Category: The Couch Potato Report

The Couch Potato Report – April 5th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels Florida, Heaven, Mist, Tomorrow, The Beatles and more!!
Sometimes the reason we like the films we like only stems from the fact that one film or another reminds us of something that we have personally experienced.
You might have fallen in love with FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL or WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, as you were falling in love.
SLAPSHOT might have become your favourite movie as you were learning how to play hockey.
And the BACK TO THE FUTURE films may have struck your fancy once you returned from the year 2015.
Personally, I watched this week’s Hot Potato – the 1993 Canadian film LA FLORIDA, about a Quebec family who buys a motel and moves to south Florida. – right after I got back from Fort Lauderdale and south Florida.
So fresh with the smell of the sea air, the sight of palm trees, and the memory of beautiful women in bikinis on the beach in my mind, I liked it.
Now, had I not just spent a week, and had a great time in The Sunshine State…I am not sure I would have liked it very much.
But that is the power of life and the movies!!
Yes, in LA FLORIDA, tired of rough winters, a Quebec family buys a motel in south Florida.
But life is not as easy as they think it is going to be as the competition is fierce, and a land developer is trying to buy them out and send them home.
At times LA FLORIDA is a very nice film with some sweet moments, and it also has some great scenes featuring the beaches in Hollywood, Florida. It might be a bit long, but I liked it.
And if you have just returned from a Floridian vacation, I think you might like it too.
If you have just returned from the land where predictable romantic comedies are beloved by all, then you might also enjoy the film ALMOST HEAVEN.
This easy-to-figure-out film is set around the director, star and cast of a fishing show that is made for Canadian television.
A down on his luck former director has to go to Scotland to work with his ex-wife who is the star of the TV show in ALMOST HEAVEN, but as soon as he meets a beautiful local fishing guide, you can tell where this film is going to go.
And that is too bad because as soon as it takes the turn toward the land or predictable romantic comedies you can easily connect the dots to how it will end, and I didn’t want it to!
That is because the cast, including Ottawa’s Donal Logue from THE TAO OF STEVE and Vancouver’s Joely Collins from the TV show COLD SQUAD, are charming and likeable, and the scenery in Scotland and British Columbia is spectacular to look at!!
Yes, there are some great moments in ALMOST HEAVEN…just not enough of them to make the film one I would recommend.
That is also the case with THE MIST, the film that brings Stephen King’s horror novella to life.
There are also some great moments in this one, but at two hours and six minutes this film could have used a good editor to come in and tighten it up and heighten the suspense!
Well, because this is based on a Stephen King story, you know it isn’t two fronts meeting, left over from any type of storm!
Nope, there is evil in that thar mist!!
In THE MIST something evil is unleashed upon a small town, and a small group of residents are trapped inside a grocery store, fighting for their lives.
THE MIST was written and directed by Frank Darabont, the man who also gave us the films THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION and THE GREEN MILE based on Stephen King works, but while this film does have some good, old fashioned scares, and the ending is one-of-a-kind, some of the bibilical fire and brimstone stuff goes on for way too long, and…for me, there weren’t really any characters who I wanted to survive this ordeal…and when you are left with no one to root for in a horror/suspence or monster movie…you aren’t left with much.
I have two unique titles to conclude The Couch Potato Report with this week, starting with OPERATION: FILMMAKER. This is a documentary about some Hollywood film stars and filmmakers who give an Iraqui wannabe filmmaker the opportunity of a lifetime.
Unfortunately, they give that opportunity to the wrong guy!!
Actor and director Liev Schrieber, who has been in many films, and more recently appeared as Michael Keppler on the TV show CSI.
Soon after the fall of Baghdad in 2003 he and a group of others decide to give a young film student named Muthana a chance to work on their film EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED in Prague after they see his story on MTV.
After initially being treated like a star, due to the news coverage and the fact that this documentary was being filmed, eventually Muthana is expected to work…but he really liked being treated as a star.
OPERATION: FILMMAKER is not a spectacular documentary, but at times it is very engaging, especially once you realize that Muthana is looking for everyone else to give him opportunities and money, including filmmaker Nina Davenport, who becomes increasingly entangled in his life, even giving him money on more than one occasion.
Yes, they gave a young man the opportunity of a lifetime…but they gave it to the wrong guy!!
Finally this week is a DVD that I think succeeds for several reasons….primarily since it is the first DVD release since the great talk show host Tom Snyder died last July…but also due to that fact that it contains what became John Lennon’s last televised interview
Yes, THE TOMORROW SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER – JOHN, PAUL, TOM & RINGO features the late-great television host’s interviews with three of the fab four.
In addition to John’s interview from 1975, there is also a chat with Paul and Linda from 1979, and a 1981 interview with Ringo.
THE TOMORROW SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER – JOHN, PAUL, TOM & RINGO features real people giving honest answers to honest questions from a true broadcasting original and if you are a fan of JOHN, PAUL, TOM or RINGO, then this is a must have!
The very interesting THE TOMORROW SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER – JOHN, PAUL, TOM & RINGO, OPERATION: FILMMAKER – where the wrong guy gets the chance of a lifetime, the less-than-succesful cinematic version of Stephen King’s THE MIST, the failed romantic comedy ALMOST HEAVEN and the Quebec film LA FLORIDA, a film you will enjoy if you have been to Florida recently, are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
SEASON ONE of the Canadian television series RENT-A-GOALIE debuts on DVD.
SHARKWATER seeks to debunk historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks.
In RESERVATION ROAD, one father loses a son and another tries to live with the guilt of a hit-and-run accident.
THE 11TH HOUR is Leonardo DiCaprio’s look at the state of the global environment.
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!

The Couch Potato Report – March 29th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels films about hockey, a princess, and loveÖin the time of cholera.
With spring now upon us, and summer not far away, the release slate for DVDs is starting to thin out a bit after some jam packed weeks, but there are still a wide array of new ones that have come out over the past two weeks while I was away, including this week’s Hot Potato.
The Canadian Hockey film-with-more-that-a-few-twists – BREAKFAST WITH SCOT.
In BREAKFAST WITH SCOT Sam and Ed are in love with each other, and in love with live.
But when eleven-year-old Scot’s mother suddenly dies, the couple decides to make good on a wine-soaked promise made years before and become his guardians.
Eventually the men start to have problems with Scot, due to his featherboa wearing, Christmas carol singing, very flamboyant personality.
BREAKFAST WITH SCOT is based on the 2001 book of the same name from By Michael Downing, and in the film, as in the book, if Sam, Ed and Scot can just learn to accept each other for who they are, they all have the chance at happiness.
This is one of those small Canadian films that I was really hoping to love…but due to the fact that most of it is so predictable that you can see almost every twist and turn coming at least ten minutes before they happen…, I didn’t love it.
But I did like it. BREAKFAST WITH SCOT has it’s heart in the right place, the actors all give great performances, and as such, I can easily recommend it to you.
I can also easily recommedn the spectacular Disney movie ENCHANTED to you, especially since it was one of my favourite movies of 2007.
ENCHANTED is both a tribute to, and a parody of the classic Disney animated features as it makes numerous references to the studio’s past while blending live action, traditional animation and computer-generated images.
The plot focuses on the very positive and upbeat Giselle, a Disney “Princess” – not unlike Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel from The Little Mermaid or Belle from Beauty and the Beast – who is forced from her animated world into real-life New York City, as she waits for her Prince to come and rescue her.
The film stars Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey and Susan Sarandon, and since it is both a tribute to, and a parody of Disney’s well-known animated features, there are also a few musical numbers.
Simply put, ENCHANTED is infectious, and it is fun! Even if you don’t usually like Disney animated films, even if you don’t usually like musicals, even if you have no use for Dr. McDreamy from GREY’S ANATOMY…ENCHANTED is a great film that has something for everyone!!
It is fun for the whole family, and I loved it!!
Alright, after two films that I recommend, let me get to three I don’t, starting with the latest from Oscar winner Javier Bardem of NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.
Bardem stars in the first Hollywood filmed version of the beloved Spanish novel LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA.
And it is so bad that you should just skip it!!
Based on the beloved novel of the same name by Gabriel Garcia M·rquez, LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA tells the story of a love triangle that spans 50 years, from 1880 to 1930.
It is a great novel, but it is an awful movie!
Sure, it is lush and dramatic and exotic, but it is also very long, not engaging at all, and the film gives the female at it’s core no personality, so you will find it hard to believe that men are willing to wait five decades for her!
The movie version of LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA isn’t worth your time, so – as I said – I think that you should just skip it.
Yes, skip it…, AND the the TWO Keira Knightley costume dramas that are also new on DVD – ATONEMENT and SILK.
Now ATONEMENT does have some merit, but SILK, a film partially financed by Canadian dollars, is just awful as well.
SILK is based on the real life of a married silkworm smuggler in 19th century France.
While traveling to Japan for supplies he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron.
Keira Knightley – from the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN films – has a small role in this one as the smuggler’s wife.
While SILK does have an interesting premise, and some great locations and direction from Quebec director FranÁois Girard, it is slow, and the actor who play’s the smuggler – Michael Pitt – is horribly mis-cast.
SILK….not very smooth…skip it!!
As for Keira Knightley’s other costume drama that is new on DVD, well, as I mentioned, ATONEMENT does have some merit, but this beautiful looking, well-acted film offers nothing new to the viewer, and it would have worked better as a linear story, instead of having a timeline that isn’t constant.
Yes, the fact that we do get to see what happens from a coupls of different angles does work at times, but for the most part ATONEMENT isn’t very good either.
ATONEMENT is based on the novel by English writer Ian McEwan.
A 13-year-old fledgling writer changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister’s Keira Knightley lover James McAvoy of a crime he did not commit.
Keira Knightley is the sister and James McAvoy from THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND is the lover.
ATONEMENT was nominated for seven Academy Awards this year, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress.
It won the Oscar for Best Original Score and if you are a huge fan of sweeping epics…or films that aspire to be…maybe you will enjoy this film more than I did.
And if you are a fan of television shows that are poorly cast, feature useless secondary characters, and just don’t work at all, maybe you will enjoy the series reboot of BIONIC WOMAN.
Or, if you are a HUGE fan of the original seventies series about Jamie Sommers, maybe the 8 episodes will satisfy your curiosity factor…but other wise…they can rebuild the series, they have the technology…but they can’t make it good!
This made-in-Vancouver show had so much promise, but it fizzled out very quickly. It has now been cancelled, and it is best forgotten.
The main reason that the new BIONIC WOMAN series had so much early promise is the fact that it was being redone by the same people who remade another seventies television series, and did a spectacular job on that one.
That one, was BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA!
Also shot in Vancouver, the new BATTLESTAR GALACTICA series is a drama about the fight to save humanity, that just happens to take place in science-fiction setting.
This is one of the best shows that is currently on television, science fiction, or otherwise, and the superb SEASON THREE has come out in a great 6 disc box set!
SEASON THREE of the great BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA, the best-forgotten remake of BIONIC WOMAN – THE COMPLETE SERIES, the failed Keira Knightley costume drama SILK, the OScar nominated film with some merit ATONEMENT, the awful LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA and the Canadian Hockey film-with-a-twist BREAKFAST WITH SCOT are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
LA FLORIDA is about a Quebec family who buys a motel in south Florida.
ALMOST HEAVEN is a romantic comedy set around a fishing show that is made for Canadian television.
THE MIST brings Stephen King’s horror novella to life.
OPERATION: FILMMAKER is a documentary about an Iraqui filmmaker who was given the opportunity of a lifetime.
And THE TOMORROW SHOW WITH TOM SNYDER – JOHN, PAUL, TOM & RINGO features the late-great television host’s interviews with three of the fab four.
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 – March 15th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a small Canadian “comedy”, 2007’s Oscar winning best picture, and DanÖin real life.
Well, even though I was away last week, I only have five releases to talk about this week, beginning with our Hot Potato…the made-in-Vancouver-starring-half-the-cast-of-CORNER GAS-film LOVE AND OTHER DILEMMAS.
LOVE AND OTHER DILEMMAS stars Gabrielle Miller, Lacey from CORNER GAS as a woman who insists her wedding day will be perfect, even though she’s eight-months pregnant, been robbed, kidnapped and thinks her fiancÈ Henry is dead.
Now, if this was a big Hollywood film, with say Jennifer Anniston or Katherine Heigl as the bride and George Clooney or Patrick Demspsey as the kidnapper, I would tell you that it was the sort of film you have seen a million times, made a million times better, and that it was a complete waste of your time!
But…for some reason…because it is a small Canadian film, that features Lacey, Hank and Emma from CORNER GAS…I sort of enjoyed it.
Yes, LOVE AND OTHER DILEMMAS is utterly predictable and not really all that funny for a comedy…but something about it made me not hate it.
I guess you could call this one a good rental.
I also didn’t hate AUGUST RUSH…and I really, really thought I would!
The trailers for this film made it look awful…but somehow, somehow I didn’t hate it.
In fact…I liked it!!
Yes, I liked AUGUST RUSH!
AUGUST RUSH is about a young orphaned boy who is searching the streets of New York for his parents.
He is also a musical prodigy, the result of a chance meeting and night of passion between a guitarist and a cellist.
The main reason the trailers for this film made it look bad was due to Robin Williams presense in them.
In the trailer, and the film itself, he is a mysterious stranger who gives the boy his name.
This looked to be another one of those roles where Williams was just yelling the whole time…but luckily he isn’t in the film that much, and his presence never actually hurts it.
As I said, I didn’t expect to like AUGUST RUSH…but I did. Yes it is predictible melodrama, and the music that is supposed to be some of the best ever written really isn’t anything special…but the film…somehow…is.
I don’t expect it to become your favourite film of all time…but it is worthy of your time.
At last Month’s Academy Awards AUGUST RUSH was nominated in the Best Song Category.
The Coen Brothers’ NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was the winner of several of those Awards, including Best Director AND Best Picture.
From Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing and Barton Fink through The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?, I am a huge fan of Joel and Ethan Coen’s work, and like many film lovers, I think NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN is a masterpiece of filmmaking.
And as you heard on this show, the fact that it won Best Picture, and they Best Director, came as no surprise to me…but what might come as a surprise to you is the violence in this film.
In fact, violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon some dead bodies, a stash of heroin and more than $2 million in cash.
So if you don’t care for violence…stay away from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.
But if it doesn’t bother you…this is a film you must see! The acting from Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Oscar winner Javier Bardem is tremendous, the writing is superb, the filmmaking unmatched, and…I will stop there as I made my point…I loved this film!
Yes, I highly recommend NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.
Two other films to quicky tell you about this week, starting with a film that I really like…and not just because of the title.
Steve Carrell from television’s THE OFFICE stars as DAN IN REAL LIFE.
Carrell plays Dan Burns, a widowed father of three young girls who is a newspaper columnist living in New Jersey.
While spending the weekend at a family reunion, he happens to meets a woman named Marie at a bookstore. They have a chemistry that goes beyond a chance meeting.
But then Dan finds out that Marie is actually dating his brother, Mitch.
I thought I might like it, but I honestly didn’t expect to enjoy DAN IN REAL LIFE as much as I did. It is a small and fairly quiet film that is surprisingly entertaining.
What’s more, it is a mature film, for grown-ups. I really enjoyed DAN IN REAL LIFE, even regardless of the fact that I share the same name, and I highly recommend it to you.
I thought I would also be recommending this week’s final release…but while there is some great animation, and voice work in JUSTICE LEAGUE – THE NEW FRONTIER – an origin story of how Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Justice League first got together – the film itself is not that great.
If you are already a fan of Toronto comic book writer, artist, cartoonist and animator Darwyn Cooke, and you love his work in the Shuster Award-winning six-issue comic book limited series DC: The New Frontier, then you probably won’t find any value in this abridged version of his work.
If you have never heard of Darwyn Cooke, then maybe…maybe you will find some enjoyment in JUSTICE LEAGUE – THE NEW FRONTIER.
Personally, I was aware of the comics…but I have yet to read them, so the story here was fresh. It was the film itself that just didn’t work for me.
It isn’t awful…and I do have to admit that there is some pretty cool stuff here…but when they eventually get around to making a live action Justice League feature film…and they will…somedy….I hope it is better than this!
JUSTICE LEAGUE – THE NEW FRONTIER , the surprisingly effective films AUGUST RUSH and DAN IN REAL LIFE, the Academy Award winning Best Picture of 2007 – NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and the Canadian “comedy” LOVE AND OTHER DILEMMAS are all available now on DVD.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
I will tell you about the Canadian Hockey film-with-a-twist BREAKFAST WITH SCOT; the spectacular Disney movie ENCHANTED – which was one of my favourite movies of 2007; and Oscar winner Javier Bardem from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN stars in the first Hollywood filmed version of the beloved Spanish novel LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA.
Plus, there will be not one, but TWO Keira Knightley costume dramas – ATONEMENT and SILK – and two television series reboots: BIONIC WOMAN – THE COMPLETE SERIES and SEASON FOUR of BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in fourteen 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 – March 1st, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels some battles, a death AT a funeral, some animation and The Cid.
After a few very busy weeks, things have slowed down a bit, but I still have 6 releases to tell you about, beginning with this week’s Hot Potato…Season Three of the Canadian comedy faux-reality television series KENNY VS. SPENNY.
KENNY VS. SPENNY is a series that originally aired on CBC and in each episode the two best friends and roommates – Kenny and Spenny – face each in different competitions.
There are 13 episodes in SEASON THREE and some of the competitions are funny, others are interesting, and there are also several that are so childish or stupid that you will just want to ignore.
Plus, Kenny is a bully who wins almost all of the competitions, and at times you will actually wonder why Spenny puts up with the things he does, including the weekly humiliations as he loses.
But there is something about those shows that makes you keep watching, long after you want to, but…if you are like me…you will be constantly asking yourself “Why am I watching this?!?!”
But I couldn’t stop watching, and laughing, and I must admit, I was entertained!
Due to it’s language, anything goes attitude, and content, KENNY VS. SPENNY isn’t a show for everyone, but if you are looking for something uniquly stupid, immature, childish and addictively fun…, check out SEASON THREE and have some fun.
Or, if you prefer well written black comedies with a wry wit and a well placed sense of humour over gross out gags and immature friends, then you can skip Kenny and Spenny and check out DEATH AT A FUNERAL.
On the morning of their father’s funeral, the family and friends of the deceased each arrive with his or her own set of problems issues and anxieties.
Plus…they are at a funeral!
Then comes the real shocker: a mysterious guest who threatens to unveil an earth-shattering family secret.
Black comedy is defined at that where topics and events that are usually treated seriously – like death – are treated in a humorous or satirical manner and DEATH AT A FUNERAL is a prime example of that.
If you like classic British Farce, then this is a film for you.
I found it hilarious with one great moment following another.
DEATH AT A FUNERAL is a great film!!
Both DEATH AT A FUNERAL and KENNY VS. SPENNY feature people who get quite animated at times.
Our next three releases this week feature characters who are animated all the time.
Like The Smurfs!
Created on October 23rd, 1958, in Belgium The Smurfs are a group of small blue creatures who live in mushroom houses somewhere in the woods.
Their popularity as toys continues around the glode to this day, but it was the 1981 debut of their Saturday-morning cartoon that first made them famous in North America.
This two disc boxset THE SMURFS – SEASON ONE, VOLUME ONE includes the first 19 episodes from Season 1, along with The Smurfs Springtime Special and some other bonus features.
This show was fun then, and it is fun now!
If you loved The Smurfs when you are a kid…this is a perfect way to feel young again.
If you don’t like animated Smurfs, how about cartoon cats? Or dynamically drawn dogs?
Well then, I have good news! The Walt Disney classics THE ARISTOCATS and 101 DALMATIONS are now available in new Special Edition DVDs!
As a kid, I could never understand why the voice of Baloo the Bear from THE JUNGLE BOOK was coming out of Thomas O’Malley the Orange Cat in THE ARITOCATS, or how THE RESUCERS’ Miss Bianca was Duchess the white Cat…but as an adult, I now understand…and I have started to appreciate THE ARISTOCATS even more.
While not Disney’s best animated film of all time….the jazzy fun of THE ARISTOCATS is great for us kids…of all ages….and it has never looked or sounded better than it does in this new SPECIAL EDITION DVD.
The TWO DISC PLATINUM EDITION of 101 DALMATIONS allows that film to look and sound incredible as well!
In addition to the still superb 1961 film, this PLATINUM EDITION features a wide array of features, including Virtual Dalmatians, 101 Pop-Up Trivia Facts, The Making Of 101 Dalmatians, Deleted Songs originally written for the film, and much more!
Beware, it also features even more Cruella De Vil too!!
Finally this week is another classic…and unlike THE ARISTOCATS and 101 DALMATIONS, this one is making it’s debut on DVD.
This classic is the 1961 Charleton Heston/Sophia Loren film EL CID.
Heston plays The Cid, an 11th-century hero who drove the Moors from Spain.
While not as sweeping an epic as LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, EL CID does still have compelling and real characters, spectacular sets and costumes, sword fights and plenty of romance.
This is the type of film people are talking about when they say “They don’t make ’em like that anymore!”
The new Three-Disc Limited Collector’s Edition of EL CID looks fantastic, and it is NOW available on DVD along with the SPECIAL EDITION of THE ARISTOCATS, SEASON ONE, VOLUME ONE of the always fun SMURFS, the black comedy DEATH AT A FUNERAL and KENNY VS. SPENNY – SEASON THREE.
The 2 DISC PLATINUM EDITION of 101 DALMATIONS will be in stores on Tuesday.
Coming up in TWO WEEKS on the next Couch Potato Report
LOVE AND OTHER DILEMMAS is a Canadian comedy starring Gabrielle Miller, Lacey from CORNER GAS as a woman who insists her wedding day will be perfect, even though she’s eight-months pregnant, been robbed, kidnapped and thinks her fiancÈ Henry is dead.
I will also talk about the Academy Award winning Best Picture of 2007 NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN; Steve Carrel is DAN IN REAL LIFE; Robin Williams headlines AUGUST RUSH; and JUSTICE LEAGUE – THE NEW FRONTIER is a great new animated movie featuring Superman, Batman AND Wonder Woman. in an origin story of how the Justice League first got together.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in fourteen 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 – February 23rd, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels three high profile Oscar nominees, and four other films.
Yes, I have seven releases to tell you about on this very busy week, so let me get right to it, starting with this week’s HOT POTATO, the latest release from Canadian filmmaker Paul Haggis, the crime drama mystery thriller IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH.
In this film Tommy Lee Jones is a war veteran, searching for his son, a soldier who recently returned from Iraq but has mysteriously gone missing.
Charlize Theron plays a sympathetic police detective who helps him in the search.
For his work, Tommy Lee Jones was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Actor Category, and he deserves it as this is one of those roles where you can’t imagine anyone else playing it.
Inspired by actual events, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH is very slow and very dramatic, but it is also very effective.
If you enjoyed Paul Haggis’ writing on MILLION DOLLAR BABY, or his direction on CRASH…both films winner of the Best Picture Oscar…then I think you will find merit in this film as well.
Now, if you are a fan of THE GODFATHER and SCARFACE I think you will find more than merit in our next release this week – Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe star in AMERICAN GANGSTER…a film that is nominated twice for tomorrow night’s Academy Awards – in the Best Achievement in Art Direction and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role categories.
The legendary Ruby Dee will probably win the SupportinG Actress Oscar, but her role in this film is so small, that I am going to focus on Washington and Crowe instead.
Oscar winner Denzel portrays Frank Lucas, a real-life heroin kingpin from Harlem who smuggled heroin into the US on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War.
Oscar winner Crowe is Richie Roberts, a detective attempting to bring down Lucas’ drug empire.
The DVD for AMERICAN GANGSTER features the original theatrical version of the film, and an unrated extended version of it that runs almost three hours.
Both versions are exceptionally well written, acted and directed, and while I did like the film a lot, due to the fact that there are too many extra characters and side stories in it that take away from Washington and Crowe’s time on screen, AMERICAN GANGSTER falls more than a bit short of being the best mobster or crime film I have ever seen.
Still, it is very good…and very worthy of your time.
MICHAEL CLAYTON is also a film worthy of your time.
It is also very worthy of it’s Seven Academy Award Nominations, including: Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress: Tilda Swinton, Best Supporting Actor: Tom Wilkinson, and Best Actor: George Clooney.
Clooney plays an attorney and former gambling addict employed by a prestigious law firm in New York City as a “fixer”, someone who rectifies difficult situations, often through unconventional or expedient methods.
This film shows us how Clayton tries to deal with a colleague’s apparent mental breakdown and the corruption that exists with a major client of his law firm.
MICHAEL CLAYTON is an exceptional Oscar film, and a tremendous movie. In a year where there weren’t films like NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD and JUNO, it would actually have a shot at winning Best Picture.
This year, it might not win an Oscar…but if you are looking for a great crime thriller to watch, you will be the winner if you pick up this DVD.
So pick it up…and don’t worry…you won’t have to stand up in front of millions of people and say thank you.
Up next this week are four more films…films that aren’t all bad, but they won’t appeal to everyone, so I am just going to make sure you know that they are out there, in case they might appeal to you.
Up first is KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON.
Kurt Cobain was the lead singer of the band Nirvana and considered by many to be the musical voice of his generation after the release of his band’s album NEVERMIND in 1991.
He committed suicide in April of 1994.
ABOUT A SON is a documentary about Cobain that debuted at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.
It features insightful audio of interviews between Cobain and journalist Michael Azerrad done for the book Come As You Are: The Story of Nirvana.
Those interviews are seen over footage of the actual locations in Seattle and Washington state that Cobain is talking about, and we never see him.
Now, I remain a huge fan of Kurt Cobain, his music, words, and his band, so for me the fact that we don’t see Cobain, or hear his music, allowed ABOUT A SON to avoid being eerie.
Instead, it is an insightful look into a man who I, and many of my generation, wish was still around…communicating with us using new words and not just through ones that were recorded over 17 years ago.
All fans of the man must see KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON…but only fans of Reese Witherspoon, Jake Gyllenhall, Meryl Streep or Peter Saarsgaard should see RENDITION.
There has been a lot of talk over the past year about the fact that moviegoers are rejection films featuring stories about the war due to the fact that we see it on TV every night.
I say that is simply not true…people are avoiding these films because most of them just aren’t very good…and RENDITION is a prime example!!
RENDITION is a very bad movie about a suspected terrorist who is taken away by the authorities.
His pregnant wife then travels to Washington to try and learn the reason for his disappearance.
And there are also several secondary and tertiary stories, but none of them are very engaging.
RENDITION wants to be a dramatic film with a powerful emotional core…but it just isn’t.
Skip it, ignore it, do not waste your time on it!!
That also needs to be said for Ang Lee’s latest LUST, CAUTION.
Now, I am a huge fan of Ang Lee’s films…from THE WEDDING BANQUET and EAT DRINK MAN WOMAN to SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, THE ICE STORM, CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON and BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN…Lee is a filmmaker who always provides us with something new and engaging to watch.
Well, usually he always does….I admit that LUST, CAUTION help my interest for over two-and-a-half hours due to the fact that I am an Ang Lee fan…but what a boring movie!!
LUST, CAUTION is set in 1942 in the city Shanghai, which is under Japanese occupation.
A group of young, patriotic Chinese students are plotting to kill a member of the Japanese government using a young woman as a lure.
Unfortunately, even though it is a beautiful film, LUST CAUTION is ultimately just too long and too slow to be worthy of your time.
Yes, as an Ang Lee fan, I am glad I saw it….but I wouldn’t recommend it, even to other fans of Ang Lee!!
However, I will recommend the Canadian film SURVIVING MY MOTHER, to both fans of the actress Caroline Dhavernas, and to those who don’t even know who she is.
If you don’t, she is the actress who starred in the short lived, but much loved, series WONDERFALLS.
SURVIVING MY MOTHER is about a woman who is taking care of her dying mother.
While on her death bed she tells her daughter how much she regrets the fact that they weren’t closer.
Subsequently, the woman decides to pursue a closer relationship with her own daughter.
Caroline Dhavernas is the youngest daughter, a woman who has secrets of her own.
Even though it did receive a Genie nomination, SURVIVING MY MOTHER is one of those small Canadian films that you would probably never hear about, unless someone told you about it.
Well, please allow me to be that someone!
SURVIVING MY MOTHER isn’t a spectacular film, but it is a unique and interesting film that has some great scenes and actors.
I really enjoyed it, and if you see it on the shelf as you are looking for something to rent…give it a chance!
The quirky and interesting Canadian film SURVIVING MY MOTHER, the very boring LUST, CAUTION and RENDITION, the insightful documentary KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON, and the entertaining MICHAEL CLAYTON, AMERICAN GANGSTER and IN THE VALLEY OF ELLAH are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
KENNY VS. SPENNY – SEASON THREE allows the guys to battle each other once again.
THE ARISTOCATS – SPECIAL EDITION and 101 DALMATIONS – 2 DISC PLATINUM EDITION and the three DVD SPECIAL EDITION Box Set for EL CID allow us to see these classic films restored and look great!
And then there is the hilarious comedy DEATH AT A FUNERAL and SEASON ONE of the unforgettable cartoon series THE SMURFS
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 – February 16th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a one-of-a-kind documentary about the men who have walked on the moon and five other films.
I have six releases to tell you about on this very busy week, so let me get right to it, starting with this week’s HOT POTATO, the spectacular documentary IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON.
This hour and forty minute film features interviews with all of the surviving astronauts who went to the moon – with the exception of the reclusive Neil Armstrong – and lets them tell their story in their own words.
In addition to the interviews with the astronauts, IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON also includes footage that we have seen dozens of times over the years, and some NASA films and materials that had not even been opened in over 30 years.
Including a different look at Armstrong’s descent down the ladder that lead to this unforgettable moment.
In what I think was a wise choice, the former astronauts have the only speaking roles in the film, although occasional supplementary information is presented on screen with text.
There is also some archival television footage and news reports, and it all adds up to a superb film!!
Although it – SOMEHOW – did not get an Academy Award nomination as Best Documentary feature IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON is by far the best film form the genre that I saw last year.
It is a tremendous film!!
No, IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON did not get an Oscar Nomination, but Ben Affleck’s directorial debut did. Amy Ryan is nominated in the Best Supporting Actress category for her work as a mother whose four-year-old daughter Amanda gets abducted in the crime drama GONE BABY GONE.
Set in Boston, Ben’s brother Casey Affleck stars along with Michelle Monaghan from MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III as two private investigators hunting for the missing girl.
Along the way, they work alongside a police detective – played by the brilliant Ed Harris – and butt heads with a police captain, who is brought to life by Mr. Morgan Freeman.
GONE BABY GONE is full of tension and it is very dramatic. It is the kind of film where you never quite know what will happen next.
Unfortunately it doesn’t finish as strong as it starts, but it is still a film that is worthy of your time…if the subject matter doesn’t bother you.
Up next is BECOMING JANE, a film inspired by the early life of author Jane Austen – who is portrayed by the very beautiful and talented Anne Hathaway from THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA.
In this film, the character of Jane Austen wishes to be a writer – much to the dismay of her parents – and she also wants to be in love with her future husband, not just marry for money and because society demands it.
Eventually she meets a man and falls in love…but if they get married, they will lose their standing in society and be penniless…ah, the heartbreak of love!
BECOMING JANE is NOT a biography…it is simply BASED ON some facts about Austen’s life, and as such it plays like a watered down version of a Jane Austen story…specifically PRIDE & PREDJUDICE.
But, even though it is not historically accurate, and even though we have seen this story on film many times before…I still liked BECOMING JANE.
I am not sure of that is solely due to my admiration for Anne Hathaway or not, but I did like it.
No, BECOMING JANE does not re-invent the wheel…but sometimes you don’t have to be unique to be good.
And sometimes, unique just isn’t really all that good…which is certainly the case with the film MARTIAN CHILD.
John Cusack toplines MARTIAN CHILD and he used to be a reliable actor who only made quality films.
Films like SAY ANYTHING, SERENDIPITY, HIGH FIDELITY, GROSS POINT BLANK, and many others.
With MARTIAN CHILD he seems to have lost his way, playing a widower who decides to adopt a child.
A child who thinks he is from Mars.
MARTIAN CHILD is an awful film that is utterly predictable an dfeatures a child actor who brings nothing to the film. He isn’t cute, he isn’t a good actor…this kid doesn’t even have a good speaking voice.
MARTAIN CHILD is a waste of time and you should just skip it! Forget that John Cusack has made some classic films, and that you could once trust his choices.
Forget that and just keep walking down the video aisle to the “N” section, where you will find the film NO RESERVATIONS, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhardt.
Zeta-Jones is a chef at a New York restaurant who is spectacular at her job, but her life is a mess.
When her sister dies in an accident, her life gets even further complicated as she becomes the guardian of her niece, played by Abigail Breslin from LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE.
Then, a love interest gets added to the mix as hunky sous-chef Aaron Eckhart starts working at the restaurant….and as you would expect, the two adults don’t get along… at first.
NO RESERVATIONS is neither good, nor bad. It is quite an innocuous little film that I didn’t mind. Admittedly, I thought it would be better…but ultimately I was satisfied with what it put on my plate.
I will also admit that I thought our final release this week would also be better…but as much as it did make me think, the people in debt documentary MAXED OUT just isn’t anything special.
YES, MAXED OUT will make you think about how much money you owe on your own credit cards…but it won’t make you tell anyone that they “…must see this film!”
MAXED OUT chronicles abusive practices in the credit card industry and features interviews with creditors, debtors, academics, and others to illustrate its story.
The real life people who have found themselves in debt tell some heartbreaking stories, and there are some great archival film footage, but not one of the “experts” they interview offer any truly unique insights…and they don’t really tell us anything we don’t already know.
Yes, banks give almost anyone a credit card, even university students who have no income.
We also know that banks and lending agencies make their millions each year off of the interest we pay…we know that.
BUT I will say this…after seeing MAXED OUT, I personally started looking into ways that I could lower my own personal debt and interest rates. So, if you are starting to worry about how much interest you are paying each month…maybe it will inspire you as well.
MAXED OUT isn’t spectacular, but it is engaging…and if it helps you refinance your debts and lower your interest rates from 21% to 8% as it did with me…now how many films can boast that?!?
The people in debt documentary MAXED OUT, the innocuous romance NO RESERVATIONS, John Cusack’s awful MARTIAN CHILD, GONE BABY GONE, featuring Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Amy Ryan, and the spectacular documentary about the men who stood IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
If you thought this week was busy, wait until next week when I will have seven new releases, including the Academy Award nominated films IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, AMERICAN GANGSTER and MICHAEL CLAYTON.
Plus, I will recommend a small Canadian film called SURVIVING MY MOTHER
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 – February 10th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels some slings and arrows, throws some slings and arrows, and there is no end in sight.
Our Hot Potato this week is the 7-disc DVD Box Set for the show that won the Gemini Award as Best Dramatic Series at the 2007 Gemini Awards held last October in Regina.
SLINGS & ARROWS is set at the fictional New Burbage Festival, a troubled Shakespearean festival similar to the real-world Stratford Festival. The program stars Paul Gross from DUE SOUTH, Kids In The Hall member Marck McKinney, Rachel McAdams from THE NOTEBOOK, TWITCH CITY’s Don McKellar, 2008 Academy Award nominee Sarah Polley and Canadian Theatre Legend William Hutt.
SLINGS & ARROWS does focus on Shakespeare, and at times it is very dramatic, but it isn’t all highbrow and overly literary, it is often very, very funny.
Three seasons of six episodes each were filmed in total and each season was devoted to a different Shakespearean tragedy – Hamlet in the first, Macbeth in the second and King Lear in the third.
Each and every episode of SLINGS & ARROWS is equally represented with two DVDs in this new box set, and there is a bonus disc of extras as well, but the seasons are far from equal on the screen.
SEASON ONE of the show is by far the series’ best…I loved SEASON ONE.
SEASON TWO is a bit less entertaining as their are too many characters and storylines and that hurts the show immensely, but by the end of SEASON THREE the show is back on track, and the series finale is exceptionally well acted and written.
Out of all the shows nominated as Best Dramatic Series at the Regina Geminis, SLINGS & ARROWS was a worthy victor.
And now that the series has finished, and gone into that long goodnight, you can always have this DVD set in case you decide to go once more unto the breach, dear friends.
Up next this week are three major film releases from the past year, and all of them have moments of brilliance…but ultimately none of them are worthy of your time.
And I’ll start with Jodie Foster’s latest THE BRAVE ONE….and it actually pains me to tell you that a Jodie Foster film isn’t worthy of your time, as I love Jodie! I have been a fan of hers for over 30 years, but THE BRAVE ONE just isn’t very good…yes, JODIE is good, as always, but the film turns into just another revenge thriller.
Jodie plays a radio host who loses her fiance during an attack in New York’s Central Park.
Unhappy with the police response to her tragedy, she takes matters into her own hands…repeatedly.
I mentioned that these three films all have moments of brilliance…well, in THE BRAVE ONE that moment comes from a scene between Jodie and Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard set in a diner. The acting here is spectacular!
THE BRAVE ONE is not a total waste of time, as any film with Jodie Foster in it will always be worth your time…says a big fan of hers…but with the exception of that one scene in a diner, you have seen all of this before.
Sadly, we have also seen all of the contents of THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD before, and that is too bad because I had high hopes for this western that was filmed right here in Western Canada – in Alberta and Manitoba.
Casey Affleck received a well-deserved Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his work is this picture as Robert Ford, a ninteen year old who has idolized Jesse James since childhood.
Ford tries hard to join the reforming gang of the world renowned outlaw, but over time he starts to be resentful of him.
Brad Pitt stars as Jesse James, and although he didn’t get an OScar nod, he is very good in the film as well.
Plus, the scenery looks great…but at two-and-a-half hours the film is way too long, and since the film is called THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD you know what is going to happen, so get me there already!!
I wanted to see this film, and I am glad I did, but I will never sit through it again. If you also have been waiting for this one to come out, I suspect you will feel the same way I do.
No, THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD is nothing special…and neither is ELIZABETH – THE GOLDEN AGE starring Cate Blanchett.
With her Academy Award nomination as Best Actress in ELIZABETH – THE GOLDEN AGE Cate Blanchett is the first woman to be nominated for an Oscar twice for playing the same role in two separate films.
She was also nominated for Best Actress for ELIZABETH in 1998, and while she did deserve those nominations both times, this second time to the well comes up dry.
There is some silver, but there isn’t very much gold in THE GOLDEN AGE, my friend.
This time around we get a look at the relationship between Elizabeth and the adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh. Clive Owen from INSIDE MAN and KING ARTHUR does a great job as Raleigh, and he is matches Blanchett’s brilliant performance step for step.
Plus, the sets are very opulent and lush, there are great special effects, and in addition to Blanchett and Owen, the rest o fthe cast is great too.
But the script lets all of that down and ELIZABETH – THE GOLDEN AGE just doesn’t work. I wasn’t bored when I watched it, but I almost was.
What saved it for me was Cate Blanchett. She won’t win another Oscar for her work here…but she completely deserved the nomination.
Finally this week is another Academy Award nominee, this one in the Best Documentary Feature category, this is a film called NO END IN SIGHT.
NO END IN SIGHT focuses on alleged serious mistakes made by the Bush administration in the two-to-three-month period following the invasion of Iraq in March of 2003.
The film portrays these errors as the cause of ensuing problems in Iraq, such as the rise of the insurgency, a lack of security and basic utilities for many Iraqis, sectarian violence and, at one point, the risk of complete civil war.
NO END IN SIGHT doesn’t feature any new information, facts or figures, but it is the first time that I have seen it all collected and shown together in one film.
That makes it informative, but it just isn’t a compelling movie in any way.
So, if you are like me, and you have seen a dozen documentaries on Iraq over the past year, then this will probably come across as just another one.
That is how I saw it…but I am glad I saw it…there might be NO END IN SIGHT, but we can hope…can’t we?
The Oscar nominated documentary NO END IN SIGHT, the not as good as the first film ELIZABETH – THE GOLDEN AGE, the I-wish-they-were-a-better-movies THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD starring Brad Pitt and Jodie Foster’s THE BRAVE ONE, and the Shakespearean based Canadian television series SLINGS & ARROWS are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
I have six releases to tell you about, starting with the spectacular documentary IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON that features interviews with all of the surviving astronauts who went to the moon – with the exception of the reclusive Neil Armstrong – and lets them tell their story in their own, awe-inspiring words.
Also next week are GONE BABY GONE, featuring Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Amy Ryan; BECOMING JANE, starring the lovely and talented Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen; the romance drama NO RESERVATIONS; John Cusack toplines MARTIAN CHILD; and the sixth and final film next week is the people in debt documentary MAXED OUT.
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 – February 2nd, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a pair of Canadian made films, a pair of TV shows on DVD and The King Of Kong.
This week, the Hot Potato, the main release I would like you to know about is a a film that received 12 Genie Award nomination last Monday, including one for the Best Canadian Motion Picture of 2007 Award.
That film is a dramatic adaptation of retired general RomÈo Dallaire’s experiences in Rwanda, and like the book it is based on, the film is called SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL.
By now I am sure you are aware of who RomÈo Dallaire is, and I am just as sure that you know of his fateful months as Force Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda, during which he witnessed the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
So this morning, I will focus on the film that was made of Dallaire book, a film that stars the great Roy Dupuis as RomÈo Dallaire.
The story of Dallaire’s time in Rwanda is so compelling, tragic, and ultimately hard-to-fathom, that seeing it dramatised in a film is a bit unusual…and because it is a film, and not a documentary, when some of the atrocities are taking place, they didn’t actually seem real to me.
I don’t know if that is because I am so familiar with this story, and what took place in Rwanda, that in a movie I was more distanced from them that I would be in a documentary, but I was well aware at all times that I was watching a movie.
Was this really how it happened, I kept wondering…or was this scene or that scene done just for dramatic affect?
Yes, I was skeptical about the film version of SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL…until I listened to Romeo Dallaire’s commentary on the DVD, and heard him comment on it’s realism.
For me, a film should stand on it’s own, and not need a commentary to save it…so ultimately, while Roy Dupuis does just as spectacular job playing Dallaire as he did portraying Maurice Richard in THE ROCKET a few years ago, and he might just win the Genie Award as Best Actor, just as he did portraying Maurice Richard.
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL is not a bad film, it is exceptionally well made and acted, and deserves all of it’s Genie Award nominations, and if you are not aware of who RomÈo Dallaire is, and don’t know about the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, then you should definately see it.
But you should also see the documentary SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL: THE JOURNEY OF ROMEO DALLAIRE, and read the book “Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda”, because not once during either of those will you question if what you are being exposed to really happened.
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL is a Canadian film that was released last year.
THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ is a Canadian film that came out in 1974.
THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ is a comedy-drama film based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Mordecai Richler, and the DIRECTOR’S CUT is now available, a version that is 15 minutes longer than any other previous DVD release.
Duddy Kravitz is a confident kid from Montreal who is determined to “make it”, no matter what it takes. Lie, cheat, steal…whatever it takes.
So he plans and schemes and dreams and he finally finds what he thinks is his meal ticket: a lakeshore property in the Laurentian mountains.
However, he never seems to realize what he is sacrificing, and by the time he does, it may be too late.
THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ has been designated and preserved as a “masterwork” by the Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada, a charitable non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the preservation of Canada’s audio-visual heritage, and if you have never seen this film on video, in it’s previous incarnation on DVD, or late at night on CBC television, then I think you shoudl check out this new DIRECTOR’S CUT DVD.
Sadly, there are absolutely no Special Features….not one…but it is still a great Canadian picture.
PLUS, it stars a young Richard Dreyfus who made the small Canadian film THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ in 1974, in between two Hollywood films, themselves reveared as classics, AMERICAN GRAFFITI and JAWS.
Up next is a 2-disc TV on DVD set that might help you, if you are still missing your favourite American Television shows due to the ongoing Hollywood writer’s strike, now in it’s 12th week.
This set is for THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON of Larry David’s classic show CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM.
After he finished working as the executive producer and main writer on SEINFELD, a show he co-created, Larry David debuted a new show, one about a man named Larry David, who is a semi-retired multi-millionaire living in the world after he worked on SEINFELD.
Now, the character of George Costanza in SEINFELD was based on Larry David, and if you have ever wanted to see a show that was just about GEORGE then this is it.
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM is pure George Costanza.
It is also a show that doesn’t use scripts, instead the cast get detailed scene outlines and then they improvise their dialogue.
Dialogue that is usually very, very funny. While admittedly not for everyone, if you need some TV comedy these days, then CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM is a show for you.
Finally this week is another one of my favourite films of 2007, a documentary called A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS – THE KING OF KONG, a film about the world’s two best arcade players – of Donkey Kong!
Even if you have never played a video game, either at home or in an arcade, and think that a film about two people who do play them wouldn’t interest you at all…I advise you to think again.
THE KING OF KONG is incredibly fascinating as it follows Steve Wiebe as he tries to take the world’s high score for Donkey Kong away from reigning champion Billy Mitchell.
Steve Wiebe is our hero, reigning champion Billy Mitchell is the villain, and he is pure evil. If someone created him in a screenplay, you would not beleive this was a real person, but he is real, and he does not like to come in second.
THE KING OF KONG is entertaining, it is funny, and it provides a great insight into the world of people who love videos games, maybe a little bit too much.
DONKEY KONG remains my favourite arcade video game of all time, but the entertaining THE KING OF KONG is a movie that can easily stand on it’s own,…just like the DONKEY KONG JR. arcade game.
A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS – THE KING OF KONG, THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON ofthe superb CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, and the Canadian made films THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ and SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL, based on the memoirs of Romeo Dallaire’s time in Rwanda, are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
Paul Gross stars in SLINGS & ARROWS a Canadian TV series that takes place at a troubled Shakespearean festival. It won the Best Dramatic Series Gemini Award last year.
Previous Oscar winner Jodie Foster stars in THE BRAVE ONE, and with the Oscars taking place in three weeks, I will tell you about three of this year’s nominated films: THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD – which was made right here in Western-Canada; ELIZABETH – THE GOLDEN AGE starring Cate Blanchett and the documentary NO END IN SIGHT, which features a comprehensive look at the the Iraq war and the United States occupation of the country.
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 – January 26th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels three TV shows on DVD and two very entertaining movies.
Even though Canadian television networks continue to produce shows, including CBC, who have given us some great new programs, including two new shows I really like – SOPHIE and JPOD – when people speak of television these days, they are usually referencing the 11-week-old strike by screenwriters against the major studios.
So, if you are missing your regular nightly or weekly television fix due to the strike, I have three TV shows that are now on DVD that I think you should use to entertain you.
And I’ll start with this week’s Hot Potato, SEASON TWO of the based in Vancouver series ROBSON ARMS
ROBSON ARMS is a Canadian anthology television series that takes place in and around the Robson Arms apartment building in Vancouver and each episode of the show focuses on a different tenant of the building, although we also see the other people who live in the building in the halls, or in the store that is located in the lobby.
The show also has lots of Canadian music and references and it features a large ensemble cast of well known Canadian actors that rotates from week to week as well, but when SEASON ONE was released on DVD last May, I didn’t recommend it, in fact, I said:
“Unfortunately, while ROBSON ARMS is engaging at times, most of the episodes just aren’t that interesting, in fact…some of the characters are exceptionally unlikeable, and…in the end, I just didn’t find the show really isn’t all that entertaining.”
Happily, they got rid of most of the unlikeable characters, and added a few people you could actually care about, and while I didn’t completely love SEASON TWO of the show, I really did enjoy watching it, and catching up with the folks who live in the building.
I especially enjoyed the scenes with Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen who joins the ensemple for a couple of episodes.
SEASON TWO of ROBSON ARMS is not going to make you forget the shows you love that you aren’t getting to see right now, but it might just entertain you enough during the void that you don’t have to start reading books, or anything like that.
Another show that is now out on DVD that will definately entertain you – both now, and when the writers end their strike – is the CBC co-production TORCHWOOD – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON about a covert agency called the Torchwood Institute which investigates extraterrestrial incidents.
TORCHWOOD is a great BBC Science Fiction Series from the makers of DOCTOR WHO, also a CBC co-production, and it features great writing and a great cast, lead by John Barrowman as the always engaging Captain Jack Harkness…a man who can not die.
Some have referred to TORCHWOOD as a grown-up DOCTOR WHO, others have called it a British X-FILES, and as much as I enjoy the show, and I do truly enjoy this show, I don’t subscribe to either of those descriptions as TORCHWOOD just isn’t as consistantly good as DOCTOR WHO or THE X-FILES.
There are too many extra plot points full of character development for Captain Jack’s supporting players, and none of them are as interesting as the Captain, so when the show isn’t about him, or the interesting aliens and villains the team meets each week, it tends to drag and thus, get a bit boring.
However, I am pleased to report that those boring scenes don’t usually go on for very long, and then the show returns to it’s engaging storylines and fast pace.
Now, you don’t have to know that TORCHWOOD is an anagram of DOCTOR WHO to enjoy this show…but I think it helps.
However, if you enjoy science fiction shows, then I think you will enjoy TORCHWOOD.
So there are two mostly positive reviews this week, and get ready for a third, as I also high recommend our next release.
Yes, it is the 11-DVD Box Set WONDER WOMAN – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION, featuring every episode from the television show’s three year run.
Yes, if you need something to entertain you over the next few months, until summer arrives and we can go outside again, why not jump back to the 1970’s television series based on the classic comic book, and starring the still gorgeous to this day – Lynda Carter – who is featured in some retrospective looks back and commentaries in this box set.
And yes, she does discuss the unforgettable Wonder Woman costume.
🙂
No, WONDER WOMAN – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION isn’t television’s finest hour, but the show remains fun to this day, and it always has a postive attitude.
And did I mention the beautiful Lynda Carter?…I did…okay…just checking.
From the enjoyable cheese that is WONDER WOMAN, our next release is a little more serious fare, and THE HUNTING PARTY is also one of the most surprisingly entertaining films of last year.
THE HUNTING PARTY is the latest film from Richard Shepard, the writer and director who gave us the great film THE MATADOR in 2005.
This picture features Richard Gere as a discraced television reporter who goes on a quest with a young journalist and a cameraman to find “The Fox”, the number one war criminal from the Bosnian conflict.
The trio find themselves in serious jeopardy when they are mistaken as a CIA hit squad and their target decides to come after them.
THE HUNTING PARTY is based on an article that originally appeared in Esquire magazine, and I really enjoyed it. For me, the film had just enough fact and fiction to entertain me, and to make me think.
If you like to see mature people in mature films, then do not miss THE HUNTING PARTY.
As I said, it is one of the most surprisingly entertaining films of last year.
Finally this week is 3:10 TO YUMA, a very interesting remake of the 1957 western classic starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.
In this version Bale from BATMAN BEGINS plays a small-time rancher who is desperate for money after the bank threatens to foreclose.
So he agrees to help deliver a captured outlaw – played by Oscar winner Russell Crowe – across the plains and to the train station so Crowe can take that 3:10 train to Yuma and be tried in a court of law for his crimes.
While 3:10 TO YUMA is a tried an dtrue western, the story element that really connected with me is the battle of wills that ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.
3:10 TO YUMA is not an exceptional film, and it doesn’t exactly reinvent the Western genre, but it is still very, very good, and if you would like to see it for yourself, it is available now on DVD, along side THE HUNTING PARTY, WONDER WOMAN – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION, TORCHWOOD – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON, and SEASON TWO of the television series ROBSON ARMS.
Oh, and don’t miss Season Two of Torchwood, coming soon to CBC Television!!
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
SHAKE HANDS WITH THE DEVIL is the Canadian feature film adapted from RomÈo Dallaire’s autobiographical book “Shake Hands With the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda” starring Roy Dupuis as RomÈo Dallaire.
THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ is a 1974 Canadian comedy-drama film based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Mordecai Richler, and it is now available in a new Director’s Cut.
And if after this week’s recommendations, you still don’t have enough to get you through the ongoing writer’s strike, I will also tell you about THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON of Larry David’s classic show CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM, and VOLUME FIVE of the BBC Series MI:5.
And then there is A FISTFUL OF QUARTERS – THE KING OF KONG, a great documentary about the world’s two best players – of Donkey Kong!
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 – January 12th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels Henry the VIII, eagles and sharks, the Cosbys, and a film about a man who lied about sailing around the world.
Henry VIII was King of England and Ireland, from April 21, 1509 until his death in 1547.
Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII, and the younger Henry is the main subject of this week’s HOT POTATO, the 4-DVD Box Set for the television series THE TUDORS.
THE TUDORS – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON is an Emmy Award-nominated CBC television series that is based upon the early reign and marriages of King Henry VIII.
Based upon…this is not a documentary series, it is a series meant to entertain.
And it does entertain.
The series has a good cast, an interesting script, incredible costumes,…and sword fighting!
If you are a historian, or study the British Monarchy as a hobby, this probably isn’t the series for you, as some of the facts that are given are quite inaccurate – for instance King Henry VIII had two sisters, Mary and Margaret, THE TUDORS only gives him Margaret…and that is just one example, but there are many more.
However, if you are just looking for a 10 part series that is full of attractive actors and seasoned professionals to entertain you, something that isn’t just a stuffy retelling of history, then this is the show for you.
I didn’t love the THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON of THE TUDORS, but I was entertained by it…and I am looking forward to the SECOND SEASON.
I am also looking forward to SEASON TWO of the hilarious television show FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS, about a musical duo from New Zealand living and trying to succeed in New York starring Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement!
That show’s second series is expected later this year.
For fans of the show in the meantime, there is EAGLE VS. SHARK is a quirky little film from New Zealand, starring Jemaine as a man on a mission.
Okay, to be clear, EAGLE VS. SHARK is not an action film, or a full-blown tale of revenge. It is a love story between two socially awkward misfits.
No, EAGLE VS. SHARK isn’t a great film, but if you enjoy movies that are just a little bit different from what we usually see, then this is a great little romantic comedy for you!
I have seen it twice now, and each time I had fun, and laughed while I watched it.
Up next this week is DEEP WATER is a real life documentary about Donald Crowhurst, a man who lied about sailing around the world.
In 1968 the Sunday Times of London newspaper sponsored a race to see who could circle the globe, alone in a boat, without stopping.
Prizes were offered for the sailor who finished first and the one who finished fastest.
Nine sailors entered the race and DEEP WATER focuses on three of them, but primarily on an amateur sailor and eccentric inventor named Donald Crowhurst, a man who never should have entered the race.
It tells his story through photographs, archival film footage; news reels; audio tapes, 16mm film, ship logs, diaries and interviews with family members and friends.
Now I love the sea, and I enjoy any opportunity to watch films and documentaries about it, but DEEP WATER is one of the slowest films I have ever watched about a subject that I found to be so interesting, I mean, Crowhurst was wearing a tie and slacks as he set off on the race, that is hardly seafaring gear!
I wanted to know more about the man, the race he was in, and his fate, as I still find it all fascinating…but somehow the filmmakers didn’t effectively succeed in telling his story, and the result is a documentary that I am glad I saw, but had higher hopes for.
DEEP WATER is not a complete failure, but it isn’t a success either.
Finally this week, two DVD Box Sets that are a complete success!
VOLUME 5 AND 6 of THE COSBY SHOW!
SEASON FIVE is when Sondra had the twins, Denise was gone to Africa, and all eyes landed on Vanessa and Theo.
There were also some great special guests, like Sammy Davis, Jr.
In SEASON SIX of THE COSBY SHOW, future superstar-teen idol Raven Symone joined the cast, and after a few seasons away Lisa Bonet came back as a regular.
And of the many guest stars in this season, my two favourites were BB King and The Muppets!!
More than twenty-four years after they originally aired, SEASONS FIVE and SIX of THE COSBY SHOW are still entertaining, and funny, and still good for the whole family!!
In the year 2032, I wonder if anyone will say that about any of the shows that are on the air now?
I wonder.
VOLUME 5 AND 6 of THE COSBY SHOW, the not quite successful documentary DEEP WATER, the quirky New Zealand film EAGLE VS. SHARK and the entertaining, but not historically accurate THE TUDORS – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON are all available now on DVD.
Coming up in two weeks on the next Couch Potato Report
Regina born Leslie Nielsen joins the cast for SEASON TWO of the television series ROBSON ARMS; KENNY VS. SPENNY – SEASON THREE allows the guys to battle each other once again; THE HUNTING PARTY is one of the most surprisingly entertaining films of last year; 3:10 TO YUMA is an interesting remake of the western classic starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale; TORCHWOOD is a great British Science Fiction Series; and then there is WONDER WOMAN – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION, an 11-Disc Box Set featuring every episode from the television show’s three year run.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in fourteen 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!