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Defiance (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2009

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“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.
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Raising the Bar: The Complete First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2009

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Steven Bochco has amassed quite a nice little television empire over the years. He’s one of the most award winning producers in television history. He cut his teeth on Columbo and has never looked back. You know his work, or at least you’ve heard of it: Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and NYPD Blue are the most famous of these works. Bochco wrote the book on the ensemble police and legal drama.
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Army Wives: The Complete Season 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2009

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What if you took the Desperate Housewives and placed them on an Army base? If that thought has been keeping you awake at night, sleep tight, gentle reader. You can find out simply by picking up a copy of Army Wives on DVD. I’m not exaggerating about this at all. Army Wives has the very same soap opera plotting and tone as the ABC hit does. You gotta really be into that sort of thing if you have any hope at all of keeping up with the antics of these four friends, or of having any desire to.
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Direct Contact (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 9th, 2009

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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.
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Dr. Dolittle: Million Dollar Mutts (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2009

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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.
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The Closer: The Complete Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 29th, 2009

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This 4^th season release of The Closer would become my first exposure to the rather good series from TNT. I don’t have time for network television these days, so the cable shows often fall by the wayside in my schedule. Of course, I’ve made time for some of the better ones over the years, but The Closer never seemed to find its way onto my radar. It should have. Of all of the cop or detective shows I’ve seen over the years, I can relate to this one better than any of them.
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Infected

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2009

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Infected is one of those many made for television films that appear on the Sci-Fi, I mean Sy-Fy Channel almost weekly, I mean weakly. Most of them are relatively low budget affairs that utilize very low grade CG f/x and often actors that haven’t been getting a lot of steady work in the legitimate world. It amazes me, actually. How can a network dedicated to science fiction consistently produce some of the worst movies in the genre?
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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 26th, 2009

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Aging senator James Stewart and wife Vera Miles arrive in the prosperous town of Shinbone to attend the funeral of an anonymous farmer. The local newsmen want to know why. Stewart tells the story. Cue the flashback, where he arrives in a much more anarchic Shinbone as a naïve lawyer. Held up and beaten by the brutal outlaw Liberty Valance (a psychotic Lee Marvin), he is determined by bring law and justice to the town, but must come to terms with the fact that he cannot do so without the gun of John Wayne (the aforementioned farmer).
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Frankenhood

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on May 25th, 2009

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Two guys enter a 3-on-3 Basketball tournament, but they stink. They work at a morgue and their crazed former coworker reanimates a gigantic man…they put him on their team…he’s good because he’s big (almost automatically)…they try to get money, girls and yadda yadda yadda, you can guess how it turns out for them.
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Smother

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on May 24th, 2009

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Dax Sheppard plays a one-liner filled everyman who loses his job the same day that both his kooky mother and his geeky step-cousin move into his house while he is attempting to lower his sperm count as his wife wants to conceive a child. The setup is their right off the bat, the comic motions not hesitating to begin, and they play out in a traditional comic format that is both familiar and harmless.
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Catlow

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 23rd, 2009

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Yul Brynner is the titular Catlow, a jovial outlaw rounding up maverick cattle, much to the consternation of cattle barons who feel the strays belong to them. Richard Crenna is Ben Cowan, Catlow’s best friend but also a federal Marshal, who is tasked with arresting Catlow. Leonard Nimoy is the hired gun whose task is rather more lethal. Catlow and Cowan spar good-naturedly as the former plans to steal a great deal of gold in Mexico, which will have many other people annoyed with him.
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8 Simple Rules: The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 15th, 2009

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John Ritter never really had much of a chance in his early career to show just how good his acting chops could be. Let’s face it. While Three’s Company had quite a loyal following, it was never mistaken for anything more than a parody. Ritter was never asked to stretch himself here, and the role likely cost him better opportunities over the years. Fortunately, while 8 Simple Rules wasn’t a great show either, it did offer quality enough work to allow Ritter to thrive.
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Gavin & Stacey: Season One

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 14th, 2009

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British comedy for me has always been big hit or big miss for me. There really is no between. Monty Python & The Holy Grail – big hit. This movie makes me laugh from the first second until the closing credits. But some of the Monty Python sketches or all of Meaning of Life – big miss. Same thing with television, the Black Adder is simply awesome. Absolutely Fabulous? I never got it and found it completely droll. So I was eager to see Gavin & Stacey and find another wonderful British hit. I was totally pleased.
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Taking Chance

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 14th, 2009

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Taking Chance gives audiences another perspective into the Iraq war. Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl (Kevin Bacon) volunteers to escort the remains of a recently deceased Lance Corporal Chance Phelps. During the trip across America’s heartland, Strobl gets to see how the Iraq war is implicating not just the families involved, but the nation as a whole. The film is also based on true events, which adds to the stories levity. The film manages to give alternative perspectives on the war and also manages to be objective at the same time.
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Marie and Bruce

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on May 11th, 2009

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Based on a play by Wallace Shawn (who also co-wrote the screenplay), this film is a day in the life of an unhappily married couple, played by Juliane Moore and Matthew Broderick, who don’t know what to do about said unhappiness. The story is simple but the paths each character take is not. After a bitter breakfast scene, they separately go about their day before meeting at a party in the evening where Marie may or may not leave Bruce once and for all.
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Two and a Half Men: The Complete Fifth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2009

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Two And A Half Men reached their 100^th episode in the 5^th year. That’s the milestone when a series becomes viable in syndication to local market stations. That’s the kind of show you see once, twice, a hundred times a day on those local stations either just before primetime or late at night. This is also the year that the writers of CSI and Two And A Half Men switched shows for an episode. It’s one of those cross-over ideas that I don’t think had been done before.
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October Road – The Complete Second Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 5th, 2009

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It’s the end of the October Road for Nick and the gang. If you want to blame anyone, there’s plenty to go around here. First of all, the writers’ strike didn’t do anyone any favors by delivering only a 6 season first year. While the cast was made up of good actors, there is never any kind of chemistry between them. They look like actors thrown together because they have to be. The writing is uneven. Did anyone ever really plan out what this show was really about? There are fans; every show has some.
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Dark Matter

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on May 5th, 2009

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Based on actual events at the University of Iowa in 1991 (which I did not know when I began watching), this film follows a young Chinese student named Liu Xing (played by Liu Ye) as he is accepted into a prestigious Cosmology research team based out of a Utah University. While working for a respected Cosmologist named Jake Reiser (played by Aidan Quinn) he makes his own revelations and theories that challenge that of his employer and mentor. This creates an obvious conflict between them which places his dreams of a Nobel Prize, and even just graduating at state if he decides to continue with his own theories and not Reiser’s.

The Last Templar

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 2nd, 2009

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In writing a review of this shameless Da Vinci Code cash-in project (the tag line on the cover even trumpets “Only one can shatter the code”!), it would be easy to fall back on easy comparisons to the Dan Brown books, or the Indiana Jones movies, or even Tomb Raider. That, however, would be predictable and, considering how obvious such comparisons are, has probably been done many times over by other reviewers. For this reason, I have decided that for this review, I will focus on the things I discovered by watching The Last Templar. After all, a three-hour epic mini-series brimming with historical perspective and exotic locales is bound to leave some sort of impression. So here goes:
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Dexter: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 1st, 2009

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Dexter continues his jump to the world of high definition as the second season finally makes its way to Blu-ray. The show is killer, if you’ll pardon the expression. In the first season, Dexter pointed out the contradiction of a crime scene in sunny Miami. The aftermath of brutality appears somewhat surreal in such a colorful and bright surroundings. On Blu-ray you really get to understand what he was talking about. It almost feels like the show shouldn’t look so clean, so crisp, so bright. But, of course, it should, and it does in this release.
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State of Play (BBC Miniseries)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 28th, 2009

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There are many examples of excellent BBC series and miniseries. Some eventually get remade into American shows. State Of Play is one of those fantastic BBC drama thrillers that is now making its way to American audiences, not as a copycat series, but as a major box office film staring Russell Crowe. While I have not seen this theatrical release as of yet, I am intrigued with the story and will eventually find myself watching this movie version. Unfortunately for the likes of Crowe and director Kevin Macdonald, I have a hard time believing that a 2 hour film can pack in as much detail
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Fight Night

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 27th, 2009

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At a point in time, women’s fighting was nothing more than usually a side show attraction. As the years went by, the concept of women fighting each other became more and more accepted. There is a women’s boxing league and there are serious women all over the wrestling circuit (and not just t&a shows). There are even rumblings of MMA females (that might be a bit too far though). So, a good plot line for movies would be to interject the female into a man’s fighting world and see how they do. Take underground boxing and the movie: Fight Night, this could be a great marriage.

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Spectacular Spider-Man, The: Volume Four

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 27th, 2009

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The title of Spectacular Spider-Man was once used to refer to a second-rate line of comics about the web-crawler. The Amazing Spiderman always led the way in sales but the Spectacular production always had its line of fans too. As well as the critics. The critics were often on the books because they had a more casual tone and sometimes didn’t even go along with the original book in terms of plot development. The comic eventually died off and in 2008, the Kids WB decided to use the name for their new animated show. Two seasons and 26 episodes later, this show has done quite well. Volume Four is now released and includes episodes 10-13.

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Street Warrior

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 20th, 2009

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Writing or directing a fighting movie is kinda like booking a wrestling card. In theory, you need to create a strong but flawed babyface who is fighting for a cause or fallen friend. The antagonist or main heel is usually completely evil and has the face of being completely untouchable. But in order to build up this reputation, he must also go through some minor good guys to get over his image.
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My Friends Tigger, Pooh and a Musical Too

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2009

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“Oh Bother”A.A. Milne was quite an eclectic writer. He wrote murder mysteries that even appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. From that fertile mind would also come a place known as the 100 Acre Wood. In that select place some of literature’s finest characters had the greatest adventures any boy could imagine. And adventures are certainly no fun on your own.
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