Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 24th, 2019
For nine 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 eight years with very little change in the cast, and most of that coming from additions. This season is the first for the show to lose one of the major players and a rather beloved character on the show. Instead of making the season weaker, I think this might well be one of the strongest yet for the series.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 22nd, 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 three-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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2019
"My name is Oliver Queen. After six years of being a vigilante, the only way to achieve my goal and save my city was to confess to being The Green Arrow. Now my family and friends must carry on my mission without me. I am no longer a hero. I am inmate 4587."
Who the heck is this Green Arrow of whom you speak? If that's your first question, you need to go back a couple of grades and catch up with the rest of us. The comics are good place to begin, but the television universe is its own place and not tied so tightly to the DC comic book universe. Your best place to go to catch up would be the first six seasons. It'll be worth the effort, and I can get you started with those reviews found here. This review will not contain spoilers from the seventh season but very well must contain some from the previous year. So if you're not caught up, do that first.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 20th, 2019
Lucille Ball was originally a radio personality starring in a popular comedy, My Favorite Husband. It was here that she began to develop the character she would continue to play for decades in television through several shows, all bearing her name in one form or another: I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, and Life With Lucy. See the pattern? Anyone who was a fan of the radio show would instantly recognize the red-haired actress even though they had never actually seen her on the radio. That exaggerated cry was already a staple of her physical comedy, even when she couldn't be seen. She had also toured for many years with her real-life husband Desi Arnaz. When they could not convince a network to film a pilot of a show featuring both of them, they made it on their own dime. CBS was so impressed with the pilot they reimbursed the couple, and in 1951 I Love Lucy hit the airwaves.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on August 19th, 2019
Our friends over at Marvel/Walt Disney want you to be a part of something big. How big? How about the biggest there ever was? Avengers: Endgame kicked James Cameron's butt and became the highest grossing movie of all time. Marvel invites you to own it on Blu-ray for free. That's right. We're giving away a High Definition copy of The Avengers: Endgame for one lucky Upcomingdiscs fan.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 13th, 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: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 17th, 2019
Criminal Minds is about to enter its 15th and final season, and unlike some of the other long-running shows on CBS, this one has had a fair share of bad luck. Cast members have gone, and even returned after a couple of years. Two years ago the show's top star gets fired for physically threatening people on the set. The series has had two attempts to spin off, but unlike CSI or NCIS, neither show could get out of its second year alive. Not even Gary Sinise could save the franchise. The mothership is finally about to land, and the 14th season would become the most stable season in a few years. No new cast members, and no one left the show from the previous year. The 14th season was a shortened one that only came in at 15 episodes, but they made the most out of each of them. The show started the season with their 300th episode, and while it's all coming to an end after the upcoming 15th season, there's still a little life left in the show to be worth another look here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 12th, 2019
"After the bridges blew and the government declared Gotham off-limits the city was up for grabs. Given over to criminals and murderers. Now territory is controlled by whoever has enough power to hold it. I mean we have Penguin in City Hall for God's sakes..."
Gotham City. You know the name, just as you know the names of Metropolis and Smallville. These are important places in the DC comics universe that have existed as part of modern American mythology since the 1930's. Warner Brothers has decided to tackle Gotham in much the way it spent 10 years bringing us to Smallville. But there is a decided difference to be found here. Smallville was indeed the origin story of Superman, and while the obvious answer might be that Gotham serves the same role for Batman, I found that to be a bit of an oversimplification. This is not the origin story for Batman, and while many of the future major villains from that universe take their first baby steps here, this is not their origin story either.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 12th, 2019
"Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a tiny kingdom: peaceful, prosperous, and rich in romance and tradition. Here, in a stately chateau, there lived a widowed gentleman, and his little daughter, Cinderella. Although he was a kind and devoted father, and gave his beloved child every luxury and comfort, still, he felt she needed a mother's care. And so he married again, choosing for his second wife, a woman of good family, with two daughters just Cinderella's age, by name, Anastasia and Drizella. It was upon the untimely death of this good man, however, that the stepmother's true nature was revealed: cold, cruel, and bitterly jealous of Cinderella's charm and beauty, she was grimly determined to forward the interests of her own two awkward daughters. Thus, as time went by, the chateau fell into disrepair, for the family fortunes were squandered upon the vain and selfish stepsisters while Cinderella was abused, humiliated, and finally forced to become a servant in her own house. And yet, through it all, Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind, for with each dawn she found new hope that someday her dreams of happiness would come true."
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs put the Walt Disney Studios on the map. It's a literal truth.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 11th, 2019
"This drama is based on the true story of a police investigation in Southwest London between 2004-2006. Some names have been changed, and some characters and scenes have been created for dramatic purposes."
Serial killers have mostly been the stuff of American dramas and unfortunately the American reality. This particular brand of sociopath doesn't appear to thrive in the confining environments of most countries. Of course, for some it's that they shy away from the designation, and for others it's pure denial. But in the period between 2004 and 2006, Great Britain was terrorized by this very kind of human animal. The criminal's name was Levi Bellfield, and for two years an English task force hunted this killer. The lead investigator was Deputy Chief Inspector Colin Sutton. DCI Sutton ended up writing a bestseller book on the case, and now it has become an ITV series out on Blu-ray from Acorn.
