CD Giveaway - Sam Shrieve, "Bittersweet Lullabies"
Ends Nov 29, 2009
The current student at Berklee College of Music has a rock 'n' roll pedigree, but delivers a pleasing and diverse collection of soft pop on his debut record. Enter our contest for your chance to win!
The Twilight Saga: New Moon Prize Pack
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Rating: Country: USA Release Date: March 27, 2007 Distributor: MGM Cast: · John Astin · Carolyn Jones · Jackie Coogan · Ted Cassidy · Blossom Rock · Lisa Loring · Ken Weatherwax Related Sites: ·IMDb: The Addams Family
Grade: A-
The second volume of the creepy, kooky and ooky creation of cartoonist Charles Addams are now on DVD, in all their macabre hilarity. Continuing a chronological presentation of the episodes, this set takes us all the way through the ninth episode of the second season, with only twenty-one episodes remaining to finish out the series.
John Astin and Carolyn Jones are that delightfully devilish duo, Gomez and Morticia Addams. They're not really monsters -- not in the Universal sense, at least. They're more the pioneers of the modern goth movement, blazing the trail with an eccentric, quirky savoir faire.
The bulk of the episodes in this set center on Morticia, as is evidenced by the titles; but other Addams characters do occassionally steal center stage. For example, when Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan) starts to feel like a failure, he takes a job as an insurance salesman with a company that is currently trying to cancel Gomez's policy due to too many claims. Naturally Fester's first successful sale is to Gomez, and when the branch manager shows up to try to cancel that policy as well, everyone is surprised -- none more than Gomez -- to learn the parent company is owned by Gomez, one of the many corporations he has yet to drive into bankruptcy (but not for lack of trying!).
Of course The Addams Family was a natural setting for a Halloween episode. In "Halloween -- Addams Style", Wednesday (Lisa Loring) is upset when a neighbor tells her there is no such thing as witches. "What fiend uttered that vile canard!" exclaims Gomez. "He should be horsewhipped!" "If I were a horse, I'd whip him," offers Fester. To set things to right, the Addams decide to bring in a witch by holding a seance to call up Aunt Singe (who was burned at the stake.) Of course, Mama (Blossom Rock) knows this won't work. After all, it's Halloween! All the respectable witches are going to be busy! This episode features a visit from Cousin Cackle, down from his cave.
A handful of the episodes feature a commentary track scene with Thing and Cousin Itt. These vignettes are amusing, but not exactly informative. Selecting this option will play a scene from the episode, with Cousin Itt in one corner and Thing in the other, with the subtitled translation of Itt's jibbering running along the bottom. For commentary with an Addams education, you can watch "Morticia Meets Royalty", which features an audio track with Stephen Cox, author of The Addams Chronicles.
Young Addams In Love. When an ever-sickly
young Gomez is introduced to Ophelia, he finds
himself falling for her younger sister, Morticia.
(L-R: Carolyn Jones, John Astin)
"Morticia's Romance Part I" has a feature called Tombstone Trivia that is a nice bit of fun. Enabling this option will cause pop-up bits of text to display throughout the episode, explaining some things you may never have known or noticed -- like that Morticia plays the Japanese shamisen, or pointing out little bloopers that made it into the episode. This episode opens at midnight on Gomez and Morticia's 13th anniversary, and the entire family runs down in their pajamas to hear the story of how the Addams met. Carolyn Jones pulls double-duty in this one, playing her older sister Ophelia with an over-the-top silliness, Shakespearian pathos, and a touch of ju-jitsu. We also see Morticia's mother, Esther Frump, portrayed appropriately by Margaret Hamilton, better known for her performance as the Wicked Witch of the West in "The Wizard of Oz".
Other special features on this set include a thirteen minute featurette where historians and fans -- joined by John Astin -- look back at the television show and comment on its place in Americana. The "Guest Star Seance" is an interactive feature that lets you click on a name floating around a crystal ball, which will activate clips of their appearances... and tell you when they died! The guest stars making ghostly appearances in this feature include Vito Scotti, Peter Bonerz, Parley Baer, Milton Frome, Margaret Hamilton, Sig Rugman, Elvia Allman, Eddie Quillan, Elisabeth Fraser, and Richard Deacon.
Audio in English (mono) with subtitles available in English and Spanish.
The Addams Family Volume 2
Disc 1A
Disc 1B
Thing is Missing (optional commentary with Thing and Cousin Itt)
Crisis in the Addams Family
Lurch and His Harpischord
Morticia, the Breadwinner
The Addams Family and the Spaceman
My Son, the Chimp (optional commentary with Thing and Cousin Itt)
Morticia's Favorite Charity
Progress and the Addams Family
Disc 2A
Disc 2B
Uncle Fester's Toupee
Cousin Itt and the Vocational Counselor (optional commentary with Thing and Cousin Itt)
Lurch, the Teenage Idol
The Winning of Morticia Addams
My Fair Cousin Itt (optional commentary with Thing and Cousin Itt)
Morticia's Romance (Part I) (Additional Special Feature: Tombstone Trivia)
Morticia's Romance (Part II)
Morticia Meets Royalty (optional commentary with Stephen Cox, author The Addams Chronicles)
Disc 3A
Disc 3B
Gomez, the People's Choice
Cousin Itt's Problem
Halloween -- Addams Style
Morticia, the Writer
Morticia, the Sculptress Bonus Features:
- Mad About the Addams
- Guest Star Seance
