Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2025
"It's rare, but sometimes, there's this moment in the car where everything goes quiet, my heartbeat slows, it's peaceful, and I can see everything, and no one, no one can touch me. And I am chasing that moment every time I get in the car. I don't know when I'll find it again, but, man, I want to. I want to. 'Cause in that moment, I'm flying."
The first think I noticed when the writer/director John Kosinski-led F1 arrived here in UHD Blu-ray from Warner Brothers Home Entertainment was that they had changed the film's name. when it was available for screenings, it was simply called F1. I guess someone in marketing thought the name was somewhat confusing so they decided to add "The Movie" to the title. I guess this was in case any of you out there got confused and was not aware you were watching a movie instead of an actual race somewhere. I'll never claim to understand exactly what studio marketing people really do for a living that doesn't involve a set of darts and a target with various "ideas" spread out in the landing area.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 24th, 2025
“This is not going to end well.”
I can’t tell you how telling that quote was for me. At least the movie has a catchy opening song in “Everything Goes With Blue,” courtesy of Smurfette, a.k.a. Rihanna, who voices the character. Interesting detail: all Smurfs movies from the 21st century have had Smurfette voiced by a famous singer. In The Smurfs (2011) and its sequel The Smurfs 2 (2013), Katy Perry voiced the character. In Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), Demi Lovato provided the voice, and in this 2025 reboot, she is voiced by Rihanna. Another interesting detail: this marks Rihanna’s second animated movie she has lent her voice to, with the first being Home (2015), which was released 10 years earlier.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 22nd, 2025
"Again, history repeats itself. And, uh, I mean, let's talk about 1956. Let's talk about the number 56 for just one minute. In California, Jesuit-educated Gavin Newsom. And he said to California, as he became the first governor to lock down his state, he said, "56% of you will get Corona in eight weeks". Which is exactly 56 days. Of course, they keep looking at that lab in Wuhan, China. And if you look at that lab in Wuhan when it was established, it was 1956. Of course, that's the year Tom Hanks was born, the first celebrity with the virus. Mr. Sleepless In Seattle. By the way, Jenny Durkan was the mayor of Seattle when it became the first city in the world outside of China to have someone get the virus. And she was the 56th mayor."
Remember COVID 19? remember all the crazy theories that went around? Remember the circular logic? In so many ways the months of the pandemic and lockdowns, social distance, mask mandates, and debating if going to religious services is considered essential activities -- all of that feels like it was a million years ago in some dark prehistory. But then it feels so raw and tender even now. Hell, I still encounter people wearing masks out there, and I think the National Teacher's Association still isn't sure we should be letting our kids go to school.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2025
"This is a true story. It happened right here in my home town two years ago. A lot of people die in a lot of weird ways in this story. But you're not going to find it in the news or anywhere like that, because the police and the top people in this town were, like so embarrassed that they weren't able to solve it that they covered everything up. But if you come here and ask anyone, they'll tell you the same thing I'm gonna tell you now. It started in my school ... At 2:17 in the morning, every kid woke up, got out of bed, walked downstairs, and into the dark ... and they never came back."
Some people may think I’m crazy, but as a lifelong horror fan, I feel right now we are in the Golden Age of horror cinema. When you look at the box office this year and last, horror has simply been a dominant force, and I’m loving it. What’s even better is that it is new material that is raking in the money rather than seeing tired retreads of IPs that have been exhausted over and over again. Sinners, though it wasn’t my cup of tea, dominated the box office, and even though I’m not the film’s biggest fan, I still like seeing horror rake in the money.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 17th, 2025
You often hear it said that Tom Cruise is the hardest working actor in Hollywood. I don't want to take anything away from Cruise, but I'd like to nominate Bob Odenkirk for the title. Yes, that Bob Odenkirk from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fame. He's been wanting to do an action film through most of his career, and it would appear to have been a rather farfetched idea at best. But he buddied up to the guys at 87North and 87Eleven Productions. Those are the stunt folks who brought us films like the John Wick series. They didn't laugh at the idea. So Odenkirk trained for four years starting in 2017 to build up his body and learn to do all of those action stunts. The reward came in 2021 with the release of Nobody. It was an action/comedy that gave us the kind of stuff you might expect from a John Wick group.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 17th, 2025
"I like it when people underestimate me. It gives me an edge."
Much like the current thinking about our universe, it all started with The Big Bang Theory. The breakout character there was Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons. For 279 episodes, television fans just couldn't get enough. That was until Parsons asked for a huge boatload of cash and the show ended. The character was not finished. A spin-off called Young Sheldon debuted with Ian Armitage starring as a very young Sheldon, as the name implies. It's pretty much an origin story. Parsons returned, but only to provide the show's narration in a The Wonder Years kind of presentation.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 16th, 2025
"Good evening, Ethan. This is your president. Since you won't reply to anyone else, I thought I'd reach out directly. First, I want to thank you for a lifetime of devoted and unrelenting service; were it not for the tireless dedication of you and your team, the Earth would be a very different place. It might not even be here at all. Every risk you've taken, every comrade you've lost in the field, every personal sacrifice you made, has brought this world another sunrise. It's been 35 years since circumstances brought you to us and you were given the choice -- since the IMF saved you from a life in prison. And though you never followed orders, you never let us down. You were always the best of men in the worst of times. I need you to be that man now."
I imagine this is how it happened. It's January of 2019, and Tom Cruise has just popped into the bathroom to shave. He opens up that can of Barbasol just to make sure there isn't any dinosaur DNA left in the can, but as he takes off the cap, an authoritative voice begins to speak: “Good morning, Mr. Cruise. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to make a two-part film of the Mission Impossible franchise.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 15th, 2025
"One … two … Freddy’s coming for you, three … four … better lock the door, five … six … grab your crucifix ..."
Freddy might have been born in the mind of Wes Craven, but he grew and developed in the knife-wielding hands of Robert Englund. Granted, not all of these films are equal in quality, but the first was everything you could ask for in a horror/slasher film of the era. Freddy himself is by far the most colorful and animated of the slashers. His burned face, fedora, striped sweater, and knife-blade glove were all integral parts of the wise-cracking maniac. Now Warner Brothers has released the original seven films on UHD Blu-ray in Ultra High Definition. It's a dream come true ... well ... at least a nightmare come true.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 15th, 2025
"It wasn't a dream; at least that's what I believe. The thing is I felt hurt and plenty sad, and there were times when I thought I couldn't go on. But I know I'm not the only one suffering. I want to protect everyone's future. I need to keep pushing forward. I feel that more every day."
Ultraman is a huge part of Japanese culture and pretty much has been since the original live-action show in 1966. Perhaps Godzilla started the ball rolling, but Ultraman brought us these monsters on a regular basis. In Japan, Ultraman is like our Superman. He’s an iconic hero and a huge part of the pop culture. Since the 60’s he has appeared in many forms, most of them animated. But it is this 1966 series that made a ton of us kids fall in love with him and an entire genre. Yes, there were many from the era: Space Giants featured a giant fighting robot who fought monsters and sometimes converted into a spaceship (yes, before transformers were ever thought of)
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 7th, 2025
"There are no industry secrets. We can always meet our life partner out in the wild or swiping on apps, but the happy ending to a first date is not the second date. It's changing each other's diapers and burying each other. You're looking for a nursing home partner and a grave buddy. Who our partner is, it determines our whole life and how we live not for one, two, ten years, but forever."
Celine Song delivers her second feature film from the director's chair. She returns to basically the same themes of a woman trying to decide her romantic destiny between two men, but this isn't the same film as Past Lives. Materialists is a much more serious film, while still playing in the same gene pool as the rom-com. I don't think you'll find yourself laughing in this one, and it's a rather clever way of presenting those same themes and ideas. In Materialists, we're introduced to romance being distilled down to a mathematical equation
