The Movie:

With her win in Wimbledon over the weekend (as of this writing), Serena Williams has equaled Steffi Graf's record of 22 titles in the Open era (Margaret Court Smith holds the record with 24). She's won one Grand Slam title in 9 of the last 10 years, and held all four titles simultaneously in 2002-2003. Her and her sister Venus arrived into professional tennis as teenagers, and while Venus got the initial starpower, Serena has matched and exceeded it. In The Other Side of Greatness, a documentary filmed and aired on the Epix network, a film crew follows Serena, her family and staff around in 2015 as Serena attempted to win all 4 Slam titles in one here, the only thing she's yet to do in tennis.

To be a little clearer, The Other Side of Greatness doesn't completely start out in January of 2015, when Venus won the Australian Open. It does pick up the quest just ...Read the entire review

The Movie:

It has been awhile since I have watched late night television, which means for me that I not only forgot what Craig Ferguson was up to, but he also decided to leave his CBS show at 12:35 a.m. after almost a decade in the role. I also knew he appeared on The Drew Carey Show, but didn't know he wrote several books and screenplays, and his stand-up special Just Being Honest was his second such special for the EPIX network.

Filmed at New York's Town Hall shortly after his departure from his show, this 75-minute special is split into two chunks of consumption: the first half and change of the special looks at political correctness and how easily and often people are offended. The title of his special is actually the second part of a saying he uses often throughout, which is, "I'm not judging, just being honest." Which is fine, it is a nice philosophy to have after...Read the entire review

The Krays: Geordie Connection purports, according to the DVD cover, to "investigate the minds of the most notorious gangsters in UK [United Kingdom] history!" and that "Ron and Reg [Kray] confess ALL!" Hardly. The Krays: Geordie Connection is a stultifying mess of recent interviews with British hoods, combined with wretched camcorder video documenting real-life gangster funerals and reunions, all tied together with Steve Wraith's personal story of becoming the notorious Kray's "Geordie" connection. In no way does it explain anything about the Krays; it doesn't go over their history or their exploits. There are no confessions, as advertised, and no investigation into their minds.

A little history of British gangsterism might help here (since the...Read the entire review

Another documentary on the "hard men" of Britain from Gangster Videos The Krays: Geordie Connection. and Mad Frank: Britain's Most Dangerous Criminal!), Roy Shaw: Brute Force is just as objectionable as its sister documentaries.

Director Liam Galvin gives us an inside glimpse into the psychology (and psychosis) of truly frightening boxer/criminal Roy Shaw. Now considered a folk hero, in reality Shaw was a small time criminal who happened to be alive dur...Read the entire review

Mad Frank: Britain's Most Dangerous Criminal! is probably the best of the Gangster Videos reviewed today (the others are The Krays: Geordie Connection and Roy Shaw: Brute Force), but that isn't saying very much. First and foremost, the most egregious faults of "Gangstervision," that fake, arbitrary method of shooting these documentaries to make them look gritty and tough, is toned down here. And second, we actually have some differing points of view in this documentary -- although that's faint praise, too, because all the points come from the criminals -- not from anybody...Read the entire review