Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2010
"Have you ever felt like you were a little bit different. Like you had something unique to offer to the world, if only you could just get people to see it? Then you know exactly how it felt to be me."
The title is taken from a very short children's book written by Judi and Ron Barrett. I say the title and not the story because this movie takes only the most basic concept from the book to create the movie. Most of the characters are brand new creations, and the plot of the entire film deals with events not covered in the book. You have to credit Phil Lord and Chris Miller for pretty much everything you see happen in this film. I have only a passing familiarity with the kiddie book, but have now had the chance to see the movie in this Blu-ray high definition release.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2010
"... It is a dark time for the rebellion. Although the Death Star has been destroyed, Imperial troops have driven the rebel forces from their hidden base and pursued them across the Galaxy. But, you know this story..."
Know this story, you do. It's the opening of the second, or actually the 5th in sequence, but it is the second one made, unless you count... Never mind. This is the prologue to The Empire Strikes Back, more commonly referred to the 2 hour trailer for Return Of The Jedi. Not so long ago in this Galaxy, Family Guy took a shot across the bow of those Imperial Cruisers with its extremely funny and on the spot spoof of the first Star Wars film, or actually the 4th chapter.... Star Wars: A New Hope. It was only a matter of time before Seth Mac Farlane would steer his own ship back into George Lucas's universe once again. With equal parts faithful adaptation and off the wall detours, he's done it again, delivering another very funny tour into the dark side.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 11th, 2010
"Every day I get letters. I think I get more letters than Santa Claus, Zac Efron, and Dr. Phil combined. I'm kinda the shit. Sometimes the letters are from people who say they are praying for me. They tell me everything will be OK if I just accept Jesus Christ into my heart. I say the words, but nothing ever happens. Nobody comes back. Nobody gets off the cross."
There hasn't been this much hype for a mainstream horror film in quite a long time that I can recollect. Certainly, quite a few have created more buzz after their release and subsequent box office power. But this one was supposed to be the real deal. It didn't hurt that the titular body in question would belong to Megan Fox. With the huge dominance of the Transformers films at movie theaters across the globe, Fox has had a lot of ... eh ... exposure over the last couple of years. She's made a ton of those “sexiest” polls, and combined with this somewhat provocative title, I'm sure there were expectations of, at least, reasonably large draw. Unfortunately, it just never happened. The film barely made back its modest $16 million budget.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 11th, 2010
If you are looking for some kind of logical sequel to the WWE film The Marine which starred wrestler John Cena, you will be greatly disappointed. The film doesn't even feature the same character. There is absolutely nothing about this film that connects it to the original beyond the name. The WWE doesn't even use one of its bigger names in this film. While I have heard of Ted "The Million Dollar Man" DiBiase, Jr., I was not aware that he had a son who has followed his footsteps into the wrestling arena. I would suspect that Ted DiBiase, Jr. is a name only known to the fans who follow the WWE. Of course, that does provide for the major draw for these kinds of films, but I would also suspect that the WWE is hoping for more wide appeal by branching out into these films. So far it doesn't seem like the sports organization is having any luck. The Marine 2 will not do anything to further the cause.
The film opens with the obligatory mission sequence. This scene does not really join with the actual film plot except to give us a chance to see Joe (DiBiase) in action. We quickly see how good he is. The scene also adds some pathos to the character when a young boy is caught in the crossfire and killed. Now we have a skilled Marine carrying around a bit of guilt over the dead boy. The mission ended, our hero gets a little R&R time. His plans to spend some quiet quality time with his wife, Robin (Cox) are somewhat sidetracked, because she has a mission of her own to conduct. She's helping a wealthy financier open his latest tropical resort. She's a PR person who will have her hands full with environmentalists and locals who resent the exploitation of their home. But Joe agrees to accompany her for what he expects will be five days of sun and sand. When they arrive at the resort, the 24 hour armed guards are our first clue that Joe's going to have to go "Marine" and do some butt kickin'. And, for a while the film settles into Blue Lagoon territory as Joe and Robin have some romantic time in the surf. They also meet up with the local boat tour guide who is also ex-military. He's a powder monkey, jargon for demolitions expert. You already know that this is no accidental meeting and that ex-Ranger Church (Rooker) is going to play a part in the events to follow.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 7th, 2010
High school was a nightmare for me, I try to forget most of it. For me, there was no 10 year high school reunion and I was glad I never went. Speaking of ten & high school, this is the 10th year anniversary of 10 Things I Hate About You, a Gil Junger comedy that helped launch quite a few careers. As such, they made the leap to Blu-Ray with a well-done anniversary edition. But how does the movie hold up?
Cameron James (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is new to Padua High School. He is assigned another student, Michael Eckman (played by David Krumholtz) to show him around. Michael introduces him to the various groups of kids and they start to develop a friendship. Cameron then spots a girl, Bianca Stratford (played by Larisa Oleynik) and his life would never be the same.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 5th, 2010
For five years now, Lost has taken us through mystery after mystery. I’m beginning to think that the show’s title is more a mission statement for where they want to take the viewers. Each time Abrams appears to answer a question and move on, closer examination proves that nothing has actually been revealed. The series has become the poster child for misdirection and script sleight of hand. When I examine the 13 episodes from season 4, I’m left with the inescapable, pun intended, feeling that nothing significant has really happened here at all. But at the same time it’s the most significant event of the series. All the while I find myself compelled to watch episode after episode. Abrams would have been a great drug dealer if that producing gig hadn’t worked out for him. The show started out with enough directions and plot devices to put our brains into overload. From that point on, he’s been cutting each dose a little bit so that we find ourselves drawn to each hour fix chasing the high we got in the beginning. Of course, we already know we’re never going to feel that way again, but we’ll keep coming back for more as long as he continues to make us believe that we will. I’m not saying the show has declined at all. I’m saying that it doesn’t really ever go anywhere. Abrams continues to introduce major plot lines such as the hatch, the others, and now the freighter, with promises of linking it all together into some kind of epiphany, and for a short time he actually does. But hindsight leaves us scratching our heads, because once we come down we can’t really explain what the high was all about. And so, we’ll continue to tune in or buy the DVD’s to see where it’s all headed, even if we already know that we’re doomed to remain lost no matter how it all ends.
I will attempt to relate to you some of the important elements from this season without revealing much in the way of spoilers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 5th, 2010
"To everyone's surprise, the ship didn't come to a stop over Manhattan or Washington or Chicago, but instead coasted to a halt directly over the city of Johannesburg. The doors didn't open for months. Nobody could get in. They eventually decided, after much deliberation, that the best thing to do would be to physically cut their way in. We were on the verge of first contact. The whole world was watching, expecting, I don't know, music from Heaven and bright shining lights..."
It all started when Peter Jackson's long anticipated Halo project went belly up. You might recall it was that project which had Jackson deferring directorial duties on the upcoming Hobbit films, electing to act as producer instead. But Halo didn't happen. Jackson was in search of an ambitious project to fill the void. Enter Neil Blomkamp, a native of South Africa, who had come up with the basic imagery for District 9. A short film was the end result, but it would be far from the end for the idea. Blomkamp incorporated his own firsthand experiences as a boy living in the infamous days of South Africa's apartheid. It's completely impossible to see this film in any other light than an allegory to that era. Teaming together, Jackson and Blomkamp have taken these very basic ideas that were at best loosely held together by the concept and worked them into the most provocative science fiction film of the last decade.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 29th, 2009
By day, this reviewer is not just a writer but a glorified cubicle jockey. For lack of a detailed job description, I am a computer software administrator. So as many cubicle jockeys, I've watched Office Space. To be honest, I'm not in love with it. I did find it mildly funny and there were a few “I've been in that situation before” moments. But interestingly enough, I was pretty excited to see Extract (Mike Judge had directed both). Perhaps it was my infatuation with Mila Kunis or seeing how Jason Bateman has progressed in comedic films or maybe I just wanted to see Ben Affleck in a full grown beard.
Joel (played by Jason Bateman) built the Reynolds extract factory from the ground up. His is still in charge of the factory but does yearn to sell the factory to somebody like General Mills and retire. However, he has other issues more pressing at the moment. His wife, Suzie (played by Kristen Wiig) works at home and once she puts on the sweat pants (8pm), Jason has no chance of getting any from his wife.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 15th, 2009
"For years, we've been putting a secret into the heart of every member of the Saberling Family. Be it the cryogenic refrigerator or the microwave heated coffee maker. A Secret which is at the core of any successful family: Communication."
When director Hoyt Yeatman's son Hoyt, Junior, got a pet guinea pig, he began to put soldier-like gear on the unfortunate animal and imagine stories that the rodent was part of a secret spy ring. He would imagine all kinds of missions for the little guy. Thus was born the idea for G Force. Yeatman took the idea to Jerry Bruckheimer, who in turn shopped the idea to Disney. Before you know it, Bruckheimer had put his extensive resources into making the next cute talking animal film for the Mouse House.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 8th, 2009
"When the lights go off the battle is on."
Sequels are a dangerous business. They've gotten the best of some of the biggest heroes. Just ask Indiana Jones, Luke Skywalker, or Neo. Expectations are always going to be high. You've already shown us what you can do. We assume you did your best on the original film, now go and do better. Often filmmakers interpret this mandate to just make it bigger. More explosions and hard hitting action and special effects. They tend to remember everything but the story. I'm happy to say that Night At The Museum refused to fall into that trap. The film is certainly bigger. There are far more characters. The f/x have absolutely gone up a notch. But everything that made you love the first film is back ... and more.
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