Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 24th, 2011
NCIS is a spin-off, of sorts, from the popular military lawyer show JAG. You could say that NCIS is the Order to JAG’s Law. The NCIS is a real government agency that deals with criminal activity inside or involving the US Navy or Marine Corps. The series has an incredibly global feel and honestly looks damn good for television. Production values are high, and the location stuff is out of this world, or at least all over it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 24th, 2011
"I never thought we'd get back to this table. I can't tell you how good it felt to have dinner together again. We hadn't done that since the accident. To be honest, sometimes it felt like we'd never get over it. But somehow we did."
But will we ever get over the Walker family? This was to be the final season of the series, and the network wasn't exactly kind in its last days. The budget was slashed so that most of the characters appear in limited episodes. You won't find near so many of the Walker family gatherings as you did in previous years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 10th, 2011
"Welcome, Little Piggies, to The Task."
The reality show craze shows no sign of letting up. To some of us that's a horrible enough thought. But, to director Alex Orwell and writer Kenny Yakkel, it's the spark of inspiration for a rather entertaining new horror film from the folks at Lionsgate and After Dark Films. The film gives new meaning to the term survivor and offers us a glance at reality show people getting their just desserts. And this dessert comes with a lot of red syrup.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 10th, 2011
"You are now under quarantine."
The whole thing started with the Spanish film [REC]. In that film an apartment building in Spain was ground zero for a terrifying plague. The building was quickly isolated, and anyone trying to leave was gunned down mercilessly. It was one of those amateur-video kind of films that was told completely from the point of view of the people inside the building through camcorder footage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 8th, 2011
"We are looking at an unexplained phenomenon. It appears to be a partially preserved severed head, maybe of a deformed person or a wild animal. Perhaps the metal base contained some sort of preservative presently unknown to us."
Or maybe it's the severed head of the titular Banshee from this SyFy original film Scream Of The Banshee. And, oh what a scream it is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2011
"As people flocked together for safety, the plague marched through their locked gates and they became death traps. When Washington fell it was over for America as we knew her. As government blew away, our great leaders ran for it, and hope was abandoned."
It's a grim and dark reality that Stake Land sets for us from the beginning.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2011
"One morning in 1940, the entire population of Friah, NH walked north up an unmarked trail into the wilderness. Some were later found frozen to death. Others were mysteriously slaughtered. Most, however, were never found."
It's legends like these that usually mean we're about to embark on another Blair Witch journey into the woods in search of some deep dark secret. It means it's time to brace yourself
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 28th, 2011
The third BloodRayne film (and second with Nastassia Malthe in the title role) sees the titular dhampir slicing up Nazis, and so the chronology of the third film rejoins that of the first game. During a raid on a death camp train, Rayne accidentally infects a Commandant Michael Paré. Becoming a dhampir himself (a human/vampire hybrid), he and Mengele-figure Clint Howard (because who else are you going to cast as a Nazi scientist other than Clint Howard?) plan to use Rayne’s blood to grant Hitler immortality.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 27th, 2011
A mockumentary is a piece of satirical entertainment that is shot like a documentary except it is fictitious and never really happened. Like my first marriage, HEYOOOO! (okay, not really) They can be funny or serious but they are often shot to be of the former. Sometimes, they can be pretty interesting or funny but more often than not, they tend to be just like most documentaries. Boring, pointless and liable to cure insomnia. We shall proceed to investigate Brother’s Justice which mocks movie making.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 27th, 2011
I’ve seen some dysfunctional families on television over the years. Haven’t we all? It’s fun to laugh at someone else’s flaws. Along comes Showtime, and it’s rather hard to classify the series The United States Of Tara. This one takes dysfunction to a whole new level. Tara (Collette) suffers from multiple-personality disorder. Laughing yet? She has managed to control the problem by using medications and attending frequent therapy sessions. But the medication is sapping her creative ability.