As was typical for a season finale, American Idol padded the two hour’s worth of show in an attempt to close it out in grand fashion. In the process, they stumbled and fell spectacularly with one particular faux pas.

And that faux pas wasn’t the awful jacket Randy Jackson wore. (He had to have picked that up at “The Eyesore Store” …)

And it wasn’t the gratuitous flailings of the return of Jennifer Lopez to the Idol stage.

And it wasn’t the final song Candice Glover and Kree Harrison sang together to end the night, proving The Powers That Be continue to call on oldies which are unconnectable with the viewing audience. (One Less Bell To Answer and A House Is Not A Home … ??? Deciding to showcase those songs was one prime example why Idol has lost viewership. They bordered on cheestastic. Leading directly into the winner’s announcement, the final tunes should have been upbeat and should have left the audience on its feet cheering. Being somber was not the order of the evening.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBC87KYkz18

It wasn’t even the gaudy “make-sure -you-use-the-entire-roll-of-double-sided-tape!” outfit Jesse J. wore on stage during her duet with Angie Miller. (Note: I didn’t know bare legs could go up that far and still be flaunted in front of a live studio audience with kids present.)

The faux pas of the evening was Mariah Carey’s performance. Or “performance” I should say … such that it was.

Yep. No matter how hard she tried, The Diva lip-sunk herself right into a hole she couldn’t climb out of. And it was painful to watch. Really painful. It’s one thing to lip-sync, another to do it well at the very least. But there were many moments when Carey wasn’t even trying to do a good job of it. She phoned that execution in. And as technical a performer as she’s said to be, I found her time on stage disappointing in the extreme. Her over-the-top British accent and hair flipping at the judges’ table throughout the season were bad enough. But her “performance” was deplorable. And no … I’m not going to post it here. It’s not worth the effort.

Not a good way to go out, Idol. Not a good way to go out at all. (Well … maybe it was for Nicki Minaj. It seems she may have gotten the last laugh on the season-long Carey/Minaj catfight.)

P.S. Congratulations on the win, Candice.

The post American Idol and its huge finale flub appeared first on CliqueClack.

As a loyal and faithful fan of Star Trek – the original series especially — I was overjoyed when J.J. Abrams infused his visionary magic with the Trek lore and breathed new life into the fading franchise. With all the new excitement and energy surrounding the hip and updated Star Trek, it was only a matter of time before another attempt at making a Star Trek game hit the store shelves. Star Trek: The Video Game was that game.

Star Trek: The Video Game takes place between the 2009 film Star Trek and this year’s release of Star Trek Into Darkness. Captain Kirk, Commander Spock and the rest of the famed crew of the USS Enterprise are challenged with making first contact with the Gorn, an aggressive race of lizard men hell-bent on conquering worlds and civilizations that don’t belong to them. To make a long story short, it’s up to Kirk and his crew to put the kibosh on this scaly invasion. Players take control of Kirk and Spock and battle their way through this game in a fast-paced third-person action adventure.

The premise sounds awesome doesn’t it? Too bad the game wasn’t!

Star Trek: The Video Game is a tough pill to swallow mostly due to its gameplay. “Schizophrenic” comes to mind when I think of adjectives to best describe the approach to immersing yourself into the game. You could tell the developers really had their hearts in the right place when they took this project on because the atmosphere they created definitely felt like it fit with the new universe that Abrams had created back in 2009. But from there everything is pretty downhill when it comes to getting deeper into this game.

The game suffers from a chronic case of “trying to do too much” and ultimately that leads to lackluster game performance across the board. Essentially, this game is a third-person action shooter, but then it’s also a platformer, and a flying, diving and starship simulator as well! There was actually a point midway through the game where I had no idea what to do next because there was a huge running jump I had to make in order to cross a deep chasm. Nowhere prior to that point in the game had running jumps been integral to my advancement in the game. So for the developers to automatically assume I’m supposed to know I have to do that in-game, well … then that’s just bad game design.

There was another instance where I was thrust into full control of the USS Enterprise for the first time and was automatically supposed to know how to fend off a full on Gorn ship assault. After a lot of trial, errors and continues I was able to get past that part of the game and never looked back. Did I mention there is swimming in this third-person action shooter? Really? In a Star Trek game? Honestly, the added gameplay experiences definitely didn’t make the game any better. So why add them? Had the developers sat down and focused on making a small handful of gameplay mechanics 100% solid, this game would’ve been a lot more fun to enjoy instead of a chore.

Graphically this game looks atrocious. The graphics and textures look incredibly outdated by at least four or five years and the animations are pretty terrible. There were many times where I groaned during the sequences where either Spock or Kirk would help pry and hold a door open for the other, only to have the 3D character models clip through and into each other when they squeeze past the narrow opening. And remember how I told you there was a whole section of the game where you had to swim under water? This game was so graphically challenged that whenever you’re in water the underwater shadows rendered by both Kirk and Spock are just black squares! It was embarrassing to look at. Embarrassing enough to not pick up and play the game until at least a week later.

Is there anything good about this game? Okay, probably just one good thing. The sound. The original cast from the movies lent their voicework to the game which did make it a little bit better. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto and their banter as Kirk and Spock was probably the ONLY thing that kept me going through this game. The sound effects and explosions are pretty satisfying as well. So despite the crapfest the game had snowballed into at least it sounded great!

There is little to no replay value to this game, simply because once you play through it once somebody would have to pay you to play through it again. The game features a cooperative mode where you could play with a friend and take the fight to Gorn as both Kirk and Spock. I prefer playing it online with a friend for two reasons. 1) You don’t have to play teamed up with the horrible AI partner that gets lost most of the time and doesn’t help you in a shoot out, and 2) you both could make fun of the game together.

Ultimately, if you couldn’t tell I was supremely let down by this game. Right out of the gates this game could have probably been rated a solid 7.0 at best. But the deeper I got into it, this Star Trek fan couldn’t stomach the ugly truth that this game just wasn’t worth my time and energy. This game isn’t worth the $60 price tag. If you’re a fan and a masochist I think you could at least rent it. Other than that, stay away. Play Gears of War or Mass Effect 3 instead.

Chuck’s note: I played a bit of the game in the 3D mode and found that to be wanting as well. There was occasional depth added to some of the environments, but nothing jumps off the screen at you and there were several occurrences of distortion during some of the faster motion that was unpleasant to the eye and my equilibrium. I love me some 3D, but this was nothing more than a bad conversion.

OVERALL: 4.5 out of 10

The post Set your phasers to “dumb” in Star Trek The Video Game appeared first on CliqueClack.

CliqueClack has partnered with Warner Brothers and Allied Integrated Marketing to offer our readers in the D.C. , Baltimore and Norfolk areas free passes to the advance screening of The Hangover Part III, starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis , Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong and John Goodman.

Screenings will take place as follows:

• All passes for the D.C. screening have been claimed.
• All passes for the Baltimore screening have been claimed.
• Monday, May 20, 7:00 PM, AMC Lynnhaven, Norfolk, VA

All you need to do to claim your passes is leave us a comment telling us why you want to see the movie. Please take note:

• CliqueClack will email you a unique GoFoBo code to print out a maximum of two Admit One passes. These codes will not be valid for more than one registered GoFoBo account.
• You MUST state which city you want passes for. We will not reply to comments that do not contain this information.
• Please make sure your email address is correct when leaving a comment. Do not post your address in the comment section as this is a public forum.
• GoFoBo codes are limited and the offer will expire when all codes have been claimed or on the day of the screening.
• ONE comment per person, per email address, per IP address. We want all of our readers to have an opportunity and we do check for duplicate comments. Please note: if several people from a business location leave comments, the same IP address will be registered and duplicate requests will be held in reserve.
• If there are passes remaining on the day of screening, those will be distributed to any duplicate comments held in reserve.
• Passes are distributed on a first come, first served basis and do not guarantee you a seat at the screening. Advance screenings are overbooked to ensure a full house, so plan to arrive early.
• CliqueClack has no control over the number of passes available or the seating at the theater.

Again, passes are very limited so leave your comments now!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96TelFMZwHc

The post Be the first to see The Hangover Part III in DC, MD and VA appeared first on CliqueClack.

Let’s talk Hollywood before the rules kicked in before we get to some of the down and dirty about John Gilbert’s Downstairs … shall we? Trust me — it’s going to help make things a bit understandable.

Per Wikipedia’s Pre-Code Hollywood: “… films in the late 1920s and early 1930s included sexual innuendo, miscegenation, profanity, illegal drug use, promiscuity, prostitution, infidelity, abortion, intense violence and homosexuality … Nefarious characters were seen to profit from their deeds, in some cases without significant repercussions …” (There’s quite the lengthy read at that link. Take a visit — it’s really quite interesting.)

Of the 10 mentions in the above quotation, we get a healthy dose of sexual innuendo, promiscuity, infidelity and intense violence feeding Downstairs, much of it rather shocking if you don’t know what’s coming. And, honestly, I didn’t know what was coming as the film unfolded.

Starring a debonair John Gilbert (who also wrote and hocked the film) as a newly hired chauffeur, the film begins with Gilbert traipsing into his new digs at the vast, bustling estate of the Baron Von Burgen (Reginald Owen, Ebenezer Scrooge in 1938′s A Christmas Carol). There’s a wedding going on, the nuptials of The Baron’s head butler Albert (Paul Lukas) and one of the young maids of the estate, Anna (Virginia Bruce). And right away, after a traditional stomping of grapes to bring good luck to the newly wedded couple, the lascivious Karl greets the bride with a big wet one right smack dab on the kisser. (Video below.) With that big wet one, we’re off to the races and hungry for what other sorts of mischief Karl gets involved with.

And it doesn’t take long for this heel’s true colors to come shining through. He bumps into a former lover at the wedding celebration who is none too pleased to see him fraternizing with the guests. He begins an affair with one of the cooks on the estate and sleeps with her. Chauffeuring The Baroness to a shopping excursion one day that turns into a rendezvous for good lovin’ monkey business, Karl is in just the right position to gather enough information to hold over her head for later use. Meanwhile, he continues his pursuit of newly wed Anna who he’s got a thing for, turning on the suspicions of her rather stuffy husband Albert. (Karl’s seductions of Anna are pretty effective. She’s naive enough to sleep with him — finding out he’s one hell of a lover — and ends up carrying that torch despite being a new bride. After all, why settle for the plain vanilla of Albert when she can have Karl, too, with all tasty sprinkles and a cherry on top?)

And … what? I didn’t mention the year this film was made, did I? 1932. Yep. This little gem got in right under the period where Hollywood ultimately got pressured into cleaning up its act and having to censor the raciness running rampant in the industry. And here I thought I was getting a little treat of a flick featuring Reginald Owen. Hardly! My jaw dropped all over the place watching this thing! It dropped at Sophie the cook swiping flour off Karl’s backside in the kitchen! At Karl arranging a room at an inn for a bit of hanky-panky with Anna! And at Anna confessing to her husband what a great piece of ass Karl is! Zounds!

(Side Note: Universal’s Frankenstein was pre-code, too, having been released in 1931. There was plenty of controversy in that film at the time as well as deleted scenes, not the least of which was Frankenstein’s monster killing that little village girl by tossing her into the drink. Still, Hollywood had the wherewithal to delete the scene. It’s since been reinstated into the classic.)

At the film’s conclusion, Karl almost gets strangled to death by by the uber-jealous Albert, but he’s unceremoniously kicked out of the Baron’s employ instead … only to wind up at yet another employer, another hottie ripe for his seductive pickings.

Karl: A nefarious character always at the ready to reap the profits of his philandering ways and with nary a repercussion, indeed.

I confess this was a guilty pleasure akin to stealing glances at your father’s Playboy collection as a kid. With Downstairs under my belt, I’m primed and ready for additional Forbidden Hollywood titles from the Warner Archive Collection.

As a remastered print, I was duly impressed with the quality — extremely clean for something originally produced in 1932, impressively so. A few extras would have been a nice compliment. Hey … I can dream, can’t I?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNzIAkX2Y40

Downstairs is part of the Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume 6 provided to CliqueClack by the Warner Archive Collection.

The post Downstairs: There’s nothing chaste in this kick of a Hollywood oldie appeared first on CliqueClack.

I am going to be completely up front with you right from the start. There will be no pussy-footing around. There will be a spoiler here because it’s completely unavoidable … even if it is one of the worst kept secrets in cinema history. But we’ll get to that.

Star Trek Into Darkness is a slam bang summer popcorn movie, no doubt about it. Once we get caught up on all of the established characters, the film goes into warp speed with one huge action-packed, special effects sequence after another. There is enough serious eye candy here to put you into filmic sugar shock. And for the die hard Trekkers, there are plenty of little things here and there to make you happy. Oh, look … a tribble! Bones mentions a Gorn. Christine Chapel’s name is brought up. Carol Marcus joins the crew. Klingons! More than a few Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan references, including …

Yes, here is the spoiler. Benedict Cumberbatch is indeed playing Khan. But this time, he ends up helping Kirk and company … or is he merely helping himself? That’s where things start to break down. You find yourself mesmerized by all the flash and things flying at your face in 3D, but after it’s all over you think to yourself, “Self, what exactly was the story?” And Khan isn’t the only bad guy in the movie (maybe he’s not bad, just misunderstood … and why does he look like Data?).

The plot, as I can remember, starts after a bombing at a Starfleet facility in London. Thought to be an archive, it’s really something much more dangerous. The culprit is former Starfleet officer John Harrison, who knows that all of the captains and first officers will be gathered in one place for a meeting which he crashes, literally, and kills enough people to really piss Kirk off.

Tracked to the Klingon world Chronos, Kirk is tasked with sneaking into Klingon territory and eliminating Harrison without starting an intergalactic war. Things don’t go as planned – is JJ Abrams setting up a Klingon confrontation for the next movie? – but Harrison is captured and he reveals himself to be the genetically superior Khan … who then reveals that Admiral Marcus, Carol’s father, has been preparing to initiate a war with the Klingons and that he will help Kirk stop the madness. But Khan also wants his 72 cryogenic pals in return. What could possibly go wrong?

Unfortunately, the plot really is convoluted and after a four year gestation, you’d think they could have really refined the script. But someone somewhere must have insisted on putting Khan into the film and aping many of the original second film’s most iconic moments. In trying to play too hard to the fans, the film seems to ultimately be pissing off a lot of them. Having been around since Star Trek‘s TV infancy through all the various shows and movies, I’m much too familiar with all of these little nods to Star Trek II and I actually found myself rolling my eyes at times. I’m not sure that having a history with the originals is helpful when seeing Into Darkness. You might need a little background on the Khan character, but not feeling like this is an almost remake of Wrath of Khan might make it more tolerable. I just hope that now that we’ve had Spock in the first film and Khan in the second – with both films setting a trajectory away from the original series timeline – Abrams and company will be able to truly boldly go where no one has gone before with an original Trek story that doesn’t rely on what came before.

But, even with all that criticism, I still enjoyed the ride that Abrams and the cast took us on. There are some great moments, a pretty funny red shirt joke, and a really terrific performance from Zachary Quinto. He certainly takes center stage in this film, and at times he really seems to be channeling Leonard Nimoy. The rest of the crew get their moments, and Chris Pine does have some Kirk swagger, but can we please allow Bones to speak in more than snappy one-liners? It does get a little tiresome, but at least Karl Urban does a great job with the delivery.

If you’re going into Star Trek Into Darkness hoping for a real hardcore Trek movie, you will most likely find yourself disappointed by the final results. The film really sacrifices what made Star Trek what it was by replacing any thoughtful moments of dialog with a loud explosion. However, if you’re just going in to see things blow up real good, then this is the movie for you. Star Trek Into Darkness is the perfect definition of a popcorn movie – very tasty in the moment, but nothing but empty calories when it’s done.

The post Star Trek Into Darkness is all flash, no substance appeared first on CliqueClack.

It’s absolutely no secret that I loved Cloud Atlas during its theatrical release. The proof is in my lengthy review. I loved the audacity that directors Tom Tykwer and Andy & Lana Wachowski had to even try to bring this story to the screen. Based on David Mitchell’s novel, Cloud Atlas tells six stories in six eras from the distant past to the far-flung future. In the book, Mitchell wrote the stories separately and then chopped them in half at a cliffhanger point so that the reader read the first half of each story before getting to the second half.

The film is much more tricky than that — and it’s fun to see Lana Wachowski feign anger at Mitchell in one of the bonus features on the Blu-ray when he mentions how easy it was to cut the stories in half — only giving you bits and pieces of each story over the course of the film’s nearly three hour running time. It all sounds to be a bit confusing, and as the film opens and basically throws a piece of each story at you, you may feel hopelessly lost. But stick with it! You will see how things come into focus and how each story is linked by various objects, most notably a comet-shaped birthmark, a diary, a book, and some love letters. There are actually more things that tie the stories together that may not be seen on first viewing, but Cloud Atlas is a film that demands repeat viewings and it can be fun to pick out things like an article of clothing that appears on different characters throughout the film (it reminds me a bit of the jade ashtray that made an appearance in each segment of the classic horror film Creepshow, but on a much grander scale).

The new Blu-ray from Warner Home Video presents Cloud Atlas in a very sharp, colorful 1080p high definition transfer. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix also represents the film nicely, giving nice directionality to voices and sound effects while allowing the subwoofer to rumble appropriately. While the film presentation is a huge selling point, I was very eager — even after seeing the movie for the first time — to get some real depth from the filmmakers in the disk’s bonus features. While there is some nice input from the directors, crew and actors, the bonus material left me wanting more … like perhaps an audio commentary with the film. As it is, the Blu-ray contains seven Focus Points (about 55 minutes) that you can watch individually or all together. They include:

• A Film Like No Other (7:15) — The actors, directors and crew talk about the logistics of mapping out a schedule to shoot the film, and the challenges of filming six different stories with actors playing six different characters in six different time periods. (Blu-ray and DVD)
• Everything Is Connected (8:00) — The directors, author and stars talk about the various ways each story is connected, and how the actors’ characters are also connected from one era to another. (Blu-ray only)
• The Impossible Adaptation (9:07) — The directors and author David Mitchell (who also appears in the movie) talk about the book’s structure and how that was applied to the film, and how the comet birthmark is meant to signify a character’s reincarnation. (Blu-ray only)
• The Essence of Acting (7:20) — The actors discuss the process, the fun and the privilege of playing different characters. (Blu-ray only)
• Spaceships, Slaves & Sextets (8:08) — A look at how one story builds to the next, creating a single story instead of six separate ones. We also see that not only did actors play multiple roles, but sets, costumes and music also carried through each story. David Mitchell sees the book as being made of Legos which the directors took apart and re-assembled. (Blu-ray only)
• The Bold Science Fiction of Cloud Atlas (7:14) — A look at creating the film’s sci-fi elements and how they mesh with the present and past eras of the story. (Blu-ray only)
• Eternal Recurrence: Love, Life and Longing in Cloud Atlas (7:39) — A look at the complicated love stories that inform characters from one era to the next and even back again. (Blu-ray only)

There is some insight into the film and the process, but I wanted to know more about the film. Perhaps the directors want us to figure it all out for ourselves. Either way, I still love the movie, I love going back and seeing new things and marveling at what actor was playing which character in each story (and they are very often so unrecognizable that even the cast had no clue who they may have been saying hi to as they exited the make-up room). It all may end up being too obtuse for its own good and the real meaning of the story can never be totally unraveled, but having the video version of the film now gives us all a chance to see what else we can discover in the Cloud Atlas. (And you can see even more at the film’s official YouTube page.)

Cloud Atlas is now available as a two-disk Blu-ray/DVD Combo and a single disk DVD (both include Ultraviolet digital copy), and is also available as a digital download for various devices. This review is based on a retail copy of the Combo package provided to CliqueClack by Warner Home Video.

The post Solve the mysteries of Cloud Atlas on home video appeared first on CliqueClack.

If Elizabeth Taylor hadn’t passed away before the Lifetime movie Liz & Dick was made, seeing Lindsay Lohan play her would have done the trick. And since we all like a good train wreck, you can now own the notorious TV movie to enjoy again and again. Also making its home video debut this week is the penultimate season of Dexter, and more entries from the WWE and UFC. Reality TV is spotlighted with the release of new volumes of Top Gear, Mythbusters, and Dance Academy. For the kids — and Bronies — we’ve got another volume of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and a variety of kids programming from Fraggle Rock to Power Rangers. On top of these releases, more classic TV comes to DVD capped with full series sets of Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun and That 70s Show. To see all the titles released on May 14, have a look at our shopper’s guide and click on a link to get more information or to make a purchase.

Liz & Dick DVD Digital Download	Dexter: The Seventh Season DVD Blu-ray	The Bletchley Circle: Cracking a Killer’s Code DVD Blu-ray
WWE: WrestleMania XXIX DVD Blu-ray	UFC 156: Aldo vs. Edgar DVD	Top Gear 19 DVD
MythBusters: Collection 9 DVD	Dance Academy: Season 1, Volume 1 DVD	Dance Academy: Season 1, Volume 2 DVD
Dance Academy: Season 2, Volume 1 DVD	Dance Academy: Season 2, Volume 2 DVD	Tinman - The Mini-Series Event DVD Blu-ray
My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season Two DVD	Pokémon Black & White 4 DVD	The Official Digimon Adventure: Volume 3 DVD
Taz-Mania: Taz on the Loose- Season One, Vol. 1 DVD	VR Troopers: Season Two, Vol. 1 DVD	Power Rangers Samurai: The Sixth Ranger 4 DVD
Fraggle Rock: Meet The Fraggles DVD	BFraggle Rock: Season 3 DVD	Fraggle Rock: 30th Anniversary Collection DVD
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes: The Glass Slipper Collection DVD	Franklin: Summer Spectacular DVD	Sonic Underground: Volume 1 DVD
Veggie Tales: Moe and the Big Exit Blu-ray/DVD Combo	Roseanne: The Complete Ninth Season DVD	Roseanne: The Complete Series DVD
3rd Rock From the Sun - The Complete Series DVD	That 70s Show - The Complete Series DVD	Bearcats! The Complete Series DVD
Combat!: The Complete Second Season DVD	Highway to Heaven - Season 1 – Complete and UNCUT DVD	Doctor Who: The Visitation (Special Edition) DVD
Brave New World DVD Blu-ray	JFK – A New World Order – Commemorative Documentary Series Blu-ray/DVD Combo	The Best of The Red Skelton Show DVD

The post Dexter and Liz & Dick bring slash and trash to home video appeared first on CliqueClack.

If you missed the amazing Cloud Atlas during its brief theatrical run, now is your chance to catch up and watch the almost three-hour film at your leisure. This week’s other big theatrical release is the reboot/remake/reimagining of the granddaddy of the slasher films, Texas Chainsaw. The bulk of the new releases are smaller films that may interest our readers, but the big news is Sony’s new 4K remastering of several of their classic (Taxi Driver) and not-so-classic (Battle Los Angeles) titles, bringing new clarity to these films. Whether consumers who are still not sure about 3D TV are ready for yet another new video format remains to be seen, but hopefully the upgrade will help some films that looked questionable on their initial Blu-ray release (and yes, I am looking squarely at you, Ghostbusters). To see all the titles being released on May 14, have a look at our handy shopper’s guide and click on a link to make a purchase or to get more information.

Cloud Atlas DVD Blu-ray/DVD Combo Digital Download	Texas Chainsaw DVD 3D Blu-ray + Blu-ray Digital Download	Beware of Mr. Baker DVD Digital Download
Back to 1942 DVD Blu-ray Digital Download	Tomorrow You’re Gone DVD Blu-ray Digital Download	Frankie Go Boom DVD Blu-ray Digital Download
Of Two Minds DVD	If I Were You DVD Digital Download	A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III DVD Blu-ray
Colorful: The Motion Picture DVD Blu-ray	Fangoria Presents: Germ Z DVD	Locker DVD
White T DVD	Ghostbusters (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray	Glory (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray
Spider-Man (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray	The Amazing Spider-Man (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray	Battle: Los Angeles (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray
Taxi Driver (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray	Total Recall (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray	Angels & Demons (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray
The Karate Kid (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray	The Other Guys (Mastered in 4K) Blu-ray	Crimewave BluRay/DVD Combo
3:10 to Yuma (Criterion Collection) DVD Blu-ray	Jubal (Criterion Collection) DVD Blu-ray	The Unbelievable Truth DVD Blu-ray
The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection DVD	The Miracle of the Bells DVD Blu-ray	Second Chorus Blu-Ray + DVD Combo
Three Faces West DVD Blu-ray	The Courtship of Eddie’s Father DVD	Land of the Pharaohs DVD
Command Decision DVD		Funny Money DVD

The post Cloud Atlas, Texas Chainsaw, and 4K remasters on home video appeared first on CliqueClack.

Every now and then there comes a quality television show that will stand the test a time, a program with such a lasting impression to make you dream you were a character during your sleep. If you ask me, Power Rangers is one of those programs. And I bet you thought I was talking about The Walking Dead. Sorry, guys – I’m a little biased. I’m a 26-year-old man, and my six five-inch Power Ranger action figures stand on my DVD rack to guard my BluRay discs — a fact that my girlfriend tends to roll her eyes at.

Hey, no shame in my game.

So, imagine my excitement when Saban Brands and the Shout Factory recently released the first two seasons of Power Rangers on DVD. Cue the chorus. There is a God.

Now, anyone that knows me knows that I keep it real. The only Power Rangers seasons worth owning are the first two. Everything after that is overly campy … especially those wretched Turbo years … with the exception of Yellow Ranger Tanya, who I always thought was cool. But let’s focus on the positive! Season one of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers is available on DVD, and if you’re a nerd like me, I suggest you go get it! I mean, seriously. It’s been out for a while now. What are you waiting on?

For those of you not familiar with Power Rangers lore, the show is essentially about a group of six teenagers (with attitude) who are given extraordinary abilities by a wise wizard when an intergalactic witch declares war on Earth. The program debuted in 1993 and is still going strong today – with a new cast of Rangers and a brand new plot of course. However, nothing compares to the first six rangers – Tommy the brave Green Ranger, Zachary the cool, spunky Black Ranger, Kimberly the gorgeous and determined Pink Ranger, Billy the clever Blue Ranger, Trini the capable Yellow Ranger (whom I simply adored), and Jason the testosterone driven Red Ranger. As a kid, I could always count on those six to save the day time and time again.

Luckily for me, I can still count on them to do just that whenever I pop one of those DVDs into my BluRay player. Now, unfortunately, Shout Factory decided to split season one into two sets – Volume 1 and Volume 2. That’s fine though. I personally feel that the first set has the better episodes. There’s the episode where the Black Ranger fights that creepy knight out to destroy Angel Grove. There’s also the episode where the Blue Ranger has to take down a monster made of eyeballs. Oh, yes – and how could I forget the five-part story arc featuring the Green Ranger before he became a good guy? That alone should be worth the price of purchase. However, there are absolutely no bonus features – no behind the scenes footage, no episode commentary, no nothing. Shame.

Still, let’s be positive. Who needs all that when you can have fun watching grainy Japanese footage being dubbed by American voice actors? Don’t believe me? I implore you to look closely at the scenes featuring Rita Repulsa. Her lips rarely line up with what she’s saying.

Ah, good times.

Season one of Power Rangers is really a treat, and to be honest, there hasn’t been a single season that has really lived up to this one. Subsequent seasons seem to be missing something, the spark that made this one really tick. In these episodes you’ll learn the value of teamwork and camaraderie. Each episode featured a lesson and some kind of moral which was good for me as kid. Power Rangers means a lot to me, and when I have children, they’ll probably be forced to watch the series.

I suppose I’ll just have to anticipate more eye rolling from my girlfriend.

The post Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers is on DVD! Hallelujah! appeared first on CliqueClack.

Things have definitely been lively on American Idol of late.

In a season filled with uncertainty, it’s the one thing that has been indisputably certain.

But … for all the wrong reasons.

Unneeded drama has overseen the mission statement of the show this year. Want proof? Here are a few examples … and from just the last 10 days or so: American Idol to Axe All Judges. Randy Jackson Is Leaving American Idol. How American Idol lost the magic this year.  An off-tune American Idol strategy of making hit show about judges instead of contestants has viewers tuning out. That last report by David Hinckley of New York Daily News strikes home, something the fans of the show have been decrying for the last few years. And it’s something I’ve touched on time and again in my posts here.

I mean … all you need to do is take a look at the photo below and ask yourself a simple question:

Does this group look like a quartet of happy campers?

Despite all the drama, despite Idol seeming to have lost its way over the last couple years with the revolving door of judges, despite the hoo-ha and raised hackles Carey and Minaj have displayed (and continue to display), regardless of the rumors about the show getting a major overhaul during the off-season, in spite of the tired themes we’ve seen played out yet again over the past weeks, I’m still invested in this season to its conclusion; I’ve been invested in it for years.

Why? Because a lot of good stuff has come out of it since its inception, not the least of which is the fact we’ve gotten some pretty entertaining performances from its hopefuls. Not to mention #1 albums. Hit songs. And Grammys. Broadway performances. Let’s not forget about that Academy Award. Ad infinitude.

And, as a music lover, I love all that stuff. That’s what I tune in to see, the start of the process and, later, its culmination … however that might manifest itself. I don’t watch it for the spectacle. If you read what I’ve written previously about the show it may seem otherwise. But the spectacle is rather difficult to avoid. (It’s difficult NOT to comment on as well.) Nature of the beast.

Besides, I have an active, personal bet going which started when I called out Lazaro Arbos’ exit (easiest prediction ever at that time). And that bet has continued successfully right on through the Top 5 and into our current state of affairs with Kree Harrison’s and Candice Glover’s upcoming final competitive performances.

For me, the bottom line this season is the finale and seeing Candice take the prize. She is the better of the two remaining contestants, after all. But I have a soft spot for Kree as she’s been my favorite all along, something that goes back way before I got acquainted with her family history and her parents’ passings. And because of her history, I wouldn’t count out all the sympathy play that could conceivably translate into votes. That’s not what I want, but we’ve seen it happen in the past and it could very well hold water in the end. In that event, I’d be a bit surprised but pleased nonetheless for her to come out on top.

So here we go, limping toward the finish line of a final AI chapter we haven’t ever experienced before. For some of us, it will be a welcome relief. For others an exasperated sigh and head shake. For still more it will be the perfect place to end the relationship with the show knowing a gal finally wins the title after a half a decade reign of Y chromosomes.

I’ll be watching the penultimate episode. Enthusiastically.

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