Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 15th, 2009
“One night stands can be murder.”
That’s the tagline for 1987’s Fatal Attraction. Perhaps it’s no coincidence that both Fatal Attraction and the later Indecent Proposal were both directed by Adrian Lyne. Both were quite controversial upon their release. Both dealt in a kind of “what if” scenario that got people talking around their water coolers and watering hole gatherings. While the latter was pretty much a morality or ethics drama, the former was a gut wrenching morality tale with a Grimm’s Fairy Tale twist. Even if you’ve never seen the film you’ve at least heard of the “Bunny Boiler”, a term that’s entered the pop culture lexicon describing a woman who is likely to go psycho on you. The film was almost never made.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2009
“1941: Germany occupies Belorussia. SS death squads and local police round up Jews. Within weeks 50,000 are murdered. 1,000,000 more await deportation and death.”
Tuvia (Craig) and Zus (Schreiber) Bielski are brothers hiding in the forest surrounding after the abovementioned invasion. They are Russian Jews, which means concentration camps or immediate execution if they are caught. They are foraging and surviving on their intimate knowledge of these surroundings they have known since they were children. Before long other Jewish refugees make their way to the Bielski camp. Unable to turn away the suffering hordes, they welcome each arrival, stretching their already limited resources to the limit. The camp eventually becomes a force of freedom fighters. They are looked down upon by the Red Army because Jews weren’t expected to fight. For several seasons the growing number of refugees makes a stand for survival and even answers a call to arms in an ultimate act of defiance. The brothers split. Zus joins the organized army while Tuvia remains to lead the camp.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2009
Back in the 1960’s the Beatles were telling, preaching, “Can’t Buy Me Love”. Of course this wasn’t a novel concept even then, and Lennon and McCartney certainly didn’t invent the phrase. In 1993 Indecent Proposal came along to question the age old expression. The film sparked one of those cultural philosophical debates that Hollywood loves to start. It meant that people would be talking about the film, and talk about it they did. Television and radio talk shows would spend a great deal of time talking about the morality or ethical questions involved. Experts in morality and psychology would earn a living talking about the subject. It caused quite a stir, but in the end Indecent Proposal was a one trick pony. After the debate got old, the film aged quickly. Watching it again now, it seems almost impossible that it’s really only 16 years old. It seems like decades ago that like a frightening tsunami, it made its splash and disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived.
David (Harrelson) and Diane (Moore) are a young couple very much in love. It’s the kind of ultra-sweet relationship that could send you into insulin shock if you had to watch too much of it. Thankfully the plan here is to put a serious kink into the relationship. David is budding architect, while Diane is a successful real estate broker. Both run into hard times when recession hits and they lose their jobs. Their dreams appear on the brink of disaster. Down to their final cents, David takes a loan of $5000 from his father. As he admits in the film’s narration, it wasn’t nearly enough. They needed 10 times that to get back on their feet. So what do they do? These supposedly educated smart people decide to take the 5 grand to Vegas and turn it into the 50 grand they need. (Why didn’t I think of that?) Bad luck at the tables isn’t the most dangerous thing the couple faces. They meet John Gage (Redford), international billionaire and playboy. Sort of a Bill Gates, if Bill Gates looked like… well… Robert Redford instead of Alfred E. Neuman. Gage notices Diane and is quite taken with her. He befriends the couple to get close to her. After a part one night in his suite, Gage and David are shooting some pool. The conversation turns to wealth and what it can or cannot buy. Diane makes the statement that money can’t buy people or love. Gage proposes to test the concept. He offers the couple one million dollars for one night with Diane. They immediately refuse, but their situation eats at them and they eventually agree. What it does to their lives is predictable and inevitable.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 9th, 2009
Mike Riggins (Lundgren) has been languishing away in a Russian prison for many years. So he doesn’t have anything to lose when he’s approached by the CIA to help them save a young woman who has been kidnapped. The government needs Riggins’ special set of skills, namely the ability to cause a lot of carnage in a short amount of time. If he rescues the girl, he gets 20 grand and sprung from prison. Of course, everything is not what it seems to be, and the government really just wants Riggins dead. After about an hour and a half of shooting and mayhem a lot of people end up dead, but Lundgren is still technically alive. I say technically because as far as I can tell Dolph Lundgren has been brain dead since 1985 when his acting career began with A View To A Kill. But, like the energizer bunny he keeps going, and going, and going.
The plot isn’t anything all that imaginative; in fact it’s pretty simple. But the other thing that’s simple is the acting of one Dolph Lundgren. Lately we’ve been hearing a lot about torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners. There are apparently international laws on such things, but the Geneva Convention folks have turned the other way as Lundgren continues to subject audiences to what can only be described as cruel and inhuman punishment. I guess as a Constitutional scholar I could make an implied consent argument here, if you’re actually insane enough to pick up one of these films. It’s not like it’s a secret. If you watch these Lundgren films, particularly the direct to video stuff, you already know what you’re getting. I’m sure Lundgren’s folks have been opting for direct to video because too many moviegoers have been throwing stuff at the theater screens. The theory is they are less likely to act violently to their own 2 grand flat screen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2009
For most of us, we thought it was a crime when Eddie Murphy hijacked the Dr. Dolittle brand back in 1998. He turned a classic into yet another assembly line crude humor product. The original material was carelessly sacrificed for the sake of another Eddie Murphy romp. Well, it was harmless enough, I suppose. But then the sequel and direct to video follow ups began. Eddie was out, and so were the fart jokes and other bodily function staples. Now after a couple of direct to video attempts we get Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts, and suddenly we actually miss Eddie Murphy.
The series of direct to video films has focused on Dolittle’s young daughter, Maya (Pratt). She also has her dad’s ability to talk to the animals. With each film we hear that the Doc is off around the world somewhere helping out some animals. In the latest outing, Maya wants to follow in her father’s footsteps and be able to help the animals she can speak to. She’s a couple of weeks from entering college with the ultimate goal of becoming a veterinarian. But she’s really not too happy with the 7 years of study she has before her. So, when she gets an opportunity to help out some animals now, she follows the dream. Enter reality star Tiffany (Moss). She’s a Paris Hilton clone complete with her pampered little dog. It appears that her pooch is feeling a little depressed of late. She comes to Maya to ask her to talk to her dog and see if she can help. So Maya flies to Hollywood where she instantly discovers two things: Tiffany’s princess is actually a prince, and there are a lot of temptations in the hip world of stars and lights. That includes star Brandon Turner (McLaren) who she immediately falls head over heels for. It turns out that Tiffany’s agent has been trying to get a Dolittle in his fold for years. So, he tempts Maya with a reality show where she can “help” celebrity animals. Of course, she has to learn that she can’t really help anybody just yet. Just being able to talk to them doesn’t mean she can help them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2009
“So he Lord God banished him from the Garden Of Eden to serve the ground from which he had been taken.”
I love playing video games. I have since I was in my early 20’s and the first home console systems were being launched. Today I play platform games on my PS3. One of the unfortunate trends to come to modern video games is the ability to provide longer and more elaborate cut scenes. If you’re not familiar with the term, a cut scene is that little cartoon bit inside of your game experience. They often introduce the game and also serve as break points between levels or significant achievements. The first cut scene I was ever aware of was the little interludes in the arcade game, Ms. Pac Man. They were short and gave your fingers a quick respite to work out the cramps and prepare for more action. But larger data storage has led to longer and more elaborate examples of the scenes. Now, most gamers are hitting buttons hoping to bypass the event and get back to kicking some butt. There’s nothing more frustrating than watching one go on and on and on while you wait for some action. It’s become about as entertaining as waiting for a disc to load up. Why am I telling you this? Because, that’s exactly what Eden Log feels like through its entire run. It’s nothing more than one long cut scene. And there’s no action for your fingers when it’s over except the satisfying sound of the disc ejecting after you’ve worked some magic on your remote control.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 28th, 2009
"Space...The Final Frontier. These are the continuing voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before!"
There sure has been a lot for Star Trek fans to cheer about of late. The new film has proven to be a commercial and critical success. The dawn of high definition has caught up with the original series, and there is the promise of much more before this year is out. Next up from Paramount we get the first 6 Trek theatrical films. This collection covers the original cast era. All of the films have been remastered in high definition, and The Wrath Of Khan has undergone a 4k restoration. Together the six films appear in two separate releases. You can buy all six as this review covers, or you can buy them in two sets of three. Whatever you decide, you are in for a treat. Almost all of the old bonus materials have been included along with new high definition material. It’s a lot of stuff, and that’s why the review has taken so long to get written.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2009
“I swear by God this sacred oath: That I shall render unconditional obedience to Adolph Hitler, Fuhrer of the German Reich and people, Supreme Commander of the armed forces. And that I shall at all times be ready, as a brave soldier, to give my life for this oath.”
Taking a page from Roman history, Adolph Hitler required all of his armed troops to swear this oath, not to their country as most armed forces require, but to him personally. It was a necessary step in his brutal campaign to remake Europe, and eventually the world, in his own image. Loyalty to Hitler did not come in degrees; it was absolute, or it was nothing. Only then could the man commit the acts he eventually did with any support at all. But that support was not absolute.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2009
“It’s time to wake up and get a life. We live in a three-dimensional world. Until now, the world of computing has been a flat world consisting of two-dimensional imagery. Now through the use of exclusive breakthrough technology, ARC has made it possible for you to get a life. A-Life, where we can work and play in a lifelike world of three-dimensional reality. A-Life… the living monitor. Impressed?”
You should be. From the mind, or more accurately the pen or typewriter, of science fiction legend Philip K. Dick comes another big budget Hollywood film, Paycheck. The works of Dick have become impressive films in the past. From Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep we get Ridley Scott’s masterpiece, Blade Runner. Dick also penned the Steven Spielberg budget buster, Minority Report. But Paycheck is actually much more like the Arnold Schwarzenegger blockbuster Total Recall. Once again, Dick deals with his popular subject of downloading, or in this case removing memories. Combine that element with the seeing into the future concept of Minority Report and you have what should be a Philip K. Dick greatest hits film, with the added adrenaline rush of John Woo in the director’s chair.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 22nd, 2009
“Life is a tightrope. You’ve got to learn to dance.”
We’ve all had bad days. Everyone can relate to that. We’ve all had moments when we weren’t at our best, when we’ve said or done something in the heat of the moment that wasn’t exactly our most shining moment. We can only hope that these momentary lapses of reason don’t cause permanent harm to ourselves or to others. We can only plead our case that we aren’t ultimately defined by these brief acts of frustration brought about by mitigating circumstances. Most of the time we get lucky. Sometimes that fleeting moment isn’t so fleeting. Some times you have a bad day, all of it. That’s the premise behind this Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck vehicle.
![Fatal Attraction [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/fatal-attraction-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Defiance [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/defiance-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Indecent Proposal [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/indecent-proposal-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Direct Contact [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/direct-contact-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/dr-dolittle-million-dollar-mutts-large.jpg)
![Eden Log [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/eden-log-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Valkyrie [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/valkyrie-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Paycheck [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/paycheck-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Changing Lanes [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/changing-lanes-blu-ray-large.jpg)
