Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2026
It has been a very long time since I have done a film or television review thanks to a wonderful thing known as life. Life often gets in the way of even the most basic hobbies but is often rewarding, or at least pretends to be. So, surely the first review I have had in such a long time will be a wondrous one full of majestic characters and a stirring plot worthy of rousing ambition to the sounds of chaotic beats. *Looks across at package* Hazbin Hotel Season One on Blu-ray. *Googles the synopsis* *Sighs deeply* I mean, if my editor wanted me to stay in quasi-retirement, he should have said so. At least the chaotic beats part seems to be accurate. Let's take a look.
Are we familiar with the story of the angel Lucifer and Lilith, the first woman? No? Well then, let's go over it. Lilith was the first woman with Adam, and she left that man because he was controlling (mmmm hmmm). She then shacked up with the angel Lucifer instead. Then they gave Eve, the second woman, free will through the famous apple. This created Hell, and then those two, Lucifer and Lilith, were sent there as punishment.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 22nd, 2026
"I'm not a bad guy. I just made bad choices. I have a plan."
Derek Cianfrance doesn't have a lot of movies in the director's chair, but his 2012 The Place Beyond The Pines was a pretty solid film. Since then he's been pretty quiet, and he's finally surfaced once again with the rather off-kilter "based on a true story" crime comic drama Roofman. He's brought Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, and Peter Dinklage along for the ride. It's been something of a sleeper, coming with little advanced buzz and flying under the radar. It was a pretty good hit at the box office, and now Paramount has released the film on UHD-Blu-ray in 4K.
Posted in: Hardware Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 15th, 2026
"Imagine, a world without, murder. 6 years ago, the homicidal rates had reached epidemic proportions. It seemed that only a miracle could stop the bloodshed, but instead of 1 miracle, we were given 3, the precognitive. Within 3 months of the precrime program, the homicidal rates in the District of Columbia had reduced 90 percent. 6 Years in the precrime program, and there hasn't been a single murder. Now, the system can work for you. We want to make sure that this great system is what will keep us safe will also keep us free. On April 24, vote yes on the national Precrime initiative."
From the mind of Philip K. Dick there was a rush of box office gold that lasted several years. His Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep came Bladerunner. From We Can Remember It For You Wholesale came Total Recall... twice. After the first Total Recall there was plans of using Dick's The Minority Report as a sequel. The stories are unrelated but there was a script prepared and somewhere along the way the film got tabled and sat unproduced for decades. It wasn't until both Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise took an interest in the project that the script was dusted off and taken for a spin. But there had been too much time since Total Recall and so screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen decided to return to the source material and create the stand-alone movie that would become Minority Report. It was the first time one of Dick's stories would make it to the screen with at least a version of the story's actual title. These guys just added the requisite The and the story was now ready for prime time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 15th, 2026
"Imagine a world without murder. Six years ago, the homicidal rates had reached epidemic proportions. It seemed that only a miracle could stop the bloodshed, but instead of one miracle, we were given three, the precognitive. Within three months of the precrime program, the homicidal rates in the District of Columbia had reduced 90 percent. Six years in the precrime program, and there hasn't been a single murder. Now, the system can work for you. We want to make sure that this great system that will keep us safe will also keep us free. On April 24, vote yes on the national precrime initiative."
From the mind of Philip K. Dick, there was a rush of box office gold that lasted several years. From his Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep came Bladerunner. From We Can Remember It For You Wholesale came Total Recall ... twice. After the first Total Recall, there were plans of using Dick's The Minority Report as a sequel. The stories are unrelated, but there was a script prepared, but somewhere along the way the film got tabled and sat unproduced for decades. It wasn't until both Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise took an interest in the project that the script was dusted off and taken for a spin. But there had been too much time since Total Recall, so screenwriters Scott Frank and Jon Cohen decided to return to the source material and create the standalone movie that would become Minority Report. It was the first time one of Dick's stories would make it to the screen with at least a version of the story's actual title. These guys just added the requisite "The", and the story was now ready for prime time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 7th, 2026
"Two little mice fell in a bucket of cream. The first mouse quickly gave up and drowned. The second mouse wouldn't quit. He struggled so hard that eventually he churned that cream into butter and crawled out. Gentlemen, as of this moment, I am that second mouse.”
Frank, Jr. is that second mouse ... and then some. Before his 19th birthday, Frank Abagnale Jr. posed as a pilot, doctor, lawyer, and secret service agent in an uncanny crime spree that saw him forging millions of dollars worth of fraudulent checks. This film chronicles the fantastic yet true adventure with large doses of fun injected into the two-and-a-half-hour-long chase."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 18th, 2025
"Sometimes I feel the past is a more comfortable place than the future."
I think for anything to have a grand finale, it has to have been grand to begin with. And I don't think one could argue that Downton Abbey hasn't been grand, at least at some points in its life. Downton Abbey spent six years on television and has amassed 52 episodes. In that relatively short run, the series has also managed to collect over 200 award nominations and several Golden Globes along with other prestigious awards. Let's not forget a rather loyal fan-base that has watched each episode with anticipation of the next sharp barb or character revelation and will insist on franchise authenticity. In one of its years it was the number-one binged series in the world. That's a lot of power, and it's little wonder that all of these ingredients were expected to create a little box office gold. But film franchises from television shows rarely go on to such golden heights. There are some notable exceptions, to be sure. But even here, expectations and changing caretakers often lead to both high points and flops. The Star Trek franchise is a perfect example of those kinds of ups and downs. Mission Impossible is an example of shows that have to be completely retooled to hit the high numbers. Now that the expected last film has been released, where will Downton Abbey fit in this equation? The fans have been vocal and strong enough that a new film franchise had been anticipated to fill the void left by the series almost at once, and those fans weren't disappointed. But how will they feel now that it has all come to an end?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 15th, 2025
“Now we’re playing some football.”
Let’s just start with the high marks: Marlon does his thing, which I fully expected that he would. Right when you think that we have already seen the best that he has to offer, he finds a new gear, and let it be known that he will not be typecast as just a comedian or as a writer or as producer. He is, in fact, him. Pun intended. Tyriq Withers shows some promise as a leading man, and like his character is clearly hungry to make a name for himself, with this project being his second box office horror appearance this year (the other being I Know What You Did Last Summer). Also, you can see Jordan’s Peele’s influence on the film, as there are a handful of similarities to his previous projects. However, Him, while entertaining, does not achieve the same impact as those aforementioned projects. There was plenty of intrigue, but the train somewhat comes off the track, particularly in regard to the film’s conclusion.
Posted in: 1.85:1 Widescreen, 2160p, Classic, Dolby Digital Atmos, Drama, UHD Blu-ray (4K), Warner Bros. by Gino Sassani on November 14th, 2025
"Well, gentlemen, in my opinion, if we send him back to Pendleton or we send him up to Disturbed, it's just one more way of passing on our problem to somebody else. You know, we don't like to do that. So I'd like to keep him on the ward. I think we can help him."
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was the first movie I ever saw on HBO. These were the very early days of the cable network. It was before the dawn of any real home video. It was at my Aunt Shirley's house that several members of the extended family gathered in dining room chairs around a 19-inch television to watch a movie uncut and without commercial interruption for the first time in our lives. A lot has changed since that 1970's afternoon at my aunt's house. Today we have hundreds of such choices on our television dials. I've seen a huge wave of home video technologies since that day that have included CED video discs, VHS/Beta, laserdisc, DVD, high-definition Blu-ray and now on UHD Blu-ray in glorious 4K The entire game has changed since that gathering 50 years ago. One thing has not changed a bit. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was a dynamic and compelling film that day. It remains so today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 31st, 2025
"Some called Bregna the perfect society. Some call it the height of human civilization. But others know better. The Goodchilds built Bregna to ensure us a future. They built the Relico, a memorial to remind us of what we've survived. They built walls to protect us. They tell us that outside, nature has retaken the world. But the real problems lie within. We are haunted by sorrows we cannot name. People disappear, and our government denies these crimes. The Goodchild regime provides for us, as long as we stay quiet. So we trade freedom for a gilded cage. But there are rebels who refuse to make that trade, who fight to overthrow a government that silences us, who fight in the name of the disappeared. They call themselves the Monicans. I am one of them."
It all started as the brainchild of Peter Chung. It was an adult anime series that aired on MTV from 1991 to 1995. The series looked at a dystopian future where all kinds of "beings" existed, mostly from the practice of too much cloning, which eventually led to mutants and other strange creatures. In this dark future, humanity has fallen to basically two city-states . In Bregna, a scientist-dictator named Trevor Goodchild appears to rule with an iron thumb. They are the blood enemies of the other settlement, Monica. The animated series attempted to take on some highly philosophical themes, and the series was very stylish, calling from both anime and early German Expressionism. While not a huge hit, the animated shows drew in a very loyal following, and it wasn't long before that material would find itself as a live-action feature film. Unfortunately Peter Chung did not have a ton of input, and wasn't a fan of the result. The box office numbers were dismal, and any plans for a film franchise pretty much died in 2005 with the release of Aeon Flux. Now the film celebrates its 20th anniversary with a UHD Blu-ray (4K) release.
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. This is strictly a rumor that I heard, but apparently we were just a centimeter away from the film being called F1: That Thing You Watch On Your Phone. Of course, I have always suspected that the studio powers that be might have my picture up on that dart board. But don't worry; there's little chance one of these things will be named after me. Whatever it happens to be called this week, F1 or F1: The Movie is out right now, and this gives you a chance to bring Formula One racing right into your home theater experience. How does that car commercial go? Zoom Zoom.
