Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on January 18th, 2013
"You don't want to take the silver, you take the lead".
He always told us he'd be back. After spending some years in the real world in the California governor's mansion, Arnold Schwarzenegger is indeed back...back in the reel world where he belongs. And if The Last Stand is any indication, it appears Arnie hasn't missed a beat. In fact, he's showing a bit of maturity in his acting that I honestly never would have believed possible back in the early days. Here Arnie's more Dirty Harry than Terminator. Throw in a little modern Spaghetti Western and more than a little help from Korean director Jee-woon Kim and you have a pretty tasty treat. It might not be all that nutritional or filling, but as guilty pleasures go, you can do a lot worse than The Last Stand.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 15th, 2013
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. If you haven’t checked this show out, this is your chance. See where it all began.
Raymond Burr did not carry the show on his own. There was a very fine cast of supporting characters. The most famous has to be his faithful secretary Della Street, played by Barbara Hale. The two were inseparable. Perry had the help of a good private investigator in the Raymond Chandler style. William Hopper played the tough-as-nails Paul Drake. One of Orson Welles’ famous Mercury Theater Players took on the part of Police Lt. Tragg. Ray Collins starred in Citizen Kane as the political party boss Gettys. He was a fine example of top talent working in television. Mason was often pitted against prosecutor Hamilton Burger, whose name too often reminded me of hamburgers. There wasn’t anything funny about Burger, however. He was a worthy opponent who drew the short straw most of the time because he was up against Perry Mason. The task was accomplished with a lot of style by William Talman, a one-time evangelistic preacher.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 14th, 2013
"Space... The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before."
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. No, this is not a Charles Dickens review. It very accurately describes the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The first season went over much better than anyone really expected. The Trek faithful embraced the series and the new characters. It was now time for the show to find its own feet with a second season. Unfortunately, several things went wrong. The Writers’ Guild went out on strike, and that meant no new scripts. Paramount was even talking about getting rid of the series. That was until someone remembered that this was not the first attempt to resurrect Star Trek for the television screen. In the late 1970's Paramount was preparing to launch its "4th" network. The anchor was to be a return of Star Trek, commonly referred to as Star Trek: Phase Two. All of the original cast would return with the notable exception of Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. The show would basically continue that crew's voyages. Then Star Wars lit the box office on fire. Combined with the scrapping of the network, until later, the television series became Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Spock returned along with two new characters. You might recognize Riker in Decker and, of course, Troi in the Deltan Ilea. The series was no more, but several scripts had been written and shelved. With some tweaking, Star Trek: Phase Two's scripts became Star Trek: The Next Generation's foundation for season two.
Posted in: Random Fun by Gino Sassani on January 9th, 2013
We catch up with iconic film director Tim Burton to find out more…
Frankenweenie is described as a semi-autobiographical project. Does this mean the younger characters in the movie are based on your classmates from school?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 8th, 2013
To his credit, Tim Burton has managed to keep the art of stop motion alive and well in Hollywood. He’s also proven that it can still be quite effective and just as commercial with such classics as A Nightmare Before Christmas. Since that time he’s had a modest number of hits and misses, but nothing that has come close to the holiday staple…until now. Frankenweenie is destined to become a Halloween tradition at our house, and I suspect I’m not alone.
Of course, Frankenweenie isn’t exactly a brand new idea. In 1984 Burton created a short film on the idea. It made the usual festival circuits and has shown up a couple of times as an extra on his more recent films. The original short certainly had its limitations, but it was a rather sweet little nugget that fans have been quietly enjoying for nearly 20 years. It’s actually a bit of a surprise that it’s taken the filmmaker this long to revisit the idea, but this time with a budget and running time geared for the mass audiences. Whatever the reasons for the delay, it was well worth the wait, particularly after Burton’s very disappointing take on Dark Shadows. While Frankenweenie might not completely redeem that colossal disappointment, it has gone a long way toward making me believe the filmmaker still has the wit and genius that have marked some of his earlier films.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 8th, 2013
“Blood is thicker than water, and oil is thicker than blood.”
The drama continues; not trying to steal the slogan from TNT; however, it does seem fitting for the returning soap drama, Dallas, especially since TNT is the network that it airs on. I am certain that everyone has heard of this soap opera in one capacity or another. The series ran for thirteen seasons from 1978 to 1991, and caused worldwide spread pandemonium with one of the most famous cliffhangers in television, “Who Shot J.R.?” Well enough about what Dallas was, and on to what it is; for starters it’s back. More than twenty years after it went off the air, the series returns with some new faces and some familiar ones.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on January 5th, 2013
On the Twelfth Day Of Christmas A&E/History gives to you:
Everything. That's right, The Universe in 3D. This 3-disc collection is the perfect compliment for that new 3D television or player. You get three of the show's better episodes in 3D: Catastrophes That Changed The Planets, Nemesis: The Sun's Evil Twin and How The Solar System Was Made. All in high definition. All in 3D. Let's just say we ended this year's 12 Days Of Christmas Giveaways with a bang, A Big Bang.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Gino Sassani on January 4th, 2013
Forget everything we've said about these guys. It's not often that we have to admit we were wrong here at Upcomingdiscs. This is one such time. We said good things about the program. I thought I'd finally found a good movie database, the Holy Grail of the industry. Well... it works fine....for a short time. In less than a year it's been pretty much broken and they'll charge you all over again to get a working version. What is wasted is your original money and the time you spent entering your films. For us that meant literally thousands of titles. Save your money and stay far away from this one. I'll keep looking for a good program. When we offer a recommendation, we want you to be able to count on it.
Bolide Software's attempt to hook you on a never-ending money grab isn't what you're looking for. There's got to be a great database software out there. I promise you. We will find it.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on January 4th, 2013
On the Eleventh Day Of Christmas A&E/History gives to you:
UFO Archives. All of your favorite UFO documentaries on 6 DVD's. We're talking Area 51, Roswell, The Majestic 12 and SETI. It's all here. 15 hours of UFO shows.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on January 4th, 2013
This is the time of the year when everyone is giving their lists for the best films and televisions shows for 2012. It's become almost the "in" thing to do, and we've resisted following such a trend here. The lists are always going to be very subjective and have very little value except a little stirring of the pot. If pressed I could tell you what I thought were the best movies I've seen in 2012. Right now I'm going to tell you about a movie that would top my list of worst films I've seen in 2012. That distinction belongs to Promised Land. I hate films that are pretentious or preach. This does both and doesn't even grant me the courtesy of pretending it's entertaining at the same time. The story is about as predictable as a race between a Ferrari and a sautéed snail. Steve Butler (Damon) and his long-time partner Sue Thomason (McDormand) are the best at what they do. What they do is represent a natural gas company, and they go into untapped towns and buy fracking rights from land owners. The duo is known for getting the rights and getting them cheap. It's all part of a familiar song and dance. The cash-poor landowners are reeled in with the promise of life-changing money. Of course, what really lies in their future is the eventual destruction of their town. They are welcomed with open arms until an old scientist now teaching high school science (Holbrook) brings up some disturbing questions. Matters get worse when Dustin Noble (Krasinski) rolls into town claiming to represent an environmental group that Butler's never heard of before. The visit becomes confrontational, and the town is divided on the issue. Some still welcome the reps, while others want to run them out of town.
The story is certainly an interesting one even if it's been played out too many times before. Promised Land comes with some twists and turns that I'm sure the filmmakers thought were clever and serve a necessary social function. There's no question that the process of fracking has risks and is quite controversial. The film might have accomplished what it set out to do, which was to take a stand on the issue. Unfortunately, everyone here decides to overplay the hand, and the result is such a blatant message that all of the environmental messages are dulled by the attempt. Damon's character has the kind if epiphany moment that borders on the absurd. It comes from nowhere at all, and Damon just doesn't exhibit the acting chops here to bridge the credulity gap. There is another twist which would spoil the film more than the filmmakers have already done. But let me assure you that there are more than enough absolutely crazy plot twists here to make any reasonable audience groan.
