Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 23rd, 2015
Finally a situation comedy for geeks. Ever since Urkel went from being a one-off character on Family Matters to the star of the show, the geeks have been looking for their own series. With The Big Bang Theory you get plenty of geek factor with a healthy dose of laughter. I honestly haven’t laughed this much at a situation comedy in decades. Meet Sheldon Cooper (Parsons). He’s a brilliant young scientist working at a Pasadena university. His field was string theory but now he's shifted to dark matter. He’s one of those young prodigy guys who likely graduated from college and then went home to get his diapers changed. Sheldon insists on tight structure and is uncomfortable outside of a highly structured environment. He’s insecure and can’t stand confrontation. He also, of course, believes he’s the smartest guy on the planet. He’s a huge comic and science fiction fan who envisions himself a young Lex Luthor. His girlfriend Amy (Bialik) is a behavior scientist. The two have a relationship based on a contract and have to negotiate even when they can kiss.
His roommate Leonard (Galecki) is also a gifted member of the school’s staff. Leonard is about the most normal one of the group and actually has a steady girl in next-door neighbor Penny (Cuoco). Penny now works as a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company and finds she's doing well. Unfortunately, they cut her hair off this year, and it isn't a good look at all. She’s not the sharpest tool in the box, but she can often teach the boys a thing or two about the real world.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2015
"'Tis the season for Demon Dean."
It's almost like some twisted holiday season. Each season finds the Winchester Brothers in some way divided following an apocalyptic event. The world might be saved once again, but Either Dean or Sam is in Hell or Purgatory. One might be living in an alternate reality or just in a coma. This season starts with the tradition very much alive as the Mark of Cain has finally turned Dean into a demon, albeit one who loves to do bad karaoke. His partner in crime isn't his brother Sam, but the King Of Hell himself, Crowley. What a jolly mess this has turned out to be. Now we have another full season on Blu-ray to try and work this thing out. But can Dean be returned to human form, and can the Mark of Cain be removed without... you know... starting another apocalypse? Probably not, but at least the ride ought to be a blast...sometimes literally. It's Supernatural, and it's a milestone 10th season, and it's available now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 16th, 2015
Gotham City. You know the name just as you know the names of Metropolis and Smallville. These are important places in the DC comics universe that have existed as part of modern American mythology since the 1930's. Warner Brothers has decided to tackle Gotham in much the way it spent 10 years bringing us to Smallville. But there is a decided difference to be found here. Smallville was indeed the origin story of Superman, and while the obvious answer might be that Gotham serves the same role for Batman, I found that to be a bit of an oversimplification. This is not the origin story for Batman, and while many of the future major villains from that universe take their first baby steps here, this is not their origin story either. This is an origin story for the city of Gotham itself. Unlike many heroes, Batman was a product of his environment. This is the story of how one city devolved so badly that a hero like Batman was necessary. What we see taking shape here is a place where a certain Dark Knight can thrive and spread his wings.
That means the city itself is the most important character of the show. To make that effective over a season of stories, the city must be created with a kind of style and atmosphere that would set it apart. While there are certain aspects of this Gotham City that owe to Tim Burton's style that set the mood for the first four films, there are also aspects of Nolan's gritty city here as well. It's at once familiar, but this is also unlike any city you've seen on television before. It exists out of place or time. There are cell phones, but not really computers. Detectives look through old newspaper stories on microfilm projectors. Some of us remember the days you had to do that at your local library. The cars are mostly from the 1970's, while the building decor and costumes appear more at home in the 1940's. It's an industrial city, but one where whatever industry once thrived here has long gone away. For something conceived in the original four-color world of comic books, this is a dark and colorless place for the most part. The only thing that's missing is the "abandon hope all ye who enter" sign at the city limits.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2015
For most of our characters, the season begins pretty much in real time from the season 5 finale. There is a spell keeping magic out of the city limits of Mystic Falls, and that means no vampires or supernatural beings can cross into town. Elena is taking pre-med courses at college, mostly because it gives her access to the hospital's blood bank. Stefan is supposed to be out looking for a witch powerful enough to bring back Bonnie and Damon after they were trapped destroying "the other side". It's an act that brought some others over from the dead, including now-vampire Alaric and Enzo. In reality, however, Stefan has given up and is working as an auto mechanic for 200 bucks a week. Jeremy is hitting the bottle because Bonnie told him she was going to die over the phone. Tyler is trying hard tot to reignite his curse that will once again make him a werewolf. It's been a busy summer in Mystic Falls and its outskirts. And that's just the beginning.
What is Mystic Falls? Who the heck are Damon and Elena, you ask? Bonnie? You've got questions. We've got answers, but not here. You've heard me say this before, and it's become more and more true of television shows these days. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're just not ready for season 6 of The Vampire Diaries. But you are in luck. You can check out my reviews for the four previous seasons here: Vampire Diaries Reviews. Then you can pick them up and start a mega-marathon session. Once you're up to speed, join us back here for the next thrilling installment.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 3rd, 2015
It is one of the most anticipated movies of the summer and another subject in the category of “can Tom Hardy do no wrong?” Mad Max: Fury Road is the reimagining of the iconic film that helped launch Mel Gibson’s career decades earlier. This is not new territory in Hollywood by any stretch of the imagination; remakes have happened so often in recent years that they have practically become their own genre. However, I would like to point out something that will hopefully set this film apart in the eyes of the audience: how often do you see a remake that is overseen by the creator of the original film that you know and love?
OK, OK, perhaps this is not entirely new territory as well, except I am certain that Mad Max fans all over the world leaped for joy when news broke that the architect of the originals, George Miller, had decided to helm the remake as well. Heck, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that is the underlying reason that many of you folks intend to see the movie. And it is in that spirit that I would like to impart a piece of advice upon the future audience: put the past out of your mind when you are watching this. It is not a continuation, it is an origin story. Yes, I know that it seems like a simple concept, and maybe I am rehashing thoughts you have already had, but for argument’s sake, just do what I ask, and I promise you will have a far better experience.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 25th, 2015
DC Comics buffs have been obsessively analyzing every frame of the latest Batman v. Superman trailer for clues that nod to a live-action appearance by their favorite hero. But for fans of Lego's “DC Comics Superheroes” brand — which includes various movies, TV shows and videogames — the idea of a superpowered team-up is old hat. In fact, Lego is so far ahead of the curve that its newest offering — Attack of the Legion of Doom! — explores what happens when the bad guys form their own all-star team.
“Villains...working together?!”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 17th, 2015
"We are being watched. The government has a secret system. A machine that spies on you every hour of every day. I designed the machine to detect acts of terror, but it sees everything. Violent crimes involving ordinary people. The government considers these people irrelevant. We don't. Hunted by the authorities, we work in secret. You'll never find us. But victim or perpetrator, if your number is up, we'll find you."
The premise of Person Of Interest was turned on its head in season 3. If you are new to the show, don't even think about starting here. But if you're caught up, you know exactly what I'm talking about. A new rival machine named Samaritan has gone operational. The library has been abandoned, and our team has had to take new identities to trick the machine. For the start, they are invisible, but if they get noticed, Samaritan will eliminate them as threats to its survival. It's an apt designation, because they are, indeed. It's a war between two gods, we are reminded throughout. And the stakes are higher than they've ever been on the show. So I received a new number to investigate. It's the fourth season of Person Of Interest, and it's out now on Blu-ray. And this is what I found out.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on August 17th, 2015
Everyone on TV has nicer clothes and a bigger home than you do. And I’m not just talking about fictional doctors or lawyers. Even small-screen characters with relatively modest incomes manage to live in palatial apartments. Need proof? The 2 Broke Girls in CBS’s hit sitcom have an apartment that is literally big enough to fit a horse. (Hi, Chestnut.) Season 4 even manages to squeeze in a gaggle of Victoria's Secret models (Ep. 6/“And the Model Apartment”), and the girls' building gets a new tenant when lewd line cook Oleg (Jonathan Kite) moves in with larger-than-life upstairs neighbor Sophie (Jennifer Coolidge), leading to the one-liner “the booty call is coming from inside the house.”
“You two are a combination of sugar and spice...and things not so nice.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 11th, 2015
I realized Hot Pursuit was in big trouble during the sequence when intensely by-the-book Officer Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) accidentally ingests cocaine. The joke is supposed to be that the drug sends Cooper into a comically manic, frenzied state; the problem is the way Witherspoon behaves during this sequence isn't all that different from the way she's played Cooper up to that point. And that's the problem with Hot Pursuit: it's the movie equivalent of someone who types in ALL CAPS all the time. Even worse, it's an unholy (and unfunny) mash-up of Midnight Run and Thelma & Louise that shines a blazing spotlight on its leading ladies' worst qualities.
As I mentioned before, Witherspoon stars as Cooper, who idolized her legendary cop father and always dreamed of following in his footsteps. When we meet Cooper, however, she's comically disgraced her father's good name — we're meant to believe no one ever told her what “calling shotgun” meant — and is stuck working as a glorified secretary in the evidence room of her Texas police department. She gets a stab at redemption when her captain (John Carroll Lynch) assigns her to accompany a U.S. Marshal (Richard T. Jones) to escort and protect a drug cartel informant and his wife Daniella (Sofia Vergara).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 3rd, 2015
How do you follow up the biggest publishing phenomenon of the last 20 years? Well, if you're J.K. Rowling, you excise all talk of horcruxes and Hogwarts and supplant it with warring parish council members and the idyllic village of Pagford. That's the setting for The Casual Vacancy, Rowling's 2012 follow-up to the Harry Potter series. The book has been adapted by BBC and HBO into a three-part miniseries. With its small-town setting and 23(!) main characters, the series simultaneously feels quaint and sprawling. It also made me wish I was able to spend more than three hours with these people.
“Everyone's got skeletons rattling in their cupboard.”
