Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 20th, 2009
In 2004 Morgan Spurlock released the controversial documentary Super Size Me. In the film he goes on a 30 day fast food only diet. His purpose was to alert the public of the danger to health the fast food industry has become. The film was more about the obesity problem in America and less about the evil McDonald’s Empire, but he makes several points which one might interpret as being pro-fast food regulation. Spurlock became somewhat of a cult figure among the health conscious crowd and was considered a hero, of sorts. It appears he suffered severe kidney and liver problems during the diet, but soldiered on.
Along comes Tom Naughton, who found some faults with that film. So, Tom decides to go on a 30 day fast food diet as well. The difference is that he will pay attention to his calorie, fat, and carb intake and attempt to eat somewhat sensibly during that month. Tom has somewhat better results that Spurlock did. He actually lost weight, reduced his fat count, and improved his cholesterol situation, making his physician a little unhappy at what he was proving. Is Tom Naughton saying that eating a full slate of fast food is good for you? No, that’s not his point. He’s really preaching personal responsibility. He makes that point by spending an entire day hanging around the outside of fast food restaurants, waiting for someone to drag him inside and force him to eat. Obviously, that doesn’t happen. He also films a segment where a McDonald’s employee asks the age old question, “Would you like fries with that”, to which Naughton replies, “No”. He shows the feigned surprise when the employee accepts his answer. The point, again, is that no one is forcing you to eat anything you don’t want to eat. He challenges Spurlock’s contention that these chains make it hard to get the nutritional information on the food. It turns out that most provide it right there. If not, every single chain provides it on their web site. No computer, you say. Naughton shows us just how easy it is to use one at the local library. Still too hard? He went to his small town’s smallest bookstore and found 5 books in short time that published the information.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2009
My Grandfather used to tell me if you can’t find something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Still, Grandpop never had to watch and then review a film like Black Swarm. This is another one of those Sci-Fi Channel original films that just can’t seem to find the quality bottle when mixing ingredients. Can someone please tell me how a network that could bring us Farscape and the Stargate franchise can’t seem to give us even one good original film? They must have produced a hundred films by now, and I can’t honestly say I’ve seen even a halfway decent movie yet.
Remember the killer bees scare back in the late 1970’s? While there were some legitimate threats, Hollywood seems to have been the only place where clouds of Africanized honey bees amass over some innocent remote town and start knocking off the local inhabitants. The latest entry in the “Swarm mentality” comes from The Sci-Fi channel, and on DVD courtesy of RHI Entertainment. In this case it’s not the old killer bees we have to worry about. Here we’ve got genetically altered wasps that cause all the damage. The idea is pretty much the same, however, and maybe somebody needs to have these guys wake up and smell the 21st Century.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2009
When a film is successful enough, it’s a relatively natural assumption today that a sequel will follow. In that sequel we expect more of the same and hopefully something new as well. Unfortunately there is a disturbing sideline for the animation sequel. Because the actors aren’t really on camera at all, there is the temptation to replace them so that you can do a much cheaper, often direct to video sequel. The folks who did Madagascar didn’t go that route, but the folks who did Open Season did. Gone are the likes of Martin Lawrence, Gary Sinise, Ashton Kutcher, and Debra Messing. These voices are replaced by Joel McHale, Mike Epps, and Jane Krakowski. Who? You might ask. That’s the problem. In an attempt to bridge the two films, Billy Connolly remains as the voice of McSquizzy. Crispin Glover is the biggest name actor in the new voice cast, playing the somewhat villainous Fifi. The result is a decidedly inferior film that was relegated to the Wal-Mart bins instead of the box office.
Just as Elliot and Giselle are about to get hitched, Weenie is discovered by his former masters and taken away. When Elliot sees the event he decides that Weenie has been captured and is being tortured. So the wedding is suspended and the gang sets off to rescue Weenie. They arrive at a pet campground where pets and their owners are pampered in a resort community for a week or two vacation. There is a prejudice among the domesticated pets against the animals of the wild. Our forest friends must infiltrate the resort compound and face down the domesticated pets in order to pull off their rescue. The pets are led by a conniving poodle named Fifi who is particularly hateful of the wilds. After a few slightly amusing sight gags and a predictable story and outcome, the wilds defeat Fifi and find that they and the pets have more in common than not. “Why can’t we just all get along” is the message of the day.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Athena on February 13th, 2009
Athena, here again sub “woofin’” for Gino. For those who don’t remember me, I’m a 13 year old Siberian Husky, and Gino lets me watch and review some of the movies for you guys. Times like these you need a dog’s eye view, and I happen to have two of them, a blue one and a brown one. Who says dogs are colorblind? I don’t get to go into the theater here a whole lot, something about fur in the equipment. I thought I was bein’ helpful because Gino’s always saying he doesn’t get enough software for his PS3. Hey, I got the softest wear around here. Well, Gino let me in again a couple of nights ago to watch the latest in the “Buddies” films. You might remember that I told you about Snow Buddies about 7 years ago. (That’s 1 year in human years). That was the first “Buddies” films I got to see, and I liked it a lot. Of course, that might have something to do with the star, Shasta, who’s about the cutest dog this side of…well…me. She was a cute little Siberian Husky puppy. I’m sorry to say that Shasta isn’t in this one. But before you start to decide you don’t want to watch this movie, let me give you my rulin’.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2009
Marvel has been pretty busy lately. Since starting their own film studio to work on their iconic characters, we’ve seen a lot of the Marvel universe of late. This past summer saw not one, but two of Marvel’s stable characters enjoy blockbuster releases on the live action front. Iron Man captured world wide attention and the hundreds of millions that go with it. While the new Hulk film didn’t bring with it the same kind of financial bounty, it was a well respected film that won over much of the character’s fan base, lost when Ang Lee put together his horrible Hulk feature some years ago. If anything, the unlikely casting of Ed Norton brought that film closer to the beloved television series than the classic comics from the 1960’s and 70’s. Now Marvel’s animation lines have been churning out full length animated adventures of many of their popular heroes. Most recently Iron Man got the predictable full length treatment. Now it’s The Hulk’s turn, but there is a bit of a twist to the formula. Instead of one longer effort, Marvel decided to go with two shorter stories, likely to bring in as many of the other Marvel franchises for the ride. In case you’ve been sleeping on another planet, Marvel is inching toward a grand Avenger film. The plans include more live action movies featuring Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and, of course, The Hulk. There is also an aggressive slate of these direct to video animated efforts, all leading toward an Avengers project.
We all know that by himself, The Hulk can be an awkward character. He has always shone best in the comics when he had someone else to beat up on. These “Clash Of Titan” titles have been milestone events in the green monster’s legacy. It’s no great surprise that anyone who loved these moments in the comics would expect to see them as part of a new animated Hulk franchise. Enter the new Hulk vs. series. This release contains two such pairings:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2009
Meerkat Manor is back for a fourth season on DVD. You’re invited back into the South African desert with the famous Whiskers Clan. Animal Planet has themselves a relatively big hit here with Meerkat Manor. OK, so, it’s not exactly The Sopranos or The Shield, but it does have a modestly dedicated audience. Seems that folks just can’t get enough of these fur balls. They’ve set up blogs and websites dedicated to the antics of the celebrated Whiskers. If you like them and are dying to see what these lil’ guys are up to next, wait no longer. Fast on the heels of the prequel film, The Story Begins, Meerkat Manor is here again. Of course, all of this is strictly in the interest of scientific study. Sure it is! Don’t worry, I won’t tell a soul.
Stockard Channing takes over the narration duties from Sean Astin. She’s a bit more playful and often more dramatic, but I have to admit I was partial to Astin. Expect more of the same here. Kidnapped kids to missing Commandos and, of course, the annual loss of a beloved character. It’s all par for the course on Meerkat Manor. I have to admit that as cute as these little guys are, it’s all starting to run together for me. I can’t remember which character is which or who belongs to which tribe. Maybe it’s about time to close the books on the fur balls from the African desert.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 4th, 2009
The box art promises that Red, White, & Brown won’t disappoint Russell’s die hard fans. I totally agree. This extended Comedy Central concert is pretty much standard Russell Peters. I’ve only seen his act in bits and pieces in the past, but what I saw here looks very much the same. Peters’ comedy is pretty much made up of riffing on ethnicities and various stereotypes. He gets away with what many others comics can’t by having an Indian heritage that’s not really as evident as he makes it sound. Looking at the man, I would not, as he often does, characterize him as a “brown man”. He doesn’t look even vaguely Indian to me. We’re talking Indian from India, and not the Native American variety here. Whether he actually looks the part or not, he uses the ancestry to get away with racial material. Unfortunately, if some of this stuff were coming from a white guy, there would be protests and firings.
It was a little bit of a surprise to me that the audience shots showed that young children had been allowed into the concert. The material does get sexual, and Peters even acknowledged one of the young audience members while continuing with one of those kinds of routines. The stuff isn’t offensive, just not appropriate for 7 year old kids.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 3rd, 2009
In America, he is wanted. In France, he is desired. Worldwide, his films are praised for their ethereal, disturbing, and sometimes humorous qualities. But his life overshadows his accomplishments. He survived a concentration camp. His parents did not. He found Hollywood success with films such as Rosemary’s Baby, The Tenant, Repulsion, and The Fearless Vampire Killers. His marriage to wife Sharon Tate ended in a brutal homicide that took both her life and the life of their unborn child.The case would later introduce the world to Charles Manson, a crazy-eyed charismatic with a thirst for blood, and his murderous followers. It would also create a disdain in Polanski for the media, one that grew in the wake of an underage sex scandal several years later.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2009
Three soldiers are on their way home from Iraq. They have each suffered injuries. Fred Cheaver (Robbins) is on his way home for good. He’s retired and looks forward to getting back to St. Louis and his wife and son. Colee Dunn (McAdams) is a young woman who was injured in her leg and now has a month leave. She’s planning on going to Las Vegas to return a guitar to the family of her boyfriend, who died in Iraq. T.K. Poole was injured in the groin and is also on his way to Las Vegas for a one month leave. He’s afraid that his fiancée won’t want him back because his injury appears to have left him impotent. He’s heard tell of sex experts in Vegas that might be able to “get him working again”. The three are strangers until a blackout cancels their flights once in the United States. They decide to carpool to St. Louis with Fred and get flights out of there for Vegas. During the trip they bond somewhat which turns out to be fortuitous for Fred. When he gets home he finds that things are not going to be the way he planned. His two new friends join him in extending the road trip, ultimately to Vegas. There no one finds what they expected.
If you’re looking for a film about the war, one side or another, you are most likely going to be disappointed. There is very little discussion on that front, and what is there is what you would expect from someone like Tim Robbins who wears his politics on his sleeve. Fortunately it is a limited scope and not really the point of the movie. What looks like a soldier film is really a very typical and unoriginal road trip film about bonding. They meet the typical odd characters and weird circumstances along the way. The acting and characters are charming to some degree. All three performers do a good job of bringing some chemistry to the film, but it all appears so pointless. The problem is that the film is ultimately claustrophobic, and while there’s tons of driving, it doesn’t end up going anywhere at all. In the end the characters are little changed by their experience, and we’re led to believe will go on with their lives. In the end it’s an innocent enough diversion, nothing more.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 28th, 2009
Humboldt County, the new independent comedy-drama from writers/directors Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs, sneaks on to shelves this month with a quietude as serene as its iZLER-composed musical score. Despite apt writing and direction, this slice-of-life piece simply fails to assert itself and leaves viewers with an indifference to the material.That’s not to say Humboldt County lacks competence. There isn’t a bad performance in the film. Two performances, in fact, are absolute dynamite. The always dependable Brad Dourif does what he does best, playing the crazy eccentric type, but this time he has a very human twist that endears him to the audience like never before. And Madison Davenport, a stunningly talented child actress, marks her debut with a strong performance that captures every scene she’s in.
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