The stars align, and from the heavens comes a very special installment of:

INSTANT CASSETTE

Where in the Reel Deal gives abridged reviews of movies (and now series!) recently released on DVD.

Today's episodes:  Role Models, and True Blood: Season 1

Role Models

Imagine a comedy that starts slow, but by the end has you laughing (ad nauseam) that special kind of laugh that also gets a head shake because it's so ridiculous and yet enjoyable.  Imagine that it's an oddly heart warming, not-quite-coming of age story for both a high school age boy and a thirty something man.  Now add Stifler and a mouthy black kid.

Look, it's not that I have anything against Sean William Scott (Southland Tales)- it's just that his character Wheeler's sex antics weren't all that funny to me, not to mention they seemed a little out of place in this movie.  And as for the character Ronnie- he was just badly written, it's not Bobb'e J. Thompson's (?) fault.  They had a couple of funny moments on their own, but mostly flop.

This movie only really gets somewhere when Paul Rudd (I Love You Man) and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad, you know him as McLovin) are getting screen time.  Rudd and Scott don't seem to have much chemistry, but he and Mintz-Plasse definitely do.  To be completely honest the whole Scott-Thompson side of the story felt tacked on in my opinion.  An opinion which is only reinforced by the fact that the entire climax of the movie is based off the Rudd - Mintz-Plasse storyline.

Queue it, or Don't do it?

It's hard to give a "Queue it" to a movie that quite literally is only half good, but add to that a hilarious finale and it might just be worth your time.  Queue it, but don't expect gold.

True Blood: Season 1

The first two discs of TB only carry four episodes between them, and at the end of disc two I was ready to call it quits.  The episodes were all buns and no burgers.  There was plenty of sex and nudity, but I felt like I wasn't really getting any interesting story.  Anyone who knows me knows I don't walk in the middle of a movie, same goes for a season.  And I'm glad I didn't.

I went into episode five wishing I could break my own code, and came out not so sure I was ready to leave.  From there it just kept rising, and by the end of the season I knew I was going to watch season two.

I know your wondering so here it is:  as far as the vampires go, TB takes a few interesting stand points, but really has nothing overtly original to offer anyone who's spent anytime on their lore.  I've never read the series of books the characters of TB are taken from, but if you've ever read an Anita Blake novel this take on the undead may be old hat.  But it's OK, cause it's a hat you know and probably love so you won't mind wearing it again.

One thing I did enjoy Vamp-wise was the fact that most of the night-walkers in the series ENJOY being vampires.  I cannot tell you how annoying it is to watch fanged character after character lament their humanity.  Yes I understand it's a valid story point- but it gets a bit old and ham-handed after a while. 

Beyond the vampire's, there are still some very original moments in the series.  And as far as the writing, I found myself connecting with even my most hated characters by the end.

Watcher X says: "I don't like the way Bill says "Sookie", but I like Sookie's hair."

So, Queue it or Don't do it?

Queue it.  If your a vampire fan, you'll queue it 'cause you have to know, and overall I don't think you'll be disappointed.  If your not a fan but your looking for something a little outside the lines, True Blood should quench your thirst...

Oh come on, you know I had to...