Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 27th, 2010
"This is Hell, and I'm going to give you the guided tour."
There have been a lot of great prison and prison break films over the years. Who can forget Dustin Hoffman in Papillon or Clint Eastwood in Escape From Alcatraz? Of course, more recently we had The Shawshank Redemption. Lock Up won't ever taste the rare air of those classic films. In fact, it's not really a prison break film at all. There is an attempted break, but it's not quite the focus of the film. I almost felt like I was watching the sequel to a break film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 26th, 2010
USA Network has certainly found a little niche for themselves, milking their "characters wanted" run of television shows. It all started with Monk and has progressed through several successful reincarnations of the quirky character-driven shows. In some cases the quirky nature of the characters gets pretty out of control, and while I liked Monk a ton, his OCD was significantly over the top at times. This tends to draw too much attention and minimize whatever might be happening in the episode itself. That's not the case with White Collar. This series has a ton of potential to be the next big breakaway hit for the cable network.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 26th, 2010
There was a time when racial stereotypes on television and in the movies could be very funny. Shows like All In The Family and Sanford And Son brought an entire generation to their knees with laughter. Today audiences are a little more timid when it comes to that kind of humor. This is the kind of movie you end up looking both ways before you think about letting out even the slightest giggle to make sure no one is watching, or worse, training their cell phone camera on you.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 26th, 2010
"Would you give up 20 years to prove a stranger's innocence?"
That's the question that is asked and answered, at least for one person, in the docudrama The Wronged Man. The film is a made-for-television movie that appeared originally, and still does from time to time, on Lifetime.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on July 23rd, 2010
Our friends over at A&E Home Entertainment have given us 6 different DVD's to give away to our readers. Check out the list and you should find something that interests you. They are all from the History Instant Expert Series. They are both informative and educational.
Click Continue to see the choices and learn how to win.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 23rd, 2010
Let's see if you can follow any of this. Jesse Warren is a wannabe actor/director/gofer. He's taking acting classes like a million other Hollywood hopefuls. During his classes he begins to write the "way cool" story about a character named Neil Bannen. As luck would have it, he runs into another aspiring star in Mark Gantt. Gantt appears to be exactly like the character in Warren's fledgling script. So, he approaches his classmate and both agree that the story is "way cool".
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 21st, 2010
"Don't act like the hypocrite, who thinks he can conceal his wiles, while loudly quoting the Koran." - Hafez (14th Century Iranian Poet)
The Stoning Of Soraya M is based upon a book written by Freidoune Sahebjam. The book is currently banned in Iran as well as other countries. It is based on a true story. The book and now the film have caused quite a bit of controversy over the years. Director Cyrus Nowrasteh is no stranger to controversial topics. He appears to have a flair for significant historical events, and his work has shown some insight into the actual significance of his subjects
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 21st, 2010
In Florida we have some very large bugs. There's this one particular spider that is quite a problem in my house. It's real name is a huntsman spider, and it grows to about 16 feet, not including the legs. It sports 27-inch fangs and tends to move the furniture around at night while it stalks its prey. Yes, it stalks its prey at night in my house while I'm trying to sleep. Years ago I coined my own name for these clever, ferocious killers. I call them Rambo Spiders. The name fits these long-legged freaks perfectly as they perform their recon missions throughout our home. When I find them, I terminate them with extreme prejudice.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 20th, 2010
"Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. We're so glad you could attend. Come inside. Come inside."
The rock gods must have been smiling when Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and Carl Palmer journeyed from their perspective corners of the music world and combined to form the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, or merely ELP to the fans.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 20th, 2010
This was Lucille Ball’s follow-up to I Love Lucy. Here Ball is a widowed mother of two, sharing her home with best friend Vivian Vance, who is a divorced mother of one. All the other members of household are, of course, faced with the disasters triggered by Lucy. I screened this set immediately after viewing its close contemporary, Petticoat Junction, and the difference between the two was instructive. There are plenty of hokey gags and situations on The Lucy Show, but there is an enormous difference between the shows,
![Lock Up [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/lock-up-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![White Collar: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/white-collar-the-complete-first-se-large.jpg)
![Our Family Wedding [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/our-family-wedding-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![The Stoning of Soraya M. [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-stoning-of-soraya-m-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Rambo: The Complete Collector's Set [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/rambo-the-complete-collectors-set-large.jpg)
![Emerson, Lake, & Palmer: Live at Montreaux 1997 [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/emerson-lake-palmer-live-at-mo-large.jpg)
