Blu-ray Review "Blood-C: The Complete Series (Limited Edition)"

Actors: Alexis Tipton, Robert McCollum, Bill Jenkins
Directors: Jerry Jewell, Tsutomu Mizushima
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: FUNimation Entertainment
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Run Time: 300 minutes

Series: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 2.5 out of 5 stars

If you are aware of Production I.G’s anime “Blood: The Last Vampire” from 2000 and it’s follow up 50 episode series “Blood+”, then you are going to LOVE “Blood-C”. This new series consists of 12 episodes and is made along with the manga creators CLAMP.  The series manages to consists of a nice mixture of sweet and cute while still managing to kick some major ass and comes packed with gore. The production value is impressive and the animation is really clean and sharp. As the story develops, the show really gets its wind in towards the end of the series but still really entertains throughout each episode. The main issue I had with the series is that I would have loved for it to be longer.  If you are a fan of the manga then this really aims to please for sure. I hope that Production I.G. contains this franchise going as I cannot get enough of it.

Official Premise: The creators of “Blood – the Last Vampire” and “Blood+” team up with renowned powerhouse CLAMP to inject beauty into a chilling new addition to the Blood line. Horrifying beasts with a hunger for human flesh prey on the citizens of a quiet town. In moonlit twilight, Saya slays the monsters and returns home drenched in blood. As the attacks increase in frequency and intensity, her enemies relay cryptic messages about a broken contract. Limbs are torn from flesh and skulls are crushed and devoured while the huntress struggles with paralyzing visions and gaping holes in her memory. When the humans Saya promised to protect reveal the sickening truth about her role in the violence, she learns her mission isn’t as clear cut as she thought-and her most sadistic foe of all is so close she can taste it.

This Limited Edition release comes in a  Blu-ray + DVD combo pack.  This four-disc set including two Blu-ray dics and two DVDs.  They are packages in a slipcase cover with individual cases for each format.  It is a little weird that a DVD comes in a Blu-ray case but either way I like having the option of either Blu-ray or DVD.  The 1080p transfer of the episodes really look fantastic, especially the colors red and black ;-). The episodes are also presented with their original aspect ratio of 1.78:1.  The audio included packs a very nice (and preferred) English track with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and the Japanese track includes a Dolby TrueHD 2.0 track.  The special features are lacking a bit with the main extra being two commentary tracks.  The first is on episode 6 with director Jerry Jewell and Robert McCollum, the voice of Fumito. The next is on episode 12 with Jerry Jewell with Alexis Tipton, the voice of Saya. There is the Textless Opening and Closing Songs “spiral” and “Junketsu Paradox”.  Lastly there are the Original Commercials,
Promotional Videos (both in 1080i) and U.S. Trailer included.

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Blu-ray Review "The Hour: Series 2"

Created by: Abi Morgan
Actors: Dominic West, Ben Whishaw, Romola Garai, Peter Capaldi, Hannah Tointon and Tom Burke
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: January 8, 2013
Run Time: 360 minutes

Series 2: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 1.5 out of 5 stars

When I saw the first series of “The Hour”, I had no idea about it but fell madly in love. I had known of (and even met) Dominic West and was a big fan but no one else. Since the first season, Ben Whishaw is now one of my favs after his amazing role in “Cloud Atlas” and even “Skyfall”. There has been a huge gap between the first and season series of “The Hour” and I had my fingers very tight for more.  Luckily BBC came to its senses and signed up for more of this very gripping show.  There is something about it that really delivers and keep your entertained from the minute each episode starts. Abi Morgan is the creator of this show and also the screenwriter of the Oscar winning “The Iron Lady”.  She really set you up to sit on the end of every word spoken by this wonderful cast.  I feel that the second series is a nice improvement over the first season and I can’t wait till series 3! I just hope we won’t have to wait as long.

Official Premise: Season Two rejoins “The Hour” team in 1957 with the introduction of two new characters played by Capaldi (The Thick Of It, The Nativity), Tointon (The Inbetweeners) and Burke (State of Play). They strive to broadcast the stories they believe in while grappling with the looming specter of the Cold War and changing social mores. With the emergence of the Space Race and the threat of nuclear annihilation looming, Britain grapples with an era of unprecedented scientific advancement, economic opportunity and cultural change in the face of new immigration from the Commonwealth. The members of “The Hour” team live in a world of cover-ups, sexual intrigues and lurking fascism.

This is the first time that this show has aired on BBC America during its original broadcast and hopefully it left enough of an imprint to grab a new audience.  The episodes on the Blu-ray look much better in their 1080p transfer then they did on television.  The audio on this Blu-ray includes a sharp DTS-HD 2.0 track, which works with the dialogue and the score.  Last series, Daniel Giorgetti delivered some really great music. This season Kevin Sargent take over and continues making this show very intense and nail biting through the score. This two-disc Blu-ray set contains all six second-series episodes. I wish this series was longer than just six episodes but what is good is that they work well for repeat viewings.  The bad part of the release is that there is only one behind-the-scene featurette.

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Blu-ray Review "Jackson 5ive: The Completed Animated Series"

Actors: Joel Cooper, Donald Fullilove, Mike Martinez, Edmund Sylvers, Craig Grandy, Paul Frees
Directors: Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Classic Media
Release Date: January 15, 2013
Run Time: 506 minutes

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

I can’t say that I was around for the original broadcast of the Saturday morning cartoon series “Jackson 5ive” but I do remember it from its re-broadcast in mid 80’s. Who doesn’t love the songs of Jackson Five. They are timeless and still resonate and entertain throughout the years. This series was a blend of music with the classic animation from the team of Rankin/Bass. It is not the “animagic” puppet style like Rankin/Bass’ other projects but still hold their charm. This series always reminds me of “The Beatles: Yellow Submarine”, since it has that trippy feel and does not include the original band members voices. I did love hearing legendary voice actor Paul Frees take on various roles through the episodes. Overall, the show is presented beautiful thanks to Classic Media and for the first time ever on DVD or Blu-ray. It is must purchase for sure!

Here is the track listing for each of the 46 songs through the complete 23 episodes:
Episode 1: ABC, Goin’ Back to Indiana; Episode 2: I’ll be There, The Young Folks; Episode 3: I Want You Back, 2-4-6-8; Episode 4: I’ll Bet You, Sixteen Candles; Episode 5: My Little Baby, It’s Great to be Here; Episode 6: The Love You Save, How Funky is Your Chicken; Episode 7: Reach In, Can I See You in the Morning?; Episode 8: The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage, Oh How Happy; Episode 9: The Wall, I Will Find a Way; Episode 10: Maybe Tomorrow, Nobody; Episode 11: (Come `Round Here) I’m the One You Need, (We’ve Got) Blue Skies; Episode 12: My Cherie Amour, Honey Chile

Episode 13: Ready or Not (Here I Come), La La (Means I Love You); Episode 14: Darling Dear, Don’t Know Why (I Love You); Episode 15: Petals, She’s Good; Episode 16: One More Chance, I Found that Girl; Episode: 17: Never Can Say Goodbye, Mama’s Pearl; Episode 18: Sugar Daddy, I Wanna Be Where You Are; Episode 20: I’m So Happy, In Our Small Way; Episode 21: Got to be There, Maria; Episode 22: Love is Here, Girl Don’t Take Your Love From Me; Episode 23: Little Bitty Pretty One, If I have to Move a Mountain

The 46 songs included throughout this series have been remastered songs but only delivers a Dolby Digital 2.0 track on the episodes. This is a little bit disappointing to be honest. The 1080p transfers of the episodes look good and deliver the classic animation feel. The animated though is little dated but still looks very impressive for a show that is over 40 years old. My two issues with the release is the box art, it is very focuses a lot on the 46 remastered songs and less on the show itself and zero mention of Rankin/Bass on the front or back. The second thing is that there are no special features included for this, I would have loved to seen included retro TV spots from the series. Though fans of Rankin/Bass and Jackson Five, should still enjoy the chance to finally own this complete series at home.

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DVD Review “Police Academy: The Animated Series- Volume One”

Starring: Ron Rubin, Dan Hennessey, Howard Morris, Greg Morton
Studio: Warner Archive
Number of Discs: 3
DVD Release Date: December 11, 2012
Run Time: 658 minutes

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

If you were a kids in the late 80’s like myself, then you would have looked forward to coming home from school for shows like this.  I have always been a fan of the “Police Academy” series, obviously shows like this don’t really warrant a animated series but it still is fun and reminds me of the time when afternoon cartoons were the bees knees.  This series fits in between the fourth and fifth movie in the franchise but this does not include any of the original cast voicing their characters.  I am not sure what it is about 80’s animated series but they just have this certain charm. I am glad to finally have these episodes on DVD and I look forward to the next volume to complete this animated series.

There were 64 episodes in this series produced over two seasons.  The first season consisted of 26 episodes, so the 30 episodes presented here cover the first season and a bit of the season. This is the first time that this episodes have ever been released on DVD, thanks to Warner Archive. The episodes have not really been restored for this release but they still look good. They have been manufactured from the best-quality video master currently available.  They are presented in a 4×3 full frame with the original aspect ratio of  1.37:1. The audio track included is a basis mono track but it works, especially with the catchy theme song “They Wear the Blue” performed by The Fat Boys.

Official Synopsis: The wacky rookies are back – and this time their antics are animated! After a bust goes awry in the opening episode, the heinous Capt. Harris gets busted back to the academy. With a serious hate-on for academy alums, Harris drags Mahoney, Jones, Hightower, Hooks, Tackleberry, Callahan, Sweetchuck and Zed back to the academy! In this 30-Episode, 3-Disc collection, the hit cartoon spin-off of the legendary law-and-disorder comedy franchise, Mahoney and Co. are joined by the stalwart members of the K-9 Corps, dog cops who are a few bones short of being top dogs, while battling super-villains like the Kingpin, Lockjaw, Amazona, Numbskull, Mr. Sleaze and the Claw. The noble-but-not-all-there Commandant is on hand as well, aided by new character The Professor and his crazy gadgets. Tip-top hip-hop act The Fat Boys sings the toe-tapping theme.

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Christopher Tyng talks about scoring the TV series “Futurama”

Christopher Tyng is a composer that has worked on various television series including “Futurama”, “Suits” and “Rescue Me”. With Volume 7 of “Futurama” hits Blu-ray and DVD this month, he is releasing a brand new remix version of the “Futurama” theme on iTunes. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Christopher about working on the show and his influences over the years.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you originally get involved composing for “Futurama”?
Christopher Tyng: It all started with Matt Groening when he was searching for the style of music for the show. He has heard some of the stuff that I had done prior. He called and asked for a meeting. He was getting a lot of demos from other musicians but I guess they liked what they heard on mine. The rest is history, as I have been with this show for the last 10 years. Matt is a great person to work with.

MG: What is some of your inspiration that you pull from for this show?
CT: The visual aesthetics of the show goes back to the 50’s/60’s idea of what the future will be like. So we really wanted the music to reflect the same thing. We were looking at the hey-day of bachelor pad space age music. That was the music version of what they thought the future would be. The synthesizers were just started to get popular. There was this whole new pallid of sounds. People were also trying to stretch the boundaries of what music was then. We looked at what was happening with music at that time, so some of the influences were Les Baxter and Martin Denny. Of course then the show also takes place in the year 3000, so even though it has that visual aesthetic of that 50’s/60’s era, it takes place way in the future. We wanted to take those influences and modernize them a bit. Matt has always been a bit component of having a orchestra and doing it live. I was able to go back and do some remixing with electronica music, so we brought in that element as well. It is really a nice hodge-podge of elements in our influence.

MG: How do you do to differentiate the score season to season?
CT: That is a really good question! What is really great about “Futurama” – and different from any other show that I have worked on – is that in each episode, the story is set in the future where anything in possible. The show gets its story lines from pop culture reference over the years. Every episode is like a different journey. That has actually made the music different from episode to episode. We have this big orchestral sound with this bachelor pad space-age sound. They go back to ancient Egypt and the music takes on that tone. What is really fun for me is that when I go in to record, I really don’t know what I am writing for the next week. Due to that aspect, my job has never gotten stale since it is always changing.

MG: Tell us about the new extended remix for the “Futurama” theme available on iTunes?
CT: We wanted something that was going to play at a longer length for the iTunes release. We are excited that all the fans of “Futurama” are finally going to be able to own this piece of music in their collection. The TV scenes always tend to be a little shorter and don’t play the full single track. Some parts of the remix actually go back to the original premiere of the show at Griffith Observatory, which is this circular dome at the top of Hollywood. They had a DJ there and I decided to come up with some music for the DJ to spin. So there is actually some stuff on this single that I did way back then that was never able to been released. We were able to take all those elements and made it into a really great single length release.

MG: How composing for a cartoon compare to your other TV work?
CT: For shows like “The Simpsons” and “Futurama”, it isn’t the traditional cartoon music like the old-school Warner Bros. In the show there might be an epic space battle with deep comedic irony involved. But the music will always stay like it is an epic space battle. I thought originally that getting involved with a cartoon would be a totally different mindset. In truth though, the shows aims to play the aspects of the music like they are completely legitimate. If they are doing an emotionally intense moment, then the orchestra swells in a “Braveheart” sort of way. We are treating the show like we are scoring an epic movie even though the characters are doing something so ridiculous. That is what makes “Futurama” such an interesting project to work on due to the fact that it has such a wide set of influences.

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DVD Review “Korg: 70,000 B.C. – The Complete Series”

Created by: Fred Freiberger
Starring, Jim Malinda, Bill Ewing, Naomi Pollack, Christopher Man
Narrated by: Burgess Meredith
Distributed by: Warner Archive
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 344 minutes

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

“Korg: 70,000 B.C.” is a short-lived live-action Saturday morning TV series from 1974 that was executive produced by Hanna-Barbera. The show only lasted one season of 16 episodes but has developed quite the following over the years. I can’t say that I was able to watch this show during its original run, but I was aware of this series, despite its short-life and I enjoyed it quite a bit. The series also spawned a board game and comic series tie-in back in the day. Warner Archive is behind this complete collection of this show. It is the first time it has every been released on DVD.

Official Synopsis: A plaintive hunting horn, heard over a ruddy sunrise, signaled the start of something different on Saturday mornings in the mid-seventies. Clan Korg had arrived to take kids and kids at heart on a series of live-action anthropological adventures across the dangerous terrain of prehistory. Aided by consultants from both New York’s American Museum of Natural History and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Korg ditched battling dinos and discovering fire for a more mature focus on the dawn of cooperation and compassion amongst our Neanderthal brethren as personified by it’s pre-nuclear family. Korg is the patriarch of the clan, which includes Mara, his mate; Bok, Korg’s younger brother; and Korg’s three offspring: Tana, 15; Ree, 12; and Tar, 11. Together, they brave opposing tribes, cave bears and fire while discovering the roots of art, diplomacy and commerce in the world of 70,000 BC. Burgess Meredith narrates.

The quality of the episodes are decent for a 35+ year old show.  This release hasn’t been remastered or restored but it has been taken from the best-quality video master currently available.  So it looks good but could look much better, I am sure.  But I think that fans of the series will just be happy to finally have this series available on DVD.  They are presented in 4 X 3 Full Frame with it’s original aspect ration of 1.37:1.  The audio track included is a Dolby Mono track, which is in line with all the Warner Archive release.  There are no other extras included besides the episodes.

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“Sushi Girl” Interview Series with Mark Hamill, Tony Todd, Sonny Chiba and More!

SUSHI GIRL centers on the compelling character of a man called “Fish,” just released after six years in jail after successfully not ratting on those involved in the robbery that sent him to prison. The night he is released, the men he protected with silence celebrate his freedom with a congratulatory dinner. The meal is a lavish array of sushi, served off the naked body of a beautiful young woman. The sushi girl seems catatonic, trained to ignore everything in the room, even if things become dangerous. Sure enough, the unwieldy thieves can’t help but open old wounds in an attempt to find their missing loot, with violent results.

Media Mikes had been working and promoting this film since August 2011. “Sushi Girl” is finally being released on VOD everywhere on November 27th, 2012 and in theaters on January 4th, 2013. It has been a long road for this little-movie-that-could but it deserves the attention. “Sushi Girl” is easily one of my favorite films of 2012. We got a chance to finally complete our interview series with the legendary Mark Hamill (“Star Wars”) and Noah Hathaway (“The Neverending Story”). We are proud to be supporting this film and hope you enjoy!


Andy Mackenzie & James Duval
Cortney Palm
David Dastmalchian
Destin Pfaff
Destin Pfaff, Kern Saxton, Neal Fischer & Suren Seron

Mark Hamill
Noah Hathaway
Sonny Chiba
Tony Todd

Directed by: Kern Saxton
Written by: Kern Saxton and Destin Pfaff
Produced by: Neal Fischer, Destin Pfaff, Kern Saxton, and Suren M. Seron
Cast: Tony Todd, James Duval, Noah Hathaway, Andy Mackenzie and Mark Hamill, Cyrus Alexander, Michael Biehn, Sonny Chiba, David Dastmalchian, Jeff Fahey, David Reynolds, Ted Stryker, Danny Trejo, introducing Cortney Palm

Find out more at our official site: http://www.sushigirlmovie.com/
Follow us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/SushiGirlMovie
Exclusive Facebook Content: http://www.facebook.com/SushiGirlMovie
Check out our IMDB at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1606339/

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DVD Review “The Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show: The Complete Series”

Created by Charles M. Shultz
Starring: Bill Melendez, Jeremy Schoenberg, Brad Kesten, Angela Lee, Victoria Vargas, Jeremy Miller, Brett Johnson, Heather Stoneman, Gini Holtzman
Studio: Warner Archive
DVD Release Date: November 20, 2012
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 402 minutes

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

Who doesn’t love Peanuts?! “The Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show” originally aired on CBS from September 1983 to October of 1985 for only two seasons. This DVD contains the complete series with all 18 episodes. A few of the episodes started to be released last year on various Peanuts DVDs but this is the first time that they have been released fully and complete on DVD, thanks to Warner Archive.  The episodes are presented in 4X3 full frame and their original aspect ratio of 1.37:1.  The audio included is a decent mono track, which works for the show. This is a nice flashback to the ‘ole Saturday morning cartoon days that I had growing up.

Season 1 consists of the following episodes: “Snoopy’s Cat Fight”; “Snoopy: Team Manager”; “Linus and Lucy”; “Lucy vs. the World”; “Linus’ Security Blanket”; “Snoopy: Man’s Best Friend”; “Snoopy the Psychiatrist”; “You Can’t Win, Charlie Brown”; “The Lost Ballpark”; “Snoopy’s Football Career”; “Chaos in the Classroom”; “It’s That Team Spirit, Charlie Brown”; “Lucy Loves Schroeder”. Season 2 consists of the following episodes: “Snoopy and the Giant”; “Snoopy’s Brother Spike”; “Snoopy’s Robot”; “Peppermint Patty’s School Days” and “Sally’s Sweet Babboo”.  Inside each episode there are numerous shorts, so you get quite of bit of Peanuts goodness throughout the series.  If you are a fan of Charlie Brown and the Peanuts crew then this release is a no-brainer.

Official Premise: Your favorite Peanuts stories come to life in this animated television series. Adapted from the popular comic strip created and written by Charles M. Shultz, “The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show” is no longer a cartoon relegated to Saturday mornings of the past — now you can watch the gang anytime! With short sketches featuring these classic and much-loved characters, it’s easy to “have a party with Charlie Brown and Snoopy,” as the theme song says. The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show originally aired in 1983 and 1985 and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1983

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William Joyce talks about the film “Rise of the Guardians” and book series “The Guardians of Childhood”

William Joyce is the author of the “The Guardians of Childhood” series, which is being made into the film, “Rise of the Guardians”. William also served as executive producer on the film. William recently released the third novel in “The Guardians of the Childhood” series, called “Toothiana, Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies” and also a picture book “Toothiana, Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies”. Media Mikes had a chance to ask William a few questions about turning his series into a film and chatted about his new books.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about your work on DreamWorks Animation’s “Rise of the Guardians”?
William Joyce: The upcoming DreamWorks Animation “Rise of the Guardians”, set for release on November 21, is based on my book series “The Guardians of Childhood.” It takes place 200 years after the team’s formation in the books; it tells the story of Jack’s recruitment to the team and centers around four of the guardians; Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, Jack Frost and the Easter Bunny. The Guardians of Childhood book series tells a sweeping tale of the ongoing battle between Pitch, lord of nightmares, and the eponymous guardians, consisting of figures such as the Man in the Moon, Nicolas St. North, the Tooth Fairy, Bunnymund the Easter Bunny, the Sandman, Mother Goose, and Jack Frost. I also worked as the executive producer, so I collaborated on all aspects of the film. Design, story, and casting.

MG: What was the most challenging aspect of bringing “The Guardians of Childhood” to screen?
WJ: Narrowing the story down to a 90 minute film, then bringing that story to the screen. Animated feature films are titanic endeavors, and take years to realize.

MG: Tell us about the next novel in the series “Toothiana, Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies”?
WJ: Toothania, Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies, is the third and the newest in The Guardian series. It delves into the secret world of the third Guardian, the mysterious Tooth Fairy. This third chapter book presents you to Her Royal Highness, Toothiana, Queen of the Tooth Fairies. There’s a lot more to her than has been previously understood.

MG: How many other book do you have planned in this series?
WJ: The Guardians of Childhood Series and The Guardians series will consist in total of thirteen books; the seven picture books in The Guardians of Childhood series and six chapter books in the Guardians of Childhood series.

MG: How did the idea for picture book “The Sandman: The Story of Sanderson Mansnoozie” come about?
WJ: I’ve been working on a unified mythology for the icons of childhood since my daughter asked me if Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy knew each other. As a parent, I felt that Santa Claus, the Man in the Moon, all of them had become a little diminished. They deserve to be thought of as grand. Heroic. Epic. If Spider-Man has an origins mythology, then why not the characters we actually believed in? Creating a voice for their stories became my mission.

MG: Tell us about the road to “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” winning the Best Animated Short in 2011 Oscars?
WJ: We started Moonbot Studios three years ago, in my hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana. It’s an unlikely place to have an animation studio. We are, I believe, the 104th largest city in the United States. But we love it. Shreveport is home. To do the short we had to mortgage our houses and hunt for every nickel we could rub together. It was a huge risk. But we believed in ourselves and the story. Most of our employees were fresh out of college. Working at Moonbot was their first job. When we won, the whole city, the entire state of Louisiana, went nuts. It was like a Frank Capra movie come to life. They gave us a ticker tape parade, a key to the city, and sang for he’s a jolly good fellow. Our lives became like the movies we’d been inspired by and loved. It was surreal, unspeakably happy and perfect. But now our employees are totally spoiled.

MG: What can you tell us about your next film “Epic”?
WJ: Epic is an upcoming 3D computer animated fantasy-adventure film based on my children’s book “The Leaf Men.” It’s an epic adventure that just happens to be in the secret world of a teenage girl’s backyard. A race o tiny beings threatened by an ancient evil. I like to think of it as an intimate epic. It’s being produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Chris Wedge, the director of Ice Age (2002) and Robots (2005). It stars the voices of Beyoncé Knowles, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Knoxville, Aziz Ansari, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, and Steven Tyler. The film is scheduled to be released on May 24, 2013.

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DVD Review “Monster Squad: The Complete Series”

Actors: Fred Grandy, Henry Polic II, Buck Kartalian, Michael Lane, Julie Newmar
Directors: James Sheldon, Herman Hoffman
Number of discs: 2
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: VCI Entertainment
DVD Release Date: September 18, 2012
Run Time: 312 minutes

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Not to be confused with the 80’s movie of the same name, “Monster Squad” was a campy Saturday morning kid’s action adventure series. It was created by the same team that was behind the 1960’s “Batman” series and has the exact same camp feel. Thanks to VCI Entertainment, all 13 episodes of this cult classic series are available again on DVD after being out of print for a long time. They are fully restored and are a great way to experience this 1976 series again on DVD. The episodes are still very fun…and did I mention they are campy?  This is a must own for all horror fans and lovers of classic monsters.

Official Premise: Originally screened on Saturday mornings on NBC in the late 70s The show stars Fred Grandy (The Love Boat) as Walt, a criminology student working as a night watchman in a wax museum. To pass the time, Walt built a prototype “Crime Computer”. When Walt plugged in his Crime Computer, the “oscillating vibrations” brought to life three legendary monsters. Dracula, The Werewolf and Frankenstein. These creatures hated and feared for centuries are now determined to make up for their past misdeeds by using their unique abilities to fight crime and bust super villains wherever they find them. Together they are the Monster Squad!

All 13 episode are included over two discs, the first disc includes 1: Queen Bee, Episode 2: Mr Mephisto, Episode 3: The Tickler, Episode 4: The Ringmaster, Episode 5: Music Man, Episode 6: No Face, Episode 7: The Astrologer.  The second disc includes – Episode 8: Ultra Witch, Episode 9: The Wizard, Episode 10: The Skull, Episode 11: The Weatherman,  Episode 12: Lawrence of Moravia and Episode 13: Albert/Alberta. Each episodes does look quite nice for a show that is over 35 years old. There is a little grain throughout but still impressive. There are really no special features on the release but to be fair, there is a stills gallery included. Lastly, there is an episode Synopsis on the inside of the DVD case.

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Blu-ray Review “Doctor Who: Series Seven, Part One”

Starring: Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill, Alex Kingston,
Number of discs: 2
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Run Time: 225 minutes

Episodes: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 4 out of 5 stars

“Doctor Who” is one of my favorite series on television. I have been a hardcore fan since the first series and have been watching it grown into this now worldwide phenomenon. It is very trending in the US now amongst us nerds or as we are called “Whovians”. Series six was a very tough act to follow, its story line was the most epic yet, which encapsulated the whole series. Matt Smith has really grown on me quite a bit since series five. He is quickly becoming a fav of mine as well. Karen Gillan was a terrific companion for the Doctor in the last two seasons and, get ready “SPOILERS”, if you don’t know this is also her’s and Arthur Darvill’s (plays Rory) last. I am sure that BBC will be releasing a complete series seven at the end of this run but I recommend this release for this who are looking to section it as a turning point in the show. If you are a fan of Doctor Who, this will hold you over till the Christmas 2012 episode and get you psyched for what’s to come in part two.

Official Premise “Join the Doctor, his companions Amy and Rory (aka the Ponds) and numerous friends on their latest escapades through space and time where they puzzle an unexpected invasion of Earth, save a spaceship full of dinosaurs, don Stetsons in a Wild West adventure and are even kidnapped by the Doctor’s oldest foe. The explosive series concludes with Amy and Rory’s heart-breaking farewell a race against time through the streets of Manhattan. Will the Doctor really lose the Ponds forever? There’s only one way to find out.”

Episodes included are: “Asylum of the Daleks”, “Dinosaurs on a Spaceship”, “A Town Called Mercy”, “The Power of Three” and “The Angels Take Manhattan”. “Asylum” was a good season kick-off. I do love me some Daleks. I do not feel that it as epic as season 6’s opener but you can’t always kill the Doctor. “Dinosaurs” was campy and very funny. Great visuals on this one. “A Town Called Mercy” was a fun Western spin the series but with cyborgs. “The Power of Three” was my least favorite of the five and is a big slow paced, cool idea with the cube’s planning a slow invasion but it was a little too slow for me. “The Angels Take Manhattan” was amazingly epic and probably one of my favorite episodes ever. I love the Angels and they literally scare the shit out of me. I also loved Amy and Rory and this is where there story ends.

Jenna Louise-Coleman will joining on as the Doctor’s new companion starting with the Christmas 2012 Special. She was well-placed in “Asylum of the Daleks”, playing Oswin Oswald. I actually really liked her and though she was fun, so I am excited and opened-minded to see where Steven Moffat, the Lead Writer, will take this show in the second half of this season. Moffat was quoted saying that the reason for choosing her what that “she worked the best alongside Smith and could talk faster than him.” Classic reasoning!

The episodes look and sound stunning on Blu-ray. BBC America has finally upgraded to HD (or 720p on TV), so at least now it is watchable but they look even better with their 1080p transfers, and presented in their original aspect ratio: 1.78:1. There are some great special features included in “Doctor Who: Series Seven – Part One”. There are five-part mini-adventure prequel to series seven called “Pond Life”, which puts the Doctor in more situations when attempting to visit AMy and Rory on Earth. There is a “Asylum of the Daleks Prequel” included where the Doctor receives a message from a mysterious hooded woman called Darla Von Karlsen. “The Making of The Gunslinger” shows us the origin of The Gunslinger in “A Town Called Mercy”. Lastly, “The Science of Doctor Who” and “Doctor Who at Comic Con” are great BBC America specials.

Lastly I must give a future nod to an upcoming “Doctor Who” release from BBC. On Nov.20th, the “Doctor Who: Limited Edition Gift Set” is hitting the stories. It comes packed with over 70 hours of “Doctor Who” spread over 41-discs. It is the perfect gift for all Doctor Who fan’s this holiday season. It includes the complete series one-six featuring Christopher Eccleston (the ninth Doctor), David Tennant (the tenth Doctor) and Matt Smith (the eleventh Doctor). It also includes hours and hours of bonus features including three new Doctor Who Specials coming to DVD for the first time ever, a collectible eleventh Doctor Sonic Screwdriver, three original art cards and the comic book, “Doctor Who at Comic Con.” If you are wondering how all this can fit on to one gift set just remember that it’s bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside 😉

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Filed Under: DVD/Blu-Ray Reviews Tagged With: bluray, doctor, part, review, series

Elaine Hendrix talks about new web series “Fetching”

Elaine Hendrix plays the role of Sheila in the new web series “Fetching”. Media Mikes had a chance to talk with Elaine recently about working on the series and what other projects have been keeping her busy.

Adam Lawton: What can you tell us about your new show “Fetching”?
Elaine Hendrix: I love this role so much. It is a web series put out by Michael Eisner’s company. They teamed up with AOL and writer Amy Harris who wrote “Sex and the City”. The series is fun and really cute. There are animals in it and you can never go wrong there. I like to describe my character on the show as being fabulously, fabulous. She is the top client at Fetching and spoils her dog rotten. I had a ball doing this. It was very much like shooting for a television series other than we jammed the whole season in to a month’s worth of shooting. There have been talks already of doing a second run.

AL: What drew you to the project?
EH: First and for most it was set in a dog boutique. There was going to be a lot having to do with dogs. Being the animal activist that I am it was perfect. Also getting the chance to work with Amy Harris was something that I really wanted to do as I am a big fan of her work.

AL: What do you think was the biggest challenge working on a series like this?
EH: Surprisingly nothing. The only difference was that we had to move a little faster. In this day and age unless you are a 100 million dollar franchise everyone is trying to do things on a shoe string budget. Moving faster has sort of become the norm. I think the show looks beautiful and the writing and cast are top rate. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

AL: What did you enjoy most about your role?
EH: Sheila is kind of like the “Samantha” of the show minus the gratuitous sex. Sorry to disappoint all the readers. (Laughs) She lives in her own world and plays by her own rules. Sheila knows who she is and has no qualms being that.

AL: Can you tell us about a few of your other projects?
EH: I just finished work on “A Street Car Named Desire” and it’s looking like the production is going to be reprised in Los Angeles which would be great. I love Blanche Dubois. For women’s roles it doesn’t get much better than that. I did a Christmas film for the Ion Network that will be released around the holidays. I also did a film titled “General Education” which was just released. Then there are a few other projects that are in development as well.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: elaine, fetching, hendrix, series, talks, web, ...

Kathryn Fiore talks about new TV series TBS’ “The Wedding Band”

Kathryn Fiore is co-starring in TBS’ new comedy series “The Wedding Band”, playing Ingrid. Kathryn has also appeared in films like “Hatchet II” and the upcoming spoof “30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Kathryn about the new show and her love for comedy.

Mike Gencarelli: What drew you to the role if Ingrid?
Kathryn Fiore: She is my favorite character out of the roles I have played. When I read the script she wasn’t the typical TV wife. She and her husband Eddy are really in love. There isn’t that typical wife nagging the husband. They are happy and she is his biggest fan. When she watches him playing on stage it takes her back to the first time they met. I think this will be great for TV. I love that they are so cute.

MG: What has been the highlight so far of working with such a great cast?
KF: Everything has been great! It sounds so ridiculous but we have a lot of fun on set. It’s like working with your best friends. We laugh and joke around all the time. It hardly seems like work. Of course there are some late nights where you’re shooting at 2am and you just start coming up with some crazy characters and such. There are just so many highlights.

MG: Will we see your character singing at all during the upcoming episodes?
KF: I haven’t in this season but I would love to. I think they should totally have an episode where that happens.

MG: What can we expect from season 1 of the show?
KF: Overall I think it’s about the band getting into as much trouble as humanly possible. They get in to a lot of crazy antics. At the end the guys have this great bond where they always come together at the end. There’s one episode where we lose our kids but it not really that big of deal. The show has a lot of great music as well as some great special guests.

MG: How was it working in the hour long comedy format?
KF: It’s great. That’s a format I think TBS is really trying to get behind. By doing that you are able to get the comedic elements but you also get the realness. There are a lot of genuine moments as well as laughable moments.

MG: What was it like going from a film like “Hatchet II” to a role like you play in “Wedding Band”?
KF: It was actually really fun. Working with Adam Green and the Hatchet Family was so awesome. I am such a huge horror fan that it was great to play a really scary character. Going from that to playing Ingred who is a very grounded/real type character was fun. Ingred is more like me.

MG: Can you tell us about “30 Nights of Paranormal Activity with the Devil Inside the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”?
KF: That movie is going to be a really great spoof of a bunch of films. We are just making fun of the whole horror genre. It has a great cast and is a little sillier and raunchier than some other films. There are also some actual scary parts that have great special effects. I may or may not make out with a ghost. (Laughs)

MG: What do you enjoy most about the comedy genre?
KF: My parents are both actors who when they were younger had a comedy act. They were on the Johnny Carson show and a bunch of others. I grew up with a lot of joking around and silliness. Comedy has always been part of my actual life. What more could you ask for than to be able to go to work and laugh all day.

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Filed Under: Interviews, TV Interviews Tagged With: band, fiore, kathryn, series, talks, tbs, ...

DVD Review “Shazam! The Complete Live-Action Series”

Directors: Hollingsworth Morse, Arthur H. Nadel
Starring: Michael Gray, Les Tremayne, Jackson Bostwick
Distributed by: Warner Archive
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 588 minutes

Our Score: 3 out of 5 stars

If you are a fan of superheros they everyone knows DC Comics’Captain Marvel. “Shazam!” is a live-action TV series based on that series, which ran from 1974 to 1977 and consisted of 28 episodes. Thanks to Warner Archive, this is the first time that this complete live-action series is released on DVD. I have to say though, if you were a fan of this series in its original days…it has aged quite a bit.

Michael Gray plays Billy Batson aka Captain Marvel.  He certainly looks sharp in his pajamas and his cape, I mean his superhero costume. The show still has some charm if you are a hardcore fan or just looking for a good laugh but otherwise it definitely has not lasted the test of time. When I was watching this, I couldn’t stop of thinking about the cheesy live-action TV films of “Captain America” and the failed TV movie “Fantastic Four”.

I liked the use of blended animation for the elders and mixed with the live-action. It reminded me of something out of Ralph Bakshi’s mind. Overall, the episodes do not look the greatest. They are presented in 4X3 full frame with the show’s original aspect ratio of 1.37:1. There is no special features included on this release besides the episodes.

Official Premise: By uttering a single magic word young Billy Batson transforms himself into the world’s mightiest mortal, Captain Marvel. The acronym of the first letters of the names of the six elders who train Billy with their respective special gifts: Solomon, wisdom; Hercules, strength; Atlas, stamina; Zeus, power; Achilles, courage; and Mercury, speed, in a word…SHAZAM! Now, the entire series is available in this 3-disc set featuring every exciting episode of this classic television show!

 

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Robert Z’Dar reflects on the cult status of the “Maniac Cop” series

Robert Z’Dar is known best for playing the role of Matt Cordell in the cult series “Maniac Cop”. Robert took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about his films and also what he is currently working on.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you reflect on the cult status of the “Maniac Cop” series?
Robert Z’Dar: It’s been amazing. When the first 2 films were released here in the states theatrically it was great. Going to places like the airport people would know who I was but they didn’t know my name. It was kind of funny. They would say “there’s that guy”. I still sign a lot of autographs these days. We got introduced to a whole generation recently that loves the films. Over the last 3 years this whole new cult following has been established.

MG: Can you tell us any stories from the production of the films?
RZ: While we were working on “Maniac Cop 2” I was on set the first day of shooting and we were in thiswarehouse. I was reading while the other cast was eating because I couldn’t really talk or anything as a slit hadn’t been cut into the mouth of my makeup. Robert Davi goes over and says that he doesn’t think there’s a hole in mouth and that they should probably feed the maniac because he looked like he was going to kill somebody. I go over mumbling asking if they are going to cut a hole in my mouth or was I going to have to kill them. Everyone started laughing and the makeup crew came over and gave me a slit so I could eat and talk.

MG: Were you approached to do a 4th film?
RZ: Yes, they wanted me to do a 4th one however I can’t do all the same stunts I used to be able to do. I did all my own stuff except for the burn scenes in the first films. I had been with the American Stunt Association for about 15 years. That’s probably why I am so banged up now. I have two metal hips and now they want to give me a metal shoulder. As I was about to do the film I was diagnosed with neck cancer. I was given about a 35% chance to live. I did a lot of praying prior to my treatments and everything went really well. The doctor couldn’t believe how well I have healed. As of right now I am cancer free. I am getting back in to shape and I have a bunch of movies that I am ready to start work on.

MG: What are your thoughts on the proposed “Maniac Cop” remake?
RZ: Everybody wants so much money for the rights. Greed has gotten the best of a lot of people and that’s the reason why there haven’t been more films in the series.

MG: What do you like most about working in the horror genre?
RZ: I have done 4 or 5 horror films. I seem to play a lot of bad guys. Over the past 5 years or so I have gotten some really great roles in some independent films. There is one called “Precious Mettle” which is in the process of securing financing. The film is a great dramatic, who done it? type film. I play a firefighter whose buddy is killed. It has a number of twists and turns. The cast is made up of quite a few well known old school actors.

MG: What do you think has been your most challenging role to
date?
RZ: Every movie I do I try to pull something that will showcase my craft while at the same time entertaining people. However my biggest challenge was beating cancer.

MG: What other things do you have going on?
RZ: I did a film called “Drummer for the Mob” which was produced by Bruce Koehler. The film has some great locations that are old mob type places. William Forsythe is in the film and he is just such a great actor. That film should be coming out sometime in the fall of this year. I also have one called “Ring of Fire” that is in the works as well. There is just a bunch of stuff going on right now. I really love my work.

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Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: cop, cult, maniac, reflects, robert, series, ...
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