Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on July 26th, 2025
"I'm not giving up. We will face this together. We will fight it together... as a family."
In November of 1961 I wasn't quite five months old when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the first team of superheroes. Long before a Justice League or Avengers team was created, The Fantastic Four delivered a family of superheroes, and while it would be a few years before I would read my first issue, they created an impression along with Spider-Man, that has given me the love of comics and this kind of entertainment for the remainder of my life. The team first found themselves on film via a cheap Roger Corman film that was never released but found itself on the sci-fi convention circuit for decades. It was bad. Fox only made it so that they could keep the film rights a little longer, and they eventually made a couple of films, the first of which I consider underrated. We won't talk about the more recent film that became an historic bomb and cost its director a Star Wars film. Now Disney owns Fox, and it's time to bring The Fantastic Four and The X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Fantastic Four: First Steps kicks off the first film in Phase 6 of that MCU. I found the trailers a bit disturbing but went into the film with an open mind. This was, of course, the First Family of comics, and I very much want them to thrive.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on July 2nd, 2025
"I can guarantee your safety... more or less."
Some things can not be beat, and they sure as heck can't be repeated. An old vintage cola commercial used to tell us, "Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby". And Jurassic World Rebirth is going to do anything it can for 134 minutes to try and tell you that isn't true, but we know better, don't we? Anyone who has seen the original Jurassic Park has their favorite moments, but one scene has always stood out for me and so many other film fans I've spoken to. When the camera pans to that peaceful swamp pasture and you see tons of dinosaurs walking about without a care in the world. If you didn't know how to react there, Sam Neill as Dr. Grant showed you how. His expression matched ours, and it was a wonderful cinematic moment of magic and wonder. You can never repeat that, ever again. No matter how many Jurassic franchise movies or any other dinosaur movies might attempt to bring you that single moment, they never will. And that's OK. There are moments in Jurassic World Rebirth where it is quite obvious that director Gareth Edwards attempts to repeat that moment. He telegraphs it, particularly in a scene where we get a wide shot of dinosaurs and we hear that old John Williams theme, and Edwards is pulling hard on our heartstrings. Sorry, Gareth. It didn't happen for anyone there. It's not your fault. You did everything right. But, you see Steven Spielberg already took us there, and we will never have it again, but truly, man, thanks so much for trying. You did deliver the best of the Jurassic World films and the best franchise film since the original. You're just going to have to settle for that.
Posted in: Uncategorized by Gino Sassani on June 28th, 2025
"Everybody deserves a second chance."
In some parts of the country there's a saying. If you don't like the weather wait a few minutes. It'll change. That's exactly how I felt by the time my two hours watching M3GAN 2.0 was through. It was entertaining, to be sure, but I felt like I had been through about five movies before it was finally over. It's hard to imagine that is has been three years since we first met the robot/children's toy gone berserk, but it really has. It was my hope that everyone was just waiting until they had a great new idea before they trotted the killer doll out again. Most of the characters and actors who survived their first encounter with M3GAN returned for the sequel, with at least one of them being somewhat of a surprise appearance, and just like that first movie, you really have to be careful who you trust, because killer dolls aren't the only things that are dangerous here. The humans can actually be a lot worse, and that just might be the point, as M3GAN 2.0 gets a head start in the upcoming heated competition for the coming summer blockbuster season. We're just weeks away from a DC and Marvel one-two combination, but will M3GAN 2.0 survive the punches? Not likely, I'm afraid.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 23rd, 2025
"If you carry a 00 number it means you're licensed to kill ... not get killed."
1961 was a pretty big year for many of us. In the NFL one of the new teams entering the league was one in Minnesota called the Vikings, and they would draft a quarterback named Fran Tarkenton as one of their first acts. I was born that June, and a couple of weeks later one of the most important deals ever made in Hollywood was consummated. EON Productions had just been formed as the partnership between Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and their partnership started off with a bang when they acquired the film rights to Ian Fleming's British secret agent, James Bond. Fleming's first choice to play his spy was Roger Moore, who later did take over the role, but long after Fleming had died. Sean Connery would fill that role nicely, and within a short period of time Fleming was on board with Connery in the title role.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2025
"In the beginning there was blood."
Dexter Morgan is a forensic lab rat for the Miami-Dade Police. He really knows blood splatter. He should, because he moonlights as a killer. It seems that poor old Dex just can’t help himself. His parents were criminals, and he witnessed his mother’s brutal slashing by a chainsaw gang when he was just a young boy. He was adopted by Harry Morgan, a police officer. Harry saw the killer instinct in Dexter and taught him how to channel the urges for the sake of good. Dexter adopted Harry’s Code, which means he only kills others that he’s able to prove were killers themselves. Working for the police with his officer sister, Debra, Dexter is constantly just on the verge of getting caught. He has to adapt and evolve to avoid capture. Many of us bore witness to the show's 8-year run. It looked like it was all over until Dexter was reawakened in 2021 with a revival series Dexter: New Blood.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on June 6th, 2025
"Needing to know. That's what got us kicked out of the Garden Of Eden... Eve."
Ballerina takes place in the rather colorful world of John Wick, and it almost appears to me that it's being sold as a kind of John Wick 4/2 or perhaps more accurately John Wick 3 ½. With Keanu Reeves seeming to be going back and forth on a potential John Wick 5, there has been a lot of mining in that world while they decide. Of course, there will be a John Wick 5. There's just too much money to be made, and the streaming series The Continental didn't really work out as well as everybody hoped it would. The answer is obvious. No one wants to see the John Wick Universe. They want to see John Wick. So this second foray into spin-off territory was padded by making sure Keanu Reeves would show up. Understand: he's not the main character, and this film takes place during John Wick 3 Parabellum and between that film and John Wick 4. So no one has to deal with the whole is he alive or dead question ... yet. But will audiences settle for a John Wick Universe film with a little Keanu on the side? The answer is yes and no. So let's talk about From The World Of John Wick: Ballerina.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 30th, 2025
"141 years ago, my father was told of this valley, and here's where we stayed. Seven generations. My father was told they would come for this land, and he promised to return it. Nowhere was this promise written. It faded with my father's death but somehow lived in the spirit of this place. Man cannot truly own wild land. To own land you must blanket it in concrete, cover it with buildings, stack it with houses so thick people can smell each other's supper. You must rape it to sell it. Raw land. Wild land. Free land can never be owned. But some men will pay dearly for the privilege of its stewardship. They will suffer and sacrifice to live off it and live with it and hopefully teach the next generation to do the same. And if they falter, find another way to keep the promise."
Yellowstone began with a lot of that there promise five years ago. Taylor Sheridan pretty much built his television empire on the foundation that was Yellowstone. It was a grand design, but something happened along the way.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2025
"Good evening, Ethan. This is your President. Since you won't reply to anyone else, I thought I'd reach out directly. First, I want to thank you for a lifetime of devoted and unrelenting service; were it not for the tireless dedication of you and your team, the earth would be a very different place. It might not even be here at all. Every risk you've taken, every comrade you've lost in the field, every personal sacrifice you made, has brought this world another sunrise. It's been 35 years since circumstances brought you to us and you were given the choice -- since the IMF saved you from a life in prison. And though you never followed orders, you never let us down. You were always the best of men in the worst of times. I need you to be that man now."
I imagine this is how it happened. It's January of 2019, and Tom Cruise has just popped into the bathroom to shave. He opens up that can of Barbasol just to make sure there isn't any dinosaur DNA left in the can, but as he takes off the cap, an authoritative voice begins to speak: “Good morning, Mr. Cruise. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to make a two part film of the Mission Impossible franchise. It won't be easy. That's why only the IMF team can be counted on to complete this task. There are agents out to stop you before you even get started. In China there is a virus code-name COVID, and this virus will spread to pandemic levels just as you're starting to get your production crew together. Elements within our own government will take measures to shut you down. Delays will cost an extra $100 million and necessitate crucial cast changes. They'll be serious injuries, and your release date will be July of 2021 ... I mean November of 2021 ... Would you believe May of 2022? ... Let's shoot for July 14, 2023. You will have to deal with nefarious crew members who will attempt to sabotage the project by standing closer than two meters apart. You may use over-the-top rants to attempt to intimidate these factions into compliance. Beware that said rants don't end up released by the press to the world. Somehow through all of these challenges you must create a pair of Mission Impossible films that will be bigger and better than anything that came before. And remember, Tom, if your film fails to bring in a billion or more, the studio will disavow your team, and your movie will go straight to streaming ... or worse, get shelved as a tax write-off. Good luck, Tom. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.” There's a swoosh of fog, and Tom Cruise is sitting in his bathroom with no shaving cream to complete his original task. I figure that's how it must have gone. And that was just for the first movie.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 23rd, 2025
"The oil and gas industry makes $3 billion a day in pure profit, generates over $4.3 trillion a year in revenue. It's the fourth largest industry in the world, ranked ahead of food production, automobile production, and at $1.4 trillion the pharmaceutical industry doesn't even crash the top 10. The industries ranked ahead of oil production are all completely dependent on oil and gas. The more they grow, the more we grow. That's the scale. That's the size of this thing, and it's only getting bigger..."
If Taylor Sheridan does not own a big chunk of stock at Paramount+, then he should be a major shareholder, because he's bringing in more bucks than everything else combined except for Star Trek. I've enjoyed every one of his shows to date some more than others. I think that Landman has to be the best of them yet. Yellowstone has been the great amber-captured jewel of the kingdom for over five years, but his split with Costner brings all of that to an early end, with the exception of spin-offs. I think I've found the new champ, and it's Landman. Landman is absolutely as good as television gets or has ever gotten. Paramount has released this first season on Blu-ray now, and if you're not planning on adding it to your collection, then you need to get back up, move that rock you hit your head on, and order it now. Or wait for the paramedics and hope for the best. Up to you.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 3rd, 2025
"We can find you some good guy material."
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has been in a transition. Transitions are OK, but for Marvel this one appears to have lasted several years. There have been more misses than hits. Last I checked we were in the fifth phase of the MCU, and so far the results have been underwhelming. I mean, when even a Captain America movie with Harrison Ford turning into a Red Hulk doesn't capture the box office numbers that were once considered automatic, something is wrong. The fifth phase is now coming to an end with the release of Thunderbolts*. Honestly, my expectations were low, and it appeared that even Marvel was already training us to ignore the last five years and get ready for big things with the launch this summer of The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Robert Downey Jr.'s return as Doom in the next series of Avengers films. I got the feeling that Thunderbolts* was really just filling time until the "real" stuff starts and was quite ready and willing to ignore it. I'll bet there are many of you who have been having that same feeling. Well ... it's time for a reality check. Thunderbolts* is not anything close to a great movie, but I haven't had this much fun at a comics film for literally years (OK, check that; I loved the Deadpool/Wolverine film). They say America loves an underdog, and Thunderbolts* is the Rocky of the MCU.
