Category: The Couch Potato Report

The Couch Potato Report – June 14th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels 52 DVDs, including box sets for Dads AND Grads!
If you find yourself in need of a gift idea for Father’s Day, a Graduate, or just someone who loves to watch movies and DVDs this week, you are in luck!!
I have 8 BOX SETS to tell you about, AND this week’s FOREIGN FILM ON DVD.
Let me start with this week’s HOT POTATO – a set that includes two of my all-time favourite films – that set is ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – THE COLLECTION!
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – THE COLLECTION is a 5-DVD set that includes the fantasic original 1985 CBC film, the superb 1987 follow up ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – THE SEQUEL and 2000’s ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – THE CONTINUING STORY, along with a bonus disc that features two new documentaries, Missing Scenes, Lost Footage and more.
But the real reason to pick up this COLLECTION is due to the films, and the performances they contain, especially in the first one!
The trilogy begins with a headstrong, chatty and sometimes stubborn orphan girl who ends up at the Green Gables farm in Prince Edward Island, even though the brother and sister who run the farm had requested a boy to work as a farmhand.
They decide to keep her, even though she has a vivid imagination, colourfully theatrical language and penchant for finding trouble.
That knack for trouble follws her throughout her life, even when she is not at fault.
The scenery, mostly filmed in Ontario, is beautiful, and the stories in these films are great.
Plus, Megan Follows will always hold a special place in my heart – and I am sure yours too – for her work as Anne,…and Montreal born Colleen Dewhurst will forever be Marilla, but above all else, there is the great Richard Farnsworth.
His performance as Matthew Cuthbert is one for the ages!
The original “Anne Of Green Gables” book was published on June 20, 1908, and as all Canadians who love great literature celebrate this centenary, films lovers can now join that celebration through ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – THE COLLECTION.
This is a great series of Canadian films, and if you love these movies as much as I do, then it is a must (START CLIP HERE) have.
PLUS, if you are a trivia buff, you will be able to answer this question after you see the films again: Which two members of the comedy troupe Kids In The Hall appear in the Anne Of Green Gables Trilogy?
I will give you that answer in just a few minutes, but right now, please allow me to tell you about a spectacular Box Set that would be a great gift idea for almost all Dads and Grads – the 17 DVD BBC NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTION.
The set features four documentary series:
Planet Earth – takes us to the highest peaks and the lowest valleys with astonishing photography and incredible detail.
The Blue Planet – is entirely dedicated to the deep oceans of the earth.
The Life of Mammals – shows us many of the 4000 species that have outlived dinosaurs.
and The Life of Birds puts on display the evolution and habits of birds, offering glimpses into the habitats of some of the world’s rarest ones.
These documentaries, and this box set doesn’t just cover the wildlife on our planet, it also gives us a one-of-a-kind look at mountains, caves, deserts, shallow seas, and much, much more!!
Plus, if you have ever wanted to see bears in Alaska opening clams, 14,000 walruses lying on a beach, snails surfing in South Africa and dozens of other things that you can’t even imagine,
The 17 DVD BBC NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTION is one of the most incredible box sets that I have ever seen, and I highly reccomend it!
I also highly recommend the 9 DVD set for ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS that has ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING…but only if you love bawdy British humour.
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS – also known as AB FAB – was an Emmy Award-winning sitcom written by and starring Jennifer Saunders and co-starring Joanna Lumley, that was broadcast on the BBC from 1992 to 1996 and 2001 to 2005.
The show is about Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone, two well-off, substance-abusing fashion and fad-obsessed Londoners who value fame and style over all.
Edina’s daughter provides the voice of reality, and her mother supplies a voice of truth.
Ab Fab is now back on DVD in the first complete collection ever offered in North America and the 9 DVDs come in a plush, cross-stitched fabric cover.
The set is called ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING because that is what it has…the Five limited seasons, the special that includes the Ab Fab trip to New York, and there are also extras aplenty.
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS is a show that features comedy that never apologizes, and if you enjoy that sort of thing, or know someone who does, then this is a set that will make you – or them – laugh…repeatedly.
Up next is the 5 DVD set for SEASON ONE of the television series CROSSING JORDAN, starring Edmonton born Jill Hennessy as a crime-solving medical examiner.
CROSSING JORDAN ran from September 2001 to May of 2007, and even though I am a huge fan of Jill Hennessy, it was a show that I could never get into on TV.
But while watching this set this week, I did enjoy the show more…even though I still think that it is just a female version of QUINCY, and the creators of the show seemed to admit that when they cast Jack Klugman – the man who played QUINCY – on the show…but I digress.
CROSSING JORDAN – SEASON ONE is primarily for fans of the show, but if you liked QUINCY, or you enjoy shows that focus on solving crimes, maybe you’ll enjoy it too.
We all enjoyed THE COSBY SHOW, whether we were fans of the show when it first came on in 1984, or when it went off the air in 1992, and now the final two seasons of this beloved comedy are available on DVD in THE COSBY SHOW – SEASONS 7 & 8.
Each set has three DVDs, and even though I have seen the episodes on them dozens of times, I still laughed, enjoyed and was emotionally involved with the Huxtable family, an upper-middle class African-American family living in a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights, New York, at 10 Stigwood Avenue.
SEASON EIGHT was the show’s last, and so with the release of these final two Box Sets you can see Sondra, Elvin, Denise, Martin, Theo, Rudy, Olivia and Pam anytime you’d like.
Plus, you can see Cliff and Claire dance in their living room one final time as they walted off stage and into television history.
I will always love THE COSBY SHOW…and I will also always love THE INCREDIBLE HULK and that is because I started to watch and enjoy them when I was a kid…and as you know, many of the things we love as kids stay with us forever.
And no, with the release of the new INCREDIBLE HULK movie in theatres yesterday, SEASONS 3 & 4 of the HULK television series have been released on DVD.
The television show THE INCREDIBLE HULK that was based on the comic books of the same name ran from 1978 to 1982.
The SEASON 3 box set has five DVDs and SEASON 4 four, and if you enjoyed the show when it aired, they are must haves!
Of if you know someone who enjoyed either this new theatrcal release, or maybe even the one in 2003, then these would be great for them…or you.
Perhaps you don’t care for television shows, or huge summer films like THE INCREDIBLE HULK,…well, I can understand that.
If you’d prefer an alternative to the action filled, very loud, check-your-brain-at-the-door summer movie season, each week I will offer you an alternative, one current release that you will need your brain to enjoy.
It’s THE FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD!
This week I want to tell you about the film 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS from Romania.
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS won the Palme d’Or and the 2007 Cannes Film Festival and it is a compelling and engrossing film!
It is set in Communist Romania in the final years of the Ceausescu era and is about two female students who are roommates in a university dormitory.
They are trying to terminate a pregnancy, an activity that was a crime in the country at the time.
The film’s title refers to how far along the pregnancy is, and other than that, I am not going to say much more as the less you know about this film, the better.
What I will tell you is that I highly recommend it!
At times it is harsh, rough, and very disturbing, but even during those scenes you will still want to know what will happen.
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS is a unique film, it is this week’s selection in THE FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL, and it is available now on DVD along with the box sets for THE INCREDIBLE HULK – SEASONS 3 & 4, THE COSBY SHOW – SEASONS 7 & 8, CROSSING JORDAN – SEASON ONE, ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS – ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, THE BBC NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTION and the superb ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – THE COLLECTION.
Oh, and as for the trivia question I asked a few minutes ago…Which two members of the comedy troupe Kids In The Hall appear in the Anne Of Green Gables Trilogy?…the answer is Bruce McCulloch and Dave Folley. Both of them appear in ANNE OF GREEN GABLES – THE SEQUEL.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
I will tell you about eight new releases, including BE KIND REWIND, THE DIRTY HARRY ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION and MUFFINS FOR GRANNY about a filmmaker who helps tell the stories of seven elders dramatically affected by their experiences in residential school.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – June 7th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels two documentaries, two sports related films and The FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD returns!!!
When I first received this week’s first release, or HOT POTATO, I wasn’t sure what to make of it.
Was it a drama, a documentry? Did it play in theatres, or on TV? Who made it, was it Canadian?
THE WILD HORSE REDEMPTION was it’s title, but I had not heard of it, and the DVD packaging wasn’t very clear.
But now that I have seen it, I know – and can tell you – that it is a documentary that was a National Film Board/Canadian Broadcasting Corporation co-production.
I also know that it is a film that I can recommend to you!
THE WILD HORSE REDEMPTION takes place at a prison in an area of the desert near the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
At this prison hard-core criminals are given 90 days to tame and train mustang horses that have been corraled from the wild due to their over population..
Most of the inmates who volunteer for the program have never trained a horse before, ridden one, or even been near one before.
But maybe, just maybe, man and horse can work together to help each other find a better life.
The scenery in THE WILD HORSE REDEMPTION is beautiful to look at, the wild mustangs are an incredible sight to see, and the prisoners and guards we meet along the way are all unique people.
The ending isn’t as strong as what preceeds it, but I still recommend the picture…especially if scenery or wild mustangs are things you enjoy watching.
THE WILD HORSE REDEMPTION is a very engaging and interesting documentary.
Our next film is also a documentary, and it it succeds at that.
Yes, VINCE VAUGHN’S WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW succeeds at being a documentary about Vaughn and four comedians who go on a 30-city, 30-day, 30-show bus tour from Hollwood to Chicago.
What it doesn’t succeed at is being funny.
The film features footage from the tour’s performances, as well as behind-the-scenes and a host of surprise guests, and while the curiosity about what would happen if you put all of these people together on a bus for a month is assuaged….but you funny bone will barely be tickled.
The film is an hour and forty minutes long, and this is the only joke that made me laugh.
That is it, that is the one time I laughed during VINCE VAUGHN’S WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW.
Maybe you will laugh more than I did, and if you like Vince Vaughan, and are a HUGE fan of his work in OLD SCHOOL, SWINGERS or WEDDING CRASHERS, then maybe you need to see this one.
Otherwise, ignore this movie because you will feel the opposite of the guys on the bus towards the end of the film.
If you watch it, and I don’t think that you should, you will want VINCE VAUGHN’S WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW to come to an end.
However, if you are a fan of baseball and you start watching the television mini-series THE BRONX IS BURNING, even at 360 minutes, or six hours, you will still want more!
I sure did!!
John Turturro and Oliver Platt star in THE BRONX IS BURNING, which was adapted from Jonathan Mahler’s best-selling book, “Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning.”
Both focus on baseball’s triumph over the turmoil and hysteria of 1977 New York City as the NYPD pursue the Son of Sam serial killer and the blackout and resultant widespread looting in July, all while the city suffered through financial bankruptcy and massive municipal layoffs.
But in the end, the New York Yankees came to embody all of the hopes and fears of that unforgettable summer in baseball with Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson constantly fight, all while under George Steinbrenner’s leadership.
THE BRONX IS BURNING uses actual footage from 1977 and recreates others, putting the actors in the scenes, some with mixed success as it is very obvious the actor isn’t actually in the scenes they are imposed into.
But the real life drama of whether Billy Martin would be fired, whether bringing Reggie Jackson to New York was a mistake, and whether George Steinbrenner would leave all of them alone long enough to focus on playing baseball does allow the show to succeed as a whole.
And if you are like me, and you love the game of baseball, I think you will completely enjoy THE BRONX IS BURNING.
Even though I am a Toronto Blue Jays fan, which means I must hold nothing but complete disdain for the Yankees, I loved this series!
In fact, I loved it so much that I have already seen it twice…this is good stuff!
When Will Ferrell’s new sports comedy SEMI-PRO opened in theatres back in February, I admit that I thought it would be good stuff as well.
That expectation came because Ferrell had succeeded in entertaining us, and making us laugh – many times out loud – with his other sports comedies TALLADEGA NIGHTS and BLADES OF GLORY.
Plus, SEMI-PRO is set in 1976, and Ferrell had also succeeded in mining that forever interesting decade for big laughs in the great film ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY.
Yes, SEMI-PRO had the chance to be great…but there are very few perfect seasons in the sporting world, and there are even fewer perfect careers in the cinematic one.
In the film Ferrell stars as Jackie Moon and he plays that same overconfident guy who shouldn’t be confident at all role that he has mastered in his career. He is Jackie Moon here, the owner, promoter, coach, and star player of the Flint Michigan Tropics of the American Basketball Association.
In 1976 before the ABA collapses, the National Basketball Association agrees to merge with the best four teams at the end of the season.
The Tropics are the worst team in the league, but with a little extra work and dedication, maybe, just maybe they will survive to play another season.
Or maybe not.
Along with Ferrell, the film stars the can-be-funny Woody Harrelson, Andy Richter, and Toronto’s Will Arnett, but the end result is a film that tries hard to succeed, but ultimately doesn’t.
It has some entertaining moments, and so I think SEMI-PRO is a good film to rent on an evening when you need a few laughs, and the 2-DVD UNRATED edition features an extra 9 minutes that weren’t in the theatrical release.
But, know this going in, whatever version you watch, Ferrell has done better,… and here’s hoping he does better again.
Finally this week is the return of something I did last year at this time.
I usually don’t like to repeat myself, but since the action filled, very loud, check-your-brain-at-the-door summer movie season is upon us….I’d like to offer up an alternative.
So, each week from now to the end of the summer movie season, I will once again tell you about at least one current release on DVD that you’ll need your brain to enjoy….especially since most of them are subtitled.
Welcome to this year’s FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD!
This week’s film is the Dutch film WAITER, and this is one exceptionally interesting film!!
WAITER is about Edgar, a waiter who has an unfortunate streak of bad luck.
His wife is sick, his girlfriend is overly possessive, customers at work constantly bully him and his neighbours make his life impossible.
Fed up with the way his life is going, Edgar goes to the house of Herman, the scriptwriter who invented Edgar and is currently writing his story…as his story, and the film itself, plays on.
As interesting as WAITER is, I don’t think that it is a great film, but it does have some great twists and turns, and I was fascinated by where it took me.
Search it out, the film is called WAITER, and it is the latest entry in The FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD!!
The interesting, but not great Dutch film WAITER, the not funny except for once VINCE VAUGHN’S WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW, Will Ferrell’s latest sports parody SEMI-PRO, the great baseball mini-series THE BRONX IS BURNING and the unique Canadian documentary THE WILD HORSE REDEMPTION are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
If you find yourself in need of a gift idea for Father’s Day or a Graduate, you are in luck as I will tell you about 8 new DVD BOX SETS, including the 5 DVD Set for ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, the 9-Disc release of ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS, plus CROSSING JORDAN, THE COSBY SHOW, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, and the 17 disc set that is THE BBC NATURAL HISTORY COLLECTION.
Plus, our FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD continues with the film that won the Palm D’Or – the Top Prize at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, the Romanian film 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS & 2 DAYS.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.

The Couch Potato Report – May 31st, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels the WHA, the fall of the Roman Empire, and we remember a great director.
There will be a lot of remembering this week here on The Report, and we will start that with the HOT POTATO by remembering the World Hockey Association.
I am sure that you know that the WHA operated from 1972 to 1979, and I am also quite sure that you know that after the 1978-79 season the Edmonton Oilers, New England Whalers, Quebec Nordiques, and Winnipeg Jets joined the National Hockey League, so I won’t spend any time this morning recapping the league’s history.
Instead, let me add to the knowledge and memories you have by telling you that THE WHA CHRONICLES – a 3 DVD Set celebrating the league – is now available and it includes three full games, including Game Six of the Avco Cup final between the Oilers and Jets at Winnipeg Arena.
And for you trivia buffs…here is the answer to the question: Who scored the last ever goal in the WHA?
Yes, Dave Semenko scored the final goal in WHA history, even while a man who is the most renowned goal scorer in the history of hockey was also on the ice.
This set also lets us see the WHA play of some other very familiar names, and Hockey Hall Of Famers in their own right.
Including a certain, Mr. Hockey!!
In addition to the games, this Limited Edition set also has a six minute fight reel, a feature on the history of the league, all new interviews with Bobby Hull and Wayne Gretzky, and much more!
THE WHA CHRONICLES isn’t an all-encompassing history lesson on this onetime rival to the NHL, but since many of it’s games were never shown on television, or even filmed, it does a great job preserving what is available.
This is a great DVD Set, whether you remember the WHA yourself, or have just heard about it for years.
Now while are remembering…hey, remember when John Cusack made fantastic films?
In movies like SAY ANYTHING, HIGH FIDELITY, GROSS POINTE BLANK, ONE CRAZY SUMMER, BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, and THE SURE THING Cusack was so good playing an unconventional hero that you couldn’t imagine anyone else playing the roles.
But as I mentioned a few weeks ago when I spoke about Cusack’s film MARTIAN CHILD, he seems to have lost his way of late, picking films that just don’t work, and the results have been some really bad movies.
Sadly, that downward trend continues with GRACE IS GONE.
In this well-meaning movie Cusack plays a man who’s wife dies in Iraq, and he just can’t bring himself to tell that to his two young daughters…so he takes them on a trip.
GRACE IS GONE has some touching moments, but it is lacking in emotion. A woman, a mother, a soldier has died, and since the movie doesn’t let us meet her, there is no real emotional attachement to that death, however meaningful it might be.
Plus, there are more than a few scenes in the film that don’t seem to really fit in with the rest of the story, and the end result is a film that I just can’t recommend.
I don’t necessarily blame John Cusack for the failure of GRACE IS GONE….I just wish he could remember how solid his choices used to be, and try to find a film worthy of his talent…and legacy.
Nope, when it comes to John Cusack films, he doesn’t make ’em like he used to.
And when it comes to Hollywood and epic motion pictures, they don’t make ’em like they used to!!
Hey, remember the good old days of filmmaking?
Well, if you do, and you miss them, THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE is one from that era!!
This is one of those classic films that had me saying: “They don’t make them like this anymore!!”
THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE is a 1964 epic film that stars legendary Canadian actor Christopher Plummer, the always beautiful Sophia Loren, Sir Alec Guinness, James Mason, Omar Sharif, and a cast of thousands.
THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE features the glory, the greed and grandeur that was Rome, all recreated and filmed for you to enjoy.
The film was a financial failure at the box-office, and at three hours it is a bit long….but it remains one of the great screen epics and it is finally available on DVD for the first time in a digitally remastered 3-DVD deluxe edition.
Nope, “They don’t make them like this anymore!!” and as a film fan who remembers when they did, that is too bad.
Up next this week is DARFUR NOW. And this film serves to remind us that while we get to enjoy a mostly peace filled life, (START THE CLIP NEW!!) there are others who don’t.
There have been so many unbelievable things have happened to the people of Sudan over the course of the past decade – that it is getting more difficult every day to fathom the suffering caused by the ongoing civil war and burgeoning ethnic strife.
DARFUR NOW is not a completely compelling documentary, but it does succeed at shedding more light on the region, and clarifying the ongoing conflict as it offers up inspirational stories of regular people – and celebrities like Don Cheadle and George Clooney – who have actually made a difference there…and here.
If you want to see DARFUR NOW, you can actually buy it for about $8. And by buying it for just a few dollars more than it would cost you to rent it, after you’ve seen it, you can pass it on to others to watch.
Finally this week, it had been my intention to begin this year’s FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD back this week, as an alternative to the action filled, very loud, check-your-brain-at-the-door summer movie season.
But on Monday, a great filmmaker and actor passed away, so I will tell you about the Dutch film WAITER next week.
This week, we remember and celebrate Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack who died on Monday at the age of 73.
Pollack was a Hollywood mainstay who achieved commercial success and critical acclaim with films like THE FIRM, THE WAY WE WERE, ABSENSE OF MALICE, THE ELECTRIC HORSEMAN, BOBBY DEERFIELD, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, the period drama OUT OF AFRICA, and the gender-bending comedy TOOTSIE.
In addition to his work as a director, Sydney was also an actor, having recently appeared on the TV shows WILL & GRACE and THE SOPRANOS an dthe films MADE OF HONOUR and MICHAEL CLAYTON.
Pollack died of cancer Monday afternoon at his home in Pacific Palisades in Los Angeles, and he was surrounded by family.
I have been surrounded by his work for as long as I can remember, and I will always be a fan.
Sydney Pollack, thank you for the movies and memories! May you rest in peace!!
Sydney Pollack’s TOOTISE, MICHAEL CLAYTON, OUT OF AFRICA, THE WAY WE WERE and many of his other films are all available now on DVD, along with the new releases GRACE IS GONE, THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, DARFUR NOW, and the great, limited edition, 3-DVD Set – THE WHA CHRONICLES.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
THE WILD HORSE REDEMPTION is a film about hardened criminals who are given 90 days to tame wild mustangs.
THE BRONX IS BURNING is the television mini-series that features baseball’s triumph over the turmoil and hysteria of the summer of 1977 in New York City.
SEMI-PRO is the latest sports comedy from Will Ferrell
Also next week, VINCE VAUGHN’S WILD WEST SHOW is a documentary about Vaughn and four stand-up comedians living on a bus and performing in 30 cities.
And if you need an alternative to the action filled, very loud, check-your-brain-at-the-door summer movie, well, once again next week I will give you one as THE FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD returns with the Dutch film WAITER!
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – May 24th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a small Canadian Film that works, a huge Hollywood film that doesn’t, and some zombies!
For some reason, I don’t have a lot to say about this week’s five new releasses.
Admittedly, due to my fondness for The Muppets, there is one of them that I could go on and on about, but I won’t…in fact, I won’t go on at leangth about any of them.
That includes this week’s HOT POTATO – the Canadian film WALK ALL OVER ME is about a small town girl runs into big time trouble as she takes on her roommates identity as a dominatrix to pay the bills.
Filmed in and around Winnipeg and Vancouver, WALK ALL OVER ME stars Tricia Helfer – who plays The Six on the latest incarnation of TV’s BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA, and Leelee Sobieski – who co-starred in Stanley Kubrick’s EYES WIDE SHUT.
They are both very beautiful and talented actresses, and if you have enjoyed their work in the past, and the plot sounds interesting to you, then I think you will like the film itself.
If you don’t care for the cast, and the premise doesn’t engage you, then you won’t.
With some films, it is as simple as that.
I did like the cast, and so I acknowledge that I liked this quirky, mildly entertaining film.
I also found NATIONAL TREASURE – BOOK OF SECRETS to be mildly entertaining.
This one picks up where the original one left off – with Nicolas Cage once again playing a treasure hunter whose family believes in the legend of a fantastic treasure trove of artifacts and gold, hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States, and forgotten to all but a few.
This sequel sees Cage’s Benjamin Franklin Gates looking to find out the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and whether one of his ancestors was involved, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages that are missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth’s diary.
Like I said, I found NATIONAL TREASURE – BOOK OF SECRETS to be mildly entertaining, and if you liked the first one, or just can’t get into the new INDIANA JONES film this weekend, well then this would be an okay second choice.
So, mild recommendations for this week’s first two releases, a huge SKIP IT is up now for the latest zombie movie from George A. Romero, the man who basically invented the Zombie Movie genre with the 1968 film NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD!!
Unfortunately his latest film isn’t as good as his first, or even his last few films.
Filmed in Toronto, DIARY OF THE DEAD is about a group of young film students who run into real-life zombies while filming a horror movie of their own.
Now, even though I respect George A. Romero’s career and work, and I do enjoy a good zombie film, I still went into this one with very low expectations…and even those low expectations weren’t met as the premise of a film within a film with one character recording everything on his camera, no matter what happens never putting it down, just doesn’t work here.
It worked in the movie CLOVERFIELD earlier this year, but it is highly ineffective here.
Sadly, this one is for Zombie Film Officiandoes only.
Now, if you don’t like Zombies, but instead enjoy the classic science fiction films they used to make in the 1950s, well then do I have something for you!!
The 6 DVD, 10 movie set – THE CLASSIC SCI-FI ULTIMATE COLLECTION – VOLUMES 1 & 2!!
If you love the sci-fi films that Hollywood specialized in during the 1950s, either because you saw them in theatres, or in the seventies on late night TV, then this is the set for you…or maybe even your Dad…Father’s Day is coming up after all!!
The set includes Tarantula, The Mole People, The Incredible Shrinking Man, The Monolith Monsters, Monster on the Campus, Dr. Cyclops, Cult of the Cobra, The Land Unknown, The Leech Woman and The Deadly Mantis, featuring a huge praying mantis that is on the attack in metropolitan cities after being released from an Arctic iceberg.
If you grew up with these films, go ahead, enjoy them all once again!!
As for me, I love this stuff!!
Finally this week is the new release that I mentioned that I could speak at length about, but since I didn’t have much to say about this week’s other new releases, I won’t go on and on about this one either….even though I absolutely enjoyed every second of my time watching it!!
“It” is THE MUPPET SHOW – THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON and this 4-disc set features guest stars Roy Clark, Gilda Radner, Alice Cooper, Loretta Lynn, Liberace, Raquel Welch, Danny Kaye, Sylvester Stallone, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans and Cheryl Ladd.
It also features my beloved Muppets!!
Even though these episodes are 32 years old, and even though I have seen them all dozens of times over the years, I still laughed a lot this past week when I watched them again.
But I promised to not ramble on, so I will stop at that.
The COMPLETE THIRD SEASON of the spectacular THE MUPPET SHOW, the 6 DVD, 10 movie set – THE CLASSIC SCI-FI ULTIMATE COLLECTION – VOLUMES 1 & 2!!, DIARY OF THE DEAD – for Zombie Film Officiandoes only, NATIONAL TREASURE – BOOK OF SECRETS – a movie that is good to see if the new INDIANA JONES film is sold out, and the quirky, mildly entertaining Canadian film WALK ALL OVER ME are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
THE WHA CHRONICLES is a three disc set that looks back at the old World Hockey Association.
John Cusack plays a man who’s wife dies in Iraq in the drama GRACE IS GONE.
THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE is one of those classic films that will have me saying: “They don’t make them like this anymore!!”
And if you need an alternative to the action filled, very loud, check-your-brain-at-the-door summer movie, well, once again next week I will give you one as THE FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL ON DVD returns with the Dutch film WAITER!
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – May 17th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels 32 DVDs, including a great Canadian film that is making it’s DVD debut.
Lots to get to this week, yes, you read that right, I have 32 DVDs to cover, so I
will jump right in with this week’s Hot Potato – the DVD debut of the 1995 film
Dance Me Outside.
Based on a book by W.P. Kinsella, this is the cinematic story of life on a First
Nations Reserve in Northern Ontario.
Lifelong friends Silas and Frank are drifting through life trying to get into
college in Toronto, but they find themselves having to deal with girls, family …
and murder.
The DVD’s Special Features include the original theatrical trailer, interviews with
the cast, and a commentary with director Bruce McDonald and some of the cast and crew.
If you have never seen DANCE ME OUTSIDE, you should check it out as it is a very entertaining film.
Also very entertaining is SEASON THREE of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!
This seven disc box set features the shows from 1977 and 1978 as it is completely hitting it’s stride!
The cast – featuring John Belushi, Canadian Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Laraine
Newman, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtain, and Bill Murray – are at their best, The
Coneheads and Belushi’s Samurai return, and some of the show’s most beloved
characters were introduced to us for the very first time, including The Blues
Brothers, The Festrunk Brothers, Roseanne Roseannadanna, Point Counterpoint, and the folks at The Olympia Restaurant.
Toronto’s Lorne Michaels created the show, and as a result, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2004, becoming the first non-American to earn this honour.
Some of the guest hosts during the THIRD SEASON of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE were Steve Martin, Hugh Hefner, Charles Grodin, Ray Charles, Robert Klein, Chevy Chase, O.J. Simpson, Michael Palin and Buck Henry and they are all featured on this great box set.
Ottawa’s Matthew Perry hosted Saturday Night Live as well. He was the host on
Saturday October 4, 1997, and now that Universal Studios are planning on releasing two of these SNL Sets a year, we should have the set with his show on it sometime around 2017.
If you don’t want to wait until then to see the former FRIEND on DVD, well Matthew Perry has a new film out right now on DVD.
He plays a chronically depressed screenwriter that suffers from acute
depersonalization disorder who meets the girl of his dreams in the made-in-British Columbia drama NUMB.
NUMB is one of those small films, released direct-to-DVD that has some good
moments…, moments when it isn’t bad, but it also have a few scenes when it just is bad.
Those moments prevent me from completely recommending it, however, due to Perry’s always reliable work, and a very good supporting cast, including up and coming actress Lynn Collins, I didn’t dislike this movie.
If you don’t see anything else on the shelf that you are interested in, give it a look.
Now, this week’s next film is one that you will probably be very interested in, due to the fact that Cate Blanchette received an Oscar nomination for her work in it, and because it features six different characters who embody a different aspect of Bob Dylan’s life and work.
But let me tell you, I’M NOT THERE is not for everybody.
It is fascinating and interesting, with some great performances and that incredible Bob Dylan music…but this is the textbook definition of an art film – a typically serious, noncommercial, independently made film that is aimed at a niche audience, rather than a mass audience.
I’M NOT THERE tells its story by trying to use the same non-traditional techniques that Dylan uses in his poetic narrative style of songwriting, and it is because of that that it’s appeal is limited.
However, if you are a huge fan of Bob Dylan and his music, or if you have ever
wanted to see the great Cate Blanchett playing a character like Dylan in a film,
then you may enjoy this film a lot.
Personally, I am glad I had the chance to see it, but I will never sit through it
again.
I am just not the niche audience that it is meant for.
Up next is THE GREAT DEBATERS.
This is a film that is inspired by a true story from DIRECTOR Denzel Washington.
The director also plays a professor at a historically Black college in Texas who in
1935 inspired students to form the school’s first debate team, and they went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship.
THE GREAT DEBATERS isn’t a bad film, and it features a story that should be told, as the young students on the debate team face and rise above some horrific injustices, but this movie is way too dramatic, and at over two hours, I would argue that it is also much too long.
I neither recommend it, nor think that you should avoid it.
No, on the topic of the film THE GREAT DEBATERS, I posses neither a negative – or con – or even a positive – or pro – position.
However, when it comes to the cinematic work of Mr. Frank Sinatra, I am
all-pro…just as he was!
It was ten years ago this week that we lost The Chairman Of The Board and in
cooperation with his estate, Warner Home Video has released four sets of his movies – many never before available on DVD – and a few other DVDs to coincide with the anniversary of his passing.
The most notable of the four sets is the five film THE GOLDEN YEARS, containing
Sinatra’s Oscar-nominated performance as a drug-addicted drummer in Otto Preminger’s hard-hitting and taboo-busting 1955 film “The Man With the Golden Arm”, which was previously available only on poor-quality public domain DVDs.
There is also THE EARLY YEARS COLLECTION, a 5-DVD set devoted to Sinatra’s 1940s work in Hollywood, and THE FRANK SINATRA & GENE KELLY COLLECTION has the three lavish MGM musicals he did with with Gene Kelly, and then there is the new collectors’ edition of four “Rat Pack” comedies with Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop – including the debut of “Sergeants 3,” a mock Western long unavailable because it plagiarized “Gunga Din” without permission – and the original version of OCEAN’S 11.
And, in addition to the four new fantastic Sinatra box sets, SINATRA: THE MINISERIES from television is also now out and so is THE FIRST DEADLY SIN, his film with Faye Dunnaway where he plays a New York detective coping with his wife’s mysterious and incurable illness – and hunting an ice hammer-wielding killer.
All of these releases help us remember that – in addition to his music – Frank
Sinatra was also a very talented actor, and they let us see his work before he
largely turned his back on acting a quarter century before his death, when he backed out of the title role in “Dirty Harry” and temporarily retired from show business.
Frank is a true legend, the type we may never see again….enjoy these sets!! I sure did!!
SINATRA: THE MINISERIES, THE FIRST DEADLY SIN and The Frank Sinatra Box Sets THE EARLY YEARS COLLECTION, THE GOLDEN YEARS COLLECTION, THE FRANK SINATRA & GENE KELLY COLLECTION and THE RAT PACK ULTIMATE COLLECTOR’S EDITION are all available now on DVD along with the earnest, but very flawed THE GREAT DEBATORS, the artsy-fartsy Bob Dylan tribute I’M NOT THERE, the mediocre, but okay NUMB starring Matthew Perry, the
fantastic COMPLETE THIRD SEASON of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and the great Canadian film DANCE ME OUTSIDE.
I told you I had a lot to cover this week!
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
The Canadian film WALK ALL OVER ME is about a small town girl runs into big time trouble as she takes on her roommates identity as a dominatrix to pay the bills; NATIONAL TREASURE 2 – BOOK OF SECRETS picks up where the original one left off – with Nicolas Cage as a treasure hunter; and THE MUPPET SHOW – THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON features Roy Clark, Gilda Radner, Alice Cooper, Loretta Lynn, Liberace, Raquel Welch, Danny Kaye, Sylvester Stallone, Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, Cheryl Ladd…oh, and The Muppets!!
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – May 10th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels two films that just were not made for me, and two others that were.
I have said this before, and I am sure that I will say it again from time to time – not every film made can be enjoyed by everyone.
Specifically, not every film that is made is one that I will, or can like.
Now, there is a difference between movies that are bad, and movies that have some merit, but I – and maybe you – just aren’t the audience for.
Hopefully, we all find films that we love, be they comedy, action, adventure, romance, horror, or animated, be we woman, man, boy or girl.
This week, I have two movies that I am sure somebody will love, but that body is not me.
Not at all!!
I’ll start with this week’s Hot Potato, the Canadian made film HOW SHE MOVE – about a high school student who is forced to leave her private school to return to her old, crime-filled neighborhood where she re-kindles an unlikely passion for the competitive world of step dancing.
Nope, not for me at all!!
HOW SHE MOVE is well made, I didn’t necessarily have a problem with the writing or the choreography, and the young cast were all competent enough actors…but whether it is HOW SHE MOVE, STEP UP, YOU GOT SERVED, or any of the many other films in recent years that take a young man or woman who is heading toward the wrong side of the tracks, and gives them a second chance in life simply because they learn how to dance…these films do nothing for me.
They don’t invlove me, they don’t move me, and they don’t entertain me…but they might for you…so if they do, then HOW SHE MOVE might satisfy your needs, otherwise, step away from it…you’ve been served!!
Alright, I lumped HOW SHE MOVE together with the rest of that type of dance films to illustrate that they are not for me, but when it comes to teh genre that this week’s next film resides, I admit it, I do love romance films – be they romantic comedies or romance dramas.
But even within that genre, there will be some occasions when I do not love a movie or two, and that is the case with what I think is a failed romance drama – the name of this one is P.S. I LOVE YOU.
In this movie, Hilary Swank from MILLION DOLLAR BABY and BOYS DON”T CRY is a woman who is madly in love with her husband, and then he dies from a brain tumour.
However, in the midst of her grief, on her 30th birthday, she gets a taped recording from him.
After that message ends, and the letters start to come in, she starts to live and laugh, and maybe even love again, even though she has a broken heart.
Now, the issue that I had with this film was that I wasn’t able to get past that fact that while the husband was dying that he would use all of his remaining time to arrange and organize and plan not just the delivery of the letters, but the HUGE events that surrounds each one.
Now I am a huge fan of Hilary Swank and think she is one of this planet’s most beautiful women, and there are moments in PS I LOVE YOU that are very, very touching, and at times it did engage me.
But as a whole, this two-hour and six minute film did nothing for me. The romance and heartbreak seemed real enough, and the actors including Gerard Butler, Kathy Bates, Harry Connick Jr., Gina Gershon and Lisa Kudrow were – for the most part – all very good, but as much as I wanted to like the movie and these characters, I just didn’t care for it…or them.
And that is why I say that it just wasn’t a movie for me.
Is it a movie for you? Perhaps it is, but not every film made can be enjoyed by everyone, so if this seems like a film that you would like, then good luck!
So I don’t recommend either PS I LOVE YOU or HOW SHE MOVE, but I am a huge fan of this week’s next two releases, both films from the ninties, both now available on DVD in new Deluxe Editions.
And I will start with YOU’VE GOT MAIL…, now this is a romance film that I love!
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan star as two rivals in business who hate each other when it comes to the work that they do, but fall in love anonymously over the internet.
Younger folks may watch this film and wonder why they are emailing each other and not just having an online chat using instant messaging or iChat, but since those options weren’t available to the majority of us when this film came out ten years ago, they are using what they had.
And yes, it has been ten years since YOU’VE GOT MAIL came out.
This new DELUXE EDITION of the film features several great retrospective looks back at the movie, but most of all it contains the film and the chemistry that Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan share on screen.
Yup, ten years later, I still love this one!!
And twelve years later, I still really love TWISTER!!
This still great film is about people who chase tornados, and it features some great special effects of storms and the things that get obliterated by them.
The new TWO DISC SPECIAL EDITION of TWISTER features a wealth of features about the science of real tornados, and several that look back at the movie, and some of it’s most memorable moments, including the “cow scene” where a cow goes flying past the stars, as it is caught in a funnel cloud.
That is good stuff!!
The TWO DISC SPECIAL EDITION of the still great action film TWISTER, the DELUXE EDITION of the filled with chemistry YOU’VE GOT MAIL, the failed romance drama PS I LOVE YOU that was made for people other than me, and the Canadian made film HOW SHE MOVE – that was also NOT made for me are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
The great Canadian film DANCE ME OUTSIDE debuts on DVD; and so does SEASON THREE of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!
Also next week, Matthew Perry plays a chronically depressed screenwriter in NUMB.
Six characters embody a different aspect of Bob Dylan’s life and work in I’M NOT THERE.
And THE GREAT DEBATERS is the second film from DIRECTOR Denzel Washington.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – May 3rd, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels the first Canadian talkie, along with a diving bell, a butterfly and some classic Caballeros!
If you ask most film buffs to name you the very first film with sound, just about all of them could tell you that the answer is the 1927 film THE JAZZ SINGER with Al Jolson.
But if you ask those same buffs what the very first Canadian film with sound was, you might not find very many people who can provide you with the answer.
Except for me!
The first Canadian film with sound was the 1931 made-in-Newfoundland film THE VIKING.
Now, you might be thinking “Wait a minute!! In 1931 Newfoundland was owned by Britain…and THE VIKING features an all American cast and crew…so how is it even considered to be Canadian?!?”
Well, Newfoundland is part of Canada NOW and the film features cold, barren landscapes, lots of snow, and rugged, but jovial people.
You tell me, is that not Canadian?!?!
Anyway, as the FIRST Canadian film made featuring sound, THE VIKING is a Canadian classic…albeit one in name only. This is not a classic film.
The acting is a bit stiff, the Newfoundland accents are less than authentic, and the story – a love triangle between a woman and two men, one who is all wrong for her, the other who would be perfect – is one that we’ve seen dozens and dozens of times before…but when this film was made in 1931, I suspect the love triangle was a new thing…one that had only been seen less than a dozen times.
What makes THE VIKING a film that is worth seeing, especially if you love movies, is the historic element of it, and the Newfoundland locations they used.
The action in the picture comes from the seal hunt, and the movie was filmed during the hunt, so there are actual sealers, the amazing ice floes, and some ships and a sea that you may never get to see up close.
No, THE VIKING isn’t a classic film, but it is a Classic Canadian as it was this nation’s first film to feature sound. So if that comes up in a trivia game, now you know.
Oh, and if you are wondering what the very first Canadian film was…the answer to that is E.P. Sullivan’s and William Cavanaugh’s EVANGELINE.
It came out in 1913 and it no longer exists, except for a few stills taken from promotional material.
But THE VIKING…this Canadian film does still exist…and it is now available on DVD.
Up next this week is the Academy Award nominated film THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY and this is a spectacular movie!!!
This film is the true story of a well-known magazine editor from France named Jean-Dominique Bauby.
In 1995 at the age of 43, Jean-Do suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye.
He was unable to speak or to move his head and his only means of communication was to blink his eye – one blink for yes, two blinks for no – as his loved ones and doctors read an alphabet to him.
Using his eye, he dictates his memoirs and both in his original book, and this fascinating film, and he eloquently describes the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to some of the stories that he imagines from places he’s only visited in his mind.
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY was nominated for four Academy Awards in February, including the categories of writing and directing, and this is an incredible film that I think you should see, and I highly reccommend that you do!
I also highly reccommend our next film this week too…but from the opposite end of the spectrum. I highly reccommend that you stay away from this would-be fantasy epic.
What a boring waste of time THE GOLDEN COMPASS turned out to be!!
THE GOLDEN COMPASS is based upon the first novel in Philip Pullman’s trilogy His Dark Materials.
Starring Daniel Craig – the latest JAMES BOND and Oscar winner Nicole Kidman the film is about an orphan living in a fantasy based parallel universe in which a dogmatic theocracy threatens to dominate the world.
When Lyra’s friend is kidnapped, she travels to the far North in an attempt to rescue him and rejoin her uncle.
Now, I suspect that if you liked the book – whether you know it under it’s British title “Northern Lights” or as “The Golden Compass” as it was published in the U.S. – you might enjoy the film, but I have not read it, and the film – even with a cast full of actors I enjoy, admire and respect – just didn’t hold my interest.
Plus, some of the special effects looked great, while others looked awful….yeah, this film just doesn’t work. Even though I usually love fantasy films, I can’t be bothered spending any more time talking about THE GOLDEN COMPASS.
The final release that I have for you this week is the much more entertaining, and fun CLASSIC CABALLEROS COLLECTION, featuring Walt Disney’s still interesting 1942 SALUDOS AMIGOS and it’s 1944 sequel THREE CABALLEROS.
This DVD allwos you to join Goofy, Donald Duck and Walt Disney himself as they travel to Latin America to find new stories to tell, and experience all the music, beauty and excitement the region has to offer.
Admittedly, the CLASSIC CABALLEROS COLLECTION is for die-hard Disney, Donald Duck, Goofy, or psychedelia fans only…but for those folks, this DVD offers some dated, trippy fun.
The CLASSIC CABALLEROS COLLECTION featuring THREE CABALLEROS and SALUDOS AMIGOS, the would-be fantasy epic THE GOLDEN COMPASS, the fascinating, highly recomended film THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY and THE VIKING – the FIRST Canadian film ever made with sound are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
The Canadian made film HOW SHE MOVE is about a high school student who is forced to leave her private school to return to her old, crime-filled neighborhood where she re-kindles an unlikely passion for the competitive world of step dancing.
Also next week is the DELUXE EDITION of the Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan film YOU’VE GOT MAIL and the failed romance drama P.S. I LOVE YOU.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – April 26th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a man and a mannequin, a boxer and a reporter and the made-in-Quebec film Summit Circle.
Had anyone…anyone else played the lead role in this week’s Hot Potato, the film could have been dismissed as an interesting premise, poorly realized or a stupid high concept comedy.
But since the lead in LARS AND THE REAL GIRL is played by Canadian Ryan Gosling, a tremendous actor who has played a drug addicted inner-city teacher in HALF NELSON, a Jewish man who develops a fiercely anti-Semitic worldview in THE BELIEVER, and a guy with a broken heart who hopes to win back the love of his life in THE NOTEBOOK, since Gosling is playing Lars, what could have come off as a lewd, crude or just disturbing film instead plays as one that is very believable, smart and thoughtful.
I really liked this movie!
So, all that said, let me tell you what LARS AND THE REAL GIRL is about.
Gosling plays Lars, a socially awkward man who spends his days working in a cubical and his nights alone in the garage-turned-apartment he lives in outside of his parents old house.
His brother Gus and sister-in-law Karin now live in that house, and he repeatedly turns down their invitations to eat with them.
But then, one night, Lars knocks on their door and announces that he has met someone, and when he asks Gus and Karen if she can stay in the extra room in the house they are overwhelmed…until they “meet” her.
You see, “Bianca” is actually a life-sized, anatomically correct doll – for adult use – one of the high priced ones, not the cheap blow-up models – and Lars talks to her and treats her as if she was real.
The local psychiatrist, believes that the best approach to Lars’ delusion is to play along with it, so the entire town starts to treat Bianca with respect, and act as if she is real.
As I said, I really liked this movie, and if you can suspend your disbelief that everyone in the movie’s small town would play along, then I think you will too.
Yes, it does get a little slow towards the end, but Gosling is so good that he pulls this premise off in a way that many actors could not.
Whether you watch it with friends, or with a “Bianca” of your own, I hope you enjoy LARS AND THE REAL GIRL as much as I did!
The made-in-Calgary film RESURRECTING THE CHAMP is our next challenger this morning.
This film, weighing in at 112 minutes, was inspired by a true story…or as the film’s tagline reads: Based on a true story, that was based on a lie.
In this picture, an up-and-coming newspaper sports reporter rescues a homeless man from some teenagers who are beating him up, only to find out that the man may just be a former heavyweight boxing contender who is long believed to have passed away.
Josh Hartnett from SIN CITY and LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN plays the reporter, and Mr. Samuel L. Jackson is The Champ, but the newspaper story they tell – however compelling – just might not be true…and – if that is the case – they are both to blame for that
But, whether the story is or isn’t true made the film compelling enough for me to want to stick around to see how it ended.
Sadly, the ending of RESURRECTING THE CHAMP is a bit too Hollywood perfect, and along the way it does drag at times, but I still found the film interesting and engaging.
While not a technical knock out, this film still wins by a split decision on my score card.
Finally this week is the made in Quebec film SUMMIT CIRCLE.
It focusses on RÈjeanne – a long-time switchboard operator whose life is thrown into turmoil after her husband Gilles suffers a debilitating stroke.
The movie takes place in both the past and in the present, with the latter revolving around a police lieutenant’s attempts to solve Gilles’ murder and the former storyline dealing dealing with RÈjeanne and Gilles’ crumbling relationship after his troke, and the eventual loss of their home on Summit Circle.
As the movie plays out, and RÈjeanne’s difficulties increase, it becomes increasingly difficult not to sympathize with her plight, and the time-shifting structure employed by the director is very effective…but unfortunately it all builds to an ending that isn’t completely satisfying, and as such, I enjoyed SUMMIT CIRCLE, but I can’t completely recommend it.
The made-in-Montreal, good but not great SUMMIT CIRCLE, the made-in-Calgary split decision RESURRECTING THE CHAMP and the filmed-in-Toronto LARS AND THE REAL GIRL, which I really enjoyed, are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
The Academy Award nominated foreign film THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY debuts on DVD along with the would-be fantasy epic THE GOLDEN COMPASS, Disney’s CLASSIC CABALLEROS COLLECTION featuring SALUDOS AMIGOS and THREE CABALLEROS; and also next week is a Canadian Classic…the FIRST Canadian film with sound, in fact…the made in Newfoundland THE VIKING.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – April 19th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels one film that you have heard of, and three you might not have.
It is inevitable when a film does well at the box office, receives critical acclaim, AND garners multiple Academy Award nominations, that there will be at least one person who says they don’t like it, or that they have problems with it.
Well, when it comes to this week’s Hot Potato – the four-time Oscar nominated, $140 million box office success, made in British Columbia film JUNO – on this day, that one person is me.
Admittedly, I am a huge fan of the last 38 minutes of the movieÖbut with few exceptions, the first 58 minutes just didn’t work for me.
And I attribute that to two things – the lead actress, Oscar nominee Ellen Page – and the majority of the dialogue, which even Diablo Cody won an Oscar for it, just seems fake.
Now I know that people who are very close friends sometimes talk to each other in shorthand,…we all use slang in our daily conversations, and that is true whether you are a teenager, or haven’t been in years, so I could have been able to cut the film some slack for that, but that slack goes out the window when our lead character – a 16 year old who is faced with an unplanned pregnancy and decides to give it up for adoption – meets the people she is going to give the baby to, and their lawyer, and she talks to them the same way she talks to her friends.
It was at moments such as those that I actually found the lead character unlikeable.
No, the dialogue in the first 58 minutes of JUNO did not ring true, or appeal to me, even though it won an Oscar. It is self indulgent, not very witty, and I think it hurts the movie.
The other reason I had a problem with The first 58 minutes of JUNO, and I also just didn’t care for the actress who plays Juno, Halifax’s Ellen Page – who received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for her work.
The problem that I have with Page is the fact that she plays the same character in every film….she always plays the “I’m smarter than you, know it all teen.” She did it in this film, she did it in the film HARD CANDY in 2005, and if you go to see the film SMART PEOPLE, which is in theatres right now, she is playing the same character again!!
Alright, enough negativity…that is what I didn’t like about JUNO…let me get to what I liked, because even with a self-indulgent first hour, there is a lot to like in this film…and it all starts when Juno runs into Jennifer Garner’s Vanessa, the woman she is giving her baby to, in the mall and Vanessa puts her hands on Juno’s very pregnant stomach.
That scene is magic, and at that point of the movie, even the filmmakers seem to realize that the forced and indulgent dialogue, and the fact that Page is playing Juno as the “I’m smarter than you, know it all teen.” has to end, and it becomes a very entertaining film.
One with real people, in real situations, dealing with the problems they encounter – however unfortunate – the way that you and I might, and I think that is why it struck a chord with audiences the way it has.
I loved the last 38 minutes of JUNO…however, the film has to be looked at as an entire 96 minute piece…so would I recommend it to you?
I would…even with all of it’s flaws in the first two-thirds, there are still some entertaining and funny moments, and the script allows Juno’s parents to seem like real people, not movie people…so I happily tell you that this is a film that I think you should see.
And if you don’t care for the film at the start, just know that it builds to a beautiful conclusion!
Okay, four other films to get to this week, and I will start with BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, the latest from the director who gave us TWELVE ANGRY MEN, SEPRICO, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK and THE VERDICT.
BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD is a great, tension filled heist picture about two down-on-their-luck brothers who organize the robbery of their parents’ jewelery store, but the job goes horribly wrong, triggering a series of events that change the lives of everyone around them.
This film has a tremendous cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Albert Finney and Marissa Tomei, and it is very well written, but it starts off so stong that just can’t maintain it’s frantic and unique pace for the entire film…in fact it really slows down toward the end, but it is still very interesting and engaging, and you will definitely want to see how it all wraps up.
That is not the case with RESERVATION ROAD, as tragic as the story is at the centre of this picture, you might not care how it ends.
One night, a family stops at a gas station and their young son Josh wanders off toward the road.
Dwight is driving past the same station with his son in the SUV when he accidentally swerves over to the other lane and hits Josh.
He knows he has hit a kid, he is the only witness, but he doesn’t stop.
Haunted by the tragedy, both fathers – Dwight and Ethan – wrestle with their new lives and their new realities.
Will Dwight turn himself in?
Will Ethan find his son’s killer before he goes insane?
RESERVATION ROAD features Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Ruffalo as the fathers, and has Oscar winners Jennifer Connelly and Mira Sorvino in supporting roles as their wives, but while the cast is great, and the script has a few unique twists and turns, ultimately this is not a film that I can recommend. It is just too slow, and takes waaay too long to get to it’s conclusion.
Now, the suspence thriller P2 is a film that I recommend…especially if you you enjoy smart and interesting films with a horrific twist, no matter how uncomfortable they make you while you watch them!
Filmed in Toronto, P2 is about a businesswoman who is being pursued by a pursued by a psychopath after being locked in a parking garage on Christmas Eve.
Yes, there are some very predictable moments in this film, but there are also more than a few plot elements and twists that we haven’t seen before, plus there are several horrific scenes that aren’t for the faint of heart.
If you enjoy suspence thriller or horror films, then P2 is a must see!
And if you do enjoy those types of movies, then perhaps you were part of the audience that made the remake of the 1980 film PROM NIGHT number one at the Box Office last weekend.
The first PROM NIGHT film came out in 1980, and it was a very original horror film, in it’s day, and a huge success, spawning three sequels, which each had less and less in common with the original, and each were less and less worthy of your time.
However, in the unique first one, a masked killer stalks four teens responsible for the accidential death of a child six years earlier at their high school’s senior prom.
THE PROM NIGHT COLLECTION contains the original four films in the series, and if you are fans of them, then this box set is for you.
Plus, it contains one of the last serious roles that Saskatchewan’s own Leslie Nielsen did before he became a comedic actor with the release of AIRPLANE!
THE PROM NIGHT COLLECTION, the interesting suspence thriller P2, the not great film RESERVATION ROAD, the tension filled BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, and JUNO – the Academy Award winning film that has a great final 38 minutes, but a not-as-great first hour – are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling stars as a man who falls in love with a life size mannequin in LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
And the made-in-Calgary film RESURRECTING THE CHAMP is about a reporter who meets a homeless man who may just be a former boxing champion.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – April 12th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a very bad television show, sharks, Bonnie, Clyde, Harold AND Kumar.
I have said it before, and I shall say it again – I am a very lucky man.
I say that because one of the things I get to do each and every week is watch the newest releases on DVD, and then tell you about them.
It is a something that I truly enjoy, even when something is a complete waste of my time.
Since I don’t have a lot of time in this forum each week, I usually just ignore any releases that fall into that category.
However, even though I think this week’s Hot Potato is absolutely awful…I am still going to talk about it because it is a Canadian show, and who knows, maybe you will like it.
I doubt it…but who knows.
That show, and this DVD is RENT-A-GOALIE, a real service that is actually provided to rec hockey teams in Toronto, but all told this show has very little to do with hockey.
Sure, occasionally it does feature the game, but for the most part it is just a show about unlikable people who find themselves in unfortunate situations, ususally as a result of something they did.
The stupidity of the characters in thsi show made it hard to sit through, but the main thing that I couldn’t get past was the language. Now I am not easily offended by any means, but this show – which airs on the cable channel Showcase and is intended for mature audiences – uses profane and highly objectional language, just because it can!
The language doesn’t seem to take place because the characters or on-screen situation warrants it, they just know they CAN use this language, so they do.
And they do that, and other hard to fathom things, a lot!!
Even the guest stars – such as hockey greats Tiger Williams and Phil Esposito – seem to show up, just so they can swear on a TV show!
Truth be told, RENT-A-GOALIE wants to be CHEERS, especially as it attempts to re-create the Sam & Diane dynamic between it’s two lead characters.
But the characters in CHEERS were likable, they had something to say, and they were funny.
The characters in RENT-A-GOALIE have nothing to say, and they are not funny, and even during the few, brief moments when you do maybe start liking them, the writers make them say or do something, and you just don’t care again.
If you like the low-life characaters and humour of TRAILER PARK BOYS, then maybe…MAYBE you will find something to like in SEASON ONE of RENT-A-GOALIE.
Otherwise, this 2-DVD set is just a complete waste of time. This is time I am never getting back!!
Up next this week is a film that I liked a lot more than RENT-A-GOALIE, however, I did not love SHARKWATER – a film that seeks to debunk historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks – and I fully expected to.
But…while I didn’t love it, SHARKWATER is a film that I would still recommend.
For filmmaker Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure. What it turned into was a beautiful and dangerous life journey into the balance of life on earth.
Driven by passion fed from a lifelong fascination with sharks, filmmaker Rob Stewart takes us under and above water with him as he travels to some of the most beautiful locations in the world to save sharks from being put on the endangered species list.
There are some amazing stories in SHARKWATER, some spectacular undersea footage, and some unique facts.
For instance, did you know that pop machines kill more people each year than sharks?
But in the end, what causes SHARKWATER’s ultimate downfall is the fact that filmmaker Stewart starts to tell his story, not the sharks.
So instead of spending extra time with renegade conservationists, or seeing more of the battles with shark poachers in Guatemala, or additinal footage of boat rammings or gunboat chases, we spend time with Stewart as he is laid up in a hospital bed, due to injuries he suffered while making the film.
Less filmmaker, more sharks would have made SHARKWATER a better film, but even the way it is, this is still a film I liked. I didn’t love it, but I liked it.
It is great to look at, and at times it is very informative.
Nope, didn’t love SHARKWATER, I liked it, but BONNIE & CLYDE, now that is a film I love!!
BONNIE & CLYDE is an Academy Award winnning film from 1967 about Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the real-life bank robbers who roamed the central United States during the Great Depression.
It it’s day BONNIE & CLYDE was regarded as the first film of the New Hollywood era, in that it was very violent and sexual, and it was popular with younger audiences.
On this day, the film stands up, over forty years later! This is a true Hollywood clasic, and the cast and filmmakers seem to know that as the new Two-Disc Special Edition has some great retrospective documentaries that features almost all of the principles, from director Arthur Penn, to stars Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway and even publicity shy Warren Beatty.
Yup, BONNIE & CLYDE is a classic, and to some, the made-in-Toronto stoner comedy HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE – about two guys just trying to get some hamburgers, even though Murphy’s Law is preventing that from happening – is a classic too!
With the sequel HAROLD AND KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUANTANAMO BAY due in theatres in two weeks, this new DVD version features deleted scenes & outtakes; interviews and commentaries and much more.
Harold And Kumar are this generation’s Cheech & Chong and HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE still makes me laugh.
The still funny stoner comedy HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE, the still classic film BONNIE & CLYDE, the very informative and interesting SHARKWATER and SEASON ONE of the awful Canadian television series RENT-A-GOALIE are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
JUNO – the Academy Award winning film that everyone seems to love, except for me – debuts on DVD; so does BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU’RE DEAD, the latest from the director who gave us TWELVE ANGRY MEN, SEPRICO, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, NETWORK and THE VERDICT.
Also next week is the horror film P2; in RESERVATION ROAD, one father loses a son and another tries to live with the guilt of a hit-and-run accident; And THE PROM NIGHT COLLECTION contains the four original films in the Prom Night Franchise including the original film from 1980 starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Saskatchewan’s own Leslie Nielsen.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!