Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 9th, 2004
Suspended animation is a story with a lot of promise. Fifteen minutes into the film and it looks like we’re seeing a Misery ripoff with a cannibal twist. From that point on I’m not sure if I’m watching Misery, Deliverance, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. There are some truly suspenseful moments in the film, but they are spaced too far apart with needless muddled plotlines. The film style is eerily reminiscent of the Italian suspense masters like Brava and Argento without the gore. The Spaghetti Nightmares are an obvious ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 9th, 2004
In season four, Redd Foxx ended his eight episode holdout for more money after a significant raise. Redd’s return would make this one of the show’s most creative years. Ironically one of the series’ funniest moments occurs in the Redd-less opening episode when Grady feeds the local cops pot instead of parsley. Sanford and Son also reached the peak of its popularity with this 1974-1975 season. Many weeks it was the number one rated show and finished the entire season ranked second.
Audio
A ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 9th, 2004
The Final Countdown belongs to that subculture of science fiction that asks the time related what if’s. There have been a great number of books and stories about alternative histories. The Civil War has long been one of the most fertile grounds for this speculative fiction. Most scenarios about World War II generally involved the killing of Hitler as a child or sometime before his leadership. This film not only explores a different aspect of the War but is brave enough to not resolve the question. What would happen i...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 3rd, 2004
CSI continued to improve into its third season. The stories are as crisp and innovative as ever. Surprisingly, the show did not suffer from the addition of its fine but inferior Miami cousin. Minor characters like lab tech Greg are put to much better use. The f/x get better also, and a strong cast of guest stars doesn’t hurt the mix either.
Audio
This Dolby Digital 5.1 sound once again reinvents TV sound. Highs and lows both exhibit dynamic performance. Dialogue is crisp and always clear. ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 29th, 2004
Hot on the heels of The Great Race, Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines was a bit of silliness and fun for 20th Century Fox. The Monty Python-styled opening credits set the tone for this British humor film, also known as How I Flew From London To Paris in 25 Hours and 11 Minutes. If the film suffers at all, it is the length. At almost 2 1/2 hours, it takes quite a while to get to the race. It’s almost 2 hours before the meat of the film begins. While there are many clever and memorable...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 28th, 2004
Gothika starts out with tremendous promise. The story appears that it will be more original and rewarding than most horror/thrillers. Halle Berry certainly rises above the usual B-list acting. Even Downey, Jr. seems suspiciously at home in the film’s prison setting. The trouble begins for the audience shortly after it does for Berry. Soon the film begins to get predictable and ordinary. Only the terrific cinematography and convincing atmosphere save the film from sinking to the depths of the many who have gone before...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 22nd, 2004
What do a string of prostitute murders, lesbian vigilantes, a sexually confused cop, a senate race, a prominent prosecutor turned law professor, and a law school dropout have in common? After watching Pendulum you will be asking the same questions. Seldom have I seen a more disjointed collection of clichés and bad acting in one film outside of an Ed Wood film festival. Rachel Hunter might have been a gorgeous supermodel but like so many before her she’s just not believable here. Many of the aforementioned sins might ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 22nd, 2004
The 1970’s and 80’s brought a ton of teenage angst films where coming of age simply meant having sex. Just One Of The Guys attempts to be a bit more original, but while the premise was, the film is certainly not. I know there was a bit of a cult following for the film, but it was mostly lost in the barrage of superior films of the year. It’s no wonder that Columbia saw fit to release this disc with so little care. Fellow herpers will take delight in one character who brings in a different reptile to school each day. ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 19th, 2004
Most American Doctor Who fans are most familiar with the Tom Baker Who. There is no question he added a flair to the role. In this 10th Anniversary special episode we get to see the first 3 Doctors in action. John Pertwee was the current Who. He teams up mostly with 2nd Doctor Patrick Troughton. The first Doctor was played by William Hartnell and was limited to view screen images as he was quite aged and ill. The idea would occur again with the 5 Doctors to celebrate 20 years of Doctor Who. The story is a bit contriv...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 5th, 2004
Stargate SG-1 suffered a little in its switch to the Sci-Fi Channel. The loss of Michael Shanks was very deeply felt. Jonas wasn’t really a bad character, but it took me a while to get used to him. The guest appearances of Daniel Jackson helped a bit with a couple of pretty good episodes. I felt there might have been too many Earthbound episodes in an obvious effort to curtail the budget. Through most of this season, Anderson had been talking about spending more time back in L.A. with his family. (The show is shot in...
