Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 19th, 2023
“Space … the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Nearly 20 years after the original Star Trek left the network airwaves, Gene Roddenberry set out to discover whether he could catch lightning in a bottle once again. Some say he did an even better job with Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are times I tend to agree. The Star Trek sequel series had a lot more advantages from the moment it was conceived. Star Trek, a series that barely registered on the ratings during its three-year primetime voyage, became a huge sensation in syndication. By the time The Next Generation came on the scene, the original show had been syndicated in over 20 different languages all over the world. It had launched an animated series, and a fifth feature film was already in the early stages of consideration. So it isn’t quite fair to judge the success or quality of The Next Generation over the original series. One thing is inarguable. The second would never have existed if not for the first.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 14th, 2023
"Do you give people hope? Are you moving through your city like a guardian angel? Do you make a difference? That bolt of lightning chose you. Don't ever forget it."
There's one thing about being the fastest man alive. You get to the end faster than anyone else ... the finish line, if you will. But not so for Barry Allen, best known in the world of comic books as The Flash. When Arrow debuted back in 2012, no one could have foreseen where it was all going to lead. Greg Berlanti and a few others had created what we all thought was just another comic book hero television show. The Green Arrow wasn't one of the better known heroes, but he was part of the Justice League for many years, and he had a rather interesting origin story that could be told over the longer form of a television series. But it didn't end there. Within a couple of years we had Supergirl, Batwoman, The Legends Of Tomorrow, and, of course The Flash. All of these shows became quickly interconnected, and within another couple of years we all looked forward to a huge crossover event that would involve the casts and crew of all of these shows. These events usually involved some kind of a "crisis" and spread the story out over the various shows themselves. Now Arrow has ended, and the other shows are all gone as well. The Flash was the last hero standing, and that's as it should be, because it was also the best of the shows. Still, all good things come to an end, and after nine seasons, Barry Allen and Team Flash are finally coming to an end. But how can you do something epic when you're the last show standing? You do a crossover all within the confines of your own show and say goodbye with a bang. The final season of The Flash has certainly done that and more. Warner Brothers is now bringing it to a close by releasing the final season of The Flash on Blu-ray, and it's the last one you're going to get, so make sure you savor it a bit. I did.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 24th, 2023
"He was here before Christ, before civilization. He was king here! Rawhead, that's what they called him! Rawhead!"
Rawhead Rex started life as one of many stories in a young Clive Barker’s published collection called The Books Of Blood. As a story it has been hailed by the likes of Stephen King as one of the best horror stories ever written. I'm not sure I would go anywhere near that far, but there's little doubt it's a well-crafted horror tale. I read it years ago and recall that I was quite impressed. The movie version of the story is something else entirely. It fails on really one important element, and that's the design of Rawhead himself. It's one of the worst-looking film monsters I've ever seen. It's a cross between an ape and a clown without the colorful make-up, and the young actor that brought him to life did anything but. Still, there's some atmosphere to be found here, and a few good performances. It's one of those films where it might be so bad that it will always find something of a cult following. That's exactly what Kino Lorber Studio Classics is counting on with a UHD Blu-ray release in 4K. You heard that correctly.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2023
"All my life I wanted to be a cop, you know. It's like I can remember nothing else. I remember this one time somethin' happened. A domestic argument or somethin'. Somebody stabbed somebody or somethin'. And -- there was this crowd around this tenement. I must have been nine, ten years old. I was this big. I went over to see what was going on. I noticed the red light -- goin' around and around, all these people, and I couldn't see. And I kept saying, ‘Do you know what's goin' on? Do you know?’ Nobody knew. It was like a big mystery behind that -- that crowd there. All of a sudden, the crowd just parted. Like the Red Sea, you see? And there were these guys in blue, and I said, ‘They know.’ What do they know? What do they know?”
Frank Serpico was a New York City cop in the 1960's and early 1970's. Thanks to the film, everyone knows who he is, and they also know about his struggle as an honest man in a hornet's nest of corruption. His honest stand saw him a pariah and almost killed when his fellow officers stood by as he was shot in the face. He would eventually recover and testify before the famous Knapp Commission that investigated the systemic corruption inside the NYPD. If you know his story, it's because of this film, because that's the plot, pure and simple. What isn't so pure and simple is the inspired performance by Al Pacino, still a relative unknown, who had just finished The Godfather but hadn't really had a lead role up to this point. Serpico changed all of that. Pacino was on a rocket ship to stardom, and this film as much as The Godfather started the whole thing going.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 1st, 2023
Most people who know me know that I adore Scooby Doo. Some of my favorite episodes of Scooby Doo are those where they have famous guest stars solving mysteries. Addams Family, Harlem Globetrotters, Batman, etc. Classic Scooby goodness with characters that I enjoy and always wondered how they would work in another universe. Today, I have the benefit of seeing how Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other Justice League members will look and react in the RWBY world of Remnant. Let's take a look.
Superman (voiced by Chandler Riggs) is breathing heavy and struggles to open his eyes. When he does, he sees a strange world, and he's suddenly become a teenager. In front of him are two young teenage girls named Ruby (voiced by Lindsay Jones) and Yang (voiced by Barbara Dunkleman), who are taking on demons simply known as the Grimm. However, these Grimm are strange to Ruby and Yang as well, since they can shoot lasers. Superman gets up to help the two ladies when he realizes that his powers are completely different from what they were.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 1st, 2023
Most people who know me know that I adore Scooby Doo. Some of my favorite episodes of Scooby Doo are those where they have famous guest stars solving mysteries. Addams Family, Harlem Globetrotters, Batman, etc. Classic Scooby goodness with characters that I enjoy and always wondered how they would work in another universe. Today, I have the benefit of seeing how Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other Justice League members will look and react in the RWBY world of Remnant. Let's take a look.
Superman (voiced by Chandler Riggs) is breathing heavy and struggles to open his eyes. When he does, he sees a strange world, and he's suddenly become a teenager. In front of him are two young teenage girls named Ruby (voiced by Lindsay Jones) and Yang (voiced by Barbara Dunkleman), who are taking on demons simply known as the Grimm. However, these Grimm are strange to Ruby and Yang as well, since they can shoot lasers. Superman gets up to help the two ladies when he realizes that his powers are completely different from what they were.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 18th, 2023
Most anime fans, particularly those in the west, would probably consider Cowboy Bebop one of the greatest series of all time. Before it got bastardized in a clueless live-action remake, it was a wonderful story of a bounty hunter crew down on their luck who never made any money but always had one hell of an adventure. Set to some wonderful jazz numbers. So naturally, when I heard about a new anime movie about an once powerful god who is now down on his luck as a penniless bounty hunter, my curiosity was certainly piqued. Let's check out New Gods: Yang Jian.
Oh boy, we start off with some narration. Let's see ... a long long time ago, a calamity (wait, I have to look this one up; OK, got it) broke out between Heaven and Earth. Life hung in the balance (woah, heavy), and there was violence and destruction. Forces of Shang and Zhou fought for supremacy. Humans and Gods united in order to stand tall against opposing forces. After the battles ended, they went back to their respective realms. And the world was at peace. (Awwww.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 31st, 2023
"Him is he who bays and slavers forever outside time and space, who shambled down out of the stars when Earth was new and spawned abominations in the seas and blights upon the land. Woe to man when He comes again. To gaze upon his form is to invite madness. That is why in order to serve Him I chose to make some adjustments. Him, The Lurker is on the threshold, and behold, He is coming..."
The latest release from the Warner Brothers animation team in the world of DC Comics is Batman: Doom That Came To Gotham. This series of animated films is no longer part of any shared universe as the many that came before might have been. At least for now these animated adventures are standalone stories, often with their own atmosphere and universe. That's certainly true of Batman: Doom That Came To Gotham. This is likely the most uniquely-styled entry in the series of animated feature films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 30th, 2023
"Space...The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before!"
Since the relaunch of Star Trek on television via the Paramount + streaming service, I must admit to being a little underwhelmed. It's truly bad when Alex Kurtzman makes me pine for the days of Rick Berman. There have been some pretty good moments in the various new Trek shows. Picard has shown promise and has improved with a third season that looks very exciting. Lower Decks is just too campy for my tastes, and Discovery has so many ups and downs I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster. So along comes Strange New Worlds, and this is the Star Trek I've been waiting for these last decades.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 18th, 2023
“You got everything money can buy, except what it can’t. It’s pride. Pride is what got you here. Losing is what brung you back. But people like you, they need to be tested. They need a challenge.”
There have been a ton of boxing films. They’ve been popular going back to the silent era. Most of them have many of the same themes. But there was always something about Rocky that stood out above all of the rest. That “something” can’t really be described or defined. As the Supreme Court once said about the definition of obscenity: “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” That’s all you can say about Rocky. Some might call it heart. That’s about as good a word for it as anything else. Rocky himself would call it “stuff in the basement”. It almost demeans it to put a word on it at all. Whatever you call it, you don’t necessarily see it in Rocky … you feel it. Now the first 4 films are out together on UHD Blu-ray in 4K.
