Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 9th, 2010
What if you took the Desperate Housewives and placed them on an Army base? If that thought has been keeping you awake at night, sleep tight, gentle reader. You can find out simply by picking up a copy of Army Wives on DVD. I’m not exaggerating about this at all. Army Wives has the very same soap opera plotting and tone as the ABC hit does. You gotta really be into that sort of thing if you have any hope at all of keeping up with the antics of these four friends,
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 9th, 2010
Just as JAG closes out its 10th and final year I really think the show was peaking. Most regular readers to the site will remember I was not much of a fan when I started with the 5th season set. I thought the stories failed to work on the action or courtroom levels. As the show evolved, or I did, I was drawn in with the clever and unique types of stories the series began to explore. By the time it ended here I was ready for more, but no more will be forthcoming. Of course, it lives on in the two NCIS spin-off shows currently on the air.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 9th, 2010
By 1978 the television detective model had been nearly complete and possibly already a cliché. Dan Tanna might have well been the complete model as far as the formula goes. It was almost as if you could go down a checklist and, like Dr. Frankenstein creating a monster, you would check off the necessary elements. The scripts could then almost write themselves, and you let the show fly on autopilot for three seasons or so until someone decides to look behind the curtain.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 6th, 2010
"One year ago, the MOD test system at Eskmeals confirmed radioactivity of above normal background levels at the Corry Reservoir, Craigmills, Yorkshire. The usual emergency procedurals were activated under NAIR arrangements, and the reservoir was shut down. An independent inquiry was set up under the chairmanship of Dr. Anthony Marsh."
Edge Of Darkness is something of a classic to the British. It cleaned up in the 1986 BAFTA awards, taking almost every award they have with the possible exception of Best Coffee In Craft Services. The mini-series has apparently stood the test of time, maintaining such high regard for nearly 25 years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2010
"There are many among us who in the past closed their eyes to the events of war, because they believed that what was taking place in Europe was none of our business. That we could maintain our physical safety by retiring within our continental boundaries. Obviously, a defense policy based on that is merely to invite future attacks. For those who would not admit the possibility of the approaching storm, the past weeks have meant a shattering of past illusions."
No, that quote wasn't George W. Bush. It was Franklin D. Roosevelt on May 26th, 1941.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2010
"There are stories a river can tell. And truths it cannot hide. There are ways it brings us together that we may never see, connecting us with places never suspected. Places like fear, like betrayal, like murder."
One thing you have to say for Clint Eastwood. In his later years as a director and producer of films, maybe from Unforgiven onward, he has selected some of the most compelling stories for his film projects. You get the sense that he hasn't been in this for the money in a long time. You easily believe that he doesn't make a film unless it reaches him completely and deeply.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on February 3rd, 2010
Hey Gang. I had the honor of talking with the extraordinary Cult director Jack Hill.
You'll be happy to know he's doing well and working on a new script among other things. You can listen to the entire interview right here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 3rd, 2010
I grew up on the Peanuts creations of Charles M. Schulz. Most of us have, in one way or another. His newspaper comic strip is one of the longest running and most successful strips of all time. The work has been translated into every language currently spoken on the planet. The images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have appeared on just about any kind of product imaginable. Our pop culture contains too many references to the strip to mention briefly. For me, it was the television specials starting in the mid 1960’s that brought the gang into my life. The classics are running annually, still after nearly 50 years
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on January 31st, 2010
Hey Gang.
This week I had a chance to talk to a couple of folks connected with the new Planet Hulk Blu-ray and DVD release.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on January 29th, 2010
Our good friends at Lionsgate have been kind enough to give us a copy of the Planet Hulk on DVD to giveaway to our readers.
We are going to do something a little different for this contest.
![WWII in HD [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/wwii-in-hd-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Mystic River [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/mystic-river-blu-ray-large.jpg)
