Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 1st, 2017
Everybody has their own group of favorite comics. I got plenty of classics that I always love to watch like Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, and so forth. But we all have that one comic that we do not readily talk about in open groups or even with family. However late at night, maybe a drink in, and when nobody is looking (at least your wife anyway) we turn on and laugh our posterior off with. For me, that’s Bobcat Goldthwait. The movie is of course, Shakes the Clown.
We open to a dog enjoying some leftover pizza from the night before. A record is skipping and a young child walks over to it and removes the needle. His next stop is the bathroom as anybody in the male gender will tell you. Unfortunately, he stumbles over our hero, Shakes the Clown (played by Bobcat Goldthwait) who is apparently hanged over from the night before. Shakes soon wakes by the gentle flow of urine on his reeking head.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2017
"Enjoy the trip. It's going to be a bumpy ride."
It has been six months since the second season ended. A herd of creatures and experiments rained down on Gotham City. They were the product of experimentation by Dr. Strange, played by B.D. Wong. This, of course, is Dr. Hugo Strange, mad scientist, and not Marvel's Stephen Sorcerer Supreme. Jim Gordon (McKenzie) is no longer a member of the police force but has found a niche as a bounty hunter rounding up the creatures and bringing them in for cash. Gotham City is in chaos and has fallen into the kind of frontier justice. But this is Gotham City. Where is Batman? This is a question you ask only if you haven't been following along for the first two seasons of Gotham. You can find out more about the show and its setup by checking out our earlier reviews Here. For the rest of us, let's look at what the third season of Gotham has to offer now that it's available on Blu-ray from Warner Brothers Home Entertainment.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 1st, 2017
“The sheer beauty of China manifests itself in so many different ways, in so many remote corners. It sometimes feels like another world.”
To help celebrate Earth Day each year, Disneynature — the independent film unit at the Mouse House dedicated to making nature documentaries — has gotten in the habit of immersing us in a different corner of the animal kingdom. While it's a bit surprising that it took nine movies to finally arrive in China, the wait was absolutely worth it for fans of cuddly critters and breathtaking landscapes. The country's otherworldly beauty makes up for some off-kilter narration and less-than-thrilling (invented) storylines.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 30th, 2017
"When I was a child, my planet Krypton was dying. 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."
A lot of things have changed with the second season of Supergirl. The series spent its first season on CBS but was always considered somewhat a part of the DC Television Universe. That was more than confirmed when the show had an unusual cross-episode/network story that involved The Flash. There must have been complications, and the decision to bring the series over to the CW appears to be a rather natural one. Gotham continues to thrive over at Fox, but it's quite obvious that Gotham lives in a very different place than the four DC shows now living at the CW.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 30th, 2017
“We need Harley Quinn.”
Warner Bros. still has a bit of a ways to go before its stable of DC Comics superheroes catches up to Disney’s dominant Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, Warner and DC have long had the upper hand on both the small screen (Smallville, Arrow, The Flash) and with their animated, direct-to-video offerings. Before Wonder Woman saved the day earlier this summer, one of DC's recent big-screen highlights was the way Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn enlivened the supervillain mash-up Suicide Squad. And while I'm fully aware that Harley's appeal lies in being a strong, sexy, wisecracking nutjob, I wish the makers of this well-deserved small-screen showcase had taken her a bit more seriously.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 29th, 2017
"From the day we arrive on the planet and blinking, step into the sun, there's more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than can ever be done. There's far too much to take in here. More to find than can ever be found..."
There's a period in the 1990's that has often been referred to as the second golden age of Disney animation. The studio had fallen from its once mighty perch, and most film historians tend to agree there was a creative dark ages through the 1980's. But the renaissance of the studio began with Aladdin in 1992 would go on to include such tremendous classics as Beauty And The Beast and The Little Mermaid. None of these films speak to the resurgence of the animated feature like The Lion King. The film set every animated record there was and holds some of those box office records today. It can be safely stated that the great flood of animated projects that followed can be traced to the impact of The Lion King. In 1996 Simba was the most popular name chosen for new housecats. Elton John saw his appeal extend to children, and there could be no mistake that the animated feature was back.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 21st, 2017
“My name is Chuck Wepner. You don't know me...well, you do know me, but you don't know you know me.”
Unless you're a hardcore boxing fan (or a Jersey boy/girl), chances are you don't know the name Chuck Wepner. On the other hand, you don't have to be a sports buff or a movie buff to know the name Rocky Balboa. Wepner is a former heavyweight boxer, and his 1975 title bout with Muhammad Ali served as the inspiration for Sylvester Stallone's Oscar-winning classic. Originally titled The Bleeder (my two cents...they should've stuck with that title), Chuck is the story of “The Real Rocky.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 18th, 2017
Reboots are all the rage in Hollywood, in case you haven't heard. Even a relatively low-key property like the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cinematic Universe series isn't immune. Based on the wildly popular books by author Jeff Kinney, the first three movies featured the same core group of likable actors and become rock solid hits made on modest budgets. So you can understand why Fox would want to keep the series going, even if original star Zachary Gordon became too old to play the perpetually put-upon (and middle school-aged) Greg Heffley. This latest offering features an all-new cast, but too much of the same cringeworthy and juvenile humor; it'll make you wish someone had hidden the reset button from this franchise.
“If there's one thing I've learned from my years of being a kid, it's that you have zero control over your own life.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 15th, 2017
"It is, I think, going to be a very harsh and unpleasant kind of business and will, I think, require an extremely harsh and unpleasant kind of man to see to it."
That man, of course, is John Wayne. They called him The Duke, and he was indeed western cinema royalty for six decades. He represented the American ideal of the tough guy who stood up for the weak and didn't shy away from a fight. His characters usually worked hard, and they played just as hard. He had a unique way of turning a phrase and has been one of the most widely impersonated Hollywood voices. By the time the 1970's rolled around, Wayne was coming to the end of a long career. Some of these later roles showed a somewhat softer side to The Duke, and he was rarely doing any of his own stunts. Two of those later films were Rio Lobo and Big Jake. They aren't two of his most prominent roles and haven't had much of a wide release in the days since their release. They would show up on late show broadcasts, and Rio Lobo had yet to reach high definition and Blu-ray release. CBS changes that little oversight with a nice package they call a John Wayne Double Feature. For those of us who remember the days of the double feature, these two films fit the double-bill quite nicely. Here are two of the better John Wayne films that you likely have never seen, at least uncut and in high definition.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 10th, 2017
Big Little Lies — HBO’s star-studded and (deservedly) Emmy-nominated limited series — is structured like a typical murder mystery. We know someone has been killed, but we don’t know the perpetrator or even identity of the victim. On top of that, the limited series format promises that we’ll actually have an answer by time these episodes wrap up (**cough** The Killing). But the reason Big Little Lies shines— other than top-notch performances and stellar direction — is because beneath the murder-mystery veneer lies a darkly funny drama about all manner of adult relationships: husband/wife, ex-husband/ex-wife, mother/daughter, mother/fellow-mother, and so on.
“I love my grudges. I tend to them like little pets.”
