Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 12th, 2016
"My name is Barry Allen, and I am the fastest man alive. When I was a child, I saw my mother killed by something impossible. My father went to prison for her murder. Then an accident made me the impossible, and I became the Flash. I used my powers to find the man responsible for my mother's death. I thought I would finally get justice for my family, but I failed. It's been six months since the Singularity. I'm on my own now. Decided it's better that way. Keeps the people I care about safe. There's only one thing I can do now. I run…"
The Flash is CSI with a twist. Barry Allen (Gustin) is a police scientist working in the CSI lab of Central City.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 8th, 2016
"Six months ago The Arrow died. But what he stood for didn't. It lived on in the heroes who took up his mantle. People who believe that this city should never descend into hopelessness. Who believe although life is full of darkness, that darkness can be defeated by light. And tonight I am declaring my intention to fight with them for this city. To be a symbol of hope that The Arrow never was. I am the Green Arrow."
The first three seasons of Arrow have to almost be considered one large origin story. Oliver Queen finally takes the name that he's used in the comics for decades... The Green Arrow. Not to be confused with the same-colored Hornet or Lantern. Who the heck is this Green Arrow of whom you speak?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2016
"In 2166 an immortal tyrant named Vandal Savage conquered the world and murdered my wife and child. I've assembled an elite team to hunt him throughout time and stop his rise to power. Unfortunately, my plan was opposed by the body I had sworn my allegiance to: The Time Masters. In the future my friends might not be heroes, but if we succeed, they will be remembered as legends."
Marvel may have beaten DC to the superhero team-up film. But while Marvel continues to blow away the DC filmatic universe, DC has had its best and most brilliant successes here on television. DC Legends of Tomorrow is pretty much the first television comic book team-up, and it's a direct spinoff from both Arrow and The Flash shows.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 31st, 2016
"The bad guys in this town are changing. They're not playing by the old rules, or any rules. We need every measure at our disposal, and I'm not just talking more guns..."
The first season of Gotham was pretty much a straight criminal story told in a film noir environment where just a hint of the future comic book heroics is uncovered. The bad guys were pretty much standard mob guys. Were they eccentric? Yes. There were really no meta-humans or gadgets to speak of. This season we get a flood of the more familiar kinds of villains you know so well from this universe.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 22nd, 2016
The Vampire Diaries is finally living up to its name. Elena is asleep until Bonnie dies, so the characters have promised to keep a record of all the goings on in Mystic Falls and with their lives. And there's a lot to write about. Mystic Falls has been evacuated so that Lily and her family of heretics won't kill everybody in town. They're living in the Salvatore mansion, and Carolyn is carrying twins that don't really belong to her. And Damon...he's just being...Damon. All of them are either trying to steal or running away from something called The Phoenix Stone. Elena's going to have a lot of catching up to do, and so do you if you haven't been watching all along.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 12th, 2016
"When people see that red cape, they expect to see a certain someone. Someone they know. But this isn't his story. It's mine."
Of course, that "someone" they know is Superman. This is the story of Supergirl. We've seen her story on both the big and small screen, as well. Helen Slater put on the tights and skirt in the Richard Donner film made during the Christopher Reeves Superman years and meant to tie into that filmactic universe. When television told the story of a young Clark Kent in Smallville, it was only natural that his famous cuz would show up there. This time it was Laura Vandervoort who played the Kryptonian.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 9th, 2016
"Everything just feels so out of control. I don't remember who I am. Who I was. Whatever life I had is gone. Shattered into a million tiny pieces. Sometimes it's hard to breathe."
I have to credit Blindspot's creator Martin Gero with providing one of the more memorable moments on television with the opening minutes of the series. Unfortunately, by the time we saw the pilot that image was already ruined by the countless spots used to promote the show's premiere. We see a police officer in Times Square approach a bag with a sign on it that asks the FBI be alerted. The cop approaches the bag a bit frightened it might be a bomb and blow up on him at any time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 29th, 2016
"A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..."
It sure does seem like it was a long time ago since Star Wars was actually very good. It doesn't matter if you thought Empire or Jedi was the last good film; few people that I've encountered mentioned the more recent trilogy in the same sacred breath as those original films. Star Wars gave us swashbuckler adventure in the spirit of the early serials. Then it was about a mythical epic story that swept a generation into its colorful universe. What George Lucas created in the late 1970's will never die. But before long it became more about the creator and less about engaging the fans. The attitude turned into "this is my franchise and I'll do whatever the heck I want to do with it."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 27th, 2016
When Vikings Season 1 first arrived a couple of years ago, I have to admit I was pretty excited. I was particularly eager to see footage from their very first game. Fran Tarkenton came off the bench, and the Vikings went on to become the first expansion team ever to win their very first game. OK, as Baby, our shepherd/chow mix dog film reviewer would say: I made that last part up. You'd have to have been living under a pretty isolated rock to have missed all of the buzz over the History Channel's drama series Vikings. Now season 3 is out on Blu-ray, and it's certainly a season to remember.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 19th, 2016
The Intern tackles a pretty important issue. Age gaps are the elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge. The issue is confusing to address, because a lot of people don’t even know what age group they belong to or don’t care. But the differences are very real, and they cause enormous alienation and division. Baby Boomers and Millennials are two examples which are represented here by Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, who has a daughter starting the first grade, so another age group is represented. To be clearer, Baby Boomers are born between 1946 to 1964, Generation X 1965 to 1980, Generation Y/Millennial 1981 to 2000 and Generation Z/Boomlets after 2001.