Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 2nd, 2012
The 8th season of CSI: New York begins with the strongest and most emotional CSI episode ever. The show flashes back to what the team members were doing during the 9/11 attacks. It's very tastefully done. They never actually show the planes hitting the buildings, but they do show the disaster as it unfolds on the streets of New York. We get to see Mac spending what will be the final moments with his wife, who was killed during the attacks. We always knew that these people were likely working that day. Now we get to see what they were doing and understand the impact it must have had on their lives.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 1st, 2012
"Everything old is new again."
If the CSI franchise were a sports team, we would say that season 12 was a rebuilding year. It's the most radical change since the show began. Certainly loosing Grissom was a big change, but he was just one guy. In the 12th season we say goodbye to two of our characters and welcome in three. It's going to take some getting used to, to be sure. Overall, it's actually a good thing for the series and the franchise. I don't think it's been this good for a number of years. It's a family again.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 1st, 2012
All good things must come to and end. Fortunately, the same can be said for the not-so-good things as well. I've been calling it the weakest link in the CSI franchise since the year it first hit our television screens. It looks like the ratings and your opinions have supported that feeling, and CSI: Miami is finally going the way of the dinosaur, both on television and in reality... extinct.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 19th, 2012
“There’s always a story. You just have to find it.”
What happens when you’re a popular murder-mystery writer and someone starts to use your stories and ideas to kill people in the real world? At first you become the prime suspect, particularly if you’re found to be completely self-centered and annoyingly arrogant. That’s where a pretty good alibi might come in handy. Is playing poker with the Mayor and the Chief of Police good enough? So, you’re no longer a suspect. Now what do you do?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 18th, 2012
Blue Bloods is the first television drama to capture the best of the police procedural and also the warmth and charm of the family drama. It's like NYPD Blue invaded the set of Brothers & Sisters. The show brings incredibly good writing and production values that do look and feel like a film every week. You hear that a lot from series show runners, but this is one of those rare cases where it is true. It doesn't hurt that the show has a strong cast that includes the like of Tom Selleck and Donnie Wahlberg. It doesn't work unless everyone connected with a show buys into a common goal. That's exactly what you get here, and it shows on the screen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 18th, 2012
The darker side of suburbia's well-manicured lawns and white picket fences has been properly documented and satirized in both film (The Stepford Wives, American Beauty) and television (Desperate Housewives, Weeds) over the past few decades. Suburgatory — ABC’s smart and affable addition to the genre — is among the latest to throw its fancy, colorful hat into the ring.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 14th, 2012
Shonda Rhimes had a big hit on her hands with Grey’s Anatomy, so after five years she did what comes naturally in her situation. You spin the success off in the hope that the fans can’t get enough in just one night. At first it appeared to me she had chosen the wrong character to put out on her own. I mean, I never considered Kate Walsh as Addison to be one of the show’s more compelling characters. The show was presented as what the business calls an imbedded episode on Grey’s.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2012
To the point, Criminal Minds is very compelling television. Ever since The Silence Of The Lambs and perhaps long before, we have been fascinated by serial killers and the profilers who try to get inside their heads. To see evidence of the continuing trend, one needs only look toward the success of films like Zodiac and shows like Dexter. Of course, serial killers are not the only prey this FBI team pursues, but they are certainly the marquee item on the agenda. To be sure, there are equally disturbing subjects such as arsonists, bombers, kidnappers, and rapists to give the show a touch of variety, but let’s face it, it’s the killers that keep us tuned so attentively to Criminal Minds.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 2nd, 2012
This Naval Criminal Investigation Service lead by Agent Jethro Gibbs (played by Mark Harmon) continue to sift through suspense filled tales of deviance in the military that takes them from all the way from political offices to the streets to battle villains.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on August 31st, 2012
I never really meant to have 3D TV in my home theater. But our Sony Blu-ray player was 3D-ready, and the receiver and monitor both needed warranty replacement about the same time. Bingo: All I needed were a couple pairs of glasses ($40 each at Amazon) and some 3D programming. Having seen almost every 3D big-screen release already, I was pretty sure the TV version would be an inferior format. I was wrong. The electronic-shutter glasses beat the heck out of those old red-and-green gimmicky glasses. They work as well as the polarized lenses at the multiplex.
