Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 7th, 2008
I’ve spent more than a few hours in the company of Ray Harryhausen over the years. I’ve handled many of the original armatures and have seen the original hand drawn storyboards and conceptual drawings he had created for most of his films. Maybe that’s why I love his films so much. I doubt it. They do speak for themselves and you owe it to yourself to see three of his best pictures, which have been collected here in one set.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 5th, 2008
What can I say about Showtime’s huge hit, The L Word? If you don’t already know what this show is about, and I was surprised at the number of people I talked to who didn’t, then I’m pretty sure this isn’t the show for you. Remember the old days when you used to watch
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 4th, 2008
A combination of controversial subject matter and the physical transformation of Jared Leto garnered this film considerable attention (positive and negative). Leto here morphs into an uncannily accurate physical recreation of Mark David Chapman. The film follows Chapman on his fateful trip to New York City. Over the course of three days, he hangs around outside John Lennon's home, becomes friendly with fellow fan Lindsay Lohan, and endlessly ruminates about how the events in his life are paralleling The Catcher in the Rye, and (rather less explicitly) why he's going to kill Lennon.
Leto is unrecognizable, and disappears completely into the role. But is the film a good one? It is somewhat limited by the fact that nothing much happened during Chapman's stay in NYC prior to the murder, and so nothing much happens here, either, beyond Chapman acting so obviously insane it's a wonder no one had him locked up within minutes of arrival. Does the film give us some insight into the mind of the killer? Only a little. It hints at motivation, but those hints are only really clear if you're already pretty familiar with the case. In other words, the picture doesn't bring anything new to the table. It's a striking work, but not an altogether successful one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 3rd, 2008
Before I watched X-Men, before I watched Scooby-Doo, there were shows on my television like Sesame Street, Electric Company, and so forth. The purpose of these shows was to entertain & educate. There was also a range of 3 minute shorts that ran during Saturday morning cartoons on ABC that served a similar purpose. They were collectively called Schoolhouse Rock. From talking about Adjectives to Multiplication to our good ole Government, they helped to inform as well as entertain. In preparation for the 2008 election, Disney decided to come out with a compilation of fourteen Schoolhouse Rock shorts about everything from the Preamble to the Electoral College.
It’s a long long wait while I’m sitting in committee. But I know I’ll be a law someday, at least I hope and I pray that I will. But today I am still just a bill. That is probably the most famous short in all of Schoolhouse Rock. The “I’m Just a Bill” song. Three minutes of goodness about how government lawmakers decide whether or not to make a tiny piece of paper’s dreams come true. There is another short about Tax Man Max who tells you that Tax is that familiar melody, sinful and true. He isn’t whistling Dixie. He speaks the truth I tell ya. Did you also know that You Gotta be Cool when you’re walking on Wall Street? Buy low, sell high, take a piece of the pie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 1st, 2008
You simply know you’re in trouble when one of these video titles begins with that age old “inspired by disturbing true events” line. As I watched the film, I couldn’t find anything even remotely based on a true case. I dug deeper and found an obscure remark from writer and director Bryan Bertino that explains he was inspired by the events of the Charlie Manson murders of the 1960’s. You’ve got to be kidding me. There isn’t anything about this film that reminds me of those famous killings. If you say so, Bryan. The film is closer to the recent film Vacancy than anything else I could find. Like that film, we have a troubled couple suddenly pursued by a seemingly random act of violence.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 1st, 2008
The very first thing you need to know is that this film has absolutely nothing in common with the 1980 cult classic except for the name. Everyone involved has admitted the fact, so, if you’re looking for an update on an old memory, you really are in for a disappointment. The truth is, even if you aren’t expecting the old story you’re in for a huge letdown. Everything about this film screams mundane, from the killer to the story to the acting. The problem is that the film has no niche. It’s definitely not a slasher or splatter film. You won’t find enough blood to give a fruit fly a transfusion. It’s not a horror film per se. The killer isn’t a supernatural being of any kind. He’s just your run of the mill escaped stalker. The film isn’t very suspenseful, and there isn’t any real mystery here. So, what in the heck is this movie? A mess, that’s what it is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 30th, 2008
With the ember finally burning out too soon, the 4400 has come to rest as a complete series release from
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2008
You would think that an apparent 2 hour documentary on Bob Dylan would feature, I don’t know, maybe Bob Dylan. If you figured that’s what you’re getting here, think again. There are maybe 3-4 minutes total Dylan footage, and it’s almost always silent and looks like it came from a camcorder in the nosebleed sections of an arena. Even the constant music being played throughout these interview clips is not from Dylan, but rather the tribute band that happens to be run by the film’s producer and interviewer, Joel Gilbert. Gilbert struts around in the beginning striking a Dylan pose, and he looks somewhat like the folk star. After watching this film, I’m sure that he wants very much to be Bob Dylan.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2008
You would think that after 8 years, CSI would begin to show a little wear and tear around the edges. When you factor in the dilution of the two other versions of the franchise with a combined 11 years of episodes, you end up with nearly 300 total episodes of CSI. Certainly even the best of shows with the most imaginative writers can’t stay fresh for that long. Still, somehow, the gang at CSI continues to crank out compelling drama, rarely repeating itself. Every year I go into a new season of CSI expecting to find it starting to show its age a bit, and every year I continue to be amazed. The fact is that season 7 just might be the best year of CSI to date. Each episode begins with The Who asking the question: Who are you? I have to say that after seven years the answer is, still a fan.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 23rd, 2008
Hagar Shipley (Ellen Burstyn) is in her twilight years, and her son (Dylan Baker) is trying to get her into a home. Fiercely independent, possessed of a will that has been both a strength and a weakness (making life miserable for herself and all around her), Hagar fights back. She also looks back on her life, and in the flashbacks (where the young Hagar is played by Christine Horne) we see the tragic relationships that have brought us to the fractious family we see now.
I’m not sure if one can split the world into Stone Angel people and Diviners people, but when it comes to Margaret Laurence novels, I’ve always been of the latter, finding Hagar too hard a character to warm up to. Nor did I find it much easier in the film, though Burstyn does turn in a compelling performance. She is working, unfortunately, with a script heavy on the voice-over (which does Laurence’s prose no favours – much of it simply sounds awkward transposed off the page in this way). There’s a bit too much of the portentous, and a bit too much of a cast enunciating in an overly precise way for my liking.
