Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 22nd, 2014
"There are over 120,000 juveniles incarcerated in detection centers across the United States. Upon release 75% will either return to prison or die in the street. What follows is based on the true story of Camp Kilpatrick and the people there who tried to make a difference."
The Rock -- sorry, Dwayne Johnson, sure has come a long way from his melodramatic days as a WWE superstar. His first major film role, as the Scorpion King in 2001's The Mummy Returns was more about his physical presence than any acting ability. Two years later, he proved he could handle action comedy with The Rundown. Now, with Gridiron Giants, Johnson has added the drama notch to his genre belt.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 21st, 2014
Pacino and Depp in a mob drama about an undercover fed and his unknowing Mafioso mentor? Fuggedaboudit. Donnie Brasco is based on the true story of F.B.I. agent Joe Pistone (Johnny Depp, Blow), who spent six successful years undercover in the New York Mafia, as one Donnie Brasco. The film opens with Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino, Heat), an aging made man, connecting with Donnie about a diamond ring. Donnie’s cover is he’s in the jewelry “business”, and Lefty wants to unload a ring some guy …gave him as payment for a debt. When Donnie insists the ring’s a fake, Lefty goes back to see the guy, bringing Donnie along. The guy still claims it’s the real deal, but Donnie asks for a minute to “talk to him.” Permission from Lefty granted, Donnie smacks the guy around, threatens murder and makes the guy give up the keys to his Porsche.
So starts a tight relationship, between made guy Lefty and Donnie, his connected underling and chosen pupil. Lefty, a killer with 26 hits under his belt, eventually vouches for Donnie to his bosses – a big move, because it means he’s responsible for Donnie. If something goes wrong – like Donnie turning out to be a cop – the mob veteran will die with his protégé. With Lefty standing up for him, Donnie is allowed into the fold of a mafia crew led by Sonny Black (Michael Madsen, Kill Bill), a violent, ambitious leader.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 20th, 2014
"Let me know when the governor gets here."
Well, he's in the house, and I'm going to get a lot of razzing for this review of Last Action Hero. The person who thought I should see a shrink for looking forward to the next Saw film is going to be calling for my outright commitment to an institution dedicated to covering walls with nice padding so we won't hurt ourselves. I know this film is generally considered "bad" by critics and moviegoers alike. It swept the Razzies in 1993 and has since been only the kind of film 10-year-olds would really like to see. Me, I've always simply loved this film. From the first time I saw it at the box office, I was hooked. It was one of the first new laserdiscs I bought back in the day, and I watched the heck out of that disc. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love this movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 20th, 2014
"Tales of monstrous, man-eating anacondas have been recounted for centuries by tribespeople of the Amazon Basin, some of whom are said to worship these giant snakes. Anacondas are among the most ferocious and enormous creatures on Earth."
Today Anaconda would have most certainly been made as a "found-footage" film. All of the makings of one of these trending movies are there. We have a documentary crew in an isolated area, and most of them get killed. Fortunately, the trend wasn't so big in 1997, and so Anaconda got to be the film that it turned out to be. Now Mill Creek is offering a budget-priced release of the film in high definition on Blu-ray. Is it worth even that price? Read on...
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 7th, 2014
"In our findings on Gamera, we've ascertained that: Firstly, it is attracted to and consumes fire. Secondly, it also seems to possess an internal power plant, of sorts. This emits a signal frequency that can jam radio communications. In order to store up energy reserves, Gamera consumes inorganic resources. Not only does it consume petroleum as well as other mineral and fossil fuels, but Gamera may also seek out atomic bombs."
Ask anyone about Japanese monster movies and Gamera usually won't be the first name that comes into their minds. Godzilla would likely dominate the conversation, and for most of the last 60 years the folks at Toho have been synonymous with large monsters. But they didn't exactly hold a monopoly on the big beasts. Kadokawa Pictures had their own little monster franchise going on. It all started in 1954 with Gamera: The Giant Monster. From 1965 through the 1970's the studio would produce eight Gamera films in all. Now Mill Creek has gathered all eight films into two four-movie Blu-ray collections.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 14th, 2012
Living here in Texas, I have to be blunt and admit I do not spend much time outdoors. This is mostly due to the fact that it seems to be summer for almost ten months out of the year and somehow I just don’t dig 90 and 100+ degree temperatures. When I can afford it, I would love to go somewhere with respectable temperatures and be able to walk around in decent weather. Perhaps the Beautiful Planet set is for me, where I get to see beautiful high definition video of some of the planet’s most wonderful places.
Beautiful Planet: England & the Low Countries:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 14th, 2012
Living here in Texas, I have to be blunt and admit I do not spend much time outdoors. This is mostly due to the fact that it seems to be summer for almost ten months out of the year and somehow I just don’t dig 90 and 100+ degree temperatures. When I can afford it, I would love to go somewhere with respectable temperatures and be able to walk around in decent weather. Perhaps the Beautiful Planet set is for me, where I get to see beautiful high definition video of some of the planet’s most wonderful places.
Beautiful Planet: England & the Low Countries:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 6th, 2012
Earth From Above is a French nature documentary series dubbed into English for its American and British Blu-ray release. The host, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, garnered international attention with his renowned photography. He’s best known for his best selling coffee table book, Earth From Above, chronicling his world travels with stunning photos from a bird’s eye view. He then branched into filmmaking, using his unique aerial photographer’s eye to draw attention to world’s conservation and preservation needs. This resulted in an Earth From Above full length feature and eventually this running French series of the same name.
As a staunch environmental activist, Arthus-Bertrand formed a partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and now travels the globe documenting extreme ecological changes, most of which not attributed to the now controversial subject of "climate change" and/or "global warming." This Blu-ray release covers two discs and four programs in the series including So the Great Rivers May Live, Of Forests and Man, 6 Billion People to Feed and Do Wild Animals Still Exist? Each segment is broken into two parts and was aired as two separate episodes in the series.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 2nd, 2012
"It's one thing to see a great white shark on television or from the safe confines of a boat. It's another experience entirely to see the animals in their natural element. There simply is not a single creature on Earth that we're more afraid of."
Man’s always had a rather natural, and healthy, fear of sharks, but it was perhaps the 1975 film Jaws that brought all of those primordial fears bubbling to the surface of our pop culture. Since then sharks have taken an almost mythic position in our culture. They invade our fears, but more importantly they fascinate the heck out of us. Young or old, it doesn’t matter. Sharks are the new dinosaurs, and they aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Come face to face with some of the most dangerous creatures on the planet, with a level of clarity and detail that was once reserved only for those who shared their waters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 1st, 2012
Like a lot of people in general, I strive to get more bang for my buck. Whether it is in grocery shopping, video games or a pizza buffet, I always want to pay the bare minimum and reap the maximum benefit. Another area this holds true is movies. In my collection, there are double packs, triple features and quadruple showings. Today, it just so happens that we have a triple feature from Mill Creek Entertainment that brings us three thrillers: D.O.A, Playing God and Color of Night. This might be a long night.
D.O.A.
Late one night at a police station, a ragged man, Dexter Cornell (played by Dennis Quaid) stumbles in and proceeds to tell the policeman on duty that a murder has been committed. When the desk cop proceeds to ask who, Dexter simply replies “I was.”. Hence starts a series of flashback events of how Dexter Cornell finds himself dying at the hands of an unknown assailant. In fact, it was just thirty six hours ago when the man was simply teaching writing at a local college.
