Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 22nd, 2009
I grew up on the Peanuts creations of Charles M. Schulz. Most of us have, in some way or another. His newspaper comic strip is one of the longest running and most successful strips of all time. The work has been translated into every language currently spoken on the planet. The images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have appeared on just about any kind of product imaginable. Our pop culture contains too many references to the strip to mention briefly. For me, it was the television specials starting in the mid 1960’s that brought the gang into my life.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 4th, 2009
At first glance, it is quite easy to see why this show has been compared to Sex and the City by many critics, and is about to again by yours truly. Mainly this comparison occurs because of the shows’ similarly humorous approach to sex, never wavering from any sort of topic therein. The first similarly I noticed though was the meta-cinematic use of our heroine Hannah (who escorts under the moniker “Belle”) when she talks to the audience directly. This device was only utilized in Sex and the City’s first season but we still see a similar mix of voice-over narration (which would take over Sex and the City) and the viewer being acknowledged (used more often than not with Secret Diary…).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 19th, 2009
My history with Westerns isn’t exactly a vast one. I watched a bunch of Westerns with my dad growing up and I continued to watch the bigger ones of the modern era like Tombstone and Unforgiven as I progressed through my teenage years and young adulthood. John Wayne is kinda a mystery to me. He’s a huge gritty guy with a lot of patriotism and a funny way of talking. For lack of a better analogy, Sylvester Stallone is my generation’s John Wayne. Or Chuck Norris I guess. El Dorado is an interesting western flic because it was shot later in John Wayne’s career but he had still had the swagger of earlier pictures. A true classic revisited by the minds at Paramount.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2009
“Symbols are a language that helps us to understand our past. As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words, but which words? Understanding our past determines actively our ability to understand the present. So, how do we sift truth from belief? How do we write our own histories, personally and culturally, and thereby define ourselves? How do we penetrate years, centuries of historical distortion to find the original truth? Tonight, that will be our quest.”
Conspiracies can be fun. We all buy into them to one degree or another.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 30th, 2009
The day of October 31st is usually Halloween to most people. However, back in 1992 it was the day one of the best cartoon superhero shows premiered on the Fox Network. It was simply called X-Men. The show would last seventy-six episodes and five seasons while rising to considerable popularity. I’m not one to toot personal bias, but this is probably my second favorite comic book related animated show next to Batman: The Animated Series. Most of us X-Men fans have been waiting for these episodes to be released for as long as the dvd format has existed. Finally that time has come and I couldn’t be more delighted to watch these again.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 23rd, 2009
I’m not a wrestling fan. There is very little about that world that holds any charm for me. I find the grandiose posturing to be rather dull. The characters aren’t all that interesting to me, and I don’t find myself compelled to spend 100 bucks on a “free for all” pay per view event. With that said, this film did bring back a flood of memories for me. When I was a kid, perhaps 11 or 12, I looked at wrestling a little differently. I had an uncle who would watch it from time to time, but the television version never held much for me even then. I grew up in a relatively middle sized town in eastern Pennsylvania. If you play Monopoly, you’ve heard of the Reading Railroad.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 23rd, 2009
Sin City arrives in high definition with some pretty high expectations. You get both versions of the movie here, and I have to say that I’m very pleased to see that. By now fans of the movie have seen the recut version of Sin City and likely have your own opinions as to what you thought of it. The fan base appears to be somewhat divided on the effort. For me it’s never been a case of better or worse. It’s merely a case of different. The two versions are very different experiences. Watching the recut version is not really like watching a movie at all. Frank Miller presents them more akin to the original graphic novel experience.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 10th, 2009
Jim Carrey’s life and career are in a sort of mid-life crisis. He has avoided doing his usual goofball comedy films and opted for more serious roles. His appearance in Number 23 was a bit of a shock for most of us, but he pulled it off reasonably well. Even his more recent comedies have often been less about one crazy character and more about the story elements. It seems that he has decided it was time to return to the parts that made him a household name with Yes Man. But after watching Yes Man,,I have to wonder if maybe that genre has passed him by.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 3rd, 2009
To Catch A Thief is not typical Alfred Hitchcock territory, but then again, it really is. It’s not a terribly suspenseful film coming from the acclaimed “Master of Suspense”, nor is it at all a frightening film even though it was directed by one of horror’s genius minds. What really is scary, however, is how close to a different film this almost was. Cary Grant had exiled himself into retirement. If you can believe his statements at the time, he was concerned that the moviegoing public was pretty much sick of seeing him and preferred the younger actors just then coming of age. He turned Hitchcock down for the role at least twice, before Hitch made a personal visit and appeal to the Hollywood legend.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 2nd, 2009
The Odd Couple began as a concept when playwright Neil Simon observed his recently divorced brother share an apartment with another divorced guy. He developed it into a very successful play. In the original play Walter Matthau played Oscar, but it was The Honeymooners star Art Carney who played Felix. Both actors were offered the parts for the film. Carney declined. It was because of the onscreen chemistry between Matthau and Jack Lemon on the film The Fortune Cookie that led to Lemmon being cast as Felix. The decision was a stroke of genius.
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