and intertwines with a life that doesn't belong to him.

Both Howards must work together to stop their worlds from going to war.

Special Features on the Blu-ray set include Season Outlook and Inside the World "Counterpart."



Final Thoughts

Monday, July 2, 2018

Secrets and Lies: Season One DVD Review

Mill Creek Ent., TV-14; 7 hours 7 minutes; $24.98

Back during my pre-teen and teenage years, I would watch almost any new television series. As I've gotten older, my interests have changed greatly; to the point that I hardly watch any programs that air on network television. Many of today's scripted series are poorly written and all the so-called reality shows don't appeal to me. So if there's a good series, normally, it goes completely under my radar, which exactly what happened with Secrets and Lies.

Based on the Australian series of the same name, Secrets and Lies is an anthology series that aired for two seasons on ABC from 2015 to 2016. Season One arrived on DVD for the first time from Mill Creek Entertainment last year, featuring 10 episodes on a two-disc set. There are no special features or extras on the DVD.

The first season begins with Ben Crawford (played by Ryan Phillippe), a self-employed contractor, who stumbles upon the body of a five-year-old boy while jogging through the woods early one morning. It turns out that the boy is Tom, the son of his neighbors, Jessica (played by Natalie Martinez) and her estranged husband Scott. With Ben suffering from memory loss from the night before, he becomes the prime suspect in Tom's death; especially, in the eyes of Detective Andrea Cornell (played by Juliette Lewis), who becomes obsessed with solving the case.

After DNA test results confirm that Ben is Tom's biological father, his wife Christy (played by KaDee Strickland) and their daughters, Natalie and Abby (played by Indiana Evans and Belle Shouse), along with the media, begin to believe he's the killer! With no other choice, Ben begins his own investigation in the hoping of clearing his name.


Final Thoughts

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

The Astronaut Wives Club: The Complete Series DVD Review

Mill Creek Ent., TV-PG; 720 minutes; $24.98

I don't watch very many series that air on network television that aren't comic book related, so many shows go completely under my radar. This probably explains why I never heard of The Astronaut Wives Club, which aired as a 10-part limited series on ABC in the summer of 2015. I only heard about the series when Mill Creek Entertainment made the announcement last year about the complete series DVD release.

Based on the novel of the same name by Lily Koppel, and developed by Lily Koppel, the series stars JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Yvonne Starhovski, Zoe Boyle, Dominique McElligott, Odette Annable, and Erin Cummings.

There series centers around the wives of the Mercury Seven, a.k.a. - America's first group of astronaut (Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton).

There are no special features or extras on the two-discs set.



Final Thoughts

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Harts of the West: The Complete Series DVD Review

Mill Creek Ent.; Not Rated; 671 minutes

There are many one-season wonders that I loved to watch during my childhood, such as The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., American Gothic, Kindred: The Embraced, and The Lone Gunmen. Despite each one only running for a single season, all of these series are available on DVD. Now available on DVD & Digital from Mill Creek Entertainment is the 1993 comedy-drama Harts of the West, which is another television series that I remember watching when I was kid.

Created by Robert Moloney, Harts of the West starred Beau Bridges, Harley Jane Kozak, Sean Murray, Stephen Root, Talisa Soto, and Lloyd Bridges (Beau's father). The series aired on CBS on Saturday nights in between Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and Walker, Texas Ranger.

Harts of the West centered on Dave Hart (played by Beau Bridges) having a midlife crises after having a heart attack. He quits his jobs and moves his family to Sholo, Nevada to live on the Flying Tumbleweed Dude Ranch. Upon purchasing the ranch, Dave believed he was receiving a riveting business, but instead all he got was a run down property. Included with the ranch is a hired hand named Jake Terrel (played by Lloyd Bridges). Despite the Hart family's disappointment with their new home, they attempt to fix up their homestead and somehow make a business out of the old ranch.

All 15 episodes are on the two-disc set. There are no special features or bonus extras. However, it does come with a digital code that can be redeemed at www.millcreekent.com/redeem.





Final Thoughts

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Sheena: Queen of the Jungle Collection DVD Review

PG; 29 hours 25 minutes; $14.98

I think I need to have my head examined, as I could of sworn that I had already written a review for Sheena: Queen of the Jungle Collection DVD set, but to my own dismay, I was completely wrong.

Anyway, the Sheena: Queen of the Jungle Collection DVD set was released to DVD last fall by Mill Creek Entertainment. The six disc set features the 1984 feature film Sheena and all 35 episodes from the 2000-2002 series. As added bonus, there are five episodes from the 1955-1956 series Sheena: Queen of the Jungle.

Created by Will Eisner and Jerry Iger, Sheena first debuted as a comic book character in by Fiction House during the late 1930s. The character was basically the female version of Tarzan. Sheena was forced to grow up in the African jungle after her parents were killed. she has the ability to communicate with animals, and spends most her time saving the jungle from bad guys.

Sheena was turned into a short-lived television series starring model Irish McCalla, which wasn't well received by critics or viewers. Sheena wouldn't get a feature film movie until 1984's Sheena, which was directed by John Guillermin and starred Tanya Roberts as the queen of the jungle. Despite a decent budget, the film was held down by a campy, uneven script. Upon it's release, it became a critical and box-office flop. It was even nominated for five Golden Raspberry Awards! However, like most films from the 1980s, Sheena has found a cult following over the years.

Sheena was revived as a television series in 2000 starring Gena Lee Nolin, but thanks to cheap special effects, bad scripts, and wooden acting, the series only lasted two seasons.





Final Thoughts

Sunday, September 24, 2017

Marvel's Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review

Marvel/ABC Studios; 667 minutes; TV-MA; Amazon
Despite the little fact that I have reviewed a few comic books and graphic novels on here over the years, I don't really follow the comic book world. I've never even heard of the Marvel character Jessica Jones until the live-action web series was released to NETFLIX.

Jessica Jones: The Complete First Season arrived on Blu-ray (as well as DVD) last month, featuring all 13 episodes. Similar to the Daredevil Blu-ray releases, there are no special features or extras on the four-disc set.

Based on the character created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos, the series centers on a private detective named Jessica Jones (played by Krysten Ritter), who happens to have superhuman strength and has the ability to fly (well, sorta). She spends her day running her Alias Investigations business out of her apartment.

After learning about a young woman named Hope (played by Erin Moriarty) who murdered her parents, Jessica begins to believe that her old nemesis Kilgrave (played by David Tennant) has returned, the man who almost destroyed her life. Kilgrave has the ability to control anyone's mind, which is how he had previously met Jessica.

With the help of her adopted sister Trish (played by Rachael Taylor), her neighbor Malcolm (played by Eka Darville), and a bartender named Luke Cage (played by Mike Colter), Jessica plans on putting a stop to Kilgrave's reign of terror.

Episode titles includes:

AKA Ladies Night
AKA Crush Syndrome
AKA It's Called Whiskey
AKA 99 Friends
AKA The Sandwich Saved Me
AKA You're A Winner!
AKA Top Shelf Perverts
AKA WWJD?
AKA Sin Bin
AKA 1,000 Cuts
AKA I've Got The Blues
AKA Take A Bloody Number
AKA Smile