Columbo - The Complete Fourth Season

The Fourth Season

The television series Columbo started out as a TV movie in 1968 and
later in 1971 the second TV movie aired. In that same year, Columbo aired
as a television series. The series is a mystery drama that revolves around
Lieutenant Columbo (Peter Falk). Columbo is a well respected LAPD homicide
detective, who has a unique way of solving crimes. Unlike many others, he has
the ability to see things in a crime scene that others miss. The series is one
of my favorite mysteries. It is riveting, gripping, and entertaining. For more
details about this show please refer to DVD Talk's reviews of
season one,
season two, and
season three.

Season four of Columbo may only come with six epi...
Read the entire review

Crash: 2-Disc Director's Cut Edition

2005 isn't the first year that viewers cried foul when their favorite film
didn't take home the "Best Picture" Oscar. Whether it's Gladiator (2000),
Forrest Gump (1994) or dozens before them, we're not always going to be
happy with what the Academy chooses as cream of the crop. This year's awards
were no different: Munich and Good Night and Good Luck were
casually brushed aside when Brokeback Mountain was "upset" by
Crash (2004), immediately sparking a heated rivalry among rabid fans on
both sides of the fence.

Though a vocal minority denounced Paul Haggis' tale of racism and prejudice
in Los Angeles during its theatrical run---and soon after, upon its initial DVD
rele...
Read the entire review

Doctor Dolittle 3

The Movie

Hey, did you know they made a Dr. Dolittle sequel without Eddie
Murphy? They did.

Just like they made a Bring It On sequel without Kirsten Dunst, a
Pink Panther sequel without Peter Sellers, and a Smokey and the
Bandit sequel without Burt Reynolds.

All of these sequels have one distinct thing in common, and "quality
filmmaking" isn't among the available options. It's greed. Greed so powerful it
makes perfectly sane people say things like "Hey, let's take that Eddie Murphy
talking animals comedy that made so much money, and turn it into a cheap tweenie
knock-off that feels like a summer camp rendition of City Slickers
2."

Dr. Dolittle 3 contains no trace of a Dr. Dolittle. Apparently Eddie
Murphy was not interested in doing a Part 3 that's not called Shrek,
which leaves the greedy sequel-mongers little recourse but Plan B.

Plan ...
Read the entire review

The Heroin Busters

The Movie:

Fabio Testi (of the excellent Revolver) plays a narc named Fabio
(which for some reason made this reviewer snicker to himself) who finds himself
having to go undercover for Interpol to expose an international heroin smuggling
operation. The only man who knews of Fabio's identity and intent is his boss, a
British Interpol agent named Mike Hamilton (David Hemmings of Argento's Deep
Red). The two set up a bust that's to go down at a fancy hotel in Rome but
it gets botched and a large shipment of heroin hits the streets.

In order to increase the heat on the dope dealers, Hamilton decides that
Fabio should pose as a criminal in prison so that he can get closer to Girro, a
drug dealer with friends in high places. He finds himself in the big house and
soon is able to win Girro over as a confidant. From there, he gets the
information that he needs and plans to help h...
Read the entire review

Dave Attell Insomniac Tour Presents: Sean Rouse, Greg Giraldo
& Dane Cook

The Comedy

For the past several years, I've been kind of ignoring stand-up comedy. It's
probably because there used to be so much awful stand-up on basic cable, plus I
was really tired of seeing funny comedians (Paul Reiser, Ray Romano, Tim Allen)
wedged into lame-o sitcom series.

But lately, and thanks to the help of movies like The Aristocrats and
The Comedians of Comedy, I've come back around to really digging some of
the stand-up schtick I've been seeing. (P.S. I love Sarah Silverman.)

So when offered the opportunity to review a comedy concert starring the likes
of Dave Atell, Sean Rouse, Greg Giraldo, and Dane Cook, I figured it would be
worth a few laughs.

And it was. I'll spare you the breakdown of each comedian's set, but suffice
to say they cover most of the basics: sex, masturbation, alcohol, and sex. Of
the four jokesters, Cook is easily the most unique. Sporting...
Read the entire review

Mercenary for Justice

The second collaboration between former cinematographer turned director Don
E. FauntLeRoy and former actor turned blues musician turned actor again, Steven
Seagal (they'd previously worked together on 2005's Today You Die) is a
step up in comparison to Seagal previous effort, the dreadful Black Dawn.
In fact, the film actually proves to have some pretty decent production values,
good action direction, and a better than average performance from everyone's
favorite hero for hire.

The movie begins in the middle of a firefight, shot with the apperature of
the camera blown wide open to give it that sort of Blackhawk Down look
that remains so popular in action movies for some reason. At any rate, a
mercenary named John Seegar (that'd be Seagal) and his crew of soldiers of
fortune are battling some French soldiers as they're trying to kidnap the French
Ambass...
Read the entire review