Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2025
"That is where you've always been wrong about me, Lex. I am as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning, and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make the best choices that I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human, and that's my greatest strength. And someday, I hope, for the sake of the world, you understand that it's yours too."
I'm much more of a Marvel guy than a DC guy, but there are great characters and stories in both cinematic universes. DC pretty much invented the entire idea of a superhero when two young guys in New York came up with a new idea back in the 1930's. When Superman was first introduced to us, it was in Action Comics #1 back in 1938 from the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster. Since then the character has become a cultural phenomenon that’s been featured in just about every form of media from radio shows, TV shows, cartoons, movies and everything else in between. The character has evolved quite a bit since those early comic book days, and one of the character’s biggest evolutions came with the Max Fleischer cartoon series. But it wasn't until Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve convinced us that a man can fly in 1978 that Superman truly conquered the world of cinema. Since then DC had another huge win with the Tim Burton and Michael Keaton Batman films about 10 years later. With that kind of a head start, you would think that the DCU (DC Universe) would have left Marvel in the dust. I mean, for decades Marvel couldn't even make the stuff themselves, because they didn't have the studio connection like DC has had with Warner Bros. for decades. Yet the Marvel films have progressed through six phases of films and have dominated the film superhero world.
It didn't help that when Zack Snyder took over, he created this dark place where Superman was a brooding character. Superman was never that in the comics. He was the eternal optimist with a "golly gee" manner that made this almost-invulnerable super-being relatable to the little guys like us. DC has decided to erase the franchise and start over with James Gunn and Peter Chiappetta. Gunn is really the man in charge, and their brand new DCU starts with the 2025 film Superman. He has certainly changed directions, but the question for me remains: did you go too far? Judging by the box office take, I'd say he might have won the fans over. Now that Superman is out from Warner Bros., with this UHD Blu-ray 4K release you can decide that for yourself. Let me be your guide.
James Gunn absolutely got the first part right. Thankfully, a new universe and Superman franchise doesn't start with an origin story. We all know that Krypton blew up and the planet's leading scientist sent his infant son to Earth in hopes of his and the Krypton race's survival. We don't need to see it again. With the likes of Marlon Brando and Michael Shannon putting their imprints on Jor-El (Supe’s Pops), no one is going to do it better. I don't need to see Bruce Wayne's parents killed over and over again. I'm tired of watching Peter Parker get bitten by some messed-up spider, and James Gunn correctly assumes that we don't need to see that story yet again. That's a win in the Gunn column.
The film begins about three years since Superman/Clark Kent (Corenswet) has made himself known in Metropolis. He's already dating Lois Lane (Brosnahan), who already knows who he is. So Gunn saves us from another tired Superman film trope of him just barely staying one step ahead of his Pulitzer prize-winning partner. That's two for Gunn. In fact, after we see Superman after he got his behind kicked and saved by Krypto and his squad of robots, one of the best scenes in the film is this honest and candid exchange between Clark and Lois at her apartment. I'm not into the whole romantic screen stuff, but there is absolutely a dynamic here that sets the playing field and establishes the kind of chemistry these two characters just have to have. As much as I love Chris Reeve's version, I did not feel the chemistry between him and Margot Kidder That could be because the actress turned out to be bat-crap crazy. I'm not sure about that one. But here Gunn made good choices in his cast. I'll give him a half point here and explain later.
What is a superhero without a supervillain? Gunn did go for the obvious path here and, once again the bad guy is Lex Luthor (Hoult). They already hate each other, and Lex, again of course, has been plotting to defeat the Man of Steel. This time he intends to ruin his reputation. Luthor manipulates Superman into "invading" another country and using it as an excuse to unleash his havoc on Metropolis. There are stories of pocket universes and a series of henchmen characters, and we know Superman will win the day. The story is fine, if not a bit overcomplicated by the inclusion of too many central characters. Some of these, however, are quite good.
Great Caesar's ghost. If you're a fan of The Wire you know who Wendell Pierce is. Gunn cast Bunk as the Daily Planet's editor-in-chief (but don't call him chief). He's terribly underused here, but that's the problem when you have so many characters that you are trying to be faithful to. Gunn uses them all. Only the comic fans know who Steve Lombard (Bennett) is. He brought over Otis (Rosemore) and Miss Teschmacher (Sampaio) from the Donner films, and you have to have Superman's pal, Jimmy (Gisando). He also uses the film to introduce sometimes-bad-guy, sometimes-good-guy Metamorpho (Carrigan). He also plants the seeds of the eventual Justice League who go by the Justice Gang right now by giving us the first feature film versions of Green Lantern and all-around pain in the butt Guy Gardner (Fillion). He imagines himself the "guy" in charge, and Fillion is the perfect choice to play him, and I liked him even with the classic comics bowl haircut look. Maybe this is another half point, OK? We get Hawkgirl (Merced) and a really dynamic version of Mr. Terrific (Gathegi), but the problem is none of these characters have more than a few minutes to shine. There are a ton of other "Easter egg" characters and elements, but the film's own kryptonite is that it's too much all at once. There's even Krypto, and I'm taking away a point here, because Gunn decided to use the design of his own dog instead of his classic white shepherd look from the comics. I mean, come on, James. You pay attention to the details of Guy Gardner's haircut, but you turn Krypto into a yip-yip dog? Yeah. OK. A yip-yip dog with superpowers.
In tone the film reaches for camp more than dark and serious, which is fine with me. The Donner films were loaded with camp. I will admit it's a promising beginning, but if I could say one thing to the new DC boss: slow down your roll. You can't catch up to Marvel in a single movie. Give it time to evolve. If you load so many elements into each movie, it won't matter how well-cast they are, and these really are. The pace is almost manic because it has to be, and I suspect there's a 4-hour version of it out there somewhere. Cue The Gunn Cut.
Superman is presented in its original but odd aspect ratio of 1.90:1. The ultra-high-definition 2160p image is arrived at by an HEVC codec with an average bitrate of 75 mbps. This is a very colorful film, and that's quite appropriate for a comic book movie. The HDR/Dolby Vision allows for wonderfully vivid and bright reds and blues, which are crucial to the character. I'm particularly impressed by the white levels here, as much of the film takes place in the Arctic, although filmed all the way south in the Antarctic. It was a really good idea, because the snow and ice textures are pretty good here. That also means it's a little too easy to spot the moments where the environment is not at least completely real. Still the f/x blend quite nicely an issue Marvel has been fighting in recent releases. Contrast wins the day with solid delineation between bright and inky black elements. Sometimes the film is a little too glossy. I also loved the contrast of the warm colors of Lois's apartment against the frigid cold colors of the Arctic. It's close to a show-off piece for your setup.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2025
"I can guarantee your safety ... more or less."
Some things cannot be beat, and they sure as heck can't be repeated. An old vintage cola commercial used to tell us, "Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby." And Jurassic World Rebirth is going to do anything it can for 134 minutes to try and tell you that isn't true, but we know better, don't we? Anyone who has seen the original Jurassic Park has their favorite moments, but one scene has always stood out for me and so many other film fans I've spoken to. When the camera pans to that peaceful swamp pasture and you see tons of dinosaurs walking about without a care in the world. If you didn't know how to react there, Sam Neill as Dr. Grant showed you how. His expression matched ours, and it was a wonderful cinematic moment of magic and wonder. You can never repeat that ever again. No matter how many Jurassic franchise movies or any other dinosaur movies might attempt to bring you that single moment, they never will. And that's OK. There are moments in Jurassic World Rebirth were it is quite obvious that director Gareth Edwards attempts to repeat that moment. He telegraphs it particularly in a scene where we get a wide shot of dinosaurs and we hear that old John Williams theme, and Edwards is pulling hard on our heartstrings. Sorry, Gareth. It didn't happen for anyone there. It's not your fault. You did everything right. But, you see, Steven Spielberg already took us there, and we will never have it again, but truly, man, thanks so much for trying. You did deliver the best of the Jurassic World films and the best franchise film since the original. You're just going to have to settle for that.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 22nd, 2025
It would seem that ever since Hereditary came out in 2018, it kind of paved the way for the new sub-genre of horror, “grief-horror”, basically horror films that delve into the emotional horror of losing loved ones and the reckless attempts people may make to reach out to them in the afterlife. This isn’t subject matter most horror fans enjoy; for me I find an odd sense of comfort with these films. When Talk to Me came out, that film especially struck a nerve with me, and I absolutely loved that film from the first-time Australian filmmakers and brothers Danny and Michael Philippou. Talk To Me managed to bring something new to the supernatural genre, and the grief the main character was going through was very relatable for me, so of course I was going to be a little excited about what this duo would do next (at least before they tackled their sequel to Talk To Me). As it would turn out, I wouldn’t have to wait long for their next film, and Bring Her Back tackles the horror of grief in a manner that has stuck with me.
Bring Her Back wastes little time with setting the tone of the film as we see Andy (Billy Barratt) and his sister Piper (Sora Wong) return home to find their father dead in the shower. To further the trauma for the kids, a social worker intends to separate the siblings. Andy wants to have guardianship of his sister, but because he’s not quite 18, it isn’t allowed. After some desperate pleas by Andy, they allow him to stay at the foster parents’ home on the condition that he behaves himself. The relationship between Andy and Piper is very much the heart of this film. They are step-siblings, and because Piper is blind, Andy has played the role as her guardian for some time even before the passing of their father. The film really does a good job of establishing this bond early on, and it’s necessary, because once they get to the foster parents’ home, things definitely take a turn.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 23rd, 2025
"If you carry a 00 number it means you're licensed to kill ... not get killed."
1961 was a pretty big year for many of us. In the NFL one of the new teams entering the league was one in Minnesota called the Vikings, and they would draft a quarterback named Fran Tarkenton as one of their first acts. I was born that June, and a couple of weeks later one of the most important deals ever made in Hollywood was consummated. EON Productions had just been formed as the partnership between Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and their partnership started off with a bang when they acquired the film rights to Ian Fleming's British secret agent, James Bond. Fleming's first choice to play his spy was Roger Moore, who later did take over the role, but long after Fleming had died. Sean Connery would fill that role nicely, and within a short period of time Fleming was on board with Connery in the title role.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 20th, 2025
“Good evening, everybody! My name is Robbie Williams. This is my band, and for the next two hours, YOUR ASS IS MINE!”
I was really intrigued with the film’s concept. After all, every year musical biopics are released, and they can sometimes seem like they are all following the same blueprint, which, needless to say, makes it rather difficult for them to stand out. Better Man bucks that trend by instead of opting for an actor with a passing resemblance to the subject, rather depicting the subject as a chimpanzee, which was inspired by Robbie Williams’ own perception of himself as a "performing monkey". If that doesn’t make this film stand out, I don’t know what will. This also has the added benefit of allowing Williams to voice the character himself, which in my opinion adds a layer of authenticity to this biopic. After all, who better to tell their life story than the person themself?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 30th, 2025
"I'm not feeling motivated to be valuable to anyone but myself."
When Alex Kurtzman took over the television side of Star Trek, he started with Star Trek: Discovery. Michelle Yeoh played one of the better characters on the series. She started as a ship's captain and was soon killed off. But then the ship heads into the Mirror Universe, where Yeoh's character of Philippa Georgiou wasn't a Starfleet officer. She was the emperor of the Terran Empire. She ended up on our side of the looking glass and had some rather interesting stories. It turns out that almost from the beginning Yeoh had some ideas of a spin-off she hoped to do. That series was Section 31, which involved a black-ops agency within the Federation, and she thought our kind of evil emperor might be a perfect fit. Section 31 was first explored on Deep Space Nine during the Dominion Wars and was left alone for decades. Now it's back in the form of a Star Trek feature film instead of the series. Why the drastic change, you may ask? A lot of things happened since the idea was first proposed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 8th, 2025
"The thing I love about Valentine's Day is the expectation of the unexpected. That something magical could happen, and maybe that special someone will come back into your life and change its course for the better."
Valentine's Day is one of those Hallmark holidays that leave us with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Unless, of course, you happen to be alone, or a member of the Bugs Moran gang in Chicago in 1929. So it really means a lot of things to a lot of people, but I really do question the use of that particular day for the setting for first-time director Jonathan Eusebio's action film Love Hurts. The Valentine's Day angle is pretty weak, and a think gimmick for what is basically a comic martial arts film that gives Vietnamese actor Ke Huy Quan his first starring role. The gimmick pretty much failed, and the film tanked after just a short time at the box office, bringing in a measly $15 million with a budget of over $18 million. Universal decided to give the movie a short turnaround, and it's now making its debut on UHD Blu-ray. If the film is going to pick up some extra cash, this is where it's going to happen, and arguably direct-to-video and streaming is likely where the film belonged all along.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 4th, 2025
"We work 364 days a year because on that one day we deliver presents to several billion individual domiciles across 37 time zones without ever being detected by a single human being. We prep, we rehearse every moment, every stop down to the last chimney. So yeah, it's a lot of work."
At first glance, it would appear that the crew for Red One is made up of folks who have had long associations with Dwayne Johnson, from Director Jack Kasdan, who also directed two of the Jumanji films, to writer Chris Morgan, who wrote many of The Fast And Furious films including the Johnson-led spinoff Hobbs And Shaw. He also wrote the last Shazam film, which led to Johnson's spinoff black hole Black Adam. It's a working environment friendly to the actor. But the rumors from this set are loaded with tales of Johnson blowing off work and/or showing up late and unprepared. It's honestly not his usual vibe, and consider his divorce from Fast And The Furious's Vin Diesel revolved around Johnson throwing the same kind of shade on that actor's behavior. I was curious if the on-set issues and also word of a ballooning budget would show up on the finished product. I'm happy to report there doesn't appear to be any disrupted chemistry on the film, and it became easy to dismiss all of that with just a few minutes on the Red One ride. Every year a film or two vies for that potential future classic position that I don't honestly think has been achieved since the 1980's and A Christmas Story. I'd say the next most recent might be the Dickens romp The Man Who Invented Christmas. In any case, I won't be adjusting my traditional holiday viewing to accommodate Red One. That doesn't mean there isn't some fun to be had.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 18th, 2024
"So a psychopath walks into a bar and sees this famous clown sitting there all alone. Totally drunk;, it's pathetic. "I can't believe you're here," he says. "What a disappointment. I used to watch you on TV. What can I get you?" And this clown turns and says "Well, if you're buying you can get me anything." "Perfect," the psychopath says. "How about I get you what you f'in deserve?"
Folie a Deux. French for madness of two. From the moment that title was an announced, it was presumed that Harley Quinn would be making an appearance, and I applaud Lady Gaga’s selection as Joaquin Phoenix counterpart. However, I suspect that the reason for her selection was twofold given the decision to make the film a musical. Perhaps not an official musical, but in my humble opinion, I don’t think it could have been any more official. Unfortunately, this was among my issues with the film. It was too long, and there were too many songs. The film felt like it was movie promoting the soundtrack rather than vice versa. I’ve never been one for musicals, and this sequel did not move me off that mark, as the film essentially fell apart towards the end with a bittersweet ending. I think I preferred the ending to the first film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 17th, 2024
I saw this film as an opportunity to gauge whether a movie could hold my two-year-old son’s attention. This is something I am particularly interested in, because it would demonstrate that my baby boy is finally ready for a theatrical experience. Unfortunately, he is not quite there yet. He watched for a bit, but then he eventually wandered off. Ironically, I didn’t notice his absence at first, as I was too focused on the movie. Based on the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name, The Wild Robot stars Lupita Nyong’o as Roz, a ROZZUM unit 7134 robot that becomes shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings, gradually building relationships with the animals on the island and becoming the adoptive parent of an orphaned gosling. Joining Nyong’o is Pedro Pascal in his animated movie debut, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Ving Rhames, and Catherine O’Hara as the wildlife that Roz finds herself surrounded by. With How to Train Your Dragon’s Chris Sanders at the helm, The Wild Robot is a very entertaining tale that somehow, I ended up more interested in than my kids.
“The Wild Robot is a story that is not afraid to pull on your heartstrings.”
