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Shout!Factory

We’re Not Worthy! On November 9th Shout!Factory Will Release Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XIX – With Gypsy Figurine & More!

Posted by   on September 1, 2010

in DVD

MST3KXIXGypsy

Yes, there’s big news from Shout!Factory about the wild & crazy guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000!

Four never-before-seen episodes of MST3K are being released in a monster boxed set on November 9, 2010. Titles being ripped to shreds by the MST3K crew are: Robot Monster, Bride of the Monster, Devil Doll and Devils [I love these guys!].

And what of the other cool contents of the set? Follow the jump for complete details from the press release!

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M-M-M-Max Headroom Moves From Cyberspace to D-D-D-DVD At Last!

Posted by   on July 6, 2010

in DVD

DVD 2

One of the most intelligent, twisted and provocative TV series of all-time is finally getting a DVD release. Max Headroom, the w-a-a-a-a-y-y-y too hip for the room satire [and TV’s first CG character] that ran on ABC from March, 1987 to May, 1988, will be available on DVD as of August 10, courtesy of Shout! Factory, the folks who have given us other fine cult TVonDVD releases like Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and thirtysomething.

Details from the press release [including series description] follow the jump.

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DVD REVIEW: The Middleman: The Complete Series – True Blue Hero and Sardonic Sidekick Save The World From Comic Book Villains! Who Knew?

Posted by   on July 27, 2009

in DVD

DVD Cover

One last season’s summer shows, ABC Family’s The Middleman, had me at the tentacle monster and reeled me in at the gorilla gangster. Javier [call him Javi] Grillo-Marxuach’s series – adapted from the graphic novel that was adapted from an unsold TV script [still with me?] achieved something that no other comics-to-movies/TV has ever done – the pilot script contained somewhere in the vicinity of 90% of the script that Javi wrote in 1988. The result was a fast-paced, character-driven and pop culture-fuelled super saga of a hero and his brand spanking new sidekick as they saved the world from villains that appeared to have jumped out of the pages of a comic – which is exactly what they were!

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HOLLYWOOD INSIDER: Surprise! The Middleman’s Creator is a Fanboy!

Posted by   on July 26, 2009

in Hollywood Insider

Javi & Natalie Morales

After viewing the extras for the DVD release of the recently cancelled ABC Family series, The Middleman, I came to a conclusion that was confirmed by a quick peek at imdb. Middleman creator Javier Grillo-Marxuach [pictured, above, with series star Natalie Morales] is a fanboy! I had the opportunity to interview Javi [as he prefers to be called] about all things Middleman. Alas, we had to stop before I could ask him about such things as the inspiration for the series’ episode titles [one of the extras revelas that it's an homage to the titles of the Robert Ludlum novels he read as a kid], the decision to use chirons [those text scrolls that identify time and place and such] and the plethora of extras on the set. We did get through the process the series went from unsold pilot, to cult hit comic and, finally, to the small screen – as well as toss in a plug or his upcoming new series, Day One.

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TVonDVD: Parker Lewis Can’t Lose! No, Really!

Posted by   on June 21, 2009 · 1 comment

in DVD

The late summer of 1990 found two high school sitcoms premiering: the TV adaptation of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off [simply entitled Ferris Bueller] for NBC; and – ten days later – Fox’s Parker Lewis Can’t Lose. Bueller lasted one season [with its finale held back ‘til just over a year after its premiere] and Parker Lewis [which some had though to be an inferior version of Ferris Bueller] went on to run for three wacked out seasons [and 73 episodes]. Not the longest run for a sitcom, maybe, but years ahead of its time.

Parker Lewis Can't Lose S1 Box

Parker Lewis Can’t Lose: The Complete First Season, in stores Tuesday, is – after Quark and Sports Night – the sitcom I’ve most wanted to see released on DVD. Why? It’s smart, funny, innovative and had a very “take no prisoners” attitude that not only helped Fox establish itself as the edgier, more inventive network of the early nineties, but provided elements that have become highly influential to many of the sitcoms that came after it [Malcolm in the Middle and Scrubs come immediately to mind...].

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DVD REVIEW: Transformers – The Complete First Season – 25 Years

Posted by   on June 15, 2009 · 1 comment

in DVD

Considering that the Transformers were created by taking a bunch of disparate Japanese toys with no connection – but kinda looked like they might belong together – and given unique identities and a backstory by a group of guys at Hasbro®, they’ve certainly managed to hold the public’s interest.

Transformers S1-25 years

With the second Transformers movie about to hit theaters, here comes the 25th anniversary release of the first season of the [dare I say it?] iconic animated series that forever etched the phrases “robots in disguise” and “more than meets the eye” into the cultural consciousness. Sure, there are some really goofy concepts [Megatron, the Decepticon leader turns into a gun? That has to be fired by some other Decepticon? Really?], but it’s easy to see why the series – and the toys, for that matter – caught on in such a big way.
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DVD REVIEW: Liberty’s Kids –Animated History!

Posted by   on October 16, 2008

in DVD,DVD Reviews

Liberty's Kids

History is one of those subjects that can be made boring by a less than enthusiastic teacher – or by the misapprehension that it is, inherently, boring. In 2002 the DIC Entertainment Corporation produced a twenty-eight episode history of the United States of America as witnessed by four young people: Henri [voiced by Kathleen Barr], a young French boy whose parents died en route to The colonies and was forced into slavery to pay their passage; James [Chris Lundquist], a teenager whose passion for reporting and for the revolution are occasionally misdirected; Sarah [Reo Jones], recently arrived from England and incapable [at first] of believing that England’s Parliament could possibly enact legislation like unfair taxation, or quartering, and Moses [Kevin Williams], a young black man who works as an apprentice for Benjamin Franklin – and has first-hand experience with slavery.

Now, Shout!Factory has released the series on DVD and, as usual, have done a very nice job of it.

The twenty-eight episodes begin with The Boston Tea Party and carry through to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The writing is crisp and efficient; the viewpoint characters have sufficiently different backgrounds that each grows in different directions – while influencing each other; the animation is solid television work, and the various major historical figures are paired up with well known actors and newsmen.

Among the celebrity cast are Walter Cronkite [Benjamin Franklin], Annette Bening [Abigail Adams], Billy Crystal [John Adams], Michael Douglas [Patrick Henry], Dustin Hoffman [Benedict Arnold] and Sylvester Stallone [Paul Revere] – to name a few.

Features: All discs: Midnight Ride Original Pencil Test; Ben Franklin’s Newsbytes; Continental Cartoons; Now and Then, and Mystery Guest Game; Disc 1: Midnight Ride Original Pencil Test; Disc 4: A Look Back at Liberty’s Kids With The Creators. Also included is a forty-page booklet that give episode titles and summaries, plus guest cast credits and the bonus features on each disc – and a two-sided fold-out poster [one side is a poster of the kids with Benjamin Franklin, the other a map of The Colonies alongside a list of the episode titles, the sites for which are marked on the map.

Grade: Liberty’s Kids – A

Grade: Features – B+

Final Grade: A-

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