For that success and a winning performance, she was rewarded with Emmy nominations for three of its four seasons, and a shiny Golden Globe. But let’s not raise the flag for feminism: As good as Dickinson was in it, the show was a hit because of her then-incredible hotness. After all, it was spun off […]
DVD reviews
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The Catechism Cataclysm
In the misbegotten words of Texas businessman Clayton Williams, just relax and enjoy it. The goofy, socially awkward Father Billy Smoortser (Steve Little, TV’s “Eastbound & Down“) is in a rut, so he’s forced by his church to take his annual vacation a little early. He reveals his big plans to his too-patient superior: He’ll […]
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CSI: Crime Scene Investigation — Grave Danger
He’s played an Elvis impersonator on an episode of “The Golden Girls,” parodied himself on Margaret Cho’s “All-American Girl” sitcom, and served as a guest judge on that taste vacuum known as “American Idol.” Under the column marked “mitigating factors,” however, was choosing to direct a Very Special Episode of “CSI” in 2005, when the […]
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The Dead
Your expectations for greatness, however, should be tempered. Despite a few surface tweaks, “The Dead” is just zom-business as usual. Shot and set in the West African desert, the film’s hero is U.S. Air Force Lt. Murphy (Rob Freeman, “Saving Private Ryan”), the lone survivor of a plane crash now stranded in a wasteland that’s […]
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Metal Shifters
Two brothers (Kavan Smith, TV’s “Eureka,” and Colby Johannson, “Final Destination 3”) who work in construction in the depressed small town of Redeemer, Idaho, see a downed Russian satellite crash into a nearby field. The object’s pieces are covered in some sort of green alien slime that looks like Silly String and moves like The […]
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The Devil’s Rock
The structure is “The Devil’s Rock” of this New Zealand fantasy’s title. Inside, they meet a representative of their Nazi enemy, Col. Meyer (Matthew Sunderland) who warns them of the shrieking woman’s voice they hear. Halfway into the film, when we finally see why: She’s hot! See, the imprisoned woman looks just like Capt. Grogan’s […]
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A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas
I’m not the target for these movies, as I do not find the mere sight and/or mention of someone toking up to be funny. Nor do I get why it’s supposed to be. As with any joke, there’s got to be a payoff. Perhaps the sky-high are much forgiving. I thought the first movie, 2004’s […]
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Whitechapel: The Ripper Returns
That’s a tough case to crack, especially when Chandler’s fellow squad members — who heavily resent his promotion in the first place — don’t buy in to his theory. But this BBC tale being titled “Whitechapel,” after all, we know that Chandler is correct. And that revelation — strengthened with the discovery of each subsequent […]
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30 Rock: Season 5
Now that “Season 5” is here — all 22 episodes, all three discs — I realize how much I genuinely missed its regular presence. While no longer the award-hogging “it” comedy it once was, it’s still scene-to-scene hilarious. The start of the season finds the gang at “TGS” in flux. Overeager former NBC page Kenneth […]
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Point Blank
As its title suggests, the “Fugitive”-esque “Point Blank” begins at rapid fire, with our protagonist, Samuel (Gilles Lellouche, “Mesrine: Killer Instinct”), literally running for his life, not to mention that of his wife. A quick flashback reveals the reason why: Witnessing a car crash, Samuel swoops in and puts his nursing skills to good use […]