Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2011
"This used to be a gentleman's game."
I must confess that I had not even heard of the comic book titles created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. I think that might have been one of the best things that could have happened to me as I sat down to watch the film Red. With a cast this strong, there was little doubt that they would provide a powerful stamp on these characters. No insult intended toward the graphic novels, but I can't imagine these characters any other way now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2011
"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrariwise what it is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would be, you see?"
To be perfectly honest with you, I have never read either of the two Lewis Carroll books on which this film has been based. Under ordinary circumstances, that would put me at a decided disadvantage in both watching the film and certainly in providing an insightful review of the movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2011
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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 31st, 2011
"He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength and charges into the fray. He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing. He does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement, he eats up the ground. He cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds."
Disney has a grand tradition of putting out a certain kind of sports film. You know the type well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 22nd, 2011
Allen Ginsberg is often regarded as one of the most important poets of the 20th century. He is seen as a symbol of the Beat Generation and contributed to the San Francisco Renaissance. His most important work, Howl has created both worldwide controversy and praise. It escalated into a 1957 obscenity trial of the poet and Lawrence Ferlinghetti who had published Howl along with other selections from Ginsberg. The film is a celebration of Ginsberg’s life as well as the results of this trial.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 20th, 2011
"Give me a stage where this here bull can rage."
Under normal circumstances and certainly under less skillful hands the story of Jake La Motta would not be one worth telling. His life is a story without heroes. It's a life of abusive behavior and an almost unredeemable personality. The only way he was ever capable of expressing himself was in the boxing ring. Even there he was doomed to feel inadequate most of his life.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 19th, 2011
When I first started watching the new comedy concert by Kathleen Madigan, I grew somewhat fearful. She was introduced by Lewis Black, who appears to be one of her closest friends. That scared me more than a little. Lewis Black is nothing but an angry old man who preaches tolerance of anyone who agrees with him. If you don't agree with him, you are subject to the most venomous of attacks of hatred I've ever seen from a stand-up. If Kathleen Madigan was going to be a female Lewis Black, this was going to be a long hour, indeed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 18th, 2011
"You have conquered and I yield. Yet, henceforward art though also dead - dead to the world, to Heaven, and to hope. In me did thou exist - and, in my death, see by this image, which is thy own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself." - Edgar Allan Poe
The last of the Lionsgate / AfterDark double features covers the middle of the road. The films both deal more in science fiction or alternate realities than they do in any form of horror, one with the idea of a menacing world of doppelgangers and the other with changing the past through time travel.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 18th, 2011
"Between 1954 and 1976 nearly 600 children were voluntarily submitted for participation in a number of behavioral studies. These experimental facilities were privately funded and tucked away in secluded regions of the South. Families were paid a fee for their involvement and were told the studies were harmless. Most of the children were never heard from again."
What we have heard from again are these little independent films from Lionsgate and After Dark. You might remember them as the 8 Films To Die For. They were usually around Halloween
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 18th, 2011
"O joyful. O delightful. O fortunate one. Weep no more, this departed son. Read these words. Sound thy voice. Revel and sing. Rejoice! Rejoice! Life's for the living, not for the dead. Forget tomorrow. Live now instead. This night you breathe, while they cannot. So dance ye soul on their resting spot."
It's another double feature from Lionsgate and AfterDark. This one offers one of the best of the series with a rather flat companion.
![Red (Movie-Only Edition) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/red-movie-only-edition-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Howl [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/howl-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Kathleen Madigan: Gone Madigan [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/kathleen-madigan-gone-madigan-blu-large.jpg)
![The Broken / The Butterfly Effect 3 (Double Feature) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-broken-the-butterfly-effect-3-large.jpg)
![Borderland / Crazy Eights (Double Feature) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/borderland-crazy-eights-double-f-large.jpg)
![The Gravedancers / Wicked Little Things [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-gravedancers-wicked-little-th-large.jpg)
