Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2013
"You won't see it coming".
Ridley Scott has undergone a bit of a change in his last couple of films. He has become more contemplative and philosophical. It's certainly understandable. In the middle of filming The Counsellor, his brother and producing partner Tony Scott took his own life by jumping from a bridge. Obviously production on this film was halted for a time. Credit the director for pulling it together and getting the film back on track and finally released. Still, as you watch the film, you can't help but wonder if it wasn't heavily influenced by his own personal tragedy.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2013
It appears that Kevin Sorbo has shed his heroic image for that of the direct-to-video family film. Back in 2009 we interviewed the actor for another horse film called Tommy And The Cool Mule. Interestingly enough, Storm Rider also involves a mule. He appears quite comfortable with the change. And while he's not playing the kind of heroes he did in Hercules or Andromeda, he has been working quite a bit in these smaller productions. I'm sure that the fans would love to see him once again in the larger-than-life roles that made him famous. For now you'll have to settle for heartwarming and small-budget. For now, you'll need to settle for Storm Rider.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 24th, 2013
"There's nothing like good wine and friends. Or cheap wine and relatives."
No one is going to get you closer to Mama for the holidays than Time-Life and Star Vista. It's the moment that fans have waited for over 20 years to arrive. The complete series of Mama's Family is finally out on DVD, and that means there's a lot to talk about. No one is trying to say that Mama's Family was the best sit-com to hit television. I'm not even sure I'd put it in the top ten. But it's the little show that could and survived six years on television and even longer in reruns.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 22nd, 2013
The Three Stooges might well be one of the most famous comedy teams in American entertainment history. What started as a Vaudeville act in the early 1920's would take theater audiences by surprise in the Depression years of the early 1930's in the famous shorts for Columbia Pictures. The shorts featured brothers Moe and Curly Howard with Moe's vaudeville partner Larry Fine. The shorts found them in all manner of situations from plumbers to Civil War soldiers
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2013
31 Nights Of Terror isn't over just yet. We've got some more goodies to give away. This time it's A Monsterous Holiday from our friends at Arc Entertainment. The animated special features the voice talents of Brooke Shields, Sean Astin, Jon Heder and Kyle Chandler. It's teenage Frankenstein mayhem to be sure.
To win just follow these instructions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 18th, 2013
"46,000 people died here. Do you think it's haunted?"
It would have been so much better for me if I had seen the first season of American Horror Story. Of course, it isn't necessary. This has to be one of the most clever television ideas I've encountered. You don't have to have seen the first season because, while the actors are pretty much the same, they play completely different parts in a completely different story in the second season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 16th, 2013
"We always thought that alien life would come from the stars, but it came from deep beneath the Pacific."
The only thing we seem to love more than giant monster movies are movies about giant dudes going a few rounds with said giant monsters. It was huge television fare in the 1960's and 1970's. We had Ultraman, Space Giants, and Johnny Socko. All of them were Japanese imports that gave us daily or weekly monsters doing the old "Tokyo Stomp", and just when things appeared at their darkest, the giant hero would arrive and give us a show more akin to the weekend wrestling shows than anything else
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 16th, 2013
Direct-to-video sequels of successful animated films are tricky at best. The video release is usually a sign that either the studio is trying to cash in quickly on the franchise or they are just not confident enough in the sequel to put it up on the big screen, usually with good reason. Smaller budgets mean less impressive animation and a lack of A-list voice actors. Every studio has been guilty of one or the other and more often both.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on October 14th, 2013
31 Nights Of Terror is just getting out of control with these giveaways. Our friends over at Mill Creek have given us a Triple Feature horror-fest to give away. One lucky Upcomingdiscs fan will get Deceived with Goldie Hawn, Summer Of Sam with John Leguizamo and The Rich Man's Wife with Halle Berry.
To win just follow these instructions.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on October 13th, 2013
"Try not to be distracted by the cleavage and the hairspray."
It all started out as a mock trailer written by Robert Rodriquez for the 2007 farce Grindhouse. The project combined such talents as Rodriquez, Quentin Tarantino, Eli Roth, Rob Zombie and Edgar Wright. They were all fans of the 1970's exploitation grindhouse films. You can certainly see the influences in the movies these filmmakers have made on their own. Machete was equally a farce and only intended to give you that drive-in trailer feeling during Grindhouse. Along the way the segment staring Danny Trejo became something more.
