DVD Review

NCIS: The Complete First Season

Creator: Donald P. Bellisario & Don McGill

Stars: Mark Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Michael Weatherly, Pauley Perrette and David McCallum

Studio: Paramount/CBS

Genre: Crime/Drama

Running Time:

Reviewed By Adam A. Donaldson

It’s hard to believe that from such humble beginnings came the most popular drama on television. Premiering in 2003, NCIS was then a simple spin-off of JAG, a show about military lawyers, itself enjoying a resurgence in popularity following the patriotic fervour post-9/11. Capitalizing on both CBS’ proclivity for crime shows, and being spun-off from a popular series, NCIS was an immediate success. But those who have jumped on in later seasons can know see their favourite Navy cops grow and change from their early years as Paramount Home Video is re-releasing the first four seasons on DVD.

DVD Review

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (BLU-RAY)

Director: John Hughes

Stars: Matthew Broderick, Alan Ruck, Mia Sara, Jeffrey Jones, Jennifer Grey

Studio: Paramount

Genre: Comedy

Rated: PG

Reviewed By Adam A. Donaldson

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is a quarter of a century old, can you believe it? And picking up the newly released Blu-Ray edition, it doesn’t look half bad.

Ferris Bueller is a classic by any stretch of the imagination. Not a classic like Casablanca, or The Sound of Music, but in another 10 or 15 years, who knows? The shame is that the studio didn’t treat this disc like a classic. The extras are all transplanted from an earlier DVD edition, including a bizarre segment called “The World According to Ben Stein,” which has lost some of its charm since Stein went off the tracks with Expelled. So if you’ve seen, picked up, or checked out the previous DVD release of Ferris Bueller you’ve already seen everything.

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Title: Source Code

Director: Duncan Jones

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga, Jeffrey Wright

Runtime: 93 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Released: July 26th 2011

Reviewed By: Rhys Dowbiggin

Time travel is an oft-used plot tool in film. It provide unlimited story options — in essence it allows plots to go anywhere at any time. The only problem? Paradox. Time travel in theory is fun, but in practice it provides all kinds of issues. A person cannot go back in time and meet themselves because theoretically that would alter your future and result in you never even going back to meet yourself. Get it? The idea just does not fly. For this reason, the focus of a film cannot be the time travel itself because it cannot ever make sense.

To be clear, this is the second time I have seen Source Code. I was lucky enough to catch it in theatres and now lucky enough to catch it on DVD. Despite its complicated story, Source Code is easy to follow and does not necessitate a second viewing by any means. The second time around is purely a pleasurable experience. This is a solid, enjoyable film.

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DVD Review
 
Title: The Tempest
Presented by: The Stratford Shakespeare Festival
Director: Des McAnuff
Studio: eOne Films
Starring: Christopher Plummer, Trish Lindstrom, Julyana Soelistyo
Run time: 131 minutes
Release Date: July 12 2011

Reviewed By Tessa Perkins

While watching a play on film is not quite the same experience as being there, I found Stratford’s production of The Tempest very entertaining. Using special effects such as video screens, effective lighting, trap doors, and actors and props suspended by invisible wires, the show’s magical qualities shone through. Christopher Plummer’s portrayal of Prospero was riveting, and Julyana Soelisto’s Ariel was a perfectly playful spirit.

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