Dragonball Evolution - Buy from Amazon: DVD or Blu-ray
I only have the DVD version of the movie. In fact, it is a DVD-R version of the movie and not the final retail version. I could be getting that, and a copy of the Blu-ray after the film hits shelves, but I'm not sure yet.

Dragonball Evolution is based on a popular Anime series that has lasted decades in Japan and several hundred episodes in various incarnations. Making the leap to live action is risky, in more than one way, especially for the stylized world these characters inhabit. For instance, the hairstyle Goku sports in the anime / manga doesn't stand out compared to most other characters in that genre. But on the live action Goku, it just looks silly. Normally I would say complaining about a character's haircut in a movie is bad form, but here, this is just one of many, many complaints one could level at the film. Had the film worked overall, the hairstyle would not have bugged me.

Let's start with the plot, which is equal parts plot hole and unnecessary convolutions. We learn from a voiceover at the beginning that thousands of years ago an alien named Lord Piccolo and his henchmen named Oozaru nearly conquered the world. However, the world was saved by a group of brave warriors (Who?) imprisoned him (How?) and his henchman vanished (Why?) and balanced was restored to the world (Woohoo!). Now we flash to the present day, where Goku is sparring with his grandpa. Goku is your typical teenager dealing with bullies while pining for the unobtainable girl. However, his grandpa has superpowers, which Goku is trying to learn. The martial arts training is a lot more interesting than the bully / girl trouble, and it's not like the film doesn't have enough plot to last the entire movie. In fact, it has enough plot to last several movies.

Early in the film, Lord Piccolo returns having escaped from his prison (Again I ask how?) with a new henchman in tow looking for the seven dragon balls (The seven what?) that when gathered together will grant him a wish (Huh?) that he will use to bring back his first henchman (Why? Why not just wish for victory?). He finds one of which he finds in a Japanese town he destroys with the world's most useless weapon. (It's a small bomb he drops from his zeppelin that destroys a lot of buildings, but doesn't kill anyone.) He locates another in the possession of grandpa but he, grandpa, had just given it to Goku for his 18th birthday. Lord Piccolo kills grandpa, but , grandpa lives long enough to tell Goku to find Chow Yun-Fat and complete his training. It is about this time that Bulma arrives, who is also looking for the Dragon Balls, but as a source of unlimited green power (Hippy!) and another person, whose name escapes me and I don't want to go back and look it up (Please don't make me). The movie then proceeds from contrivance to contrivance while the audience grows bored.

I watched this movie with a group of people, all of whom were at least familiar with the source material. All of them agreed this movie was a failure at adapting said source material. One even went so far as to say, and this is a direct quote, "They are murdering my childhood." I think that's overstating things, but this film has real problems. This includes the convoluted storyline, the excess of uninteresting characters (even the main bad guy doesn't do nearly enough to warrant his inclusion in the movie), the action scenes are weak compared to others in this genre, even the special effects look cheap. If you had no idea what series / manga was about, you would be totally lost, and if you have seen the show, the number of changes to the show (the plot, the characters, the tone, etc.) would be too much to handle. Because of this, this is a movie without a target, as you could probably tell by its box office performance.

This weak box office performance explains the lack of substantial extras. There are eight deleted / extended scenes that run close to ten-and-a-half minutes. There's a five-minute workout featuring two of the fight coordinators. There are two-and-a-half minutes of outtakes, a music video, and a couple of Fox Movie Channel Presents making of featurettes. Nothing here had much substance, and therefore nothing here has much replay value.

I don't have the Blu-ray and I may or may not get a copy of it in the future, but there doesn't appear to be any exclusive extras offered.

I wanted to like Dragonball Evolution, but I was worried that the adaptation would be mishandled from the beginning. It turns out my fears were well founded. If you like the source material, the changes will drive you nuts; if you never seen the source material, the story will leave you confused. Neither the DVD nor the Blu-ray have enough extras to compensate for this, and overall I can't even rate it a rental.

Shane West stars as Max Peterson, a computer engineer who one days receives a strange cell phone that gives him a tip on a cheap hotels rate, which makes him stay an extra night, which in turns saves his life when his plane crashes. Further tips are sent to him, including a stock tip that would have made him rich, so he starts to follow these messages in hopes of getting some easy money. But when he's sent to a casino in Prague, he runs afoul of the security there and government agents come after him, he must go on the run while trying to find out who is sending him these messages and why.

This is not a bad movie, per se, but there is just nothing here that stands out as particularly engaging, and nothing is unique. The surprise twist of the rogue A.I. controlling everything was used in Eagle Eye, which was a bad movie and not worth emulating. And if you are going to copy a bad movie, at least fix some of the flaws found within it, but that didn't happen here. (Although I would say at least the action scenes are not nearly as improbable as in the previous movie.) I was greatly disappointed with the ending here, as I felt it was lifted from War Games. At best, the movie is an effective time waster, but there's zero replay value here, and at most it is worth a rental.

As for extras, there are none on either the DVD or the Blu-ray. The video and audio quality is good, but the price is not. (The Blu-ray costs 40% more than the DVD, and that's too much for this type of release.)

Echelon Conspiracy doesn't break any ground in the genre, and there are too many plot points that are too similar to other movies for this one to have any replay value. Add in featureless DVD and Blu-ray releases, and there's no reason to buy either edition. In fact, if you plan on renting, I would grab a back up, just in case.

The quickest way to describe this show is, "The Love Boat, but without the boat." It has the same mix of drama, romance, and humor. Additionally, the mix of permanent cast & guest stars is in both shows as well. Also, it's not too much of a stretch to say a cruise ship is a luxury hotel on the water, so you have the same atmosphere and upper echelon clientele. The comparisons should come as no surprise, as the two shows shared five producers, including executive producer and TV legend Aaron Spelling. However, while The Love Boat lasted a lot longer on the air, I think a lot of people would argue this is the higher quality show. It's a lot less campy in retrospective. That said, the over-reliance in guest stars becomes tiresome quickly, as most of the stories end after one episode, so they are never covered in much depth. Personally, I much prefer shows where you can become emotionally connected to the characters and not think, 'Who cares what happening to them now, in another 14 minutes we will never see them again.'

Sadly, there are no extras on this 6-disc set, nor are there play all buttons. There are proper chapter placements, but that's not much for a TV on DVD release.

If you loved The Love Boat, you will likely feel the same way toward Hotel. If you hated The Love Boat, like me, this show is a lot more tolerable, but it still suffers from some of the same flaws. Additionally, Season One is devoid of extras and it is hard to argue that it is worth the price to buy. For most a rental will be enough.

Lucille Ball plays Lucy Carmichael, a widowed woman with two children, her elder daughter Chris and her younger son Jerry. She lives with her divorced friend, Vivian Bagley (Vivian Vance), and her son Sherman. The show is considered by many to be a follow-up to I Love Lucy, if not an unofficial sequel, and the tone of the humor is very similar. In fact, there's one very famous bit from season one, which happens in Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower, which I was sure was from I Love Lucy. (It might have something to do with this season being filled in Black & White while the other seasons were shot, and shown in syndication, in color.) The overall quality of the season is high, but the quality of the individual episodes were inconsistent. Like I previously mentioned, Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower is one of the all-time great episodes, and not of just the series, but of the decade. Some of the other episodes are just average. I think the more opportunity for physical comedy, like in Lucy Puts Up a TV Antenna, is the key to the humor of this series. Overall the hits outnumber the misses by a huge margin, and the replay value is high.

Given the age of this show, I wasn't expecting a lot in terms of extras. However, there are a lot of information here, including text based bios of the main cast, the guest cast, production notes, etc. These include Flubs on all four discs, which describe some of the mistakes made during the filming of the shows, and highlight other bits of trivia. It's a simple idea for an extra, but appreciated. On the first disc there is an interview with Lucy Arniz, while on the last disc there is an interview with Jimmy Garret, who was one of the child stars on the show. There are also vintage commercials, some of the original opening and closing credits, which includes the original sponsors.

If you grew up on Lucille Ball and have I Love Lucy - The Complete Series on DVD, then The Lucy Show - The Official First Season is worth picking up. Even if you were just a more casual fan of I Love Lucy, then this is at least worth checking out.

The Middleman stars Natalie Morales as Wendy Watson, an artist trying to make a living as a secretary at a genetics lab when an accident creates a horrible mutant. However, she keeps her head, and by that I mean she keeps her wits, which allows her to remain physically attached to her head. In the middle of her struggle, she is rescued by a man, Matt Keeslar, who seems to have walked out of the 1950s. It turns out he's part of a secret organization dedicated to fighting trans-dimensional, pan-dimensional... and other dimensional threats, and he's decided Wendy Watson should be his next sidekick. Over the course of the all-too-short series, they battle threats like zombie fish, super-smart Mafia apes, Mexican Wrestlers, Boy Bands, Tubas, Vampire Puppets, Mirror Universes, and more. All while spouting witty, pop-culture laden dialogue at a break-neck pace. Even pop-culture junkies will miss a lot of the references in this show, because some are just a little to obscure, while others fly by so fast it's hard to keep up with them all. This adds a level of replay value to the show that is hard to top. It's has a style that prevents it from being firmly attached to reality, even the simple character relations between Wendy Watson and her roommate Lacey Thornfield (Brit Morgan). The way they talk is not the way normal humans talk, but it helps give the show its sense of style. Little jokes, little recurring jokes (like the way they flash the location on time on the screen ("Bullet Time" "Past Your Bedtime") add to the overall atmosphere, and had this show been given a chance, it could have been a major cult hit.

Extras on the three-disc set include audio commentary tracks on four of the show's twelve episodes, which features the creators, director, and several of the cast members. Good energy and plenty of information. The rest of extras are found on disc four, starting with 18 minutes of Webisodes, which are making of / behind-the-scenes featurettes. Javi-Casts are Q&A with the Javier Grillo-Marxuach, the creator. There are nearly 80 minutes of Q&A here, so nearly every question you could want answered, is answered. Next up is 8-minute of outtakes, two alternate scenes (in less than finished form), audition footage for four of the five main cast (only Matt Keeslar is left out). There are three versions of the opening title sequence (I like the third one, but I have a thing for the Emma Peel suit (Don't judge me.)) there's a 5-minute featurette / compilation on the Wilhelm Scream. We have a complete table read for The Palindrome Reversal Palindrome episode, The Middleman-ager has five preview clips from show, which were used to advertise it. There are five PSAs, a music videos, and an image gallery. That's a lot of extras for a show that didn't last one full season.

Why was this show on ABC Family? This is a show made for Kevin Smith / Comic Book Nerds / Pop-Culture Addicts, not the people who watch ABC Family. There's even swearing in the show (it is bleeped). Had it had the support needed, The Middleman could have been a cult hit. As it is, The Complete Series is a great way to celebrate the show, and a worthy contender for DVD Pick of the Week.

Reaper - Season Two - Buy from Amazon
Well, it was fun while it lasted. This show stars Tyler Labine, among others, and he hasn't had a really good track record when it comes to his TV series lasting longer than a season. This one made it to two seasons, but that's it.

Season two brought a lot of changes to the lives of the cast. Sam learns his father is not his father, and that you-know-who is. He learns he has a brother, his relationship with Andi is on the rocks. Speaking of Andi, she's now in charge of The Work Bench after Ted was fired. This makes her Sock's boss, which puts the two in direct conflict which each other. Sock also has a new sister, I mean stepsister, and she's hot. She's hot and Sock is demented, so there's lots of fun to be had there. The final main character is Benji, who gets a new girlfriend this season, Nina, who has a dark past. ... She's a Demon who tried to kill Sam. Awkward.

Quality of the episodes shows were, at worse, holding steady compared to season one. There are some changes in the cast, mostly positive, and in the dynamics between the characters, but they are still consistently funny. It's a shame the show ended so soon.

Extras on the four-disc set are all found on the fourth disc, starting with a 15-minute making of featurette that deals a lot with season one. There are four deleted scenes with a total running time of five minutes. And finally, eight minutes of outtakes.

One day Tyler Labine will star in a TV series that has a long run on TV. Reaper could have been that show, as there's more than enough quality here, but it wasn't to be. Season two will be the last season for the show, but while it didn't last long, it is worth picking up. However, start with season one.

Cardio Funk presents three workouts starting with Lauren leading us in a Hip-Hop routine. First we are given a slow explanation of the individual steps, then the full routine to a count, then to music, and then to music at full speed. Travis takes over the lead for Contemporary dance, while Courtney teaches the Disco routine. The repetition makes it easy to learn, while the different speeds makes setting your own pace easier. While the warm-ups and the cool downs should help prevent injuries, which is the biggest barrier to maintaining an exercise regime.

Extras on this DVD include short interviews with the executive producer and the three dancers highlighted on this DVD. Total running time is only 14-minute, which is a little light in terms extras compared to most TV on DVD, but better than most exercise videos have, which are the two points of comparison here.

Moving onto Tone and Groove, this DVD follows the same format as the first, but with Twitch teaching us a Hip-Hop routine, Katee leading the way with Jazz, and Dmitry helping us get fit with the Cha-cha. Cha-cha? It seems a little old-fashion compared to the other two styles, but it is a great change of pace.

Extras on the DVD are the same as on the previous DVD, a little too much the same. In fact, the interview with the executive producer, Nigel Lythgoe, is identical. There are also 4-minute interviews with Twich, Katee, and Dmitry.

I get the feeling that many competition Reality TV shows are more about watching people fail that seeing whose the best. It seems that the main draw for a lot of people who are fans of this subgenre. I hate this and no interest in this show, so I don't know if these dancers are popular or not. They do have a lot of energy, and could help someone keep to an exercise routine long enough to help them get into shape. For that reason, I think So You Think You Can Dance - Get Fit Cardio Funk and Tone and Groove are worth checking out.

1. To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants - Due to a tragic laundry day accident, SpongeBob is left without any SquarePants to wear and has to go shopping for new clothes. But when he finds a pair of RoundPants, Patrick Star no longer recognizes him. At first he's horrified, but then he relishes his opportunity to start a new life.
2. Squid's Visit - Squidward claims he would never leave the comfort of his own home to visit SpongeBob, so SpongeBob decides to copy Squidward's home, which doesn't comfort Squidward like SpongeBob had hoped.
3. The Splinter - SpongeBob gets a splinter in his finger, really deep into his finger, and Squidward tells him that if Mr. Krabs finds out he was injured on the job, he would be sent home. The ultimate punishment.
4. Slide Whistle Stooges - SpongeBob and Patrick found a new way to amuse themselves... by annoying Squidward with slide whistles. Squidward decides to turn the tables on them, but soon becomes addicted to the instrument, much to annoyance of the rest of the inhabitants of Bikini Bottom. This will end poorly.
5. Boating Buddies - Distracted by SpongeBob, Squidward gets into a boating accident and has to go to Boating School, and is of course paired up with SpongeBob. So far Squidward's not having a good time on this DVD.
6. The Krabby Kronicle - Mr. Krabs learns that the newspaper business is a quick way to make a lot of money, as long as you don't care about the truth. (So many jokes to be made here, but this is the wrong forum to make them.) He forces SpongeBob to become his star reporting and print all the juiciest stories Mr. Krabs and think up.
7. The Slumber Party - Mr. Krabs freaks out because his daughter, Pearl, is having a slumber party and he's worried that boys will be there are break his stuff. So he sends SpongeBob to spy on them and make sure none of Mr. Krabs rules are broken.
8. Grooming Gary - SpongeBob decides to enter Gary in a pet show, but after being laughed at by a snotty snail owner, SpongeBob decides Gary needs a makeover, much to Gary's horror.

This is not a very strong DVD in terms of episodes or extras. The latter is common with all SpongeBob releases, but the former is more disappointing. Don't get me wrong, most of the episodes have at least a few funny jokes; however, most either take the joke too far, or carry on too long. (Slide Whistle Stooges is probably the worst offender for that.) To SquarePants or Not to SquarePants, Boating Buddies, and The Krabby Kronicle never really hit their stride. On the other hand, The Splinter is quite funny while Squid's Visit moves from funny to strange to beyond strange. Almost disturbing.

There are enough laughs in SpongeBob SquarePants - To SquarePants or Not To SquarePants that the DVD is worth checking out, but not enough that it is worth picking up. Rent this and wait for the full season set. It won't be long now.