Sons of Anarchy: Season Two (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Sons of Anarchy...when I began to see the promos for season 1 I had mixed feelings: I have ridden motorcycles since I was about 15, and I have friends in clubs, so I know the "real deal" lifestyle -- my concern was that this had the potential to be a really great show but if the writing or acting wasn't up to speed it could fall on its face very quickly. All worries fell by the wayside as I became addicted from the very first episode. Kurt Sutter, who created Sons, spent some time around MCs to make sure the authenticity was up to speed. That in itself wouldn't make a good show; Sutter's talented writing and the phenomenal acting of the cast polish this gem to perfection! I immediately purchased Season One as soon as it became available to tide me over until Season Two began, and I was not disappointed when it did: The characters continue to grow, the plot lines are riveting, the action believable and the edge-of-your-seat-tension grows from episode to spisode! I care about these characters, about their lives, and what happens to them. In my opinion this is the finest show to ever make it to TV. And for all of us riders who have been bereft, waiting for something of the quality of "Then Came Bronson," wait no longer...the Sons have arrived as the best thing there is. Long live SAMCRO! And let's hope Sutter gets a bee in his bonnet to make a Sons movie, too! Would love to see the Reaper Crew flying in the wind up on the big screen!

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Hang on for this high-octane thrill ride that goes even deeper into the gritty world of an outlaw biker gang! Reeling from the combined pressure of an ATF crackdown and an unprovoked murder, the Sons face a far more deadly threat from a cold-blooded enemy who will stop at nothing to drive them out of Charming—for good. As Jax and Clay square off over questions of leadership and loyalty, lines are drawn and chaos reigns as the club threatens to destroy itself—from the inside out.

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Undeclared: The Complete Series (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)There are certain television shows that please critics and receive praise from those in the television industry, yet never find a big enough fan base to become truly popular. Arrested Development is such a show today, Freaks and Geeks was another that fit this bill.
Undeclared was certainly a show that was never quite appreciated by audiences, and watching this DVD, it is apparent that people who weren't watching were truly missing out on one of the great looks at college life in modern television.
The show was created by Judd Apatow, the man behind Freaks and Geeks, and now known better as the man behind The 40 Year Old Virgin. Undeclared became his second show in just a few years to last only one year before being cancelled. And it's too bad, because this show really gave a great look at college life.
The show centered around Steven Karp (Jay Baruchel) the typical, nervous freshman, looking to reinvent himself in college, and trying to figure out just who he wanted to be. Baruchel is absolutely perfect in this role. His skinny frame helps his appearance of nervousness and apprehension at every new experience he finds in college. I find myself thinking about people I knew in college, and even of myself a little, and seeing pieces of that in Steven. This was a truly great piece of casting.
Carla Gallo plays Lizzie Exley, the girl of Steven's dreams who happens to live across the hall. While Lizzie is a little more outgoing than Steven, she also is encountering a number of the same problems Steven faces as she enters college. Her biggest issue is her boyfriend, played to perfection by guest star Jason Segel. His jealousness over her friendship and eventual relationship with Steven is a great plot line, one that helps the show stay not only on the college campus, but off it as well.
Monica Keena, who earned distinction as being the first character killed off on Dawson's Creek (Abby Morgan) plays Lizzie's roomate Rachel, the girl who knows she's attractive and uses it to her advantage. Yet at the same time, she can also be the girl next door, much as Lizzie is.
Steven's roomates Lloyd (Charlie Hunnam), Ron (Seth Rogen) and Marshall (Timm Sharp) are truly an eclectic bunch. Lloyd is the charming ladies' man from England, who has absolutely no problems finding ladies. Ron is the resident prankster, often teaming with the others to pick on Steven (in a friendly way). Marshall is the lonely guy, looking for a girl, but really only seeing one, Rachel. The four roomates work very well off each other, each bringing something different to the table.
Christina Payano stars for part of the season as Tina, Lizzie and Rachel''s other roommate. Her character doesn't get a lot of time to develop, as the cancellation stopped any hope for season two.
Legendary folk singer Loudon Wainwright plays Steven's dad, Hal, who breaks the news of his divorce on his son soon after he moves into college. Hal moves close by and eventually starts taking classes on campus, and at one point, even dates one of the RAs in Steven's dorm. He is a constant source of embarrasment for Steven, but at the same time, he is encouraging and supportive of his son.
The show featured guest appearances by a number of great actors. Adam Sandler, Allen Covert, Ben Stiller, Fred Willard, Kevin Hart, Amy Poehler, Will Ferrell, David Krumholtz, Samm Levine, Martin Starr, Busy Phillips, Kimberly Stewart and many others made apperances throughout the season. An obvious connection to Freaks and Geeks is made, as Levine, Phillips, Segel, Starr and Rogen were all regulars on Apatow's former show. These guest characters however, are used very well and make for a well rounded ensemble.
Possibly the best part about this four disc set is the commentaries. Every single regular cast member sat down for at least one commentary, many did more. Apatow and a number of directors and writers also were featured, as were many of the supporting actors who made guest appearances on the show. Like the Freaks and Geeks set, there is a lot of information in these commentaries, and Shout Factory should be commended for getting all the actors together to do these commentaries.
Additionally, there is a Loudon Wainwright concert, a question and answer with cast and crew at the Museum of Television, a script for a second season episode that never existed and audition tapes for the main actors.
This truly is a fine set, with great extras. The high quality of the show made for great television and that fact was captured well in this DVD set.

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From Judd Apatow, Producer of Freaks And Geeksand Staring Jay Baruchel (Million Dollar Baby ), Seth Rogan (Knocked Up) & Charlie Hunnam ( Children Of Men). Experience college life as seen through the eyes of Steven Karp a freshman determined to reinvent himself at a new school. Faced with dilemmas as miserable as being "sexiled" to the rec room while roommates use the bedroom and as dire as confronting a girlfriend s jealous stalker-ex-boyfriend Steven and his new friends tackle the challenges of higher education. Named one of Time Magazine's top ten television shows of 2001 and praised for its "pitch perfect" casting. Undeclared is "one of the cum laude comedies of the new season... sneaky funny hoot with endearingly offbeat characters." (Los Angeles Times)All 17 episodes are included! Special Features 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound A never-before-seen episode Director's cut of popular episode with Ted Nugent 18 commentaries with directors, writers & cast Deleted scenes, auditions, outtakes,rehearsals and extended takes Loudon Wainwright live concert footage Museum of Television & Radio Q&A 28-page booklet Script for unproduced episode

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Sons of Anarchy: Season One (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)The Shield may be lamentably gone from TV, but prominent alumnus Kurt Sutter seems to have taken it upon himself to carry on its legacy with Sons of Anarchy, and if the show's first season is any indication he's more than up to the task. Anyone who enjoyed The Shield's combination of intelligence and testosterone will certainly find a lot to like here, as SoA quickly established itself as among TV's most unique and consistently compelling shows and only got better from there. Striking a near-perfect balance between grit and sensationalism, it takes viewers through a world marked by violence, double-dealing, and racial division, with an emphasis on the ambiguous morality and personal and familial baggage that come with a life lived between the straight world and the criminal one. The machinations of the characters and the twists of the plot are almost operatic, but the show remains rooted in the harsh realities of gangland.
The premise is sort of Hamlet-meets-the-Sopranos: youthful biker and new dad Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) finds himself trying to balance work with personal life as the Vice President of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcylcle Club Redwood Original (aka SAMCRO), a gun-running biker gang co-founded by his late father and now run by his stepfather Clay Morrow (the ever-swaggering Ron Perlman), who's married to Clay's widowed mother Gemma (Katey Sagal, in pretty much the biggest departure possible from her Married With Children days). From the somewhat hippie-ish beginnings envisioned by Jax's father, SAMCRO has evolved into a criminal powerhouse, especially in their central California base of Charming, where they're practically a small-town Mafia. These guys may not be as bad as the Hell's Angels, but the show makes it clear that they're far from harmless nonconformists, as we see them running guns, committing murders and (in one particularly stunning scene) burning off the tattoo of a perfidious former member. Single-episode plots focusing on the gang's efforts to turn a profit and stay out of trouble are expertly mixed with longer arcs dealing with the constant conflicts of gangland life and the mounting tensions within the club. As the season progresses, it increasingly develops into a battle of viewpoints between Clay's world-weary cynicism and Jax's (relatively) idealistic leanings and pangs of conscience, which leads inexorably to a conclusion that already has me drooling in anticpation of season two.
In another welcome parallel with The Shield, the show's writing gets progressively more complex and nuanced as the season goes on, giving the cast, a nice assemblage of recognizable (but not household) names, a lot of room to work. Further cementing his status as Hollywood's leading Jewish tough-guy actor, Perlman is impossible not to watch as Clay, the club leader who walks a fine line between toughness and ruthlessness. Clay's a classic antihero in the Tony Soprano-Vic Mackey mold, whose occasional moments of decency don't quite compensate for his myriad of bad acts, but he's practically a softie compared to his wife. Taking the concept of standing by her men very seriously, Gemma's the very picture of steely determination, willing to say and do anything to safeguard her family, and she shares both Clay's ability to perceive all the angles and his lack of reservations in doing what needs to be done.
For his part, Jax is certainly no saint, but he hasn't quite been won over to the Machiavellian value system championed by his mother and stepfather. Constantly tugging at his conscience are the newly-discovered writings of his late father John, a somewhat intellectual type who didn't necessarily intend for the club to become a crime syndicate. The voice-over narration of John's journal is a bit of a contrived device in a show largely devoid of them, but it does nicely frame the struggles that come to define the season. This season also sees a succession of great supporting turns from recognizable faces--Jay Karnes as a twisted ATF agent with a thing for Jax's ex, Mitch Pileggi as a vicious Nazi meth lord, Ally Walker as an enjoyably amoral Fed who vows to take the Sons down--that only serve to up the entertainment quotient. Even the law-enforcement officers--the shady, compromised Chief Unser and the more principled, by-the-book Deputy Chief Hale--eventually emerge as multi-dimensional characters in their own right.
Overall, it's extremely difficult to find fault with this season. SoA seems to have flown under the radar a bit while shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad get all the acclaim, and while those are both great shows I think SoA easily holds its own as one of the best on TV right now. If it maintains its level of quality in season two, we viewers could have yet another all-time great on our hands.

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The writer of the Shield and the producer of the Sopranos bring you the most ruthless adrenaline-packed new drama of 2009. With over 40 minutes of unaired scenes, the DVD takes you even deeper in the unexplored world of this outlaw Californian Motorcycle Club as its members struggle to balance family life and weapon-trafficking business

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