Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2009
When the cast and crew went about their work on Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter it appears that it really was intended as a sendoff for the popular franchise. There had been a turnover at Paramount, and the powers that be thought the slasher cycle was pretty much over. Now whether any of that is true is anyone’s guess. Everyone associated with the project claims that that was their firm understanding from the beginning. Writer Barney Cohen insists that the Paramount brass made it very clear that he was supposed to kill off Jason with such Hollywood “grammar” that there was little doubt he was dead and gone forever.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 17th, 2009
Back in 1998 there was a very promising television series on the Fox Network. Unfortunately, the network never gave it a fighting chance, and it was soon gone as quickly as it had appeared. It was called Brimstone. The idea was that a dead cop (Horton) went to Hell for killing his wife’s rapists. He gets a second chance when the Devil (Glover) offers him his life back if he would become Hell’s bounty hunter. He would capture souls who had escaped from Hell. I loved the show and even participated in its attempts to be reprieved.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 17th, 2009
“Don’t forget that at the end of the day, it’s just a snake, a big messed up snake”.
Boy, if one word of dialog ever summed up a film before, this one does a pretty good job of it. Carnivorous is a low budget answer to the Anaconda series. Throw in the plot from Pumpkinhead and you pretty much have the entire film down, without ever having to have seen it. I wasn’t so lucky.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 15th, 2009
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flame is the imprisoned lightning, and her name: Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command the air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame . ‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she with silent lips. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
The inscription above can be found inside the pedestal of The Statue Of Liberty,
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 15th, 2009
“William Banks has saved 257 people from addiction to drugs, sex, and gambling. He’s not a cop. He’s not a superhero. He’s just a man with a calling. This is his story.”
What he is, is Benjamin Bratt, returning from the thespian dead as William Banks, better known to the show’s fans as The Cleaner. Bratt hasn’t been seen much since he left the gig at Law & Order. I almost didn’t recognize him here. But, he’s returned in style. The Cleaner has all the characteristics of a police procedural series with a lot more excitement. His methods are often harsh.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2009
Steven Bochco has amassed quite a nice little television empire over the years. He’s one of the most award winning producers in television history. He cut his teeth on Columbo and has never looked back. You know his work, or at least you’ve heard of it: Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue are the most famous of these works. Bochco wrote the book on the ensemble police and legal drama.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2009
What if you took the Desperate Housewives and placed them on an Army base? If that thought has been keeping you awake at night, sleep tight, gentle reader. You can find out simply by picking up a copy of Army Wives on DVD. I’m not exaggerating about this at all. Army Wives has the very same soap opera plotting and tone as the ABC hit does. You gotta really be into that sort of thing if you have any hope at all of keeping up with the antics of these four friends, or of having any desire to.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 9th, 2009
“You’ve gotta know what you’re doing when you go in. You gotta have it figured out. Those are the rules. How you get in. How you get out. How many shots you’re gonna need. Make sure you know where everybody is. Make sure nobody sees you. Don’t hang around. Don’t get interested. Then you don’t make mistakes.”
How many times have we seen some criminal looking to do that one last job that can get them out of the business forever?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 5th, 2009
Recipe for Ramen Girl (serves 4)
Take one American girl, preferably in her early 20’s, and place her in Japan.
Add a touch of one self centered American male, also in his early 20’s, but sprinkle lightly, (After all, this is merely a subtle flavor that really doesn’t need to be all that well developed.)
Do not mix. (These ingredients will not mix. That’s the point)
Slowly stir in a cranky old Japanese ramen chef to taste.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 5th, 2009
In Tranzit is one of these odd films that you can never quite get a handle on. Even now I’m not exactly sure what kind of a film it was intended to be. While it takes place at the end of World War II and involves some Nazi officers in a Russian POW camp, I’m not sure that the film has all that much to do with the war, or POW camps for that matter. The film remains a kind of abstract art form with a rather loosely told story.
