After watching volume 8, I think I'm done with buying Family Guy sets. I may still rent them from Netflix or something, but I'm glad I waited until the price came down into the mid-twenties on this one before buying it.

Family Guy has gone downhill, and badly. What used to be a show that made me burst out laughing in most of its episodes has degenerated into something where the most I'll get out of it is a chuckle and a sense of anger about what these guys have started thinking is funny. To the writers: graphic violence isn't funny. Why is there so much of it? For the record, I liked the graphically violent movie Hot Fuzz, so it isn't the gore per se that bothers me. It's that they try to play it for laughs, and I can't think of a single time that it hasn't been way more gross than funny (incidentally, this is one of the reasons I don't enjoy South Park as much as I could). Even bits that I thought were funny, like the guy who eats the Peppermint Pattie and has to make an arduous journey back home from the frozen mountain top, include this garbage for no reason. When that one ended with the guy engaging in graphic cannibalism, I think I might have even said out loud, "And we're back to this s@#! again."

Evil Stewie was much funnier than Gay Stewie. Goofy Jerk Peter was much funnier than Completely Stupid Peter. When I watch some of the older episodes, I still laugh out loud, often. Even some of the jokes that I didn't think were all that great back then seem like comedy gold compared to most of the junk in this series.

To top it off, the show has become almost unbearably preachy. The episodes about legalizing pot and where Meg finds religion didn't even seem like they were *trying* to be funny. They just felt like somebody on a soapbox ranting.... At least when South Park gets preachy (one of the other big reasons I don't like that show), they keep the jokes going. It's telling and sad that one of my favorite moments of this DVD series was when Quagmire lays into Brian and enumerates the many ways that he's a complete jerk.

I'm giving this two stars instead of one because there are still some sparks of funny left in the show. But if they can't do better than this, then maybe it's time to hang it up and move on.

Okay I didn't buy it from Amazon but that's not the point, I saw the pic , saw it was 13.99 an said to myself "sold!". well I shouldn't have, when i got it the picture on the actual case didn't match the one on the website and it was in a regular dvd case.( it had a horse and lincoln on the front not the usual family guy picture) no way can three discs be in here. So , i went to Amazon to check out reviews(cause Amazon peeps review the best). So, I found out that Seth Macfarland pretty much went cheapy on the season or volume ...whatever it is and jipped us, the viewers, his meal ticket, with this one. I just wish they would advertise it with the right cover and tell us exactly what i'm buying. thank god it was cheap!

The Book of Eli is a vastly underappreciated film that mixes martial arts swordsmanship, a post-apocalyptic setting, and a biblical narrative.

A war, over thirty years ago, killed off many people in the United States. Others were blinded from the blast. This creates an interesting disparity between those over thirty years of age who received an education and those under thirty who know nothing of the modern world (at one point, one of the thugs asks, "What's a television?").

This is an unpleasant world. Cannibalistic brigands ambush unwary travelers, identifiable by their shaking hands. Water is at a premium. Batteries are hard to find. The Book of Eli makes it clear that there's no currency, only barter.

Roaming the land is Eli (a subdued Denzel Washington), carrying a book with a cross on it. This book is greatly desired by Carnegie (a greasy Gary Oldman), who is also old enough to remember the power such a tome can have over the people. While Eli has been wandering for thirty years in pursuit of such a destination, Carnegie has been sending illiterate henchmen to retrieve every book he can find. The encounter between the two has all the fire and brimstone of a battle between heaven and hell.

Thrown into the mix is Solara (played beautifully by Mila Kunis, who finally sheds her trademark accent), a young, attractive girl who has grown up under Carnegie's protection but, as she flowers into womanhood, is about to become a bargaining chip, a piece of meat, and a lure. When there's no one left to protect her, she becomes a wanderer in Eli's footsteps.

From a religious point of view, it's educational to understand who Eli was in the Bible.... In the Bible, Eli's children are cursed for behaving wickedly, a parallel for the war that destroyed civilization in the movie. God's curse assures that all men will "die by the sword" - in the movie Eli expertly cuts a bloody swath through his enemies with his machete. In the Bible, it was the job of Eli's sons to guard the Ark of the Covenant - the pact God made with man - just as Eli guards the holy book in the movie.

There's a twist ending that's not a twist of all if you read up about Eli in the Bible. But don't - watch the movie, then do some research, then watch the movie again. Like Eli's quest for spiritual fulfillment, the experience will be rather eye-opening.

An enjoyable episode, but not really worth the cost unless you're a collector or really want the extras.

As a long-time fan with no interest in the extras, I just ended up renting the DVD, and I'm VERY glad I did. To me, one episode is simply not worth the price they're asking for it, especially now that it is becoming more and more routine for "Family Guy" to release overpriced and/or incomplete DVD sets. But, if you're an avid collector or someone who's really interested in the extras, then why not go ahead and get it?

For the average viewer, though, I think the right thing to do with this particular product is simply to rent it and then, if you still want to own a copy, wait until the price comes down a bit. Sure, you're only saving a few bucks, but it's better in your pockets than theirs, right?

Partway through this movie I was tempted to stop it, but I'm glad I didn't. This is a movie that starts good, has a wandering middle section, but a strong, satisfying finish. The story is one most people can relate to - a guy gets dumped, tries to forget his ex but can't get away from her, and manages to find someone else. The part where I almost gave up on it was around where Jason Segel's character was breaking down in scenes which were intended to be funny, but at times just felt sad. I enjoy comedies which include their share of drama, but these scenes felt too forced. It seemed like some of those scenes stretched on for too long or borderline-funny gags were repeated too much. The movie does still have its share of funny scenes, like most of Apatow's films.

The scenes with the Dracula puppet musical were quite funny and the ending was rather touching. I will also give the movie credit for being one of the few daring enough to include male frontal nudity. Movies have no problem with having all the violence in the world but shy away from any nudity except graphic sex scenes. Here's an example of where nudity can be used in a story without being gratuitous.

The Book of Eli is a vastly underappreciated film that mixes martial arts swordsmanship, a post-apocalyptic setting, and a biblical narrative.

A war, over thirty years ago, killed off many people in the United States. Others were blinded from the blast. This creates an interesting disparity between those over thirty years of age who received an education and those under thirty who know nothing of the modern world (at one point, one of the thugs asks, "What's a television?").

This is an unpleasant world. Cannibalistic brigands ambush unwary travelers, identifiable by their shaking hands. Water is at a premium. Batteries are hard to find. The Book of Eli makes it clear that there's no currency, only barter.

Roaming the land is Eli (a subdued Denzel Washington), carrying a book with a cross on it. This book is greatly desired by Carnegie (a greasy Gary Oldman), who is also old enough to remember the power such a tome can have over the people. While Eli has been wandering for thirty years in pursuit of such a destination, Carnegie has been sending illiterate henchmen to retrieve every book he can find. The encounter between the two has all the fire and brimstone of a battle between heaven and hell.

Thrown into the mix is Solara (played beautifully by Mila Kunis, who finally sheds her trademark accent), a young, attractive girl who has grown up under Carnegie's protection but, as she flowers into womanhood, is about to become a bargaining chip, a piece of meat, and a lure. When there's no one left to protect her, she becomes a wanderer in Eli's footsteps.

From a religious point of view, it's educational to understand who Eli was in the Bible.... In the Bible, Eli's children are cursed for behaving wickedly, a parallel for the war that destroyed civilization in the movie. God's curse assures that all men will "die by the sword" - in the movie Eli expertly cuts a bloody swath through his enemies with his machete. In the Bible, it was the job of Eli's sons to guard the Ark of the Covenant - the pact God made with man - just as Eli guards the holy book in the movie.

There's a twist ending that's not a twist of all if you read up about Eli in the Bible. But don't - watch the movie, then do some research, then watch the movie again. Like Eli's quest for spiritual fulfillment, the experience will be rather eye-opening.

It's obvious that this is not going to be a happy story. There are no surprises, there is no sugar-coating, just the relentless tension of watching an uptight woman-child lose what little mental stability she has. This is a trip into the lacuna of obsession that will speak to you if you've ever been there or have watched someone you love lose themselves in their myopic pursuit of perfection. But you don't need to have been there to empathize with Nina, you just have to be willing to accept that some people go cuckoo when their self-worth has been built upon something as precarious as the approval required to succeed as a professional artist.

What I love is that this movie doesn't glorify Nina's self-destruction, it just shows you in "full-frontal" style brutality what it's like to be in her (toe)shoes. At least that's what I got from watching it three times.

Don't write Black Swan off because it's one of those "arty" movies. You don't need to be "highbrow" or able to deconstruct every scene to enjoy how beautifully done it was either. Think of it as Fear & Loathing with ballerinas and no attorneys. FYI, If you're one of those "practical" people that has a hard time understanding situations that are foreign to you, you might want to move along as this probably won't seem realistic to you.

For me, the track record of the 2011 comedy releases did not seem great, so I was a bit nervous about watching this movie. That being said, I was completely wrong and surprised by this film. Starring Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, and Woody Harrelson, "Friends With Benefits" is, well, exactly about what it sounds. Timberlake, upon moving to New York to take a new job, has as his only friend Kunis, who lured him to New York for the job to begin with. As the two develop as friends, so does their relationship develop. While the ending may be predictable, the storyline of the friendship, a character with Alzheimer's, and the "realness" of the film lend reality to comedy.

ACTING: A

Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, and Woody Harrelson all shine in this film, with Timberlake and Kunis taking charge of the lead roles and producing a sense of positive interaction and giving believability to the plot and the humor. Harrelson, as a side character (Timberlake's gay co-worker/friend), is flamboyantly gay and unafraid to show it: creating many entertaining moments in his own right.

PLOT: B+

Sure, the plot is believable. Most plots of romantic comedies are. This film, for me, was different in that it was also about Timberlake's film-dad suffering from Alzheimers, about Kunis' mommy-issues, and about the development of the characters as adults. This is far from a rote comedy along the lines of every other script, making it enjoyable!

COMEDY: A

At points, I couldn't stop laughing, particularly in the interaction in the bedroom between Kunis and Timberlake as well as due to Harrelson's character. To be sure, the humor is crude and sexual most of the time, but you could probably guess that from the title....

FINAL REVIEW: BUY IT

This film is definitely one to purchase. I will be doing so as soon as it leaves theaters. It was more than a romantic comedy, for me, just as it was more than a raunchy, sexual comedy. If you like Kunis and Timberlake, they are at the top of their games in this film. Don't hesitate to buy, but be aware that it is a very sexual movie! Read more ›