Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2009
Everything you loved from the first film is back again. Dreamworks took the high road and brought all of the voice cast back. That means the wonderful chemistry these characters developed in the first film gets to continue. We don’t have to waste time setting up new bonds. We can get right to the adventure. Dreamworks also retained pretty much the entire animation team and added even more talent. The quality of this animation actually improves upon that of the original. Water, in particular, is startling on this film. It is as photo real as I’ve seen it in any animation feature to date.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2009
It didn’t take the Friday The 13th film series long to reach down into the gimmick bag. The sad thing is that the franchise didn’t really need a gimmick. Steve Miner returned to the director’s chair, and he delivered an important, if not great entry into the franchise’s history. Jason would, for the first time, don the hockey mask that would make his image the iconic horror visage it remains today. This was also an important film because a young makeup artist from this staff would break out to become one of the best in the business. Stan Winston was an uncredited artist on this film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2009
“You may only see it once but that will be enough”
That was the marketing slogan for the first Friday The 13th film in 1980. Apparently they couldn’t have been more wrong, because most of us have seen the film countless times, and no, it was never enough. The franchise would thrive with over 10 sequels or affiliated films, taking us right up to the present remake/reboot of that very first outing at Camp Crystal Lake. No, my friends, once was never going to be enough.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 17th, 2009
Daniel’s Daughter comes to DVD with star Laura Leighton back in the spotlight. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty dim spotlight. Fans of Melrose Place may be happy to see her, but that happiness will be short-lived when they also realize what a flat-lined EKG her film turns out to be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2009
My Grandfather used to tell me if you can’t find something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Still, Grandpop never had to watch and then review a film like Black Swarm. This is another one of those Sci-Fi Channel original films that just can’t seem to find the quality bottle when mixing ingredients. Can someone please tell me how a network that could bring us Farscape and the Stargate franchise can’t seem to give us even one good original film? They must have produced a hundred films by now, and I can’t honestly say I’ve seen even a halfway decent movie yet.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2009
When a film is successful enough, it’s a relatively natural assumption today that a sequel will follow. In that sequel we expect more of the same and hopefully something new as well. Unfortunately there is a disturbing sideline for the animation sequel. Because the actors aren’t really on camera at all, there is the temptation to replace them so that you can do a much cheaper, often direct to video sequel. The folks who did Madagascar didn’t go that route, but the folks who did Open Season did. Gone are the likes of Martin Lawrence, Gary Sinise, Ashton Kutcher, and Debra Messing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 16th, 2009
In my life, I have been married and divorced once. Quite simply, I made my share of mistakes and in my opinion, my ex-wife made some mistakes as well. It just never worked like one thinks a marriage should work. Instead, it left me broken but more importantly it left me a lot smarter and a better person. So naturally, I felt some connection to the broken marriage plot of the movie Fireproof. However, would my experience or failure in the art of marriage provide a bias to this film? We will just have to find out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2009
“Once upon a time in New York City…”
Walt Disney might well have been the storyteller of more than one generation of kids. Is it any wonder that when we think of such characters as Winnie The Pooh or Peter Pan our minds conjure the images wrought by Disney animators and not necessarily the classic literature descriptions? That might not be the case with this Charles Dickens story, retold through Disney’s trademark animal point of view.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2009
“The Magic Gourd has magical powers. He can carry you high up to the sky, right up to the clouds, where they feel just like cotton candy. Stick out your tongue and they taste like cotton candy. That’s the power of The Magic Gourd. If you become the Gourd’s master, he can grant you anything you wish for…”
Disney films have always had a world wide appeal. Children everywhere on the planet have grown up with the same classic images that we have in the United States. The language might not be the same, but the message and the magic has always been there to discover.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 12th, 2009
Top Secret comes to DVD in a new "I Love the '80s" edition. The film continues the legacy of David and Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams as kings of sight gags and the ludicrously unexpected. Made in 1984, the film stars a young Val Kilmer as rocker Nick Rivers, an artist so clearly modeled after Elvis that he even sings potential lover Hillary Flammond a spoof version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight".
