ECW unreleased volume 1 DVD set

I never got to see much ECW stuff till they started doing PPVs. First I heard of them was through the Apter mags. I read some reviews of some of their shows. Then saw a ad selling VHS tapes of the TV show. Well I spent like 40 bucks and got 2 tapes. Both tapes had 3 or 4 shows on them. But the picture quality of the tapes was horrible. So I didn't bother getting anymore even though I enjoyed the product. Well in February of 1997 I moved from the MS gulf coast to the Golden Triangle area of Texas. Well on the gulf coast we didn't get the ECW syndicated show. But about a month after I moved some channel in that area started showing it. Thankfully not to long after I moved to Texas I met someone that ordered all the ppvs. So I would watch them. Then the ECW show on TNN started and enjoyed that.

This DVD set is 3 discs. Each is loaded down with matches that WWE claims are "unreleased". Now the only match on here I know for sure was "unreleased" is the Tazz vs Tommy Dreamer for the ECW title match. And that was cause of various contracts.

Well the first disc starts off with the infamous Shane Douglas vs 2 Cold Scorpio NWA World title match. From August of 1994,this match is very well known. Mainly cause of Shane throwing down the NWA world title and changing Eastern Championship Wrestling to Extreme CW. Decent match that I am betting was released on VHS back in the day. Next up is Tommy Dreamer vs Raven from Hostile City Showdown 1995. I am a fan of Raven,but this match was kind of boring. Up next is Dean Malenko/2 Cold Scorpio vs Tazz/Eddy Guerrero. After watching this match it is easy to see why WCW stole Malenko and Guerrero away from ECW. Plus I love 2 Cold,he is a guy that if he didn't have the issues he has ,could have been huge in the USA. Dean Malenko vs Eddy Guerrero for the ECW TV title is next. From July of 1995,this is one of the best ECW matches I have ever seen. Shane Douglas vs Cactus Jack from Feb 1996 is the next match. I swear this match is on the old Pioneer ECW best of Cactus Jack DVD. Closing out this disc is Chris Jericho vs 2 Cold Scorpio from August of 1996. Amazing match,so far this set is pretty good. We get 6 matches,and only one of them is crappy.

Disc 2 starts off with RVD/Sabu vs The Eliminators in a tables and ladders match from CyberSlam 1996. Very fun match.Then from ECW's first PPV we get Sabu vs Tazz. Sadly this match hasn't held up that well. Shane Douglas vs Bam Bam Bigelow from November to Remember 1997 is next. Decent match,but by this time Douglas is starting to show his age. Then from Heatwave 1998 we get Sabu/Rob Van Dam vs Hayabusa/Jinsei Shinzaki. Fun little tag match,but not the best tag match ever. To close out the disc we get one of my all time favorite ECW matchs. Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn from 1998. This is the match that aired on the ECW syndicated tv show.

The last disc ,sadly is from an era of ECW that really didn't have as many good matches. We start off with Shane Douglas vs Tazz from Guilty as Charged 1998. Very disappointing match. Then from July 1998 we get Rob Van Dam/Jerry Lynn vs Lance Storm/Justin Credible. Ok tag match,but I have never been a fan of Justin Credible. Mike Awesome vs Masato Tanaka from November to Remember 1999 is up next. Good match but I rather they had put on the Awesome vs Tanaka match from the ECW on TNN show. Up next is the only match on here I am sure was unreleased. Tazz vs Tommy Dreamer from CyberSlam 2000. Mike Awesome had jumped to WCW while he was still the ECW champ. So WWE let ECW borrow Tazz. Tazz won the belt and then quickly lost it to Tommy Dreamer. Fun match,one of the best matches I have seen from Tazz and Dreamer. And from the  same event we get Dreamer vs Credible.Really bad match. We jump ahead to July and get a fun Rhino vs Sandman ECW world title match from Heatwave 2000. This is one of the better Sandman matches I have seen. Jumping ahead to Decemeber of 2000 and we get Rhino vs Spike Dudley from the ECW world title. Pretty fun match,and one of  Rhino's best matches.Then from the syndicated tv show we get Jerry Lynn vs Christian York. Never saw this match before and it is amazing. Kind of sucks York never got a shot in WCW or WWE. And the final match is Tajiri/Mikey Whipwreck vs Kid Kash/Super Crazy vs The FBI. Great well paced tag match.

Over all this set is worth getting if you are a ECW fan.There is 20 matches,and outta that 20 there is only 4 bad matches. ECW unreleased volume 1 gets a B+.

Archie comics overview

 
I really can't remember when I read my first Archie comic. But it had to be in the mid to late 70s. By the time I was 10 or so I was buying the various Archie digests. And had become a huge fan of Lil Archie and Sabrina the teenage witch. Well as I became a teenager I quit reading the Archie stuff. For years I didn't even think about Archie. Then while I was in boot camp one of my friends had his mom mailing him a Archie digest every week. And since we all had nothing really to read that digest got passed around most of the platoon. Well when I got out of the army I would a few times a year pick up a digest and read it. Then fast forward to 2008. I had a job where I worked for 11 hours 4 nights a week. But during that 11 hour shift I really only had to work about 3 hours,so I was looking for stuff to help me pass the time. Well I started buying every Archie digest I could find in this small town I live in. Then I saw that you could buy the older digest direct from Archie comics. So I put in an order for about 40 digests. Around this time I also discovered that the local Fox channel was showing the "Archie's Weird Mysteries" show every morning. So I started recording them. I loved the show and thanks to the internet was able to track down and buy every issue of the Weird Mysteries comic book.  Well in the middle of 2009 I left that job. And kind of just stopped buying the Archie digests. I pretty much forgot about Archie again. Then I discovered that there is a weekly Archie comics podcast. A link to it should be on the right hand side of the screen. Called the Riverdale Podcast,this show is a one man production. Jonathan Merrifield is the host,and his love of all things Archie shines through in each episode. He puts up a new show each Saturday,and normally each episode is 20 minutes tops.

Now I have been reading Archie comics off and on for over 30 years now. And I have a few questions that seem like they will never be answered. Like why does Jughead most of the time wear a shirt with a big "S" on the front? Or why does Archie bother chasing after Betty and Veronica,when Josie and Sabrina are also right there?

Here is some links to my reviews of 2 issues of Archie comics.

Jughead's Soul Food review

Jughead #327 Punk vs Funk issue

Night Court Season 1 DVD set

Starting in 1984 NBC first aired what quickly became one of my favorite American sitcoms. Night Court was written by one of the former Barney Miller writers. And it had a great ensemble cast. We have Harry Anderson as Harry Stone,the youngest judge in NYC. John Larroquette as the prosecutor Dan Fielding. Richard Moll as Bull Shannon the bailiff. Selma Diamond as the other bailiff  Selma Hacker. Paula Kelly as the pubic defender Liz Williams. And finally Karen Austin as court clerk Lana Wagner.

The pilot episode has a different public defender,who only appears in this episode. And is mostly about Harry's first day as a judge. His unusual ways of handling the cases at first gets on the nerves of the rest of the main cast. But he quickly wins them over when he manages to get a feuding couple to make up. The rest of the season has some great episodes,one of which stars a very young Michael J Fox.

Now most people who remember Night Court remember Markie Post as the super perky public defender Christine Sullivan and Charles Robinson as court clerk Mac Robinson. But Markie didn't join the cast until season 3 and Mac didn't join until season 2. Another cast change happened when Selma Diamond died after the filming of season 2. She was replaced in season 3 by Florence Halop. Sadly Ms Halop only did one season. She died after that season was film,and was replaced by Marsha Warfield as Roz Russell. Also this first season has a more realistic feel to it. The later seasons became more slapsticky. But even then the show was worth watching.

This DVD set came out on February 8, 2005. And since Night Court wasn't being rerun on any channel I got I rushed out to get the set. Then almost 4 years later season 2 finally came out. And since then seasons 3,4 and 5 have come out. The later 2 as MOD DVDs. The first season set has a pretty well done behind the scenes featurette. In which I learned that Harry Anderson wasn't the original choice to play Harry Stone. But he came in and gave such a great audition that he got the role. Night Court season 1 gets a B-.

Justice League the New Frontier DVD

Justice League the New Frontier
2008
Warner Premiere DVD

This direct to DVD animated film is based on an early 2000s comic book limited series. Now I kept hearing how great this limited series was but never read it. Mainly cause when it came out I wasn't reading any comics. Well when the DVD came out I didn't buy it cause I wanted to read the comic first. Well about a year ago I still hadn't read the comic,but found the DVD for $5. So I said fuck it and bought the DVD.

Set in the mid 50s through 1960 this film is mainly focused on test pilot Hal Jordan. After serving in the Korean war Hal has a mental breakdown and place in the mental ward of a hospital for 6 months. Meanwhile thanks to a scientific accident the Martian J'onn J'onzz is teleported to Gotham city. He ends up stuck on Earth and uses his various powers to do his best to blend in.We end up getting introduced to a whole bunch of other heroes. All of whom by the last act of the film team up to take on an alien threat.

The animation in this film looks almost exactly like the artwork in the comic. And has the feel of the old Fleischer Studios cartoons. What I love about this film is all the cameos of various DC superheroes that either have never appeared outside the comics or rarely have. Plus this film has one of the best voice casts of any animated film based on a comic.

The DVD has two versions. One is a single disc and the other is a double disc. I got the single disc. And it has a nice selection of extras. We get a pretty well done documentary about the history of the Justice League. This documentary is well done in that if you have never read a Justice League comic it will explain lots of stuff. But if you are a Justice League fan it still is worth watching. Plus there is two commentaries. The first one has most of the production crew. But the second one is better and has Darwyn Cooke. Who wrote and drew the limited series the film is based on. Justice League The New Frontier gets a B+.

Ultimate Avengers 2

Ultimate Avengers 2 Rise of the Panther
2006
Lionsgate DVD

Released about 6 months after the first film,this DTV animated film was the second of the now long running Marvel DTV animated films.

We have the same team as in the first film. But early on in the film we get introduced to Black Panther. Who is the King of the African country of Wakanda. After the aliens from the first film attack and do massive damage to his country Black Panther has no choice but to go ask the Ultimate Avengers for help.

What I liked about this film was that the animation is much better than the first film. Plus the story ,at least to my knowledge,isn't adapted from the Ultimates comic. So when I watched it I had no idea what was gonna happen next. Another thing I enjoyed was Black Panther. I have always been a fan of this hero. I like how how he is not only a superhero but the king of a country.

The DVD  sadly this time doesn't have that many extras. We get a featurette about the Ultimates comic. A gag reel. The same DVD-ROM game that was on the first DVD. And very short looks at the Iron Man and Dr Strange DTV animated films.

I get the feeling that this DVD didn't sell that well. The reason I think this is cause it has now been 6 years and we haven't gotten a sequel. Where as after the first one we got a sequel the same year. Hopefully with the mega success the Avengers film is having ,we might get another Ultimate Avengers DTV film. Ultimate Avengers 2 Rise of the Panther gets a C+.

Punisher War Zone

Punisher War Zone
2008
Lionsgate DVD

I have been a fan of the Punisher character since around the mid 80s. So in the late 80s and I heard about the upcoming Punisher film starring Dolph Lundgren as the Punisher I was very excited. Well the film never got a theatrical release in the USA. But as soon as it came out on VHS I rent it and hated it. Then in the mid 2000s I heard about a new Punisher film. This one came out in 2004 and actually got a wide theatrical release. I went opening night and was so fucking mad at how bad the movie was. So by the time Punisher War Zone came out I wasn't expecting a good film. Now for some reason no theater in my area got the film. And since the first two has sucked so much I didn't even bother renting it when the film hit DVD. Well fast forward to 2010,I am at a panel at Coast Con. And the host of the panel is telling me how great the film is. So as soon as I got back home I put it at the top of my Netflix queue. Got it in and ended up watching it 4 times in 4 days. Then went out and bought the DVD.

The Punisher this time is played by Ray Stevenson. And Ray does a great job as Frank Castle. The film is somewhat based based on Garth Ennis's run on the Punisher comic. What we get is one of the best action films in years. With in the first 20 minutes close to 100 people have died,most of them in amazing ways. I love how the film used Jigsaw. Jigsaw was one of the Punisher's few recurring villains in the comics. Dominic West is really good as Jigsaw,he captures the over the top aspects of Jigsaw. Wayne Knight as Microchip almost steals the show. But really the action is what makes this film so great. It perfectly captures the feel of the comic. Sadly the film did horrible at the box office. I want to say it is one of the lowest grossing theatrical released films based on a Marvel comic. So any chance of a sequel is very very slim. Which is too bad,cause since the film has come out it has gotten a cult following.

There is 2 versions of the DVD. A single disc and a double disc version. Now I have the single disc version. And besides a trailer it has no extras. Punisher War Zone gets a A.

Ultimate Avengers animated movie

Ultimate Avengers the Movie
2006
Lionsgate DVD

This was the first of a series of animated direct to DVD movies that Marvel started doing in the mid 2000s. Semi based on the Ultimates comic. The Ultimates comic is the Ultimate universe's version of the Avengers.

The film starts off in World War II. With Captain America stopping the Nazi's from launching a missile. He discovers that some of the Nazi's are actually shape shifting aliens. Cap ends up on another missile that gets launched. And when it explodes he falls into the cold waters of the North Atlantic. This causes him to go into a form of suspended animation. We jump ahead to the present day and Cap is found and revived by a team of Shield agents led by Nick Fury. Fury ends up recruiting a bunch of other heroes. They are Ant-man,Wasp,Iron Man,Thor and the Black Widow. And this newly formed team ends up having to fight off an invasion of the same aliens Cap discovered back in World War II.

Before seeing this film I had read the first series of The Ultimates. And really enjoyed it. I liked the different take on Captain America. Well the film is a weird mixture of The Ultimates comic plus the Marvel 616 continuity.Now I have heard some people say the animation in the film isn't that good. I would have to disagree,I thought the animation was pretty good for a direct to video film.

The DVD has a few extra features. The only one I really liked was a trivia track. When turned on the trivia track will give you various bits of information while the movie is playing. There is also a featurette,that seems to be mainly aimed at people that don't know much about the Avengers. The DVD also has a "What Avenger are you?" feature that you have to use a computer to access. I have never bothered to try this feature out. Ultimate Avengers the movie gets a B.

Ghost World

Ghost World
2001
MGM DVD

Ghost World is a film based on a comic book written and drawn by Daniel Clowes. The comic was serialized in Clowes anthology comic Eightball.Over the course of 4 years and and 8 issues Clowes put out one of my favorite comics.

I first read the comic back in late 1997. So when I heard it was being made into a film I knew I had to see it. The film got a very limited theatrical release. So I ended up having to wait for it to hit home video before I could see it. The day it came out I bought a VHS copy.

This is the story of two long time friends. Enid and Rebecca,who have just graduated high school. They were outcasts in their school. And are very happy to escape the hell that is high school. Well Enid ends up having to take a remedial art class during the summer to actually graduate. Well her and Rebecca have been planning on getting summer jobs and renting an apartment. Rebecca quickly gets a job but Enid is a slacker. And this drives a wedge between the two friends. But while this is happening Enid strikes up a friendship with Seymour,who is played by Steve Buscemi. Seymour is a lonely record collector. And he is amazed that a young pretty female like Enid would have any interest in him. Thanks to the some help from Enid,Seymour ends up getting a girlfriend and starts to become less of a social misfit.


Before this film I had no idea who Scarlett Johansson was. And she does a great job playing Rebecca. I also really didn't know who Thora Birch,who plays Enid,was. But after seeing the film I remembered her as the younger sister from Hocus Pocus. Ghost World showed me that both ladies are really good actresses. Now Scarlett doesn't have that big a role in the film,but the scenes she is in you can see the potential she had as an actress. Now Thora Birch is amazing,she is perfect as Enid. And actually looks almost exactly like how Enid was drawn in the comic.

The DVD has a decent amount of extra features. There is some deleted and alternate takes of scenes. A kind of disappointing making of featurette. The original theatrical trailer. And finally a music video for song "Jaan Pechechaan Ho". I wish there was a commentary on the film. One with Daniel Clowes,Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi would be interesting. Ghost World gets a A.

A History of Violence

A History of Violence
2005
New Line DVD

Directed by David Cronenberg and written by Josh Olson,A History of Violence is a film about a man who is trying to escape his past. Viggo Mortensen is Tom Stall. Tom owns a restaurant in a small town. One night some people try to rob the place and Tom quickly kills both of him. This causes him to become an overnight celebrity in the town. But all the media attention brings someone from Tom's past to the town.

I remember hearing about this film before it came out,and being a fan of Cronenberg's films I wanted to see it. But the movie only got a limited theatrical release. For some reason I completely forgot about it and never rented the DVD. Then back in 2008 I was on my way to work and stopped at Dollar General to get some snacks. Well they had the DVD and it was only $5. The cashier saw me looking at it and told me it was one of the best films she had seen in years. So I bought it and watched it that night at work.

Well after watching it,the next evening I got online and did some research on the movie. Turns out it is based on a graphic novel that was published in 1997 by Paradox Press,which was an imprint of DC comics. Also learned that to get a R rating the film was slightly cut. Some scenes of violence were shortened. As far as I know the uncut version has not been released on DVD in region 1.

Now I will have to admit that I have loved pretty much every film David Cronenberg  has done. And of his more recent work this is my favorite. The main cast are all really good. Viggo does an amazing job with what had to be a hard role. Maria Bello is really good as his wife. Before seeing this film I don't remember ever seeing her in anything else. Ed Harris and William Hurt also do great with their roles. This has to one of the most accessible Cronenberg films so far.

The DVD has a decent amount of extra features. There is a commentary with Mr Cronenberg. A making of documentary. And three featurettes. The best of which shows the differences between the US cut and the International cuts. There is also some deleted scenes. A History of Violence gets a A-.