Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 19th, 2015
“As you know, in less than two hours liquor will be declared illegal by decree of the distinguished gentlemen of our nation’s Congress. To those beautiful, ignorant bastards. Rest assured that, dry though the country may be, I am in the midst of concluding arrangements that will keep Atlantic City wet…” HBO has finally released […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 22nd, 2015
“If we’re good today, we’ll be better tomorrow.” The final season of Boardwalk Empire breaks the mold of what the show has been for the first four years. The action jumps ahead several years to 1931. It’s a necessary plot point if we’re going to be ending the popular series in the fifth season. I […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 27th, 2014
“It’s like Prohibition never happened but for one thing. Prices will increase twenty-fold. We got a product a fellah’s gotta have. Even better is that, we got a product he ain’t allowed to have.” The fourth season of Boardwalk Empire began pretty much the only way it could have after the bloodbath that ended the […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2013
“Everybody’s got guns.” Lately, you might have heard a lot of folks talking about getting home for a little Nucky. Well… it’s not what you think. They’re talking about Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi on HBO’s latest gangland series, Boardwalk Empire.
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 20th, 2012
“As you know, in less than two hours liquor will be declared illegal by decree of the distinguished gentlemen of our nation’s Congress. To those beautiful, ignorant bastards. Rest assured that, dry though the country may be, I am in the midst of concluding arrangements that will keep Atlantic City wet…” Lately, you might have […]
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2024
“Seems like a nice day for a swim.” Walt Disney Studios has struggled of late. It’s been a while since they’ve had much of a hit, and that includes their Marvel and Pixar components. In the years just before the pandemic the studio was outperforming anyone in the industry. One Disney executive once said that […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 17th, 2021
Besides the fact that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and that it’s essentially a white collar gloss on Goodfellas, you’d be forgiven for thinking somebody other than Martin Scorsese directed The Wolf of Wall Street. I don’t mean to suggest Scorsese has lost his masterful touch or his passion for filmmaking, both of which were on […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on June 25th, 2021
“Months from now, if you’re ever asked where you were, what you were doing, on October 9, you’ll have the muscle memory of what you did. You won’t have to construct the lie, because you lived it.” We all live that day in somewhat excruciating detail. I’m talking about the opening 20 minutes of Showtime’s […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 29th, 2018
“Once upon a time there was a great war that brought so much sadness to so many people. Hardly anyone could remember what happiness was like. But something happened that changed all that…” “Winnie the Pooh doesn’t know what to do …” begins a popular song written by Kenny Loggins, recorded first in 1970 by […]
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2017
“Once upon a time there was a great war that brought so much sadness to so many people. Hardly anyone could remember what happiness was like. But something happened that changed all that…” “Winnie the Pooh doesn’t know what to do …” starts a popular song written by Kenny Loggins, recorded first in 1970 by […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 28th, 2017
“First, there is an opportunity. Then…there’s a betrayal.” It’s been 20 years since the release of Trainspotting, and it’s fair to say a lot has changed in the past two decades. I remember going out to the United Artists Mission Bell Cinemas to see Trainspotting the weekend it came out. I was with my best […]
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on May 23rd, 2017
It’s not often that a show can come along that impresses me with its talent in front of and behind the camera; then when the show premieres, it is just bad for a couple of episodes and then manages to bounce back. There are just so many options that if you don’t come out swinging, […]
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on March 31st, 2017
“First, there is an opportunity. Then…there’s a betrayal.” It’s been 20 years since the release of Trainspotting, and it’s fair to say a lot has changed in the past two decades. I remember going out to the United Artists Mission Bell Cinemas to see Trainspotting the weekend it came out. I was with my best […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 15th, 2016
In 1959 when Ben-Hur came out, it was a massive undertaking that nearly closed the gates for MGM after nearly bankrupting the studio. It was a huge risk in producing such a large-scale epic that fortunately paid off and became one of the studio’s cornerstone successes. The story of Judah Ben-Hur and his fall from […]
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 20th, 2016
In 1959 when Ben-Hur came out, it was a massive undertaking that nearly closed the gates for MGM after nearly bankrupting the studio. It was a huge risk in producing such a large scale epic that fortunately paid off and became one of the studio’s cornerstone successes. The story of Judah Ben-Hur and his fall […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2016
“I started at the bottom working every club in New York City. I mopped floors. Swabbed ashtrays. Hauled kegs. You think you work hard? Try scraping Chubby Checker’s vomit off the inside of a toilet stall.” Martin Scorsese is a man who has worked very hard over the years. His list of film accomplishments is […]
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on January 8th, 2016
“Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.” Romans 5:20 The quote above imparts a spiritual message which I will get back to. First, I want to talk about one of the stars of this movie, David Oyelowo (pronounced “oh-yeh-lo-wo”). Oyelowo is best known for playing Martin Luther King in the film Selma. Oyelowo had previously […]
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2015
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on September 2nd, 2015
“You got the St. Louis blues, the Chicago blues, the gin house blues, the “my man done left me” blues…they all the same song, ain’t they?” By now, anyone who’s seen a musical biopic realizes these films also whistle a pretty similar-sounding tune. The bad news here is that Bessie is no exception, rushing from […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 9th, 2015
“Some things stay the same. I mean the gamer is the game.” Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A newspaper reporter and a cop go into a bar… It sounds like a setup for a pretty lame joke. It’s actually the story of how one of the greatest television shows to ever air […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on February 4th, 2015
“No woman dreams of entering this profession. But it is a real profession…” In fact, it’s commonly referred to as “the world’s oldest profession.” We’re talking, of course, about practice prostitution. The profession also happens to be the focus of the soapy, serialized Maison Close, which is set in a 19th century Parisian brothel. And […]
Posted in No Huddle by J C on January 13th, 2015
“Those who are feared make peace. Those who are kind get killed.” Both temperaments are well represented throughout the first season of Tyrant, FX’s Middle East-set family drama. I say “family drama” because even though the show features plenty of political power plays and double-crosses, Tyrant is at its best when it focuses on the […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 25th, 2014
Besides the fact that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and that it’s essentially a white collar gloss on Goodfellas, you’d be forgiven for thinking somebody other than Martin Scorsese directed The Wolf of Wall Street. I don’t mean to suggest Scorsese has lost his masterful touch or his passion for filmmaking, both of which were on […]
Posted in The Reel World by J C on December 25th, 2013
Besides the fact that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and that it’s essentially a white collar gloss on Goodfellas, you’d be forgiven for thinking somebody other than Martin Scorsese directed The Wolf of Wall Street. I don’t mean to suggest Scorsese has lost his masterful touch or his passion for filmmaking, both of which were on […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 24th, 2013
“Welcome to the wonderful world of magic.” They say that the hand is quicker than the eye. Through the art of misdirection and skillful manipulation we have been awed by magicians ever since Glog made Ooof’s club disappear somewhere in Mesopotamia circa 20,000 BC. It’s not all skill, really. The truth is we’ve always wanted […]
