Posts by Gino Sassani

"They are working. They have been working for us for over 10,000 years. They have been called man's best friend. Soft fur and wet nose. Smart and loyal. Aiding us in transportation, hunting, companionship, protection, and many more ways. They share a bond with us like no other animal. They are career dogs, and this is a look into the history, training, and duties: jobs that can only be filled by our four-legged friends."

Dogs on the Job is a seven-part series that takes a closer look at the various breeds of dog and the kinds of jobs they were bred to perform. The first episode gives us a pretty good lesson on how dogs became to be associated with humans and why those early wolves would become so cooperative with humans.

"I have no motive, my friends, to deceive you. I am sincerely desirous to promote your welfare. Listen to me, therefore, when I tell you that you cannot remain where you now are. Circumstances that cannot be controlled which are beyond the reach of human law and render it impossible that you can flourish in the midst of a civilized community. You have but one remedy in your reach, and that is to remove to the West. The choice now is before you. May the great spirit teach you how to change. Your friend, Andrew Jackson"

With friends like that, who needs enemies, or so the saying goes.

I was quite reluctant to attend the screening for The Oath. My reluctance wasn't based on my willingness to see the film. People like us will go to any kind of a movie. I love films. My issue was the impression I received from the trailer. The film appears to be ripped from today's political climate and quite possibly to be a close parody of the actual present political situation. No matter on what side of that issue I might personally happen to fall, we here at Upcomingdiscs try our best to keep our politics out of our work. It's not fair to fellow writers for them to be brushed with any other writer's ideals, and it's simply unnecessary to create a hostile environment here for any of our readers or staff. So I approached the screening with the caveat that I might not actually review the film. When the studio agreed to those terms, I set out to experience The Oath. I'll give you a little "inside baseball" into the movie review business.

"So dark. You sure you're not from the DC universe?” 

What if you took out the darkness and made the film a little more family-friendly? Could that work? My initial reaction was that it was a mistake to try. But this film actually has some charm going for it, and I was a bit surprised at how seamless it was. This is essentially Deadpool 2 with the hard-core stuff removed. Gone are the sword fights that used to start the film. And Fred Savage is the key to making the entire idea work.

In the 1970's Pat Morita was pretty much a staple of the American television landscape. It's fair to say he often got work in a less politically correct era as a token Asian on situation comedies. He landed iconic recurring roles as Arnold, who owned the burger hangout in Happy Days, and Ah Chew, the target of Redd Foxx's bigoted antics on Sanford And Son. His is a long career in the annals of 70's television. While he did appear in a few feature films, none of these appearances had the lasting fame or adoration that he experienced as Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid franchise. The role would define him for the remainder of his days. When Karate Kid appeared in 1984, it delivered a modest return at the box office but found some enduring returns in the young home video market. It was enough to score a sequel in 1986 that would become the best moneymaker of the franchise's original collection of four films. It pulled in enough scratch to warrant a third film, and that's pretty much where it all went downhill faster than a speeding bullet which might have mercifully ended the movies on a high note.