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Darth on DVD

  • Title: Star Wars – Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
  • IMDB: link

star-wars-revenge-of-the-sith-dvdThe story is the best of the three, but the script is extremely poor and requiring the cast to act against a blue screen with X marks the spots or animated creatures; creates bad techniques, unconvincing character relationships and poor acting. “Let your cast act Lucas!” When your cast includes Natalie Portman, who has proven her ability to show compassion and emotion in films like Where the Heart Is and Closer, and Hayden Christensen, who has surpassed many young talent in such films as Life as a House and Shattered Glass, how can you get a complete void of acting abilities from two very talented individuals?

A major part of Anakin’s (Hayden Christensen) transformation to the dark side has to do with his deep love for his wife Padme (Natalie Portman) and their unborn children, but no where does the audience see this strong emotional bond between the two characters.

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WKRP in Cincinnati – The “Complete” First Season

  • Title: Castle – After Hours
  • tv.com: link

“Baby, if you’ve ever wondered, wondered whatever became of me. I’m living on the air in Cincinnati, Cincinnati, WKRP. Got kind of tired packing and unpacking, town to town and up and down the dial. Maybe you and me were never meant to be, but baby think of me once in awhile. I’m at WKRP in Cincinnati.”

wkrp-season-one-dvdWKRP was a small time radio station in Cincinnati during the late 1970’s.  Run by the bumbling son, referred to as “the big guy” (Gordon Jump), of the station’s owner (Sylvia Sidney) and cursed with a staff of misfits the station was the black hole in radio.  Enter a new hot shot program director (Gary Sandy) and a format change to rock and roll and the station began to get some attention.

The cast included Howard Hessman as Dr. Johnny Fever and Tim Reid as Venus Flytrap, the stations two radio deejays.  Add in the worst sales manager played brillantly by Frank Bonner (complete with his trademark white belt), a neurotic farm report obessed newsman (Richard Sanders) with no knowledge of sports, a mousy office worker (Jan Smithers), and the hottest secretary in television history (Loni Anderson), and you’ve got all the necessary parts for some great fun.

Over the course of 22 first season episodes they would deal with the fallout of the format change, promote a concert for the punk band Scum of the Earth, fight of consistently bad publicity, and put on the most memorable Thanksgiving promotion ever.

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Justice League Unlimited – Season Two

  • Title: Justice League Unlimited – Season Two
  • tv.com: link

justice-league-unlimited-season-two-dvdAfter peaking when the show was re-launched as Justice League Unlimited Season One, which included wrapping up most of the storylines and putting a coda to end the series, the show was renewed for a final 13 episodes. 

Since all the large story arcs had been played out, Season Two would be about Villains, unfinished business, Villains, traveling to new parts of the DCU including Central City, Skartaris, and Nanga Parbat, and, did I mention, Villains.  Superman would finally cut loose, Batman would crack a joke, the Flash would take on his rogues gallery, Lex Luthor would search for Braniac, Hawkman would (finally!) show up, Supergirl traveled to the future to meet the Legion, Darkseid returned, oh, and there was this new storyline based of the Challenge of the SuperFriends and the Legion of Doom.

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Unlimited Justice League!  Holy Moley!!

  • Title: Justice League Unlimited – Season Two
  • tv.com: link

justice-league-unlimited-season-one-dvdAfter two seasons on Cartoon Network Justice League was revamped into a series not only about the seven greatest heroes of the DC Universe, but including all the super-heroes who gave their lives to the pursuit of justice.  Fans of any incarnation of the Justice League will find something to enjoy here as the series tries to give a nod to each incarnation.

After the events of Starcrossed, where the league battled the invading Thanagarian army, Hawkgirl is no longer a member of the team, and, now aware of larger threats, the remaining six original members decide to open up the ranks of the Justice League and recruit more heroes.

Gone, for the most part, are the two episode story arcs.  Instead we get individual episodes that pair up original members with some of the new members of the team which include Supergirl, Green Arrow, The Question, Black Canary, The Huntress, Red Tornado, Ray, Rocket Red, Dr. Fate, Captain Atom, the Atom, Atom Smasher, and more.

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The Lisbon Girls

  • Title: The Virgin Suicides
  • IMDb: link

“Everyone dates the demise of our neighborhood from the suicides of the Lisbon girls.  People saw their clairvoyance in the wiped out elms, the harsh sunlight, and the continuing decline of our auto industry.  Even as teenagers we tried to put the pieces together; we still can’t.  Now, whenever we run into each other at business lunches or cocktail parties, we find ourselves in the corner going over the evidence one more time.  All to understand those five girls who, after all these years, we can’t get out of our minds.”

virgin-suicides-poster

The Lisbon girls were beautiful.  The five daughters of Mrs. Lisbon (Kathleen Turner) and Mr. Lisbon (James Woods), a high school teacher, captured the minds and hearts of the neighborhood boys in the early 1970’s in the sleepy Michigan suburbs.

The girls, Therese (Leslie Hayman) 17 years-old, Mary (A.J. Cook) 16, Bonnie (Chelse Swain) 15, Lux (Kirsten Dunst) 14, and Cecila (Hanna Hall) 13, would all be gone in the course of a single year.

In the space of two summers the sleepy suburbs would be woken to the deaths of five beautiful young women, all at their own hands.  The haunting suicides would leave behind unfinished dreams and imaginations by the boys they left behind (Anthony DeSimone, Lee Kagan, Robert Schwartzman, Noah Shebib, and Jonathan Tucker).

What caused such events to occur?  The sheltered life of the girls didn’t help matters, nor the strict homelife.  Was that all?  And if so, was there nothing that could be done?  The film’s characters look back with a tearful eye in wonder.

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