Category: The Couch Potato Report

THE COUCH POTATO REPORT – April 28th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on some spectacular releases, and one you may want to avoid.
There is a lot for me to talk about this week, so let’s jump right in, starting with the Academy Award winning fim THE QUEEN.
THE QUEEN is a spectacular movie about what might have taken place behind-the-scenes between Queen Elizabeth and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the week following the death of Princess Diana.
A week that features an outpouring of emotion that no one could have predicted, and an equally unpredictable response from The Royal Family.
Helen Mirren won the Academy Award for her work as Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth The Second, and it was well deserved.
From the moment just before the movie’s opening credits when she looks directly toward the camera, and right at us, she is The Queen.
It is an exceptional performance!!
We may never know what actually happened behind-the-scenes between after the death of Princess Diana, and the DVD of THE QUEEN even features a commentary from British historian & royal expert Robert Lacey acknowledging that.
But what we do get is an exceptionally well done movie that seems plausible, and above all else respects the people in real life that it is based on.
THE QUEEN is a spectacular film.
I will also use the word spectacular to describe the BBC documentary series PLANET EARTH.
There has been a lot of stories in the news this week about our planet, and if you’d like to get a unique look at what we could lose if we don’t take care of it, then this is the box set for you!!
PLANET EARTH is a five-DVD, eleven part series that doesn’t just cover the wildlife on our planet, it also gives us a one-of-a-kind look at mountains, caves, deserts, shallow seas, and much, much more!!
If you’ve ever wanted to see birds fighting caribou, a polar bear against a walrus, or watch North America turn from Summer to autumn using a camera from space, then do not miss PLANET EARTH.
It is simply spectacular!!
Up next this week is the three-DVD set for CHILLY BEACH, the CBC show about the Canadian island town where the tourists are few and the beer is plentiful
If you have never seen the show Saturday mornings on CBC Television, well the two main residents of Chilly Beach are Dale and Frank, two hockey-playing, beer-drinking best friends.
Yes, this show is distinctly Canadian!
CHILLY BEACH might be an animated show that is intended for kids, but as an adult, I enjoyed watching the show this week on DVD as well.
It has a great sense of humour.
Okay, right now I’d like to tell you about the DVD release of the classic television series WKRP IN CINCINNATI.
Finally this show is available on DVD…well, actually, the show that we watched when it aired from 1978 to 1982, the show we loved about the radio station and the eclectic group of people who worked there, the show that remains a television classic, will never appear on DVD.
What is actually available now is an edited version with most of the great music, and even some of the classic scenes and plots taken out, because they have references to songs and their lyrics, and those songs and references aren’t free.
The producers of WKRP would have had to pay upwards of $100,000 for each and every song they featured in the show, and since the show takes place at a radio station, there is lots and lots of music.
So instead of working hard to get permission from the artists and paying them, like many other old shows have done in order to secure a DVD release of their shows as they originally aired, the studio decided to just substitute most of the music.
So if you are a fan of the series as it first aired, you will be very, very disappointed by this three-disc DVD set.
Now, if you are a completest, you would obviously want the episodes as you remember them…as they originally aired….as we’ve enjoyed them on TV for the past 29 years…but they are not available….and due to the cost of licensing the music, they may never be available.
However, the laughs are still there, the characters are still there, and while the episodes are not the same in this edited version as they once were, this box set is the next best thing.
And for now, that will have to be good enough.
Finally this week is THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW!
This TV show originally aired in 1955 and 1956 and they are an important part in Johnny’s journey to stardom.
After a series of local radio and TV jobs in Nebraska, where he was raised, Carson started in Los Angeles in 1950. His sketch comedy show, “Carson’s Cellar,” ran from 1951-53 and drew attention from Hollywood.
A staff writing job for “The Red Skelton Show” followed.
The program provided Carson with a lucky break. When Skelton was injured backstage, Carson took the comedian’s place in front of the cameras.
People then tried to find the right vehicle for the up-and-coming comic, trying him out as host of the summer quiz show “Earn Your Vacation” in 1954 and then “The Johnny Carson Show.”
The 2-DVD set for THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW is very entertaining, but if it more than that. It is also fascinationg.
It allows us to watch a very thin 29-year-old Carson, begin to form some of the mannerisms and style he used to eventually make “The Tonight Show” his own, en route to becomming the undisputed king of late night television.
The very entertaining JOHNNY CARSON SHOW, the edited but still one of the the five best TV shows ever WKRP IN CINCINNATTI, the enjoyable CBC show CHILLY BEACH, the spectacular DVD Box Set for the BBC documantary series PLANET EARTH, and the also spectacular THE QUEEN are all now available on DVD.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
THE ARROW is the true story of how Canada almost built one of the world’s most advanced fighter planes, back in the 1950s; teh TV series ROBSON ARMS debuts on DVD; LITTLE CHILDREN is a very, very interesting movie starring Kate Winslet and Jennifer Connelly; and then there is FLETCH! I’ll also talk about THE JANE DOE EDITION of Chevy Chase’s classic film FLETCH next week.
Also coming up next week, since the action filled, very loud, check-your-brain-at-the-door summer movie season will be upon us in theatres, I will offer you an alternative.
Each week during the summer movie season we will have a FOREIGN FILM FESTIVAL and I will tell you about at least one current release on DVD that you need your brain to enjoy.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – April 21st, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on some great Canadian inventions and two very different films about two very different American presidents.
First up this week is the DVD release of the exceptionally interesting CBC Television special THE GREATEST CANADIAN INVENTION.
I am a technology freak. A gadget geek. I like reading about them, finding out where they came from, how they work…and I am usually one of the first people on my block to have a new item when it comes out for sale.
So it was with great excitement back on Wednesday, January 3rd, that I sat down to watch THE GREATEST CANADIAN INVENTION, a two hour show that celebrated the finest innovations and innovators our country has ever produced.
Canadians from Coast to Coast to Coast used the CBC’s website to vote for the invention they thought was the greatest and the show counts down the top fifty, ending up at our nation’s greatest invention.
And I enjoyed this show immensely.
No, sadly, it wasn’t perfect, but I did learn alot about some unique items, some I didn’t know were Canadian.
For the record, the Lightbulb, the Telephone, Five Pin Bowling, Pacemaker, the Electric Wheelchair, Ski-Doo, Electric Oven and the Paint roller were all invented by Canadians!!
Now, I have heard of the man who hosts the show – CBC Radio’s Bob McDonald from Quirks and Quarks – a great radio invention that can be heard on CBC Radio One Saturdays – including today – from 12 am to 1 pm.
And yes, I also know who astronaut Chris Hadfield, basketball MVP Steve Nash, Playwright and Columnist Drew Hayden Taylor, home decoration specialist Debbie Travis, and writer Margaret Atwood, are, as well as several of the other commentators.
But, in all honesty, I didn’t know who some of the commentators were, and I found that worked against the show, not the inventions – the show.
However, if you already know who Mike Holmes, Mariam McDonald, Abena Otchere, Vikram Vij, and Joyce Gunhouse or Judy Cornish are you won’t have that problem.
No, THE GREATEST CANADIAN INVENTION isn’t perfect, but what it does exceptionally well is tell us the who, when and where of these inventions.
That is why it is a must see, and a great DVD to own.
Up next this week is one movie about an American president that is worth seeing and one that you should skip.
I’ll start with the one that you should see: DEATH OF A PRESIDENT is a British made film that follows the investigation of the fictional assassination of President George W. Bush on October 19th, 2007.
This film uses actual footage of Mr. Bush, Vice President Cheny, and other top level officials and combines that with interviews with actors who are playing written roles.
The film has a great script and teh story is is told as an investigative documentary that takes place a few years into the future and examines the as-yet-unsolved crime.
There was only one time, once during DEATH OF A PRESIDENT where the illusion that this was a real documentary was broken.
I won’t tell you where that is, as perhaps you won’t notice it and you won’t fault the film at all.
For me, that was the movie’s only flaw. Otherwise, it was an exceptionally well done, and very interesting movie. It is one I think you should see, regardless of your political views of the Bush administration.
DEATH OF A PRESIDENT is about the fictional assasination of the current sitting U.S. President and I recommend you see it.
BOBBY is a film about the real assasination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, a man who could have become president.
Kennedy was a great man. This is not a great film and you should ignore it.
Bobby Kennedy remains a fascinating character almost 39 years after his death, but instead of focussing on him writer-director Emilio Estevez instead uses Kennedy’s assasination as a backdrop, instead, trying to engage us with the mostly uninteresting stories of 22 people who just happened to be at the Ambassador Hotel when Kennedy was killed.
The cast of BOBBY – including Anthony Hopkins, Sharon Stone, William H. Macy, Elijah Wood, Lindsey Lohan, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Helen Hunt, Martin Sheen – is quite impressive, and their acting is not at fault here.
This film could have taken place at any hotel in any city on any date.
Using the Ambassador Hotel on June 6th, 1968, is a failed attempt to give the film meaning.
It doesn’t work. The only part of BOBBY that will ever be remembered are the clips of Kennedy’s speaches that are contained in the film.
And with the events this week in Virginia and HOuston, some of his words and questions remain just as relevant as ever.
Someday there will be a great movie made about this great man, but BOBBY isn’t it.
However, it is now available on DVD alongside the fictional and interesting DEATH OF A PRESIDENT and the exceptional CBC television special THE GREATEST CANADIAN INVENTION.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
I’ll talk about Helen Mirren’s exceptional Oscar Winning performance in THE QUEEN; the spectacular documentary series PLANET EARTH; we’ll go to CHILLY BEACH, the Canadian island town where the tourists are few and the beer is plentiful; I’ll tell you why you need to ignore the DVD release of the classic television series WKRP IN CINCINNATI; and in THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW from 1955 and 56 we get to see the man at work before he made “The Tonight Show” his own.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – April 14th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on a hotel, some children of men, a crude awakening and some vice cops from Miami.
First up this week is the DVD release of the CBC series AT THE HOTEL.
This series from Ken Finkleman – the brilliant creator of THE NEWSROOM takes place at the upscale hotel Ch‚teau Rousseau in an undefined Canadian city.
During the course of this six episode series there are dozens of stories that take place as we meet the staff, the guests, and a wide array of very unique people, good and bad.
There is also time spent introducing us to a writer, who is working on a book, and the family who owns the Hotel.
But in the end, only a few of the stories and characters we meet are interesting and have any resonance.
AT THE HOTEL is a very ambitious show. It looks great, is well written, and features appearances from some of Canada’s best-known film, television and theatre actors in roles both small and large.
It is funny, dramatic, a murder mystery, and at times it is even a musical…but in the end AT THE HOTEL is…well, it is like a hotel stay itself.
You check in, maybe you watch a little TV or take a swim in the pool, but in the end, you walk away from your stay and rarely think about that Hotel again.
I admit that I did find AT THE HOTEL to be entertaining and interesting, but it is too methodical in it’s storytelling, and there is too much time wasted on too many secondary characters, and it is for that reason that I can’t recommend it.
The show wasn’t a waste of my time, and I don’t think it would be a waste of yours either, but there are better things to watch.
Things like the film CHILDREN OF MEN, for instance.
In this film – set in futuristic London in the year 2027 – women can no longer have babies and knowing that it’s days are numbered, society begins to crumble under a wave of violence and anarchy.
Clive Owen from INSIDE MAN and CLOSER is the man who’s job is to protect a mysteriously pregnant girl and the possible future of the human race from a group of terrorists who want her dead.
And that is all that I am going to say about this film except this: Add it to your must see list now. It is dramatic, full of science-fiction elements, and has great action sequences.
CHILDREN OF MEN has something for everyone, plus, it is a unique cinematic vision. The people behind the film created a world and characters that aren’t like the ones you see in movies every day, and that affords it an extra level of appreciation.
I didn’t love the movie, but I will see it again, at least once. CHILDREN OF MEN is just that interesting.
Up next this week is the eye opening documentary A CRUDE AWAKENING: THE OIL CRASH.
Using archival footage, shots of burning oil fields, and interviews with experts, the film presents the facts about the planet’s dwindling oil resources.
A CRUDE AWAKENING is informative and insightful as it describes the oil crisis in a way we can all understand.
However, no matter how insightful, informative, and true the facts are, the filmmakers don’t make the film entertaining enough.
Yes, it is full of vital information that we all need to know, but even though it is only ninety minutes long, it seems much, much longer because it is just fact after fact after fact after fact.
But, even if you have to watch it in multiple sittings, A CRUDE AWAKENING: THE OIL CRASH is still a movie that you should see…because we will all need to do our part to solve this crisis.
Okay, finally this week is the latest DVD releases from the classic 1980’s series MIAMI VICE.
By now I am sure you you have heard of the 1984 to 1989 television series about the adventures of the vice squad detectives of the Miami Police Department starring Don Johnson as Detective James ‘Sonny’ Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Detective Ricardo ‘Rico’ Tubbs.
What you might not know isthat Season 3 and 4 are now available on DVD, and in addition to the show itself, the best part about these two seasons is that we get to watch some of the entertainment world’s biggest names today, in some of their earliest roles.
Some of those people are comedian Chris Rock, Steve Buscemi from FARGO and THE SOPRANOS, THE MATRIX’S Laurence Fishburne and SCHINDLER’S LIST Oscar nominee Liam Neeson.
I was a fan of MIAMI VICE when it originally aired, and I had a great time this week watching it again on DVD.
MIAMI VICE – SEASONS 3 and 4, the eye opening documentary A CRUDE AWAKENING: THE OIL CRASH, the very interesting CHILDREN OF MEN, and the not completely a waste of your time CBC series AT THE HOTEL are all now available on DVD.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
THE GREATEST CANADIAN INVENTION celebrates and counts down the finest innovations and innovators our country has produced; DEATH OF A PRESIDENT follows the investigation of the fictional assassination of President George W. Bush on October 19th, 2007 while BOBBY is the story of the real assasination of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy; and in THE JOHNNY CARSON SHOW from 1955 and 56 we get to see the man at work before he made “The Tonight Show” his own.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here next time on The Couch!

The Couch Potato Report – April 6th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on one of the world’s greatest directors, a “classic” Canadian film and more.
Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s – when I was a kid – I loved going to the movies! Yes, in the winter I also played hockey, and baseball was also my summer past time, but all year ’round, I went to the movies.
I have many great childhood memories of sitting in a theatre, with my pop and candy, and being taken to different places around the world through films, and those experiences are one of the reasons why I am as passionate about movies as I am today.
It was at the movies that I got to know the works of some of the world’s greatest filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, and Robert Altman.
Especially Altman.
He is a filmmaker who was born on February 20thÖand we share a birthday. In 1970 Robert Altman made a movie called MASH, about some doctors in the military…I am sure you’ve heard of it, it was a huge hit and they even made a long-running TV series about it.
The reason his military movie appealed to me, was because my Dad was in the military, and as a kid who looked up to his father, I was always interested in things that were connected to him.
Robert Altman had great success in the early 1970s, but as the eighties began, that success waned.
However, he had a career renaissance that started in the early 1990s with a spectacular film called THE PLAYER.
And now all eight films that he made, starting with that comeback film, during the remaining years of his life are available in the spectacular eight film box set THE ROBERT ALTMAN BOX.
Those films are THE PLAYER, READY TO WEAR, SHORT CUTS, COOKIE’s FORTUNE, DR. T AND THE WOMEN, KANSAS CITY, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION and the Academy Award winning film GOSFORD PARK.
Of the eight films THE PLAYER, SHORT CUTS and GOSFORD PARK are the classics, but each movie is distinct in it’s own way, especially since Altman doesn’t seem to waste a single moment on screen, and the diaglogue in each of his movies is not only well written, but the people in his films talk the way people in the real world do.
Their not just characters, they are humans.
THE ROBERT ALTMAN BOX is a great way for you to get to know the work of a master of filmmaking, a man who in 2006 was given an Honorary Academy Award for a career that has repeatedly reinvented the art form and inspired filmmakers and audiences alike.
This BOX SET is available in stores now, and I think you should check it out so you can begin making some cinematic memories of your own…childhood or otherwise.
Yes, let me talk about something other than Hollywood as I recap some other notable releases this week.
A naive barber is the main character in the new-to-DVD “classic” Canadian film HIGHWAY 61.
Don McKellar from TWITCH CITY and THE RED VIOLIN is the aforementioned barber and the film allows us to spend some time with him one summer as he travels down highway 61 with a mysterious red-haired woman who asks him for a ride.
HIGHWAY 61 is a classic in the sense that if you saw it when it first came out in 1991 and loved it, then you will still love it today.
Otherwise, you probably won’t get much out of this rock and roll road show.
I am not the world’s biggest fan of the film, but I had a great time watching it again on DVD.
I also had a great time watching the latest screen performance from a woman who doesn’t act in very many movies these days.
The great Ashley Judd from KISS THE GIRLS, DOUBLE JEOPARDY and DE-LOVELY is back, and she is playing a woman searching for love in COME EARLY MORNING.
This movie is not a classic, but it is a very interesting story about a woman who just can’t seem to allow herself to be happy…unless there is alcohol involved.
However, the film does respect it’s lead character, and I am happy to report that this isn’t your usual “girl meets boy, boy loses girl, boy wants girl back” Hollywood film.
Everything that happens makes sense, and for that reason, and the presense of Ashley Judd, I enjoyed COME EARLY MORNING
I have two other releases to quickly tell you about this morning, the Academy Award winning Best Animated Feature HAPPY FEET has tap danced it’s way onto DVD.
If you are looking for a film for the kids the Easter Weekend, this story about a penguin who can’t sing, but can dance, will definately entertain the younger ones.
But if you are an adult, this film loses steam at around the 55 minute mark when it goes from an upbeat, very entertaining movie about some dancing and singing penguins, to a message film.
Now I am not saying that there is anything wrong with message films, but when HAPPY FEET starts to preach about saving the world’s oceans and protecting teh environment it all just seems out of place…especially in a film about some singing and dancing penguins.
I think kids will enjoy the film from start to finish, but I only enjoyed the first half.
But…for that first 55 minutes HAPPY FEET is a great film and worthy of the Oscar it won.
Finally this week is the three DVD Box Set for part one of season three of the spectacular TV series ENTOURAGE.
This show is about film star Vincent Chase, his group of friends from New York, and his agent who live and work in and around the movie business in Hollywood.
This series features great work by Canadian actress Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Oscar winning filmmaking Canucks James Cameron and Paul Haggis.
ENTOURAGE does a great job of taking us behind the scenes of the movie business, but it does a much better job at allowing us to spend time with four guys who are enjoying life.
Due to it’s language and content, ENTOURAGE isn’t a series for everyone, but it is a show that I love, and I enjoyed watching this DVD set again this week.
ENTOURAGE – SEASON THREE, PART ONE, the Oscar winning HAPPY FEET, Ashley Judd’s COME EARLY MORNING, the “classic” Canadian film HIGHWAY 61, and the eight film DVD set THE ROBERT ALTMAN BOX are all now available on DVD.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
I will talk about the engaing and entertaining CBC series AT THE HOTEL.
Also next week, I will share my thoughts on teh very interesting film CHILDREN OF MEN; the eye opening A CRUDE AWAKENING; and the latest DVD releases of the classic 1980’s series MIAMI VICE.
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 24th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on a Genie nominee, an Oscar nominee and the fifth sequel to the Best Picture of 1976.
First up this week is a film you might not have heard of, but a few weeks ago it stood as one of the best Canadian films of last year at The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television’s Genie Awards.
The film is called CHEECH.
It is a film from Quebec about six people living through the worst day of their lives.
The less than respectable people in the film – the lead character runs an escort service – keep making bad decisions as their day goes on, and each one seems to make things worse.
One of the female escorts would like to join a new agency, so as a sign of good faith, she has told them the best way to rob her current employer.
Meanwhile, her current boss is trying to increase his business, and he has an assistant who is in love with one of the women who works with them.
Nothing seems to go right for these people…nothing…and that is a credit to CHEECH as just when you think you might know what is going to happen, it takes a twist or turn and you are back at square one, guessing what is going to happen again.
CHEECH is not an unfamiliar film, in fact most of it will seem very familiar, especially if you saw last year’s Academy Award winning film CRASH…but what is unique about it, is that fact that it takes place in Quebec, and the sights and sounds are all pure Canadian!
Something else that is unique is the fact that the main character stops whatever he is doing several times during the film for a daily affirmation, in hopes of getting out of his depression.
And when he stops, the people around him stop, and the action in the film stops.
CHEECH is not a perfect film, and it’s subject matter, language and violence prevent me from recommending it to everyone, but if you are interested in seeing how the lives of six less than perfect people collide, then perhaps you should look for it.
It isn’t superb, or all that unfamiliar, but CHEECH does have it’s unique moments.
Up next this week is the Academy Award nominated film BLOOD DIAMOND.
Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated in the Best Actor category and Djimon Hounsou from the movies GLADIATOR and IN AMERICA was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for their superb work in this thought provoking film about the diamond trade in Africa.
In BLOOD DIAMOND DiCaprio plays an ex Mercenary and Hounsou a fisherman.
Both men are African, but their histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives.
Jennifer Connelly from A BEAUTIFUL MIND also stars in the film as a journalist who is looking to tell the true story of Africa’s diamond trade.
BLOOD DIAMOND features great acting and an engaging story and group of actors, and it also depicts the savagry and barbarism that people in Africa will go through to get their hands on diamonds.
At times it is a tough film to sit through, but at all times it is honest.
If you are thinking of buying a diamond for someone you love, I sugest that you see this film first AND you should also watch the documentary on the DVD called BLOOD ON THE STONE.
In will open your eyes, I guarantee it!
Our final film this week is the very satisfying ROCKY BALBOA.
At the Academy Awards in 1976 the original ROCKY, about an underdog boxer from Philadelphia who was given a chance to succeed, was named best picture.
While it’s sequels 2 through 4 didn’t win Oscars, they did win the hearts of movie goers as The Italian Stallion became a worldwide sensation…on screen and off.
After ROCKY 5 came out and flopped in 1990 it looked like we would never get another one…but now ROCKY BALBOA is available and in this sixth and reportedly final chapter Rocky comes out of retirement to step into the ring for the last time.
I am am fan of the ROCKY films. I grew up with them, I watch them today, and I love them. But when I heard that Stallone was making another one I was very, very skeptical.
But the film is very satisfying, both to me as a fan o fthe series and characters, to me as a fan of films, and to me, as someone who is getting older, and isn’t always all that happy about that fact.
ROCKY BALBOA is a very entertaining film, even if you have never seen any of the others.
ROCKY BALBOA, and all of the ROCKY films for that matter, are now available on DVD. So is the entertaining and informative BLOOD DIAMOND and the not that unfamiliar, but unique in it’s own right film CHEECH.
Coming up in two weeks on the next Couch Potato Report
We’ll look back at the life and career of the late great film director Robert Altman with his eight film box set THE ROBERT ALTMAN BOX; a naive barber is the main character in the new-to-DVD classic Canadian film HIGHWAY 61; the great Ashley Judd is a woman searching for love in COME EARLY MORNING; and the animated film HAPPY FEET tap dances it’s way onto DVD.
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 20th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on two great TV series, a useless movie, with a great making of, and James Bond.
I have said it before, and I will say it again: One of the greatest things about DVDs is the fact that we can now sit back on our couches and watch old TV shows and series in their entirety, whether it is St. Patrick’s day or not.
Neither video cassettes or laserdiscs offered us that option as easily as DVD does, and I for one love seeing shows I love again and again!
One show that I loved when it aired in the late 1990s – on CBC no less – was the unique series TWITCH CITY, and it now available on DVD for my viewing pleasure once again!!
The very funny TWITCH CITY takes place in the Toronto neighbourhood of Kensington Market.
Don McKellar from THE RED VIOLIN and PRAIRIE GIANT stars in the show as Curtis, a couch potato who never leaves his apartment and is constantly watching television.
For some reason, I related to the character.
In the first episode Curtis’ roomate Nathan is sent to prison for killing a homeless man with a can of cat food.
In a nod to that other great television series filmed in the area, the homeless man was played by Al Waxman, who had been the star of the 1970s sitcom KING OF KENSINGTON.
Prior to his incarceration Nathan’s girlfriend Hope was about to move in with him, but now that he is in prison, Curtis rents out his room.
However, he is still interested in having Hope move in.
Throughout the series, Curtis and Hope get to know each other better, they continually try to find new roomates, and they watch The Rex Reilly Show, a Jerry Springer-esque show that always has a unique topic to hook viewers with.
TWITCH CITY didn’t have mainstream success when season one aired in 1998 or when it came back in 2000, and to thsi day it is still thought of as the second best series ever made about Kensington, but those of us who watched it, enjoyed it, and we can now own it on DVD!
And who knows, maybe some day KING OF KENSINGTON will come out on DVD as well so we can watch more TV.
Most North American viewers watch more than forty hours per week, I certainly do, and the time I spent watching TWITCH CITY was time well spent.
I would also make that claim regarding DOCTOR WHO. I have spent my whole life watching this series, and I always enjoy it!!
DOCTOR WHO is the long-running BBC science fiction show about the adventures of a mysterious time-traveller known as “the Doctor”, who explores time and space with his companions, solving problems and righting wrongs.
DOCTOR WHO originally ran from 1963 to 1989. Then, a television movie was made in 1996, and the programme was successfully relaunched in 2005 with the great Christopher Eccelston starring as the title character.
Like all Time Lords, the Doctor has the ability to “regenerate” his body when near death, allowing for the convenient recasting of the lead actor, so when Eccelston left the show after one season, he was replaced by David Tennant.
It is Tennant’s shows that are now available on DVD in DOCTOR WHO – THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES and they are a great addition to the legacy of DOCTOR WHO.
The series brings back classic villains, introduces interesting new ones, and if you are a long time fan of the show, there is even the return of an old friend.
Even if you are not a long time fan of the show, the episode where one of the Doctor’s former traveling companions will still pack an emotional whallop. The show is that well written and acted.
But it is also fun! Fun to watch, and in SERIES TWO the actors make it look like it was fun to film as well.
If you missed any of the DOCTOR WHO episodes when they aired Monday nights on CBC recently, you can catch them again as they air on Saturdays from 12:30 a.m. – 1:30 a.m.
And the incredible DOCTOR WHO – THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES is also now on DVD.
Okay, I have two more releases to discuss with you this week, and I will do that briefly.
The reason I am being brief about the film SHORTBUS starring CBC radio’s own Sook-Yin Lee is because the film is useless!
Completely and utterly useless.
In this film, people go to the exclusive club Shortbus to work out problems in their sexual relationships.
There are straight people, gay people, and some who are just lonely and alone.
All of them are trying to work out their problems.
And the actors in SHORTBUS are not pretending or acting, this is a film full of very graphic situations.
John Cameron Mitchell, the writer and director of the film, is on record saying that SHORTBUS is that it is an uncensored look at relationships.
My opinion is that he knew how uninteresting a film he was making, so he decided to put as much nudity in it as possible in order to get people talking about the movie.
But in the end, SHORTBUS is just a film full of desperate people, in desperate situations and none of it all that interesting, entertaining, or even titallating.
However…the DVD includes a making of featurette that is interesting. It seems as if the filmmakers actually took some time to plan out, cast, create and film their movie, and while I have nothing good to say about their work, I did find the process that they went through quite engaging.
So let me surmise…as a film SHORTBUS is completely and utterly useless, but the story of how it got made is actually very interesting.
Now, lets get away from the useless side of cinema and move toward something more usefull.
Yes, the latest James Bond film is very usefull, and entertaining and even if you have never seen a Bond film before, you can still enjoy CASINO ROYALE.
There are great action sequences, an interesting story, and if you have watched these films over the years, or read the books, there is even a nod or two to the series’ history.
Plus, CASINO ROYALE has another thing going for it! Someone named Daniel is now Bond…James Bond.
Daniel Craig is a superb James Bond and CASINO ROYALE is now available on DVD, alongside the utterly useless SHORTBUS, the always entertaining DOCTOR WHO – THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES and the 1990s CBC series TWITCH CITY.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
CHEECH is a Genie nominated film from Quebec about six people living through the worst day of their lives.
Also next week, Sylvester Stallone returns is the very satisfying ROCKY BALBOA; Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly star in the Oscar nominated BLOOD DIAMOND; and the great Ashley Judd is a woman searching for love in COME EARLY MORNING.
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 10th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on an utterly fascinating documentary and three comedies.
A few week ago there were two movie awards ceremonies.
There was the Oscars, presented by The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences.
And the Genies, awarded by The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
Most people, including me, gave a wealth of coverage to The Oscars
And very little coverage to The Genies.
The reason “I” did that is because even though there were several films this year – like THE ROCKET, EVE AND THE FIRE HORSE and BON COP BAD COP – that you may have heard of, and can find on DVD, there are more titles that we may never be able to find on DVD.
THE LITTLE BOOK OF REVENGE, THE SECRET LIFE OF HAPPY PEOPLE, CHEECH, EIGHTEEN, THE BEAUTIFUL BEAST, were just some of the films nominated for Genies. How many of those have you heard of?
How about MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES?
Well, that film won Genie Award for Best Documentary and I urge you to search it out because it is now available on DVD.
And it is utterly fascinating.
MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is a feature length documentary on the world and work of renowned Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky.
He takes pictures of quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines, dams and other things around the world that he refers to as ‘manufactured landscapes’.
One of the many incredible places he visits is China to visit one place where they build items, and other where they take them apart.
We also get to visit the Three Gorges Dam, which will soon become the largest hydroelectric river dam in the world, and meet some of the more than a million people who were relocated to make way for it.
And MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES also takes us to a factory floor.
The opening eight minutes of the film is a single tracking shot that shows us a factory floor that is over a kilometre long.
Some movies entertain you, others overwhelm you, MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES is the latter.
It is utterly fascinating, it is now it is available on DVD, and it is a must see!
Search it out!
The other three releases I have for you this week are comedies.
The always brilliant Rowan Atkinson stars in the black comedy KEEPING MUM.
Atkinson plays a pastor who is preoccupied with writing the perfect sermon.
So, he fails to realize that his wife is having an affair with her golf instructor, that his children are up to no good, and that his sweet, elderly, very helpfull new housekeeper might be killing people.
KEEPING MUM isn’t as funny as some of Atkinson’s other work, like any of his MISTER BEAN episodes or his brief appearance in FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, but it is a quaint little British film that I enjoyed.
There is nothing little, quanit, or British about our next comedy.
The self-proclaimed “Greatest Band on Earth” debut on DVD with their film TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY;
Jack Black is an actor. He has been in the films KING KONG, THE HOLIDAY, HIGH FIDELITY and NACHO LIBRE. But he is also a very talented musician.
In real life, he is in a band called TENACIOUS D with his friend, and fellow actor, the lesser known Kyle Gass.
As a duo they write and perform heavy metal music, with a comedic twist to it.
THE PICK OF DESTINY is a fictional look at how K.G. and J.B. got together and it is the type of comedy made for people who are fans of NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, DAZED AND CONFUSED or HAROLD AND KUMAR GO TO WHITE CASTLE.
Namely, me.
Finally this week is the film BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN.
Comedian Sascha Baron Cohen created the character of Borat for his TV series “Da Ali G Show” and yes…everything you’ve heard about this wonderfully bizarre satire is true.
It’s disgusting and offensive, and you’ll laugh so hard, in spite of yourself
Simply put, it is one of the funniest movies ever made.
The comedies BORAT, TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY and KEEPING MUM and the utterly fascinating Genie Award winning Best Documentary feature MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES are all available now on DVD.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
The unique CBC series TWITCH CITY from the late nineties is now on DVD.
And so is the incredible still airing on CBC show DOCTOR WHO – THE COMPLETE SECOND SERIES.
Plus, next week I will talk about the useless film SHORTBUS starring CBC radio’s own Sook-Yin Lee and the film that finally allowed a man named Daniel to become JAMES BOND – CASINO ROYALE.
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 24h, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on a show and movie I just don’t understand and one group won’t just shut up and sing.
The Trailer Park Boys is a popular Canadian mockumentary television series that premiered in April of 2001 and focusses on the misadventures of Ricky, Julian, Bubbles and the other residents of the fictional Sunnyvale Trailer Park, in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.
Filmed like a documentary, and seen from the camera person’s point of view, the low-budget program has been very succesful, in fact it is the highest rated Canadian series on the cable network Showcase.
And now there is TRAILER PARK BOYS: THE MOVIE.
The movie features a storyline that is not related to the TV show, but features many of the same characters.
In the film Ricky and Julian get arrested for robbing an ATM machine and when they get out after spending 18 months in jail they come up with a scheme to steal large amounts of untraceable coins.
Now, let me be honest. I don’t get it!
I personally know people who love this show and the characters.
I’ve seen their ratings, so I know that there are people across Canada – and the world for that matter – who love the Trailer Park Boys – and the film was nominated in the category of BEST MOTION PICTURE at the recent 27th Annual Genie Awards.
But I do not get it.
I don’t understand the appeal, I have never laughed, not even once at the TV series or the movie, and I don’t like any of the characters.
I don’t know why anyone would watch this stuff.
But that is the beauty of the entertainment business! There is something for everyone!!
I don’t have to like TRAILER PARK BOYS for it to be succesful, and you don’t have to like everything that I like.
So if you are a fan of the TV show, then you need to see TRAILER PARK BOYS: THE MOVIE. If you are like me, and just don’t understand why anyone would subject themselves to this piece of entertainment, than ignore it and let what happens in Sunnyvale Trailer Park stay in Sunnyvale Trailer Park.
Yes, in the entertainment business there is something for everyone and this week the next two titles are for me, and I will recommend each of them very highly.
Especially the documentary DIXIE CHICKS – SHUT UP AND SING.
Prior to that off the cuff statement from lead singer Natalie Maines in London the Dixie Chicks were one of the most successful bands on the planet.
After it, the entire world changed for the singer and her bandmates Martie and Emily.
But it wasn’t just their record sales that were affected by what was said, and this spectacular film documents all of it.
SHUT UP AND SING was produced and directed by Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple and Cecilia Peck and it shows the firestorm of organized and personal right wing attacks that erupted against the Chicks for expressing a negative personal opinion about President George W. Bush.
In addition to the maestrom, the film also shows the ladies’ resiliance as they attempt to put it behind them and start working on their new album.
An album that would go on to win all five categories for which it was nominated at the recent Grammy Awards, including the coveted Song, Record, and Album of the Year.
I am a huge fan of the Dixie Chicks, and I am also a huge fan of documentaries that take us inside stories and places we wouldn’t normally get to go. SHUT UP AND SING does both, and it is a film I think you should see.
There is even a reference to our province in it.
The final release I have for you this week is THE PRESTIGE.
This film is about the rivalry of Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, two Victorian era stage magicians in late 19th- and early 20th-century London.
Angier blames Borden for a tragic accident, and a competitive one-upmanship ensues, in which both magicians, obsessed with creating the best stage illusion, stop at nothing to uncover the secret of each other’s acts, with deadly results.
Co-written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the man who gave us the superb films MEMENTO and BATMAN BEGINS, THE PRESTIGE stars Christian Bale as Borden and Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier and also features Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Piper Perabo and Andy Serkis.
And that is all I am going to say about this movie, other than to tell you to see it, and don’t think too much about it.
THE PRESTIGE is a tremendous film, and it is my opinion that the less you know about it, the more you will enjoy it.
The tremendous film THE PRESTIGE, the spectacular documentary SHUT UP AND SING from the Dixie Chicks and TRAILER PARK BOYS: THE MOVIE, the movie that proves that there is something out there for everyone to enjoy, are all available now on DVD.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more reviews for you 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 17th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on one Oscar nominee who is Canadian and another who is guaranteed to win!
When the 79th Annual Academy Awards are given out next Sunday night in Hollywood Canadian actor Ryan Gosling’s name will be one of those listed off in the category of Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for his work in the film HALF NELSON.
It is my belief – and the belief of prognoticators world wide – that Forest Whitaker will deservedly win the category for his work in THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND.
But if there was going to be an upset, Gosling’s performance is the one that could do it.
In HALF NELSON Gosling plays an eighth-grade history teacher in an inner-city school deep in the heart of Brooklyn.
He is a passionate, committed, engaging person who is trying to teach the kids to understand history, instead of just memorizing it.
But he has a secret…at least until the night that one of his 13-year-old students finds him almost passed out in a bathroom stall – from smoking crack.
After that night the film focuses on the unique friendship between the two, and his struggles to prevent her from ending up like him.
If you are looking for an interesting, engaging film, full of real people that doesn’t promise you a happy ending, but simply tells you the story of two people and their effect on each other’s lives, then search out HALF NELSON.
It isn’t the type of film you can watch with the whole family, but I recommend that the grown-ups see this superb film featuring an incredible performance from an up and coming Canadian Actor.
Now if you are wondering why Ryan Gosling’s name sounds familiar, he is the person who won Rachel McAdam’s heart in the very entertaining, and very romantic film THE NOTEBOOK.
No, Ryan Gosling isn’t expected to win an Oscar this year…but Martin Scorsese is.
The director has never won an Academy Award, despite the fact that he has been nominated five times in the past for such classics as RAGING BULL and GOODFELLAS.
Scorsese will get his first trophy on February 25th for his latest classic THE DEPARTED
In their song “Dead On Arrival the band Fall Out Boy sing: “The songs you grow to like never stick at first”, and that is true about movies as well.
When I first saw Scorsese’s latest in theatres, I didn’t care for it at all, but after watching it again this week on DVD, let me paraphrase that song lyric: The movies you grow to like never stick at first.
If you are like me and think TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL and GOODFELLAS to be some of the best films ever made, then go out and get THE DEPARTED.
It is worthy of the Scorsese legacy.
In the film, Matt Damon is a mob informant who becomes a police officer and Leonardo DiCaprio is a police officer who becomes a gangster.
Eventually each side realized that their is a mole in their operation and violence and bloodshed are the result.
In addition to Damon and DiCaprio, the cast of THE DEPARTED is all a-list: Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg – who was the only actor in the film to receive an Academy Award nomination – and the great Alec Baldwin.
THE DEPARTED is actually a remake of a superb Hong Kong action film called INFERNAL AFFAIRS – but if you pick up the superb TWO DISC SPECIAL EDITION DVD you will find out that in addition to taking material from that film, it is also based on a real mobster in Boston.
Plus, that edition of the film also has an 85 minute documentary featuring Martin Scorsese talking about this film, and his many others.
Now, if you are curious about the sourse material after you have seen the remake, well you are in luck my friend!
There is a new Special Collector’s Edition Box Set available for the incredible INFERNAL AFFAIRS and that set features the original, it’s prequel and a sequel.
INFERNAL AFFAIRS 2 and 3 aren’t as good as number one, but it is my opinion that THE DEPARTED is better.
It is also my opinion that you see them for yourself and make up your own mind.
The final release I have for you is THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON.
This is a documentary on the life of the former Beatle that focusses on his life in the early seventies when he turned from being a lovable moptop into an anti-war activist.
As a fan of Lennon’s, I was hoping that this film would give us some never-before-seen insight into his well documented FBI file, and feature an explanation of why Richard Nixon and his White House staff always seemed to have it in for him.
And there is some of that, but the majority of THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON is for people who don’t know the man’s post-Beatle history.
If you are one of those people, or a Lennon completist, than this is a must see.
Actually, the film is also a must see for those of us who know the story and have heard and seen the interviews with Lennon countless times before, simply because the man and his life will always be interesting and worth seeing.
THE U.S. VS. JOHN LENNON, Martin Scorsese’s soon to be Oscar winning THE DEPARTED, the Special Collector’s Edition Box Set for INFERNAL AFFAIRS – the film his movie is based on, and HALF NELSON featuring an Academy Award nominated performance from London, Ontario’s Ryan Thomas Gosling are all available now on DVD.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
In TRAILER PARK BOYS: THE MOVIE – Ricky, Julian and Bubbles come up
with a scheme to steal large amounts of untraceable coins; After sweeping the Grammy Awards the DIXIE CHICKS documentary SHUT UP AND SING will debut on DVD, FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION features the same folks that gave us WAITING FOR GUFFMAN and BEST IN SHOW and in THE PRESTIGE two magicians vie to be the world’s best.
Then, in two weeks, director Terry Gilliam’s made-in-Saskatchewan film
TIDELAND debuts on DVD.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll be back with more thoughts and reviews (from the
couch in 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 30th, 2007
This week The Couch Potato Report shines the spotlight on a very engaging documentary, a very entertaining British Royle family and the Oscar nominations.
CHINA RISES is a four part CBC series from the same people who made HOCKEY: A PEOPLE’S HISTORY and it is a very interesting look at a country that
consists of one-fifth of the world’s population, uses a third of the world’s steel and almost half of it’s cement.
I must admit that even though I have many friends who are Chinese, I didn’t know that much about China before I started to watch this two-DVD Box Set.
And now I want to know more.
CHINA RISES does feature stories about The Great Wall, the forbidden city and Chinese food, and they all have their own merits, but the series primarily tells the stories of the people.
The people who have succeeded in the new China, those who are working hard to succeed, and the people who have been left behind.
The eyes of the world will be focused on China next year when the Beijing Olympics Begin on August 8th, or 8-8-08 as this documentary shows us, and if you want to take a unique look inside the country now, I suggest you check out CHINA RISES.
It is a superb series that gives you a look at the incredible transformation that the country is undergoing – for better and for worse.
Now, for more on CHINA RISES you can go online to www.cbc.ca/chinarises.
Next up this week is a surprisingly entertaining BBC series.
If you always thought that SEINFELD was a show about nothing, wait until you meet THE ROYLE FAMILY.
The Royles are a British family who appear to do nothing other than eat, drink tea, smoke, watch TV and talk…man do they talk.
Jim Royle is the family patriarch and his long-suffering wife is Barbara. Denise and Anthony are their kids and Dave is Denise’s fiance.
With the exception of a few neighbours and a grandparent, the five Royles are the only people you meet in this six-episode series.
Now, when I sat down to watch this show I had never seen or even heard of it.
And as I sit here with you this morning, I must tell you that I loved it!
Sure, THE ROYLE FAMILY are just a group of people who sit around the house and eat, drink tea, smoke, watch TV and talk, but unlike most North American series we see these days about families, there is no anger or negativity.
Sure, The Royles make smart-alec comments about each other, and they poke fun and tease, but they have genuine love and enjoy each others company.
But I enjoyed being in the company of THE ROYLE FAMILY.
Now, the other two films I have to tell you about this week are the horror films SAW III and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING.
I am not going to take up much of your time with these releases, other than to say if you have seen any of the other films in these series, and you enjoyed them, then you will probably enjoyed these two movies.
If you haven’t, then you won’t.
I am no longer a huge fan of the horror genre, I think I lost interest in it when I lost my twenties, but I will admit that SAW III and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING are worth your time.
If you enjoy watching films like this.
To the surprise of no one SAW III and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING were ignored when the nominations for the 79th annual Academy Awards were announced on last Tuesday morning.
Also to no one’s surprise, the nominations confirmed what all prognosticators already knew: the only open race is for “Best Picture.”
Even prior to the Golden Globes, and their nominations, the following five of the big six races were already determined, due to buzz, the fact that the people themselves were showing contrition regarding winning an Oscar, and their performances themselves.
It is true that these people can lose their Oscars between now and Tuesday, February 20th when the Oscar Ballots are due, but as of today, those guaranteed to win on Oscar night are:
Best Actress
Helen Mirren, THE QUEEN
Best Actor
Forest Whitaker, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND
Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, DREAMGIRLS
Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy, DREAMGIRLS
And
Best Director
Martin Scorsese, THE DEPARTED.
So now, out of the five nominees, who wins Best Picture?
Well, BABEL was a surprise Golden Globe winner, so it has to make the final two; THE DEPARTED has no buzz at all in this category, but it will (finally) give Marty his Award, and Mark Wahlberg’s nominations shows the academy notices a great performance – yes “Marky Mark” is now an Academy Award nominee – but no one thinks it was the Best Picture last year; the Academy loves Clint Eastwood, but LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA doesn’t have the momentum of his previous Oscar winners MILLION DOLLAR BABY or UNFORGIVEN; LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE was the surprise winner of the top feature film award presented by the Producers Guild of America last weekend, confirming that voters are aware of this wonderful little film, so that gives it momentum; and THE QUEEN is also wonderful, and the nomination for Best Director for Stephen Frears is proof again that voters are aware of the movie, but it is getting all of it’s buzz for Helen Mirren, not for the film itself.
So now, who wins Best Picture?
At this point, it looks like it is a race between BABEL and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, with the latter poised to be the only surprise on Oscar night, February 25th.
That is a surprise I would enjoy.
I will make my final predictions on the day of the Oscars, and if you have yet to see LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, it is available now on DVD, along with the informative CBC documentary CHINA RISES, the somehow engaging BBC series THE ROYLE FAMILY, and the horror films SAW III and THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING.
Coming up in the next Couch Potato Report
TALES OF RAT FINK is a Canadian film about the life and times of famed hot rod & custom car designer Ed “Big Daddy” Roth; JESUS CAMP is a documentary on kids who attend a religious summer camp and it received an Oscar nomination this week in the Best Documentary feature catagory; CATCH A FIRE is a drama about terrorism in Apartheid-era South Africa; and the foreign film THREE TIMES features three stories set in three times, 1911, 1966 and 2005.
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!