Birds of Paradise is an average, down-the-road, direct-to-video flick attempting to take advantage of high profile movies, in this case duplicating Rio. As cheap entertainment, it’s OK but the animation isn’t great though the audio/video transfers are adequate enough and at the one featurette isn’t terrible.
Anna Nicole is the typical Lifetime Channel tripe with subpar acting, even from actors who tend not to be half-bad, and screenplays seemingly written by interns. The gravest sin going against this movie is that you really don’t learn a whole lot about her past and instead we get most of the items we saw in the news.
The Knot has few funny moments yet the cast seemed to get along at least making for a one-off viewing of a romantic comedy that offers little else. The DVD has OK video and audio transfers but lacks any features.
Sparks is certainly an unconventional comic book movie and considering the shoe-string budget and lightning speed schedule, it’s not a half-bad little flick with two solid performances from Chase Williamson and Ashley Bell. The DVD release offers adequate video and audio transfers while the bonus material is mostly forgettable.
Scarecrow is yet another terrible Syfy Original Movie that features, outside of the two leads, a no-name cast whose characters only serve to be flesh food for the villain but worst of all it’s just not that scary. This DVD release has no bonus material and although the video is average, the audio track does have some oomph to it.
“Dallas”: The Complete Second Season is another solid year of great drama and some fantastic acting most notably from the late great Larry Hagman who unfortunately only had a few episodes before his passing. The DVD released by Warner Brothers has some good bonus material and the audio/video transfers are both well done.
Sorority Party Massacre fails in almost all phases from the title itself, the casting, acting and direction. I understand what the filmmakers were going after, mixing different movies and genres but it doesn’t mesh well enough, unfortunately because it did have the opportunity to be the fun kind of bad movie instead of just plain bad.
Big Sur is a solid drama featuring great performances, particularly from Jean-Marc Barr while the cinematography and score are both absolutely beautiful. The DVD released by Ketchup Entertainment is pretty minimal with good audio/video transfers but limited in the bonus feature arena.
Vikingdom isn’t a good movie, plain and simple. It’s cheaply done, the acting isn’t anything noteworthy and the story is half-baked. But worse of all, it’s just not that interesting of a movie on the whole and I couldn’t care less about anything or anybody. The DVD released by Epic has an OK amount of features while the audio/video is quite average.
Getting That Girl isn’t the greatest rom-com but the cast are all well cast, highlighted by Gia Mantegna, and work well with one another even if the script delves into high school cliché territory. The DVD release offers a solo BTS featurette and adequate if not average audio and video transfers.
Mischief Night is your typical and cheap direct-to-video horror movie with nothing new to offer although I did find star Noell Coet to be one of the few highlights, so hopefully she finds better material in the future. The DVD released by RLJ Entertainment isn’t overly impressive with merely adequate video/audio transfers and a forgettable bonus feature.
Not my cup of tea, but Casting Me… is a funny enough movie. The DVD comes with a good amount of features including an audio commentary, 3 featurettes, production diaries and trailers.
“Power Rangers”: Seasons 8-12 is yet another great set from Shout Factory with satisfactory audio and video transfers and, as far as I know, all the features captured on one disc. Now, it is quite expensive (it will be around $75 when released), so you really need to be a hardcore “PR” fan but to me, it’s worth it.
Shiver is a weak psychological horror-thriller with poor performances outside of the delightful Danielle Harris who seemingly continues to over-perform some of the dreck horror films. Although she is pretty good in this one, everything else is low-rent and cheap looking to go along with a story which never quite clicks. The DVD doesn’t have a whole lot to offer with no bonus material and average audio/video transfers.
“Inspector Gadget” is a great trip back to my childhood and I suspect there are many others born and grew up in the 1980s feel the same way. No the show wasn’t a masterpiece and the humor often forced, but man I had a wonderful time revisiting the series. With both seasons being released on DVD for the first time, it’s the perfect opportunity to reintroduce the character to a new generation.