Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2009
“A dog has no use for fancy cars, or big houses, or designer clothes. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog doesn’t care if you’re rich or poor, clever or dull, smart or dumb. Give ‘em your heart and he’ll give you his. How many people can you say that about? How many people can make you feel rare and pure and special? How many people can make you feel extraordinary?”
In the name of full disclosure, I should probably give you a little background in the circumstances in which I find myself watching and reviewing Marley & Me. If you’re a regular reader of this site and my reviews, you have come to learn that I have a Siberian Husky named Athena. You’ve come to know this because I have, from time to time, allowed her to “review” many of the various dog films that have come my way for this site. You also know that Athena retired recently with her review of Walt Disney’s Bolt. What you don’t know is the reason behind the retirement. About three weeks ago, Athena was diagnosed with bone cancer in her front left shoulder. At 14 years old, there really isn’t much that can be done. She was given anywhere from two weeks to a couple of months, on the outside, to live. We’re able to control any pain she has with medication. In fact, the medication has often given the illusion that she’s getting better. We know she’s not, and that it’s only a matter of time from here on out. It’s a tough situation to be in, as I’m sure any dog owner out there realizes. So far, Athena’s still with us. She’s beaten the lower estimate and continues to avoid too much discomfort. But, the sad reality is that my wife and I are watching our 14 year old companion in her final days. This is not the place you want to be in your life while watching Marley & Me. It might have been the toughest film I’ve had to watch in nearly 10 years of reviewing movies, in one form or another. Enough about my situation.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2009
If you can’t see where this thing is going after 10 minutes, check your forehead for lobotomy scars. I strongly suspect that everyone associated with this film, from the writer to the actors to the money people who thought this was a good idea, all have matching scars. The box art claims that someone from Bloody Disgusting calls this the best time travel movie of all time. What?! Either that guy was taking some serious medication at the time, or he was paid off, or his sister worked on the film in some capacity, or he’s actually managed to never see films like: Back To The Future,The Time Machine (both versions), Time After Time, Star Trek IV, Frequency, Somewhere In Time, or Jaws. Okay, so I made the last one up. It’s still a better time travel film than Timecrimes.
I can’t really even offer you much on the plot without destroying what mystery might exist for you, should you decide to ignore my warnings and give the movie a spin for yourself. Suffice it to say that the film thrives on paradox. The acting is simply horrible. There’s a limited cast, but you’d think they could find just three or four actors that could…you know….well….act. It makes some attempt at being a horror film, but even those aspects are quite laughable. And there’s the only chance you have of enjoying this film. Every now and again, I’ve had guys over for what we used to call Schlock – O – Rama. The idea is too laugh our behinds off at the absurdity of what we were watching. You pick up the lamest looking film you can find, and away you go. It’s like your own private Mystery Science Fiction Theater.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2009
“The crime you see now, it’s hard to even take its measure. It’s not that I’m afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But, I don’t want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something that I don’t understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He’d have to say, ‘OK. I’ll be a part of this world’.”
We all know by now that No Country For Old Men became last year’s “must see” Academy Awards Best Picture. Unlike this year’s more ambiguous Slumdog Millionaire, this one really was the best film I’d seen in 2007. It’s already been out on DVD for nearly a year.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 1st, 2009
For first time screen writer Allen Loeb, Things We Lost In The Fire is quite an ambitious script. It relies almost completely on the writing and the performances that can be gotten from the acting leads. There’s really no place to hide in this story for anybody. And while I certainly found several elements of the story forced or contrived, there was an underlining emotion to the whole thing that carried through strong enough for the actors to find some very solid grounding. With that grounding Halle Berry and Benicio Del Toro delivered what should have been award winning performances. Of course, I didn’t see all of the films released in 2007, but I find it hard to believe there were many, if any, better performances. These two had to carry the entire film, all the while manipulating the audience’s emotions, keeping them engaged with very little action or other stimulation. It’s the only thing that kept me watching, that and having to write this review.
Audrey Burke (Berry) has just lost her husband Brian (Duchovny) to an act of violence. She has two young children, and she’s having a very difficult time dealing with her loss. In a rather strange turn of events she turns to Brian’s best friend, Jerry (Del Toro) for some kind of comfort. What makes this so strange is that she, up to this point, hated Jerry and tried to convince Brian to stay away from him. Jerry is a drug addict, whom Audrey believed was just taking from Brian without giving anything back. She resented the fact that Brian was the only person that hadn’t completely given up on Jerry. Now she feels the need to connect with this man. She invites him to the funeral and finds herself fascinated with him. She asks him to stay at her house, and attempts to assist him in kicking his addiction. The two learn to explore their own emotions and deal with their grief. Together they find a way to improve themselves, by sharing this common bond.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Athena on March 23rd, 2009
Hi, Athena here. Well, this is going to be my last post for the doggie movies at Upcomingdiscs. Gino says it’s time to retire. He says my investments need to be cashed in so I can take it easy, before they’re all gone. I guess that means someone’s trying to eat up my treats. They better watch out or I’m going to go Siberian Husky all over them. I may be 14 years old and a little slow, but my teeth work just fine. Just ask Baby. She’s the newest member of the family here, and I had to let her know who the boss is right away, if you know what I mean.
Anyway…enough about me; of course there can never really be enough about me. Let’s talk about the latest Disney animation film, and the latest in a long line of movie dogs, namely Bolt (Travolta). Now, when this movie starts you get to meet Bolt and his human friend, Penny (Cyrus). Penny’s some kind of a spy or something, ‘cept she’s not really very good at it. You see, the bad guy is about to catch her, and I don’t think he wants her to give her some belly rubs. So, supercharged Bolt comes to the rescue. Man, that dog’s almost as cool as a Siberian Husky. He’s got something called super powers. He can shoot laser beams from his eyes and run faster than a race car. He even has a super bark that can cause earthquakes. Gino says it sounds and feels a lot like when I snore at night. Of course, Bolt is some kind of a white shepherd, and while they tried to make him look a little like a Siberian Husky, he isn’t one, so you know he doesn’t really have these super powers. Trust me, if Baby doesn’t watch out, she’s gonna see some real super powers, and that spells B I T E. Bolt is really just the star of a television show. The only thing is no one told Bolt that. So, when he thinks Penny has been kidnapped by the show’s villain, the Green-Eyed Man (McDowell), Bolt goes into action. He escapes his studio trailer and heads out into the great unknown to rescue her, just like on the show. He ends up locked in a box and shipped all the way across the country. Now he has to get back to California, before, at least he thinks, the Green-Eyed Man can do something bad to Penny. Along the way he meets up with a cute kitten, named Mittens (Essman) who was abandoned by her family, so she doesn’t think too highly of humans. He also meets Rhino (Walton), a hamster in a ball, who is a huge fan of Bolt’s television show, and like Bolt, thinks it’s all real. Along the way Bolt finds out that he really is an ordinary dog, and not a Husky, after all. But, this is a Disney film, so Bolt finds out that you don’t have to have super powers to be a super hero. He might not really have to rescue Penny, but she misses him a whole lot and he needs to get back to her.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 4th, 2009
Is it me, or have we been getting a lot of talking animal movies of late? I suspect the use of the CG technology that exists today lends itself to this kind of film. You might even make the argument that it hasn’t really been any different than the talking animal cartoons that have been with us forever. It’s just that now we can make live action dogs, or any other creature, for that matter, appear to be talking in a fairly realistic way. And as far as the use of that technology, Beverly Hills Chihuahua certainly blends the CG and live action footage seamlessly enough. And while I can’t really find much fault with this movie, it just seems like I’ve seen and heard it all before, a little too often as of late.
The plot is one of those affairs that’s filled with holes and giant leaps of logic. It’s obviously intended for kids, but it’s a mistake to think that even the under 11 crowd doesn’t notice these incredibly unbelievable things. I don’t have kids, but I would worry if you have a kid that doesn’t let these unanswered questions go by without demanding an explanation. Of course, Disney doesn’t have to field those questions, like why does a rat want a diamond necklace so much. You’re the one who has to do the explaining. For what it’s worth, here’s the general plot:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 3rd, 2009
“Did you pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?... Have you ever been to Poughkeepsie?... When you were in Poughkeepsie, you sat on the edge of the bed, didn’t you? You put your fingers between your toes and you picked your feet…. If I can’t bust you on this other thing I’m going to bust you for picking your feet in Poughkeepsie.”
There can be no argument on this point. The 1970’s was a golden age for the cinema. When you think about the iconic characters and films the decade produced, it’s hard to contradict the point. Films like The Exorcist, The Godfather (both parts), Jaws, Dirty Harry, Star Wars, Superman The Motion Picture, The Sting, Rocky, Deliverance, Apocalypse Now, Alien, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, and yes, The French Connection. They redefined film genres. The slasher film was born in the 1970’s. Their influence is felt on nearly every film today, and inspired nearly every new filmmaker to come along in the years since. Yes, there were golden eras before then, but I’m not sure there’s been one since. Of course, there have been truly great movies since, but can you remember a decade with that kind of a run?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 25th, 2009
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 25th, 2009
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 24th, 2009
“Safety is the greatest risk of all, but safety leaves no room for miracles, and miracles are the only sure thing in life.”
Spike Lee finds a noble cause in the experiences of the Buffalo Soldiers, fighting in Italy during World War II. There’s no question that history hasn’t always dealt fairly with the contributions the black soldiers have made on the battlefields that have, at times, defined our nation. From the American Revolution through to today’s War On Terror, the black soldier has risked and often laid down his life for a country that at least during World War II, didn’t honor his service or humanity. The problem is that Lee lost focus of whatever it was he was trying to say or whoever it was he was attempting to honor here. This movie never is about these particular soldiers or their contributions. There is no history, to speak of here at all. We don’t see the formation of these units, and the film doesn’t go into their overall importance in the war effort. Instead the film is more about the Italian resistance during Nazi occupation and the politics and betrayals of that movement. It’s almost as if these few black soldiers are merely witnesses to a series of events that were never under their control.
![Marley And Me (3-disc Bad Dog Edition) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/marley-and-me-3-disc-bad-dog-editi-large.jpg)
![Things We Lost in the Fire [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/things-we-lost-in-the-fire-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Bolt (Three-Disc Edition w/ Standard DVD + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/bolt-three-disc-edition-w-standar-large.jpg)
![Beverly Hills Chihuahua [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/beverly-hills-chihuahua-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![The French Connection [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-french-connection-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Miracle at St Anna [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/miracle-at-st-anna-blu-ray-large.jpg)
