Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 25th, 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."
From 1978 through 2002, 10 Star Trek films were released at the box office. The franchise almost ended with the first, but it was followed up by what I consider the best of the 10. The films are a collection of ups and downs, but you know you want the complete collection up there on your shelf. You already have the first six, starring the original crew. Now your wait for completion is over. The Next Generation films are out from Paramount Home Entertainment, and here they are ..
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 22nd, 2023
In 1965 when The Truth About Spring was released, Haley Mills was turning 18 and was already a well established star after being in a string of hit Disney films like Pollyanna, The Parent Trap, and then That Darn Cat. Back when this film was made, it was simply a family adventure. It is simply so charming and wholesome; it really is the kind of film that is just about impossible to find at your local cinema anymore. When watching this, I couldn’t help but realize how if this very same film was put on the big screen today it would cause certain groups out there to lose their minds, all because it is a story about a tomboy who “changes” for a young man she falls in love with. Now, I’m not about to stir anything up and bring up politics or social ideologies with this review, but it was something that I wanted to mention, because sadly something’s in this movie just wouldn’t be done in a film today
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 21st, 2023
Even though I consider myself to be well-rounded when it comes to films, I admit my personal viewing history of French film to be a little lacking. Go Google any top 20 list of French films, and I've probably seen maybe two or three of the films. This is very contradictory to say Chinese, Japanese, English (UK), Australian, etc. where I've seen hundreds of films. But I'm always willing to expand my repertoire, so I jumped when I saw there was a French crime thriller named L'Homme Du Train or The Man on the Train available for review. Let's see how it plays out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 21st, 2023
"Them clothes got laundry numbers on them. You remember your number and always wear the ones that has your number. Any man forgets his number spends a night in the box. These here spoons you keep with you. Any man loses his spoon spends a night in the box. There's no playing grab-ass or fighting in the building. You got a grudge against another man, you fight him Saturday afternoon. Any man playing grab-ass or fighting in the building spends a night in the box. First bell's at five minutes of eight when you will get in your bunk. Last bell is at eight. Any man not in his bunk at eight spends the night in the box. There is no smoking in the prone position in bed. To smoke you must have both legs over the side of your bunk. Any man caught smoking in the prone position in bed ... spends a night in the box. You get two sheets. Every Saturday, you put the clean sheet on the top ... the top sheet on the bottom ... and the bottom sheet you turn in to the laundry boy. Any man turns in the wrong sheet spends a night in the box. No one'll sit in the bunks with dirty pants on. Any man with dirty pants on sitting on the bunks spends a night in the box. Any man don't bring back his empty pop bottle spends a night in the box. Any man loud talking spends a night in the box. You got questions, you come to me. I'm Carr, the floor walker. I'm responsible for order in here. Any man don't keep order spends a night in..."
You guessed it ... the box. Enter our anti-hero, Luke. The anti-hero has become somewhat cliche today. What was once an artistic expression of the gray line between good and bad guys has morphed to the glorification of the just plain bad guy. We end up loving and rooting for such vicious characters like Vic Mackey, Tony Soprano, and Dexter Morgan.
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.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on April 14th, 2023
I usually don’t say this about a movie, as they are my passion, but this film was unwatchable. I usually don’t take this stance, as I generally believe that every movie has something to offer, but in the case of The Weapon, this was not a movie that I enjoyed. It was a movie that I endured. This took me by surprise, as I was expecting to be moderately entertained given the sheer number of recognizable faces: Cuba Gooding Jr., Bruce Dern, Annalynne McCord, Jack Kesy, and the list goes on. The film even had Richard Grieco, who if I’m being honest, I didn’t recognize until the end credits. However, despite all of this, the film had no real substance, not to mention the cutting between character storylines and time periods, enough to make me want to ask for a roadmap just to keep up. I not sure what the intent was, but I feel safe in saying that this film missed it. Even the action sequences, of which there are many, did not hold my interest. That is saying something, because I love good action film. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what this was.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 11th, 2023
"In 1539 The Knight Templars of Malta paid tribute to Charles V of Spain by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels --- but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token, and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day."
What is not a mystery today is the significant role that The Maltese Falcon has played in cinema history. The film itself was a remake. In fact, it was actually Warner's third attempt to film the Dashiell Hammett novel in a single decade. The first version came in 1931 and starred Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade. That film also featured Dwight Frye as Wilmer Cook. The film was a moderate success but never really delivered on the potential of the source material. Five years later Warner would attempt a comedy version of the story in Satan Met A Lady. It was a total flop. It would only take another five years before the studio took its third crack at the material. In this case, the third time certainly was a charm.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 11th, 2023
12 Angry Men is one of those rare films that appears to defy all the Hollywood constants and yet become one of the best films of its kind ever made. The setting is entirely too claustrophobic. With the exception of two bookend scenes, the entire film takes place in the tight quarters of a jury deliberation room. The story had only a couple of years earlier been the subject of a live television drama, so the story was far from a fresh idea. The director was a complete unknown who had not at that point directed a major picture. Enter Henry Fonda, the only member of the cast who was a strong A-list name. He was also the driving force behind getting the film made. He produced the film and was involved with most of the major decisions. With all of these elements going against it, you would expect the film to fail miserably, and that’s exactly what it did. During its premier run, the film only lasted a week and was a complete financial failure. It happens all the time, and we would expect the story to end there, but it didn’t.
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.
