Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2017
When I first heard that the Lethal Weapon franchise was moving to television, I had very mixed reactions. Like most fans of the films, I remained hungry for more. My hopes of future films were dashed around the time Mel Gibson began his career as a Hollywood pariah and was abandoned by many in the industry. I guessed almost immediately that the films were over, at least for a very long time. You go through the usual stages of grief, and about the time I reached the acceptance stage, Matthew Miller comes along and decides to revive the franchise for the small screen. At first I was thinking, yes, this is great. Moments later it was more like Why. Apparently I had a few more stages to get through after all. The final stage was really watching the show on Blu-ray from Warner Brothers. And no matter what I say here, that might just be the only way you're going to be able to figure this out for yourself. All I can do is act a bit like a guide.
Lethal Weapon has been and still is about the two main leads. We're talking about Martin Riggs, who was played by Mel Gibson in the films and is now played by Clayne Crawford, and Roger Murtaugh, originated by Danny Glover in the films and now portrayed by Damon Wayans. At the heart of things these are the characters you have come to know and love in the films. But they are different in many ways. The pilot episode introduces us to each of them in their "native" element before bringing them together for their 18-episode first season adventure.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 22nd, 2017
"Book 'em, Danno."
It's been seven years since we started to hear that phrase again. Before 2010, it had been 30 years. Still it persisted in the modern lexicon along with the term Five-0, which is still shouted in high-crime areas in cities all over the country whenever a police presence is felt closing in on the bad guys. Hawaii Five-0 ended in 1980. That's when Tom Selleck took over the sets and production crew on Hawaii to work as Magnum P.I. until 1988 when it all closed down for good -- or did it? Wouldn't you know it, the show has been resurrected and become the hottest drama on television. A younger Steve McGarrett and company are back in action and Hawaii ...the world might never be the same again. Not sure what I'm talking about? You've got six seasons of the new Hawaii Five-O to catch up on. Let's give you the quick 411. Roll wave... Click Here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2017
"Don't you get it? This is all meaningless. Heaven, hell, this world if it ever meant anything, that moment is passed. Nothing down here but a bunch of hopeless, distraction addicts, so filled with emptiness, so desperate to fill up the void. They don't mind being served another stale rerun of a rerun of a rerun."
No stale reruns here. Season 12 of Supernatural picks up exactly where the previous year left off. The brothers are not together at the moment. Dean has just helped out God's sister and gets a pretty sweet gift in return, while Sam's at the bunker and is surprised by a British lass with a gun. She shoots him, and it's off to join these stories into another wild year with an addition to the Winchester family. Who the heck are the Winchesters, you're asking yourself. Man, this is going to take some time, like about 200 hours of time, to get you up to speed. You can't start here, that much is certain. You can find a ton of our Supernatural reviews here Supernatural Reviews, and then you need to cash in those Amazon rewards points to pick up the previous seasons. Once you've done that, you can join us back here, because there's more to the story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 20th, 2017
“You have been my greatest love. Be careful, Diana...they do not deserve you.”
Ever since Richard Donner made us believe that a man can fly with 1978's Superman — considered by many to be the first modern superhero film — we've gotten three different Men of Steel, along with five different versions of Batman (if you don't count Will Arnett's voiceover work). Heck, in the last 15 years alone we've had three Spider-Men and (incredibly) gone through three Hulks! Yet in all that time, a movie starring Wonder Woman — a superhero just as iconic as all the ones I just mentioned — could never get off the ground...until now. I'm happy to report it was worth the wait.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 19th, 2017
"I made a big mistake.... I wanted a new life. I wanted to start over, and that's what I did. But somehow I made things worse. So I reset everything. I put everything back to the way that it was before, except some things weren't the same any more. Not even a little bit."
That something is called Flashpoint. It's one of the biggest events not only in the Flash comic universe, but it had ramifications across the DC landscape and led to more than a few changes in that world. This season of The Flash uses that story arc to guide Season 3, but like everything else in these comic shows, it is quite different than the printed event. That's going to either excite fans or make some of them a little angry. If you can treat the series as its own thing, you're in for a high-speed adventure with the release of The Flash The Complete Third Season from Warner Brothers. But you had best be caught up. This speedster doesn't slow down for anyone, and if you hope to tag along, you should look into the first two seasons. Of course, we're happy to help with our reviews of both seasons that you can catch Here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on September 19th, 2017
By John Delia, Jr.
"Death is but a doorway to new life. We live today. We shall live again. In many forms shall we return." - Egyptian Prayer Of Resurrection.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 19th, 2017
The 12th season of Criminal Minds would be one of great change. Some were expected and some were not. There had been incidents behind the scenes that had drawn red flags among the cast. Thomas Gibson was known to have a temper and had been reprimanded for it in the past. But as the Season 12 shooting began, he crossed the line again by allegedly kicking a writer. It was the last straw, and he was quickly fired from the series. So while the season begins with his character, it only lasts a short time. This is also the first season without Shemar Moore as Derek. That exit was planned and dealt with at the end of the previous season. And while everyone else returned, there was an unexpected return to the cast. Paget Brewster returned as Prentiss in what was originally intended as a short run. The sudden loss of Gibson created an opportunity to promote the character into his spot. Of course Brewster isn't the first to leave and return later. Jennifer Jareau had left for a while and returned to the fold. And while Moore does make a cameo this season and could return, don't expect to see Thomas Gibson on the show again.
As some doors close, others open. Adam Rodriquez from CSI: Miami joins the cast as Agent Luke Alves. The character comes over from a fugitive task force and has a bit more of an aggressive style than the team is used to. He's a loner who lives alone with his dog. So we also get a rather pretty dark German shepherd in a recurring role this season. His addition certainly shakes things up in the character front. Another new face is Damon Gupton, who plays Agent Stephen Walker. He's the direct opposite of Luke. Stephen has a wife and kids and winds down by playing the trombone. To say he jazzes up the cast would be an understatement. But how well do these new characters fit in?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 18th, 2017
“Seems like a new boatload of expatriates gets dumped here every day.”
In The Moderns, “here” happens to be 1926 Paris, a time and place that immediately conjures joie de vivre images of lavish parties and complete artistic freedom. And while both of those things are technically on display in filmmaker Alan Rudolph's 1988 drama, the movie turns down the volume on the Roaring Twenties to explore the tricky and transactional connection between art and commerce...and how it can extend to personal relationships.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 15th, 2017
“What can you tell me about African Americans and science?”
Anyone who even halfway paid attention in their high school science class knows that a polio vaccine was developed in the 1950s. And if you were especially attentive, you even know the vaccine was developed by American researcher Jonas Salk. Unfortunately, the story that is far less commonly told in classrooms is that of Henrietta Lacks, the poor black woman whose “immortalized” HeLa cell line gave birth to the biomedical industry. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks takes a curious approach: instead of merely shining a light on its worthy subject, this powerful (and overstuffed) HBO film is about *the quest* to bring Henrietta back to life.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 9th, 2017
What happens when a group of friends decide they want to get together and make a horror movie? I’d imagine the result would be something close to Granny of the Dead. I’m not sure what kind of budget they had to make the film, but I’d imagine it wasn’t very much, and the talent on the screen doesn’t really scream the next box office star, but the film has charm, the kind of charm that they did the film not because of the paycheck but instead they just wanted to have fun and make a movie. I’m hoping that is the case with the film; if so, then I can forgive a lot. For instance, have you ever seen the fan film that is a shot-for-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark? Is it great? No, but it has so much charm, and you can see how much fun they had making it that you want to watch more. That’s the vibe I got from this film, and again, if that’s the case, bravo for simply getting a movie done and into the hands of critics across the pond.
The set up is simple; a strange supernatural force has seemed to take hold of the elderly individuals of the small Welsh town and in the process has created a zombie outbreak. Ed (Marcus Carroll) wakes up to find his grandmother has turned, and is cooking up his cat but turns her hungry eyes onto him. He escapes to his room and calls up his friend who seems excited by the zombie outbreak and enjoys dispensing his “how to survive the zombie apocalypse” advice.
