Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 23rd, 2009
Animal films have done quite well at the box office in recent years. Who can forget the astounding appeal of March Of The Penguins. With wonderful cinematography and the commanding narration of Morgan Freeman, the film took the box office by storm. There have been countless efforts to reproduce those results ever since. The latest of these to hit Blu-ray is the indoctrination piece, Arctic Tale. I say indoctrination because this movie is never content with following the natural migration or struggles of the animals it depicts. Instead the film uses contrived dangers that were staged, for the most part, to drive home the “undisputed” message that mankind is destroying the frozen habitat that these animals rely on for their existence. Whatever your politics, or opinions on global warming, there is still plenty of evidence to support the opposing position. With that said, it’s a little too early to use children and furry animals to attempt to present the theory as established fact to our children. The film attempts to work on the young folks’ emotions as we witness man induced pain, struggle, and even death on the polar bear and walrus populations. The film is even somewhat femalecentric. The female animals get names. The male animals are referred to merely as “the little brother” or “male polar bear”. It’s a slanted piece of propaganda, that doesn’t even break any new ground. Some of the footage is repeated in the similar release, A Polar Bear Adventure.
There is some remarkable footage here, in addition to the standard stock elements. It’s pretty obvious that many polar bears are photographed as the “family” we are supposed to be following. The work is the result of a husband and wife team who have made it their life’s work to study and capture these animals on film. The work is often good, and some of the footage is truly stunning. It’s a shame they decided to taint their remarkable efforts with so much posturing and bias. Queen Latifah provides the narration. She tries too hard to be sweet and dramatic in a “once upon a time” manner that she fails to truly inspire the way Freeman did with his narration. This approach further illustrates that the target audience here really is our children. There are better animal shows out there, which provide just as wonderful photography without the political spin. Even Animal Planet has provided some very memorable programs in recent years. There are really just too many comparable choices out there; many of them cost you only the cable bill you’re already paying. Let your children get their values and political beliefs from you, not from their movies. During the credits, children tell you how your actions are killing the cute Arctic animals. Just what I’d want my kid to think. “Daddy, why are we killing polar bears with out SUV?”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 23rd, 2009
After five years on the air, Hawaii Five-O entered its sixth season pretty much unchanged. There was actually very little change over the years. McGarrett was still on the case with his trusted Danno and Chin-Ho. The Hawaiian settings continued to showcase the locations of the island chain as well as much of the state’s local acting talent. But most of all, the show kept up with the quality of stories. The season began with an armless man out to kill the cops he holds responsible for his condition. The episode, Hookman, would get the season off to a solid start. Charter For Death brings plague infested rats to the island and a quarantine. The Sunday Torch means there’s an arsonist on the loose who only sets fires on Sunday. Is a Federal officer to blame for the death of a wealthy tax evader? McGarrett must catch one of their own in Murder Is A Taxing Affair. McGarrett must protect a visiting dictator from a female hired killer who looks like the target’s own daughter in A Bullet For El Diablo. Is a cop on a rape and murder spree in Hawaii? Find out in Nightmare In Blue. These are just a few of the cases for the gang at Five-O in this 6th season collection.
Working in Hawaii on one of televisions hottest shows in the 1970’s was too good a job for most of the cast and crew of Hawaii Five-0. This meant that there was very little cast turnover for the series in general, and none going into the fourth year. Jack Lord saw his star rise considerably, and while he began to see some serious pay hikes, even he wasn’t about to kill the golden goose. With this kind of consistency, fans were never disappointed or turned off by drastic changes in the cast or formula. With this cop show, it was all about tropical locations and formula. The fifth season was no exception to the rule.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 19th, 2009
"Space...The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!"
Star Trek: The Original Series finally makes it to high definition. If you’re anything like me, you’ve been waiting for this day for what seems like centuries. They’re here. One of the best features about this set is the multi-angle option. Remember how we were promised all of this control way back when DVD’s first hit the market? We got the same promises when Blu-ray arrived, and we weren’t going to hold our breath. Hey, I still have a red, yellow, blue, and green button on my Blu-ray remote. What are they ever going to be good for? Anyway, we finally have a use for the angle button. You can use it to toggle between the new digital f/x Paramount recently created for the show, or you can watch the original f/x if you’d rather. With that button you now have the ability to toggle between the two. Through the use of branching technology you can go between them as often as you like and never stop the show. I will warn you, however, that many of these shots occur so quickly that the second delay in transition might not allow you to see the entire segment. It also does not change while the video is in pause. It’s one of the best new features out there and perhaps the best reason to upgrade your recent purchase of season one to the Blu-ray release.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 17th, 2009
Everybody who is old enough remembers Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. It was once one of the highest rated shows on television. On NBC it ran from 1963 until 1971. It would continue to run in syndication for decades. An elder Marlin Perkins would host the show, while a young Jim Fowler would be out in the field. Every week they would show us animals in the wild from all over the world. Long before there was a Crocodile Hunter or Nigel, there was Wild Kingdom. Strange Wilderness attempts to urinate all over our fond memories, all the while trying to tell us that it’s funny. As Terry Bradshaw is fond of saying, “That ain’t funny.” Say it again, Terry. “That ain’t funny at all”.
Peter (Zahn) is the son of a world renowned naturalist and star of the classic television show, Strange Wilderness. He’s gone now, and Peter has taken over the show. No longer an educational platform, Peter doesn’t let things like facts or work interfere with his version of the show. It doesn’t take long before he’s destroyed the show’s credibility and lost any following the show might still have. He’s been relegated to the 3 A.M. timeslot. He’s about to get cancelled when a rival nature show producer, Sky Pierson (Hamlin) pitches his program to the station. He has two weeks to turn the series around, or it’s gone. Enter Bill Calhoun (Baker) an old friend and colleague of Peter’s father. He claims to possess a map that reveals the lair of Bigfoot. So, in an entirely unlikely series of events, the incompetent crew heads off to South America to capture Bigfoot on video and save the show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2009
Raise your hand if you’re sick and tired of Lindsay Lohan. Fortunately I can type with one hand. Honestly. How did this girl get to be so big? Why is she dominating our entertainment news cycles? Are there more than a handful of folks out there who think she has any talent at all? She’s nothing close to hot. It’s that wonderful modern phenomenon of being famous for being famous. It really does tend to color one’s opinions when you watch her in a film. She’s so overexposed, in more ways than one, that it’s impossible to watch her play any character without seeing the spoiled bratty whiner she has become so perfect at. Here she is supposed to be playing the sympathetic character, but am I just incredibly nasty because I can’t help but take glee in any punishment her character’s given? I’m rooting for the bad guys, or the Mean Girls, as the case may be.
Mean Girls has all the earmarks of a Saturday Night Live skit that ran too long. It could have to do with the production team that includes Lorne Michaels and the writing team that includes Tina Fey. And, while I’m at it, you know, I’m getting sick and tired of Fey, as well. These efforts at times go remarkably well, but more often than not, go horribly awry. Can you guess what direction this one goes? Actually, you might be surprised. Mean Girls is actually quite watchable and at times even very entertaining. It makes you wonder what in the heck happened to Lindsay Lohan.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2009
The curtain finally falls on Wings on DVD some 12 years after the show came in for its final approach on television in 1997. The end was a planned one so that the final episode was a fitting goodbye for the series and its collection of crazy characters. The final episode finds Joe and Helen off to Vienna to live while Helen studies cello. Brian is left alone to man the business. For us, we’ll get this one last chance to laugh it up with the clever and often hilarious television series.
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. Grace Kelly was also reluctant to do the part. She did it because she loved working for Hitch. Unfortunately, Paramount had other plans. They were troubled that Grant was nearly twice Kelly’s age, and worried either the public or the standards censors would not accept the situation. They were half right. While the film was one of Hitch’s toughest battle with the Standards folks, the public flocked to see Grant and Kelly on the screen together. Grant would continue his return to acting for over a decade longer. Not so Grace Kelly. The Philadelphia native would have her faithful meeting with Prince Rainier of Monaco and would spend nearly 30 years portraying the larger than life, but real nonetheless, Princess Grace of Monaco, before a tragic automobile accident would end her life. All the same, To Catch A Thief would remain one of her last films. Hitch almost lured her out of retirement some years later, but she declined, saying that if she were to do a film, Hitchcock was about the only man she would have done it for.
John Robie (Grant) is a renowned jewel thief and cat burglar. While he’s been retired for fifteen years, he’s still the prime suspect when a rash of burglaries occurs on the French Riviera. The MO is the same as Robie’s, and before long the police are blaming him for the work of France’s newest celebrity thief, The Cat. Robie sees only one chance to get himself out from under the mess. He has to go to the area and catch the real thief. Once there he hooks up with insurance agent Hughson (Williams) who cooperates on the off chance his company can be spared these high payouts. Robie also meets young and attractive socialite Frances Stevens (Kelly), who sets her sights on catching this thief for her own. She constantly tries to seduce Robie, knowing who he is and suspecting him of being The Cat. When her own family jewels turn up missing, she begins to rethink the dangerous game she was playing. That only gives Robie even more incentive to catch the real crook. Will Robie catch The Cat? Will Frances catch Robie? Only Hitch knew for sure, and in 1955 audiences found out in the film classic, To Catch A Thief.
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. If you look at it on its surface, there really isn’t much of a story here at all. It is the connection and relationship between these characters, and subsequently these actors, that made this film the classic that it is. Also returning from the play to reprise their roles were Monica Evans and Carole Shelley as the amusing Pigeon Sisters, roles they would actually repeat for the television series two years later.
When I watch this film, I will admit that it’s often a little hard to get the images of Jack Klugman and Tony Randall out of my mind. Most folks have had far more exposure to that 5 year television series than they have with the original film. To me, they will always be those characters. In fact Klugman replaced Matthau on the stage as Oscar before he took the role on television. Still, even with that bias, it is awfully hard not to get drawn into this film. For me characters and performances can be everything. That’s what makes this film have the lasting power it has enjoyed. Most of the film, as the play, takes place inside the apartment. There is a very limited cast, often just Felix and Oscar on the screen. Certainly there are some great moments with the poker buddies and the Pigeon Sisters, but most of the film takes place in a limited environment with just two actors. If you can make that work at all, let alone create a classic experience from it, that’s saying something. There were a few outside locations utilized in the film that were not part of the original play. These were placed there just to give the viewers a change of scenery but were totally unnecessary.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 26th, 2009
On January 23, 2002 Daniel Pearl, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped and eventually killed by terrorists while working in Pakistan. A Mighty Heart is based on this true story. The narrative comes from the book by his wife Marianne Pearl. While this is certainly the tragic tale of a murdered reporter, this film is more the story of Marianne and her struggle to locate Pearl in the 10 days from his capture until a video tape surfaced depicting his beheading.
A Mighty Heart begins with us getting to know Daniel Pearl (Futterman), and it quickly takes us through the events leading to his capture. From here on out the theme shifts to the massive investigation to find him. Various American and Pakistani agencies come together to track down every lead in a relentless search. We are cleverly kept bonded to Pearl through well placed flashbacks mostly dealing with intimate moments shared with his wife. Her memories keep Pearl alive for us as they must have for her during those trying times. Of course, if you are at all familiar with these events, and who isn’t, you already know that this film has no happy ending. There aren’t even any satisfying answers left to at least leave you with some feeling of closure. You will leave, perhaps, with more questions than when you started. But there are no easy answers to be found here, and any attempt to provide them would not be honest if the film intends to make an impact as this one does. There are no apologies made, nor should there be for the brutal way the terrorists and their pursuers are portrayed and the culture in which they thrive.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 12th, 2009
Actor Edward Norton first came to my attention in the heist film, The Score. I hadn’t heard a lot about the bright young actor, but I remember that he impressed me quite a bit. When you consider he was playing along with the likes of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, that’s no small achievement. Somewhere along the way I missed the 1996 release of Primal Fear. Based on the William Diehl novel, the film would be the first major feature to star Norton. It was a breakout character and a breakout performance. He deservedly was nominated for an Academy Award for the role, one he likely should have received. Norton wears the skin of this troubled teen so closely and so effectively that it can be quite chilling at times to watch. Richard Gere might have been the bankable star for this movie, but Edward Norton walked away with the whole thing in his back pocket, and has never looked back. This was also the first feature for television director/writer Gregory Hoblit. Hoblit was best known then as the Steven Bochco protégé who worked on Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue. His gritty attention to detail made him a perfect fit for these ultra realistic cop dramas, but perhaps it was his work on Bochco’s legal drama L.A. Law that better prepared him for the legal thriller Primal Fear. The combination would be a formidable one, and it makes me rather sorry I missed out on this one at the box office back in 1996.
Fortunately, the arrival of Blu-ray allows people like myself to visit these missed films in a format that brings out all of the detail and glory that the film enjoyed upon its original release. With a solid transfer and some care towards the print and transfer, you can take the trip you missed out on before. Primal Fear is one such missed opportunity brought to life in high definition.
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