Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 9th, 2006
Long before Marlon Brando was making us an offer we couldn’t refuse, he was making his bones in James Dean-like portrayals of the young troubled spirit. It isn’t hard to see why Sidney Lumet chose him for the role of Val Xavier in The Fugitive Kind. Ultimately Brando is miscast in the part. He is obviously struggling to get a feel for the character. Instead of a classic Brando performance we are tortured, having instead to watch him try to make the job more than it is.The film is based on the Tennessee Williams pl...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 7th, 2006
Pity the younger generations that will forever associate the character of Inspector Clouseau with Steve Martin. Peter Sellers might not have been a “wild and crazy guy,” but he was nothing short of brilliant as a comedic actor. Sellers never relied on over the top grandstanding to make a point. You never needed to be hit over the head with the jokes. He displayed an altogether different, more subdued, flamboyance than the modern comic. You didn’t need to be told when to laugh. The problem was more often being able to stop.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 7th, 2006
The most amazing thing about this one-joke movie is that it was based on a John Grisham novel: Skipping Christmas. Chris Columbus certainly does not display his biting wit and the skills he debuted with Gremlins 20 years ago. It’s hard to imagine this is the same guy who kicked off the Harry Potter series.
When their daughter joins the Peace Corps and leaves for South America during the Holidays, the Kranks decide to skip Christmas altogether and go on a cruise with the money they save. Why these altern...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 3rd, 2006
“Let’s be careful out there…”
The men and woman of Hill Street Station, a fictitious police precinct in Chicago, have found it rather difficult at times to live by their sergeant’s admonition. Steven Bochco’s award winning police drama changed most of the rules for a one hour television drama. Some of Hill Street’s trademark style has become rather ordinary over 20 years later. Bochco protégés now dominate the scene. Dick Wolf (Law and Order), David Kelley (The Practice), David Milch (Deadwood), Scott Brazil ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2006
This short-lived series was based on the popular DC Comics character, The Flash. Barry Allen (Shipp) was a crime lab technician, long before CSI made the job trendy. When lightning interacted with an unknown chemical compound as only comic cosmic events can, Allen receives a powerful jolt. The injury results in a dramatic change in his metabolism. Now supercharged, his body is capable of moving at supersonic speeds. Complete with a bright crimson costume appropriately modeled after the swift Greek god Mercury, The ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 1st, 2006
The opening titles of this film are a bit misleading. The font is a colorful, comical display played against animation more suitable for the opening of a Pink Panther film. Instead of a comedy, we are presented with a film likely to appeal to a very limited audience. To the film’s credit, it doesn’t abandon the themes and style it intends to portray in an effort to gain more mass appeal.
Antonio is a young man living in Mexico. His dreams are filled with playing music. Like most young ambitious music...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 25th, 2006
No single television show defined the 1980’s as did Miami Vice. Did Vice influence the 80’s culture, or did the 80’s culture create Miami Vice? The line appears blurred. This much is unmistakable. Miami Vice dominated the pop culture of the time. The biggest names in music, from Joe Walsh to Phil Collins, have lent their music and (sometimes pitiful) acting skills. It was suddenly cool to walk around in pastel longboats. Don’t even get me started on the car. Were Ferraris ever not cool? Don Johnson was an overnight heartthrob to millions of teen girls across the nation.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 3rd, 2006
When did it become mainstream to root for the bad guys? Certainly our pop culture has been propagated with colorful villains since Shakespeare, goons we love to hate or even just love. Still, the rule always seemed to be that the white hats always win and the black hats get what’s coming. Maybe it all took hold with The Sopranos. We all became enamored by this lovable teddy bear of a guy in Tony. We don’t have to spoil it by pointing out he’s a killer, adulterer, and all-star criminal sociopath. The Shield places us ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 29th, 2005
A Dry White Season is a rather faithful adaptation of the critically acclaimed Euzhan Palcy novel. The film attempts to portray the infamous South African policy of apartheid, beginning with a massacre of peaceful demonstrators that occurred in 1976.Perhaps the point could have been made without the disturbing depiction of children being shot in such graphic detail. Such on-screen brutality seems drastic even under today’s less constrictive standards. I’m sure it can, and likely has, been argued that these events require realism, much as the opening salvo of “Saving Private Ryan” has been justified.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 20th, 2005
Charlie was a British effort in the typical gangster style. It begins more like an A&E biography. Various characters from the film with ties to Charlie appear to be giving their insights on the man for a documentary camera. Charlie Richardson, it appears, was one of Britain’s most infamous gangsters. The film, directed by Malcolm Reeds, no relationship to a certain starship tactical officer, tries hard to be another Goodfellas. The film utilizes the same style of retrospective narration. There’s also the trademark period songs and freeze-frame on a particularly violent image.
