Hollywood Reviews and Movie Trivia

Download The Real Housewives of New York City for Free

The Real Housewives of New York City sounds a little a tamer version of the Footballer's Wives. A spin-off of the Bravo series Real Housewives of Orange County, RHNYC tracks the lives of 5 women living in New York. Bethenny Frankel, LuAnn de Lesseps, Ramona Singer, Jill Zarin, and Alex McCord give us a sneak peek at the Bravo-ized version of their lives in the 23 minute Season Preview. Unlike The Real Housewives of Orange County, these 5 ladies seem to have much more hectic lives.

Bethenny Frankel is a health food chef with clients like Denis Leary and Susan Sarandon.

LuAnn de Lesseps is married to a French aristocrat, which helped her along in her budding TV career.

Alex McCord is a visual merchandiser for a major retailer.

Romona Singer buys leftover retail inventory, which she then resells to discount chains and boutiques in her "spare time".

Jill Zarin runs Zarin Fabrics and Home Furnishings on the lower East Side, which rounds out the list of "slacker moms". Zarin also has the distinction of being the primary talent scout who tracked down the other housewives on the list.

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Download The 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Show

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition has long been one of the brightest spots in the winter between the Super Bowl and the start of the baseball season. This year, you can download the entire hour long television show covering the 2008 shoot for free from AmazonUnbox. Go behind the scenes with host and model Brooklyn Decker as she takes you on a tour of the world with her swimsuit models Tori, Marisa, Oluchi, Daniella and many, many more! You'll see Bar in Israel, Irina in Russia and Selita in the Cayman Islands! And of course what SI Swimsuit show wouldn't be complete without body paint! Download the 2008 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Show for free today!

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If there's one television show that influenced my formative years, The Electric Company is that show. Production wrapped on the final season in 1977, shortly before I really picked up on reading, but the re-runs continued throughout my grade school years in the 1980's. As an adult, I've actively sought out the show with success limited to finding short clips online, presumably converted from a home recording on VHS. When this DVD compilation hit retail shelves in February 2006, I got my copy on release day, hoping my kid would find it just as entertaining as I did.

There's a certain risk in nostalgia for remnants of our childhood because they often don't live up to expectations. Culture shifts and technological improvements sometimes render the things we held dear trite under the modern day improvements. After watching the first episode of Electric Company seated next to the boy, the show still captivates. Sure the animations from 1971 could easily look better simply using a home movie editing suite on your computer, but the combination of timing, music and energy behind them takes a skill that most of us don't have. The shows are clever, occasionally laugh-out-loud funny, and don't get too caught up in the time period. Learning grammar and phonetics is certainly still the same as it ever was (although some might argue it's more important today with the erosion of public schools). The only thing that comes close to The Electric Company today is Between the Lions, which simply doesn't have the same energy presented by The Electric Company.

This collection is most definitely a best of the show. From the popular Spider Man segments that first aired in season 3, to the weekly adventures of Letterman, Easy Reader, and Jennifer of the Jungle, to the endearing and often funny performances from Bill Cosby, Morgan Freeman, Joan Cooney, June Angela, Luis Avalos, and of course, Rita Moreno. The genius of Tom Lehrer is only marginally represented here, including a Silent E sing-along, although he did plenty of great songs that didn't make the 20 episodes shown here. Many of my favorite cartoons from the show are here, although again, I'd love to see more.

The important test is my kid is drawn in by the shows just like I was. I've noticed him singing songs and repeating segments even when the show isn't on, which means he's picking up the information. I find myself occasionally drawn into segments when the DVDs are running, either caught in a childhood memory or because the writing was simply good enough to hold the attention of viewers from all age groups.

The one thing Shout Factory, the studio behind the DVD release, could have done was remaster the audio tracks. The audio runs quiet on my home theater compared to modern recordings. Of course the volume knob fixes this. As much as I respect Rita Moreno for creating The Electric Company, watching the introductions every time we re-run an episode is starting to wear thin - toggling this feature off would be nice; her intros provide a nostalgic sense of history for me, but the kid just wants to watch the show. My only other complaint is I'd love to see more. The show produced 26 episodes in the first season alone and this collection only contains 20 across the full run. With any luck maybe we can hope for another set.

Continue reading "The Electric Company" »

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Other than seeing reruns on cable and listening to Bob and Doug on their Great White North album, I missed SCTV completely. The few episodes I've seen are pure gold and this collection of nine 90 minute episodes is the mother lode. All episodes are drawn from the original season with Bob and Doug McKenzie, Yellowbelly, Lola Heatherton, and Johnny LaRue, as portrayed by the likes of John Candy, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, and Catherine O'Hara. Unlike SNL, which tends to deliver humor from below the belt line, the gang from Second City comes across as the North American answer to Monty Python. Commentary by Joe Flaherty and Eugene Levy provides perspective. Four new documentaries, including a memorial to John Candy, are a completely unnecessary bonus to send this collection over the top as the DVD boxed set to acquire in 2004 (the close runner up being Volume 2, due in September). If you know a fan of comedy, this is the perfect birthday gift to complete their DVD collection (mine's coming up on the 29th, thanks for asking).

Continue reading "SCTV Volume 1" »

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