For my money, Dr. Strange is probably one of the most uneven characters in the Marvel gallery ever created, while others of his ilk are basically one sided. Spider-Man was too whiny for me, Iron Man was too weak, and Fantastic Four was much too irritating to enjoy, but Dr. Strange is a character with great potential that had a comic series that was as dull as day old bread. Yet, this character‘s appearances in other series were exciting, and his television movie from the seventies was also decent. I just hope the live action adaptation gives me a reason to enjoy the character again. For now, here‘s another direct to DVD Marvel movie, “Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme,” an unofficial prequel to the movie. “Doctor Strange” is thankfully a step in the right direction, depicting the mythos of Doctor Strange as a murky and dark world filled with eerie sights and demons.
Category Archives: Collector’s Den
Penny Dreadful's Shilling Shockers: Season Two (DVD)
Penny Dreadful is a hot hunk of woman, and in a world where Elvira, Zacharly, Joe Bob Briggs, Dr. Demento and many other folks helped to ease the pain of horrible movies, Penny Dreadful and her friends could be the carrier of the torch. In the genre of horror, the females mostly always rule. Men still love Elvira, Vampira, Debbie Rochon, and the rest of the legendary brood, and Penny Dreadful carries this legacy with a New England series that excels at showing truly awful films.
Penny Dreadful’s smexxiness otherwise cushions the blow of the garbage like “The Beast of Yucca Flats,” and it’s a suggested little horror series where you can find it on Public Access. “Shilling Shockers” is obviously a series that derives from the formula of “Horrible Horror” and “Mystery Science Theater,” in which our hostess, Penny Dreadful, has some fun with props, entertains us with some funny commentary, and introduces a bad film.
The Sweeney: The Complete First Series (DVD)
“The Sweeney” is one of those series that hasn’t lost any of its flavor or edge, even though it’s racked up the years and suffered the slight scorn of obscurity. Though many will insist series like “NYPD Blue” and “The Streets of San Francisco” were the more hard edge police series, “The Sweeney” is also a valuable contender for this list. Soon to be remade with the great Ray Winstone, “The Sweeney” is one of the rare police series to feature older men in the role of our two heroic cops that find themselves wrapped in intrigue and street toughs in the investigation of a vicious criminal.
F Troop: Season Two (DVD)
I don’t have a lot of experience with the series “F Troop” except knowing that it’s a classic, and I recall catching it a few times when I was a kid. This was before cable, when network television kept classic shows in syndication, and not recent ones. They were better times.
“F Troop” is very much in the vein of Mel Brooks, and if you’re a fan of the man, this series may be right up your alley. “F Troop,” for the uninitiated, sets down on a Civil War camp out in the woods of Fort Courage, and a group of hapless soldiers who get into wacky misadventures with visitors, and assorted guest stars.
Along the way, they also run into the Hekawi’s, a band of equally zany Native Americans, who hide out in the woods, and secretly team with a few of the soldiers in the camp.
Much like “Hogan’s Heroes,” the group manage to get away with a lot of gags under their superior’s noses, and use the Hekawi’s as instruments in their plans. In the first episode, much of the soldiers are being relocated, and in an attempt to thwart the plans, enlist the Hekawi’s to threaten war on them if the soldiers go, with hilarious results.
There’s also the appearances of Paul Lynde as a singing mounty who keeps the camp under tight watch for a French fur trader, who is being hidden by the Hekawi’s, and Harvey Korman who plays a domineering German balloonist who interrupts the affairs in the fort.
“F Troop” has a lively energy, and some truly sharp one-liners that will keep you in hysterics for most of the time. The origin of the Hekawi’s, and their name, is especially funny, but “F Troop” season two marks the debut of the color format for the series, which sadly only ran two seasons, and experienced new life in syndication, much like “Star Trek” and “The Honeymooners.”
All the episodes are present, politically incorrect Native American gags and all, and it’s a quality release that’s sadly very slim on extras. There’s only a brief retrospective on the entire series. But beyond that, fans of the genuine Mel Brooks comedies would be well advised to seek this out at their nearest convenience. It’s a treat.
CHiPs: The Complete First Season (DVD)
If I told you that I thought “CHiPs” was a pretty good show, and that I sort of re-considered my whole notion that it was rather sucky, would you hold it against me? Just checking. Because lord help me, “CHiPs” wasn’t the worst series I’ve ever seen. This is probably because a few weeks ago I had to review the utterly painful “War at Home,” but hell, for what it’s worth, this series isn’t too bad.
The Waltons: The Complete Fifth Season (DVD)
Fans of the series that also happen to be into collecting DVD’s will be put off to know that the entire season five comes in double sided DVD’s, that don’t really notify which way is side one or side two. That’s particularly vexing for a show like “The Waltons” that definitely has its share of fans that want proper treatment for it.
The War at Home: Season One (DVD)
No one on the series “The War at Home” is capable of understanding how to properly pull off mean spirited comedy. Take shows like “Married… with Children,” and “Titus,” shows that excelled at show mean-spirited comedy with its own agenda. The former was pure trash and nothing more, a forefather of the shit to come from FOX, while “Titus” was in its roots about a comedian whose father never treated him as well as yours may have.