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January 5th, 2008
Jonathan Sings Larson / Living in the Material World
This week you are getting an incredible two-fer on DVD reviews. I don't buy many CD's anymore but the past two I have bought deal with two of my favorite things in music: The Beatles and Rent. Both CD's I purchased also came with a DVD as well! These included some music videos or live performances of the people involved. They are usually very short so I was able to knock these out very quickly (while working on a season review that will be up next week) and since they are so short I thought I would publish both of them today. The two CD/DVD's in question are: Jonathan Sings Larson and George Harrison: Living In The Material World. Jonathan Larson, for those who do not know, was the writer and creator of the Broadway play, Rent. He worked for years in obscurity until he penned Rent and right as it was about to start, he died suddenly. The show opened the next day and here we are, 11 years later and it's the 5th longest running show in Broadway history. This CD includes demos of songs he did for Rent as well as other plays he wrote. The DVD is four archival performances of one of his shows. George Harrison is of course the former Beatle and Living in the Material World was released in 1973, a time when George was clearly the most commercial and popular ex-Beatle. The CD was rereleased with some bonus tracks and a bonus DVD which I reviewed. You can get to both in the above links. That's all for now, I have to get ready and go out and enjoy my Saturday night.
January 12th, 2008
NHL Game Seven Collection
Hello all,
The latest review I have for you is the NHL Game Seven Collection. It is a great collection of the complete game 7's from 1987 to 2006 (6 in total) with a highlight disc of previous game 7's dating back to the 1940's! Any NHL fan would love it and click on the link above to read the full review. Not too much else is going on. I finished another review just yesterday which should be posted up here in about 2 weeks and I have just started Futurama Volume 3, all in my quest to have all the DVD's I bought in 2007 reviewed by the end of February so I can get cracking on the new shipment I plan to have in next week. Stay Tuned! Enjoy the rest of the weekend and Let's Go Giants!
January 13th, 2008
American Dad 01/06/08 & 01/13/08 -- Family Guy 01/13/08
Wow, I have three episodes to review for this edition. I missed American Dad last week but I was able to watch it before Family Guy came on tonight. Of course I watched the Giants eke out a victory against Dallas and it was a tight game all around. Anyway, they face a tough Packer team next week and who knows what will happen? Maybe Patriots/Giants part two in the Super Bowl?
-American Dad 01/06/08-
The show starts out with Steve acting ghetto and trying to breakdance. This will play a big part in the last scene. Hayley and Klaus also play a crazy game of Truth or Truth, which again will play a part in the last scene. So Roger uses Stan's office as a sauna and Stan chases him right into Francine's protective arms. Stan doesn't like Francine being too protective of Roger and we see previous instances where she did. Roger thinks Stan hates him and Francine tries to hatch a plot where Roger is kidnapped and Stan must pay a ransom to save him. Stan never does and Francine can't ask about it or she'll reveal that she hatched the plot. Eventually Stan lets on he knew the whole time since they have caller ID and she called from her cell phone. So Francine realizes she has to stop being protective of Roger and the whole family gives him some tough love. It turns out this is literally killing Roger and it is only by making fun of people that he can live. Luckily, Roger a wealth of material there from Hayley's stupid outfit (due to the game) and Steve's dancing. Roger is back to normal and the family is whole again. This episode was pretty bland until the last act and didn't provide too many laugh out loud moments. C+.
-Family Guy 01/13/08-
Peter is taking care of Cleveland's mail while he's away and he goes through it, of course. He finds a magazine celebrating mustaches and so Peter grows one himself. This somehow leads to him being asked to help by moustachioed fireman and he saves a man from a burning McBurgertown. The mustache is burned off but the man offers Peter free burgers for life. Peter goes insane, eating thirty burgers in one sitting and has a stroke. He suffers from it but is healed in five minutes due to stem cell research. He vows to take down McBurgertown but suing doesn't work. He gets one of the cows from their slaughterhouse to speak against them and Peter has won, I guess. There was a funny sub story of Stewie making a bet with Brian that he can become the most popular kid in high school. He does but when he starts to make out with the popular girl he drops trou but she makes fun of his baby penis. His popularity reign is over but Stewie gets the last laugh by asking for a kiss, getting naked, and having her arrested when she, "kisses a naked baby." The episode was very distasteful making fun of strokes and its victims but aside from that it was actually very funny. They had a funny Will Smith with a clean rap joke and a Robin Williams joke.
-American Dad 01/13/08-
This starts off with an awesome (and funny) Bond-ish opening and the whole episode is one big spoof on James Bond and spy movies altogether. Think of it as Austin Powers meets James Bond. The plot deals with Roger (playing Tearjerker) masterminding a plot to kidnap all the movie stars so he can make his own film. His reasons are inane and beyond reason which is part of the fun. Watch for all American Dad characters making appearances here, from Francine as Sexpun, to Steve as S, the man who makes the crazy inventions and all have to do with women's breasts getting bigger. Of course, watch out for a Stan virgin joke at the end. Great episode, one of the best this season. A.
January 19th, 2008
Futurama Volume 3
Well, I actually saw Rent again last night (for the seventh time for those counting) and it was a bittersweet experience, since it was my first time going since news of the show's closing hit. It will be sad to see it go but I think it is time for it. 12 years is a long run for any Broadway show and only 5 shows have put on more performances than Rent has. There will be a revival eventually, and I am sure the show will be extended through the summer, but its time. At least there are other shows on Broadway that I can now see (especially Avenue Q!). The performance last night was not the best one I've seen, but not the worst either. I really don't have much else to add to that.
Anyway, Futurama Volume 2 has been officially posted to the website now and I didn't remember how much I liked Futurama. I haven't watched it in a while before the review but damn it is quite a show. You can check out the review by clicking the link. I am currently working on Vol. 3 of said show and I'm about 1 disc in. I hope to have it done soon! Luckily I have a three-day weekend due to MLK day and a light week at school due to Regents week. As I've done for the past few posts, let's end this with a Let's Go Giants!
January 26th, 2008
Promotional Discs
I'll keep this one really short since I gotta run, up this week is a small sampling of promo DVD's I have that I reviewed. It's pretty funny the things one collects in his life. Check it out...
Oh yeah, I can't forget: Let's Go Giants!
January 27th, 2008
American Dad 01/27/08
I missed the first five minute since I was out getting snacks from 7-11 but I quickly found out what was going on. This episode sees Stan's mother coming back after she was dumped and we see Stan and his mother's weird relationship. It boils down to Stan telling her he'd always be there for her after their father left. It's pretty creepy, especially when he's in the bathtub with her washing her. Ooookay. Anyway, Francine and Roger hook up the mom with another dude and Stan doesn't really like it. Roger researches why she keeps getting dumped and finds all her men have turned up missing! To no one's surprise, it is Stan kidnapping all these guys. After a crazy mess of storytelling where they end up on plane to Greece, Stan realizes his mother is happy with her new man and Stan is happy to have a loving wife like Francine. Awww. The lead story was just creepy and wasn't terribly funny. The sub-story of Steve getting Ick from Klaus was pretty stupid, too. The whole episode dealt with themes of lonliness from one of the characters and wanting to have attention but ultimately it was a lackluster show that will be forgotten next week when the show is pre-empted for the Super Bowl. D.
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