Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2019
"So much has happened. I don't know where to start. First it was all the school shootings. Then these WiFi scooters showed up. And now we know that Manbearpig is real and we could all be dead in a matter of years."
That's true, but I suspect that when we are all dead and gone there will be two things we can count on continuing beyond the end of human civilization. The cockroaches will inherit the world, and they will all be watching South Park, the only television show still running. It's already been 22 years, and doesn't it feel like 50? I don't mean that in a mean way. I love South Park, but I'm starting to find it hard to remember what life was like without it. I'm convinced it will survive us all, and AI versions of Parker and Stone will be producing it until the planet is finally vaporized... and I'm not sure even that will stop this show.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 24th, 2019
"I think it's time I told you about Aladdin, the princess, and the lamp."
There is very little new coming out of the Walt Disney Studios in recent years. For the last few years and into the near conceivable future, there has been a concerted effort by The Mouse House to remake as live-action films the vast library of animation classics. It pretty much started with the huge success of The Jungle Book, directed by Jon Favreau in 2016. The film did a wonderful job of bringing these jungle creatures to life through the modern-age miracle that is CGI. Somehow the film captured the very heart of the original animated feature and immersed us more fully into that world. No, it wasn't the first time Disney recreated an animated feature with live-action releases. But it was so dominant at the box office that it appeared to set the mold for these conversions going forward. This summer Disney set an ambitious schedule, delivering no less than three of these remade films to the summer schedule. In March it was the tepidly received Dumbo. In July it will be The Lion King, where Disney is playing with the most successful classic animation film in box office history, and eyes will be keenly on how that unfolds. With Elton John's recent resurgence with a new Farewell Tour and the upcoming bio-film Rocketman, The Lion King might deliver Sir Elton a hat trick, or at least a large hat filled with money. Set between these two films is another Disney animated classic: Aladdin. Will that deliver the same three-point bounty to Disney this summer?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 21st, 2019
"It's been five months since Hannah Baker killed herself. We never thought this trial would happen. We thought we could move on. But when I got called to testify, all of a sudden it made me realize we can't move on. Life is different now."
And that's pretty much the best way to sum up the second season of Netflix/CBS teenage drama 13 Reasons Why. The series started out as a novel in 2007. It didn't catch the world on fire and went largely unread until something appeared to cause the novel to pick up steam in 2011. It hit the New York Times Best Seller list and started to become a teen phenomenon around middle and high school campuses throughout the nation. If Harry Potter didn't provide enough proof that kids were still reading and doing it for their own enjoyment, this novel should do the job. There are no wizards or superheroes or distant alien worlds to explore here. The work is a very straightforward drama about some of the topics that real-world teens deal with every day. Nothing is really taboo here; from cyber-bullying to rape, it's all covered. It's even possible this particular work has saved a few lives over the years. Suicide is the number two cause of death among teenagers these days, and this teen drama doesn't shy away from the circumstances that might lead a young teen with their entire life ahead of them to a tragic and irrevocable decision.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 20th, 2019
by John Delia Jr.
The life of a dog can be very short, but the dog’s purpose can last you a lifetime. A Dog’s Journey is a wonderful sequel and extends the story even further, grabbing your heart making it spill over with emotions. This story picks up shortly after where the first one left off. Bailey (voice Josh Gad) is a little older, and Hannah’s (Marg Helgenberger) son died, leaving his wife Gloria (Betty Gilpin) and a toddler Clarity June (Emma Volk) behind. Trying to help Gloria with the baby, Hannah and Ethan (Dennis Quaid) are doing their best to provide for them both. Being so young, Gloria seems to be preoccupied by trying to find a life for herself that tends to allow little CJ to wonder off. Sometimes it can be a little dangerous on a farm for a toddler. Bailey being the loving and protective dog that he is does his best to help keep CJ from harm. But after an incident, Ethan and Hannah offer to take care of CJ so Gloria can take a job far from home.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 16th, 2019
Three-time widower Ben Cartwright (Greene) runs his famous Ponderosa Ranch with the aid of his three grown sons from three different mothers. There’s Little Joe (Landon), Adam (Roberts) and Hoss (Blocker). Set some time in the mid 1800’s, this long-running series followed the family’s many exploits. In the late 1950’s, westerns accounted for six of the top ten programs on TV. Only Gunsmoke had a longer run than Bonanza. From 1959 to 1973, Ben Cartwright and his boys rode across the small screen. Years later in syndication the series re-emerged as Ponderosa, and a handful of TV movies continued the tale into the 90’s.We never have grown tired of the genre that gave us such heroes as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood.
Unlike many of the 1960's Western television shows, Bonanza was all about the characters. You rarely saw a gunfight. There was often a bit of fisticuffs, but usually it ended with a lesson that violence never pays. The show prided itself on using the Western genre to deliver a family kind of show, and it's no surprise that series star Michael Landon would use many of the same kinds of stories and lessons on his own Little House On The Prairie. The Cartwrights are always helping widows, the wrongly accused, and the local Indian population. That help often lands them in hot water.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 12th, 2019
"Tell me a story..."
One of the first people in my life to tell me a story was J.R.R. Tolkien. I was given a colorfully illustrated copy of The Hobbit that I still have to this very day. Sure, it was abridged and was mostly filled with pictures, but I was likely five years old when I got the book. The fact that I've kept it this long should tell you something about the kind of story Tolkien told me. Since that time I've read the Fellowship Of The Ring trilogy at least three times. I've written music inspired by those stories. And then there are the six massive films from Peter Jackson. In all these years I've never quite shaken the words of a man I never did have the opportunity to meet... that is, until now. Watching the biographic drama Tolkien leaves me with a sense of connection that I always wished I might obtain to the man himself. It's still rather early in the film season, and while this might not quite be the season for such things just yet, I must say I've at least seen the best film of 2019 to date.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2019
"A clean girl is always attentive and dutiful. A clean girl embraces obedience. A clean girl is always humble and patient. A clean girl embodies sweetness. A clean girl is always temperate. A clean girl is honest and forthcoming. A clean girl gives the school loyalty."
... and is thrifty, healthy, and wise. Watching the beginning of Level 16 reminded me a little bit of that Boy Scout Oath we used to stand and deliver in the gymnasium of Saint Margaret's when I was a young teenager. There are also several aspects of the film that reminded me a little of the disciplined regiment at Saint Margaret's Elementary School. But there's something more sinister afoot at Vestelis Orphanage than a few sadistic nuns packing yardsticks or a scout leader who smelled of stogies.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 2nd, 2019
If it wasn't clear enough before, I think the Avengers: Endgame box office mauling put the final point on the situation between Marvel and DC. When it comes to Cinematic Universes, DC has had an impossible task of keeping up. Avengers took in more on the first weekend than Aquaman did its entire run. The box office round goes to Marvel, and it appears DC has started to come to grips with that fact and has started to transform their own films away from the team-up/combined universe and is going back to basics. Where DC has built a rather strong shared universe for their characters is in the animated feature department. In the last handful of years DC has released some very strong animated films, and that's where there appears to be a place where they not only compete with Marvel but leave them in the dust. The latest proof of that idea comes with the Warner Brothers release of Justice League vs. The Fatal Five out on UHD Blu-ray in 4K. It's a solid film with plenty of cheerful action and adventure that always got bogged down in the films with the notable exception of Wonder Woman.
The film begins a thousand years in the future and the League of Superheroes. Their HQ is invaded by three members of their chief nemesis, the Fatal Five. In an attempt to stop them from stealing their time machine the heroes attempt to trap them inside a frozen time bubble, but can't set the trap in time. The three bad guys: Mano (Rodriquez), The Persuader (King) and Thorack (Jessup) manage to steal the time machine and return to our present day with Starboy (Gabel) silently on their trail.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 1st, 2019
“In space no one can hear you scream.”
That was the slogan that drew a conglomerate of horror and science fiction fans to theatres in 1979. Was it horror or sci-fi? Alien turned out to be a rare cross-genre film that managed to satisfy both audiences. Ridley Scott started out by bringing the “space ship” film away from the glamorous bright future and depicted a world startlingly very much like our own. In Scott’s gritty future, companies are quasi-government agencies, and these astronauts are not explorers out for glory and heroism. They are strictly blue-collar workers trying to make a buck. It’s hard to imagine that most of the cast, including Sigourney Weaver, were relative unknowns at the time. Weaver would create a new model for female leads that would later pave the way for actors like Linda Hamilton.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on April 26th, 2019
"It's going to be a tearjerker."
It all started with Iron Man in 2008. Marvel Studios put together the most ambitious film saga in the history of the medium. 22 films that served as introduction to comic book heroes and the various story threads that would ultimately bind them together into one epic tale. All along the way it was important that each film stand on its own legs and provide enough story and action to satisfy the film audiences at each signpost along the way. 22 films over 11 years, and it all finally comes to its inevitable conclusion in The Avengers: Endgame. From this film forward, it's going to be a very different landscape for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. New heroes are on the way, and some will either no longer be there or will take on an entirely different form and persona. I'm not about to tell you where these changes come down. That would ultimately ruin this 3-hour ride you are about to embark upon. But when it ends, you will completely understand that it was all leading to this point, and it will be a sad but satisfying conclusion. But before we talk about endings, let's enjoy that final ride into the end.
