Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2014
"You got a chapter in one of those books on jumping to conclusions?"
It's easy to jump to conclusions with a name like True Detective. The moniker conjures up images of the true crime pulp magazines of the 40's and 50's. You might get a sense that this is one of those "based on a true story" type of shows. There was even a second when I expected we might have our first "found footage" television shows. Whatever ideas you have going in, expect your perceptions to change.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on June 11th, 2014
Our crazy pals guys over at Arc Entertainment have sent over three copies of A Short History Of Decay on DVD for a few lucky Upcomingdiscs fans. It's a dark comedy about a guy who wants to be a writer but life keeps getting in the way. It stars Linda Lavin (Alice) and Bryan Greenberg (One Tree Hill). This is one you won't soon forget. It's twisted. It's funny. It's out of control.
To win just follow these instructions.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 9th, 2014
Mike Warren (Tveit) has just graduated at the top of his class for the FBI. His family includes past directors, and he's personal friends with the current director (Vance). He expects to write his own ticket to a fast-track gig in DC and into a director's chair at a young age. It all gets sidetracked when he's assigned to Southern California and a place called Graceland. It's a beach house seized in a drug bust. Now it's an inter-department Federal unit. There are FBI, DEA and Customs officers all sharing the house and coordinating both their domestic lives and their law enforcement lives
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 9th, 2014
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
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 9th, 2014
"The meek shall inherit the Earth when the strong say so."
Director Manish Patel wants his now. He is mostly known as a British television documentary guy, and it's only natural that he'd eventually want to try his hand at a feature film. If you can't find the right project, there's always writing your own. Patel ends up being one of those one-man bands with a low budget and a minimal crew. The result is Original Gangster, known as Full English Breakfast in his home territory of England.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on June 6th, 2014
"What I am about to tell you sounds crazy. But you have to listen to me. Your very lives depend on it. You see, this isn't the first time."
No, this isn't the first time. Tom Cruise seems to be making a habit of these science fiction action movies of late. There was Oblivion and War Of The Worlds, and quite frankly Edge Of Tomorrow looked to be pretty much more of the same. But there's a huge difference between this film and the previous two. Edge Of Tomorrow is actually good. What looks on the surface to be just Groundhog Day with futuristic toys turns out to be a redemption story that I actually never saw coming.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 5th, 2014
When something is successful, it doesn't take long for everyone else to try to find out just what those secret spices are and attempt to cash in on the wave. In 1963 NBC started one of those waves with The Virginian. While it wasn't exactly the start of the western television tsunami, it was one of the longer-lasting ratings winners after the big two (Gunsmoke and Bonanza). By 1968 CBS was looking for a way to copy that success. One of The Virginian's unique qualities was its 90-minute running time. Many westerns ran just 30 minutes with plenty of hour-long shows.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 4th, 2014
We first came to know Paul Hogan as the "Shrimp On The Barbie" guy. He was doing television and radio ads for Australian tourism. A smart fellow, he saw that the ad character was popular and rode an enormous wave of an Australian fad that hit America in the 1980's.. Suddenly there were Australian bands like Men At Work teaching us about vegemite sandwiches on the top of the music charts. We got steak, not shrimp, on our barbie with a chain of Australian-themed steakhouses appropriately called Outback "no rules, just right" started up by a Florida group.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 4th, 2014
"Senior year is supposed to be the best year of your life. Did you know that? Yeah, if you survive it."
It's a new season, and the girls face new dangers. You have to give the writers some credit here. While the whole A thing can get a little old, they do a good job of changing the dynamics between the Liars’ relationships both inside and outside their group. Foes can become friends, and friends often turn out to be foes. There is a lot more turmoil inside of the group as each of the Liars takes a turn being a bit of an outsider for a short while.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 4th, 2014
Long before Clint Eastwood was making our day as Dirty Harry or even roaming the badlands without a name for Sergio Leone, he was working the cattle drive on Rawhide. Rawhide was created to take advantage of the huge Western film and television wave that Hollywood had been riding for nearly a decade. With huge ratings for Gunsmoke and Bonanza among others, Rawhide was a bit of an unlikely success. Here the show explored the West on an endless cattle drive to get a few thousand steer to market. Along the way the crew would find themselves involved in someone else’s troubles or meet trouble head on themselves.
