Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 22nd, 2009
Neither of the Predator vs. Alien films were as successful at the box office as was hoped. And this film has had its share of detractors since its release in 1990. I, for one, find it to be as good as, if not better than, the original film. Watching the two governors Arnold and Jesse take on the Predator in the Columbian jungles was certainly a hoot. Let’s be honest, however. Who didn’t cheer, if only inside, when the big bad ugly started to take on LA’s drug lords in Predator 2? This sequel is more than just a romp with a monster. The story is far more compelling.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 22nd, 2009
We were all told that the fourth film in the Friday The 13th series was going to be the last. From the cast and crew to the studio execs it was official: Jason was dead and gone. Time to move on. But it took less than a year for a new chapter to be tacked on to that final one. The fifth entry into the franchise would contain one of the more limited budgets. But it wasn’t the budget cuts that has made this one of the most highly criticized films of the series. It’s the total disregard for the tradition of the films and the poor choices that were made in making this film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2009
When the cast and crew went about their work on Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter it appears that it really was intended as a sendoff for the popular franchise. There had been a turnover at Paramount, and the powers that be thought the slasher cycle was pretty much over. Now whether any of that is true is anyone’s guess. Everyone associated with the project claims that that was their firm understanding from the beginning. Writer Barney Cohen insists that the Paramount brass made it very clear that he was supposed to kill off Jason with such Hollywood “grammar” that there was little doubt he was dead and gone forever.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2009
“I’m Special Agent Kessel, in charge of the FBI and Department Of Justice’s joint task force on deranged and violent criminals. In the most extreme and violent cases traditional forensic investigations can be inadequate. In these instances, to hunt down the most vicious and elusive killers and psychopaths, we solicit the assistance of civilians with extraordinary gifts. Catherine Deane was one of them… now there’s another.”
That other is Maya (Santiago). It has been quite a few years since I saw The Cell. I was going to go back and watch the original again to get myself prepared for reviewing this direct to video sequel.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2009
This is one of the best of the series to benefit from the high definition Blu-ray release. You might recall that I had some serious reservations about the 3D work on the last DVD release. That kind of 3D depends entirely on a completely true color reproduction. With unstable reds and blues or greens, the effect becomes somewhat difficult to appreciate and more than a little bit of a strain on the eyes. This release offers you for the first time what was only promised on the DVD. You finally get a print clean and detailed enough to make the effect worth checking out in your own home theater.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2009
“Back to the days of the Gold Rush, as Sergeant Preston with his wonder dog, Yukon King, meets the challenges of the Yukon … A land inflamed with gold. Men who came quickly learned the heroism of sacrifice and the treachery of greed.”
These words first reached across the radio airwaves in 1947. Children and adults alike would gather around the warm glow of their large radios to hear the exploits of Canadian Mounties Sergeant Preston and his trusty companions Rex, his horse, and Yukon King, his Alaskan Malamute.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 19th, 2009
A group of amateur ghost hunters armed with cameras and other equipment pose as documentary producers for the Discovery Channel. They head for the isolated town of Goldfield, where an abandoned haunted hotel is rumored to be one of the 7 portals to “the other side”. Their car breaks down just outside of town near an old cemetery in the middle of the night. A local bartender appears to be the caretaker for the old hotel and the town’s historian.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 17th, 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 Gino Sassani on June 17th, 2009
Back in 1998 there was a very promising television series on the Fox Network. Unfortunately, the network never gave it a fighting chance, and it was soon gone as quickly as it had appeared. It was called Brimstone. The idea was that a dead cop (Horton) went to Hell for killing his wife’s rapists. He gets a second chance when the Devil (Glover) offers him his life back if he would become Hell’s bounty hunter. He would capture souls who had escaped from Hell. I loved the show and even participated in its attempts to be reprieved.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 17th, 2009
Perhaps best known and beloved for his portrayal of Felix Unger in the original Odd Couple film, Jack Lemmon has a long list of credits to his name. He’s appeared in 100 films and many stage and television productions as well. It was also a little known fact that he was an extremely accomplished musician and wrote music for a couple of his films. He was one of those actors who simply loved his job. He was known for uttering the phrase “It’s magic time” before a take on the set of almost all of his films.
![Predator 2 [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/predator-2-blu-ray-large.jpg)
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![Friday the 13th, Part 2 [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/friday-the-13th-part-2-blu-ray-large.jpg)
