Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 1st, 2009
For first time screen writer Allen Loeb, Things We Lost In The Fire is quite an ambitious script. It relies almost completely on the writing and the performances that can be gotten from the acting leads. There’s really no place to hide in this story for anybody. And while I certainly found several elements of the story forced or contrived, there was an underlining emotion to the whole thing that carried through strong enough for the actors to find some very solid grounding. With that grounding Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro delivered what should have been award winning performances. Of course, I didn’t see all of the films released in 2007, but I find it hard to believe there were many, if any, better performances. These two had to carry the entire film, all the while manipulating the audience’s emotions, keeping them engaged with very little action or other stimulation. It’s the only thing that kept me watching, that and having to write this review.
Audrey Burke (Berry) has just lost her husband Brian (Duchovny) to an act of violence. She has two young children, and she’s having a very difficult time dealing with her loss. In a rather strange turn of events she turns to Brian’s best friend, Jerry (Del Toro) for some kind of comfort. What makes this so strange is that she, up to this point, hated Jerry and tried to convince Brian to stay away from him. Jerry is a drug addict, whom Audrey believed was just taking from Brian without giving anything back. She resented the fact that Brian was the only person that hadn’t completely given up on Jerry. Now she feels the need to connect with this man. She invites him to the funeral and finds herself fascinated with him. She asks him to stay at her house, and attempts to assist him in kicking his addiction. The two learn to explore their own emotions and deal with their grief. Together they find a way to improve themselves, by sharing this common bond.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 1st, 2009
“Scooby-Dooby, Scooby-Dooby-Doo! There's a mystery in town, So call the coolest pup around, Call Scooby, A pup named Scooby-Doo! Join Shaggy, and the crew, Daphne, Freddie, Velma too! And Scooby! A pup named Scooby-Doo! When the ghostly ghoul attacks, Scooby eats a Scooby Snack! Scooby-Dooby-Doo! So come on, it's mystery time, You can help us solve the crime, With Scooby, a pup named Scooby, Scooby, a pup named Scooby-Doo!”
First there was Muppet Babies. Then there were Tiny Toons. It seems that every famous children’s cartoon series eventually turns back the clock to offer up pintsized versions of the same formula. That’s what you get in A Pup Named Scooby Doo. The show aired 1988 through 1991. It was on somewhat erratically so that, while the box claims this 2 disc set contains the complete 2,3, & 4 seasons, that really only adds up to 17 half hour episodes in all.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on March 31st, 2009
Highway Entertainment has graciously given us Three copies of Bob Dylan: Never Ending Tour Diaries on DVD to give away.
To enter to win a copy of this Journal by Dylan’s longtime drummer, Winston Watson, just follow these two steps...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 26th, 2009
His name is Craig, Daniel Craig. Love him or hate him, we have to accept the fact that this blue-eyed rather rugged sculpture of a man is the face of James Bond, now and for the foreseeable future. I’ll admit to being more of a nostalgic Bond fan, and have the image of Sean Connery forever etched into my brain as the quintessential 007. But, it’s not only the drastic change in appearance and demeanor that makes this a hard film for me to embrace. For the first time in the franchise’s 22 film and 35 year history we have a Bond movie that is a direct sequel of the previous one. Certainly characters and elements have carried through from one adventure to the next, and there have been rather strongly linked movies in the run, but never before has one picked up literally an hour from the end of its predecessor. If you haven’t watched Casino Royale, or it’s been a while, you would be best served to acquaint or reacquaint yourself with that film. This one sets a manic pace from the very first frame. There’s no time for even a minimal recap, and Bond’s not in the mood to answer any questions. For the very first time, you need to have seen the film before it in order to be on board for this one. The second departure from the tried and true 007 formula is that this time James Bond is on a mission of vengeance. In Casino Royale’s Bond hooked up with the lovely Vespa, who ultimately betrayed him, but eventually sacrificed her own life for him. Now he pissed, and he’s not waiting around for M or the rest of British Intelligence to get with the program. No question that this type of story is definitely best suited for Craig and his particular take on Bond. But, like it or not, this isn’t your father’s or Ian Fleming’s James Bond.
Just as he was as Casino Royale ended, Bond is on the trail of Mr. White (Christensen). He finally manages to get him and bring him to a British Intelligence safe house, where he and M intend to interrogate him. Both are shocked to hear that there are spies inside of British Intelligence. Bond acts quickly to eliminate an immediate threat to M. Unfortunately, the encounter leaves more questions than it has supplied answers. Bond disobeys orders and heads out to root out the organization behind these plots. Through a case of mistaken identity he hooks up with Camille Montes (Kurylenko). It seems that the rather attractive Camille is on a revenge mission of her own. Together they track the bad guys to the doorstep of industrialist Dominic Greene (Amalric) who has tried on more than one occasion to eliminate the young lady. Greene heads an organization that on its surface appears to be a non-profit organization dedicated to the elimination of global warming. The Al Gore clone delivers speeches and provides the structure for this apparently “clean” organization. But Greene is meeting with General Medrano (Cosio). The general is plotting to take control of his country, and with Greene’s help, he will succeed. Greene seeks certain lands as payment for his help. Greene’s plot is to hold a drought ridden country hostage to his demands once he controls the entire water supply. Of course, it’s up to Bond to stop the plot and restore order to a raging country, while seeking a little payback on the side. Felix and his CIA buddies are token characters here, intended to provide a little question as to Bond’s loyalties. There’s a little bit of Bond going rogue here, but I’m not sure anyone really believes that he has. It’s summed up pretty well when M welcomes him back to the fold, so to speak, and Bond replies, “I never left”.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 26th, 2009
On January 23, 2002 Daniel Pearl, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped and eventually killed by terrorists while working in Pakistan. A Mighty Heart is based on this true story. The narrative comes from the book by his wife Marianne Pearl. While this is certainly the tragic tale of a murdered reporter, this film is more the story of Marianne and her struggle to locate Pearl in the 10 days from his capture until a video tape surfaced depicting his beheading.
A Mighty Heart begins with us getting to know Daniel Pearl (Futterman), and it quickly takes us through the events leading to his capture. From here on out the theme shifts to the massive investigation to find him. Various American and Pakistani agencies come together to track down every lead in a relentless search. We are cleverly kept bonded to Pearl through well placed flashbacks mostly dealing with intimate moments shared with his wife. Her memories keep Pearl alive for us as they must have for her during those trying times. Of course, if you are at all familiar with these events, and who isn’t, you already know that this film has no happy ending. There aren’t even any satisfying answers left to at least leave you with some feeling of closure. You will leave, perhaps, with more questions than when you started. But there are no easy answers to be found here, and any attempt to provide them would not be honest if the film intends to make an impact as this one does. There are no apologies made, nor should there be for the brutal way the terrorists and their pursuers are portrayed and the culture in which they thrive.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 26th, 2009
I was very eager to revisit this film now that it has come our way on Blu-ray and high definition. There are issues that I struggled with in my own viewing that I will discuss later in this review. In high definition this film becomes a case study in contradiction. It’s amazing how pretty a thing can be when it really isn’t very pretty at all. We are witness to bad things, but the director chooses to present these things amid a flurry of beauty. It’s a rather striking contrast, made more so on Blu-ray. It actually made for a much more effective experience, even if most of my initial feelings about the film remain unchanged.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 26th, 2009
"She was working in a bridal shop in Flushing, Queens 'Til her boyfriend kicked her out in one of those crushing scenes. What was she to do? Where was she to go? She was out on her fanny... So over the bridge from Flushing to the Sheffield's door. She was there to sell makeup, but father saw more. She had style! She had flair! She was there. That's how she became the Nanny! Who would have guessed that the girl we've described Was just exactly what the doctor prescribed? Now the father finds her beguiling. And the kids are actually smiling. She's the lady in red when everybody else is wearing tan... The flashy girl from Flushing, the Nanny named Fran!"
Not exactly Mary Poppins.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 25th, 2009
This is not your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. If you’re at all like me, you grew up on the 1960’s cartoon series and, of course, the Marvel comic. A lot has changed since those early days of the web slinger. There’s been a not too successful television live action attempt. The comics themselves have changed significantly. You can’t discount the enormously profitable Sam Raimi films, that have given new legs to an old superhero. It stands to reason that a new cartoon series was in order. Enter The Spectacular Spider-Man, the 10th series based on the Marvel character. This recent cartoon series updates the world of Spidey. The shows take from both the original comics and the film series to create a new fusion of the hero. Like in the comics, Parker is the loner high school kid teased constantly by bullies like Flash Thompson. He has a few girls on his radar like Gwen Stacey and Mary Jane Watson. He still lives with his kind old Aunt May. Unlike the film, Spider-Man was not endowed with his web slinging ability by the radioactive spider. He developed the shooters and the chemical mixture that makes them work. That means he can run out of fluid and lose his ability to shoot webs. The Osborne relationship from the movies exists here. It’s also likely no coincidence that the villains featured in the film have prominence here. Doc Ock, Sand Man, The Goblin, and even Venom are hinted at in the last episode of this collection.
These cartoons are actually pretty good. The animation is pretty solid. Some of the characters look rather strange. Aunt May looks like she’s a 20 year old with white hair. Character jaw lines have a distinctive angular style that makes everyone look like they’re posing for some tough guy magazine cover. MJ looks like a matchstick and says “tiger” way too often. They are not really standalone episodes. Unlike the 1960’s series there is a story arc that connects the episodes into a longer form. The character’s mythology is also played with quite a bit. The cartoons work in a few origin stories and connect them together as a master plan plot devised by OsCorp and spearheaded by Dr. Octavius. The only real complaint I have is that each disc, sold separately, contains a mere 3 episodes. While this is great for bit rate and picture quality, it’s not much of a bargain material wise. The total running time for each disc is just 69 minutes. (That’s about 23 minutes an episode.) Because the stories are continuous, you never really reach the end of the plot. I think Sony would have done much better to wait and release season sets of the cartoon. I wouldn’t be surprised if that comes, making these discs unnecessary in the long run, except to add more money in the Sony cash registers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 25th, 2009
Suspense began life as a very successful radio show on the CBS Radio Network. It premiered in 1942 and lasted just over 20 years on the nation’s airwaves. When television began to make its own waves on the air in the late 1940’s, naturally many of those first shows would be programs that had already shown strong appeal to the radio audiences. Shows like Gunsmoke had been staples on the radio for years and would be a nice way to entice the first television crowds to the new medium. Suspense was one of those shows. It first broadcast in 1949 and was broadcast live from a studio playhouse in New York City. The anthology series presented stories that featured some kind of a horror or thriller theme. Public domain stories were great fodder for the series, and it certainly brought together some of the big names of that genre to the broadcasts. Names like Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Peter Lorre, Nina Foch, and John Carradine would give the show instant credibility. But, the episodes were not limited to the horror field. Crime dramas that involved murders under mysterious circumstances were another favorite staple of the series. Because it was aired live there were no taped copies to be used as reruns, so that each episode was intended as a single broadcast event. For reference purposes a kinescope recording was made, but not very well preserved. These were the days when the networks were just starting, and they didn’t reach a majority of the nation yet. These simple recordings were intended so that the episodes could air in the towns and cities where the networks had not yet penetrated, a whopping 67% of the nation in 1949. It would go on to become one of television’s first hit shows and lasted 15 years. Surprisingly, the radio version would continue for almost another decade after the television series left the airwaves.
These kinescope recordings were uncovered in 2007. Since then they have been released in various sets and collections. 90 episodes in all have been found and somewhat restored. This collection 3 offers the last 30 of those 90 episodes. They feature the likes of Boris Karloff, Eddie Albert, Walter Matthau, Pat Hingle, Lloyd Bridges, Arlene Francis, Jack Warden, Jackie Cooper, James Whitmore, Vic Morrow, George Reeves, and Richard Coogan. The episodes span the entire run from 1949 – 1954, although one episode lists an airdate of 1958. I could find no record of that episode airing at all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 25th, 2009
This is one of those direct to video sequels I never saw coming. It’s not like anyone was exactly breaking down the box office doors to see the first Happily N’Ever After film when it debuted in January of 2007. Universally panned by the critics and audiences alike, it disappeared rather quickly from the scene and was, or so we thought, destined to become a distant memory, a legend used from time to time to scare little children into behaving for their parents. “Clean up your room now, or I’ll force you to watch Happily N’Ever After again”. Most of us where never really sure it existed at all. A quick expedition to the local theater revealed the name on a marquee, but did we ever see anyone actually enter the theater to watch the film? There was one scientist in Austria who claimed to have seen a couple enter the theater, but the snapshot he took was fuzzy and it was just not possible to confirm the siting. HBO did one of their expose stories on the existence of an audience for the film, but again no hard evidence was ever presented. It is said that stars like Freddie Prinze, Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sigourney Weaver, and even George Carlin provided voices for the film, but in interviews none of the alleged voice cast was willing to confirm they even worked on the film. Rumor has it that Carlin was presented with absolute proof of his participation just before he died. Of course, such rumors are rampant in Hollywood and should be discounted as unsubstantiated gossip.
Whether or not there ever was an actual audience for the first film, someone at Lionsgate decided that the film demanded a follow up. This former Lionsgate employee could not be reached for comment at Joe’s Car Wash, where he currently claims to be “cleaning up in the auto industry”. For some inexplicable reason the original voice cast decided not to be involved in the sequel. In fact the IMDB does not even list a voice cast at all on the film’s entry. It’s pretty bad when even industry nobodies want to distance themselves so badly from a project. If I had anything to do with this film, I’d sue to have my name removed from the credits.
![Things We Lost in the Fire [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/things-we-lost-in-the-fire-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Quantum of Solace [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/quantum-of-solace-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![A Mighty Heart [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/a-mighty-heart-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![The Kite Runner [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-kite-runner-blu-ray-large.jpg)
