Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 23rd, 2006
The 1970’s was the decade of the muscle car. Films like Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run raced into theatres, riding on the thrills of speed. If you were a young man, then you were right there ridin’ shotgun. Kicking butt and takin’ names. The Last American Hero makes the unfortunate attempt to combine this “need for speed” with a typical “against all odds” story. The result is a dead end street.
Junior Jackson (Bridges) is the son of a bootlegger with a real talent for running roadblocks. Wh...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 23rd, 2006
The film’s prologue informs us that the sport of sculling captured the nation’s attention long before baseball or football came along. We’re told that this activity created a national obsession with much the same pitfalls of modern sports. Somehow I can’t imagine, in this age of sports bars and ESPN, that rowing would demand the attention this boast assumes. I don’t remember my grandfather or great grandfather for that matter reminiscing about some great rowing move he witnessed with his dad as a child. The film al...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 23rd, 2006
Synopsis
When he was a teenager, firefighter Tony Comes was sexually abused by a Catholic priest. When he and his family move to their new home, and he discovers that his victimizer lives just down the street, the shock forces him to come to terms with his past, and to seek redress. The documentary follows what happens, detailing, among other things, the way the Church circled its institutional wagons, and the terrible emotional cost to Comes and his family as the court battle drags on.
The...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 23rd, 2006
Synopsis
What distinguishes Nicolas Cage from other more mainstream actors is that his choices of independent films, providing him the opportunity to take on a wide variety of roles that broaden his range, while periodically taking on the occasional Jerry Bruckheimer production to maintain his box office gravitas and make some money to allow him to work the indie films. It’s a circuitous route that helps to benefit the viewer. Sometimes those lower-level films are hits, while others miss.
In Lo...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2006
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...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 22nd, 2006
Eric Idle, Kohn Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and of course Graham Chapman formed Britain’s most famed comedy troupe. The exploits of Monty Python’s Flying Circus were truly “something entirely different”. Their off the wall antics have written an entire chapter in the story of pop culture. There certainly is not near enough space here for me to give the group its just due. So I won’t even try. If you’ve never heard of them, then stop reading, crawl back into the rabbit hole you’ve been living ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 21st, 2006
Jack Webb built an empire out of the police drama. Dragnet laid the foundation that 50 years of cop shows would stand upon. In 1972 Webb turned his attention to the relatively recent phenomenon of the paramedic. Based on a California law, the Wedsworth-Townsend Act, which created one of the first paramedic programs, Emergency brought the exploits of these young, daring rescue workers to our living rooms every week.
Roy DeSoto (Tighe) and John Gage (Mantooth) were pioneers in the paramedic field. They would be stationed out of L.A.’s real station 51.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006
The yesteryears of Disney were full of classic movies from Aladdin to 101 Dalmations. Each of those films holds a special place in my heart due to its warmth and very colorful, cute story. Having never seen Lady and the Tramp before picking up this early copy, I didn’t know what to expect of the film. Many declare it to be one of Disney’s best, which is certainly a remark that is quite distinguished. Would Lady and the Tramp capture my emotions and heart like so many old, classic Disney fi...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006
Sex and the City Essentials: Breakups is a little introduction type collection into the famed HBO series. Here we get three episodes about the various Breakups in the show. The first episode is entitled Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and is about Carrie deciding to chose her honesty first. This causes her to lose Aidan in the process. The second episode is entitled I Love a Charade and is about Samantha’s wrath for Richard. The final episode is entitled The Post-It Always Sticks Twice and is about ...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 21st, 2006
Sex and the City: The Essentials – Mr. Big is a release, which serves no purpose that can’t otherwise be obtained from watching reruns on TBS. True, the series is edited for television, but a show should not have to resort solely to objectionable content to build a relationship with its audience. That’s not to say it can’t, but if you’re interested in trying out Sex and the City, I doubt it’s to see how many breasts, penises, and profane words you can see and hear, respectively, in a half-hour of televi...
