Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 8th, 2010
I'll be honest, at first Chuck sounded like a pretty bad idea to me. I expected it to be a kind of modern Get Smart with a reluctant geek hero. And that's pretty much what it turned out to be. Except it turned out to also be pretty darn entertaining as well. It all really starts with a solid cast and tightly written stories. Each episode manages to capture just the right blend of drama and comedy. I resist the trendy word dramedy, but if any series fits the mold, it would have to be Chuck.
In the first season we met Chuck Bartowski (Levi). He was a super-smart student at Stanford when his best friend Bryce Larkin (Bomer) set him up to take the fall as a cheater and be kicked out of school in disgrace. The only job he can get now is working at the Buy More (Best Buy) on the Nerd Herd (Geek Squad). But Bryce wasn't done with Chuck yet. Turns out that Bryce is a CIA agent who has been working on the top secret project called Intersect. The Intersect is a computer program that can download the entire government's database into a person's brain through a series of coded flash images. Not content with getting him kicked out of school, Bryce tricks Chuck into getting the Intersect inside his brain. Now Chuck is an important government asset and in need of protecting. Enter CIA agent Sarah Walker (Strahovski) who is Chuck's CIA handler. Their cover is boyfriend and girlfriend, which confuses Chuck's family and friends, who never thought he could get such a hot girlfriend. The muscle for the team is Agent John Casey (Baldwin), who resents being assigned to such a lame mission. Not only do they have to keep Chuck and the Intersect safe, but they must take untrained Chuck on their missions because of the intel stashed in his brain. While Chuck is not consciously aware of the information he carries, when he sees something that triggers a piece of the data, something they call flashing, he is able to access the relevant data. The bad guys are part of an organization called Fulcrum, which is this show's Kaos or Spectre.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 8th, 2010
You say you want an old-school slasher film like they did it back in the 70's and 80's? How would it sound if we gathered up Freddy, Candyman, and Jason and put them all in the same movie? Would that get your attention? Now that I have your attention, let's talk about Hatchet, a little quality slasher just like your uncles Craven, Cunningham, and Carpenter used to make. Okay, I exaggerated about that Freddy, Candyman, and Jason bit. You won't really find any of them in Hatchet. You will find their alter-egos Robert Englund and Tony Todd in amusing cameos, while Jason's best man plays Victor Cowley, the main attraction in this sweet throwback to classic slasher films.
"That's right. There is the home of a real famous Louisiana legend, Victor Crowley, hatchetface. Now legend is that he was a deformed man whose own father went nuts and whacked him in the face with a hatchet one night, probably on account he was so ugly or something. Anyway, he died. So, the story goes that if you're ever near that ol' Crowley house late at night, you still hear old Victor Crowley cryin' for his daddy."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2010
“Ride into this world all alone. God takes your soul. You're on your own.
The crow flies straight, a perfect line on the devil's back until you die.
Gotta look this life in the eye”.
When these guys send a message, they don’t use Western Union. Not only will they blow up your warehouse, but they’ll catch one of your guys and plant a stick of dynamite in his butt cheeks to set off the explosion. That’s the world of the motorcycle club, the Sons Of Anarchy. In the wake of The Shield, FX stays true to form with the latest from that show’s alumni Kurt Sutter. Sons Of Anarchy has a familiar tone and quality to it for fans of that now gone cop drama. There’s a lot of handheld camera stuff, and you have very similar themes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by BABY on September 7th, 2010
Gino likes to listen to some guy named Warren Zevon who says that all of the werewolves are in someplace called London. He also sings a song that says "Don't knock on my door, if you don't know my Rottweiler's name". Well ... I ain't no stinkin' Rottweiler, and you know my name; it's Baby. But I wouldn't knock anyway, 'specially if you are trying to deliver more of these movies. I don't know what the Rottweiler's planning to do, but I promise I'm not going to lick you, and that spells B I T E. Don't you guys know we got too many movies in here already? How am I going to get any playtime in if you keep bringing more movies over here? Gino says that if you stop bringing the movies, he might not make any money. He says if they don't make any money, he can't buy any more treats. He calls that a catch 22. But the problem is while he's in there watching movies, my ball stays where it is, and I'm not catchin' anything. Since beggin' is beneath me, I guess I'm just gonna have to let somebody have it one of these days, and that spells O U C H.
Hey everybody. Baby, back again to bring you yet another dog movie from a dog's perspective. Ever since I was a little puppy I liked readin' those funnies in the paper. For some reason there was a lot of those things layin' around the place for a while. Since a dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do, I would take a look at the comics while I took care of some business. Now what that business was, is none of your business, and that spells W E T. One of my favorite strips was this one called Marmaduke. Now, that dog is one funny cat, and that spells B I G. He was always gettin' into some kind of trouble or other. I always figured we'd get along great, because I get yelled at all the time, too. Anyway, the strip's been around since 1954. That's a whole lot of dog years ago. It was written by a guy named Brad Anderson. That means a lot of those comics were written, and a lot of fans must be out there. So now they've decided to create a whole movie based on Marmaduke. And, guess who got to watch it. That's right. Me, Baby.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 7th, 2010
”A philosopher once asked, ‘Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?’ Pointless, really…’Do the stars gaze back?’ Now that’s a question.”
They do more than gaze in Stardust, a quirky, enjoyable film that’s not the epic tale it’s made out to be. The film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s graphic novel of the same name, Stardust is a tale about a young man from a small English village who gets caught up in a magical adventure in another realm. With evil witches, fratricidal princes, and a cross-dressing sky-pirate, there’s a lot of fantasy in Stardust, but director Matthew Vaughn’s penchant for Lord of the Rings-style sweeping cinematography creates a canvas much too grand for this simple fairy tale.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2010
The longest running show in prime time doesn’t feature cops, doctors, or lawyers. It’s hard to believe that The Simpsons have existed as long as the Fox network. While the series didn’t really begin until Fox’s second year, the characters were part of The Tracey Ullman Show, which did start the first year of Fox. Who could have guessed that an animated short from an otherwise horrible and doomed variety show would explode into such a phenomenon? The Simpsons have not only dominated the pop culture; they have placed everything else into context with their show. Like Doonesbury, it could be said that the only thing worse than being made fun of on The Simpsons is not being made fun of on The Simpsons. With that said, you’ll understand my warm feelings and appreciation for this show.
This thing has been on forever. Still, it never gets old. The show has a charm yet edginess to it that can’t be beat. Let’s not forget that while kids might love the show, this stuff is intended for adults. We’re not talking South Park trash talk here; every episode is a veritable treasure hunt of subtle and not-so-subtle cultural references. Even after seeing an episode several times, it’s not uncommon for me to find something that I missed before.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 31st, 2010
Vampires are hot right now, at least that's what everyone keeps telling me. The truth is that everyone is absolutely wrong. Vampires are not hot right now. They've always been hot. Since at least since 1897 when Bram Stoker took the world by storm in one of the earliest examples of a horror novel. Of course, I'm talking about Dracula. Dracula, as a character, might have been based on the historical figure of Vlad the Impaler, but the vampire legend that Stoker perfected in Dracula is pure fiction. Still, it wasn't quite Stoker's novel that created the vampire craze, it merely lit the fuse. The explosion came just a couple of decades later with the Broadway production and Universal film based on the story. It was first on stage and then in the very first talkie horror film where Bela Lugosi would change Bram Stoker's rules and become the iconic symbol for vampires for nearly a century and beyond. Stoker's Dracula was a hideous, wretched creature who was not going to be seducing any ladies without his supernatural powers. It was Lugosi who delivered the vampire in the evening coat and cape. Here we see the cultured, handsome man who doesn't even need all of that vampire mojo to get the ladies. Of course, it doesn't hurt, and between the novel, play, and film vampires got hot, and they still are.
We've all seen the young girls out there swooning over the Twilight films and books as if the whole vampire idea had just been invented. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that the television networks and cable channels would be taking notice. No, it's not the swooning teenagers, it's the green being transferred from their pockets to their coffers. But vampires on television are not new either. Dracula itself was a series. In the 1960's and 70's there was Dark Shadows and the vampire Barnabas Collins. I rushed home from school every day to watch that show. Maybe that's why I missed so many homework assignments. I should have tried the "under a vampire's spell" excuse. Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are about to bring that franchise back to life. I can't wait. In the 1970's Kolchak began his monster chasing career going after a vampire or two. Then there was Buffy, and the craze reached another crescendo. The spin-off Angel only made the genre even hotter. Before that there was Forever Knight and The Hunger. I could go on for pages talking about vampires in television and movies. The Underworld franchise gave us Selene, and the sexy female vampire was reborn. Yeah, there were scary ones as well, but I was a bit distracted. HBO is mining vampire gold with yet another series of vampire books in True Blood. If you think this is going to end any time soon, you just haven't lived long enough ... yet.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 30th, 2010
It's been said that all good things must come to an end. In television that could not be more true. In the world of entertainment good things end, often quickly without a chance to leave any kind of an impact. Maybe six years wasn't exactly quick for Lost, but at least it can't claim not to have left an impact. The show changed how we watch television, and it will be a long time before anyone forgets about it.
For six years now, Lost has taken us through mystery after mystery. I’m beginning to think that the show’s title is more a mission statement for where they want to take the viewers. Each time Abrams appears to answer a question and move on, closer examination proves that nothing has actually been revealed. The series has become the poster child for misdirection and script sleight of hand. When I examine the 13 episodes from season 4, I’m left with the inescapable, pun intended, feeling that nothing significant has really happened here at all. But at the same time, it’s the most significant event of the series. All the while I find myself compelled to watch episode after episode. Abrams would have been a great drug dealer if that producing gig hadn’t worked out for him. The show started out with enough directions and plot devices to put our brains into overload. From that point on, he’s been cutting each dose a little bit so that we find ourselves drawn to each hour fix, chasing the high we got in the beginning. Of course, we already know we’re never going to feel that way again, but we’ll keep coming back for more as long as he continues to make us believe that we will. I’m not saying the show has declined at all. I’m saying that it doesn’t really ever go anywhere. Abrams continues to introduce major plot lines such as the hatch, the others, and now the freighter, with promises of linking it all together into some kind of epiphany, and for a short time he actually does. But hindsight leaves us scratching our heads, because once we come down we can’t really explain what the high was all about. And so, we’ll continue to tune in or buy the DVD’s to see where it’s all headed, even if we already know that we’re doomed to remain lost no matter how it all ends.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 26th, 2010
It's almost impossible not to compare The Square with No Country For Old Men. The themes are very much the same. The talent behind this Australian movie even includes a couple of brothers, but their name doesn't happen to be Cohen; however, one of these brothers is also named Joel. One of the original writers on the film is Joel Edgerton. The idea passed through a couple of other folks along the way to director Nash Edgerton who saw more potential in the film. So, a modest budget and a collection of relatively unknown actors combined to create a movie that does not easily fall into any one category, another trait these brothers share with the more famous pair.
Carla (van der Boom) is having a rather intense affair with Ray (Roberts). They both want out of their own marriages for different reasons but lack the proper funds to make their respective clean breaks. Carla is married to Smithy (Hayes) a small-time crook with a domestic violent streak. Ray is married to Martha (Bell) who he simply doesn't have much passion for. He feels his life has settled into an emotionless rut. Ray is a foreman for a contract business and has been taking kickbacks from his subcontractors in a bid to stash away enough money to run away with Carla. It's a slow business, and Carla is getting impatient, starting to wonder if he really wants to be with her. It all appears hopeless, that is until Carla returns home from a rendezvous with Ray to find Smithy stashing a large bag of cash into their attic crawlspace. It's a ton of money, more than enough to finance her escape with Ray. She tries to convince Ray that they should steal the cash and go. Ray is concerned that such a big score for a normally two-bit crook means others are involved. He suspects they won't take very kindly to having their money taken, and the two lovers would have to live in constant fear of being discovered. So they come up with a plan to steal the money and hire someone to torch the house, making Smithy and his pals think the money was consumed in the fire. Ray's a bit gun-shy about the idea, but Carla can be quite persuasive.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 26th, 2010
"Relationships don't come cheap."
I guess I'm pretty much like most film watchers in certain areas. When I saw that $5 A Day was rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief nudity, I did what most red-blooded American guys would do. I took a look at who was in the cast. This might work. I suspected we'd be treated to a little quick peek at Amanda Peet or Sharon Stone in a little birthday suit flash. OK, now I've got a little something to look forward to. Little did I know that the brief nudity part referred to watching Christopher Walken and, to a lesser extent, Alessandro Nivola, running naked on a beach. So much for MPAA warnings. I just gotta stop reading those things. Little did I know that that cheap thrill was going to be the only thing worth looking forward to in this standard relationship/road movie. And it didn't even happen. So what did happen? I mean, beyond the aforementioned scar to my retina?
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![The Square [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-square-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![$5 a Day [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/5-a-day-blu-ray-large.jpg)
