Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 19th, 2009
Remember when Eddie Murphy was funny? You know, before the fat suites and fart jokes. I guess many of you hadn’t even been born yet. Ronald Reagan was still president of these United States. CD’s were the latest thing. VHS was just catching on. The Rams were still in L.A., and it was the Cardinals that were playing in St. Louis. No one had ever heard about DVD, MP3, or Wi-fi. It was 1988 and Eddie Murphy was staring in Coming To America.
I’ve long considered this the last funny Eddie Murphy film. It just seems like he’d turned to gimmicks and quick physical humor. He got lazy, and you know what? So did I. I decided it wasn’t worth the effort to get my seat into those theater seats to see him clown around anymore. So journey with me back to a magical time when Murphy was still hungry and he let his talent shine.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 19th, 2009
Leslie Nielsen was once a serious actor. He starred in one of the most important science fiction films ever made, Forbidden Planet. He was a staple on the 1950’s television dramas. His unique features and voice made him a busy character actor all the way until the 1980’s. That’s when the cornball kings Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker cast him as the “don’t call me Shirley” Dr. Rumack in Airplane. From that moment on Nielsen went from being a serious actor to becoming the face of an entire comedy genre of corny films. If there was a subject to spoof throughout the 80’s and 90’s, you could count on Leslie Nielsen having a prominent role. Two years after Airplane he had a television series, for all of 6 episodes. It was a cop show spoof called Police Squad. In the show he stared as Detective Frank Drebin, a modern day Inspector Clouseau. He would bumble his way through the show’s unique cases, always finding a way to stumble on the solution. The only case he couldn’t crack was how to get people to watch the show. The brand of humor that Nielsen is now famous for has a very narrow niche. You either get it or you don’t. You either like it or you don’t, and most of America decidedly didn’t.
So what do you do with a miserably failed television show that ran just 6 episodes? You make it into a series of major motion pictures, that’s what you do. Six years after the series was gone and forgotten, the Abrahams/Zucker team decided to take it to the medium they’ve had so much success in already. What didn’t work at all on television appeared to have new life at the box office. The film brought in an impressive $79 million, which was a phenomenal number for a comedy in 1988. It went on to become the 8th highest grossing film of 1988. With a production budget of only about $20 million, this was a cash cow Paramount couldn’t afford to milk. They did indeed go to the well twice more, with the bottom falling out on the third try. The audiences loved it, but they could only take so much.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 19th, 2009
The series might be called “I Love The 80’s” and the film Still Smokin’ was indeed released in 1983, but when I think of Cheech & Chong I am brought back to the 1970’s. It was then that the pair had their first success with an iconic brand of “stoner” comedy. Their LP’s sold millions across the country. You didn’t have to be a stoner to appreciate the jokes. I was about as straight as they come, but I really loved listening to Cheech & Chong. The material was about more than just getting high. It was timely, at least it was then. It mirrored the culture that we could see from our own windows and like all inspired comedy, it was relevant.
In 1978 the boys ventured into the movies with Up In Smoke. While the film wasn’t a box office blockbuster, it did a fair amount of business, and before long the boys were in the big time. Unfortunately by the time of the release of Still Smokin’ things were already on the decline. By 1983 the world had changed enough that the humor no longer reflected popular American culture. By now the movies really were strictly for the stoners.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 19th, 2009
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch is a character that actually originated in 1962. She debuted in Archie Comics for the publication Archie’s Mad House issue #22. She was intended to be one of those one-shot characters, but the audience liked her so much that she found a home in Archie Comics for a while, even getting her own book starting in 1971. In 1996, a television show was launched. It would last seven seasons and one-hundred and sixty three episodes. This was a great run for a show that was only created to bring a little bit of magic into everybody’s lives.
Sabrina Spellman (played by Melissa Joan Hart) has enrolled into Adams College. She decides to leave behind her aunts, Hilda and Zelda (played by Caroline Rhea & Beth Broderick) and move into the dorms. Salem (voiced by Nick Bakay), her talking cat (he’s really a trapped warlock) also can’t come as she must try to adjust to college life alone.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 19th, 2009
Made-for-TV crapper Depth Charge, a new action film starring Jason Gedrick and that B-movie slut brother of Julia Eric Roberts, hits DVD with a bare bones release you will welcome, if by chance, you happen to work for Upcoming Discs and want to get your next bad movie project over with as quickly as possible.All others may find it difficult mustering enthusiasm for what is essentially an ultra-low budget remake of Die Hard on a submarine.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2009
Everything you loved from the first film is back again. Dreamworks took the high road and brought all of the voice cast back. That means the wonderful chemistry these characters developed in the first film gets to continue. We don’t have to waste time setting up new bonds. We can get right to the adventure. Dreamworks also retained pretty much the entire animation team and added even more talent. The quality of this animation actually improves upon that of the original. Water, in particular, is startling on this film. It is as photo real as I’ve seen it in any animation feature to date. The characters are a little blocky, evidenced by Alex’s paws, but that’s really a style decision and not an animation flaw. Another stand-out rendering is the dust factor. Throughout the film dust plays an important role in the overall look of the picture. Again, you get incredibly photo real particles or clouds of dust in this film. Both of these achievements are milestones in animation technology. Of course, technology is only as good as what you do with it. We get lovable characters in very interesting situations. If you even liked the first film, I think you’ll love this film even more….Except for that pesky “Move It Move It” nonsense.
The film opens up with a quick recap of the events of the first feature. We also get to go further into the past for a very brief encounter with our zoo friends as babies. (Do I smell a cartoon series or prequel film coming our way?) After that quick recap, we join the zoo gang where we last saw them, in the wilds of Madagascar. The Penguins have repaired an old aircraft and set it up on a huge slingshot in preparation for a flight back to the New York Zoo. There’s tearful goodbyes all around, but unfortunately, King Julien decides to join the gang on their return home. The Air Penguin has a successful takeoff, but makes it only as far as the African mainland before it crash lands. Once in Africa, the zoo gang gets to meet wild members of their own kind. Alex (Stiller) discovers his parents and learns how it was that he came to be at the zoo. Gloria (Smith) finds that the African plains are just “raining” male hippos. She hooks up with the continent’s resident stud, Moto Moto (Am). Of course, that’s going to bring out the jealousy in Melman (Schwimmer). Melman also discovers that all giraffes are by nature hypochondriacs and usually crawl off to die at the first sign of illness. His vast knowledge of medicine earns him the rank of herd witch doctor. Mart (Rock) discovers that all zebra look and sound exactly alike. He gets depressed by his perceived lack of uniqueness. Zuba (Mac), Alex’s father, is the ruler of this particular part of Africa. His reign has been plagued by the conniving of fellow lion, Makunga (Baldwin). He’ll use the return of Alex to gain control of the crown. When Alex fails a coming of age ritual, Zuba abdicates and Makunga is in control. Unfortunately, his reign is soon threatened by the dry up of the watering hole. Alex, intent on proving himself, sets out to return the flow of water to the hole. With Marty by his side, they trace the problem to a dam, built by New York tourists that include the old lady who gave Alex a whoopin’ in the first film. Ninja Nana has organized the tourists who have been stranded by the penguins’ commando raids to salvage parts to repair the plane. While Alex and Marty set out to fix the problem, King Julien has another plan. He wants to sacrifice someone to the mighty volcano to please the “water gods”. Thinking he’s dying anyway, and has lost Gloria, Melman volunteers to be fed to the volcano. These events all converge into an ending very much a Madagascar adventure. For a running time less than an hour and a half, there is no wasted time at all here. If anything, the story all seems to happen so fast that it’s over before you start to sink your teeth into it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2009
It didn’t take the Friday The 13th film series long to reach down into the gimmick bag. The sad thing is that the franchise didn’t really need a gimmick. Steve Miner returned to the director’s chair, and he delivered an important, if not great entry into the franchise’s history. Jason would, for the first time, don the hockey mask that would make his image the iconic horror visage it remains today. This was also an important film because a young makeup artist from this staff would break out to become one of the best in the business. Stan Winston was an uncredited artist on this film. Of course, I have no way of knowing what was his, but can there be any doubt that he left his mark throughout the film? Winston didn’t often talk about the film at all. It’s almost as if he never considered it a part of his resume, but he’s likely the biggest thing to come out of the movie.
There’s nothing new at all in the story. A fresh group of teens converge on another section of the banks of Crystal Lake. This time we’re on a farm that just so happens to border the bloody lake. Jason sets about doing what Jason does, and soon there are less and less of the teens going around. In 2D the film looks silly at times. There are so many obvious scenes intended strictly for the quick 3D effect. These moments include a wash pole, an eyeball in the hands of a Crazy Ralph clone, a snake, and a passed joint. Unfortunately these stretches make this the slowest of the Jason films. Still, there’s plenty of killing to go around, and while the effects don’t quite catch up to Tom Savini’s work in the first film, there are more creative moments here than the second film. With a new system in place, the MPAA didn’t feel the need to go crazy in chopping the film, so it benefits from a smoother edit than the second film had.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2009
“You may only see it once but that will be enough”
That was the marketing slogan for the first Friday The 13th film in 1980. Apparently they couldn’t have been more wrong, because most of us have seen the film countless times, and no, it was never enough. The franchise would thrive with over 10 sequels or affiliated films, taking us right up to the present remake/reboot of that very first outing at Camp Crystal Lake. No, my friends, once was never going to be enough.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 17th, 2009
Daniel’s Daughter comes to DVD with star Laura Leighton back in the spotlight. Unfortunately, it’s a pretty dim spotlight. Fans of Melrose Place may be happy to see her, but that happiness will be short-lived when they also realize what a flat-lined EKG her film turns out to be.It seems as though the emotional pulses of this film never rise above comatose, relating a love story that doesn’t deliver and characters that were dead on arrival with the first page of the script. Something feels off about the whole affair. The sets are gorgeous. The actors are capable. The story appears heartfelt. But that’s before it’s all set in motion. Overly melodramatic and flatly rendered, Daniel’s Daughter is a made-for-television movie in the worst sense of the term, whether it wants to be or not.
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.
