We are giving away a spring cleaning goodie bag with movie posters and t-shirts and movies. Yes that’s right, just give us a little “hey what’s up” and you will be entered to win a grab bag of goodies.
Contest ends March 11th, so you better get to it!
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Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy were either geniuses or completely out of their mind. The co-creators put forth a show in the last half of the 60’s that was a satire that took place during WWII inside a prisoner of war camp and included POWs performing espinage under the dimwitted Nazis collective noses. In a pre-politically correct world the show became a hit that lasted for six years. Here’s my review of Season Three released today on DVD.
Hogan’s Heroes – The Complete Third Season
3 & 1/2 Stars
Hogan and his men set forth on another season to help out the war effort.
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For those who don’t understand the basic setup of the show here it comes. Col. Robert Hogan (Bob Crane) and his men are prionsers of war in Stalag 13, a POW camp for captured Air Force personnel. What the incompetant commandant of the camp Col. Klink (Werner Klemperer) doesn’t know is that the men are actually part of the underground resistance and are in touch with Allied Command in London and perform espionage and sabotage on German targets. Oh yeah, and it’s a comedy.
Okay if you can wrap your brain around that concept the show is actually pretty good. It’s a satire and take-off of many serious POW films and TV prgrams of the time including The Great Escape, Combat!, The Longest Day, and most notably Stalag 17.
Hogan’s crew includes Cpl. LeBeau (Robert Clay), Cpl. Newkirk (Richard Dawson), Sgt. Kinch (Ivan Dixon) and Sgt. Carter (Larry Hovis). Sadly all the Germans have to combat this crafty band of Americans, British, and French officers is Klink, his right hand man Sgt. Schultz (John Banner) and Nazi higher-ups that come down to complain about Klink’s management style but ends up screwing up worse than Klink.
The shows include implausible plots of members of the camp sneaking out to perform espionage or to take time off in Paris or London and get back to the base for roll call. In terms of plausability the show comes close to Gilligan’s Island, but in much the same way it uses such plots to create quite humorous situations.
Is it weird that the Germans only speak German (and no, I’m not counting Schultz’s common phrase of Actchung as speaking German), that the prisoners are treated better than at a Motel 6, and that nothing trully bad ever happens to the prisoners? Well sure, but it’s a comedy remember. Now not all the shows hit the ball out of the park though most are pretty good; some of the episodes are better than others. My favorites of the bunch were “War Takes a Holiday” when Hogan and his men convince the Germans that the war is over, “LeBeau and the Little Old Lady” where LeBeau hides a secret about his contact in the underground, and “Sergeant Shultz Meets Mata Hari” where the Gustapo plant a woman to spy on him. For a show to balance the serious issues it deals with and never lose the comic feel and timing is something quite special. It’s quite a unique show and I’d recommend checking it out because who knows if we will ever see it’s like again.
The new X-Men: The Last Stand trailer premiered last night on Fox during 24. Didn’t catch it? Well don’t worry ‘cause it’s up and online for your viewing pleasure (Quicktime required). Get your comic book geek on folks and take a peek and tell us what you think. Was Brett Ratner the right guy to helm this sequel or should Buffy‘s Joss Whedon have passed on Wonder Woman and taken the helm?
X-Men: The Last Stand
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We’re here to let you know what’s out there for your entertainment dollar. Every week a new batch of DVD’s gets shipped out and thrown onto the shelves. This week we’ve got the fourth installment in the Harry Potter series, some military drama in Jarhead and hijinks in Hogan’s Heroes, the anime Howl’s Moving Castle, and TV season sets of favorites like The Brady Bunch, The Flintstones, and The Cosby Show.
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Here’s what is getting released today on DVD:
Film:
Jarhead – Film version of Anthony Swofford’s experiences in Saudi Arabia during Desert Storm. Jake Gyllenhaal, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jamie Foxx star in a film that shows the pointlessness (to the nth degree) of war. The DVD contains commentary by director Sam Mendes, a second commentary track with screenwriter William Broyles, Jr. and Anthony Swofford, interviews with Mendes and editor Walter Murch, and deleted scenes. Check out both the original reviews here and here.
Just Friends – Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart star in this film about a man returning home and meeting his old friend and crush whose rejection of him in high school made him leave home and become a womanizing jerk. DVD contains commentary from director Roger Kumble and producers, deleted scenes, bloopers, a Jamie Smiles music video, and a behind-the-scenes featurette. Read the original review.
Prime – Romantic comedy about a therapist (Meryl Streep) whose patient (Uma Thurman) begins dating her son (Bryan Greenberg). The DVD contains commentary from director Ben Younger and producer Jennifer Todd, and collections of deleted scenes and outtakes.
Family/Animated:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Harry takes part in the Tri-Wizard tournament (and never goes to class) in the fourth installment of the series. The DVD is available in a single disc version or a two-disc special edition that includes interviews with the cast, featurettes, and games for kids based off the film. Oddly enough both DVD’s are priced almost the same (within two dollars of each other). Read original reviews of the film here and here.
Howl’s Moving Castle – Oscar nominated anime feature about a young woman cursed by a witch into an old hag, a wizard named Howl who can see her as she truly is, and a fire demon named Calcifer bound to Howl. The DVD includes both an English track and English subtitles if you would prefer to watch it in the original Japanese. There are interviews with Pixar execs and a featurette on the making of the film.
The Flintstones – The Complete Fifth Season – Yabba-Dabba-Doo! The continuing adventures of this modern Stone Age family. All 26 episodes on four discs with original commercials, an introduction by animation historian Earl Kress, a “Stone Age Parenting Guide” feature, and a short interview with Hanna and Barbara on the creation of the series.
TV:
Hogan’s Heroes – The Complete Third Season – Hogan and his men are back fighting Nazis as undercover operatives serving as POWs in a WWII camp. Read the DVD review.
Star Trek Fan Collective – Borg – We gave you our early review last week of this collection of the top ten fan chosen Borg episodes. Check it out if you missed it.
The Cosby Show – Season 2 – The complete second season of the Huxtable family includes the famous lip synching scene to “The Night Time is the Right Time” among the 26 episodes.
The Brady Bunch – The Complete Fifth Season – Finally 22 episodes of the series about a lovely lady who was bringing up three very lovely girls and a man named Brady who was busy with three boys of his own.
Three’s Company – Season 6 – Come and knock on our door for all 28 episodes of the bumbling threesome, their nosy landlord Mr. Furley (Don Knotts) and their madcap hijinks.
When asked how long the Oscars where going to last this year, my response was 3 hours 25 minutes and 15 seconds, I was off by a few minutes, but if I would have known about all the film montages and plugging going to the theaters I would have changed my guess. Long and dry at times, but a few funny moments between John Stewart and the presenters, the Oscars played up to the films of substance. I agree with John Stewart, Oscar host, people go to the movies to escape reality not have it spoon-fed to them. Jon Stewart made a comment about all the themes for film this year runs close to the collar on censorship, racism, corruption, war and the overall shitty things that happen in life, glad we go to the movies to escape life aren’t you?
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