Posts by Gino Sassani

Edgar Rice Burroughs was one of the most successful novelists in American literature history. His characters have become iconic and have been the source for over a hundred films. Some haven't done so well. His John Carter of Mars stories are where he began, but no one has been able to quite put the character on film yet in a way that has brought in any kind of box office numbers. In the 1970's his world at the center of the Earth brought in some nice cult favorite drive-in films, most notably starring Doug McClure. He's even written a few westerns, but without much luck. But Burroughs became the most wealthy writer of his era because of one particular character. It was Tarzan that would be adapted as far back as the silent era and remain a solid moneymaker over one hundred years later. There hasn't been a decade since his creation that the character has not been featured in a film, television series, or movie house serial. By the 1930's Burroughs was collecting $75,000 a film for the rights to use the character. That's $1.6 million in today's market. For each film. Plus royalties that amounted to a cut of the profits. He was so wealthy that when he finally sold his estate, it would become Tarzana, California, named after his famous character. There have been so many Tarzan films that it would be impossible to put them all together, and I doubt they will never all be available on home video or streaming services. But The Film Detective has brought us quite a gem from some of the deepest and most vintage Tarzan films out there. They've been restored as much as they can be and were made during the time Tarzan's creator was still alive to provide input. While it's true he was never really happy with most portrayals of the character, he lived quite comfortably off the proceeds, which included not just films, but comic strips, magazines, and merchandise, making him the first character to be so heavily marketed. You might not believe it today, but Tarzan was the Star Wars of its day, and if you are any kind of film buff at all, you're going to want to check out what this collection has to offer.

Here's what you get.

"At this point I have lost the capacity to be surprised. Is there a point where nothing can surprise us, or have we reached that point and didn't even know it?" 

For 12 years Blue Bloods has been a staple on CBS, giving Tom Selleck a chance to completely redefine his television career. The once cocky and carefree Magnum P.I. now has established himself as the wise patriarch. It's a transition that a 1970's audience would never have bought. But now he's become a new kind of airwaves icon. The show has also managed to make it through over a decade with very little change in the cast, and most of that coming from additions. In the real world the police have been villainized by some, and it's becoming an increasingly tougher job to do. For a family so steeped in law enforcement, the show was going to have to address these new realities. That happens this year, and for the first time since all of this Defund the Police stuff started happening, we get a series that gives us some honesty and truly looks at the issue from both sides without preaching or disparaging. It shows up in the stories and the increasing conflict between Frank (Selleck) and the DA's office, where his daughter Erin (Moynahan) is toying with the idea of running for the head job herself. No matter what side you might be on, I think you'll find the balance here truly refreshing. I know that I do.

"I wish I could help. But I can't"

You shouldn't need a primer on the NCIS franchise by now. Unless you've been living under a rock for the last decade or longer, you're up to speed on these guys. If not, you still could have some fun and enjoy the CBS DVD release of NCIS: L.A., but NCIS has been around for nearly 20 years, and this particular version has been around for 13 seasons now. That's a lot of characterizations under the bridge and a ton of character evolution and stories that can't help but give you maximum mileage out of the release. If you aren't up to speed, you can check out over 30 seasons of various NCIS reviews by just banging it here: NCIS Reviews. That should keep you busy long enough to get you to the point that we're here talking about Season 13. So hopefully you are up to speed, and we can get on with it. Shall we?

"Rule 91: When you decide to walk away, don't look back."

CBS releases the 19th season of NCIS on DVD, and just the sound of that gives one reason to pause. There are few shows or franchises that get to live in that rarified air. In the modern age of television, only the Dick Wolf Law & Order series has accomplished this kind of sheer mass of episodes. The NCIS landscape is certainly in for some big changes. The New Orleans show ended with its 7th season last year, a new NCIS: Hawaii has now had its first year, and we'll be talking about that show in the days to come. The franchise will crossed its 900th episode this season with the addition of NCIS: Hawaii. CBS still had production facilities in the Island State, and those will soon be put to good use extending the family that actually started with JAG, and if you include that 10-year run, the franchise is over 1000 episodes. Shows don't last that long without doing something right.

“In the 1940’s, a new genre – film noir – emerged from the world of hard-boiled pulp magazines, paperback thrillers, and sensational crime movies. These films, tough and unsentimental, depicted a black and white universe at once brutal, erotic, and morally ambiguous.”

Film Noir officially started in the 40’s, but the movement was well underway by the early 30’s. You can trace its roots to the Great Depression and the arrival of the dime pulp magazines. These were highly stylized, mostly mystery stories that provided cheap escapism for the masses who were not having a good time of it. Writers like Raymond Chandler crafted the mold that was easily transferred to the silver screen. These were low-budget films that were intended to be second billing with the more mainstream releases. They were shot quickly. Many have a very flat look, created intentionally. The lighting was often minimal, crafting odd shadows and unusual textures. The dialog wasn’t intended to be natural or realistic. These characters usually spoke in clichés and had names like Mac, Griff, or Dollface. There was often a shade of gray to these characters. Good and evil were not always so clear cut. Gangsters became common themes of the genre. And while the dialog might have been cheesy, the cinematography was often gritty and almost ultra-realistic. At times the films played out like documentaries, often including narration. The narrator would always be a voice of authority; often film reel stars were used. The films were heavily influenced by German Expressionism, perfected by the likes of Fritz Lang in the silent era and carried over to more modern themes. The films always contained a steady supply of stock characters and actors. It was smoky rooms and neon lights. It was a reflection on the times. It was Film Noir.

"Most things happen unexpectedly, even the apocalypse!"

I can't deny that Italians, we love to cook and eat. It's a stereotype that I embrace with pride. So it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that food finds its way intruding in other aspects of life. In the 50's and 60's we called the Italian western films of directors like Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns. Later we would talk about the Italian horror films from masters like Mario Bava and Dario Argento Spaghetti Nightmares. Well, why should we leave out the same period's Italian science fiction films? So even if it's not terribly original, I'm going to coin the term Ziti Sci-Fi. One of the true masters of Ziti Sci-Fi has to be director Antonio Margheriti. Don't be too surprised if you don't know the name. His films were always low-budget affairs, and he usually directed under the more American-sounding name of Anthony Dawson or Anthony M. Dawson. He understood that the American audience was the Holy Grail of box office success, so he attempted to make his films appear in the promotions as if they might be American or at least British films. Like many foreign genre films at that time, it was also important to get a relatively well-known American actor to lend their name to the project. The original Godzilla shot American scenes that featured Raymond Burr to sell here, and Margheriti was no different. Now thanks to a restoration and release by Film Detective, we get to see one of his better films.

"For those of you who haven't met me, you might call me the undernourished Alfred Hitchcock. The great British craftsman and I do share something in common: an interest in the oddball, a predilection toward the bizarre. And this place is nothing if not bizarre, by virtue of the paintings you see hanging around me."

When I mention the name Rod Serling, I'll bet that The Twilight Zone is the first thing that pops into your head. And why not? It would be very hard, indeed, to argue against the impact that The Twilight Zone has had on television. To say that the series was a milestone in that medium would be an understatement of the worst kind. When Rod Serling brought his landmark series to CBS in October of 1959, television was still very new. No one was quite sure what the future held for that magical box. For five years Rod Serling would enter our living rooms with the most bizarre tales we'd ever seen. But no matter how exotic and strange the stories might appear on the surface, Serling always brought our own humanity into vividly sharp focus before it was over. When the series had run its course, we didn't hear much from Serling for over a decade. He continued writing, of course. His screenplay for the 1968 Planet Of The Apes would lead to record-breaking at the box office, but Serling's home was always that magical box, and it didn't take long for him to find his way back.