BLU-RAY
REVIEW:
Pushing Daisies
Season one
09/21/08
When I first heard of
Pushing Daisies, about a man who could bring back the dead,
I reminisced about one of my favorite shows, the HBO series
Carnivàle. Ben Hawkins also had the power to revive the
dead. Carnivàle was full of mystery and intrigue. Pushing
Daisies however, while having an interesting concept is
trapped in a typical TV series formula, spinning it wheels
and not really getting anywhere.
In Pushing Daisies, Ned (Lee Pace) had the ability to bring
back the dead. However, there are a few rules. He could only
bring them back for 60 seconds without any consequences. If
the dead are revived for longer than 60 seconds, then
another person’s life is taken. If Ned touches the person
again they are dead, forever. He cannot revive them. Ned
discovers all this as a young boy when his mother dies. He
revives her, and in turn the love of his life, Chuck ( Anna
Friel), father who is just outside is taken.
That same night, when Ned’s mother kisses him goodnight, she
drops dead. One touch life, second touch dead. Ned is sent
to a boarding school. The next time with see Ned he is a man
and the owner of The Pie Hole. He works with a private
investigator named Emerson Cod (Chi McBride). Ned’s ability
comes in handy when needing to talk to the dead. When
Emerson is hired to investigate the death of Chuck, Ned
revives her but cannot let her go. This is the second time
he has given a life and taken a life. Now Ned much deal with
his unusually relationship with Chuck who he loves, but
cannot touch.
There are some interesting concepts on this show that could
really be explorer to give us some very good stories.
However, the writers tend to focus each episode around a
murder which by the third episode becomes quite boring. The
only thing the show has going for it, is that it is extreme
funny. The whole cast is excellent, but Chi McBride is
superb. He pretty much steals ever scene he is in.
This TV series was made for the Blu-ray format and each
episode looks speculator on high-definitions. The colors
look vivid and make Ned’s world look like a true fantasy.
There are virtually no imperfections to be found. This
series was cut short due to the writers’ strike and this
first season only features 9 episodes. Much like Dirty Sexy
Money the series feels a little empty because of the way the
character arcs are left. I only hope that both of these
series have a better season 2.
Review
By Brad Peterson
brad@smartcine.com
VIDEO:
Widescreen in a “Mated format
preserving the original TV version
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - English Portugues
English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, and Thai
BONUS FEATURES:
Pie time: The
only bonus feature, Pie Time, is a nice interactive behind
the scenes were the cast and creative team discuss the
series in detail. Topics discussed are the look of the show,
the special effects and the casting. The only problem is,
it’s hard to navigate through the extras.
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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