Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on December 17th, 2012
“In New York City’s war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories.” Dick Wolf used to pretty much own NBC and prime-time drama. His flagship series Law & Order lasted 20 years, tying the record held by Gunsmoke for the longest-running scripted […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2012
“In New York City’s war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories.” Dick Wolf used to pretty much own NBC and prime-time drama. His flagship series Law & Order lasted 20 years, tying the record held by Gunsmoke for the longest-running scripted […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on July 6th, 2012
“In New York City’s war on crime, the worst criminal offenders are pursued by the detectives of the Major Case Squad. These are their stories.” Dick Wolf used to pretty much own NBC and prime-time drama. His flagship series Law & Order lasted 20 years, tying the record held by Gunsmoke for the longest-running scripted […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 7th, 2005
Law and Order SVU really began to create an identity for itself in its second year. The addition of Ice T as Finn is one of the best casting decisions Wolf’s made since Jerry Orbach. I would have liked to see the combination of Munch and Finn used more often. Maybe I’m in the minority, […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 7th, 2005
“In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the district attorneys who prosecute the offenders …” If you haven’t seen Law and Order, this is the set to begin with. Season 3 is most notable as the first year for Jerry […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 21st, 2004
This box set has restored my faith in television. I actually don’t have cable or satellite or anything, and if you ask anyone that knows me, they’ll tell you that I’m a steadfast refusenik when it comes to watching TV. Law & Order, however, is intelligent, well-cast, and has very high production values – all […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2004
“In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate, yet equally important groups: the police who investigate crime and the District Attorneys who prosecute the offenders …” Season 2 has been called “The Lost Season” by Dick Wolf fans. These episodes were not included in some of the many syndication packages so […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 25th, 2003
Law and Order was never really driven by the actors and their roles. The “ripped from the headlines” stories, along with a decision to avoid the relationship clutter of most cop shows, was the defining edge. Note that not one actor or character from the original series’ first season remains. Criminal Intent is vastly different. […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 13th, 2003
Dick Wolf reinvented the cop drama with the original Law and Order. That flagship program is the longest running drama currently in primetime. There does not seem to be an end in sight. This second version has a bit harder edge; dealing with sex crimes, it was important that the new show didn’t degrade into […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 18th, 2024
Sequels are a funny thing. Most of the time in modern Hollywood, they come within a breath of the first film, usually after a large box office in order to capitalize on its earnings. Sometimes, they can take years, even decades to make. Blade Runner: 2049 came out in 2017, 35 years after the original […]
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 23rd, 2023
“There is an old saying that blood is thicker than water.” Today is Thanksgiving. It’s a time that we often spend with family. On television, the biggest family for decades was the Nelsons. So here at Upcomingdiscs, we decided it was the best day to let you know that the final two seasons have finally […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 17th, 2023
“It’s the things we love most, that destroy us.” It’s actually a little hard to believe that it’s been eight years since last we visited Suzanne Collins’ future dystopian world of The Hunger Games. The last two films were shot and released as two parts of the final book in the saga, and I think […]
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 27th, 2020
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 No Huddle by Gino Sassani on May 7th, 2020
“Good evening. My name’s Wayne. Some of you may have seen me before. I hope so. I’ve been kicking around Hollywood a long time. I’ve made a lot of pictures out here. All kinds. Some of them have been westerns, and that’s what I’m here to tell you about tonight. A western. A new television […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2020
The setting for Gunsmoke was the by-now-famous Dodge City, circa 1870’s. Phrases like “get out of Dodge” would enter the popular lexicon as a result of this resilient series. Marshall Dillon (Arness) was charged with keeping the peace in Dodge City. The only other character to see the entire 20-year run was kindly Doc Adams […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on January 17th, 2017
The premise here was always dirt simple. They’ve taken the buddy cop idea and found a way to work in the forensics science fad and deliver a procedural with a few twists. The show is based on a series of mystery novels by Tess Gerritsen, who introduced us to Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles in […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2016
The premise here is dirt simple. They’ve taken the buddy cop idea and found a way to work in the forensics science fad and deliver a procedural with a few twists. The show is based on a series of mystery novels by Tess Gerritsen, who introduced us to Jane Rizzoli & Maura Isles in 2001. […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on June 11th, 2015
The premise here is dirt simple. They’ve taken the buddy cop idea and found a way to work in the forensics science fad and deliver a procedural with a few twists. Angie Harmon plays Detective Rizzoli. She’s wanted to be a cop all of her life and is living the dream working with a special […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on June 17th, 2014
It’s hard to start a series in its fourth season. That’s particularly true of today’s huge mythology-arc shows that require you to be up to date at all times. Such was the task I found myself facing when we got a copy of Rizzoli & Isles to review. Fortunately, this is one of those pleasant […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 15th, 2014
“This is the story of a man who won by choosing love over fame, fortune and countless adventures…” Danny McBride managed in inhabit the role of Kenny Powers to such an extent I do appear to have trouble keeping them separate. Now the countless adventures continue for McBride who is going to have to get […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 7th, 2013
“Once upon a time in New York City…” Walt Disney might well have been the storyteller of more than one generation of kids. Is it any wonder that when we think of such characters as Winnie The Pooh or Peter Pan our minds conjure the images wrought by Disney animators and not necessarily the classic […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 6th, 2012
“I’m back. You’re welcome.” I didn’t see the series during either of its first two seasons on HBO. When the second season arrived to be reviewed I was more than a little nervous about jumping in without knowing what had come before. Certainly, I checked out the buzz on the show and got an idea […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on August 21st, 2012
There’s obviously nothing funny about the atrocities committed by some of history’s most notorious tyrants. So why have these men proven to be such a surprisingly fertile source of comedy? Whether it’s (Puppet) Kim Jong-il crooning forlornly about being lonely (actually “ronery”) in Team America: World Police or Adolf Hitler being saluted by a chorus […]
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on July 16th, 2012
Just to forewarn you this is not a review for the mini-series that aired on the History channel with Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton. Instead this is for the bad knockoff that seems to have been released just in time to catch any spillover interest from the Costner version. So how does this version of […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 28th, 2011
I guess you might be tempted to call it I Spy redux. Robert Culp teams up with his I Spy partner Bill Cosby for this 1972 feature film that really looks more like a television film. It was written by future director Walter Hill, but don’t expect this to be anything like Aliens or even […]
