Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 20th, 2010
Flight Of The Intruder is one of those films that appears and disappears off of the film world radar about as quickly as a stealth bomber. It has had its share of accolades but often passes swiftly into that entertainment night of obscurity. While it is at its core a Vietnam War film, the movie never really appears to be about the war at all. It attempts to capture some of the sartorial wit of Catch 22 while still trying to pass itself off as a serious enough movie. Make no mistake. This film leaves no war cliché unused, particularly in the stilted, sometimes gung-ho dialog of its characters.
Jake "Cool Hand" (Johnson) is a bomber pilot during the Vietnam War. He's stationed on an aircraft carrier. He's growing a bit bored with the missions he's being ordered to fly. Instead of taking out the important military installations he's assigned to, the locations end up being just empty jungle, or worse. Some of them are simply civilian farms and villages. His morale is already pretty rock-bottom when one of these useless missions catches his plane some serious fire and kills his navigator. Now Jake wants to do something worthwhile, not to mention get a little payback on the enemy. Commander Camparelli (Glover) is growing concerned with the emotional state of his pilot. He tries to keep him reined in as best he can. Enter Jake's new navigator Lieutenant Commander Cole (Dafoe). This guy loves combat. He's just volunteered for his third tour of duty. Like Jake, he wants to make some kind of a real difference. Jake convinces him that they should fly an unauthorized mission straight to downtown Hanoi where it is believed there is a stockpile of SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles) that are responsible for bringing down a lot of American planes. They know it's likely a suicide mission and that even if they should survive, a court martial is about the best they can hope for from the service.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 20th, 2010
You've seen me talk with a certain element of affection for the remarkable work that the Walt Disney Studios have done in the way of feature animation. Who can really argue with me when I state categorically that the studio invented that particular medium? The long line of classics could certainly fill a lot of space in this review, but these are things you already know. Left out of the list of classics, and deservedly so, is this 1980's Disney feature. the studio's take on Sherlock Holmes, The Great Mouse Detective.
Now, the first thing that pops into your mind when you connect Walt Disney with a mouse is that studio icon image himself, Mickey. That image is so ingrained in my skull that I at first thought I remembered Mickey being in this film. Obviously I was mistaken and am thinking of some similar role the royal rodent likely performed in another title. The mouse in question here is more your standard-looking mouse without the trademark three circle head and ears. The characters are no less endearing here. Still, this was a transition time for the studio, and they were not putting out their best work in the 80's.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 20th, 2010
Teddy Roosevelt has been somewhat of a dominant figure in my life these last few weeks. By coincidence, I have just finished reading an excellent collection of the man's letters in a volume entitled The Scarlet Letters Of Theodore Roosevelt. These kinds of books are wonderful opportunities to get to know an historical figure through his own words, often directed at close friends and family with whom he felt comfortable enough to refrain from censoring his words quite so much. Then there's the two Night At The Museum films which I recently watched and reviewed for these pages. I live in Tampa and was recently near the area in which Teddy trained and assembled his famous Rough Riders for their historic contribution to the Spanish American War. Finally, I had just finished watching a more detailed biography on one of those documentary stations. So, wouldn't you know it that I would find at my doorstep courtesy of my local UPS carrier, a copy of The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt. I'm quite the history buff. I taught years of AP Government and American History. My specialty has always been the presidents. I was really looking forward to watching this one.
This is a documentary unlike any other I've ever seen. The piece is narrated by George C. Scott. The narration script is mostly very surface kinds of things. The program rarely goes into any kind of detail about the man. There's a lot of fluff and bravado descriptions of the subject, but I can't imagine you really getting to know the man himself from anything you encounter here. If you have knowledge about Teddy Roosevelt at all, you already know all this stuff. What the documentary lacks in detailed information it attempts to make up for in dramatizations. Actors portray Roosevelt and his family in reenactments of some of the narration. We're talking mostly family events. While the filmmakers never try to deceive the audience or suggest that this footage is the real deal, the program did catch more than its fair share of heat for the stylistic choice. But in the end, these reenactments appear as trivial as most of the program itself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2010
Remakes are a fact of life. It might seem now more than ever that we are plagued with this reality, but it's been true for a very long time. It's not so new, as you might expect. Even the lauded Cecil B. Demille The Ten Commandments was a remake of his own silent 1923 film. They've existed almost as long as the movies themselves and will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. So, the question should be: Why should a particular film be remade? Often technology catches up with the content in a film. The ability to create on the screen something that was simply impossible originally is a legitimate reason to tackle an older film. Sometimes the movie is so powerful that it bears retelling for a new generation.
But then there are the reasons why a film should not be remade. There are some classics that simply should be off limits forever. Would anyone even dare attempt to remake The Godfather? There are those films that are just not worth being remade. How many versions of Piranha do we really need? Then there are the films that are remade in title only, like the 1999 version of The Thomas Crown Affair.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 15th, 2010
Nearly 10 years before Ben Stiller spent his first Night At The Museum with that eclectic cast of characters, The Relic brought us a much different kind of night at a museum. What comes to life here is anything but playful. There's nothing amusing about this nightmare in a museum. Peter Hyams might be more famous for several other action science fiction films, but none of his works before or since The Relic could claim to be quite so atmospheric. Together with the truly genius invention of creature creator extraordinaire Stan Winston, this is a movie that never quite took its earned spot in the tradition of effective horror or monster movies ... until now. For the first time in high definition thanks to this new Blu-ray release, I feel like I've seen The Relic for the first time. And, you know what? It's a pretty good film.
A cargo ship is found afloat in the middle of Lake Michigan shortly after a scientist has stowed aboard to prevent the delivery of a series of crates. The crates were the result of a Brazilian anthropology expedition for the Museum Of Natural History in Chicago. Now the ship appears deserted until Detective Vincent D'Agosta (Sizemore) boards her to investigate the disappearance of the crew and the bloody signs of a massacre throughout the ship. He makes a gruesome discovery. The crew was all mutilated by someone or something. D'Agosta believes this can only be the work of merciless drug cartel folks. That is, until a decapitation at the museum appears to have parallels to the attacks on the ship. His drug-smuggling theory will be put to the test in his search for the killer, apparently still trapped somewhere in the museum. The investigation is brought to a premature conclusion as city officials pressure him to allow a black tie fundraiser to go on that night. Anyone who's anyone will be there. He reluctantly agrees to green-light the affair, while he and his team attempt to find the killer and keep the patrons safe throughout the night.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 15th, 2010
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello began their career completely by accident. Bud Abbott had tried his hand at doing the straight man bit with limited success. One night in 1931 he was working as a cashier for a vaudeville company when Lou Costello's partner came down with an illness. The performer needed a stand-in, and Bud Abbott filled in for the night. It was a temporary gig, to be sure. A temporary gig that happened to last 25 years. The two continued to work together on stage. While the team certainly reused a ton of the classic routines of the era, there was something unique and clever about the duo. The natural way in which they fell into each other's lines was a rare sight, indeed. They eventually stood out for their ingenious word play, culminating in one of the most famous comic routines in history, Who's On First.
The pair next took their act to the airwaves -- radio airwaves, that is. They became a staple in the medium and eventually the highest paid performers in that industry. Films weren't really much of an option at first. They were still mostly silent, and while comedy thrived in that era, Abbott and Costello's brand of humor just would not have worked. But when sound became more economical and standard, the boys were thrown into the pictures. In 1940 they would star in a film called One Night In The Tropics. They would continue to make films for the next 14 years at an incredible pace. They made several films a year and were soon financing Universal studios with their output and box office income. Perhaps their most famous films were the monsters movies where Universal teamed their new moneymaker with the one before. In Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney, Jr. would both reprise their famous Dracula and Wolf Man characters to the delight of fans of both franchises. Boris Karloff considered himself too old to don the heavy boots of the titular monster, which was played by Glenn Strange, who had performed the role in both House films. So he was still a legitimate part of the horror film cycle. The boys would get their chance to face Karloff later, not once, but twice.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
"One … two… Freddy’s coming for you, three… four… better lock the door, five… six… grab your crucifix..."
Freddy might have been born in the mind of Wes Craven, but he grew and developed in the knife-wielding hands of Robert Englund. Granted, not all of these films are equal in quality, but the first was everything you could ask for in a horror/slasher film of the era. Freddy himself is by far the most colorful and animated of the slashers. His burned face, fedora, striped sweater, and knife-blade glove were all integral parts of the wise-cracking maniac.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
I’ve often spent a lot of time talking about how Pixar has dominated computer animation, at least as far as full-length features go. With few exceptions, there isn’t anything out there that even comes close. Most films rely on toilet humor and crude innuendo to get a few laughs. A lot of the kids and adults might suck that stuff up, but they can’t hold a candle to Pixar. There are, as I’ve mentioned, some quite notable exceptions. The Fox Blue Sky Studios has had enormous success with their Ice Age films, and when you take a look at the third and latest entry in that franchise, you’ll understand why.
Ice Age came out in 2002 and took the box office like a blizzard piling up a drift of cash that amounted to almost $180 million before it was over. Not bad for a $50 million dollar film. Add in another $200 million in foreign receipts, and a sequel was an absolute forgone conclusion. The film introduced us to some memorable characters. Manny (Romano) was a lovable woolly mammoth. Diego (Leary) was a kind and wise saber-toothed tiger. Sid (Leguizamo) was their tagalong friend with not much going on in the noggin. A side story involved a prehistoric squirrel named Scrat who loved his acorns. He had a Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner relationship with acorns and took a lot of punishment to get one. Together they tried to return a lost human infant to his tribe. In retrospect of two sequels, it's neat to look back to before these original core characters met for the first time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
"Imagine a world of incredible color and beauty. Of crabs wearing jellyfish for hats. Of fish disguised as frogs, stones, and shag carpets. Of a kaleidoscope of underwater life. Now go explore it."
Jim Carrey narrates this IMAX experience that takes you deep under the ocean. The film focuses on five particular locations: New Britain and Milne Bay (both in New Guinea), South Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, and Indonesia. Because this was filmed with IMAX equipment and presented here in high definition, you can expect a pretty spectacular ride on this one. Most of the animals shown here are obscure and rare, including plenty of cuttlefish segments and some really bizarre but striking sea dragons. The coral reef settings are extremely beautiful. It was originally presented in 3D during its IMAX run, but that version is not included here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
The SyFy Channel has been making original films for quite a few years. Unfortunately, they've mostly been known for their quite bad computer-generated f/x and rather silly plots and stories. It says quite a lot to me that I'm such a huge horror/science fiction fan but have never found one of these original movies to be even remotely good. Instead, I've found myself wincing with each new ridiculous script and every unimaginable lame creature the series has presented. The Maneater Series has been as guilty as any of the themed series in their efforts.
It's the old West, 1898. Sam (Marsters) is about to be hanged for robbing a train where some folks got killed. We later find out their deaths were an accident. So Sam isn't a stone-cold killer, but is going to hang nonetheless. Just as the sheriff is about to spring the trap and drop Sam on into infinity, the town is attacked by a large creature that looks like a giant silver ball with exoskeleton appendages and a tail that shoots radioactive projectiles. Talk about your tail gunner. The creature kills a lot of the folks gathered to watch the hangin', and the mayhem ends up freeing Sam. Instead of running, Sam remains to help fight off the creature and save as many folks as he can, including the sheriff who was about to stretch his neck. Before long a group of survivors is fighting off what turns out to be hundreds of creatures being dropped from a spaceship. The group includes Rose (Van Heteren), a bounty hunter who still wants her two thousand dollar reward for bringing in Sam. There's Abigail (Sampson) who happens to be Sam's old flame. He didn't know this was where she lived these days. Finally, there's Dr. Jules Arning (Knapp) who has been extracting uranium ore, which is what has been attracting the creatures. Together they decide to use the doc's uranium stash to blow up the creatures and their huge ship.
![Flight of the Intruder [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/flight-of-the-intruder-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![The Thomas Crown Affair [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-thomas-crown-affair-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![The Relic [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-relic-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![A Nightmare on Elm Street [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/a-nightmare-on-elm-street-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Ice Age [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/ice-age-blu-ray-large.jpg)
