"This is gonna be more complicated than we thought." - John Locke

INTRODUCTION:

During its first season, Lost achieved a synergy quite rare in television, garnering a mainstream audience large enough to make it a flagship program for the network while at the same time generating the kind of cult-like fan obsession typically reserved for shows with far less media visibility. The better the episode, the more viewers hungered for the next chapter in the story, until it reached a point where nearly every decision ABC or the producers made became the subject of incredible scrutiny. Season One's cliffhanger ending angered viewers. Typical network schedul...Read the entire review

"Don't you think one of the charms of marriage is that it makes deception a necessity for both parties?" - Sandor Szavost

INTRODUCTION:

Stanley Kubrick's final film was also his most anticipated. Losing years to preproduction for Holocaust project-that-never-was The Aryan Papers as well as repeated attempts to adapt Brian Aldiss's short story Super-Toys Last All Summer Long, the gap between Full Metal Jacket and the director's next film ballooned to over a dozen years, nearly twice as long as any other time in his career. When word got out that the man many consider to be the greatest director of all time ...Read the entire review

"The uncanny is that class of the frightening which leads back to what is known of old and long familiar." - Sigmund Freud, Das Unheimliche

INTRODUCTION:

Stanley Kubrick continually reinvented himself, surpassing the work of his contemporaries in a deliberate pursuit of perfection and defying the words of his critics with each successive film. After conquering the science fiction genre with 2001: A Space Odyssey, he squashed criticism of the length and expense of the project with the rapid turnaround of A Clockwork Orange on a relatively small budget of just over two million dollars. However, with the American box office d...Read the entire review

"If Man is to survive, he will have learned to take a delight in the essential differences between cultures. He will learn that differences in ideas and attitudes are a delight, part of life's exciting variety, not something to fear." - Gene Roddenberry

INTRODUCTION:

I still remember my first VCR, a clunky hulk of JVC technology that proved to be an eyesore in an otherwise attractive living room. Not many people had one at the time, and its cost was well beyond reasonable, but I could not avoid the temptation; for every weekday at midnight,...Read the entire review

"When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man." - Chaplain

INTRODUCTION:

With 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick proved he could be more than just a brilliant filmmaker; he could fill the seats and generate profit. This enhanced credibility allowed him to turn an obsessed eye towards Napoleon Bonaparte, a man Kubrick found eminently fascinating and an historic figure he felt would be perfect for an epic blockbuster the likes of which no one had ever seen. Sadly, years of detailed research and creative budgeting were wasted as the winds chan...Read the entire review

"However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light." - Stanley Kubrick

INTRODUCTION:

Stanley Kubrick's landmark film opens on a group of primitive man-apes fumbling about in the wilderness. A world of possibility surrounds them, but they lack the ingenuity -- or perhaps the inspiration -- to make use of the tools at their disposal. Unable to thrive in these conditions, they merely survive, lost to the most inconsequential level of existence, and even that tenuous fate remains in doubt until a mysterious black monolith arrives to usher in a new age of progress for mankind.

2001: A Space Odyssey is the cinema...Read the entire review

"I went against Mr. Wei today. There will be consequences." - John Lee

INTRODUCTION:

Badass detective kills vindictive crime lord's son during a drug raid. Crime lord hires badass assassin of few words to kill badass detective's son. Badass assassin refuses, so more badass assassins (of no words) are hired to kill him as well as the detective's son. And since there has to be a hot chick involved somehow, throw in a badass document forger with a chip on her shoulder and abusive family past. Together, these unlikely heroes discover the beauty of life through the love of a giving child. Scratch that. They shoot at each other and blow shit up for 96 minutes of video game mayhem.

CONTENT:

The Replacement Killers marked the American debut of...Read the entire review

"Art is a man's nature; nature is God's art." - Philip James Bailey

INTRODUCTION:

No plot. No character development. No narration. Just beauty. Living Landscapes: The World's Most Beautiful Places immerses the viewer in the breathtaking visuals of nine regional locales that showcase the serene beauty often found in nature. Not to be confused with the narrative documentary style of the spectacular Planet Earth, Landscapes simply places the camera in gorgeous locations and allows the viewer to savor the sights and sounds at his own leisurely pace. While many will view this as nothing more than a showroom screensaver, I found it soothing and entrancing and thoroughly enjoyed it.

CONTENT:

The World's Most Beautiful Place...Read the entire review

"We follow orders or people die. It's that simple." - Colonel Nathan R. Jessep

INTRODUCTION:

It's hard to believe that it's been almost fifteen years since most of us were first introduced to Aaron Sorkin. A promising young New York playwright in the late 1980s, Sorkin developed a stage play around a legal case his sister was handling for the Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay. A group of marines were on trial there for a hazing attempt gone sour, and their defense team was arguing that the men had been ordered to participate by a superior officer. The classic soldier's dilemma between personal conscience and the chain of command proved the perfect backbone for a dramatic story, and so A Few Good Men was born, enjoying a successful run on Broadway before b...Read the entire review

"Art is a man's nature; nature is God's art." - Philip James Bailey

INTRODUCTION:

No plot. No character development. No narration. Just beauty. Living Landscapes: The World's Most Beautiful Places immerses the viewer in the breathtaking visuals of nine regional locales that showcase the serene beauty often found in nature. Not to be confused with the narrative documentary style of the spectacular Planet Earth, Landscapes simply places the camera in gorgeous locations and allows the viewer to savor the sights and sounds at his own leisurely pace. While many will view this as nothing more than a showroom screensaver, I found it soothing and entrancing and thoroughly enjoyed it.

CONTENT:

The World's Most Beautiful Place...Read the entire review

INTRODUCTION

Panasonic first released their DMP-BD10 Blu-ray player late in 2006 with a pretty steep list price of $1299.99. Recently, though, in an effort to bring new consumers to the Blu-ray format, they have rebranded the hardware and its important firmware updates into the DMP-BD10A, bundled it with 5 popular Blu-ray titles (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse ...Read the entire review

"Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down." - Malcolm Reynolds

INTRODUCTION:

"Firefly went on the air a few years ago and was instantly hailed by critics as one of the most canceled shows of the year. It was ignored and abandoned, and the story should end there ... but it doesn't."

In the Fall of 2002, the creator of Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer brought a new vision to the small screen in the form of Firefly. Set in a distant future where overpopulation has forced mankind to colonize other planets, Joss Whedon's new television series blended...Read the entire review

"No man is beyond redemption." - Marcus Antonius

INTRODUCTION:

In its first season, Rome set a new standard for historical television, immersing viewers into the daily life and political maneuvering of the Roman Republic in a way that had never been seen before. Beginning with Julius Caesar's victory over Vercingetorix in the Gallic Wars, it took us on a journey of the general's rise to dictatorship and his ultimate assassination on the Senate floor, told largely through the eyes of soldiers-turned-friends Lucius Vorenus (Kevin McKidd) and Titus Pullo (Ray Stevenson). Rome's second season picks up immediately wh...Read the entire review

"I believe that when we leave a place, part of it goes with us and part of us remains." - Citizen G'Kar

INTRODUCTION:

Before sitting down to review this DVD, I stole away to the kitchen to prepare a quick snack while the disc booted into the main menu. As I returned to my home theater, I noticed the disc had automatically cycled past the menu and directly into the feature presentation. The Babylon 5 station rotated in glorious widescreen, Christopher Franke's "Sleeping in Light" theme swelled in digital surround, and Citizen G'Kar's unmistakable voice began to set the stage. Whoa! Stop the player, stop the player! I wa...Read the entire review

"Much of what we have recently discovered, we may in fact have just re-discovered." - Sean Barrett

INTRODUCTION:

Ancient Discoveries first appeared on The History Channel in late 2003 as a three-part documentary series based around an intriguing premise: that many technologies assumed to have been discovered or invented in the modern age were actually known to ancient civilizations (namely the Greeks and Romans) thousands of years ago and the knowledge effectively lost during the Middle Ages. The show returned in 2005 for three more segments and ultimately evolved into a weekly series that began airing in January of ...Read the entire review

"I fucking hate swim!" - Efram

INTRODUCTION:

A popular feature on the 2006 Independent Film Festival circuit, The Big Bad Swim is a charming ensemble comedy that tells the story of an adult swim class at a local recreation center. While each of the individuals enrolled in the class has a different reason for being there, they all share a common desire for companionship and the need to make positive changes in their lives. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, the film blends subtle comedy with authentic human emotion to present a wonderful slice-of-life character tale that's bound to make you smile and feel good inside.

CONTENT:

Paget Brewster stars as...Read the entire review

"Sometimes you have to lose your mind before you come to your senses." - 'Socrates'

INTRODUCTION:

Dan Millman's best-selling Way of the Peaceful Warrior was first published in 1980 and has since been recognized as one of the more popular books in the self-help community. Written in autobiographical form, it chronicles Millman's experiences as a competitive gymnast at the University of California and his chance encounter with a wise old gas station attendant he refers to as "Socrates". Teaching through example and using unexplained mystical powers to his advantage, Socrates seeks to break down Millman's conventional thought and show him the way of the "Peac...Read the entire review

"Everybody dies. Everybody. What makes you so fucking special?" - Nate Fisher

INTRODUCTION:

Death. There is no greater truth, nothing more fundam...Read the entire review

"We're going to raise the level of public debate in this country, and let that be our legacy." - Leo McGarry

INTRODUCTION:

The United States government is run by highly intelligent and fiercely devoted servants of the public good, and its presidency is occupied by nobl...Read the entire review

John Locke: Why do you find it so hard to believe?
Jack Shepard: Why do you find it so easy?

INTRODUCTION:

The first season of Lost took the television community by storm with its intricate story of the plane crash survivors of Oceanic Flight 815. It introduced us to a varied cast of interesting characters, all the while composing a detailed mythology about this strange island on which they all were trying to survive. With its unique flashback structure, a large and dynamic cast, and strong thematic narratives, it established itself as one of the more compelling shows on the air and achieved that rare combination of high-profile mainstream appeal coupled ...Read the entire review

"[Firefly] was ignored and abandoned, and the story should end there; but it doesn't, because the people who made the show and the people who saw the show fell in love with it a little bit too much to let it go, too much to lay down arms when the battle looked pretty much lost. In Hollywood, people like that are called unrealistic, quixotic, obsessive. In my world, they're called Browncoats." - Joss Whedon

INTRODUCTION:

In September of 2005, a little-film-that-could named Serenity [review] opened in theaters across the country to largely rave reviews and glowing praise from Fir...Read the entire review

"I'm not a dealer. I'm a mother who happens to distribute illegal products through a sham bakery set up by my ethically questionable CPA and his crooked lawyer friend." - Nancy Botwin

INTRODUCTION:

Ever since Showtime started giving serious attention to original programming, they have struggled to find their identity. They have gone through stretches where it seemed they would be a major science fiction player, then a strong focus on alternative lifestyles, and even a couple of based-on-the-film series that chronicled the black experience. None of it really caught on, though, and while HBO and FX have successfully established and marketed their respective identities, S...Read the entire review

"Iacta alea est." - Gaius Julius Caesar
"The die is cast." - Gaius Julius Caesar

INTRODUCTION:

Few civilizations in the world carry the historical weight and intrigue of Ancient Rome. Along with Ancient Greece, the Romans established (or assimilated) much of what would eventually become "Western Civilization", ruling over Western Europe and the Mediterranean, in one way or another, for the better part of a millennium. Their social cultures, military conquests, and ever-changing styles of government have fascinated authors and historians for centuries, so it's no wonder film and television producers continually return to this un...Read the entire review

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown." - Lester Freamon

INTRODUCTION:

The Wire is the best show on television. Period. If you've seen the show, you don't need me to tell you this, but for those who may have stumbled onto this review not knowing what to expect, I want to make this as clear as possible from the start: The Wire is the best show on television, and if you haven't been watching it, you're missing out on one incredible experience. Moreover, its third season, presented here in yet another fantastic HBO release, is arguably the show's finest effort to date. Building on everything that came before, this third season takes a more cerebral appr...Read the entire review

"He gathered them together in a place called Armageddon." - Brother Justin

INTRODUCTION:

"On the heels of the skirmish man foolishly called "the war to end all wars", the Dark One sought to elude his destiny: live as a mortal. So he fled across the ocean to an empire called America, but by his mere presence, a cancer corrupted the spirit of the land. People were rendered mute by fools who spoke many words but said nothing, for whom oppression and cowardice were virtues, and freedom an obscenity. And into this dark heartland the prophet stalked his enemy till, diminished by his wounds, he turned to the next in the ancient line of Light. And so it was that the fate of mankind came to rest on the trembling shoulders of the most reluctant of saviors ..."

Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=22752 Sat, 15 Jul 2006 21:26:51 PDT Highly Recommended

Though with their high wrongs I am struck to the quick,
Yet with my nobler reason 'gainst my fury
Do I take part: the rarer action is
In virtue than in vengeance.
- William Shakespeare

INTRODUCTION:

Off the beaten path, in the town of LaGrange, Kentucky, stands Luther Luckett Correctional Complex, a medium security prison that houses some 1100 inmates. In an effort to rehabilitate the inmates and prepare them to potentially re-enter society, numerous educational programs are available to those who wish to participate, but one of those programs stands apart from the rest as a unique and powerful way for the prisoners to express t...Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=22632 Sat, 08 Jul 2006 20:38:28 PDT Skip It

"I can't say it enough: these films aren't for everyone." - Chip Lamey

INTRODUCTION:

Christine (Ruby LaRocca) is an obnoxious, nasty creature who fancies herself as a stylish hipster and apparently makes an income shooting hidden camera videos of women urinating. Periodically, she finds a new unsuspecting female roommate and treats her like crap for her own amusement. Karen (Zoe Moonshine, executive producer and wife of the director), a young girl who has just arrived from South Africa with no possessions, or dignity for that matter, becomes the latest to participate in this idiotic exchange, and The Devil's Bloody Playthings chronicles the lifespan of their relationship for an excruciating 84 minutes.

Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=21812 Sun, 21 May 2006 23:03:59 PDT Highly Recommended

"Welcome to fuckin' Deadwood! ... can be combative." - Al Swearengen

INTRODUCTION:

Set on the lawless edge of the American frontier in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the first season of Deadwood quickly established itself as one of the most richly detailed and compelling period pieces ever on television. David Milch's character-driven morality tale took us into the heart of this outlaw town and inside the dynamic personalities at its forefront, illustrating that no matter how much the residents wanted to be rid of government interference, they still desperately craved a level of order and ...Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=21676 Sun, 14 May 2006 02:13:12 PDT Rent It

"You did a wonderful job helping me grow up, but now I'm up." - Ann Marie

INTRODUCTION:

September 8, 1966 is one of those dates etched into the memories of countless television fans. At 8:30pm EDT, NBC aired "The Man Trap", the first episode of Star Trek, and a science fiction revolution was born. Often forgotten, however, is that immediately after, at 9:30pm EDT on ABC, another revolution was beginning with the premiere of That Girl, the Marlo Thomas vehicle that would help reshape the way women could be presented on television. For 5 seasons, That Girl followed the sitcom hijinks of struggling young New York actress Ann Marie (Thomas) as she mov...Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=21545 Sun, 07 May 2006 07:39:54 PDT Highly Recommended

"Janitor, have you ever looked at yourself and wished that you were different in every single way?" - Elliot

"No. I'm a winner. But I will tell you something that my grandmother told me when I was a kid -- even though at the time I thought she was my mother. She said, 'Time spent wishing is time wasted.' Now, she died shortly after that, and my sister -- who actually was my mother -- she never got over it. Neither did my brother-dad. The point is this: if you want to be different, then be different." - Janitor

INTRODUCTION:

As Scrubs wraps its fifth season on NBC, it remains an anomaly in primetime television. Debuting in 2001, the comedic ...Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=21200 Mon, 17 Apr 2006 06:25:20 PDT Highly Recommended

In 1963, ace Hollywood publicist Arthur P. Jacobs acquired a pre-release copy of Pierre Boulle's latest novel, La Plan te des Singes. While Boulle did not consider the story to be among his finest works, and Jacobs had yet to actually produce a motion picture, the up-and-coming producer nonetheless convinced his friend, Twentieth Century Fox's Richard Zanuck, to option the rights to the story and give him the go-ahead to pursue it. Years went by as Jacobs faced one obstacle after another, painstakingly piecing together the necessary ingredients and utilizing his numerous public relations contacts to generate interest in the project and fend off constant studio indiffe...Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=20193 Wed, 15 Feb 2006 01:29:37 PST Highly Recommended

"We're adults. When did that happen, and how do we make it stop?" - Meredith Grey

INTRODUCTION:

The Fall of 2004 marked a major breakthrough for the struggling American Broadcasting Company. Lost and Desperate Housewives quickly established themselves as the two most talked about new shows of the year; Extreme Makeover: Home Edition enjoyed huge ratings when expanded to a full season; and spinning off The Practice from the preachy and heavy-handed downer it had become into the lively and energetic Boston Legal proved a success in the eyes of both viewers and critics. Come midseason, however, this near embarrassment of riches had creat...Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=19930 Mon, 30 Jan 2006 23:17:45 PST Recommended

"It wasn't too long before I realized that sometimes the writing that brought you success on a platter was also the writing that evolved as your principle competition." - Rod Serling

INTRODUCTION:

"You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension, a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone."

Much like its brief flirtation with videotaped episodes in the second season, The Twilight Zone's experiment with the hour-long format had been a dismal failure; so, fo...Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=19354 Mon, 19 Dec 2005 08:32:01 PST Recommended

"Mankind's true nature will always assert itself." - Number Six

INTRODUCTION:

A quarter century after it originally premiered on ABC, Battlestar Galactica was still one of the most talked about concepts in TV Land. The short-lived network series about a rag-tag fleet of human survivors in search of the mythical planet Earth had captured the imaginations of many, and it seemed that every year produced a new set of rumors about a return to the Galactica universe. In late 2003, amid quite a bit of fan controversy, the rumors finally became reality and took form in a 3-hour miniseries from the mind of Star Trek alumnus Rona...Read the entire review

]]> DVD Video http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=19247 Mon, 12 Dec 2005 19:08:07 PST Highly Recommended

"Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down." - Malcolm Reynolds

INTRODUCTION:

"Firefly went on the air a few years ago and was instantly hailed by critics as one of the most cancelled shows of the year. It was ignored and abandoned, and the story should end there ... but it doesn't."

In the Fall of 2002, the creator of Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer brought a new vision to the small screen in the form of Firefly. Set in a distant future where overpopulation has forced mankind to colonize other planets, Joss Whedon's new television series blended science fiction ideas with classic western storyt...Read the entire review

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