Posts by Gino Sassani

For many, Saving Private Ryan has been the measure of the perfect war film in the modern era. Without question the Steven Spielberg film is a milestone in depicting battle on the screen. But I’m going to make the possibly unpopular statement that Enemy At The Gates is a better film, and the standard by which war films should now be measured. The movie is at least almost as good technically as Private Ryan.

“Don’t expect too many mistakes from this man. After all he does seem rather more interesting than just another reader researcher. For example; has he gone into business for himself? Was he turned around? Does someone operate him? Is he homosexual? Broke? Vulnerable? Could he be a soldier of fortune? Did he arrange the hit? Is that why he’s still in flight? Still, he may be innocent. But why didn’t he come in gently?”

Sydney Pollack might have been channeling the essence of Alfred Hitchcock when he directed 3 Days Of The Condor.

Uncle Walt knew he had an artistic talent early in his life. He was originally determined to become a commercial artist. But one fateful day he saw a newspaper ad in a Kansas City paper for a company then called The Kansas City Slide Company. Walt got the job. The marketing firm was making theater ads that consisted mostly of stop motion films. It was there, at just 18 years old, that Walt Disney heard his true calling.

“Donnie Darko was killed when a jet engine fell from the sky and crushed him while he was sleeping. The government never located the plane from which the engine fell, nor did they even admit the incident ever occurred. But that was just the beginning of the tragedy… and the mystery”

No truer words were ever spoken. First of all, this prologue is about as close to the original Donnie Darko film that this movie ever gets. S. Darko is indeed the beginning of a tragedy.

“I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you.”

That pretty much sums things up quite nicely for you. The filmmakers must agree, because the scene figured prominently in their marketing campaign for the film.

“They're the world's most fearsome fighting team. They're heroes in a half-shell and they're green. When the evil Shredder attacks these Turtle boys don't cut him no slack! … Splinter taught them to be ninja teens. Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines, Raphael is cool but crude, Michelangelo is a party dude… Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, heroes in a half shell. Turtle power!”

What started as a low budget comic has grown into quite a sensation. The Turtles are everywhere.

I had the chance to chat with Kane Hodder on the phone today.

He agreed to talk with me for Upcomingdiscs.

John Ritter never really had much of a chance in his early career to show just how good his acting chops could be. Let’s face it. While Three’s Company had quite a loyal following, it was never mistaken for anything more than a parody. Ritter was never asked to stretch himself here, and the role likely cost him better opportunities over the years. Fortunately, while 8 Simple Rules wasn’t a great show either, it did offer quality enough work to allow Ritter to thrive.

“So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye. So you think you can love me and leave me to die. Oh Baby, just can’t do this to me baby. Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta here… Nothing really matters. Anyone cane see. Nothing really matters, nothing really matters to me.”

I don’t think I can ever listen to Bohemian Rhapsody without conjuring up the image of the gang in the Mirth Mobile bobbing their heads up and down and singing to the Queen classic song.

“White supremist world was cancelled.”

When you talk about Wayne’s World 2 you can’t help but talk about disappointment. I mentioned in my review for the first film that over the span of nearly 20 years the skit had lost some of its luster. I certainly wasn’t nearly as entertained now as I had been when I first saw the film in the early 1990’s. That same principle appears to have been true just a year later when Wayne’s World 2 was released.