Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 30th, 2026
"Why are you talking? Do you ever think about what you're gonna say or why you're speaking? Or do you just open your mouth and just blah blah blah blah blah? In about thirty seconds I'll be gone. We don't need to speak."
Die My Love is the latest film by director Lynne Ramsay whose best film is still We Need To Talk About Kevin. I say still is because Die My Love doesn't live up to the reputation. Ramsay was never quite a linear storyteller and this film is no exception. She loves to dabble in the subtle madness of a situation and here she does much more than dabble and while there are certainly attempts to be nuanced the film rages as out of control as her main character played by Jennifer Lawrence who takes a huge swing and a big chance here. It was the right idea but maybe not quite the right vehicle. Lawrence has been trying to distance herself from the Hunger Games franchise not because that wasn't good work but she appears to be trying not to get too pigeonholed in her career. as I said, it's the right call. the problem is that Die My Love is too messy of a film to show much of anything, and trust me anything worth watching about this film lands entirely on the performance of Jennifer Lawrence.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 4th, 2026
“Stop filming me!”
Interestingly enough, this 2025 remake/adaptation is a more faithful reproduction of its source material than the 1987 version. The 1987 adaptation, while popular, took liberties when it came to the main character’s backstory and motivations, such as him being a wrongfully accused and convicted policeman who gets his shot at freedom by participating in a TV game show where convicts called Runners must battle killers for their freedom. In the 2025 remake, Ben Richards, now played by Glen Powell, is a blacklisted blue-collar worker living in dystopian anarchistic police state with his wife and infant Cathy. Unable to afford medicine for Cathy's influenza, Ben attends tryouts for the network's game shows, where his anger, misanthropy, and physical fitness see him selected for "The Running Man", their most popular and dangerous show. That backstory is much more in line with the 1982 Stephen King novel. Rounding out the cast are Josh Brolin, William H. Macy, Lee Pace, Michael Cera, and Colman Domingo. Arnold Schwarzenegger even makes a surprise appearance. It’s quick, though. Blink and you could miss it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 26th, 2026
"In the year of our lord, Judea - for nearly a century - had lain under the mastery of Rome. In the seventh year of the reign of Augustus Caesar, an imperial decree ordered every Judean each to return to his place of birth to be counted and taxed. The converging ways of many of them led to the gates of their capital city, Jerusalem, the troubled heart of their land. The old city was dominated by the fortress of Antonia, the seat of Roman power, and by the great golden temple, the outward sign of an inward and imperishable faith. Even while they obeyed the will of Caesar, the people clung proudly to their ancient heritage, always remembering the promise of their prophets that one day there would be born among them a redeemer to bring them salvation and perfect freedom."
In the war going on between Paramount and Netflix over the purchase of Warner Brothers, I must admit I am on Paramount's side totally. If Netflix wins, you can kiss goodbye seeing films on physical media, and Warner's iconic cinematic past will just be eye candy for those 3-inch screens. If you needed any proof, you merely have to look at their current actions. Netflix stood in the way of del Toro's Frankenstein, and we as critics never saw it at a screening. It took Criterion to finally give it a release. On Paramount's side, look what they have done with many of their classic films. I've reviewed so many here. And if you want to see Warner classics like this one to continue, you need look no farther than this brand new UHD Blu-ray release of the classic film Ben-Hur. This is going to be one of the most impressive discs in your collection. What do you think you would have gotten if Netflix was pulling the strings? Yeah, that's what I thought, as well. Here's a list of the classic Warner films you can expect in the future if Netflix takes over Warner: Yep, that's all of them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 25th, 2026
“On TV it looks so real.”
When I first walked out from the theater after watching Nightcrawler, the thing that stuck with me the most is how great Jake Gyllenhaal was in this film. This isn’t the first performance he’s caught my attention in; he’s an actor who pretty much any time I see him in a film, he’s one of the most memorable aspects of the film. Whether it’s his moody performance in Donnie Darko, his offbeat portrayal as a cop in Prisoners, or even him taking a risk as a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain, every role he does something more with the character where we can believe he is this person we see on the screen. Nightcrawler is no exception, and in this role Gyllenhaal is simply terrifying as Lou Bloom.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2026
"You know the results of the latest Gallup Poll? Half the country never even heard of the word Watergate. Nobody gives a shit. You guys are probably pretty tired, right? Well, you should be. Go on home, get a nice hot bath. Rest up ... 15 minutes. Then get your asses back in gear. We're under a lot of pressure, you know, and you put us there. Nothing's riding on this except the, Oh, first amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys f' up again, I'm going to get mad. Goodnight."
The more things change, the more they remain the same. Most of you were not born when Richard Nixon became the first American president to resign from his office in disgrace. But the truth is that it changed our political culture forever. It's hard to believe that there was a time when most Americans put aside their own ideologies and had a respect for the office of the President of the United States. Even if you did not vote for or particularly like the man, there was a reverence and an almost sacred aura that surrounded the position. All of that has changed, and while it's easy to blame the groups we have fighting each other now, it started a long time ago when a couple of Washington Post journalists stumbled into the biggest story in our nation's political history. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward are the reporters who became iconic in their field as they took what appeared to be a routine break-in to an office and rode it to the resignation of a very popularly elected president. They put it in a book and then the movie of the same name. Now Warner Brothers has put All The President's Men on UHD Blu-ray in 4K, and if you haven't seen it, you need to. It's one of the most important films ever made.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 28th, 2026
“You may only see it once, but that will be enough.”
That was the marketing slogan for the first Friday The 13th film in 1980. Apparently they couldn’t have been more wrong, because most of us have seen the film countless times, and no, it was never enough. The franchise would thrive with over 10 sequels or affiliated films, taking us right up to the present remake/reboot of that very first outing at Camp Crystal Lake. No, my friends, once was never going to be enough. Add to that that this is actually the first Friday The 13th film to include Jason as the killing machine that would keep going and going and going. He became the Energizer Bunny of horror monsters. In the original film it wasn't Jason. He was pretty much considered dead since he was a boy. It was his mother, Mrs. Vorhees, played by Betsy Palmer, who did the slicin' and dicin' the first time around. She got so into killing teens that she rather lost her head. Jason was a small boy creature who gives that original film its big jump-scare finale. We're never quite sure if it was a dream. It must have been, because Jason wasn't a disfigured little boy now. He also doesn't have his iconic hockey mask yet, either. They settle for a burlap bag this first go around. Many fans believe that it was with this film that the mythology was truly created. Now Paramount has given it the upgrade to UHD Blu-ray in the glory of 4K and HDR. Blood and guts are getting real now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2026
It has been a very long time since I have done a film or television review thanks to a wonderful thing known as life. Life often gets in the way of even the most basic hobbies but is often rewarding, or at least pretends to be. So, surely the first review I have had in such a long time will be a wondrous one full of majestic characters and a stirring plot worthy of rousing ambition to the sounds of chaotic beats. *Looks across at package* Hazbin Hotel Season One on Blu-ray. *Googles the synopsis* *Sighs deeply* I mean, if my editor wanted me to stay in quasi-retirement, he should have said so. At least the chaotic beats part seems to be accurate. Let's take a look.
Are we familiar with the story of the angel Lucifer and Lilith, the first woman? No? Well then, let's go over it. Lilith was the first woman with Adam, and she left that man because he was controlling (mmmm hmmm). She then shacked up with the angel Lucifer instead. Then they gave Eve, the second woman, free will through the famous apple. This created Hell, and then those two, Lucifer and Lilith, were sent there as punishment.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 22nd, 2026
"I'm not a bad guy. I just made bad choices. I have a plan."
Derek Cianfrance doesn't have a lot of movies in the director's chair, but his 2012 The Place Beyond The Pines was a pretty solid film. Since then he's been pretty quiet, and he's finally surfaced once again with the rather off-kilter "based on a true story" crime comic drama Roofman. He's brought Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, and Peter Dinklage along for the ride. It's been something of a sleeper, coming with little advanced buzz and flying under the radar. It was a pretty good hit at the box office, and now Paramount has released the film on UHD-Blu-ray in 4K.
Posted in: Hardware Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 15th, 2026
"Imagine, a world without, murder. 6 years ago, the homicidal rates had reached epidemic proportions. It seemed that only a miracle could stop the bloodshed, but instead of 1 miracle, we were given 3, the precognitive. Within 3 months of the precrime program, the homicidal rates in the District of Columbia had reduced 90 percent. 6 Years in the precrime program, and there hasn't been a single murder. Now, the system can work for you. We want to make sure that this great system is what will keep us safe will also keep us free. On April 24, vote yes on the national Precrime initiative."
From the mind of Philip K. Dick there was a rush of box office gold that lasted several years. His Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep came Bladerunner. From We Can Remember It For You Wholesale came Total Recall... twice. After the first Total Recall there was plans of using Dick's The Minority Report as a sequel. The stories are unrelated but there was a script prepared and somewhere along the way the film got tabled and sat unproduced for decades. It wasn't until both Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise took an interest in the project that the script was dusted off and taken for a spin. But there had been too much time since Total Recall and so screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen decided to return to the source material and create the stand-alone movie that would become Minority Report. It was the first time one of Dick's stories would make it to the screen with at least a version of the story's actual title. These guys just added the requisite The and the story was now ready for prime time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 15th, 2026
"Imagine a world without murder. Six years ago, the homicidal rates had reached epidemic proportions. It seemed that only a miracle could stop the bloodshed, but instead of one miracle, we were given three, the precognitive. Within three months of the precrime program, the homicidal rates in the District of Columbia had reduced 90 percent. Six years in the precrime program, and there hasn't been a single murder. Now, the system can work for you. We want to make sure that this great system that will keep us safe will also keep us free. On April 24, vote yes on the national precrime initiative."
From the mind of Philip K. Dick, there was a rush of box office gold that lasted several years. From his Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep came Bladerunner. From We Can Remember It For You Wholesale came Total Recall ... twice. After the first Total Recall, there were plans of using Dick's The Minority Report as a sequel. The stories are unrelated, but there was a script prepared, but somewhere along the way the film got tabled and sat unproduced for decades. It wasn't until both Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise took an interest in the project that the script was dusted off and taken for a spin. But there had been too much time since Total Recall, so screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen decided to return to the source material and create the standalone movie that would become Minority Report. It was the first time one of Dick's stories would make it to the screen with at least a version of the story's actual title. These guys just added the requisite "The", and the story was now ready for prime time.
