Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2008
I understand that The Game Plan was never intended for adult audiences. So I tried to make allowances by remembering that the film wasn’t targeted at me specifically. Even knowing all of that going in, I found The Game Plan a really hard film to watch. If you’ve read enough of my reviews you already know that I can enjoy a kid’s film as much as anyone else. The problem is I don’t think I would have enjoyed this movie even when I was 8 years old. The first problem is the little girl. While I’m sure that Madison Pettis is cute as a button and probably says the dandiest things, she was entirely too annoying for most of the picture. I found her tone to be simply grating. The next issue is going to sound sexist, and perhaps it is, but if you want a football film to connect with the guys out there, don’t hire three women to write it. Nichole Millard, Kathryn Price, and Audrey Wells might be great writers, but they don’t know football, and it shows. I have to say this was about the most unrealistic football action I’ve seen in a movie. I get better stuff off my Madden 08 and my Playstation. Everything looked like it was happening in slow motion and lacked any kind of grit and guts I expect from my football. The Rock does about the best he can with the role. It’s true he did play some football in college at the Mighty “U”. There he played on the defensive side of the ball and lacks credibility here as an elite QB. I get this picture of Peyton Manning or Dan Marino laughing their collective behinds off watching this sad excuse for football. In the extras we hear they hired “real” football players…out of the Arena League. What a joke.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 22nd, 2008
As expressed before, I have a certain fondness for Garfield. The larger than life orange tabby cat has been a staple of my comic strip reading diet for more than 20 years. I've watched Garfield & Friends, seen the longer animated specials, and even sat through the first of the full length movies (I couldn't stomach the nerve for the second one). So naturally, I was a little excited when I heard that Garfield would be a full CGI showing in a new dvd called Garfield Gets Real I just hoped it would be better than what I've heard about the Tale of Two Kitties
Garfield has become bored with the comic strip world. He lives in his cartoon house with owner Jon and his sidekick Odie. He goes to work (yes, Garfield does work; well in a manner of speaking) with friends like Nermal and Arlene. He shoots a daily comic strip which is seen by many newspapers in the real world. However, when Odie sticks a bone through a hole that leads to the real world, Garfield realizes that this is his ticket to alleviate boredom and soon decides to go through the hole himself. Odie follows (mostly for his bone). Once there, Garfield realizes the real world is quite different from his own (despite looking very similar) despite finding a few cats and dogs to hang out with. Trouble ensues when the newspaper starts looking for a replacement strip and then it is only a matter of time before Garfield is desperately trying to find his way home.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 21st, 2007
Something strange happened to me this week. I had two particular films arrive that I was to review. Stardust and Underdog. I expected to love one of them and basically tolerate the other. If you’ve read my recent Stardust review, you already know which was which. I expected to love Stardust and ended up hating it. I expected just a lot of silly nonsense from Underdog, and that’s what I got, except I had a great time watching it. The film is far more entertaining even to adults than I ever could have imagined.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 26th, 2007
In 1988 the original Land Before Time animated feature enjoyed moderate success at the box office. This is the 12th direct to video sequel in what Universal describes as a billion dollar franchise. A lot has changed since the original film. None of the voice actors from the feature remain. The animation is really Saturday morning cartoon quality and has none of the detail work that Don Bluth gave to the first film. It seems these little gems have been coming out about once a year since around 1994.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 7th, 2007
I must admit that from the moment I first heard about this Pixar film I was abnormally indifferent. I can’t explain exactly what it was that kept me from the theaters, but this is the first time I missed a Pixar film in its original release. I like rats, so it wasn’t the subject matter. Perhaps the unpronounceable title is to blame. I will admit it conjures nothing for me, so I found it hard to get excited about what I might see. This is rare, because I have eagerly awaited these outings based not only on the story idea but knowing it will be a treat in every aspect from design to technological wizardry. So finally I sat down to watching this elusive Pixar presentation for the first time on DVD. I have to say my instincts were almost right on. This is by far the least interesting entry from the Pixar folks so far. Which is not to say the film is bad or not somewhat entertaining. It doesn’t stand out. This could have been Dreamworks or Sony or a dozen other CG workshops. The only thing that stood out was the quality and detail of the work.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 6th, 2007
Pixar has become somewhat of a fixture around here, as I suspect it has in many homes across the world. For the most part the films have been nothing short of magic. I’m not only talking about the ever improving technological breakthroughs the company seems to have an endless supply of. The films often contain a warmth and friendliness that wear easily like a favorite shirt. They comfort and entertain all at the same time. It’s really a pretty good mix that they ended up at Walt Disney, which did the same thing for decades in hand drawn animation. To date there have been many copies but no equals.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 16th, 2007
Every time I long for the free and easy days of my youth, something like Disney Princess Enchanted Tales comes along to remind me why it's good to be done with childhood. If I was a kid, I'd be entertained by this stuff. Since I can no longer appreciate kid-friendly, sitcom-like productions, I will imagine I'm a seven-year-old girl for the remainder of this review. In order to keep things nice and coherent, though, I'll write like I'm not.
All you need to know about this original release from Disney is that it's Disney-lite, with lower production values and more heavy-handed stories. However, I'm sure it will please children, especially those who love all things princess.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on August 16th, 2007
Written by Evan Braun
I guess you could call this the epitome of good, clean, wholesome children's entertainment. It's hard for me to accurately say just how it rates compared to other similar programs, since I haven't seen anything like it for 15-20 years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 7th, 2007
Superheroes come in all shapes and sizes these days, so it doesn’t really surprise me to find out that one is a big blue tick. I don’t think The Tick has any special Lyme Disease Ray, and I have yet to see him bite anyone, but he sure has a knack for stopping the bad guys. This Ben Edlund creation is one of those American Dream success stories. The independent comic was created to promote a local comic book store in Boston. Edlund, only 17 years old at the time, tapped into a wonderful spoof of the comic superhero molds. He populated his book with very colorful characters easily recognizable as the original ones he was spoofing. Within 10 years The Tick would become a children’s cartoon staple. There is an appealing degree of wit and intelligence in this cartoon that honestly looks kind of stupid on the surface. The Tick isn’t the sharpest tool in the toolbox and is rather naïve for a super crime fighting master. He’s surrounded by an equally kooky group of characters, assisted mostly by his sidekick, Arthur. The villains are just as outlandish and out there as The Tick and his comrades are.
   The DVD set’s clever title is The Tick vs. Season Two. The collection could not honestly be called The Complete Second Season because one of the episodes is mysteriously missing. I’ve been informed that the episode, Alone Together, was removed for rights issues. The same thing happened in the first year. Sometimes spoofs can be a little too close to another property, and perhaps that explains the missing toons. Fans will also be a little bummed that favorite Micky Dolenze, yes he’s that wacky The Monkees drummer, no longer voices Arthur. Rob Paulson takes over the job, and the difference does take some getting used to. The episodes are also not quite as strong as the first season. The single standout has to be the Christmas extravaganza, The Tick Loves Santa. The Tick’s love for Santa almost keeps him from nabbing the bad guy when an electrical accident converts him into “Multi-Santaâ€, a clone-like group of larceny-minded Kringles.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 2nd, 2007
Superheroes are huge these days, at least most of them are. Some are a little under 3 feet. In the Disney afternoon universe of Ducktales comes Darkwing Duck, or DW as his friends and arch enemies refer to him. Darkwing appropriately enough inhabits a more sinister side of the Ducktales world where he is ever vigilante for the exotic criminals that threaten St. Canard. If you still don’t get the idea, think of Adam West’s Batman as a Disney duck. DW comes complete with the prerequisite Duckmobile and steady supply of crime fighting gadgets and gizmos. His faithful, if not overly intelligent, sidekick is Ducktales holdover Launchpad McQuack. When not fighting crime, DW has the expected secret identity of Drake Mallard. Just to finish the Batman comparisons, Drake has a ward, of sorts, Gosalyn, his adopted daughter. Like Robin, Gosalyn is ever helpful in DW’s capers. Once in a while DW is challenged by a secret villainous society, The Fiendish Organization of World Larceny, or F.O.W.L. for short. There are some 60’s secret agent themes to be found here, but they are far more Maxwell Smart than James Bond.
Darkwing Duck appears to be aiming at some of the adults in the audience. It appears to me that a lot of the cultural references and even plot points might be over the head of the typical afternoon cartoon crowd. Disney, cleverly, integrates enough of the 1960’s comic nostalgia to sucker in the parents as well. Lately I’ve been in my own trip down memory lane thanks to the release of many of my Marvel Comics favorites on DVD-ROM. I’ve been able to reacquaint myself with the likes of Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four beyond the modern films, recreated from the pages of their original exploits. Perhaps that makes me more alert for the obvious references. All of the villains could easily have come from these very color-splattered pages of adolescent excitement. This means that all you parents out there might end up joining your kids in watching these DVD’s.
