JAM Reviews Archer: Season Two from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Archer: Season Two – Blu-Ray : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

Take on neurotic secret agent with mommy issues, a reluctant partner who shares a past history, and an inept agency involved with top secret spy work and you have FX’s Archer, a fun 60s styles animated series set in modern day. Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) is the most dangerous secret agent in the world in more ways than one. Dangerous to his foes, dangerous to his friends, and often dangerous to himself, he lives life on the edge alongside Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler) his field partner and ex-girlfriend and the rest of the ISIS crew. Overly charged on the libido this is definitely not for kids even with the simplistic animation involved, but Archer is definitely good for a few adult mannered laughs. So take a look at this James Bond/Spies Like Us combo and have a few laughs.

Archer also uses the amazing vocal talents of the hilarious Judy Greer, Chris Parnell, and Jessica Walter along with creator Adam Reed.

JAMS Ink on Archer

I am a fan of secret agents. Whether it is James Bond, Jason Bourne, or Austin Powers saving the world from the ultimate evil, the secret agent movies appeal to me. And Sterling Archer may have found a place beside them now. The animation is kind of trippy as it truly feels like a 60s style animation with stiff walking, and backgrounds that stand out as different behind the characters themselves. It reminds me some of the late 60s super hero cartoons or the Scooby Doo episodes with how the movement seems, and that is alright with me. It lends a fun campy feel to a show that does not attempt to take itself seriously at all.

Best episode is “Swiss Miss” which is actually the first episode of the season that shows Archer actually having to control himself as a nubile young lady throws herself at him nonstop. Normally the comedy lies in the escapades of Archer where as in this episode the comedy lies in the control. As the agency is in dire straits financially, Archer was sent to protect this daughter of a German dignitary against his will and the fact that it backfires on him is a lot of fun..

Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at www.jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.

JAM Reviews Love & Other Drugs from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Love & Other Drugs: Blu-Ray with Digital Copy: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

“I have places to go.
You’ll go there. I just may have to carry you.”

Take one man who can never find what he wants and one woman who may never find what she needs, throw in a little blue pill and a bout of Parkinson’s and you find yourself with the fun little comedy from Twentieth Century Fox called Love & Other Drugs.

Jamie Randall (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a man adrift from job to job and woman to woman as he searches for what he really wants in life. Getting a chance at Pfizer as a pharmaceutical sales rep shows him the life he thinks he wants as well as introduces him to Maggie Murdock (Anne Hathaway), a woman that is dealing with a disease that controls her future as well as her present as she makes sure to keep everyone an arms distance away. Needless to say, each of them truly find the drug they are looking for in the other and love blossoms in the end. Besides the amazing performances by Jake and Anne, Love & Other Drugs also stars Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria, Josh Gad, Gabriel Macht, and Judy Greer in a whirlwind tour of the carnival of prescription drugs.

JAMS Ink on Love & Other Drugs

This is a fun movie starring two hot young talents that mesh well together onscreen. Jake and Anne seem to have true chemistry on film as they play characters who each have flaws of their own that disappear when they are together. Anne truly elicits sympathy for her plight as a young diagnosed sufferer of Parkinson’s disease and though her character Maggie lives life in a carefree way still, you can see that something is missing. There is an emptiness inside her that she seems to try to ignore while trying to live a roller coaster of a life. Jamie (Jake’s character) has his own crazy issues as his life revolves around sex, women, and sex even as he finds his calling as a drug salesman. But throw in Maggie, and he finds his life completely changing.

If you are into the beauty of the human body, or specifically the beauty of either Jake Gyllenhaal or Anne Hathaway’s bodies, this may be a movie for you. Dealing with two characters that use sex as a tool for what they want or simply as an escape from the humdrum, both Jake and Anne spend much of their time in their birthday suits. Obviously this a movie for discerning adults as it is rated R, but the sex, though plentiful, does not seem to take away from the love story underneath as the two characters find themselves caring about things they never expected in their lives.

This movie is one of those movies that I did not expect to enjoy but found myself rooting for the characters, even as flawed as they were. Jamie finds himself and learns he is a better man than he expects and Maggie discovers that she can trust someone completely even if she may not be able to give as much to the relationship in the future. I recommend it as long as nudity and swearing does not overwhelm your viewing pleasure.

EXTRAS

The extras included on the Blu-ray release are fun, but not life-changing. The deleted scenes included are fun but really do not add much to the film overall, which I am sure is why they were deleted. The other featurettes are interesting for those who would like to hear the stars speak, but really just recap much of what is seen in the film itself. So I would definitely buy the movie for the movie itself, but not so much for the bonus features (except that you do get a digital copy which is always cool to take on the run).

Just like a little blue pill, let Love & Other Drugs give you a rise of your own. Love & Other Drugs from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment releases on Blu-ray on March 1, 2011 so grab a copy and your significant other and let the natural high of an slightly different romance make its way into your lives.

LOVE & OTHER DRUGS Blu-ray
Street Date: March 1, 2011
Screen Format: Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (English)
5.1 Dolby Digital (Spanish/French/Portuguese)
Subtitles: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional)
Total Running Time: 162.18 minutes
U.S. Rating: R
Closed Captioned: YES

Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at http://jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.

JAM Reviews Archer: Season One from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Archer: Season One – DVD: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

Mother issues, relative ineptitude, and chauvinistic tendencies all rule the life of the most dangerous secret agent in the world, Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin). Codenamed Duchess (in reference to his mother’s dead dog) Archer lives life on the edge using his brains (what little he has), his brawn, and his libido to make life tough on his fellow agents, both friends and foe. Dangerous in any fight, Archer is the type of agent who get the job done while taking out everyone else in the fight, except maybe for his ex Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler) who is better in nearly everyway to Archer yet never recognized as such, which probably lead to the chasm between them (and the continued maiming by gunfire that she provides Archer with). A fun look at 60s styled dress combined with modern technology, Archer is the show that spy fans with a sense of humor having been waiting for as Archer seems to be a James bond/Austin Powers melding this is heavy on the libido, skilled in the way of the spy, yet a bumbling oaf that accomplishes missions through only the greatest of luck or the skill of others.

Archer also uses the amazing vocal talents of the hilarious Judy Greer, Chris Parnell, and Jessica Walter along with creator Adam Reed.

JAMS Ink on Archer

I am a fan of secret agents. Whether it is James Bond, Jason Bourne, or Austin Powers saving the world from the ultimate evil, the secret agent movies appeal to me. And Sterling Archer may have found a place beside them now. The animation is kind of trippy as it truly feels like a 60s style animation with stiff walking, and backgrounds that stand out as different behind the characters themselves. It reminds me some of the late 60s super hero cartoons or the Scooby Doo episodes with how the movement seems, and that is alright with me. It lends a fun campy feel to a show that does not attempt to take itself seriously at all.

Aisha Tyler is one of my favorites throughout her career, and she now plays an interesting animated character as the qualified foil to Archer’s convoluted life. Some of the best comedy comes from the interactions between Archer and Lana whether she is shooting him in the foot in the middle of a gun battle or parading around in her curvaceous lingerie she is a force to be reckoned with in Sterling Archer’s life, even if she would rather not be involved in it.

Best episode in the set in this reviewer’s humble opinion is “Job Offer” in which Archer takes a new job at a rival agency known as ODIN. This job offer was actually extended to Lana by a rival agent who has a history with her and with Archer. Of course, history with her means a former flame, while history with Archer means a near death shooting, a flubbed mission, and a possibly permanent limp. But with the head of ODIN wondering about his possible parenting of Archer, the invitation is extended with the usual craziness occurring as people are shot, women are deflowered, and Lana saves Archer’s butt again.

Archer: Season One from Twentieth Century Fox explodes onto shelves on DVD and Blu-Ray on December 28, 2010. Grab a copy and join the action!

Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at www.jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.