THE PLOT THUS FAR

WHAT WE THOUGHT

Andrew McCarthy should stick to directing television. He’s pretty good at it and it serves to get his face off camera. The real world isn’t Pretty in Pink, Blaine. James Spader won and Jon Cryer is kept as a rent boy for Ashton Kutcher on CBS.  McCarthy plays a guy that’s trying to woo the boss’s daughter and move up in the world. Unfortunately, he falls in love while learning how to dance. “Dirty Dancing” is only slightly edgier because Swayze helped a chick to get an abortion.

If you like this kind of schmaltz, then you’re probably reading this site on your kid’s iPad. It’s cool, people. I know that a lot of readership is female and of a certain age. That’s why I promise that our erotic section (scheduled unveiling: December 2013) will keep you entertained. I’m just going to keep reviewing these tired old Hallmark movies as an effort to kill their casual fantasies and push you towards the one I create. Can you say nostalgia porn?

The DVD comes with no special features. The A/V Quality is strong with a supportive transfer and a Dolby audio track. The Dolby track doesn’t get much back channel action outside of the few major scenes. In the end, I’d recommend a rental to old women.

RELEASE DATE: 10/15/2013

THE PLOT THUS FAR

Three teenage friends, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

Joe has just finished his freshman year in High School and isn’t looking forward to spending his Summer with his widowed father Frank who makes his life miserable just because he’s miserable. His best friend Patrick doesn’t enjoy living with his parents any better. His parents are over protective and seem to want to manage every single detail of his life. Not wanting to spend their entire summers abiding by their parents rules the two kids decide to run away and build their own home in the nearby woods and survive in the wild by hunting and gathering food. This way they can be free to do what they want and make their own rules. Joe and Patrick also bring along a strange friend named Biaggio.

The appeal of this movie is at least it tries to break the cycle of awful adolescent cinema. Most coming-of-age films try to be deep, dramatic and only tap on realistic comedic moments, which usually deal with being awkward, to lighten things up. For The Kings of Summer however, just take all the issues which seem to give weight to most films of this genre, and let that be handled by other films. Now, this isn’t to say the characters don’t have issues, but the film more so is about the act of rebelling than growing up and having a drastic life change be shown in an hour and a half

The Blu-Ray comes with commentary, featurettes, deleted and extended scenes. The DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track is really strong, as it blasts every beat out of that stellar soundtrack. Plus, you have a rather crisp 1080p transfer. It doesn’t get a lot to do, but it looks great doing it. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

THE PLOT THUS FAR

Leverage focuses on a team led by former insurance investigator turned thief, Nate Ford (Hutton). Together, they try to level the playing field for people whose lives have been destroyed by the rich and powerful. In the final season of Leverage, the team will be forced to face changing personal dynamics as the relationship between Parker (Riesgraf) and Hardison (Hodge) heats up, and Nate continues to struggle with inner demons. Among their upcoming jobs, they will target a conniving shipping executive (guest star Cary Elwes); weathly scientist; an ex-hockey-player-turned-team-owner (guest star Treat Williams); a corrupt restaurateur; and a corrupt businessman (guest star Matthew Lillard). In addition, the team will once again face their nemesis, insurance-investigator-turned Interpol-agent Jim Sterling (guest star Mark Sheppard).

WHAT WE THOUGHT

Apparently they can do everything they want. So it leaves the bad guys with no chance to fight no matter how powerful they are. The Hardison guy can hack computer system out of thin air. Elliot can kick asses of 100 guys without getting a scratch. Sophie can get into every circle and the bad guys don’t even do a good background check. The Fifth Season is more of the same, so you get what you get. It’s a lot like those 90s syndicated shows that were half spy drama/half super heroics.

And they are superheros in this show, with all of the teenage fantasy ideas that come along with that. The computer guy has access to anything digital he needs without a bead of sweat; the fighter can dispatch anyone of any size without even getting his hair mussed; the thief can go anywhere she likes without even coming close to being detected; and the grifter, despite being the worst actress anyone has ever seen on the stage, never comes close to being discovered when she is on the con.

The DVD comes with commentaries, deleted scenes and a gag reel as the special features. The A/V Quality is strong with a supportive transfer and a Dolby 5.1 track. The Dolby 5.1 track doesn’t get much back channel action outside of the few major action scenes. In the end, I’d recommend a rental.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!

THE PLOT THUS FAR

Four sets of siblings struggle to work out their differences in this episodic comedy-drama from writer and director Carl Bessai. Rory (Dustin Milligan) is an idealistic young man who was always the pride of his family, but while he was away in Africa doing charity work, his brother Justin (Cory Monteith) rose to stardom as an actor, and now that Justin is wealthy and famous, tension has grown between him and Rory. Sarah (Kacey Rohl) is a sullen teenager who doesn’t get along with her mother (Gabrielle Rose), and matters get worse when Sarah is introduced to Sita (Leena Manro), a half-sister she never knew she had. Nikki (Amanda Crew) wants to be a movie star, and Henry (Tom Scholte) claims he has the connections that could get her an important role; however, he doesn’t have a car, and tells her he’s willing to make some introductions in exchange for a drive to Los Angeles. Nikki agrees, but Henry is miffed when her ill-tempered sister Maggie (Camille Sullivan) insists on tagging along. And while Louise (Gabrielle Miller) idolized her older brother when she was little, now that Jerry (Benjamin Ratner) has grown into a schizophrenic with severe mood swings, she no longer knows what to do with him or for him.

WHAT WE THOUGHT

“Sisters & Brothers” doesn’t know what it wants to be. Half of the time it feels like a “People Like Us” knock-off, the rest of the time it feels like a chore. I know that we’re all supposed to be giving Cory Monteith a pass now that he’s dead, but he was a terrible actor. He’s got the screen presence of an unwanted extra. I could go on, but even I’m tired of bemoaning never-ending melodramas with plots that are convoluted to hide the fact that they don’t matter.

Even if it takes a while to figure everyone out, there’s still this undercurrent throughout the movie that no matter what crap life throws at you or between you and your family, and how much you might disagree and hate what they’re doing or saying to you, it’s still family, and there’s really no person on earth that will ever really understand you or be willing to be there and support you through the biggest mistakes that you might be making. Essentially I got my own view of family and siblings echoed in these little stories.

The Blu-Ray comes with no special features. The A/V Quality is strong with a supportive 1080P transfer and a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. The Dolby TrueHD track doesn’t get much back channel action outside of the few major drama scenes. In the end, I’d recommend a rental.

RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!