Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on September 18th, 2014
Last week I shared my conversation with Joseph Millson from The Dead 2: India. This week I had the opportunity to talk to the guys who made the film possible. Of course, I'm talking about The Ford Brothers Howard J. and Jon. We go deep inside the film and you get to listen in. I must warn you that Jon's connection wasn't so great and it will be harder to hear him speak. I apologize for the sub-par audio. It was the best we could do under the circumstances. Don't let that stand in the way of helping us celebrate the Sept. 16th release of The Dead 2: India from Anchor Bay. Howard J.'s audio is just fine. Bang it here to drop in on my conversation with The Ford Brothers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 18th, 2014
"The city still needs saving. But not by the Hood. And not by some vigilante who's just crossing names off a list. It needs... something more."
That someone, that something more ...that something else is the DC Comics character Green Arrow. Not to be confused with the same-colored Hornet or Lantern. In season 2 Oliver Queen finally sheds the name and reputation of the Hood or Vigilante. He has vowed not to kill, and he no longer has the list to guide him. His job now is to go after any bad guys in Starling City.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 17th, 2014
"Spartacus' mongrel horde has swelled with each passing victory since Glaber's defeat at Vesuvius. They added thousands to rank liberating the mines of Lucania. Slaves across the Republic, humble and grateful to their masters for so many years, have broken to treachery in the wake of the ever-expanding legend of Spartacus."
Starz has had a pretty good run with their Spartacus series. Coming off the style of blood and violence that was popularized with Zach Snyder's 300, Spartacus brought that comic book/graphic novel intensity to television. The presentation was both original and effective for a television series. Instead of presenting a typical ongoing story, Starz used a serialization method that made each season a separate collection of shows while maintaining the continuity that fans could appreciate and follow.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 17th, 2014
CSI is one of the longest-running shows on television. There are still a great number of original or early-years cast members still there. But I think it's actually the changes that have allowed the show to rediscover itself once again. It's actually been a good thing for the series and the franchise. It's a family again. That's no dig on anyone who has left. It's just that I like this group a lot, and we've been able to see stories that just would not have been done in the old days. It has new legs, and I think we just might be in it for the long haul.
For the two or three people on the planet who don’t know, the idea is actually quite a simple one. The CSI night shift crime scene investigators utilize all of the latest science to solve often brutal crimes. Instead of guns, these detectives come packing microscopes and test tubes. If you want to know more about the previous seasons and spinoff shows, bang it here to catch up: CSI Reviews.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on September 15th, 2014
Anchor Bay is releasing The Dead 2: India on Tuesday (9/16). We've got John Ceballos at work on the review. In the meantime I had a lot of fun talking to the film's star Joseph Millson last week. We talked about everything from Pop Tarts to working with the Ford Brothers. Millson is also known for playing in Casino Royale and the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. Unfortunately, it was a quick conversation. Here's your chance to eavesdrop on our conversation. Bang it here to listen to my interview with Joseph Millson.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 12th, 2014
"There's virtually nothing the Winchesters can't do if they work together."
But that's the rub, isn't it? The tradition has been that each of the last several seasons end up beginning with the brothers separated for one reason or another. Often one of them is trying to escape Hell, purgatory or some fantasy mental land. There are at least two times a year they split up over an argument. But the truth is that they know just as the fans do that when the chips are down and there's an apocalypse around the corner, these guys are going to come together and kick some evil behind. Like that old energizer bunny, they just keep going and going and going. It's been nine years now, and the boys are about to enter a tenth season on the CW. With no end in sight, it's time to look at the ninth season of Supernatural.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2014
"One must regard the 30 years of strife, turmoil and suffering in Europe as part of one story. One story of a 30 years war." - Winston Churchill
He was exactly correct, and one of only a few people of the time who had the vision to understand that concept. Before the end of World War II the first world war was known as The Great War. The idea of two separate world wars came later. I can foresee a day when history will once again change its perspective and refer to the entire period as The Great War. It's the tactic that this History mini-series has taken.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 10th, 2014
"It's been a long summer."
And my how things have changed in Mystic Falls. Elena is a vampire, and Katherine is now a human, and doing a pitiful job of that, to be sure. Bonnie is a ghost who only Jeremy can see, and they're trying to keep it all a big secret from everyone so they all think Bonnie is out globe-hopping and having a great time. Stefan is at the bottom of a lake in a safe where everyone else thinks Silas is. He's drowning, dying and then waking up again and again and again. In between he's hallucinating conversations with Damon and Elena. Meanwhile those two are hitting the sheets together again and again and again. All the while big bad from last season Silas is masquerading as Stefan. Turns out that's his true form, and this season is going to make you sick and tired of the whole doppelganger thing. That is, if you weren't already. Yes, it's been quite a long summer, but it's time to head back to Mystic Falls once again.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2014
"It's called compartmentalization. No one spills the secrets because no one knows them all."
I was lucky enough to grow up during Marvel's wonderful rebirth of the 1960's and 1970's. Of all of the comics they produced during that time, I was always least impressed with Captain America. I don't think I ever read an issue of any of his mags with the notable exception of The Avengers. So how can it be possible that after dozens of Marvel films, and I'm including the Fox and other-studio-produced stuff, that Captain America: The Winter Soldier can end up being my favorite? Could it be that I've warmed up to the Cap under the compelling performances of Chris Evans. Nah! Could it be I've grown and matured a lot since I was a teenager? Anyone who knows me is certain that can't be the answer. Could it be that maybe, just maybe, this just happens to be their best film yet? No maybe’s or could be's about it. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is even better than The Avengers. It's too early to tell if it'll be my favorite tent-pole film of the summer, but it's starting in the pole position, to be sure.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2014
Erle Stanley Gardner wrote crime fiction, and while many of his 100 or so works are unknown to most of us, he created a character who has become as identified with criminal lawyers as any other in fiction. It was in these crime novels that Perry Mason first faced a courtroom. He developed a style where he would investigate these terrible crimes his clients were on trial for. He would find the real killer, and in what has become a Hollywood cliché, reveal his findings in a crucial moment during the trial. While we may not remember the novels, we all remember the man in the persona of Raymond Burr. Burr had a commanding presence on our screens and enjoyed a well-deserved 11-year run as the clever lawyer. What makes this run so amazing is that the show followed pretty much the same pattern the entire time. We always know what’s going to happen, but we wait eagerly for that gotcha moment when Perry faces the witness on the stand. We know when he’s got the guy squarely in his sights, and we can’t sit still waiting for him to pull the trigger. OK, so maybe that’s a little over the top, but so was Perry Mason. From the moment you heard that distinctive theme, the stage was set. To say that Perry Mason defined the lawyer show for decades would be an understatement. Folks like Matlock and shows like The Practice are strikingly similar to Perry Mason.
Perry Mason officially ended in May of 1966, but that wasn't going to be the end. Twenty years later the surviving cast members reunited for Perry Mason Returns. It was Perry and Della back together again. Both Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale returned to their roles. William Hopper had died in 1970, so William Katt joined the reunion as Paul Drake, Jr. Katt might not have really been Drake's son; he was Hale's son. When Katt left the films he was replaced by William R. Moses as Ken Malansky. Ken was a young law student helped by Perry once when he was framed in law school for a rival's murder. He ends up being both a legal assistant and investigator for Perry in the reunion films. Ken's girlfriend is Amy, played by Baywatch's Alexandra Hastings. Amy was a rich girl who had too much time on her hands. It led to her involving herself in Ken's investigations. The films also often starred James McEachin as Lt. Brock, the cop on many of the cases. M*A*S*H's David Ogden Stiers would often play his rival in the prosecutor's office Michael Reston. The team would continue to do 30 television movies from 1985-1995. CBS has now begun to package these reunion films in collections like this.
