24: THE COMPLETE FINAL SEASON (Blu-Ray and DVD)

There was a time I listed Fox's show "24", starring Kiefer Sutherland as super-agent (and household word) Jack Bauer, amongst my favorite television programs. Talk about 'edge of your seat' viewing, almost every episode ended on a multiple event cliff-hanger, as Jack, in 'real time' (more or less) battled the forces of terrorism and in-house corruption, week after week. Of course, eventually there came a point of diminishing returns. I can stretch my suspension of disbelief pretty darn far, but by five seasons of one guy's life being this totally insane, even I had to bow out gracefully. I always thought Fox was crazy for not having each season of the show, the 'real time' conceit intact, focus on a different group of people and a different lead; what better way to get bigger stars to come star on your show, since they know they're only committing for a single season? Oh well. Finally, three seasons after I had lost my faith, Jack gets his last (until they make the already planned movie...what will that be called? 2?) ridiculously long day at work. I sure hope he gets paid overtime. This time around, Jack is called back to CTU...I think I'd put a block on their number by now...to deal with a Russian assassination plot, Islamic terrorists, and eventually has to deal with pretty much every world power trying to track him down and kill him. I suspect that the whole world doesn't really have anything against him, per say, it's more of a scientific experiment to see if HE CAN BE killed. I'd put my money on 'no'. But it's all just another day for the J-dawg. I wish I could tell you how this season compares to the ones I watched and loved (or those I watched and 'meh-ed'). I'll cop to not having watched it. I suppose I've got enough fond memories of the old show, and enough time has passed, to give it one last shot. I mean, I wouldn't want to go into the theatrical film all confused.

--CLICK HERE TO BUY 24: Season Eight - The Complete Final Season [Blu-ray]

THE A-TEAM (Blu-Ray and DVD)

...and the award for the most unlikely film of 2010 to be a lot of fun goes to, "The A-Team". Seriously. Don't look at me like that. I was as skeptical as you. But "The A-Team" is SO much more fun than any of the other 'team on a mission' films that came out last year..."Red", "The Losers", "The Expendables"....all stand in its shadow. It's not a very large shadow, mind you, but still. Pulling in Liam Neeson, this decade's Michael Caine (in terms of not being capable of saying 'no' to anything), to play the team's leader Hannibal, was the only logical choice and he sells it with style to spare. Even better is the perpetually smarmy Bradley Cooper as 'Face' and the criminally underused Sharlto Copely as "Howling Mad Murdock", whose camaraderie makes the entire enterprise sail by as smooth as the good cigars Hannibal perpetually smokes. The only real downside is Quinton Jackson as B.A. Barrackus, but Mr. T's are nearly impossible shoes to fill; Jackson doesn't even have a smidgen of his confidence and charisma. I would have give extra-super-large props to director Joe Carnahan if he had just cast the still-young-looking-enough T in the role, but even in the script, his character is a series of one-note jokes that serve largely (and only) to reintroduce his various personality quirks. Aside from that, good action, funny one-liners, likable cast, and big explosions....It's outrageously unbelievable and ridiculous, but in a good way. "The A-Team" is probably more of a B-Movie, but a good one.

--CLICK HERE FOR THE ORIGINAL SPILL.COM REVIEW

--CLICK HERE TO BUY The A-Team (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]

A COMPLETE HISTORY OF MY SEXUAL FAILURES (DVD)

This British 2008 documentary is every bit as embarrassing to watch as it sounds, but not for the reasons the title insinuates. The truth is, this filmmaker/film subject, Chris Waitt, is doubly a loser, evinced by his decision to even make a film about his lifetime of misogynistic and self-centered behavior...or is it all a put-on? I guess I fall under 'who cares', as we follow him and his camera trying any way he can to get interviews on film with all of his exes and ask them to tell him as frankly as possible, why they dumped him. Let me be clear: this ain't no "High Fidelity". If it's all for real, the very act of doing this proves he hasn't learned a thing and is still just as big a doofus kid as he ever was. The look in his eyes, like he's glazing over and fading fast, when some of these women actually are generous enough to try to enumerate his many failings, is as obvious a cue as is the title of the film; he's incapable of understanding there being a reason he might have been rejected outside of sex. I was hard pressed to find a single endearing quality about Chris and there was nothing funny about him and his hangdog demeanor as he harasses his ex-girlfriends. Haven't they suffered enough? Not surprisingly, an American narrative-style remake is in the works with, who else, Jay Roach directed. Now they really ARE trying to kill me.

--CLICK HERE TO BUY Complete History of My Sexual Failures