Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 11th, 2016
"And then there's Maude."
In football there's always a lot of talk about coaching trees. You know the idea. Some great mastermind who saw his assistants go on to have success of their own and who passed that lucky charm down to others for, perhaps, generations. All In The Family would be the television equivalent to a coach with a long tree. There were an incredible number of spinoffs that lead to other spinoffs. Archie's neighbors The Jeffersons moved on up to the East Side and had their own several years of success.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 9th, 2016
Say Uncle. That’s U.N.C.L.E., otherwise known as the United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. Starting in 1964, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was one of a flurry of shows to take advantage of the new James Bond craze. It featured many of the same elements as the super-spy films. You had sophisticated spies in tuxedos. There were plenty of gadgets. And there were constant threats of world domination, mostly from the evil counter organization, THRUSH. The two top spies for the good guys were Napoleon Solo (Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (McCallum). The Bond references were never subtle and always intentional. Ian Fleming himself consulted on the show and named Napoleon Solo after a Bond character. Together Solo and Kuryakin would travel around the globe, saving the world from almost certain doom.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 8th, 2016
“My name is Henry Morgan. My story is a long one. It might sound a bit implausible. In fact, you probably won't believe it, but I'll tell you anyway, because beyond all else I have lots, lots of time.”
Unfortunately for the cast and crew of Forever and their fans, time was something this show wouldn’t have much of at all. Created by Matthew Miller, Forever combines the deductive crime solving of Sherlock Holmes with the genre twist of immortality.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 6th, 2016
"My father told me about these men, about their natures. All I knew were the stories I was told of monsters and the valiant men sworn to slay them. I fear the stories I've heard may have been clouded, the truth more than clouded. It would seem these monsters are men, sons, brothers, fathers. And it would seem these men face their own monsters..."
Move over, Captain Jack Sparrow. There are some new pirates on the block, and they sail into our living rooms on a regular basis in the Starz sophomore series Black Sails. The high seas adventure series combines historical people and places with the fictional characters of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic Treasure Island.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2016
"It all begins with seeing. So what do you see?"
The term “Renaissance man” is often used to describe a person who has a very wide range of interests in which they have become quite skilled. It's taken from the traits of the many artists, innovators, and writers of the 15th century. And while the term might well apply to any number of such historical figures, there is none for whom it is more apt than Leonardo DaVinci.
Posted in: Tribute by Gino Sassani on February 3rd, 2016
“Can you get me off the hook? For old times’ sake?”
But it was we who were on Abe Vigoda’s hook. He might have been a character named Fish, but he had us hook, line, and sinker. Godfather fans knew him as the dangerous Sal Tessio. To the Barney Miller faithful he was Detective Fish, who eventually moved to his own spinoff. Certainly, he had many more memorable characters over his nearly 70-year career, but these will likely remain his legacy. He was a reliable character actor on shows like The Rockford Files, Mannix, Hawaii Five-0, Cannon, Dark Shadows, Kojak, MacGyver, Law & Order, and even the voice of a mobster in a Batman animated feature. Last week we lost Abe. He was 94 years old. Fortunately, we’ll never lose Tessio and Fish.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 3rd, 2016
“Magic Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?”
Years ago a news magazine, I don’t remember which, conducted a survey. They discovered that more adults knew the names of the Seven Dwarfs than could name seven figures in the federal government, including President, Vice-President, Senate, House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court. They say our educations begin very young. Well, since 1938 our youths have been entertained by Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2016
"This bird you'll never change."
That seems to be the case with the Southern Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd. Few bands have experienced the level of tragedy this one has. It's somewhat of a miracle that any version of the band would still be standing. But they are thriving and doing their best to keep their particular sound alive. And what better place to demonstrate that nearly 50 years after they were formed than back home in Jacksonville, Florida where the band's original members were formed. (No, they didn't come from Alabama.)
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on February 1st, 2016
"Never underestimate the impact of dramatic entrance!"
It's hard to maintain the attention of the 21st-century child. Animated movies have to combine enough elements of charm and action to keep their attention for a little under two hours. If you want to keep a franchise going, you have to rip out your sequels in reasonably tight schedules. It's been over four years since Kung Fu Panda 2, and we waited nearly that long between the first and second entry. That's a long time in a culture where we move from fad to fad almost by the hour.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 31st, 2016
"Stealing from the Pope is suicide."
We're not talking about that pope. We're talking about Robert DeNiro in his latest direct-to-video feature film Heist. It's true that DeNiro hasn't exactly been picky lately with his parts. He commands a big paycheck, often for just showing up on the credits. It's common among actors particularly those like DeNiro who have made quite a name for themselves and find themselves in the back nine of their career.
