LA Confidential (1998): 2-Disc Special Edition (DVD)

By my money, I consider James Ellroy’s “LA Confidential” to be one of the greatest crime dramas ever made. It’s an elaborate, morose, and brutally intelligent display of respective talents and truly keen storytelling that gets better with every single viewing. “LA Confidential” was not a real hit with me upon the first viewing; in fact I found it painfully mediocre once the credits began to roll. Suddenly, I found myself watching it repeatedly and soon discovered that it was a stellar piece of filmmaking that grew on me once I opened my mind a bit.

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Smallville: The Complete Seventh Season (2007) (DVD)

It used to be a simple case of “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” Hell, if I don’t like a show, I just don’t watch it, but hear me out. With “Smallville” it’s different. At one time it used to be an excellent show, one that promised to be all about Clark Kent and his transformation in to Superman. Then somewhere on the fourth season, it was sold down the river and this show about Clark became a show about everyone else but Clark. I’m a hardcore true to the blood Superman fan and it’s not as easy as “If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.” I still sit and endure “Smallville” to this day because I pray and hope that it will return to its former glory of being about something.

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American Pop (1981)

Ralph Bakshi’s “American Pop” is not so much about a story as it is about music and the power it holds. As trite as it is to say, Music is the soundtrack of our lives, and as such has a power over us to help us cope, help us think, and is the key to our memories and fates. “American Pop” is not so much the story of many men through history originating from a faithful Jewish man who refused to vacate his temple during the raiding of Russian Czars one day, it’s more the evolution of music and how the people in and around the transformation are but a mere microcosm. From a Canter to a Vaudevillian, to a piano player, “American Pop” may be the exploration of music but Bakshi also manages to convey how it’s served as a source of love and emotion for a long line of men craving some sort of love and affection in their lives.

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London Betty (2009)

londonbettyThis is the same dude who did “Bikini Bloodbath”? While I’m always up for comedies that dare to be anything but the same old indie comedy crap, Thomas Edward Seymour can never really decide what kind of movie he’s making. At times he strives for Troma gross out comedy, then he tries for inexplicable touching sub-plots and then he’ll go for the bargain basement slapstick that was a lot funnier in his previous film. “London Betty” isn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but I was definitely counting the minutes and waiting for it to end.

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The Legend Of Billie Jean (1985)

This 1985 drama thriller is a gem, and one of my favorite guilty pleasures of all time. In spite of one of the cheesiest one liners in movie history: “Fair’s fair!” and having one of the coolest if goofiest theme songs of all time, somehow “Billie Jean” remains one of my favorite eighties gems.  Back before I ever heard of cable television, I’d watch this four times a week on WPIX Television here in the Bronx and my what a classic we thought it was. And it still is, at least to me and a few other people out there. Billie Jean is just like every other girl her age, a wide eyed optimistic beauty whose only desire is to be left alone to have fun with her brother Binx during the summer.

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Director Alexandra Fisher of "Desert Wedding"

A most recent earner of the Cinema Crazed’s coveted Indie Spotlight, “Desert Wedding” is a wonderful short drama about a materialistic woman on the verge of marriage who suddenly gets a lesson in appreciating what’s really important in life while you have it. Simultaneously, it’s also a commentary about the fuss and chaos women work themselves up in during weddings, so intent on sparing no cost, that they forget why they’re getting married in the first place, and director Alexandra Fisher provides a gripping dramatic short film that conveys this interesting undertone rarely ever put to the screen. Multi-talented, and multi-lingual, Fisher sheds some insight in to her hectic life and tells us about the experience making her short.

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The Big Bang Theory: The Complete First Season (DVD) (2008)

“The Big Bang Theory” had every chance to fail. It was a forgettable premise, a formula concept and really didn’t look to offer up anything new. And yet it ended up being really good and addictive. I watched the pilot when it premiered and stuck with it because in spite of the broad comedy, cheesy gimmick, and pretty exhausting pop culture references, it’s an amusing and charming sitcom with some good laughs in store if you want to give it a chance.

And as the season went on the little things started to really respond to fans. I like how the broken elevator has now become a character all in its own with a hint of realism. I like how Jim Parson’s character has become a staple of the show with episodes just not the same without him.

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