DVD Collectors Online

THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: The Massie Affair, a review by Antares

THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: The Massie Affair (2005) 86/100 - The year 1931 will never go down in the annuls of American history as a hallmark of harmony amongst the races of this country. Instead, it will be remembered as a benchmark for bigotry and injustice. Earlier in the year, the infamous Scottsboro Boys incident took place in Alabama, as nine innocent black men were accused of raping two white women. In a state known for being the one of the most intolerant of equal rights for blacks in the deep south, this was and could be expected. Jim Crow laws had been on the books for decades and most of the population was still fighting the Civil War. The Massie Affair would take place thousands of miles away, in an island paradise, where racial tensions were every bit as high as in the "Old South". In September of that year, Thalia Massie, a transplanted member of an east coast socialite family, was in Hawaii with her husband, who happened to be an officer in the U.S. Navy. They were on the brink of divorce, but were trying to work things out. Thalia, being the socialite spawn that she was, always looked down upon the Navy and felt herself above its members. She and her husband attended a party on the 12th, a party in which Thalia was not happy to be attending. Some time during the night, she left her husband at the party and decided to take a walk. According to her statement to police, she was accosted by a group of men who took her to a deserted section of road and beaten and raped. She could not identify her attackers or tell the police if they had been white or Hawaiian. What transpired after this preliminary investigation would set forth in motion, a series of events that would make Scottsboro look like a minor traffic violation. In the months that followed, there would an acquittal, revenge murder and finally, a once admired lawyer would sully his reputation by defending those who perpetrated the murder of one of the original defendants. This is a story that should never be allowed to be forgotten.

Teal = Masterpiece
Dark Green = Classic or someday will be
Lime Green = A good, entertaining film
Orange = Average
Red = Cinemuck
Brown = The color of crap, which this film is

(From Antares' Short Summations on December 4th, 2014)

Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America, a review by Dr. Hasslein

Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America




Hosted by Billy Crystal and narrated by Amy Sedaries, this six-part documentary series explores the work of the large variety of comics who have managed to make America laugh for over a hundred years.
Showcasing some of the funniest moments in American entertainment and candid interviews with many of the groundbreaking comics themselves. Make 'Em Laugh is the first primetime television series to look beyond the 'pie in the face' to the face behind the pie". - Anne Beatts - Comedy writer and series consultant.

My Thoughts
This was shown in Australia on the ABC earlier this year and what a treat it was. I've always had such great admiration for stand up comics; when they are up on that stage they're like gods, they're untouchable and they can murder an entire audience of hundreds with nothing but laughter. It's obvious that a lot of time and effort has been put into to create excellent series. The countless variety of hilarious clips have been carefully chosen to showcases the very best in the business and how their work influenced their peers and future generations of comics. The interviews are all very interesting, full of stories and personal experiences of who and what help shaped and influenced them to become the comics they are today. I learnt so much from this series, such as complexity of being a stand up comic, and how it's not just simply getting up on stage with a microphone telling jokes. Overall this is a first class series that has been produced to the highest standards. If you are a fan of this form of entertainment I cannot recommend it enough.


DVD Details:
There are three discs containing two episodes each along with bonus content which includes interview outtakes and favourite jokes.
Picture quality is excellent and looks great up-scaled on a high definition screen.  

Disc One
Episode One: Would Ya Hit A Guy With Glasses? -  Nerds. Jerks and Oddballs
Episode Two: Hiney, I'm Home! - Breadwinners and Homemakers

Disc Two
Episode Three: Slip On A Banana Peel - The Knockabouts
Episode Four: When I'm Bad, I'm Better - The Groundbreakers

Disc Three
Episode Five: Never Give A Sucker An Even Break - The Wiseguys
Episode Six: Sock It To Me? - Satire and Parody




(From Make 'Em Laugh: The Funny Business of America on December 20th, 2010)

Sliders Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

1. GENESIS
Home isn't necessarily where the heart is when Quinn and Maggie discover the Earth Prime has been taken over by warrior Kromaggs in their absence.

My Thoughts:
While I normally don't care for the ongoing Kromagg storyline... this is a very good episode. Unfortunately we have to say goodbye to Wade in this season. One of my favorite characters.

My Rating:

2. PROPHETS AND LOSS
The Sliders jump to the scary side of organized religion when they land in an eerily peaceful Los Angeles ruled by an oracle the sends people to "the Other Side."

My Thoughts:
This is a pretty good episode. Though they used this "help the rebels" part of the storyline on more then one occasion before. So that took away from it a little for me. Though I did like the rest of the storyline.

My Rating:

3. COMMON GROUND
The Sliders land in a world where the Kromaggs conduct ruthless experiments on humans, but trusting a Kromagg commander may be their only way out.

My Thoughts:
This is one of the several Kromagg related episodes... and one of the several I didn't care much for. I found it pretty slow and boring actually.

My Rating:

4. VIRTUAL SLIDE
Maggie's sanity is a danger when she's captured by a greedy businessman who uses virtual reality scenarios to try to get her to reveal the secret to sliding.

My Thoughts:
Not a bad episode... but pretty much average. At least this one don't have any Kromaggs in it.

My Rating:

(From Sliders Marathon on November 29th, 2009)