Umphrey's McGee: Live at the Murat

Written by Fumo Verde

To start off, I’m sorry not to have been at either of these shows. Umphrey’s McGee played the Murat Egyptian Room in Indianapolis, IN on April 6th & 7th 2007, and just from listening to this dual-disc set I wish I had seen this show. This coming from a kat who has seen them only three times, and each time they get better and better. Live at the Murat is typical UM, high energy, unbelievable improvisation, inspiring lyrics and powerful jams. These katz are professionals and they pride themselves on giving it all when on stage, and from the shows I have seen along with reviews from others who have seen them live, UM never disappoints.

I don’t know if either night started with “The Kitchen” but Disc One does. The number came in four parts with the band jamming for almost twenty minutes, revving up the crowd and getting them involved right away. From there they bust into “Higgins” followed by the “The Fuzz.” These two songs rip the top off the scene as the band goes supernova into “Nothing Too Fancy.” While Myers and Farag drive the rhythm with drums and percussion, the guitars face off between Bayliss and Cinninger, rocketing skyward like a dogfight between fighter jets. The raw power the band generates can be felt through the sound of the crowd with their screams and cheers. When you scream at an Umphrey’s McGee show, it is in between the gasps of breath you try to take in while sweating like a beast, grinning from ear to ear.

Disc Two is more of the same and that’s not a bad thing. “40’s Theme” opens up and once again the crowd is immediately involved. Chanting back the lyrics and responding in unison, the crowds at UM shows play a big part. The band feeds off the energy of the audience and vice versa. “Push the Pig” slows things down a bit, giving the crowd a rest as Bayliss and Cinninger tickle their guitar strings. Cummins has some super-spacey sounds coming out of the keys as Stasik thumps about along with the rhythm. This all goes down between the new segments the band just rehearsed backstage before the show (I found this out via the liner notes). “White Man’s Moccasins” opens up an array of sound the band produces due to the talent they have. Cummins’ piano-playing along with the percussion sounds Farag keeps mixing in give off images of lush tropical islands with crystal-clear waterfalls dropping from black lava rock mountains. The guitars, drums, and bass join in almost making this track operatic: bold, full, energetic.

The tracks on this album were picked by the band, and not only do they play well, they are great judges of their own music. It’s hard for bands to put together a live show but Live at the Murat is one of those special times when a great band has an unbelievable performance and it’s edited just right so the listener comes away feeling like they were there. The liner notes said that this is their first “live” CD; I think they did a fine job.

Thank you, UM. This is a great set.

Medium: The Third Season

Written by Senora Bicho

Medium is a crime drama based on real-life, self-proclaimed psychic Allison DuBois, who utilizes her abilities to assist law enforcement agencies in solving crimes. In the series, the main character works for the Phoenix district attorney’s office and her abilities include seeing and speaking to the deceased along with having dreams that give her clues for solving the crimes. Patricia Arquette masterfully plays the lead role and has won an Emmy and Golden Globe for her performance. Glenn Gordon Caron is the creator, executive producer and writer. He has written for many successful television shows such as Taxi and Remington Steele before creating great shows of his own including Moonlighting and Now and Again. Caron likes to refer to Medium as ghost stories for adults.

Season Three was originally slated to start in early 2007. However, due to an early cancellation of another NBC show, it was brought back in November 2006. Besides starting the show later in the season, the network also changed its time slot, moving it from Monday at 10 p.m. to Wednesday at 10 p.m. I missed the majority of this season primarily because of these factors. This seemed to impact others viewers as well as the show fell in the ratings from #35 during Season Two to #61 (it had also dropped tremendously from Season One where it was ranked at #19). I am happy to report that the network has renewed the show for another season, but again as a late addition and with another changed time slot. This time around it will be a replacement for NFL football on Sunday nights at 9 p.m. starting in January.

It is a shame that more people didn’t watch Season Three but hopefully the DVD release will provide an opportunity for them to see what they missed. The season started with a two-hour movie premiere. This extended episode alone is reason enough to at least rent the collection. It focuses on the dreams that Allison and her daughter Bridgett are having about the same murders. Since Bridgett is only 10, her dreams of the crimes are animated featuring monkeys as the criminals. The cartoons look incredible and add an interesting dimension to the episode. One of the set’s special features is a featurette about the time and effort that went into making the cartoons.

The other reason that I missed a lot of the season was that it was just another crime drama. While I didn’t know when it started or what its time slot was, I didn’t make the effort to find it either. I had more than enough TV shows in my lineup and was grateful to have one less to watch. However, Season Three was a departure from the traditional crime drama formula used in previous seasons. This one focused more on the peripheral characters and their stories in addition to seeing more of Allison’s personal and family life. At home all of the daughters deal with different levels of their own paranormal abilities. Joe DuBois, played by Jake Weber, has a much more prominent role and is no longer relegated to being the listening board for his wife’s struggles. He is involved in a hostage situation at work which causes some psychological problems and results in him being unemployed at the season finale. The season finale was the conclusion of an extremely well done three-part storyline. Jason Priestly and Neve Campbell were guest stars in all three episodes.

Included in the DVD collection are some great special features. There is commentary for the season premiere with Caron, Larry Teng (Producer), Aaron Lipstadt (Director and Supervising Producer) and Javier Grill-Marxuach (Writer). It is interesting to hear their vision of the season and this episode. Lipstadt was added as the supervising producer to give the series consistency and Grill-Marxuach is a new writer to the show who previously worked on “Lost”. The episode “Whatever Possessed You” also offers a great commentary by Miguel Sandoval, who plays Devalos and director of the episode, and Jessica Kender, Production Designer.

There are also some fun featurettes. “Directing with David Arquette” discusses brother David’s direction of the episode “1-900-Lucky.” “Acting is my Racquet” gives an inside look at the actors’ addiction to ping-pong. “The Story of Medium, Season 3” provides background on the decisions and thoughts behind the show and “The Making of Medium, Season 3” showcases what it takes to make the show and the intense production involved. You will also find deleted scenes and a gag reel.

Even with the changes that give more depth to the secondary characters, Patricia Arquette is the heart and soul of the show. Season Three was her strongest performance yet as she struggles and experiences many frustrations with her abilities and those who fight her on her instincts. I usually prefer my crime without the personal stuff, just give me the cases. However, this change in direction brought the show to another level. Medium offers well-written storylines, great performances and intriguing cases. I think it is the best crime drama out there so here is your chance to get caught up on Season Three before the next season starts. You can also give the show a test drive via reruns from all of the seasons on Lifetime Television. My dreams tell me that once you try it, you will like it.

RETURN TO HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL

Written by Fantasma el Rey

Eight years ago House On Haunted Hill was remade and a new storyline was added whereby the house is an old insane asylum that had been run by a demented, torturous, mad Doctor. As in the original, starring Vincent Price, a diverse group of individuals were offered one million dollars to spend the night in that haunted mansion/insane asylum and only two of them survived. After years of trying to convince the world that the place is haunted and that she’s not crazy, one survivor, Sara Wolfe, is killed setting in motion a Return To House On Haunted Hill.

Her sister, Ariel, and her photographer friend are forced by treasure hunters to venture back inside the house to search for a demonic idol worth millions. Also involved is an archaeologist who had been working with Sara to retrieve the idol for study and storage in a museum. The connection of the two lays in the fact that a journal filled with the mad doctor’s dark entries about his obsession with the idol was somehow in the possession of Sara. Once in the house, all are united as the mystery unfolds and we soon find out many horrible truths.

Truths like the fact that there is a teacher-student relationship between archaeologist and treasure hunter leader (dunt-dunt-dun), truths of betrayal and cheating, conniving girlfriends (who hook up with treasures hunters), and above all we find out the truth behind the house’s tormented spirits. The idol is pure evil and drives men to madness and targets their brains like a sanity assassin with an evil rifle. The spooks gone wild in the house are trapped souls who where killed by the mad doctor and are now on the loose, killing anyone who double-dares to enter this dark house in the flat field of evil. (Did I mention that there’s evil going on here?)

As the house’s ghost hosts seal the windows and doors, those inside must find a way out and half of them want to locate the booty, which they are in search of. So the group separates and the blood flow begins. The ghouls get creative in this sequel as we get to see a guy pulled through a wall by his intestines, a big street-fighter type torn to little bitty pieces, and a strong female seduced by violent vixens gets her face removed with a scalpel. By the way, the ghost of the mad doctor does this himself with a few quick flicks of the wrist. The burning of the treasure hunter leader in a crematorium furnace is also full of giggles to watch. Perhaps it’s a metaphor for his desire, burning from the inside, to do whatever it takes to put five million in his pocket.

What I do like is that as each person is killed we get a piece of the story behind the doctor’s crimes, how his patients snuffed him out and how the house can be defeated. A ghost who has decided to communicate with her and show her their turmoil by touching her eyes reveals it Ariel. So the idol needs to be found and destroyed before anyone can truly escape the house. And found it is, as for destroyed? Well there couldn’t be a third movie if the thing was destroyed, so flushed from the house is the next best thing. The end goal is the same I suppose, rid the house of evil trinkets and set the innocent killer apparitions free. Haazaa!!!

Besides the boob shots, cliché cartoon-like villains, some standard modern horror film dialog, and setting aside the plot holes that come with the gory horror genre, Return To House On Haunted Hill isn’t too bad. As I always point out with these things, so long as Kats and Kittens are entertained a film has done what it set out to do. And for eighty-one minutes I was involved with nothing else but this movie, its characters, and most of all how they meet their ends.

Also on the unrated DVD are some extra features that don’t make sense. We get to see “confessionals” of the characters as if they were on a reality show. Which just makes you wonder if at one time the studio had a different idea for the plot and storyline or do they think that most fans are hung up on the Blair Witch, Survivor thing? And as the scenes are clearly adlibbed it shows that the actors are not so good at it and their skills aree a bit weak. But take a look for yourselves, ghoulies, and decide if Return To House On Haunted Hill is worth the trip through the silent hedges and over the hollow hills of horrordom.

POLTERGEIST (25th Anniversary Edition)

Written by Senora Bicho

It’s here! The newly restored and remastered 25th anniversary Poltergeist DVD is out in time to provide some chills and thrills for Halloween. It had been years since I last watched it all the way through and so I was looking forward to finding out whether or not is still holds up as one of the scariest films of all times.

Poltergeist originally hit the theaters in June 1982, but I rented it on home video much later on as I did with Jaws. Both films scared the living daylights out of me although Jaws has had more of a lasting effect. Being in a swimming pool alone can still frighten me. On the other hand, a stuffed clown might make me chuckle but doesn’t put me in mortal fear. While both of these horror classics have always had a connection in my mind, I was surprised to learn that Steven Spielberg was involved with both films. Tobe Hooper is the credited director of Poltergeist because contract obligations Spielberg had with Universal Studios required he only work on E.T. until its completion. However, from most accounts including those from both cast and crew, Spielberg was really the one behind the camera.

Poltergeist is the story of the haunting of the Freeling family home. This all-American family consists of parents Steve and Diane and their three children, Carol Anne, Robbie, and Dana. The problems begin with a common item found in almost every home, the television set. Five-year-old Carol Anne starts speaking into the TV one night while the rest of the family is asleep. She wakes them as she gets louder and louder trying to understand the voice on the other side of the static-filled channel. The late Heather O’Rourke wonderfully plays Carol Anne. It is a great creepy scene that sets the stage for the rest of the film.

Cut to the next day and an overview of the Questa Verde community. It appears to be the perfect suburban development with neighbors mowing lawns and children playing. That evening Carol Anne starts talking to TV again but this time a spirit appears and goes into a bedroom wall. As the family awakes Carol Anne delivers the famous “They’re here” line. Paranormal activity gets underway during breakfast the following morning. At first Diane (JoBeth Williams) is fascinated with the playful occurrences and is excited to share the activities of the day with Steve (Craig T. Nelson). This playful nature changes very quickly when a tree attacks Robbie and Carol Anne disappears.

The rest of the film revolves around getting Carol Anne back. At first, Steve and Diane seek assistance from a university parapsychology team. When it becomes apparent that the situation is beyond their expertise, they bring in a spiritual medium, Tangina Barrons (Zelda Rubinstein). With her help they are able to save Carol Anne and eventually flee the house just before it gets swallowed into a burst of light.

While there are great performances and some spooky moments, I wouldn’t consider this a scary film. It is a well-written story that is ultimately about the love and bonds within a family. Perhaps my lack of witnessing any paranormal activity firsthand along with not believing in ghosts played a role in my reaction to the film. Those that do believe in poltergeists and the idea of a haunted house might have a more frightful experience.

The digitally restored and remastered picture looks fantastic. It is crystal clear with vibrant colors. Some of the special effects look less than 100% realistic but it is the best it can be given the technology available in the early ‘80s. In addition, the remastered soundtrack in Dolby Digital sounds amazing.

Disappointingly, the DVD only offers one special feature. A documentary entitled “They are Here: The Real World of Poltergeists Revealed”. This is shown in two parts: “Science of the Spirits” and “Communing with the Dead”. Since I am a non-believer, I found this ridiculous and uninteresting as they spoke with real-life, self-proclaimed mediums and ghost hunters. I would have much preferred to see a making-of or a “behind the scenes documentary.” Especially since some consider the film to be cursed due to the early death of Heather O’Rourke, the murder of Dominique Dunne (who plays the older daughter Dana), and that they supposedly used real skeletons in some of the scenes.

Since there are no noteworthy special features, I can’t recommend that you run out and buy the DVD. If you are a fan of the film and would want it as a part of your collection to watch over and over again, you should be able to find it for less than $20. If not save the money and rent it on Halloween night instead.

Tony Bennett Sings The Ultimate Songbook Vol. 1

Written by Fumo Verde

I grew up listening to Tony Bennett only because my parents had control over the car radio. It was much later when I truly began to appreciate the silky smooth sound of the man Frank Sinatra once called, “the best singer in the business.” Bennett is an American legend who has been singing for over half a century and has collected over a dozen Grammy Awards. He has been recording since the fifties and is still going strong. On this disk you get to hear some of his best work.

The Ultimate American Songbook Vol. 1 is an incredible collection from master songwriters such as Cole Porter and the Gershwin brothers, George and Ira, so who better to sing these poetic lyrics but the man who made his career singing them since they were new and fresh. After returning from WWII, he made his way as Joe Bari through the nightclubs of the late forties, performing hits like “It Had To Be You” and “Ain’t Misbehavin’.” He opened for Pearl Bailey in Greenwich Village, and then Bob Hope, who suggested he use an Americanization of his real name, Anthony Benedetto. Tony Bennett would see glory in the late fifties and early sixties. He faded away from the spotlight during the seventies when rock and disco ruled the radios. He reappeared in the late eighties and by 1994 the man was back on top of his game stronger than ever.

Bennett’s music ranges from upbeat rhythms and tempos like “Anything Goes” and “That Old Black Magic,” both have that big band energy to them, the kind of energy that even gets your momma up and dancing, to soft sweet soulful crooning in songs such as “The Very Thought of You,” a gem that was recorded in 1966 with Bill Hackett on cornet and an orchestra led by Cyril Ornadel. The sound of the brass mixed with the string section of the band fantastically accompanies Bennett’s vocal range.

Yet this CD isn’t just a collection of songs from Bennett’s past. In 1994 he did an MTV Unplugged show which he did a duet with k. d. lang. “Moonglow” was a hit with the audience and has made it on to this CD, and wow, what combo. Other songs come from Broadway shows like “Taking A Chance On Love” from Cabin in the Sky, which is the track that finishes the disk. In authentic Bennett style, it’s upbeat and snappy, which is what got him to where he is now.

The Ultimate American Songbook Vol. 1 has some great songs with beautiful and thoughtful lyrics sung with heart and soul. Bennett will go down in music history as a humble entertainer with a golden voice whose distinct sound transcends generations. He may have been forgotten for a time, but a person with such pure talent can’t be kept down for long.

With a younger generation of listeners discovering the sounds of Tony Bennett, I’m sure we will soon see a Volume 2.

The Streets Of San Francisco Season 1, Volume 2

Written by Musgo Del Jefe

"A Quinn Martin" production meant one thing to me in the Seventies - adult crime drama. "A Quinn Martin" was a show like The Untouchables, Barnaby Jones, or Cannon that my grandfather watched on the old Magnavox console. My memories of The Streets Of San Francisco are of late Thursday nights in the summer of 1976, staying up past my bedtime to choose between Barnaby or Streets at 10:00 p.m. Those young days helped make me a fan of the TV detective drama to this day. CBS-DVD's release of The Streets Of San Francisco Season 1, Volume 2 is my first revisit to those magical days from over 20 years ago.

What made a Quinn Martin production so special was the consistent format. Like his other shows, Streets begins with a perfect theme and opening credit sequence. The theme by Patrick Williams (best known probably for the Columbo and The Bob Newhart Show themes) sets us firmly in the funky Seventies. The credits hit every major icon of San Francisco (Golden Gate Bridge, Market Street, cable cars, etc.) without actually having to spell out that this is San Francisco in the mid-Seventies.

After the credits, the narrator tells us the Guest Stars and the Special Guest Appearances for the episode. This is something truly missing from today's shows. It's hard to place a name to a face without a trip to IMDB.com after watching a show now. But here's a preview of names and faces before the show even starts. A great teaser. The narration ends with the title of the episode. Today, I'm usually keenly aware of the title of an episode thanks to Tivo and TV on DVD, but this was groundbreaking for the time period. And it works perfect for a crime drama by adding a literary feel to the production.

The title sequence leads into the first title card - "Act I". The established Quinn Martin format was Introduction, Acts I through IV, and Epilog. You know you're watching a Quinn Martin production when you see those elements and it helps make the viewer instantly comfortable across different series. The format had some basic rules. Act I is the crime; Act II is the detective work, gathering of suspects; Act III is when the case really starts to come together; Act IV is the capturing of the criminals; and the Epilog leaves you with a feel good laugh to make you want to return the next week.

The Streets Of San Francisco is a perfect fit for this format. We follow Lt. Mike Stone (Karl Malden) and Inspector Steve Keller (Michael Douglas) as they solve crimes all over San Francisco. Malden is the older, steady (Stone!) partner usually in an overcoat looking like he just walked off the set of The Untouchables. Douglas is the fresh-faced, younger detective. But this isn't Lethal Weapon. The two are serious partners. We are not bogged down by their personal relationships outside of the job. We only get small hints at Stone's fatherly influence on Keller, like the way he refers to him as "buddy boy" all the time. The other main character is San Francisco. Filmed all over the town, the town lives and breathes around the characters. There's rain, sun, darkness, rich, and poor. Current shows, like the CSI troika, use their cities as background and plot devices, but even CSI: New York doesn't come across as a city that real people live in.

So, what is the appeal of these episodes 24 years after they originally aired? Part of it is the breath of fresh air they are compared to today's detective shows. The first thing that strikes you is that there isn't a "B Story". Everything in the show pertains to the main plot; nothing is wasted. There are no personal storylines either. This is first and foremost a police procedural and the plots do not deviate from that. Secondly, this isn't the mystery of a CSI where we're trying to discover the killer along with the investigators. There's no "a-ha" moment at the end where we guess who committed the crime. Here, we know the criminal, we've seen the crime, and the story revolves around Stone and Keller using their detective skills to figure out the crime. The brilliance is using the four-act format in slightly different ways to play with the viewers’ expectations. Two of the best episodes in this collection show how slight tweaking of the formula creates engrossing stories.

In "A Collection Of Eagles", Jamie Farr is killed and burnt very early into Act I. It's a simple set-up but we're not sure what the gold coins he had with him had to do with his murder. Act II sets up the counterfeiting storyline and the clues turn up through now familiar CSI methods - shoe prints and reconstructing the serial number on a gun. There's another murder that helps the detectives make some more connections. By Act III, the case is becoming clear but it looks like the criminal (John Saxon) is going to get away with the counterfeiting crime. In Act IV, he temporarily eludes our detectives but is fatally shot to pay for his crimes.

In "Act Of Duty", Steve's girlfriend, Evelyn, is being used as bait for a rapist. Instead of having the crime happen right away, we have some tense moments in a dark parking lot before heading back to Evelyn's apartment. Eleven minutes into the episode, the tension is almost unbearable knowing that there will be a crime in Act I. The rapist kills Evelyn in her home. Act I ends at her funeral with a final shot of the murderer in the crowd. Act II brings together the evidence as the detectives try to profile the rapist/murderer and sets up the rapist stalking his next victim, Sheri (Brenda Vaccaro) from the police department. In Act III, the case comes together again with the clues from Act II leading the detectives to identifying the criminal. But it looks like he's about to get away with committing another murder on Sheri. In Act IV, the rapist is hiding in Sheri's apartment and eludes discovery temporarily. Steve discovers his error at the last second and returns to fatally shoot the murderer to make him pay for his crimes.

Both episodes followed the general formula, but tweaking the timing in each heightens suspense. And that's what works best here. The format continually focuses and refocuses the viewer on the plot. Current shows, with "B stories" and personal lives, often stray from the suspense of solving the crime. And make no mistake, when they say "on the deadly streets," that's usually the fate of the most dastardly of these characters. There's no gray on The Streets Of San Francisco when it comes to putting away a criminal. It’s straightforward, like this DVD set (no extras, just 13 episodes). And that can be very refreshing.

THE KINGDOM

Written by Hombre Divertido

Terrorists attack a compound in Riyadh that houses American workers. Along with hundreds of other Americans, they manage to kill the friend of FBI agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx), and now it’s personal.

Though neither the Saudi Arabian nor American government want the FBI over there, Fleury manages to manipulate the right people, and get five days to solve this crime. Fleury assembles his Untouchables with Chris Cooper in the Sean Connery role, and Jennifer Garner and Jason Batmen rounding out the team and off they go. After some initial resistance, they manage to make a friend, earn some respect, and teach the locals everything you can learn by watching C.S.I.

The environment offers some new opportunities for the fish-out-of-water concept to work and creates some humor, but other than that, there is nothing new here. Once the team arrives, Foxx embraces his cowboy role riding a bucking bronco of emotion to its highest and lowest points for the full eight seconds. The good guys never run out of bullets, and the bad guys never hit the good guys.

What The Kingdom lacks in depth, character development, and performances (most are one dimensional) it more than makes up for in fast-paced action sequences. Director Peter Berg and producer Michael Mann know how to deliver action and they do. When the audience is not laughing at the trite dialog, they are sitting on the edge of their seats watching some of the most over-the-top action scenes they’ve scene in 2007 that didn’t include Bruce Willis.

There is insight into the terrorist conflict here, though too forced to carry much weight, and the “enemy is us” moral is poignant though heavy-handed in how it is delivered. At a running time of 110 minutes, had more time been spent dissecting the circumstances, and developing the characters, which would have allowed the actors to better display some range, the film might have been able to overcome its own predictability. On the other hand, perhaps that was not the goal. Perhaps the goal was to create a fast-paced “shoot ‘em up” in the dessert.

Recommendation: Leave your brain in the car and grab some popcorn. This is a summer movie in October, and is worth your time and money if you like this sort of action packed entertainment.

The Fly Collection

Written by Hombre Divertido

Uttering “Help me, please help me” in a high-pitched squeal will still get looks of recognition almost fifty years later, because The Fly is a classic science fiction film that was subtle in its brilliant storytelling.

In The Fly we are introduced to the Delambre family. Francois (Vincent Price) is in love with Helene (Patricia Owens), the wife of Andre (David “Al” Hedison), his scientist brother. Interestingly this triangle remains unexplored as we are thrust into the scene of a murder and the events are told to us in a wonderful retrospective fashion. Andre has developed a machine capable of teleporting items from one place to another much like that which would be utilized on Star Trek less then a decade later. In this case, it is 1958, and it is necessary to try it on a human for the first time (Insert dramatic music here). Shot in just eighteen days, this is 94 minutes of Saturday afternoon fun. Vincent Price is at his intense best, though his performance in the theatrical trailer may actually outdo his effort in the actual film.

Since The Fly was such a huge success, production began almost immediately on The Return of the Fly, which was shot in black and white instead of color like the original, was completed in eleven days, and released in 1959. Brett Halsey takes on the lead role of Philippe, Andres’s son, who is a brilliant scientist in his own right, and out to continue the family business by reconstructing the machine that lead to his father’s death, much to the objection of his uncle (Price again).

Though the Return of the Fly is faster paced than the original, and the story has more depth, it suffers from the expediency with which it was created. It simply seems thrown together, as we watch the stuntman in the fly-head, which is much larger than the original, holding his mask when he moves, or the podium in the transportation chamber disappear and reappear as if it had been transported out when objects too large are transported in. Nonetheless, it is difficult to go wrong with Vincent Price and a monster taking his revenge during the 80-minute romp.

Unfortunately, not only is there no Vincent Price in our third installment, The Curse of the Fly, there is no fly. There are other members of the Delambre family, though it is a little unclear how they are related to the characters from the original, and they are still teleporting. They have now set up stations in their basements located in America and Europe. Unfortunately there have still been problems, and the results of said problems are being stored in cells out back.

This film has more of an Island of Dr. Moreau feel to it than a connection to The Fly, and considering it was released in 1965, the black-and-white filming only adds to its B-status. This film is worth watching simply for curiosity factor as it is obvious that the writer and producer are literally stuck between the movies of the sixties, and the classic science fiction B-movies of the fifties. The original two movies would never open with an underwear-clad woman (Carole Gray) literally running down a country road after escaping from an asylum, only to be picked up by our hero (George Baker), and find our two characters married a week later. If only poor Patricia knew that she was running from one asylum to another.

The fourth disc in the set The Fly Collection Disc of Horrors contains a biography on Price, a too-short featurette on the series, lots of artwork, and the theatrical trailers. There is good stuff here, though the best extra in the set may be the audio narration on the first film by Hedison and film historian David Del Valle. Hedison is very comfortable in telling stories, and obviously has a great appreciation for the film. His recollections are priceless.

Recommendation: Perfect for a rainy day, and a great way to introduce kids to the classic B-movies of the fifties. The extras alone make it worth picking up the set.

THE INTRUDER (1962)

Written by Puño Estupendo

Roger Corman has made a lot of movies in his career. As a producer, he's given many directors their start and is responsible for more than one actor to have gotten their first screen time before going on to become successful with the Hollywood A-list. But upon watching the newly released DVD of his 1962 film The Intruder, I was reminded that Roger Corman is quite a capable director in his own right.

The Intruder begins with the arrival of Adam Cramer by bus to a small southern town. While Cramer is having a talk with the elderly woman who runs the local boarding house, Corman sets up an environment that seems friendly enough at first glance, but then reveals that there's something unsettling here as well. The news of the day is that school is about to start up but there is a major development that is not sitting well with the townsfolk. For the first time, black children are going to be allowed to attend the same school as the white children. This is what Cramer has come to town for. He, and the organization he claims is backing him, feels that although this is now the law, it is far from the final word on the subject.

He starts sizing up what he's dealing with. A lot of glad-handing, some sweet talk here and there, and quick visits to the power players in town, allow Mr. Cramer to get a foothold in the community very quickly. He discovers that the most common opinion with everyone is that they don't like the thought of blacks being in the school, but it is the law and you have to respect the law.

Through his charisma and manipulation of everyone around him, Adam successfully fires the town up to the point of boiling over. From the blatantly obvious (a town-square rally where he delivers quite a speech) to secret plans behind his public persona, Cramer seems to have everything going according to plan.

William Shatner delivers a good performance here. Yes, you get some of the cliché mannerisms that people mock him for, but his take is strong and vibrant. This is a young Shatner in this movie and he's got energy bursting at the seams but it's well placed for the most part.

The auxiliary cast is a catch-22, though. Cast with actual townsfolk as much as possible, this adds to the sense of realism but also creates some stilted dialogue here and there. Still, the thing I found that had the biggest impact was how different the film felt from other movies that deal with issues of race. This isn't taking a look back at the issue; this was made while this was the issue, and it showed. Roger Corman deserves a lot of credit here. This had to be incredibly gutsy for him to have made at the time. In an interview on the disc, he reveals some of the fear he had in the town where they shot, which is why he kept some of the plot points a secret from locals for fear of being driven out of town.

Be warned that the language here is unflinching. Use of the word “nigger” is commonplace in the dialogue and is very disturbing. There's not really any other profanity in the script and that makes the racial slurs even uglier because of it, which it should be. This is the film's strong point: it deals with the ugliness head-on without any glorification or hesitation and provokes the viewer to have to deal with it.

At a running time of 83 minutes, The Intruder left me in a state of emotion I wouldn't have guessed it would have at first glance. Much more powerful than I assumed it was going to be, and Roger Corman should be very proud. This is a very fine film and it outdoes a lot of films twice its size and budget.

Criminal Minds: The Second Season

Written by Senora Bicho

Okay, I admit it. I love crime. Movies, books, TV, fiction and non-fiction. I am addicted and can’t stop myself, even when it causes me to wake in the middle of the night sure that my husband is trying to kill me. Now when it comes to crime on television, I am not usually overly selective. American Justice, 48 Hours Mystery, Law and Order, CSI (only the Vegas version though, I do draw the line somewhere), etc, etc. There is definitely more than enough out there these days to keep my DVR full.

However, Criminal Minds is an interesting diversion from the usual crime drama. This show focuses on the criminal and tracking the unidentified suspect down through profiling. The series follows the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) as they try to solve cases that involve a serial offender. The show really focuses on the absolute worst of the worst. The crimes are extremely brutal and the cases this season ranged from child pornography to the bloodiest of serial killers.

Season Two brought on a lot of challenges and personal obstacles for the BAU. Criminal Minds, as described by the executive producer, is a self-contained show in that a viewer can come in and out of the show without being lost. However, the writers do throw in “cookies” about the characters that reward regular viewers. This season brought a lot more personal information and development of the characters.

Each episode begins and ends with a quote from the likes of Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde that summarize the main issues being addressed. These quotes illustrate the intelligence of the series. The BAU is considered an elite team within the FBI and each character brings a different expertise. Jason Gideon, played by Mandy Patinkin, was the heart of the team in the first two seasons. He asked to be released at the end of season two and was replaced by Joe Mantegna for Season Three. Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson) is the head of the unit. You see a bit of his family life over the course of the season and get a hint of the strain his job has on his marriage. Hotchner grounds the group and provides the rational, calm force. Dr. Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler) is the brain of the team and amazingly can solve the unsolvable. Reid’s super-genius, photographic mind admittedly provides a cheat for the writers as disclosed in one the featurettes. The four other team members each play their part, from computer geek to hunky stud, but are not as dominate or engrossing as these three.

Season Two starts with the conclusion of the hunt for the Fisher King from the Season One finale. Early on in the episode, the suspect shoots one of the agents, Elle Greenway. This causes the slow destruction of her psyche and subsequent resignation midway through the season. She is then replaced by Emily Prentiss, whose admission into the group is highly suspect by Hotchner and Gideon as neither approved it. The finale of the season indicates that Prentiss was brought in due to her family connections and the favor that got her into the group is now being called on to help bring Hotchner’s career to an end.

The DVD collection offers some great special features, first and foremost being the audio commentary. Each commentary offers a wonderful collaboration that has been thoughtfully considered. Writers, actors, directors, and producers are all brought together to bring excellent insight into the episodes they narrate. There are four episodes that offer commentary tracks and I really wish they had done more.

There are three featurettes, all also well done and interesting. A spotlight of Kristen Vangsness, who plays the computer wiz on the show, is included. This is a lighthearted offering that is not very noteworthy. Last but not least, there are two deleted scenes and a gag reel. I continue to be confused by the fact that serious shows feel the need to include a stupid gag reel. They are never funny and this one is no exception.

Season Three of Criminal Minds is already underway and if you love crime drama like I do, give it a try. If after a few episodes you are hooked, then go out and buy Season Two to get caught up on what you have missed. If you are already a devoted fan of the show, this is a worthy purchase just for the special features.