Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2009
When a film is successful enough, it’s a relatively natural assumption today that a sequel will follow. In that sequel we expect more of the same and hopefully something new as well. Unfortunately there is a disturbing sideline for the animation sequel. Because the actors aren’t really on camera at all, there is the temptation to replace them so that you can do a much cheaper, often direct to video sequel. The folks who did Madagascar didn’t go that route, but the folks who did Open Season did. Gone are the likes of Martin Lawrence, Gary Sinise, Ashton Kutcher, and Debra Messing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2009
What a great time it was to be a teen in the late 1970’s. No, I’m not referring to disco music. It was a great time to go to the movies. It was the culmination of the perfect date, and Hollywood was riding the beginning of a trend that remains alive and healthy today. I’m talking, of course, about the slasher film. You could argue that Hitchcock started the ball rolling in 1961 with Psycho, but it would be decades before that film would find its true audience and plethora of imitators. Although The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween came before Friday The 13th, can it be argued that any horror film franchise is as widely known?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2009
“Once upon a time in New York City…”
Walt Disney might well have been the storyteller of more than one generation of kids. Is it any wonder that when we think of such characters as Winnie The Pooh or Peter Pan our minds conjure the images wrought by Disney animators and not necessarily the classic literature descriptions? That might not be the case with this Charles Dickens story, retold through Disney’s trademark animal point of view.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2009
Night Court appeared on the scene at NBC in 1984 and was to last 8 seasons. If you thought it looked and sounded a lot like Barney Miller, you won’t be surprised to learn that a number of key people, including creator Reinhold Weege, came from that classic cop comedy. Several key elements of Miller can be found in Night Court. The themes are almost identical with both beginning with an easily identifiable bass run. The most important imported element from Miller was the constant parade of the kookiest and craziest criminals this side of the Cuckoo’s Nest.From a hick farmer played by then beginner Brent Spiner to hookers with hearts, Night Court relied heavily on the eccentric character to provide most of its laughs.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2009
“The Magic Gourd has magical powers. He can carry you high up to the sky, right up to the clouds, where they feel just like cotton candy. Stick out your tongue and they taste like cotton candy. That’s the power of The Magic Gourd. If you become the Gourd’s master, he can grant you anything you wish for…”
Disney films have always had a world wide appeal. Children everywhere on the planet have grown up with the same classic images that we have in the United States. The language might not be the same, but the message and the magic has always been there to discover.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 12th, 2009
"When you give up your dream, you die."
Jennifer Beals and Michael Nouri star in Flashdance, a misguided, but highly entertaining piece of nostalgia from director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction).
A lot has happened since its 1983 release. Still, it’s hard to imagine anyone that grew up in or around the eighties has escaped the iconic image of Beals in her cutoff gray sweatshirt, long legs bared for the world to see. Harder to imagine is people exist who could have made it their whole lives without hearing at least one song from the amazing (for the times) soundtrack.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2009
Marvel has been pretty busy lately. Since starting their own film studio to work on their iconic characters, we’ve seen a lot of the Marvel universe of late. This past summer saw not one, but two of Marvel’s stable characters enjoy blockbuster releases on the live action front. Iron Man captured world wide attention and the hundreds of millions that go with it. While the new Hulk film didn’t bring with it the same kind of financial bounty, it was a well respected film that won over much of the character’s fan base, lost when Ang Lee put together his horrible Hulk feature some years ago.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2009
I was first introduced into the somewhat twisted world of Dave Barry in 1986 when I moved to Florida. The Tampa paper carried his Sunday column, and all I can remember is that it had something to do with dinosaurs on the beach and that I couldn’t stop laughing. For years afterward both my wife and I made the column regular Sunday reading. As years went on other things fill one’s life, and I only occasionally read the material until he disappeared almost completely from the Central Florida scene
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2009
Who says no one likes a guy who’s negative all the time? Becker has got to be one of the most cynical, grumpy, and negative characters to grace our sit-com screens. He’s a guy you probably love to hate, and he’s also hilarious. Ted Danson spent over a decade behind the bar at Cheers and could have easily called it a career. You know, stop while you’re ahead. Instead he climbed right back into the television saddle and reemerged as Dr. Becker.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2009
The second season of The Invaders saw a shift in the show’s focus. Vincent has started to get his message out there, and some of these people are organizing. There’s no doubt, that if left to continue, the show might have taken on a more resistance center much like Kenneth Johnson’s V mini-series. If you’re looking for a conclusion, you won’t really get it. Vincent’s still out there, and so are the Invaders.
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