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'Allo 'Allo - Series 1 And 2
Comedy Moira Foot John B. Hobbs, David Croft, Martin Dennis, Robin Carr, Mike Stephens
David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd's sitcom "'Allo 'Allo" started life in 1982 as a modest one-off spoof of the classic 1970s drama series "Secret Army". A throwback to an earlier era during the 1980s heyday of alternative comedy, the show's decidedly un-PC mix of bedroom farce and crudely drawn national stereotypes was subsequently stretched over nine series in all (1984-1992), making it TV's successor to the long-running "Carry On" series. "'Allo 'Allo" was not only similarly preoccupied with seaside postcard humour, it was also blessed with a cracking ensemble cast (including "Carry On" veteran Kenneth Connor) whose sheer energy eked out comic gold from even the laziest jokes about humourless Germans, cowardly Italians, "Tally ho!" Brits and onion-selling Frenchmen. Like Croft & Lloyd's "Are You Being Served", it was the cast interaction more than the material itself that produced the laughs.
Gordon Kaye deserves much of the credit for keeping the show fresh. Whether he's plotting with the sexy Resistance leader, in cahoots with the Nazi commandant about a priceless painting of "The Fallen Madonna with the Big Boobies", or fending off the attentions of sex-starved waitresses under the withering gaze of his wife Edith, bumbling Rene is the lynchpin around which the endless farce revolves. Despite its determination never to vary the formula from week to week, the show had at least one virtue--it wasn't afraid to offend anyone. --"Mark Walker"

'Allo 'Allo - Series 3 And 4
Comedy Moira Foot John B. Hobbs, David Croft, Martin Dennis, Robin Carr, Mike Stephens
David Croft and Jeremy Lloyd's sitcom "'Allo 'Allo" started life in 1982 as a modest one-off spoof of the classic 1970s drama series "Secret Army". A throwback to an earlier era during the 1980s heyday of alternative comedy, the show's decidedly un-PC mix of bedroom farce and crudely drawn national stereotypes was subsequently stretched over nine series in all (1984-1992), making it TV's successor to the long-running "Carry On" series. "'Allo 'Allo" was not only similarly preoccupied with seaside postcard humour, it was also blessed with a cracking ensemble cast (including "Carry On" veteran Kenneth Connor) whose sheer energy eked out comic gold from even the laziest jokes about humourless Germans, cowardly Italians, "Tally ho!" Brits and onion-selling Frenchmen. Like Croft & Lloyd's "Are You Being Served", it was the cast interaction more than the material itself that produced the laughs. Despite its determination never to vary the formula from week to week, the show had at least one virtue--it wasn't afraid to offend anyone. --"Mark Walker"

3rd Rock From The Sun - Complete
Comedy James Earl Jones
Meet Tom, Dick, Harry and Sally. Your average family from middle America. They have an average car, an average home, and average friends, but Tom, Dick, Harry and Sally are far from average as they're aliens sent by the Big Giant Head to learn all that is learnable about Planet Earth. They start from scratch and try to blend in "behaving" as ordinary average Joes, however, their research is incomplete.

Dick (a college professor aka the High Commander) heads the family, with his 'sister' Sally (Security Officer and extreme hottie). There's his younger 'brother' Harry (Communications Officer and village idiot) and Dick's 'son' Tommy (eldest of the aliens and a high school junior). Between them they learn from their experiences and along the way show us the inconsistencies of human life in the funniest way.

While you watch this genuinely funny US Import pay special attention to Harry. One classic moment for me was when Dick opened the closet and found Harry hanging on the back of the door in a straight jacket. They pause and regard each other and Harry says "I won't learn if you keep on letting me out!" Sally challenges our views of sexual stereo types through her relationship with Officer Don of the local PD, and Dick just continually fails to get humanity. Watch for fantastic cameos from William Shatner as the Big Giant Head and John Cleese as a visiting Alien.

Buy this DVD box set. It *will* make you laugh and above all give you the reassuring feeling that while the aliens are out there, we're quite safe.

Oh yes, one last thing - make sure you practice the salute!

3rd Rock From The Sun - The Complete Season 1
Comedy James Earl Jones, Joseph Gordon Levitt
The transition from television to dvd is often all or nothing at all. The wait for dvd boxsets of - Roseanne, Golden Girls, Cybill and The Nanny appears endless. Some shows receive a one yearly release - Fraiser.
The completely silly but adorable 3rd Rock has changed this longwinded trend and is being unleashed at a relentless pace with full season sets only one month apart - how great is this.
The plot of Aliens disguised as humans divided some viewers, but the laughs were priceless and more importantly consistent. Yeah ‘Friends’ looked good, but each season was too hit and miss and I certainly lost interest. Long season sit-coms need frequent laugh out loud moments. John Lithgow and Co didn't care how they looked as long as they made the gag work.
3rd Rock was never scared to poke fun at stereotypes and this is where the greatest laughs were had. Kristen Johnson’s male alien assigned the less superior role of ‘the woman’ made the biggest impression.
Great to see another funny American sit-com arrive to the world of dvd, even if the extras are missing, but we’re used to this by now.

10 Things I Hate About You
Comedy Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Larisa Oleynik, Larry Miller, Andrew Keegan, David Krumholtz Gil Junger
It's, like, Shakespeare, man! This good-natured and likeable update of "The Taming of the Shrew" takes the basics of Shakespeare's farce about a surly wench and the man who tries to win her and transfers it to modern-day Padua High School. Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles) is a sullen, forbidding riot grrrl who has a blistering word for everyone; her sunny younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) is poised for high school stardom. The problem: overprotective and paranoid Papa Stratford (a dryly funny Larry Miller) won't let Bianca date until boy-hating Kat does, which is to say never. When Bianca's pining suitor Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) gets wind of this, he hires the mysterious, brooding Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to loosen Kat up. Of course, what starts out as a paying gig turns to true love as Patrick discovers that underneath her brittle exterior, Kat is a regular babe. The script, by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, is sitcom-funny with peppy one-liners and lots of smart teenspeak; however, its cleverness and imagination doesn't really extend beyond its characters' Renaissance names and occasional snippets of real Shakespearean dialogue. What makes the movie energetic and winning is the formula that helped make "She's All That" such a big hit: two high-wattage stars who look great and can really act. Ledger is a hunk of promise with a quick grin and charming Aussie accent and Stiles mines Kat's bitterness and anger to depths usually unknown in teen films; her recitation of her English class sonnet (from which the film takes its title) is funny, heartbreaking and hopelessly romantic. The imperious Allison Janney ("Primary Colors") nearly steals the film as a no-nonsense guidance counsellor secretly writing a trashy romance novel. "--Mark Englehart"

24 Hour Party People - Single Disc Edition
Comedy Steve Coogan, John Thomson, Nigel Pivaro, Lennie James, Shirley Henderson, Martin Hancock, Mark Windows, Chris Coghill, Paddy Considine, John Simm, Ralf Little, Dave Gorman, Andy Serkis, Danny Cunningham, Paul Popplewell Michael Winterbottom
Beginning during the dawn of Factory Records--as Tony Wilson throws himself off a cliff for Granada TV--"24 Hour Party People" attempts to capture the essence of the ill-fated label which spawned Joy Division/New Order, The Happy Mondays and the venue that started modern Club Culture, the Hacienda in Manchester. Director Michael Winterbottom takes a very different approach to most music biographies, by making the film self-aware that it is a film and ironically looking at its own role within the history of the "Mad-chester" scene.
Inspired by Wilson's autobiographical musings, the film is narrated in character by Steve Coogan as Wilson. He offers sporadic moments from his life--his "career" as a presenter at Granada and his several marriages--which in turn influence the destructive nature of the label he founded. Coogan's Wilson gives monologues to camera which remind the audience that what they are watching is only his perspective. Yet with Coogan in the title role it's impossible to ignore the similarities between Wilson and Alan Partridge; and although this adds instant humour to the film it also instantly pins Wilson with the comic "Partridge" tag of fated fool. The cinematography, on the other hand, tries faithfully to embody the feeling of the times, from grainy celluloid for the punk-like Joy Division gigs to bright, clean-cut images for the birth of the Hacienda. The film also benefits from an amazing soundtrack and strong supporting characters. It all adds up to a picture that's purely British in character: imbued with irony, down-and-out inspiration, and a touch of the surreal.
On the DVD: "24 Hour Party People" comes as a two-disc set, but there really is little need. Disc 1 is loaded with great extras, such as the deleted scenes, commentaries and Mad-chester musings, but the second disc is a little on the dull side. This really could have been just a single great DVD. There's an excellent screen and audio transfer that brings both the music and the lurid colours to life and the disc also offers that all-important function for hardcore clubbers: a hard of hearing option. --"Nikki Disney"

40 Days And 40 Nights
Comedy Josh Hartnett, Shannyn Sossamon, Paulo Costanzo, Adam Trese, Emmanuelle Vaugier, Lorin Heath, Aaron Trainor, Glenn Fitzgerald, Monet Mazur, Christine Chatelain, Keegan Connor Tracy, Michael C. Maronna, Vinessa Shaw, Stefanie von Pfetten, Stanley Anderson Michael Lehmann
Some movies are so stupid that they are depressing to watch: "40 Days and 40 Nights" is one of them. Almost nothing here even remotely resembles genuine human behaviour. Matt (Josh Hartnett) is brutally dumped by his knockout ex-girlfriend, and as a result is so torn-up inside that he vows to give up sexual activity--including masturbation--for Lent. His friends and coworkers start betting on how soon he'll crack. Their scepticism is fuelled when Matt meets Erica (Shannyn Sossamon) at a laundrette. They're immediately smitten with each other, but Matt struggles to stay true to his vow, even though it threatens to founder his potential relationship with Erica. Based on this description, you might think that "40 Days and 40 Nights" is a religious educational video, however, the barrage of sex gags and frequent nudity will quickly dispel this notion. --"Bret Fetzer"

The 4400 - Season 3

The 4400 - The Complete First Season
Science Fiction & Fantasy Joel Gretsch, Jacqueline McKenzie, Laura Allen Scott Gordon
"The 4400", which began as a five-week mini-series, is built around a deceptively simple, dramatically rich premise. What if all the people, who had ever been abducted by aliens, were suddenly returned to Earth? What would happen? Although they look exactly as they did when they left, they have no knowledge of where they were or why they were taken. Now some even have special powers, like clairvoyance. As with ABC's "Lost", which centres on the survivors of a plane crash, "The 4400" features a large cast of characters and a host of mysteries to be solved. If the special effects, which are kept to a minimum, can be a little cheesy at times, the concept--and the skillful execution of the concept--easily makes up for it.
Produced by Francis Ford Coppolla's American Zoetrope and created by Scott Peters ("The Outer Limits"), "The 4400" is set in Seattle, where the 4400 are returned. The principal characters include Dennis Ryland (Peter Coyote of "E.T."), the local supervisor of Homeland Security. He's joined by agents Tom Baldwin (Joel Gretsch of "Taken"), whose nephew was one of the returnees, and Diana Skouris (Jacqueline McKenzie of "Romper Stomper"), who takes in one of the youngest returnees.
Guest stars include Michael Moriarty ("Law and Order") in "Pilot" and Lee Tergeson ("Oz") in "Becoming." Billy Campbell ("Once and Again") also appears in several episodes as Jordan Collier, a real-estate magnate and returnee who becomes an advocate for others like himself, many of whom are having problems adjusting to a changed world. Like "Lost", one of the biggest success stories of 2004, "The 4400" debuted to strong ratings and was renewed for a full season. "--Kathleen C. Fennessy"

The 4400 - The Complete Second Season
Science Fiction & Fantasy Joel Gretsch, Jacqueline McKenzie, Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, Laura Allen, Patrick Flueger, Chad Faust, Conchita Campbell, Samantha Ferris, Kaj-Erik Eriksen David Giles
A year has passed since 4400 abductees were returned to Earth (and six months since the original series ended). Richard (Mahershalalhashbaz Ali), Lily (Laura Allen), and Isabelle are on the run from Jordan Collier (Billy Campbell) and others who would attempt to harm their child. Shawn (Patrick Flueger) has moved into Collier's cult-like 4400 Center. Then there are NTAC (National Threat Assessment Command) agents Diana (Jacqueline McKenzie) and Tom (Joel Gretsch). The former has officially adopted Maia (Conchita Campbell), while the latter is reunited with formerly comatose son Kyle (Chad Faust), Shawn's best friend. Almost everyone, returnees and otherwise, is changing. Jordan, for instance, is having more seizures (as a result of his first encounter with the eerie Isabelle), while Kyle is having blackouts. Along the way, new characters are introduced, like mute mental patient Kevin (Jeffrey Combs), who regains the ability to talk, thanks to Tess (Summer Glau, "Serenity"), the only returnee who can recall what happened to her. Others include Diana's sister April (Natasha Gregson Wagner), Jordan's pal Matthew (Garret Dillahunt, "Deadwood"), and former NTAC supervisor Dennis Ryland (Peter Coyote), who returns to the fold. Guest stars include "E.R. "'s Sharif Atkins ("Voices Carry"), "Star Trek: Voyager"'s Robert Picardo ("Weight of the World"), and "Twin Peaks"' Sherilyn Fenn ("Carrier"). The season will end much as the miniseries began, with the 4400 being released from another quarantine, setting the scene for the next year. Although the first set was a barebones release, the second features commentary from McKenzie, Gretsch, writer Craig Sweeny, and writer/producer Ira Steven Behr. --"Kathleen C Fennessy"



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