Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2013
The setting for Gunsmoke was the by-now-famous Dodge City, circa 1870’s. Phrases like “get out of Dodge” would enter the popular lexicon as a result of this resilient series. Marshall Dillon (Arness) was charged with keeping the peace in Dodge City. The only other character to see the entire 20-year run was kindly Doc Adams (Stone). Star Trek’s own Doc, Leonard McCoy, took many of his traits from Doc Adams. He was the humanitarian of the city, always looking to help someone. Like McCoy, he had a taste for bourbon and a soft heart underneath a rather gruff exterior and was always ready with free advice. Dillon’s love interest throughout most of the series was Miss Kitty Russell (Blake). While there were certainly a few romantic undercurrents, the romance never came to fruition. Miss Kitty was a prostitute on the radio and was likely one here as well, but CBS chose to underplay that aspect of her character as a “saloon girl”. Finally Dillon’s faithful sidekick deputy was Chester (Weaver). Chester often found himself in trouble and was the naïve son figure to Dillon.
Gunsmoke is the longest-running scripted live-action television show in history. The series ran from 1955 to 1975. At first it was a half-hour black-and-white show that evolved into a color hour by 1967. It actually started before the days of television, premiering on radio in 1952. Then it was William Conrad as the tough-as-nails Marshall Matt Dillon. When television came into its own, Gunsmoke made the jump to the bright living room box and made history. Westerns would ride across our small square screens for the next three decades, making it the most successful genre of that time, and it was Gunsmoke that started it all. The television version of Gunsmoke was originally conceived as a vehicle for John Wayne, who opted to remain in movies. Yet it was Wayne himself who suggested James Arness, and it turned out to be a career for the one-time “carrot” monster from The Thing. Gunsmoke started before all of the big westerns and was around when most of them had departed.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on February 11th, 2013
There's a new take on the horror movie. It's Mimesis. I had the opportunity to chat with Douglas Schulze. He's the writer/director and producer of the film. Why watch horror films when you can live them. That's the idea behind the film. Why not listen in on our conversation? Bang it here for my interview with Douglas Schulze
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on February 8th, 2013
Between Jason Bateman (Office Space and Horrible Bosses) and Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids and Mike and Molly), whose career seems to be most on fire right now? The idea of these two pairing would at first glance appear to be comic gold. Instead the result is a road trip film that had me asking if it were over yet. When we first meet Sandy Patterson (Bateman), he’s just your average businessman trying to support his family. With a new baby on the way, more money is just what he could use, and when he discovers the only people getting bonuses are his superiors, this rubs him the wrong way, and rightfully so. So when he’s given an offer to leave the company to work for another company and get a substantial raise, the decision is a no brainer.
Too bad in Winter Park, Florida, Diana (McCarthy) has stolen Patterson’s identity and has gone on a spending spree, running up credit cards and ruining Patterson’s credit. Things manage to get worse after Diana is arrested under Patterson’s name and in the process has a warrant sent out for Patterson. Despite everything Diana manages to do, the film never seems to want us to dislike her, but instead they tried to make her just as sympathetic as Sandy. If that were my only problem with the film, I’d just blow it off and just remind myself, “it’s only a movie”, but instead the film is a bit of a train wreck.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 6th, 2013
"All this has happened before and will all happen again. But this time it happened in London. It happened on a quiet street in Bloomsbury. That corner house is the house of the Darling family, and Peter Pan chose this particular house because these were people who believed in him..."
In 1953 with a little help from some Walt Disney magic, generations of children, and adults, of course, would learn to believe in the boy who never grew up. Peter Pan began in the imagination of writer J. M. Barrie. He appeared in a number of works from the Scottish author beginning in 1902 with The Little White Bird. The character had always been a favorite of Walt Disney himself, and it was originally intended as his second animated feature following Snow White. It became quickly apparent that the technology wasn't quite where he needed it to be to tell the story he wanted to tell. It was put on a shelf, but never forgotten. The rights to the character were willed to the children of a Children's Hospital in London, and it was from there that Walt managed to obtain the film rights for the animated feature we have today. Peter Pan has enjoyed success in pretty much every medium possible. There have been hugely popular stage productions where Peter was usually played by a woman. The character has appeared in film, music, comics, television, radio plays and, of course, printed form. He's an endearing and certainly enduring character who has now added high-definition Blu-ray to the list.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2013
I had a nice little chat with Paul Andrew Williams. It was our most long-distance interview yet. He was in Jolly Ole' England and was nice enough to stay up late to talk to me about his latest film Cherry Tree Lane. We've got a review forthcoming. This is a most interesting and quite intimate look at a home invasion. Bang it here to listen in on our chat Paul Andrew Williams
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on February 1st, 2013
It's hard to imagine that Sylvester Stallone and Walter Hill never crossed paths for an action movie in the early days of their careers. Both have established themselves as staples in the action movie genre, and they dominated the 1970's and 1980's. It seems like a dream come true that the actor and director have finally joined forces. Unfortunately, some dreams are actually nightmares, and if Bullet To The Head is any indication, the two stars would have been better off had they remained unaligned.
The story is based on the French graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tete by Alexis Nolent. I have never seen the book, so it would not be possible for me to compare the two. Here the story involves hitman James Bobo (Stallone). He's on a hit with his partner Louis (Seda). Things go smoothly until James decides not to kill a hooker witness. Is he going soft? Not really. It turns out the two have been set up by their boss Marcus Baptiste (Slater) who has sent another killer, Keegan (Momoa) to get rid of the team. James gets away, and now he wants to find out who set him up and killed his partner.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 28th, 2013
Here’s the thing. Fans of the franchise should be pleased with the latest entry. The series has been a solid October tradition for some time now. When you consider the low cost of creating one of these films with the proven box office numbers, this was all really a no-brainer, to say the least. You’re going to get more of what you are expecting, and the film throws in enough new angles and tricks to keep the idea as fresh as possible. However, there is a flip-side to all of this. I don’t think it’s very likely that you can enjoy this film quite so fully if you have not seen any of the previous films. The history is of vital importance if you’re going to appreciate where all of this is going. That isn’t to say newcomers won’t be entertained. There are enough jumps and shocks to have a relatively good time. Still, if you haven’t gotten yourself caught up in the franchise’s mythology, you might want to make that effort before going to see this film. It was my intention to watch the first three again before I saw this one. I couldn’t find the time. I wish I had. I did see the first three films, and I still feel like I needed to refresh myself before the journey into number four. Alas, that was not meant to be, and this review will suffer somewhat because of that. I very strongly encourage you to take in the story so far before venturing to your local multiplex.
You say you don’t have the time either? Here’s a quick history lesson to get you caught up. You should be warned that here there be SPOILERS of the first three films:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 25th, 2013
We've seen action films like Taken enough times that we've become a little immune to the formula. But then again, Liam Neeson wasn't your typical action figure, and so the movie was able to take audiences by surprise. It's not that Neeson hadn't already established himself as a fine actor. He just didn't fit the mold we are so used to seeing. Things have changed in the couple of years since Taken had its box office run. Neeson has now done more action films, and he's started to look more the part. The clever antics of the first film are now behind us, so a sequel isn't going to really be able to take us unaware again. And perhaps that, more than anything else, is the reason Taken 2 comes across as a bit of a disappointment.
The story itself is one of the most clever I've ever seen in an action film sequel. How many times do we watch an action hero rack up the body count in his or her quest to save the day? There's enough shooting in these films to give Uncle Joe Biden nightmares. Sequels come along and our hero is back in action against new bad guys. But what about the aftermath of the first film? Don't these guys have friends and family who might take it badly that they were killed? Of course they would, and Taken 2 starts with that very premise.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 23rd, 2013
Anyone who reads these pages on a regular basis knows that I'm a huge fan of the Oppo line of 3D players. All of the reviews you read that are written by me have been viewed on an Oppo player. They have been our official Blu-ray machines for a few years now. I also want to reiterate that Oppo does not pay me to say that or to publish reviews of their products. They are not advertisers here, and we've never gotten a single dime from them. But if you're as serious about your audio and video quality as I am, and you wouldn't be here if you weren't, you owe it to yourself to check out the latest in Oppo players. I'm talking about the Oppo BDP-103. It's fully 3D capable and runs all of the current audio and video codecs.
We write often about the audio and video quality of Blu-ray releases in our reviews. It's important to know just what kind of quality to expect out of a new release. Still, any videophile knows that these specs are only as good as the equipment that you're using. That includes the monitor, receiver/amp and, of course, the player itself. There are a ton of cheap Blu-ray players out there. Some even run 3D, and most now handle all of your BD Live needs. So why not just go out there and pick one up from a big box store and be done with it? Because the insides are not all equal. Let's take a look at the Oppo BDP-103 and see if it's worth the upgrade to your system it will most certainly provide.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on January 21st, 2013
Last week I got a chance to chat with Lindsey Shaw. She's just celebrated her return to Pretty Little Liars as the fan-favorite Paige. She's also staring in a nice little thriller out from Anchor Bay. The film is Love Me and you can listen in to what she had to say to me about her career and the film. Bang it here to listen to my chat with Lindsey Shaw
