Recently, I’ve had occasion to go back and revisit the Airport franchise. The 70s disaster movie arguably came into being with the first film (though the first pure disaster film of that era is more properly The Poseidon Adventure). If the peak of that cycle of cinematic carnage was Irwin Allen’s The Towering Inferno, and its spectacularly lovable nadir is Allen’s The Swarm, the Airport movies fell somewhere between the two. The best are the first (Airport itself) and third (Airport ‘77). The other two – Airport 1975 and The Concorde: Airport ‘79 – approach The Swarm’s level of cosmic ineptitude.

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For a third straight year, Jim Henson’s lovable Muppets attracted some of the biggest names in show business. Who would have thought that such big stars would so eagerly agree to co-star opposite a clump of felt and fur? The show was also coming off a monster second year with acts like Elton John, Bob Hope and John Cleese. How do you follow up a year like that? Easy.

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We’re in the US Marines, boys and who could have guessed that it would be so much fun? I often wondered how the real life members of The Corp think about Gomer Pyle. It would have made a great extra. I remember one of the F Troop sets offered a look at members of the real unit. With only another season to go I hope Paramount looks over the idea.

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I’m going to admit right from the start, I hate cell phones. They’re evil, and I didn’t need a horror film to tell me about it. The world would be a safer and certainly a more courteous place without them. Just last week I was run of the highway by a Werner semi because the idiot driver was on his cell phone. So it didn’t come as any surprise that someone was bound to include them as part of a horror film.

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It’s year 4 at Hogwarts, and for me this was the best Potter of the first five films. Hogwarts plays host to the prestigious Triwizard Tournament, and that means putting up students from two other wizard schools. Here we get an inkling of just how large the Potter universe truly is. Up until now our experience has only taken us through the world of Hogwarts and its peripheral environs.

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Many attempts have been made over a decade or so to imitate South Park in an attempt to cash in on the money train. So far no one has been even remotely close. The industry consensus appears to be that it’s all about crudeness and pushing the standards envelope. That couldn’t be further from the truth, and Drawn Together is proof of that. Drawn Together is wickedly foul and raunchy. The problem is that’s all there is.

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Adult Gaming, WiiWare, & The Death Knight class unveiled - Welcome to the column that discovered it was an adult one day back in 1996 and has not been heard from since known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 42&22. I unfortunately did not get to play my dwarf priest, except past a couple of quick quests and leveling some of my cooking & fishing. I honestly expected a slowdown with my Troll Rogue in WoW once I hit 40. Quite the opposite I guess. The game seems to get more interesting once you pass the magic mount level.

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Having never seen A Passage to India before this Blu Ray release, I was not sure what to expect. I did inquire with someone who had seen the film to give me a brief description of what I was to expect. Basically, my taste in movies is of the basic variety, more mainstream type movies. So, I really had to go into this viewing with a very open mind.

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Just in time for the release of one of the most eagerly awaited films in years comes a new box set of the Indiana Jones Adventures. The problem is that these transfers are not upgrades so, aside from squeezing out a few extra bucks, what’s the point? I’m sure that The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull will add hundreds of millions to the Paramount coffers, so this just looks like greed to me.

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12 Angry Men is one of those rare films that appears to defy all the Hollywood constants and yet become one of the best films of its kind ever made. The setting is entirely too claustrophobic. With the exception of two bookend scenes the entire film takes place in the tight quarters of a jury deliberation room. The story had only a couple of years earlier been the subject of a live television drama, so the story was far from a fresh idea. The director was a complete unknown who had not at that point directed a major picture.

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Welcome to this week’s edition of the New Release Tuesday Blog. Unlike the past few weeks, there are a number of good titles hitting the streets today. The notable titles being released today include Indiana Jones - The Adventure Collection (Special Editions) (DVD), The Great Debaters (DVD), Untraceable (DVD & Blu-ray), Mad Money (DVD), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Blu-ray) and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (Blu-ray). Here are the rest of this week’s notable releases…

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Jim Phelps (Graves) led his team in a fourth season of Mission Impossible starting in 1969. The show continued its trademark traditions. Jim would receive a mission from the “self destructing” tape and would gather his IMF (Impossible Mission Force) team. The team was necessarily eclectic in nature, and it changed significantly in the fourth season. Gone were Martin Landau in his signature role of Rollin Hand and Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter, model and the team’s chief seductress 

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I’m very late to the party here, but I’ve never been shy about jumping on a bandwagon (if I might so mix my metaphors), especially one as spectacularly kitted out as this one, so allow me to add my voice to the legion who are chanting the praises of Inside (French title: A l’intérieur). Directed by Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, this brutally effective piece is yet further evidence that the creative vanguard of the horror film has shifted from Asia to French-speaking Europe.

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I have a cousin who is absolutely in love with the Broadway production of Rent currently playing in New York. To date she’s made the trip to New York from the Philly area no less than 3 times and will likely do so again. I attempted to channel that passion as much as I could as I sat down to watch this Blu-ray version of the production. Unfortunately, I don’t believe I was quite successful. From what I can see there is no doubt in my mind that Rent is a phenomenal experience

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Word on the street is that some Wal-marts are beginning to carry a Magnavox branded Blu-ray player in the $288-298 price range as well as the Samsung 1500 for just under $350. Little is know about the Maganavox unit yet, however it has been suggested in various forums that the product is manufactured by Funai of Japan and may be a re-branded Phillips player.

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I remember a few years ago when Closer was released. The cast was very promising and the movie received nothing but rave reviews. The one thing about Closer is that while it is extremely sexy and dangerous, it also can easily resemble any one of our lives. Whether you are single or in a relationship, who doesn’t feel instant attraction at times when they meet someone for the first time. The dilemma is, do you act on those feelings or ignore them? Is it worth the risk?

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There was first the cloned sheep, Dolly. Now today, cloning is actually very popular in science. Just do a simple Google search and you’ll find many articles on cloning that are occurring or have occurred. Heck, there was even an active website at one time about gene banking a pet. How far is science willing to go? The cloning of humans is not so far out of reach but most likely will not happen in my lifetime. When it does, you can bet that government will try and step in and stop it.

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In the first season of The 4400 we are introduced to 4400 people who, we are led to believe, have recently returned from being abducted by aliens. Before you can look for Samantha Mulder among the group, we eventually discover that it was in reality the future that abducted these hundreds for nefarious reasons of their own. Some abductees have returned with mysterious powers and abilities. No, this is not Heroes or X-Men; in fact it’s a lot more like The X-Files than anything else, particularly in this the final season.

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The original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series ran from 1987-1996 and had over one hundred and ninety episodes. Millions watched as Leonardo, Donatello, Michaelangelo, & Raphael grew up from little turtle babies into mean, green, fighting machines. They could take on Shredder, Krang and any other bad guy that wanted to turn them into turtle soup. The sixth season takes on episodes 128-143 and spins them into a tiny two disc package from Lionsgate. Over a hundred episodes in, do the turtles still pack the punch they did back in 1987? As Splinter would say, “Be patient young ones, the answer will come.”

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Wiimote not to be threatened, GTA IV threatening the Wii, and Nazi killing gets a birthday - Welcome to the column that will not be threatened a second time ahhhhh (and bring us a shrubbery!) known as Dare to Play the Game.

Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. 40&22. Yes I got the silly emerald raptor. I still have half of my reputation bar for Undercity to go before I become exalted. By every calculation, it is near impossible to be exalted with Undercity by level 40 unless you are of course Undead to begin with. Will I get it by Level 60? Sure.

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Cuba? What the hell…?

What’s next Norbit 2? Please noooooo!!!!

I don’t get it, why does this movie exist? What’s the thought process? Let’s take an already mediocre movie (Daddy Day Care) and make a less inspired, poorly conceived sequel. I miss the days when only good movies got less inspired, poorly conceived sequels.

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When Space Ace showed up on my doorstep, I kicked me heels in a fit of joy. OK, maybe I’m not athletic enough to actually do that anymore, but you get the point. I had seen the previous Dragon’s Lair Blu-ray/HD DVD release and was very curious about the quality, but never took the plunge myself. This was probably due to all of the mediocre PC and console releases I’ve seen and played over the years which had left *mostly* a bad taste in my gaming mouth. But I had high hopes for Space Ace and I am more than pleased with the results.

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Do you enjoy a little Beethoven with your ultraviolence? Stanley Kubrick’s controversial A Clockwork Orange has arrived on Blu-ray Hi-Def (as the TV adds now like to call our BD format). Often imitated, sometimes misunderstood, A Clockwork Orange is a classic no matter your opinion of the film. Personally, this isn’t my favorite Kubrick film (that would have to be 2001), but it’s essential viewing nevertheless. Whether you choose to view it on this Blu-ray might be another story….

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