Category: The Couch Potato Report

THE COUCH POTATO REPORT – January 5th, 2008
This week The Couch Potato Report peels Canada, a film made in Canada, the work of a master filmmaker, and Gilligan’s Island.
Well, here we are…only a few days into a whole new year.
Have you got all of your vacations for 2008 planned out yet?
If you haven’t, our Hot Potato this week is full of ideas, and it will take you from coast to coast to coast.
It is a DVD called O CANADA – A HISTORIC AND MAJESTIC 3-PART JOURNEY ACROSS CANADA.
Narrated by the great Peter Gzowski the first part of O CANADA is called POSTCARDS FROM CANADA and it will take you on a truly breathtaking, fact-filled trip through our home and native land.
Including some destinations both unfamiliar, and very familiar.
With stunning footage, and insightful commentary, this National Film Board Of Canada movie is full of travel ideas for those of us who live in Canada, and those who might be thinking about coming for a visit.
There is also a feature called A CANADIAN SCARPBOOK with more than a hundred photographs and another named ULTIMATE CITY ARIEL ADVENTURES that shows you Vancouver, Quebec City, Niagara Falls, Toronto and some other cities from the air.
Yes, this is a great DVD to own, give, or use to make travel plans with.
Again, it is called O CANADA – A HISTORIC AND MAJESTIC 3-PART JOURNEY ACROSS CANADA.
Search it, you will not be disappointed!!
Now, had you been looking for Academy Award nominated actors Paul Giamati and Clive Owen earlier this year, you would have found them, and the beautiful actress Monica Belluci in Canada as well.
They were all there making the very energetic action film SHOOT EM UP.
Man, I enjoyed this film! It features cartoon violence at it’s finest, and great actors just having fun!!
Owen, from CLOSER and INSIDE MAN stars as a mystery man with both an extensive military background and a fondness for carrots, not unlike a certain wascally wabbit.
Our man wants nothing more than to be left alone, but he soon finds himself embroiled in a complex political conspiracy once he aids a pregnant woman who is being chased by a hitman.
Paul Giamati from SIDEWAYS is that hitman and Monica Bellucci from MALENA and the final two MATRIX films is Owen’s love interest.
They are all perfectly cast in a film that is loud, violent…and I loved it!
This is a movie that friends will recommend to each other, and it will be watched and enjoyed as a cult classic for years.
If loud and violent don’t bother you, then check it out, and watch some serious actors letting loose and having fun!
SHOOT EM UP is one of my favourite films of the past year, I enjoyed it that much!
I can’t say that any of the films in STANLEY KUBRICK – THE WARNER HOME VIDEO DIRECTORS SERIES 10-DVD BOX SET entertained me as much as SHOOT EM UP, but I still revere all of them as classics.
So, hoping they would all grow on me, I sat down again and rewatched the remastered special editions of 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut.
I also watched the feature length documentary about the director called “Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures”, which is also included in this set.
As I said, I revere all of these films, and consider them classics, and I think Kubrick is a master filmmaker, but I do not like all of these movies.
I can appreciate them, but I don’t watch them with any sort of frequency.
My favourites are still THE SHINING and FULL METAL JACKET, but maybe you love 2001, as I know many people do, or A CLOCKWORK ORANGE…or maybe even EYES WIDE SHUT.
If you are a fan of films, and filmmakers, then STANLEY KUBRICK – THE WARNER HOME VIDEO DIRECTORS SERIES 10-DVD BOX SET is just the thing for you!
Up next this week, Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from a tropic port
Aboard a tiny ship.
The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour.
A three hour tour.
Gilligan’s Island aired for three seasons from September 26, 1964 to September 4, 1967, and now every episode of the show, including the rare pilot episode featuring two women not named Ginger or Mary Ann, and many other special features are all available in the 9-DVD Box Set GILLIGAN’S ISLAND – THE COMPLETE SERIES COLLECTION.
No, the show isn’t Dostoyevsky, but it was never intended to be…it is was it always has been, just fun…and funny!
Finally this week are the the latest releases in the WALT DISNEY TREASURES collection – THE CHRONOLOGICAL DONALD: VOLUME 3, OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT and DISNEYLAND: SECRETS, STORIES AND MAGIC.
The WALT DISNEY TREASURES are two-disc DVD sets of classic Disney works, covering work from the studio’s earliest days to more recent releases.
I was originally most excited about the third Donald Duck release, because I love his classic cartoons, until I started to watch the other two.
Yes, THE CHRONOLOGICAL DONALD: VOLUME 3 does feature 31 one-of-a-kind Donald Duck Cartoons, but DISNEYLAND: SECRETS, STORIES AND MAGIC takes us behind the scenes of the theme park when it was being built.
Among other things, it uses time lapse photography to show us how fields of Orange groves became “The Happiest Place On Earth.”
And the insightful OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT set shows us the character who could have been Disney’s main character, instead of Mickey Mouse, if Walt hadn’t let the copyright expire.
Each of these three newest entries into the WALT DISNEY TREASURES collection have intereresting stores, and they are all included on the DVDs. They are great to watch, to study, and to enjoy!
WALT DISNEY TREASURES collection – THE CHRONOLOGICAL DONALD: VOLUME 3, OSWALD THE LUCKY RABBIT and DISNEYLAND: SECRETS, STORIES AND MAGIC, GILLIGAN’S ISLAND – THE COMPLETE SERIES, STANLEY KUBRICK – THE WARNER HOME VIDEO DIRECTORS SERIES 10-DVD BOX SET, the energetic and entertaining action film SHOOT EM UP, and the spectacular O CANADA – A HISTORIC AND MAJESTIC 3-PART JOURNEY ACROSS CANADA are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
THE TUDORS – THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON is an Emmy Award-nominated CBC television series that is based upon the early reign of Henry VIII; EAGLE VS. SHARK is a quirky little film from New Zealand, starring Jemaine from FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS.
DEEP WATER is a real life documentary about a man who lied about sailing around the world; 3:10 TO YUMA is an interesting remake of the western classic starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale; and THE COSBY SHOW – VOLUME 5 AND 6 feature more antics from the timeless Huxtable family.
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 – December 22nd, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a 4-DVD set for train enthusiasts, and my favourite film of the year!
With their only a few shopping days left, here are some ideas for your gift giving, and viewing pleasure…starting with a great box set that allows us to travel parts fo CANADA BY RAIL.
The 4-DVD Box Set CANADA BY RAIL features a stunning and quite unique look at our nation’s railways lines in Alberta, British Columbia and along the Yellowhead Highway.
In addition to the great visuals, there are also some very unique facts included on the DVDs.
Sure, many of those facts will only be appreciated by train enthusiasts, but since they are the primary audience for this set, it is a success!
CANADA BY RAIL doesn’t offer very much history on these rail lines, and I would have liked to see some footage of the railway in Eastern Canada as well, but as someone who likes to watch trains, I thoroughly enjoyed this set.
So get in the booth with the locomotive engineer and take a ride!
A ride through CANADA BY RAIL!
Up next this week is my favourite movie of the year!
This is a small, Irish film that never even played in a theatre in Saskatchewan, as much as I may have wanted it to….ladies and gentlemen, may I presnt to you a musical called ONCE.
And with that, ONCE begins. A busking musician on the streets of Dublin meets a young woman when she stops to listen to his song.
They become friends, write some songs together, and who knows, maybe more, after all…how often do you meet that special person in your life?
Yes, the title of this film is called ONCE.
Now, I mentioned that this film is a musical, but it is a modern day musical. They are no huge production numbers, no Bob Fosse style choreography, there are just two people who communicate with each other through songs.
And they aren’t singing alone in a room, stranded in fabulous sets while they pine away for one another…they are singing with and to each other.
I could point out that in a day of film budgets exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars, ONCE was made for only $160,000, and it was shot in 17 days.
But all of that is just secondary to the fact that this is a spectacular film! The characters are real, their story is involving and the songs are great!
Since it’s release in May, I have seen this movie – no word of a lie – over 20 times now, including twice this week, and it never once failed to engage me and move me.
ONCE is my favourite film of 2007.
If you are looking for a film to watch or give as a gift to someone you love, then I highly recommend it.
I have four more new releases to tell you about this week, and I will start with Canadian Director David Cronenberg’s latest – EASTERN PROMISES.
Naomi Watts stars as Anna, a midwife at a London hospital who delivers a baby girl from an unconscious and hemorrhaging fourteen-year-old.
The teenager dies during childbirth and has no identification other than a diary.
Anna wants to find the baby’s relatives, so she sets out to uncover the mother’s identity.
What she ends up uncovering, is a plot involving the Russian Mafia.
Viggo Mortensen from A HISTORY FO VIOLENCE co-stars in this absorbing and interesting film.
Personally, I would go see any movie that Cronenberg films, so I happily saw EASTERN PROMISES.
If you are also a fan of The Fly, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, eXistenZ, A History of Violence or any of his other films, then this one is also a must see.
Otherwise, EASTERN PROMISES is not a movie for everyone. There are some moments of great suspence, and interesting storytelling, but the violence might be a turn off to some.
EASTERN PROMISES isn’t Cronenberg’s best film, but even his worst is still better than the majority of movies made in Hollywood.
Even movies that are remakes of old 1960’s television cartoons…like UNDERDOG – THE MOVIE.
The movie version of the classic series isn’t awful…unless you love the series…then it is.
Jason Lee from MY NAME IS EARL voices the title-pooch, and he just seems to be reading, not performing, but reading the lines…and that bothered me.
No matter how inane the dialogue was during the TV series, Wally Cox, always gave it his all.
I think kids might like the live action UNDERDOG movie…but Jason Lee’s performance, the less-than-stellar computer graffics, and the fact that I have loved the cartoon since I was a kid, prevented me from enjoying ths movie at all.
BUT, after that film was over, I did enjoy sitting through the 3-DVD box set from the original show called UNDERDOG: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION.
This set has eighteen COMPLETE EPISODES, as they originally aired, all digitally re-mastered, and yes, Tennessee Tuxedo, Klondike Kat, the Go Go Gophers, Commander McBragg, and all of the other characters you remember are all here too!!
I still love the cartoons! The movie…not so much!
Finally this week is another cartoon I loved as a kid, and one I am sure you did too!
Yes, the complete original series of PETER PUCK – HOW TO PLAY THE GAME is now available!
Peter Puck appeared on both NBC’s Hockey Game of the Week and CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada during the 1970s, explained hockey rules to the home viewing audience.
He also showed us things like pucks were made!
Peter Puck helped teach me all about hockey as a kid, and the nostalgia that I felt this week while watching this DVD made me feel young again!
I think this DVD would make a great stolking stuffer for hockey fans new, and old!
PETER PUCK, the 3-DVD set UNDERDOG: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION, the live action movie of UNDERDOG, David Cronenberg’s EASTERN PROMISES, the 4-DVD Box Set CANADA BY RAIL, and my favourite movie of the year, a small film called ONCE are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
72 COMPLETE is the ultimate collector’s edition 8-DVD Box Set of the 1972 Summit Series, with over 26 hours of hockey action, and some great retrospective looks back.
Also next week, with this year’s World Junior Hockey Tournament getting underway on Boxing Day, we will look back at past years with the new 4-DVD Set CANADA’S JUNIORS – THE GOLD STANDARD.
I also have two noteworthy, but non-exceptional films, RUSH HOUR 3 and INTERVIEW; plus I will tell you about the new 2, 4 and 5 disc editions of the classic 1982 film BLADE RUNNER.
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 – December 15th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels the DVD debut of a Canadian TV series, and the season two of an American, one created by a Canadian.
There are four new DVD Box Sets and a documentary about Darfur to cover this week, so here with go, with this week’s Hot Potato – SEASON ONE of THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES.
Now in it’s 15th season, THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES can be seen in it’s current incarnation on Tuesday nights at 8:30 pm, but it is the original quartet of Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer, Greg Thomey and Mary Walsh who are featured on this 3-DVD set.
Now, because the shows on this set first aired in 1993, some of the political humor is a little dated.
But others jokes will give you a laugh because of what happened in the interveneing years.
SEASON ONE of THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES features many of the classic characters associated with the show, including Marg Delahunty, Gerry Boyle, Babe Bennett and Connie, plus there is the patented news parodies, sketchs and Rick Mercer’s editorials.
I am not sure how often I will watch this DVD, but I did enjoy sitting through it again this week. If there is a fan of the show on your list…perhaps they would enjoy that opportunity as well!
Or, maybe Saturday Night Live is more up their alley!
If so, they are in luck too, because SEASON TWO of that show is also now available in a new 8-DVD Box Set!
SEASON ONE of SNL debuted a year ago on DVD, and even though I remain a fan of the show, that first year was a tough to watch as the Not Ready For Prime Time Players often took a back seat to the weekly Guest Host, and thus the actors and characters we know and have associated with the show for more than thirty years didn’t get the chance to shine.
Happily, SEASON TWO of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE allows those characters, and the actors who created them – John Belushi, Canadian Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Chevy Chase, Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, Jane Curtain, and new cast member Bill Murray – to shine!!
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.
As he still does to this day, he appears on the show in SEASON TWO, sometimes even with former Beatles.
As with the THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES Box Set, I am not sure how often I will watch THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE either,….but I like knowing that I can, and it is a worthy addition to my DVD library.
Another very worthy addition to my library is the 4-DVD set THE JASON BOURNE COLLECTION with THE BOURNE IDENTITY, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, and the new to DVD release THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM.
In addition to the three films in this set about the former assasin who is trying to get his memory back, there is also a bonus DVD with several interesting features, including an interview with the man who started this whole series off back in 1980, author Robert Ludlum.
THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM is one of my favourite films of the year, and the BOURNE series has given me a great deal of enjoyment over the past five years, so I highly recommend this box set, and all three films.
THE JASON BOURNE COLLECTION is a straight on Hollywood action film at it’s best.
HOT FUZZ is a straight on British parody of those same action films.
As I mentioned back in August when the film first came out on DVD, HOT FUZZ – from the makers of SHAUN OF THE DEAD – is another of my favourite films of 2007!
HOT FUZZ is an action film…and a mystery…but it is primarily a satire on the genre of loud and explosive Hollywood action films about a highly decorated London police officer who is so good at his job that he is shunted off to an assignment in the country where he finds himself right in the middle of a killing spree.
Yes, HOT FUZZ debuted on DVD in August and now there is a new 3-DVD version of it available, and if you love this film as I do, it too is a must have due to the wealth of bonus features, behind the scenes documentaries and interviews.
HOT FUZZ is incredibly well-written, kinetically edited, and very funny too, and the new 3 DISC COLLECTOR’S EDITION is just more of a good thing!
And yes, it is too bad they couldn’t have released this 3-DVD set back in August to save people from having to buy it twice…but if you have been waiting to pick it up, the time is finally right!
Finally this week is a release that is not a box set. It is only a single DVD, but it too is worthy of you rtime.
It is the documentary THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK.
THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK is a first-person account of the genocide in Darfur as we witness the ongoing tragedy in Sudan through the eyes of one unsuspecting witness.
The situation in Darfur is too complex a situation for an 85 minute documentary to cover it all, but what THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK does accomplish is that it will open your eyes a little wider to what is going on in Sudan.
And should you decide to do so, you can also find out what you can do to help through this DVD.
The movie made me uncomfortable at times, but I was informed by it, and it is for that reason that I think you should see it.
THE DEVIL CAME ON HORSEBACK, the 3 DISC COLLECTOR’S EDITION of HOT FUZZ, THE 4-DVD JASON BOURNE COLLECTION, THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and Seasons One and Two of THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
I will let you know about the spectacular 4-DVD Box Set CANADA BY RAIL, the 3-DVD Set for the Classic UNDERDOG CARTOONS and my favourite movie of the year, a small film that never even played in most theatres across Canada, a musical called ONCE.
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 – December 8th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a Quebec made film, some pirates from the Caribbean, and a 40-DVD Superbowl Box Set.
It is another busy week with five new releases to tell you about, so let me get to this week’s “Hot Potato”, the made-in-Quebec film NITRO.
NITRO is a dramtic film, with action, about a former drag racer who is forced to return to his criminal past when his girlfriend needs a heart transplant, and a shady hospital employee tells him he will only get the organ if he pays.
The talented and very beautiful Canadian actress Lucie Laurier co-stars as a female drag racer who assists our hero in his quest, and her character’s presence allows NITRO to have a few more twists and turns than you would expect, but as a whole the meshing of drama and action doesn’t always work, and when this film does not work….it almost grinds to a halt.
But in the end, there is enough here for me to recommend, especially the car chase around Montreal’s Olympic Stadium…that stuff was cool!!
NITRO isn’t a great film, but it is very, very good.
Up next this week is the film version of the popular book THE NANNY DIARIES.
Scarlett Johansson from LOST IN TRANSLATION stars in this one as a college graduate who goes to work as a Nanny for an upper class family in New York City.
Scarlett plays “Annie The Nanny” and during the course of the film she has to juggle the dysfunctional elements of the new family she works for, with a new romance, and the spoiled rich kid that she is now responsible for.
I have never read the original source material for THE NANNY DIARIES, but since it came out before the book version of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, I can’t profess that one book attempts to be like the other.
But the film version of THE NANNY DIARIES seems desperate to be like the film version of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, and it suffers by comparison.
If you are a fan of that Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway film, and you’ve been waiting for a similar film that is half as good, then here you go.
THE NANNY DIARIES is not awful, I have seen worse films this year, but even the great cast of Scarlett Johansson, Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti can’t save it. It suffers by comparison to better films, like the aforementioned THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA.
Another film that suffers by comparison is the third film in the succesful and exceptionally lucrative PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN series.
The difference here is that AT WORLD’S END suffers by comparison to it’s predecessors, and thus this third one is just awful.
I would never profess myself to be the world’s biggest fan of 2003’s THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, but I did like it. It was fun…, actually, let me be more specific…it was a rollocking good time!
I didn’t think that was true about last year’s DEAD MAN’S CHEST, it wasn’t rollocking at all, but it was still a fun film to watch, and some of the action scenes in it were just superb!
There is nothing superb, rolocking OR fun about AT WORLD’S END…and at a running time of almost three hours…I even found it a tough film to sit through.
Yes, Depp is still great as Captain Jack Sparrow, and Keira Knightly, Orland Bloom and the rest of the cast and crew of the flick and it’s ships are all believable in their roles…but where is the fun?!?
Without fun, this PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN movie gets a failing grade from me. If “A” is the best rating, I will give this one an “R”, not because that is a pirates favourite letter of the alphabet, but because that is how far away from an “A” this movie is.
Arrrrr!!
I’ll end this week on a more positive note with two new releases that aren’t for everyone, but if they are for you, then you will love them as much as I did!!
And I do love and enjoy BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA and the series new release RAZOR.
If you don’t watch the new made-in-Vancouver version of the late seventies series BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA, first off, you are missing out! Even if you don’t like science-fiction, the acting and writing in the series is some of the best on television!!
Secondly, if you don’t watch, then not much about RAZOR will interest, or make sense to you…even though it too, is very well written and acted.
HOWEVER, for us fans, this release is an Unrated Extended edition of the movie that aired three weeks ago on TV, and the special Features on the DVD include deleted scenes, a wide array of behind the scenes interviews, a Sneak Peak of the upcoming fourth and final season, a commentary and more.
BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA is a show that I would highly recommend to anyone, and RAZOR is as well. However, don’t start with RAZOR…go back to the beginning and…enjoy!
It is great television!!
Finally this week is a spectacular 40-DVD Box Set that features a documentary about each team that has won the first forty Superbowls. From the 1966 Green Bay Packers, to the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers.
NFL AMERICA’S GAME – SUPERBOWL I to XL COLLECTOR’S EDITION features a look, on the field, and off, in the locker rooms, and on the bus, and everywhere that each team that won the Superbowl went.
And they do it with old interviews, new interviews, archival footage and even old television commercials.
NFL AMERICA’S GAME – SUPERBOWL I to XL COLLECTOR’S EDITION is one of the most impressive Box Sets I have ever seen, and if there is someone you love who enjoys four-down football, this is something they will love and watch for years to come!
NFL AMERICA’S GAME – SUPERBOWL I to XL COLLECTOR’S EDITION, BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA – RAZOR, PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN – AT WORLD’S END, THE NANNY DIARIES and NITRO are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
Go back to the very beginning with SEASON ONE of THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES, and THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE.
Also next week is the 3-DISC COLLECTOR’S EDITION of the action film parody HOT FUZZ and the 4DVD set THE JASON BOURNE COLLECTION with the new to DVD release THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM.
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 – December 1st, 2007
This week on The Couch Potato Report, pack your bags, we are taking a few trips!!
I am a traveller! I love to travel!
Around Saskatchewan, across Canada and throughout the world!!
This week, I went from coast to coast in our home and native land, and I journeyed across the ocean to Paris, and the south of France.
And I did it all, on DVD!
I hope your bags are packed, because this morning we are traveling, and we’ll start our trip in Canada as some filmmakers take us from coast to coast through their documentary: LET’S ALL HATE TORONTO.
Toronto is the largest city in Canada.
With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth-most populous municipality in North America, and the 46th most populous in the world, and it is the place that many Canadians love to hate, and love to make fun of.
Heck, even last week, when bad Toronto weather forced the city to cancel some Grey Cup festivities, people were making fun of Toronto….but why do people seem to hate Toronto?
That is the question this film wants to ask.
LET’S ALL HATE TORONTO is co-directed by Canadian documentarians Albert Nerenberg and Robert Spence.
Spence nicknames himself “Mister Toronto” and takes off on a cross-Canada journey to find out why there seems to be so much resentment for Canada’s biggest city, all the while promoting the made-up “Toronto Appreciation Day”.
Unfortunately “Mister Toronto” is not a likeable guy, and when he is in it that hurts the film.
He doesn’t go from Coast To Coast asking people why they don’t like Toronto, instead, he arrives at a destination and he acts acts arrogant and rude.
That forces the people he talks with to only react to him, and their dislike for Toronto is only based on his representation of it.
During those scenes, the film is just not very good.
But there are many others where the film is good.
Now, in the spirit of full-enclosure, I love Toronto. I lived there for ten years and I still visit it often and consider it to be one of the greatest places in the world.
And I got a few chuckles over this film, because I know that many people don’t like the city, even if they have never been there.
LET’S ALL HATE TORONTO is not a great documentary, but it does have a few great moments.
Plus, it allows us to travel to St. John’s, Halifax, P.E.I., Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto, and meet some other Canadians.
For that reason, I think it is worthy of your time…especially if you think you hate Toronto.
Okay, let’s head across the Atlantic now, to Paris, the city of lights, the city of love – PARIS, JE T’AIME
Tranmslated, the title means “Paris, I love you” and the film consists of eighteen short films written and directed by a wide varirty of filmmakers such as Tom Tykwer – who gave us RUN LOLA RUN, Gus Van Sant of GOOD WILL HUNTING fame, Wes Craven – the creator of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET FILMS, Alexander Payne – the writer and director fo SIDEWAYS, and Joel and Ethan Coen, the brothers who made FARGO and THE BIG LEBOWSKI.
The ensemble cast of American, British and French movie actors includes Marianne Faithfull, Steve Buscemi, Miranda Richardson, Juliette Binoche, Willem Dafoe, Nick Nolte, Ludivine Sagnier, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Fanny Ardant, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Emily Mortimer, Rufus Sewell, GÈrard Depardieu, Ben Gazzara, Gena Rowlands and Natalie Portman.
PARIS, JE T’AIME features beautiful shots of Paris in the day and night times, shots and locations that you might only get to see if you actually visit the city.
Some of the short films are very engaging and entertaining, some are outright funny, and some are more than a little weird.
And since there are so many, you can decide which is which, just by watching the film…something I recommend that you do.
I wish I could recommend our next traveling film this week…one that takes us to the very warm, hot, sunny and beautiful south of France…but I just can’t.
I love Rowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean character, but I just can’t advise you to watch most of MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY.
In this second film based on the beloved character, Mr. Bean wins a holiday to Cannes, a video camera and some cash.
Along the way, I suspect that the hilarity was supposed to ensue, but the story elements here are just too predictable.
You know he is going to leave his luggage on the train when he gets off, you know he will forget his money and passport when he gets back on, and even though he has seemingly kidnapped a young boy, you know that everything is going to work out fine.
What I can advise you to watch, what is always a pleasure to watch when it comes to Mr. Bean are the silent moments when he doesn’t get what he wants, is eating, or dancing.
That, that my friends is the Mr. Bean we know, the Mr. Bean we love!!
Rowan Atkinson has said that MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY will be the last Mr. Bean story he appears in, and I for one hope he reneges on that statement, so he can do one more film, and do it better, and make a film that is less predictable and more enjoyable.
Here’s hoping they do that, so Mr. Bean can go out on top where he belongs!!
Love than Mr. Bean…I also love that Mr. McCartney!!
The main thing I want to say about this next release is WOW!!
THE MCCARTNEY YEARS is a three DVD set full of Paul McCartney’s music since he left The Beatles.
We get concert footage, old and new, interviews, old and new, and almost all of the music videos he has ever made.
Plus, he offers commentaries on those videos too!!
THE MCCARTNEY YEARS is a spectacular release, and offers some great insights into the man’s work!
I completely enjoyed it, and if you are a fan of the man, it is a must own!!
Finally this week, and finally every week for the next month, I have a DVD Box Set for you. The studios are releasing an abundance of these sets – just in times for the Holidays – and I will let you know if they are worth your dough…and worthy of your time!
This week’s Box Set should have been worthy of both time and money…but it isn’t, and I am very disappointed in it!
That Box set is THE NHL GAME SEVEN COLLECTION – THE GREATEST GAMES IN STANLEY CUP HISTORY.
You and I may never get to play in a Game Seven in a Stanley Cup final, so over the years we have lived vicariously through our hockey heroes who have had that opportunity.
Many of those great moments and unforgettable memories are all now available in this Seven-DVD Box Set.
I suspect that the goal of THE NHL GAME SEVEN COLLECTION was to enable us to own these moments in pristine condition on DVD.
Unfortunately, the games haven’t been remastered or cleaned up, and they are the American broadcasts of the game.
I hate to sound like a homer, but I can’t fathom why they didn’t use the Hockey Night In Canada broadcasts of these games. The NHL itself put this set together, so they have access to them, yet they didn’t use them.
Luckily the crowd noises are still there, but where is the excitement from the announcers?! And where are the on-ice interviews after the games?!? There are only a few of those, and they are a staple of championship games!!
I wanted more from this set, and I remain very disappointed that I didn’t get it!
THE NHL GAME SEVEN COLLECTION does feature the full game sevens from 1987, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006.
It also features recaps of the games from 1942 to 1971.
If you – or someone you love – are a fan of the Edmonton Oilers, The New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Colorado Avalance, Tampa Bay Lightning, Carolina Hurricanes, and you can look past the less then stellar versions of the games that are included here, than this Box Set is a keeper.
The NHL GAME SEVEN COLLECTION – THE GREATEST GAMES IN STANLEY CUP HISTORY, the very entertaining 3-DVD set THE MCCARTNEY YEARS, the mildly entertaining MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY, the enjoyable film PARIS, JE T’AIME and the almost okay documentary LET’S ALL HATE TORONTO are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
NITRO is a Canadian film about a former drag racer who is forced to return to his criminal past when his girlfriend requires a heart transplant;
THE NANNY DIARIES stars Scarlett Johansson as a upper class Nanny in New York City;
Fans of the television series BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA – myself included – get some answers about past storylines in the movie RAZOR;
Our BOX SET next week is 40-disc set that looks at each team that has won the Superbowl;
And also next week, Johnny Depp and cast return in PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN – AT WORLD’S END.
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 – November 24th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a beauty television special, and some music DVDs!
In case you have never heard me say this before, my favourite movie of all time, of all time, is THE ADVENTURES OF BOB & DOUG MCKENZIE: STRANGE BREW.
Yes, of ALL TIME!!
I love CASABLANCA, CITIZEN KANE, THE GODFATHER, STAR WARS, and many other classic films that have stood teh test of time, but the one that still entertains me – and more importantly, makes me laugh the most is STRANGE BREW.
As I am sure you know, Bob and Doug McKenzie were a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted “The Great White North”, a sketch which was introduced on SCTV for the show’s third season when it moved to the CBC in 1980.
Bob is played by Rick Moranis and Doug is played by Dave Thomas and after their tremendous national success on television, they made STRANGE BREW in 1983.
The film’s story is loosely based on the Shakespeare’s HAMLET, with the McKenzie Brothers taking the roles of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and I love it!
So, you can imagine the excitement that I was feeling when I sat down on the Victoria Day weekend to watch the reunion slash retrospective show – BOB & DOUG McKENZIE’S TWO-FOUR ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL.
Sadly, that excitement was quickly dashed as the special was not funny, not entertaining, and not very good.
Sure, the bits NEW AND OLD with Bob & Doug were still funny, and former Prime Minister Paul Martin, who hosted the show, had a few good lines, but the special featured way too many testimonials from fans and celebrities like Ben Stiller, Dave Foley, Barry Pepper, Martin Short and Paul Shafer, and not enough Bob & Doug.
But the good new this morning is the fact that the people who produced the TWO-FOUR ANNIVERSARY have fixed their mistake, and the new TRUE HOSER’S COLLECTOR’S EDITION DVD is very, very entertaining!
This DVD is exactly what the TV special should have been!
It is funny, takes a retrospective look back as the history of the characters, and it reminds us of their place in Canadian history.
The DVD version is twice the length of the television version, but it isn’t just longer, it is actually better.
Sadly, almost all of the footage that was shot in Saskatoon at the Juno Awards and the Juno Cup practice that was in the TV version has been taken out, but it has been replaced with some very unique features…like a choir performing Bob & Doug’s unforgettable anthem.
If you like to laugh, then the one DVD you need to get this week is the very entertaining BOB & DOUG MCKENZIE’S TWO-FOUR ANNIVERSARY: THE TRUE HOSER’S COLLECTOR’S EDITION.
It’s a beauty way to go!!
Alright, I have four other releases to tell you about this week, all of them feature music, and all of them are great!!
I’ll start with a musical that I didn’t expect to enjoy, but I did! I did enjoy HAIRSPRAY, the adaptation of the Tony Award-winning 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, itself adapted from John Waters’ 1988 cinematic comedy.
HAIRSPRAY was filmed in Toronto and it is set in Baltimore in 1962.
It follows a “pleasantly-plump” teen named Tracy Turnblad as she simultaneously pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation.
Due to that latter story line, HAIRSPRAY does have some serious overtones, but mostly it is fun!
The songs, the characters, the cast that includes Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes and John Travolta… in drag…it all works.
I’m not always the biggest fan of musicals, but I really enjoyed HAIRSPRAY, and if you check it out, make sure you get the Two-Disc “Shake & Shimmy Edition” as it has a great look back at the transformation from film to musical and back to film again.
The whole package is just fun!!
Fun is also an element of our next release, The Beatles:
HELP is a semispoof of the James Bond pictures with John, Paul and George trying to protect Ringo from an Eastern religious cult who want the ring he can’t seem to get off of his finger.
As with any Beatles movie, the plot is not important, we will watch these films forty-plus years after the fact because of the songs, and in addition to the title track HELP! features six other Beatles tunes, including “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” and “Ticket to Ride.”
This new 2 Disc Edition of HELP! also includes THE BEATLES IN HELP! – a 30 minute documentary about the making of the film with director Richard Lester, the cast and crew, exclusive behind the scenes footage of The Beatles on set, and more.
THE BEATLES HELP! is still goofy, still clever, and still a great time spent watching a movie!
In addition to the 2-DVD release, there is als a new Deluxe Package that also includes; a reproduction of Richard Lester’s original annotated script; 8 lobby cards; a poster and a 60-page book with rarely seen photographs and production notes from the movie.
From a classic sixties band, I will wrap up this week’s Couch Potato Report with two new releases from classic seventies bands, starting with the new 2-DVD SPECIAL EDITION of LED ZEPPELIN – THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME.
THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME is a concert film that was recorded over three nights of concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City, during the band’s 1973 concert tour.
As with HELP! there is a bonus DVD with a wealth of bonus features including extra songs and interviews.
I never got the chance to see Led Zeppelin live in concert, so I always enjoy watching THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME for that fact. This new version is the best that it has ever looked, sounded, and been presented.
If you enjoy the band, the songs might remain the same, but that is why we like them, isn’t it?
No, I never got to see Led Zeppelin live, and I never got to see The Who live in concert either…the real Who, featuring the original line-up of Pete Townshend, Roger Daltery, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.
There have been many Who concerts released on DVD, and I have enjoyed them all, and now there is a great documentary on them available to enjoy as well. It is called AMAZING JOURNEY – THE STORY OF THE WHO.
And if you have ever wondered how they got their name, you will get the definitive answer.
AMAZING JOURNEY looks back at the band’s history, right through their origins four decades ago, straight into the work that Townshend and Daltery are doing today under the name.
Sadly, what this documentary, or it’s bonus disc, don’t have, is an abundance of interviews with the late drummer Keith Moon.
There is a lot of performance footage of him, but I wanted to hear his side of the story as well. But sadly, if it even exists, it isn’t included here.
AMAZING JOURNEY – THE STORY OF THE WHO is a spectacular look at a band who are more known today for the fact that their songs open the various CSI shows every week.
It is both informative and entertaining.
AMAZING JOURNEY – THE STORY OF THE WHO, the Special Edition of LED ZEPPELIN – THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME, THE BEATLES HELP!, the surprisingly entertaining HAIRSPRAY and BOB & DOUG MCKENZIE’S TWO-FOUR ANNIVERSARY: THE TRUE HOSER’S COLLECTOR’S EDITION are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
The NHL GAME 7 COLLECTION features some of THE GREATEST GAMES IN STANLEY CUP HISTORY, PARIS, JE T’AIME features well-known actors and directors from around the world showing Paris in a way never before imagined, in MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY the beloved character takes a trip, THE BOSS OF IT ALL is a Danish film about a man who must produce his fictional boss; and LET’S ALL HATE TORONTO is a documentary that examines the art of Toronto-bashing, and why it happens.
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 – November 10th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a film that might make you proud of Canada’s health system, and my so-called life.
I have six new releases to tell you about this week,Ö so let me jump right into it with the main release this week, the Hot Potato if you will, Michael Moore’s SICKO
A film that might actually make you feel good about the health care system in this country, even if you are still on a waiting list.
SICKO is a the latest documentary film by the man who gave us FAHRENHEIT 9/11 and BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE, and in this one Moore that investigates the American health care system.
Specifically, he rips apart the for-profit health insurance and pharmaceutical industries and compares the non-universal and for-profit American system with the universal and non-profit systems of Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Cuba.
And even if our country doesn’t come off as well as any of the rest of those, and even if you are on a waiting list, we are still better off than the Americans portrayed in this film.
The next time you feel like the Canadian medical system is letting you down…watch this film!
SICKO is not a perfect documentary, mainly because Moore never gives the American companies or doctors the right to defend themselves.
Instead, he just focusses on the systems in those other countries, and how great they are.
What the movie is, is sad, inspiring and heartbreaking. No matter what your health, or your position on any waiting lists, you will be surprised by what you see.
And I mean that in both a good and bad way.
SICKO is a film I highly recommend, as it will definitely get you thinking.
Another movie that will make you use your brain is the foreign film THE BOTHERSOME MAN from Norway.
This is one weird flick!!
This movie starts out with a man waiting for a train while a couple kiss pationately at the other end of the platform.
As the train arrives, the man steps in front of it.
Fade to black…title sequence…and a bus arrives in a desert with nothing there except a gas station and some power lines.
We learn the man’s name is Andreas, and as he is driven to a nearby city we find out – as he does – that he has arrived with no memory of how he got there.
He is then given a job, an apartment, even a girlfriend…a girlfriend who doesn’t seem to mind when he meets a different woman he likes better.
Eventually he makes an attempt to escape the city, but he discovers there’s no way out…and your thoughts on where – exactly – he is will depend on a wide array of things.
Your upbringing, your religious beliefs, your own moral code! They will all play a part in how yoy decide where this BOTHERSOME MAN is.
My thoughts? Get THE BOTHERSOME MAN into your DVD player as soon as you can, and enjoy the mind games it plays with you.
Oh, and watch it with a friend, so you can discuss it afterwards.
Our next release this week is one that you might not want to invite a friend over to watch…or even watch it by yourself.
That release is I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY, a film that features Kevin James from the TV show KING OF QUEENS as Larry, a Brooklyn firefighter whose wife died three years ago and left him to raise their two children alone.
In order for his kids to be protected in the event of his death, he needs to get married so he will have a beneficiary in his will.
So he asks his best friend in the fire department, the very heterosexual Chuck, played by Adam Sandler.
Eventually Chuck agrees, and the problems begin when the state decides to investigate their situation.
Jessica Biel plays a lawyer who gives them some advice.
The two men do get married, and then the comedy ensures…or the filmmakers wish it would.
I admit that I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY has some good intentions, but most of the jokes fall flat.
The first part of the film is entertaining, fun and funny.
The second part is just awful and just a tad too preachy.
I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY isn’t the worst film you’ll ever see, it isn’t even Sandler’s worst film, but it is only worth you rtime if there is nothing else you feel like seeing.
I have a couple of TV Shows On DVD Box Sets to tell you about now, and I will get right to them with the beloved – by some – nineties TV series MY SO CALLED LIFE.
This show is making it’s debut on DVD and many people are very excited about that. Me? Well, let me use a clip from the show itself that says everything I am thinking right now.
MY SO CALLED LIFE stars Clare Danes from ROMEO & JULIET and SHOPGIRL as a 14-year-old girl who is trying to get through life at home, at school and with her first love.
In the show, we share her ups and downs, as we go through her transitions, and if you relate to this show, I am sure it is one of your all-time favourites.
Personally, I watched a few episodes of this show when it ran from August of 1994 to January of 1995, and when it was cancelled after only 19 episodes, I didn’t mind.
And when Entertainment Weekly magazine hailed it as “the greatest cancelled television series of all time.” I didn’t understand why.
For me “Why” is simple, while the writing, acting and stories are all relateable to anyone who ever went to High School, but it just didn’t hold my interest.
If this is your favourite show of all-time, or you are a teenager going through High School right now, or you know someone who is, maybe this is a box set for them.
It isn’t one for me.
But our next release this week is a show for me: That release is THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON of the SCRUBS.
SCRUBS is the Emmy- and Peabody Award-winning comedy about the professional and personal lives of several characters working at a teaching hospital.
It is one of my all-time favourite shows on TV because it features slapstick, fast-paced dialogue, and surreal moments, and this season there was even a musical.
Even though THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON of SCRUBS isn’t as good as seasons one through five, I still enjoyed it, although I wouldn’t recommend you start with SEASON SIX…go back to the beginning.
And after you and your kids enjoy RATATOUILLE – the latest animated film from PIXAR that is now on DVD – I also suggest you go back to the beginning of Pixar itself with THE PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION – VOLUME 1.
This exceptionally entertaining and interesting disc gives us a look at how the studio got it’s start.
The DVD is a 54 minute look at a studio that changed how you and I get to see animated films today and their evolution is very interesting.
Plus, THE PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION also features all of the short films that have played in theatres before TOY STORY, FINDING NEMO, THE INCREDIBLES, and the aforementioned RATATOUILLE.
This disc is a keeper!!
The very entertaining PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION – VOLUME 1, the not as good as the previous seasons COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON of the TV show SCRUBS, the beloved – just not by me – TV show MY SO CALLED LIFE, Adam Sandler’s mildly funny I NOW PRONOUNCE YOU CHUCK AND LARRY, the superb foreign film THE BOTHERSOME MAN and the surprisingly effective Michael Moore documentary SICKO are all available now on DVD.
Enjoy!!

The Couch Potato Report – November 3rd, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels a DVD box set that features some unique parts of our country, and four other new releases.
Up first this week is the two-disc DVD box set for a five-part CBC television series that I thought was just fascinating!
That series is called GEOLOGIC JOURNEY and it takes a look at the vast, wild beauty that we call Canada.
GEOLOGIC JOURNEY takes us from coast to coast to coast as it focuses on the science and study of the solid matter that constitutes the Earth.
The series takes us through The Rockies, The Canadian Shield, The Great Lakes, The Appalachians and The Atlantic Coast.
It shows us the beauty of these regions today, and offers some incredible stories about the past.
GEOLOGIC JOURNEY features insightful narration from Dr. David Suzuki and incredible visuals that allows us to go above, and below the ground, lakes and falls that make up our nation.
At times GEOLOGIC JOURNEY does get a little technical, and during those times you’d have to be a scientist or a paleantologist to understand what is being said by the scientists and paleantologists on screen.
But once the camera begins to feature the orange, black, grey, brown and green rocks of the Great Lakes Region, and takes us on helicopter rides through the Rocky Mountains and Niagara Falls, the beauty that is Canada will win you over and forget the rock talk.
I enjoyed GEOLOGIC JOURNEY, and I highly recommend it!!
Up next this week is TALK TO ME is a film – based on the true story – of Petey Greene, an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist, in the late sixties and early seventies, and Dewey Hughes, his friend and manager.
If you have ever heard an interview with the two men, or read their story, you would think – as I did – that a great movie was in the offing.
Petey was charasmatic, explosive and he didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk.
And with Dewey’s reluctant help, Petey became the voice and conscience for Black Americans.
With it’s interesting true-life story, and acting greats Don Cheadle as Petey and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Dewey giving incredible period performances, TALK TO ME could have been one of the year’s best films.
Instead, the filmmakers have taken this engaging story and produced a film that is boring.
I really wanted to like TALK TO ME, especially since it is about a radio personality, but in the end I didn’t, and so I don’t recommend it to you.
BUT, I do suggest you check out Petey Green’s incredible autobiography “Laugh If You Like, Ain’t a Damn Thing Funny.”
Finally this week, I have three releases for you. Two of which that offer some entertainment value, and one that I didn’t care for at all.
I’ll save the worst for last, first is MEET THE ROBINSONS an animated film from Walt Disney about a young inventor.
In the film we meet Lewis, a brilliant orphan who wants to know who his mother is, so he invents a time machine. Eventually he heads to the future, and meets a unique family of people, and a mysterious man in a bowler hat.
MEET THE ROBINSONS is close to being very entertaining. It has some great dialogue, unique characters and references.
But in the end, it just wasn’t a film I loved. Youngers boys might love it, I only liked MEET THE ROBINSONS.
I used to love the TV show ENTOURAGE, as I have mentioned several times in this forum, but once SEASON THREE, PART TWO started to air, my love for this once great show turned to like.
Another great show has fallen!
Yes, SEASON THREE, PART TWO of ENTOURAGE still features the latest adventures of Vince, E, Turtle and Johnny Drama, but the show is no longer as much fun as it used to be.
We used to live vicariously through this Hollywood star and his friends from Queen’s Boulevard, but their latest escapades aren’t as enjoyable as their past ones.
This part of SEASON THREE just got way too dramatic, and the boys spend too much apart. When they are together, and when they are with Vince’s agent Ari, then the magic happens.
Separated…well…I still like ENTOURAGE, more importantly, I still like these characters, and I will follow them, and their series wherever it goes, but I hope to get the old party hardy Vince, E, Turtle and Johnny Drama back.
I like to live vicariously through them!!
Finally this week is the unfunny comedy LICENSE TO WED.
Normally, when a movie is as bad as this one is, I wouldn’t even bother to review it…but in this case, I must include it, so you skip it!
LICENSE TO WED features the great Mandy Moore, John Krasinski from TV’s THE OFFICE and Robin Williams, in another one of those awful, over the top performances he has specialized in lately.
Moore and Krasinski are a young couple who want to get married, but before they say I do, Williams Reverend Frank has to say okay.
As you might expect, LICENSE TO WED puts it’s young couple through the paces, and makes them question why they even loved each other in the first place, all while Williams mugs, riffs and says line after line of unfunny dialgue.
I admit it, the commercials and the premise sound funny, and very entertaining, but the end result is not.
Great cast, fantastic premise, awful movie!! Skip it, ignore it, just walk away!
Just walk away!
The awful LICENSE TO WED, the okay, but could have been better ENTOURAGE – SEASON THREE, PART TWO, MEET THE ROBINSONS and TALK TO ME and the superbly entertaining GEOLOGIC JOURNEY are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
Before I take off on a week’s vacation, I will have six new releases to tell you about, including Michael Moore’s SICKO, a film that will make you feel good about health care in this country, maybe even if you are still on a waiting list.
Also next week, the foreign film THE BOTHERSOME MAN will get you thinking; the beloved nineties TV series MY SO CALLED LIFE debuts on DVD along with THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON of the SCRUBS.
RATATOUILLE is the latest animated film from PIXAR and THE PIXAR SHORT FILMS COLLECTION – VOLUME 1 gives us a look at how the studio got it’s start.
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 – October 27th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels some DVDs that have been released, just in time for all Hallow’s Eve!
Halloween is on Wednesday, and in advance of that, the studios have been releasing and re-releasing titles that are apropos for this time of year.
Specifically – horror films.
So, I have a few of those to briefly tell you about, and then I have a Canadian film that scared me more than any of those movies.
Let me start with THE REAPING, a religion-themed horror film that features the Ten Plagues of Egypt, and stars two-time Academy Award winner Hilary Swank.
In a small Louisiana bayou town called Haven, the death of a child in mysterious circumstances sparks of a series of events that seem to represent the aforementioned biblical plagues.
Rivers and other water sources turned to blood, amphibians, lice or gnats, wild animals, disease on livestock, and so on.
Hilary Swank from MILLION DOLLAR BABY is former Christian missionary who now travels to places to prove that it isn’t God who is behind these type of events, and she proves the truth using science.
THE REAPING isn’t the most original horror film that you will ever see – especially since it doesn’t even know if it wants to be a horror film, a thriller or a movie about a person losing their faith – and the twists and turns it does offer that are close to being original are fairly predictable.
So, if you like Hilary Swank, and you enjoy this type of film at this time of year, then perhaps you will get some entertainment value out of THE REAPING.
I didn’t dislike it, and I don’t think it was a waste of my time, but I have seen better.
In fact, I saw better right after it was over…because when THE REAPING was done, I watched the 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION of the Academy Award nominated horror film POLTERGEIST.
A real-life poltergeist is a spirit or ghost that manifests itself by moving and influencing objects.
The film of that name is set in a time when television stations went off the air after a full day or programming.
And while one such station is off the air, the television in five-year-old Carol Anne’s parents’ suburban California living room begins communicating with her.
Or, something inside of it does anyway.
In something that was incredibly unique at the time of the film’s original release on June 4th, 1982, Carol Anne gets pulled inside the TV, and the rest of teh movie focusses on her family’s attempt to get her back.
POLTERGEIST was written by Steven Speilberg and directed by Tobe Hooper, who also gave us another great Halloween film – THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and the two men working together gave us many great scares 25 years ago, and their film still holds up today!
The 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION DVD doesn’t feature a comprehensive retrospective documentary, or any unique making of featuretees, and that is disappointing.
But it does contain the film itself, and that is good enough for me.
Up next, for your Halloweekend viewing “pleasure” is: the two-disc, four-film set CHUCKY – THE KILLER DVD COLLECTION about a less than perfect child’s doll.
This surprisingly still enjoyable set about a homicidal doll doesn’t feature the original 1988 horror film CHILD’s PLAY – as that film was produced by a different studio than the one releasing this set – but it does feature the very enjoyable sequel CHILD’S PLAY 2, the less than enjoyable CHILD’S PLAY 3, the campy and very entertaining BRIDE OF CHUCKY – with Emmy winner Katharine Heigl and Canadian actress Jennifer Tilly – and the not-so-good SEED OF CHUCKY.
Chucky is one of the most recognizable faces of film horror over the last two decades, along with Freddy and Jason – and if you can accept the premise – about a small doll that somehow manages to overpower every human – no matter how big – he faces – then you will be entertained by this inexpensive set of four films.
Somehow the premise worked when they were originally released, and it stands up now.
These are great films for this time of year!
Okay, the next release I have for you is not a stereotypical horror film, it is more of a thriller with horrific elements.
Kevin Costner plays a bad guy in MR. BROOKS.
Costner’s Earl Brooks is an upstanding bow tie wearing, box making business owner and family man who, is named the Portland Chamber of Commerce’s Man of the Year.
But secretly, Earl is addicted to killing, just for the thrill.
And then, after a two-year break from his addiction, Mr. Brooks starts up again.
William Hurt plays the dark side of Mr. Brooks’ ego, Demi Moore is the cop who is on his trail, and comedian Dane Cook is a man who catches Brooks in the murderous act, but instead of turning him in…explains that there is something else he wants.
MR. BROOKS, both the film and the character played by Kevin Costner, is creepy. But they aren’t really all that satisfying.
I’m not disappointed I saw it, as the script, acting and premise are all sort of interesting, but somehow it just didn’t all come together to form a movie that I could wholeheartedly recommend.
I also can’t wholeheartedly recommend THE SOPRANOS – SEASON 6, PART 2 DVD
When it first came on, and for the first few seasons THE SOPRANOS was one of the most unique and interesting shows on TV.
For the last few years it was a train wreck, a car crash…something that I didn’t watching, but just couldn’t look away from.
The four disc set that is SEASON 6, PART 2 of THE SOPRANOS features more episodes that are boring than ones that are superb, but somehow I enjoyed sitting through it again over the past few weeks, especially since I already knew what happened in the controversial final episode.
An episode that is now available on DVD.
Our final film this week is the Canadian documentary ANTLERS is about the big game hunters of the forests of Northern Quebec.
This movie actually scared me at times…more than any of those horror films….adn I enjoyed every second of it!
I am not a hunter now, nor have I ever been a hunter.
I have no issues with those who do hunt, I just don’t hunt myself.
ANTLERS introduces us to people who enjoy hunting…who really, really enjoy hunting!
The film is in French, so I don’t have a clip to prove my point, but I can tell you that at one point we meet a guy who has 25 mounted Deer heads on the walls of the place where he lives.
And he is hoping to add to that.
Oh, and it is his parents house, but he is hoping to get his own house some day so he will have more room for his trophies.
I found that a bit scary…entertaining, but scary!
If you have ever wanted to see real life hunters gutting a moose, carving a beaver, or setting traps to catch these and other animals, then ANTLERS is the film for you!
Personally, I was intrigued, grossed out, offended, and entertained, all at the same time!
This is everything you want in a film during a Halloweekend!!
ANTLERS, THE SOPRANOS – SEASON 6, PART 2 DVD, MR. BROOKS, and the horror films CHUCKY – THE KILLER DVD COLLECTION, POLTERGEIST and THE REAPING are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
GEOLOGIC JOURNEY takes a look at the vast, wild beauty we call Canada at it traces the extraordinary history of our continent.
TALK TO ME is a film – based on the true story – of an ex-con who became a popular talk show host and community activist, in the late sixties and early seventies.
MEET THE ROBINSONS is an animated film from Walt Disney about a young inventor.
ENTOURAGE – SEASON THREE, PART TWO features the latest DVD releases of Vince, E, Turtle and Johnny Drama.
And LICENSE TO WED is an unfunny comedy that is so bad, it may cause engaged people to rethink their plans.
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 – October 20th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report peels another Hollywood film made here in Western Canada and three other new releases.
I have four films to tell you about this week, so lets get to them, starting with a mafia comedy that was shot in Winnipeg.
YOU KILL ME is the name of this week’s first film, and it stars Academy Award winner Sir Ben Kingsley, from GHANDI and SEXY BEAST.
He plays Frank, a hit man for a mob family in Buffalo.
When he fails to complete an assignment, due to his drinking problem, he is sent to San Francisco to clean up his act.
Once he arrives, Frank stops drinking, he starts working in a mortuary, and he goes to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, where he confesses what he does for a living.
He also starts to date a woman that he meets at the Funeral home, a woman played by the great Tea Leoni from BAD BOYS and THE FAMILY MAN.
YOU KILL ME is a mob movie, with lots of violence, it has romance, with the great Tea Leoni, and it is a comedy.
I was engaged by it, and I enjoyed it, but it really isn’t all that fresh or entertaining, because it features too many scenes and storylines that we have already seen in other mob comedies like ANALYZE THIS.
If YOU KILL ME hadn’t been made in Winnipeg, a city I know, a city I love, and if my cousin Mark hadn’t been the second assistant cameraman on the film, I’m not sure I would have enjoyed it at all….but, y’know what…I did actually enjoy it.
I don’t completely recommend it…but I will say this: it is what they call a “good rental.”
Our next film this week is also a good rental, but I can’t fully recommend it either.
That film is THE HOAX.
RICHARD GERE stars in this film – based on the actual events of Clifford Irving, an American novelist who became well known in the early 1970s when his “authorized autobiography” of Howard Hughes was suspected of being a hoax.
Gere is very good in this movie, and director Lasse Hallstrˆm has created a film that is very interesting to look at, using period footage and dating the footage he shot.
Even if you know the true story in the film, which I did, THE HOAX still manages to be dramatic, and is often very funny.
THE HOAX is mature, well written, and acted. It is also an enagaging and entertaining film, but I just didn’t love it. I thought I would, but I didn’t.
However, I do recommend it, primarily due to it’s maturity. We don’t get many movies like this anymore, ones that are made for adults.
It is also a “good rental.”
Up next this week is part two of the GRINDHOUSE double feature of films that came out in theatres back in April.
It was made by directors Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez as a tribute to the B-Movies that used to play at drive-ins and as late, late shows at some theatres in the 1970s.
The two movies are being released seperately on DVD and a few weeks ago, I told you about Tarrantino’s DEATH PROOF, and now Rodriguez’s PLANET TERROR is also available on DVD.
PLANET TERROR focusses on a group of people attempting to survive an onslaught of zombie-like creatures as they feud with a military unit.
PLANET TERROR is loud, cheezy and full of cartoon violence.
And I loved it!!!
It was the better half of the GRINDHOUSE film in theatres, and it is a fun film to watch…if you enjoy movies that are loud, cheezy and full of cartoon violence, that is.
BUT, be warned!!
Yes, the two GRINDHOUSE films are now available seperately…but they will eventually come out as one big package, according to the comments made by director Robert Rodriguez in the PLANET TERROR special features.
Finally this week, Steve Carell from THE OFFICE and THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN stars in the most expensive “comedy” ever made, an unfunny, complete-waste-of-your-time release called EVAN ALMIGHTY.
EVAN ALMIGHTY is the unfunny sequel to the very funny 2003 film BRUCE ALMIGHTY.
Jim Carrey and Jennifer Anniston were the stars of that film, and Steve Carell had a small part in that film as the reporter who got the job that Carrey’s character wanted.
And now, they have built a whole film around this secondary character…and they shouldn’t have.
Newly elected to Congress, the former reporter and his family move to Washington where he is asked – by God, played once again by Morgan Freeman – to build an ark.
After that, more strange things start to occur…all different kinds of animals start following him around, he grows a beard that won’t go away no matter how many times he shaves, and none of it is funny, interesting, heartwarming or worthy of your time.
Even though I like the message of faith the film presents, and I like Carell, Freeman, the great Lauren Graham and most of the other actors in the movie, EVEN ALMIGHTY is not a good rental, it is not a good anything.
Skip it, ignore it, pass it by!
The non-comedy EVAN ALMIGHTY, the loud, cheezy and full of cartoon violence GRINDHOUSE film PLANET TERROR, the good rental mature film THE HOAX, and the made-in-Winnipeg film YOU KILL ME, which is also a good rental, are all available now on DVD.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
Just in time for Halloween, I’ll tell you about the religion-themed horror film THE REAPING based on the Ten Plagues of Egypt; the Academy Award nominated horror film POLTERGEIST; and the supernatural horror film set CHUCKY – THE KILLER DVD COLLECTION about a less than perfect doll.
Also next week, the Canadian documentary ANTLERS is about the big game hunters of the forests of Northern Quebec; Kevin Costner plays a bad guy in MR. BROOKS; and THE SOPRANOS – SEASON 6, PART 2 DVD set gives you the chance to make sense out of the series’ ending as often as you’d like, in the privacy of your own home.
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!