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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 29th, 2014
“It’s been a long time getting from there to here.”
But it's finally arrived. We now have all four seasons of Star Trek: Enterprise on high-definition Blu-ray collections. On the surface, this was the easiest show to release on Blu-ray. It's the only Trek series already in widescreen format, and it's the only one to have been filmed, at least partially, in high definition to begin with. There was a risk, however. The series has gotten some of the most mixed reviews of any of the shows in the franchise. The truth is, it's been getting kinder buzz in the years since it left the air. In fact, most people, myself included, feel that Enterprise was at its very best when it was taken off the air
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2014
Just when you think you'd heard about everything there was to hear about World War II, the Smithsonian Channel offers some insight into a few "lesser-known” events of the war. Mix in a little conspiracy theory that's become all the rage since Dan Brown's novels hit the best seller list. What you end up with is a DVD like Secrets Of The Third Reich. The release cobbles together four episodes each telling a unique story that may or may not be completely true.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 26th, 2014
"The First World War shaped the 20th century. It sparked the Russian Revolution, and it launched America as a world power. The fault lines from its failed peace settlement led to a second terrible world war barely 20 years later. We all live with its unresolved consequences..."
The First World War long existed in the shadow of the second. When it was fought, the term World War was not yet in existence. Until after the Second World War, it was referred to mostly as The Great War. The footage from this war is far more rare.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 23rd, 2014
"You and I have a lot of catching up to do. What's the last thing you remember?"
In 2006 director Bryan Singer appeared to have turned his back on the film franchise he had brought to life. After two successful runs at the X-Men universe Singer was primed and ready for a third when a certain Man Of Steel caught his eye. At seemingly, the last minute Singer dropped out of the third X-Men film to direct the dubious return of Superman. I actually like Superman Returns better than most. I wonder how much of the film's hatred might have been directed at its director, considered a traitor by many fans. I never really looked at it quite that way. It's a business, after all, and people come and go.
