Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on June 30th, 2015
Robert Davi has been around for a long time. He was a Bond villain against Timothy Dalton's Bond in License To Kill. He went toe to toe with Sly Stallone in The Expendables 3. He told off Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Most of you remember him as Agent Malone on The Profiler. So what does he do for an encore? He sings Sinatra songs, what else? I'll tell you what else. He stars in Awaken the new film out from Arc Entertainment. I had a great time talking to the man recently. We talked about Italy and music. Of course, we talked about Awaken. The man's a force to be reckoned with. Just ask Sly, Bond or Bruce. It was even his birthday. Bang it here to listen to my conversation with Robert Davi. You should also check out his music site Here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 29th, 2015
"There's always a consequence for breaking the rules."
Maybe that's why the crew from The Lazarus Effect decided to use all of the rules and conventions in the book without daring to really break any new ground of its own. By the time I was finished with the film, I felt like I had watched several horror movies at the same time. It's most intentionally Frankenstein meets Flatliners meets insert-your-favorite-ghost/possession-movie meets every-Stephen-King-film-ever-made. With all of that at its fingertips and a pretty bright cast, all The Lazarus Effect could do was raise itself to mediocrity.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 26th, 2015
"In these mountains roams one of the rarest species on our planet. A shy, elusive, and gentle creature: the giant panda."
If you are old enough you will remember President Richard Nixon's famous trip the China. He was the first President to make the voyage, and it was heralded as a foreign policy breakthrough for the nation. Long after, the hoopla had died down and the only time it seemed Nixon was in the news was for Watergate. But even amid the scandal, one bright legacy of that trip remained for years to come. That was, of course, the Chinese gift to the United States to celebrate the event. We received two pandas named Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing that would capture the hearts of a nation even as Nixon was losing them
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 25th, 2015
"We're just a typical American family that just happens to run a multimillion dollar outdoor empire. We create, test and sell the world's coolest products for the modern outdoorsman, and we find our inspiration on a little slice of Heaven called the Busbice Family Ranch in Louisiana."
Sounds like an infomercial, doesn't it? It's actually the intro to A&E's latest in their collection of redneck families who happen to be in the dough. If you like Duck Dynasty, this show was made for you. It's another one of those eccentric families in the outdoors business. With names like Uncle Hard Luck, these guys fit right in with the Robertson family over at Duck Dynasty.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 23rd, 2015
"My name is - . This is my true story like it's never been told before."
You can fill in that blank with any one of six names or groups for the first season of Gunslingers. Each episode picks up the story of a legendary icon of the West. We're not talking about the fictionalized characters from the long run of television westerns. These are the real infamous gunfighters whose history has become the stuff of mythology over the years. The episodes are told from the point of view of that week's subject, as played by an actor, of course. Other parts are also played out, but the focus is the point of view of that gunslinger.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on June 16th, 2015
We have some great friends over at Time Life and Star Vista. They’re you’re friends, too. This time it’s season 3 of The Wonder Years. Take a trip back in time to what it was like to be a kid in the 1960?s. Plus there’s Joe Cocker’s version of A Little Help From My Friends. It’s all here for a lucky Upcomingdiscs winner. It's getting pretty much Summer and most of you are about to create your own wonder months. This might just fit in with those plans.
Contest is now closed Winner is Anne Derkat
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 16th, 2015
"It means what it always means. Nobody tells you anything when you wanna know it. Only when they feel like telling it. And then only enough to make you crazy to know more."
When it comes to Pretty Little Liars, it seems making the fans crazy is what they do best. The fifth season of the show is out on DVD, and this is no place for beginners. If you don't know who Aria, Spencer, Emily, Hannah and Alison are, it's time for you to head back to the beginning and catch up. You can find our reviews from those seasons here. For the rest of you, let's talk Pretty Little Liars, shall we?
Posted in: Tribute by Gino Sassani on June 14th, 2015
"I don't want to sound gloomy, but at some point of your lives, every one of you will notice that you have in your life one person, one friend whom you love and care for very much. That person is so close to you that you are able to share some things only with him. For example, you can call that friend, and from the very first maniacal laugh or some other joke you will know who is at the other end of that line. We used to do that with him so often. And then when that person is gone, there will be nothing like that in your life ever again."
That was how Christopher Lee described his long-time friend and frequent co-star Peter Cushing when he died in 1994.
The two shared the screen dozens of times, most notably in the Hammer Studios cycle of horror films. The words can also describe the man himself. Hammer had picked up on the popular movie monster when the Universal cycle had pretty much run out its string. Following in the footsteps of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney (both Sr. and Jr.), Lee was part of a next generation of horror film icons. Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee would become the horror giants who would pick up where the Universal greats left off. It started with Curse Of Frankenstein, but it was Dracula for whom he will always be remembered. Not surprisingly, Lee never cared for the term “horror film”. He would borrow a French description often used by Boris Karloff and referred to these films as "the theatre of the fantastique"
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2015
"We need more teeth."
That's the problem with sequels, isn't it? There's always the belief that you have to go bigger and stronger than you did before. It's an ideal that is also reflected quite literally in the story of Jurassic World. You know what kills worse than dinosaurs? Expectations. It is those expectations that will turn what is a pretty solid action movie into a disappointment for so many. No doubt, Jurassic World is a fun and entertaining movie. But it's not Jurassic Park, and the truth is it never could be. If you go to this movie hoping to recapture what you felt the first time you heard the words "Welcome to Jurassic Park"
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews 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 unit out of Boston PD. Her best friend in life happens to be Dr. Maura Isles, who is the Chief Medical Examiner for the unit and is played by Sasha Alexander. These are the kind of friends who finish each other's sentences and share a lot of history together. That's not to say they are at all alike.
