Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2018
Are you feeling a little déjà vu when you turn on a television or live stream these days? It seems like almost half the shows on television today are either revivals or reboots of shows that have aired before. Recently there have been revivals of The X-Files, 24, Prison Break, Growing Pains, Roseanne, and even Murphy Brown. The box office is filled with feature films of Star Trek, The Equalizer and Baywatch. While Tom Selleck is playing a family patriarch on Blue Bloods, Jay Hernandez is in Hawaii driving a bright red Ferrari in a new version of Magnum P.I. Hawaii 5-O is one of the most popular shows on CBS, and Charmed is bewitching an entire new generation of streamers on the internet. You might consider this a time of little ingenuity on the tube, but CBS has gone back in time to resurrect the very definition of ingenuity in MacGyver. The show is about to begin a third season, and the second season is now out on DVD thanks to some cooperation between Lionsgate and CBS.
The basic idea of the original series remains here. Angus MacGyver is now played by Lucas Till. He still works for the Phoenix foundation, which remains a covert government agency disguised as a think tank. Just like the Richard Dean Anderson character, MacGyver has the uncanny ability to use whatever happens to be handy to build what he happens to need to bring down a bad guy or save lives. The name has become a part of our lexicon and refers to using something in a makeshift procedure to solve a problem. As much as the basic elements of the original remain, there are quite a few significant differences to be found here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2018
"A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..."
Yes, those lines open this Star Wars story, because the filmmakers want to be sure you know what you're watching. This is Star Wars. Just in case there was anyone at all in the audience who had no idea they just bought a ticket to Star Wars. If he were dead, George Lucas would be rolling over in his grave. Instead, maybe he's just having some restless nights with little sleep. It is Star Wars. And that means there will be a droid as a main character, space battles, and some good old fashioned one-reel-serial-days adventure. It's a heck of a visual amusement park ride, and the film will certainly entertain. But I have to open by saying it is my least favorite of the Disney Star Wars films to date.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 24th, 2018
"Once upon a time there was a magical forest filled with fairytale characters. One day a powerful curse trapped them in a city which had no magic, and each of them forgot who they really were. This is how it happened..."
Once Upon A Time hasn't been a big ratings winner for the last few years. Each season the show appeared on the bubble and ended up getting renewed at the last minute. One of the reasons the show managed to escape the axe was because it had some value for the network's parent company, Walt Disney Studios. The show was a good way to keep the studio’s properties in front of an audience. That's pretty much what the show finally became. They threw the books at us, from Frozen to The Little Mermaid. With that value in mind, the decision was made last season to keep the show but completely retool it. The network cut most of the cast and started the story over again.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 24th, 2018
"Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur? The first time you see them, it's like a miracle. You read about them in books, you see the bones in museums, but you don't really believe it. They're like myths. And then you see the first one alive."
By the time you get to the fourth sequel of a film, the results are usually not very good. Even a groundbreaking film like Jurassic Park has been followed by at least one terrible sequel. The problem with these kinds of things is pretty easy to figure out. You can't please all of any film's diehard fans, and it's hard to continue to deliver on the formula's expectations, all the while breaking new ground without the result feeling more contrived than original. That's certainly all been true of this franchise. When Jurassic World set all kinds of box office records three years ago, it appeared that those entrusted with this franchise had found a way to turn it around. Now the expectations have jumped even higher. There appears no place to go but down, and for the first hour of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, that's exactly what appears was going to happen. But then somewhere around the third act, the film took a turn that suddenly sent the franchise into an entirely new genre. The last third of Fallen Kingdom accomplishes something that should have always been where this whole ride headed. Fallen Kingdom is a rehash of the previous films in many ways. There are the iconic poses and the regurgitated scenes. But before the credits start to roll on this one, it becomes something terribly wonderful. It is genuinely scary. Now, certainly, the previous films had some scary moments. There was some of it in the first film's kitchen chase. But for all of its scares, it was really just more dinosaurs chasing people. Now don't get me wrong. I'm really cool with that, but been there, seen that. You see, Fallen Kingdom takes that fright to an entirely new level. Science fiction and horror haven't combined this well since Alien.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 23rd, 2018
"My name is Kara Zor-El. I'm from Krypton. I'm a refugee on this planet. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin. But my pod got knocked off course, and by the time I got here, my cousin had already grown up and become... Superman. I hid who I really was until one day when an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world. To most people, I'm a reporter at CatCo Worldwide Media. But in secret, I work with my adoptive sister for the D.E.O. to protect my city from alien life and anyone else that means to cause it harm. I am Supergirl."
So, you're asking yourself, who the heck is Kara Zor-El, and what is this D.E.O.? I get it. You're just not caught up on the CW series Supergirl. It's not such a good idea to start here, however. You can check out our reviews for the first two seasons here. Catch up on the episodes, and then join the rest of us for Supergirl: The Complete Third Season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2018
"It's not just for profit. It's for revenge. It's a twofer."
Hollywood has been making a greater effort these days to add some diversity to their film casts. From minorities to women, this has been a year of unprecedented changes in the makeup of so many films. One of the new trends in this effort is to remake/re-imagine/reboot an already established franchise with a gender-switched cast. The results have been somewhat mixed. The female Ghostbusters film was a complete disappointment. And while it might be easy to blame the female cast, the issues go much deeper than that. Now the Ocean's franchise has decided to play in that territory, with better results. Ocean's 8 delivers the familiar formula of the Steven Soderbergh remake trilogy of the original Rat-Pack film, but with an all-girl heist crew. The film is still a bit of a disappointment in some ways, but it's a much better ride than Ghostbusters by a long mile, and again the flaws have little to do with the cast or the gender-swapped model.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2018
"In the exciting days of live television, there was one show that won major awards in all categories. It was a live show in a live theater, and what you will hear is live laughter - a genuine reaction of a live audience."
That was Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows. Sid Caesar is arguably the world's first major television star. His show was a monster hit that eventually earned him $25,000 an episode back in the early 1950's. He was something of a comic chameleon. He portrayed many iconic characters where Sid himself appeared to completely disappear into the role. His skits were often like small films that ran 20 minutes or more. Many of them spoofed films of the day and were rather large productions for a comic skit. Most skits on television are running out of steam after two to three minutes, but Sid Caesar had the uncanny ability to grab your attention and hold it for a considerable time.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on September 16th, 2018
"Predators don't just sit around making hats out of rib cages. They conquered space."
In 1987 Predator became somewhat of a milestone film for many reasons. The movie would anchor a franchise thanks mostly to a wonderfully original Stan Winston creature design and the performance of Kevin Peter Hall under the suit. Both Winston and Hall have since passed, but the alien hunter that they created together is still going strong. The film also featured two stars who would later go on to become governors of their states. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jessie Ventura made their mark in politics. The film also featured Rocky's Carl Weathers. It also featured Shane Black in a small role that might not have contributed to the blossoming franchise then, but he has made his own impact by writing and directing the latest installment of that franchise The Predator.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on September 15th, 2018
There is something about the words “based on a true story” that seems to have a certain effect on us and seems to alter our perception of a film. Then there is something about a true crime story that seems to excite us even more; at least for me, I enjoy these films where we get a glimpse of the seedy underbelly of society. So when White Boy Rick comes along to tell the tale of the youngest FBI informant who also happened to be an arms dealer and drug kingpin, well, this is the kind of film I tend to get excited about. When I first saw the trailer, it had me thinking this could be a hodgepodge of American Hustle, Blow, and Goodfellas all wrapped into one. Unfortunately, though the film has some great talent and oodles of potential, the result is a good-looking mess on the screen.
The film opens up in 1984 where we meet Rick Wershe Jr. (Richie Merrit) and his dad Richard Wershe Sr. (Matthew McConaughey) at a gun show. We get to see the duo hustle one of the dealers as they are purchasing a pair of AK-47’s. What we can pick up on from the start of the picture is that there is a believable chemistry between McConaughey and Merrit that we can believe these guys are father and son. There is also Rick’s sister Dawn (Bel Powley), who has become a drug addict, and we see her early in the film leave home to be with her unsavory boyfriend. Rounding out the Wershe clan are the grandparents, played by Bruce Dern and Piper Laurie. Had the film simply focused just on the family, I believe there could have been a stronger film here, but the relationship between Rick and Dawn is definitely the weak link and becomes a distraction to the story, because she seems to just pop in and out of the film without bringing anything to further the story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 14th, 2018
"You're in a stolen cop car with a dead hooker in the trunk; you don't have to obey traffic laws."
The Big Bang Theory certainly didn't obey the established laws for television comedy. The series was certainly more cerebral than most, and a lot of jokes went over a lot of heads, I suspect. But it was never about the geek factor or the IQ of the characters. The show was simply about the characters, and that extended family has spent 11 years in our living rooms or home theatres. But like all good things, The Big Bang Theory is about to come to an end. Jim Parsons was never the show's top billing, but there's little doubt that Sheldon became the most engaging character. When Parsons was offered $50 million for two more seasons, he turned the offer down. Instead of trying to do the show without him, the decision was made to bring the long-running comedy to a close. The upcoming 12th year will be its final season. Fans don't have much to be sad about. 10 years appears to be the ceiling for even the best comedy shows to grace our television screens. Monster hits like Seinfeld and Friends didn't break 10 seasons. Classics like M*A*S*H or All In The Family never saw 11 and 9 seasons respectively. 12 years will be a very respectable run. The fans will also get to hang out with Sheldon for the foreseeable future, albeit as a little kid in Young Sheldon. Finally, fans will have these Blu-ray collections to revisit these characters for many years to come. Old shows don't die; they just live on through discs or streaming services.
