Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 7th, 2024
"Bless me, father, for I have sinned. It has been 40 years since my last confession. I had a drinking problem, and that became a drug problem, and I ruined my life ... There's this thing that has come up. It's a job, and it's coming to me off the back of someone else's tragedy. But maybe work will be good for me, you know? Give me a sense of purpose. Make me stronger. Maybe make my daughter proud of me."
It's the confession of a desperate man, and that's the center of The Exorcism. This year there's a new Gladiator film out, but Russell Crowe isn't going to be fighting again in the arenas of ancient Rome any time soon. Instead he has been spending some time lately doing battle with Satan himself and some of his minions. The Exorcism was actually his first tour of duty in the genre. That film actually wrapped in 2019 but took nearly five years to make it to the box office, were it came and went with little more than a whimper. Later Crowe also starred in The Pope's Exorcist, where he played the top exorcism man in the Vatican. The crazy thing is that film came first, so to most people it looked like The Exorcism was just a cheap redo. That doesn't mean, of course, that this isn't a kind of redo. It is, and no one is really hiding the fact. You'll understand in a minute.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 27th, 2024
"Don't hate the player. Hate the game."
When it comes to The Killer's Game, there's a lot to hate and just not enough to love. I happen to like Dave Bautista. He has the physical skills to play incredibly intimidating roles, and he actually has a good bit of comedic timing. The Guardians Of The Galaxy films gave him the perfect place to put all of that on display. He's an entertaining part of an ensemble cast, and he more than pulls his weight in a crowd. He's been showing up in some very important films of late, but up until this point none of these roles required him to step out of the comfortable settings where he can pretty much be him and it works on multiple levels. So we already had a pretty good idea where Dave Bautista's strengths were to be found. It had to happen sooner or later. It's obvious the wrestler-turned-actor has been having a good time in this actor's game, and it was only a matter of time before he might want to see just how far his chops could take him. Could he take on the weight of being a leading man? He chose a pretty safe film, anchored in those things we already knew he could do, with an expanded role that put him at the top of the call sheet for the first time in his career. The evidence has been presented, and the defense has rested its case. The jury is going to be the audience of The Killer's Game, and I think it's safe to say the verdict is in. You might call it a hung jury, but that was because some of decided to take the easy way out and end the misery there. I stuck with it. No suicidal thoughts going through this juror. But I find the defendant Dave Bautista guilty on all counts. Taking on a leading man role is absolutely criminal, and if you have the patience to read on, I'm going to give you my reasons. Just understand this guilt is beyond and reasonable ... forget that. This verdict is beyond a shadow of a doubt. Dave Bautista has been found condemned to going back to making the kinds of films he is good at. Call it community service.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2024
"Not everybody can become United States Marines. We want the best and we settled for nothing but the best, because there is nothing prouder, nothing finer, nothing standing as straight as a United States Marine. Now they got the Air Force, they got the Navy, they got the Army, they got the Coast Guard - and if you want to join them, go ahead. They got plenty of room. But if you want a challenge, if you want to try something difficult, try to achieve the impossible - try 13 weeks of hell at Parris Island, South Carolina, and find out if you got what it takes, find out if you really are a man, then the Marines might be what you are looking for. Tarawa ... Iwo Jima ... Belleau Wood ... the frozen Chosin Reservoir. First to fight, we have never lost a war. We have always come when our country has called."
Born On The Fourth Of July has been both a controversial film as well as one of Tom Cruise's first breakout roles. Over time the film has become appreciated more as feelings on the Vietnam War have pretty much come full circle in the American political mind. Now it can be viewed for the remarkable performance Tom Cruise delivers and the rather stark reality check Ron Kovic's autobiography provided in 1976 to a nation that might not have been ready to hear it. Times have changed, and I think they're well reflected in Oliver Stone's film Born On The Fourth Of July, which Shout Factory has now made available in 4K for the first time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 21st, 2024
"You know the Butcher? That freakin' nutjob that goes around just chopping people up? Well, the feds or whatever heard that he's gonna be here today, so they set up a trap for him. This whole concert? It's a trap. They're watching all the exits, checking everyone that leaves. There's no way to get out of here. It's kinda dope, right?"
The idea is actually based on a true story, with a lot of differences. In 1985 the FBI managed to round up over 100 high-profile criminals with a ruse that involved tickets to an NFL game. There have been plenty of other scams where promises of prizes have attracted otherwise cautious wanted people. I was at a promo for some home improvement club store, and while there, a couple of folks were nervous that it was a sting because they had outstanding warrants. It wasn't, but these things can and do indeed happen. The way it's done here leaves one to stretch credibility a bit more than I'm usually willing to go.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 21st, 2024
"The machines rose from the ashes of a nuclear fire. Their war to exterminate mankind had raged for decades, but the final battle would not be fought in the future. It would be fought here in our present ... tonight."
The idea for The Terminator came to James Cameron in a feverish dream as he was struggling and about to get fired from Piranha II: The Spawning. He was overworked and stressed and ended up in bed. He immediately wrote a treatment with then-wife Gale Ann Hurd, and they approached Arnold Schwarzenegger quickly to make sure they retained control over the property. Eventually he lost it anyway, and that's why so many franchise films that were out of his control.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 19th, 2024
“The juice is loose.”
Michael Keaton is on quite the reunion tour of reprising his old roles, and for most actors, stepping back into the role isn’t always easy. However, for Keaton, it is as if no time has passed whatsoever. Over thirty years since portraying this iconic role, Keaton returns as Beetlejuice, the trickster spirit who attempted to manipulate a marriage to Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz in order to gain a permanent foothold in the living world. Keaton isn’t the only one who returns in this well-done addition to the ongoing trend of continuation series; Ryder returns as Lydia Deetz, Catherine O’Hara is back as Delia Deetz, Lydia’s stepmom, and most notably Tim Burton is back in the director’s seat for the sequel. Burton’s return is most pivotal addition in my opinion, as the first film was full of his unique style that would be impossible for another director to emulate. Also joining the franchise are Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Danny DeVito, albeit too briefly, and most appreciatively, Jenna Ortega, who previously and actively collaborates with Burton on the Netflix Series Wednesday, whose upcoming season I am anxiously awaiting.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 14th, 2024
"My, what big teeth you have."
Werewolf stories go back to Little Red Riding Hood, and likely even farther than that. Lon Chaney, Jr.'s performance as Larry Talbot, the haunted soul who bears the burden of The Wolfman, is the version that still remains the standard. Before that Werewolf Of London in 1935 started Universal's dip into the Lycanthrope waters, and there have been a few classic retellings of the plights of these men plagued by the sight of the full moon. John Landis was the first to use modern technology to give us a most horrifying transformation in his iconic An American Werewolf In London back in 1981. The Underworld films have been my most recent favorites, and the Universal film is about to hit the box office with a remake of The Wolfman from the team that brought us the clever reimagining of The Invisible Man. Warren Zevon sang about them, and soon you'll be able to ride a Wolfman roller-coaster at Universal's new Orlando theme park, Epic Universe, with an entire universe land dedicated to the classic monsters. In the meantime, Mark Polonia has decided to mash-up the werewolf legends with the recent outbreak of "junkie" creatures. It's not just the Wall Street wolves and the elite soccer moms getting high on cocaine anymore. Forget your trendy addict rock stars. Lately everything from bears to sharks have been tooting the white powder, and the results have been ... well ... more amusing than horrifying. Now we have a Cocaine Werewolf, and it's all downhill from there. Downhill, yes, but somewhat amusing all the same.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 11th, 2024
"Nuns, guns and gasoline."
Mike Mendez released his first film in 1997. Killers was also just released on Blu-ray from Synapse films. The better of this Synapse double release is The Convent. For me this was the peak of Mendez's low-budget horror films. Synapse must agree with that assessment, because they decided to give The Convent a UHD Blu-ray release in 4K, and that ended up being somewhat of a trick-or-treat combination, with The Convent absolutely being the treat here. Made in 2000, the film took a long time to make it to anyone's screens. There was a distribution deal in place, and it fell through at the last minute. It's the kind of luck Mendez has dealt with his entire career. His friend and co-writer on Killers lost his house when it was mortgaged to pay for that ' creation. He debuted the film at Sundance, and he had hoped for a wider release, at least on home video, but it took 2 years to finally happen.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2024
"The holiest of holiest days. Merry Christmas, Dad. Boom! Stocking stuffers, Mom? Boom! Inspired. The flicker of yuletide lights, off-green artificial tree, carolers, the patter of eight tiny reindeer and the small jingle bells. Oh, what a silent night; that is, of course, unless you wanna count the 27 double-buck rounds which are blasted pounding and ripping into both you and your better half..."
There's an ongoing argument about the classic Bruce Willis film, Die Hard. Is it a Christmas movie, or merely a movie that happens at Christmas time? If you think that's a tough one, wait until you get your hands on the latest release from Synapse Films. It's Mike Mendez's first time as a director, and the film is Killers. It's 1997, and Mendez still has a few small-budget gems in Christmas yet to come, Big Ass Spider and The Convent being two of his best. Mendez would get his first large attention project with the television series Masters Of Horror. But it all started here with one of the craziest films you will ever see. So is it a Christmas movie, or a movie that happens at Christmas? Boom!
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 8th, 2024
"The following film contains graphic sexual content. Due to its extreme erotic nature this program is NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN!"
Duh. I suspect that when we are all dead and gone, there will be two things we can count on continuing beyond the end of human civilization. The cockroaches will inherit the world, and they will all be watching South Park, the only television show still running. It's already been 22 years, and doesn't it feel like 50? I don't mean that in a mean way. I love South Park, but I'm starting to find it hard to remember what life was like without it. I'm convinced it will survive us all, and AI versions of Parker and Stone will be producing it until the planet is finally vaporized ... and I'm not sure even that will stop this show.
