Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2026
"You know the results of the latest Gallup Poll? Half the country never even heard of the word Watergate. Nobody gives a shit. You guys are probably pretty tired, right? Well, you should be. Go on home, get a nice hot bath. Rest up ... 15 minutes. Then get your asses back in gear. We're under a lot of pressure, you know, and you put us there. Nothing's riding on this except the, Oh, first amendment to the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country. Not that any of that matters, but if you guys f' up again, I'm going to get mad. Goodnight."
The more things change, the more they remain the same. Most of you were not born when Richard Nixon became the first American president to resign from his office in disgrace. But the truth is that it changed our political culture forever. It's hard to believe that there was a time when most Americans put aside their own ideologies and had a respect for the office of the President of the United States. Even if you did not vote for or particularly like the man, there was a reverence and an almost sacred aura that surrounded the position. All of that has changed, and while it's easy to blame the groups we have fighting each other now, it started a long time ago when a couple of Washington Post journalists stumbled into the biggest story in our nation's political history. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward are the reporters who became iconic in their field as they took what appeared to be a routine break-in to an office and rode it to the resignation of a very popularly elected president. They put it in a book and then the movie of the same name. Now Warner Brothers has put All The President's Men on UHD Blu-ray in 4K, and if you haven't seen it, you need to. It's one of the most important films ever made.
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: 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 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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2025
"This is a true story. It happened right here in my home town two years ago. A lot of people die in a lot of weird ways in this story. But you're not going to find it in the news or anywhere like that, because the police and the top people in this town were, like so embarrassed that they weren't able to solve it that they covered everything up. But if you come here and ask anyone, they'll tell you the same thing I'm gonna tell you now. It started in my school ... At 2:17 in the morning, every kid woke up, got out of bed, walked downstairs, and into the dark ... and they never came back."
Some people may think I’m crazy, but as a lifelong horror fan, I feel right now we are in the Golden Age of horror cinema. When you look at the box office this year and last, horror has simply been a dominant force, and I’m loving it. What’s even better is that it is new material that is raking in the money rather than seeing tired retreads of IPs that have been exhausted over and over again. Sinners, though it wasn’t my cup of tea, dominated the box office, and even though I’m not the film’s biggest fan, I still like seeing horror rake in the money. I’m loving that we’re getting all kinds of horror lately, where an indie slasher like Terrifier is going to be featured at Halloween Horror Nights, and we’re getting all sorts of experimental horror. For instance, later this year we’ll get Goodboy, a paranormal story told through the perspective of a dog. (Sure, it sounds silly, but I’m all for it.) This brings me to Barbarian. For me this has been my favorite horror film in the past five years, and that’s saying a lot, because there has been A LOT of good horror lately. From the moment I heard about Zach Cregger’s next film, Weapons, it immediately shot to the top of my list of most anticipated films. Now that the film has finally come out, is it worth the wait and the hype that surrounds it?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 15th, 2025
"One … two … Freddy’s coming for you, three … four … better lock the door, five … six … grab your crucifix ..."
Freddy might have been born in the mind of Wes Craven, but he grew and developed in the knife-wielding hands of Robert Englund. Granted, not all of these films are equal in quality, but the first was everything you could ask for in a horror/slasher film of the era. Freddy himself is by far the most colorful and animated of the slashers. His burned face, fedora, striped sweater, and knife-blade glove were all integral parts of the wise-cracking maniac. Now Warner Brothers has released the original seven films on UHD Blu-ray in Ultra High Definition. It's a dream come true ... well ... at least a nightmare come true.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2025
"That is where you've always been wrong about me, Lex. I am as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning, and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make the best choices that I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human, and that's my greatest strength. And someday, I hope, for the sake of the world, you understand that it's yours too."
I'm much more of a Marvel guy than a DC guy, but there are great characters and stories in both cinematic universes. DC pretty much invented the entire idea of a superhero when two young guys in New York came up with a new idea back in the 1930's. When Superman was first introduced to us, it was in Action Comics #1 back in 1938 from the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster. Since then the character has become a cultural phenomenon that’s been featured in just about every form of media from radio shows, TV shows, cartoons, movies and everything else in between. The character has evolved quite a bit since those early comic book days, and one of the character’s biggest evolutions came with the Max Fleischer cartoon series. But it wasn't until Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve convinced us that a man can fly in 1978 that Superman truly conquered the world of cinema. Since then DC had another huge win with the Tim Burton and Michael Keaton Batman films about 10 years later. With that kind of a head start, you would think that the DCU (DC Universe) would have left Marvel in the dust. I mean, for decades Marvel couldn't even make the stuff themselves, because they didn't have the studio connection like DC has had with Warner Bros. for decades. Yet the Marvel films have progressed through six phases of films and have dominated the film superhero world.
It didn't help that when Zack Snyder took over, he created this dark place where Superman was a brooding character. Superman was never that in the comics. He was the eternal optimist with a "golly gee" manner that made this almost-invulnerable super-being relatable to the little guys like us. DC has decided to erase the franchise and start over with James Gunn and Peter Chiappetta. Gunn is really the man in charge, and their brand new DCU starts with the 2025 film Superman. He has certainly changed directions, but the question for me remains: did you go too far? Judging by the box office take, I'd say he might have won the fans over. Now that Superman is out from Warner Bros., with this UHD Blu-ray 4K release you can decide that for yourself. Let me be your guide.
James Gunn absolutely got the first part right. Thankfully, a new universe and Superman franchise doesn't start with an origin story. We all know that Krypton blew up and the planet's leading scientist sent his infant son to Earth in hopes of his and the Krypton race's survival. We don't need to see it again. With the likes of Marlon Brando and Michael Shannon putting their imprints on Jor-El (Supe’s Pops), no one is going to do it better. I don't need to see Bruce Wayne's parents killed over and over again. I'm tired of watching Peter Parker get bitten by some messed-up spider, and James Gunn correctly assumes that we don't need to see that story yet again. That's a win in the Gunn column.
The film begins about three years since Superman/Clark Kent (Corenswet) has made himself known in Metropolis. He's already dating Lois Lane (Brosnahan), who already knows who he is. So Gunn saves us from another tired Superman film trope of him just barely staying one step ahead of his Pulitzer prize-winning partner. That's two for Gunn. In fact, after we see Superman after he got his behind kicked and saved by Krypto and his squad of robots, one of the best scenes in the film is this honest and candid exchange between Clark and Lois at her apartment. I'm not into the whole romantic screen stuff, but there is absolutely a dynamic here that sets the playing field and establishes the kind of chemistry these two characters just have to have. As much as I love Chris Reeve's version, I did not feel the chemistry between him and Margot Kidder That could be because the actress turned out to be bat-crap crazy. I'm not sure about that one. But here Gunn made good choices in his cast. I'll give him a half point here and explain later.
What is a superhero without a supervillain? Gunn did go for the obvious path here and, once again the bad guy is Lex Luthor (Hoult). They already hate each other, and Lex, again of course, has been plotting to defeat the Man of Steel. This time he intends to ruin his reputation. Luthor manipulates Superman into "invading" another country and using it as an excuse to unleash his havoc on Metropolis. There are stories of pocket universes and a series of henchmen characters, and we know Superman will win the day. The story is fine, if not a bit overcomplicated by the inclusion of too many central characters. Some of these, however, are quite good.
Great Caesar's ghost. If you're a fan of The Wire you know who Wendell Pierce is. Gunn cast Bunk as the Daily Planet's editor-in-chief (but don't call him chief). He's terribly underused here, but that's the problem when you have so many characters that you are trying to be faithful to. Gunn uses them all. Only the comic fans know who Steve Lombard (Bennett) is. He brought over Otis (Rosemore) and Miss Teschmacher (Sampaio) from the Donner films, and you have to have Superman's pal, Jimmy (Gisando). He also uses the film to introduce sometimes-bad-guy, sometimes-good-guy Metamorpho (Carrigan). He also plants the seeds of the eventual Justice League who go by the Justice Gang right now by giving us the first feature film versions of Green Lantern and all-around pain in the butt Guy Gardner (Fillion). He imagines himself the "guy" in charge, and Fillion is the perfect choice to play him, and I liked him even with the classic comics bowl haircut look. Maybe this is another half point, OK? We get Hawkgirl (Merced) and a really dynamic version of Mr. Terrific (Gathegi), but the problem is none of these characters have more than a few minutes to shine. There are a ton of other "Easter egg" characters and elements, but the film's own kryptonite is that it's too much all at once. There's even Krypto, and I'm taking away a point here, because Gunn decided to use the design of his own dog instead of his classic white shepherd look from the comics. I mean, come on, James. You pay attention to the details of Guy Gardner's haircut, but you turn Krypto into a yip-yip dog? Yeah. OK. A yip-yip dog with superpowers.
In tone the film reaches for camp more than dark and serious, which is fine with me. The Donner films were loaded with camp. I will admit it's a promising beginning, but if I could say one thing to the new DC boss: slow down your roll. You can't catch up to Marvel in a single movie. Give it time to evolve. If you load so many elements into each movie, it won't matter how well-cast they are, and these really are. The pace is almost manic because it has to be, and I suspect there's a 4-hour version of it out there somewhere. Cue The Gunn Cut.
Superman is presented in its original but odd aspect ratio of 1.90:1. The ultra-high-definition 2160p image is arrived at by an HEVC codec with an average bitrate of 75 mbps. This is a very colorful film, and that's quite appropriate for a comic book movie. The HDR/Dolby Vision allows for wonderfully vivid and bright reds and blues, which are crucial to the character. I'm particularly impressed by the white levels here, as much of the film takes place in the Arctic, although filmed all the way south in the Antarctic. It was a really good idea, because the snow and ice textures are pretty good here. That also means it's a little too easy to spot the moments where the environment is not at least completely real. Still the f/x blend quite nicely an issue Marvel has been fighting in recent releases. Contrast wins the day with solid delineation between bright and inky black elements. Sometimes the film is a little too glossy. I also loved the contrast of the warm colors of Lois's apartment against the frigid cold colors of the Arctic. It's close to a show-off piece for your setup.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 4th, 2025
"We work 364 days a year because on that one day we deliver presents to several billion individual domiciles across 37 time zones without ever being detected by a single human being. We prep, we rehearse every moment, every stop down to the last chimney. So yeah, it's a lot of work."
At first glance, it would appear that the crew for Red One is made up of folks who have had long associations with Dwayne Johnson, from Director Jack Kasdan, who also directed two of the Jumanji films, to writer Chris Morgan, who wrote many of The Fast And Furious films including the Johnson-led spinoff Hobbs And Shaw. He also wrote the last Shazam film, which led to Johnson's spinoff black hole Black Adam. It's a working environment friendly to the actor. But the rumors from this set are loaded with tales of Johnson blowing off work and/or showing up late and unprepared. It's honestly not his usual vibe, and consider his divorce from Fast And The Furious's Vin Diesel revolved around Johnson throwing the same kind of shade on that actor's behavior. I was curious if the on-set issues and also word of a ballooning budget would show up on the finished product. I'm happy to report there doesn't appear to be any disrupted chemistry on the film, and it became easy to dismiss all of that with just a few minutes on the Red One ride. Every year a film or two vies for that potential future classic position that I don't honestly think has been achieved since the 1980's and A Christmas Story. I'd say the next most recent might be the Dickens romp The Man Who Invented Christmas. In any case, I won't be adjusting my traditional holiday viewing to accommodate Red One. That doesn't mean there isn't some fun to be had.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 18th, 2024
"So a psychopath walks into a bar and sees this famous clown sitting there all alone. Totally drunk;, it's pathetic. "I can't believe you're here," he says. "What a disappointment. I used to watch you on TV. What can I get you?" And this clown turns and says "Well, if you're buying you can get me anything." "Perfect," the psychopath says. "How about I get you what you f'in deserve?"
Folie a Deux. French for madness of two. From the moment that title was an announced, it was presumed that Harley Quinn would be making an appearance, and I applaud Lady Gaga’s selection as Joaquin Phoenix counterpart. However, I suspect that the reason for her selection was twofold given the decision to make the film a musical. Perhaps not an official musical, but in my humble opinion, I don’t think it could have been any more official. Unfortunately, this was among my issues with the film. It was too long, and there were too many songs. The film felt like it was movie promoting the soundtrack rather than vice versa. I’ve never been one for musicals, and this sequel did not move me off that mark, as the film essentially fell apart towards the end with a bittersweet ending. I think I preferred the ending to the first film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 21st, 2024
"You know the Butcher? That freakin' nutjob that goes around just chopping people up? Well, the feds or whatever heard that he's gonna be here today, so they set up a trap for him. This whole concert? It's a trap. They're watching all the exits, checking everyone that leaves. There's no way to get out of here. It's kinda dope, right?"
The idea is actually based on a true story, with a lot of differences. In 1985 the FBI managed to round up over 100 high-profile criminals with a ruse that involved tickets to an NFL game. There have been plenty of other scams where promises of prizes have attracted otherwise cautious wanted people. I was at a promo for some home improvement club store, and while there, a couple of folks were nervous that it was a sting because they had outstanding warrants. It wasn't, but these things can and do indeed happen. The way it's done here leaves one to stretch credibility a bit more than I'm usually willing to go.
