Charlie Chan is a great character I’d love to see depicted by an actual Asian man someday and as a brilliant detective surrounded by a world of racists who assume him an ignorant little Oriental man. I’d cast a wonderful Asian actor, and create a very elaborate murder mystery for the resurgence of Charlie Chan. If handed the reins I’d certainly aim for a character that strays from his racist roots, whole hog.
Category Archives: Collector’s Den
Combat! The Complete Fifth Season (DVD)
This is it. The final season of one of the most critically acclaimed war dramas ever created. On an eight disc edition for fans, “Combat! The Complete Fifth Season” is the only season of the popular war drama broadcast in color, and it features the stories of two parallel platoons on a journey in World War II.
Well known for its array of guest stars, as well as its direction and writing from noted directors included Robert Altman, “Combat!” is a change of pace for the series before it bows out, with new props, and settings, but delivering the same exciting war based drama we know the series for. In one episode character Saunders is blinded in combat and tricked by a German Chaplain to help a wounded German soldier, while in another episode Saunders receives the upsetting news that his brother has enlisted in the army.
The Twilight Zone: The Complete Fourth Season (DVD)
Ah the season of “The Twilight Zone” where every episode were extended in to one hour without any of the pacing and punch of the first three seasons. It’s a shame that “The Twilight Zone” adopted this format for a while because the hour long episodes of the series are admittedly weaker and demand much more attention than their shorter counterparts. They’re still pretty good television all things considered, but they’re still not as good as what we’ve seen on the show and what the writers are capable of.
History of Your Life – The Decades Collection – 40s-80s (DVD)
Nostalgia buffs looking to revel in the decades prior to when they were born, or in the decade in which they grew up in will love what Mill Creek Entertainment has dealt fans, with a packaged boxed set of their “History of Your Life” Decades DVD’s which come with some unique features for fans who want to spend a few hours in the bosom of nostalgia.
The 40’s DVD features a fun interactive timeline of the most important events of the 1940’s, as well as the feature film, 1946’s “‘Til The Clouds Roll By.” Starring Judy Garland among others. It’s a breezy musical bio-pic about Broadway pioneer Lou Kern with rollicking musical numbers and various segments. There’s a complete episode for 1949’s “The Lone Ranger” starring Clayton Moore in an episode entitled “Enter the Lone Ranger.” Finally there are five classic TV commercials and movie trailers from the 1940’s.
Turbo: Music From The Motion Picture [Digital]
Considering “Turbo” is an animated movie about a speeding snail racing cars, the soundtrack for the movie is obviously going to be a hefty mix of hip hop, hard rock, and standard upbeat pop. The soundtrack for “Turbo” surely isn’t the worst compilation you can own, as it garners some pretty nifty tracks, even for folks not interested in the exploits of a super fast snail.
Snoop Dogg who offers voice work for the movie provides a track called “Let the Bass Go” which is a techno hip hop ditty that’s fairly catchy. There’s the classic hip hop song from Run DMC “It’s Tricky,” which is an easily accessible rap song for the intended consumer for the compilation. It’s still one of their most mainstream tracks and it’s a classic.
Pulse-Pounding Flicks – 8 Intense Features (DVD)
The Pulse Pounding Features from Mill Creek Entertainment offers up an eight movie set for the respective action buff looking to save a few bucks. This set features the extended cut of “The Replacement Killers” starring Mira Sorvnio and Chow Yun Fat as a retired hitman looking to flee to his home in China who is then hunted by other assassins.
“Truth or Consequences N.M.” stars Keifer Sutherland as a hostage kidnapped by four drug dealers who gains a fascination for their crime spree and begins putting his family in danger. “Love Lies Bleeding” centers on a down on their luck couple that stumble upon a load of cash after a violent shoot out in their building. When they flee with the money, they’re hunted by a crooked DEA Agent, and a detective intent on seizing the money for authorities.
Top Action Stars – 8 Movie Collection (DVD)
For the hardcore action buffs, Mill Creek Entertainment offers up an eight pack from fans of Jean Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Dolph Lundgren. While a few of the titles are from their days of box office domination, the rest of the films are their more recent action adventures with one word titles to present a vague idea of what the movie entails.
Van Damme stars in “Universal Soldier: The Return,” the 1999 sequel to the classic action film where Van Damme must fight new soldiers in the form of Michael Jai White and wrestler Bill Goldberg. Though not as beloved as the original, it’s still a pretty decent follow-up. “Knock Off” stars Van Damme as a fashion designer who has to team up with Rob Schneider to uncover an illegal crime ring in the fashion world.