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New Year’s Eve

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  • Title: New Year’s Eve
  • IMDB: link

new-years-eve-blu-rayNew Year’s Eve follows the lives of an ensemble of New Yorkers, somehow each of whom find themselves in a series of cliched, sickeningly sweet entanglements or awkward situations that only bad screenwriters can dream up, in the hours leading up to Times Square’s biggest night.

The cast includes a single man (Tad Hamilton) with car trouble dreaming of the woman he met last New Year’s Eve,  a single mother (Sarah Jessica Parker) whose teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin) wants to spend New Year’s Eve with a cute boy (Jake T. Austin) in Times Square, Robert De Niro as a man dying of cancer wanting to see the ball drop one last time and his doctor (Cary Elwes) and nurse (Halle Berry) who try to make his final hours comfortable, and a pair of couples (Seth Meyers, Jessica Biel and Til Schweiger, Sarah Paulson) jockeying to be the parents of the first born baby of the year.

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Magnum, P.I. – The Complete Second Season

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  • Title: Magnum, P.I.
  • tv.com: link

magnum-pi-second-season-dvdThe Second Season of Magnum, P.I. includes what may be my favorite episode of the series – “Memories are Forever” which introduces the character of Michelle (Marta DuBois), Thomas Magnum’s (Tom Selleck) wife. Although Michelle would not make another appearance for five seasons her impact to the show is immeasurable.

Other highlights from Season Two include Magnum’s frustration when a suspicious woman shows interest in Higgins (John Hillerman), the arrival of Mad Buck Gibson (Darren McGavin), an old friend (Tyne Daly) from Vietnam on the trail of a dangerous story, a car accident that leaves Magnum with a gap in his memory and on the hook for murder, the introduction of (Kwan Hi Lim) as Police Lieutenant Yoshi Tanaka, an affair between Rick (Larry Manetti) and the wife (Nancy DeCarl) of Magnum’s latest client, and the rescue of a young friend (Ann Dusenberry) of Robin Masters which leads to some deadly serious problems for Magnum and his latest girlfriend (Mimi Rogers).

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Red Tails

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  • Title: Red Tails
  • IMDB: link

red-tails-blu-rayProducer George Lucas began developing the story of the Tuskegee Airmen as a theatrical project way back in 1988. Originally developed as a trilogy, Red Tails languished in development for years as Lucas moved on to other projects (including the Star Wars prequels). As a historical drama the film is problematic, but as an action film centered around real-life African-American heroes Red Tails is not without some charm.

The story focuses on Tuskegee training program, specifically the 332d Fighter Group of young African American USAAF fighter pilots (Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Tristan Wilds, Elijah Kelley, Ne-Yo, Kevin Phillips, Marcus T. Paulk) under the command of Colonel A.J. Bullard (Terrence Howard) and Major Emanuelle Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who finally get their shot at real action during WWII and prove skeptics and critics wrong with a near miraculous display of ability.

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The Grey

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  • Title: The Grey
  • IMDB: link

the-grey-dvdLiam Neeson stars as one of seven oil workers (Frank Grillo, Dallas Roberts, Joe Anderson, Nonso Anozie, Ben Bray, Dermot Mulroney) to survive a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness. A skilled hunter hired to keep the wolves off the workers in the fields, Ottway (Neeson) takes control of the survivors who have been marooned in the middle of the hunting grounds of a large pack of hungry, and vicious, gray wolves.

When the film sticks with the tension of the men’s fight for survival it works well enough. Sadly, the plot is also filled with flashback dream sequences of Ottway’s life with his wife (Anne Openshaw), Ottway and Diaz’s (Grillo) cliched alpha-male dick-measuring in the wilderness, and the heavy-handed sequence involving the man bemoaning the state of his life and contemplating suicide as the film opens. Is it better than most dead of winter theatrical releases? Sure. Is it worth owning on home video. Not really.

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Magnum, P.I. – The Complete First Season

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  • Title: Magnum, P.I.
  • tv.com: link

magnum-pi-first-season-dvdThe Ferrari, the twin Doberman Pinschers, the Detroit Tigers baseball cap, the Aloha shirts, the women, murder, mayhem, and getting himself (and his friends) into all kinds of trouble every single week, all set against the beautiful backdrop of Hawaii. For those of us who grew up in the 1980’s it’s hard not to look back fondly on Magnum, P.I.

Living on the estate of reclusive mystery novelist Robin Masters, former Naval Intelligence officer turned private detective Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck) provides security services to the estate while bartering with the estate’s caretaker Jonathan Quail Higgins III (John Hillerman) and relying on the assistance of old Navy buddies Rick (Larry Manetti) and T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) to help solve the cases that come his way.

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