Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 31st, 2025
"Some called Bregna the perfect society. Some call it the height of human civilization. But others know better. The Goodchilds built Bregna to ensure us a future. They built the Relico, a memorial to remind us of what we've survived. They built walls to protect us. They tell us that outside, nature has retaken the world. But the real problems lie within. We are haunted by sorrows we cannot name. People disappear, and our government denies these crimes. The Goodchild regime provides for us, as long as we stay quiet. So we trade freedom for a gilded cage. But there are rebels who refuse to make that trade, who fight to overthrow a government that silences us, who fight in the name of the disappeared. They call themselves the Monicans. I am one of them."
It all started as the brainchild of Peter Chung. It was an adult anime series that aired on MTV from 1991 to 1995. The series looked at a dystopian future where all kinds of "beings" existed, mostly from the practice of too much cloning, which eventually led to mutants and other strange creatures. In this dark future, humanity has fallen to basically two city-states . In Bregna, a scientist-dictator named Trevor Goodchild appears to rule with an iron thumb. They are the blood enemies of the other settlement, Monica. The animated series attempted to take on some highly philosophical themes, and the series was very stylish, calling from both anime and early German Expressionism. While not a huge hit, the animated shows drew in a very loyal following, and it wasn't long before that material would find itself as a live-action feature film. Unfortunately Peter Chung did not have a ton of input, and wasn't a fan of the result. The box office numbers were dismal, and any plans for a film franchise pretty much died in 2005 with the release of Aeon Flux. Now the film celebrates its 20th anniversary with a UHD Blu-ray (4K) release.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2025
"It's rare, but sometimes, there's this moment in the car where everything goes quiet, my heartbeat slows, it's peaceful, and I can see everything, and no one, no one can touch me. And I am chasing that moment every time I get in the car. I don't know when I'll find it again, but, man, I want to. I want to. 'Cause in that moment, I'm flying."
The first think I noticed when the writer/director John Kosinski-led F1 arrived here in UHD Blu-ray from Warner Brothers Home Entertainment was that they had changed the film's name. when it was available for screenings, it was simply called F1. I guess someone in marketing thought the name was somewhat confusing so they decided to add "The Movie" to the title. I guess this was in case any of you out there got confused and was not aware you were watching a movie instead of an actual race somewhere. I'll never claim to understand exactly what studio marketing people really do for a living that doesn't involve a set of darts and a target with various "ideas" spread out in the landing area. This is strictly a rumor that I heard, but apparently we were just a centimeter away from the film being called F1: That Thing You Watch On Your Phone. Of course, I have always suspected that the studio powers that be might have my picture up on that dart board. But don't worry; there's little chance one of these things will be named after me. Whatever it happens to be called this week, F1 or F1: The Movie is out right now, and this gives you a chance to bring Formula One racing right into your home theater experience. How does that car commercial go? Zoom Zoom.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2025
"This is a true story. It happened right here in my home town two years ago. A lot of people die in a lot of weird ways in this story. But you're not going to find it in the news or anywhere like that, because the police and the top people in this town were, like so embarrassed that they weren't able to solve it that they covered everything up. But if you come here and ask anyone, they'll tell you the same thing I'm gonna tell you now. It started in my school ... At 2:17 in the morning, every kid woke up, got out of bed, walked downstairs, and into the dark ... and they never came back."
Some people may think I’m crazy, but as a lifelong horror fan, I feel right now we are in the Golden Age of horror cinema. When you look at the box office this year and last, horror has simply been a dominant force, and I’m loving it. What’s even better is that it is new material that is raking in the money rather than seeing tired retreads of IPs that have been exhausted over and over again. Sinners, though it wasn’t my cup of tea, dominated the box office, and even though I’m not the film’s biggest fan, I still like seeing horror rake in the money. I’m loving that we’re getting all kinds of horror lately, where an indie slasher like Terrifier is going to be featured at Halloween Horror Nights, and we’re getting all sorts of experimental horror. For instance, later this year we’ll get Goodboy, a paranormal story told through the perspective of a dog. (Sure, it sounds silly, but I’m all for it.) This brings me to Barbarian. For me this has been my favorite horror film in the past five years, and that’s saying a lot, because there has been A LOT of good horror lately. From the moment I heard about Zach Cregger’s next film, Weapons, it immediately shot to the top of my list of most anticipated films. Now that the film has finally come out, is it worth the wait and the hype that surrounds it?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 17th, 2025
You often hear it said that Tom Cruise is the hardest working actor in Hollywood. I don't want to take anything away from Cruise, but I'd like to nominate Bob Odenkirk for the title. Yes, that Bob Odenkirk from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fame. He's been wanting to do an action film through most of his career, and it would appear to have been a rather farfetched idea at best. But he buddied up to the guys at 87North and 87Eleven Productions. Those are the stunt folks who brought us films like the John Wick series. They didn't laugh at the idea. So Odenkirk trained for four years starting in 2017 to build up his body and learn to do all of those action stunts. The reward came in 2021 with the release of Nobody. It was an action/comedy that gave us the kind of stuff you might expect from a John Wick group. The film didn't make money because it was released while most folks were staying away from places like the local movie theater because of the COVID pandemic. Later the film caught fire on streaming and home video release, and so a sequel was a no-brainer. Except that Bob Odenkirk, while filming the final season of Better Call Saul, suffered a major heart attack that stalled that production and would appear to negate any chance of the actor going through that much physical punishment ... except it didn't. The actor went full speed ahead, and the result is Nobody 2, now out on UHD Blu-ray in 4K from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, and you should check both films out if you're new to this franchise.
In the first film we're introduced to Odenkirk's Hutch Mansell. He's stuck in a dreary cookie-cutter daily existence. He works for his father-in-law as an accountant, and his family pretty much ignores him. To make it worse, he is embarrassed when his house is invaded one night and his son is tougher than he is. Now the world looks at him as if he were a wimp. But that's exactly what he wants the world to think ... or does he? In the military he was an auditor, hence the current bookkeeping job. But when he goes to face the crooks who terrorized his family he ends up walking into a busload of Russian mobsters terrorizing a city bus. We soon discover that he has mad fighting skills and that auditor job in the military didn't have anything to do with bookkeeping or numbers. He was an assassin for the government and now they've forced him to show his hand. He ended up burning the mob's $30 million stash and that ends up being another problem.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 16th, 2025
"Good evening, Ethan. This is your president. Since you won't reply to anyone else, I thought I'd reach out directly. First, I want to thank you for a lifetime of devoted and unrelenting service; were it not for the tireless dedication of you and your team, the Earth would be a very different place. It might not even be here at all. Every risk you've taken, every comrade you've lost in the field, every personal sacrifice you made, has brought this world another sunrise. It's been 35 years since circumstances brought you to us and you were given the choice -- since the IMF saved you from a life in prison. And though you never followed orders, you never let us down. You were always the best of men in the worst of times. I need you to be that man now."
I imagine this is how it happened. It's January of 2019, and Tom Cruise has just popped into the bathroom to shave. He opens up that can of Barbasol just to make sure there isn't any dinosaur DNA left in the can, but as he takes off the cap, an authoritative voice begins to speak: “Good morning, Mr. Cruise. Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to make a two-part film of the Mission Impossible franchise. It won't be easy. That's why only the IMF team can be counted on to complete this task. There are agents out to stop you before you even get started. In China there is a virus code-name COVID, and this virus will spread to pandemic levels just as you're starting to get your production crew together. Elements within our own government will take measures to shut you down. Delays will cost an extra $100 million and necessitate crucial cast changes. They'll be serious injuries, and your release date will be July of 2021 ... I mean November of 2021 ... Would you believe May of 2022? ... Let's shoot for July 14, 2023. You will have to deal with nefarious crew members who will attempt to sabotage the project by standing closer than two meters apart. You may use over-the-top rants to attempt to intimidate these factions into compliance. Beware that said rants don't end up released by the press to the world. Somehow through all of these challenges you must create a pair of Mission Impossible films that will be bigger and better than anything that came before. And remember, Tom, if your film fails to bring in a billion or more, the studio will disavow your team, and your movie will go straight to streaming ... or worse, get shelved as a tax write-off. Good luck, Tom. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.” There's a swoosh of fog, and Tom Cruise is sitting in his bathroom with no shaving cream to complete his original task. I figure that's how it must have gone. And that was just for the first movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 15th, 2025
"One … two … Freddy’s coming for you, three … four … better lock the door, five … six … grab your crucifix ..."
Freddy might have been born in the mind of Wes Craven, but he grew and developed in the knife-wielding hands of Robert Englund. Granted, not all of these films are equal in quality, but the first was everything you could ask for in a horror/slasher film of the era. Freddy himself is by far the most colorful and animated of the slashers. His burned face, fedora, striped sweater, and knife-blade glove were all integral parts of the wise-cracking maniac. Now Warner Brothers has released the original seven films on UHD Blu-ray in Ultra High Definition. It's a dream come true ... well ... at least a nightmare come true.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2025
"That is where you've always been wrong about me, Lex. I am as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning, and despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other, and I try to make the best choices that I can. I screw up all the time, but that is being human, and that's my greatest strength. And someday, I hope, for the sake of the world, you understand that it's yours too."
I'm much more of a Marvel guy than a DC guy, but there are great characters and stories in both cinematic universes. DC pretty much invented the entire idea of a superhero when two young guys in New York came up with a new idea back in the 1930's. When Superman was first introduced to us, it was in Action Comics #1 back in 1938 from the writer Jerry Siegel and the artist Joe Shuster. Since then the character has become a cultural phenomenon that’s been featured in just about every form of media from radio shows, TV shows, cartoons, movies and everything else in between. The character has evolved quite a bit since those early comic book days, and one of the character’s biggest evolutions came with the Max Fleischer cartoon series. But it wasn't until Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve convinced us that a man can fly in 1978 that Superman truly conquered the world of cinema. Since then DC had another huge win with the Tim Burton and Michael Keaton Batman films about 10 years later. With that kind of a head start, you would think that the DCU (DC Universe) would have left Marvel in the dust. I mean, for decades Marvel couldn't even make the stuff themselves, because they didn't have the studio connection like DC has had with Warner Bros. for decades. Yet the Marvel films have progressed through six phases of films and have dominated the film superhero world.
It didn't help that when Zack Snyder took over, he created this dark place where Superman was a brooding character. Superman was never that in the comics. He was the eternal optimist with a "golly gee" manner that made this almost-invulnerable super-being relatable to the little guys like us. DC has decided to erase the franchise and start over with James Gunn and Peter Chiappetta. Gunn is really the man in charge, and their brand new DCU starts with the 2025 film Superman. He has certainly changed directions, but the question for me remains: did you go too far? Judging by the box office take, I'd say he might have won the fans over. Now that Superman is out from Warner Bros., with this UHD Blu-ray 4K release you can decide that for yourself. Let me be your guide.
James Gunn absolutely got the first part right. Thankfully, a new universe and Superman franchise doesn't start with an origin story. We all know that Krypton blew up and the planet's leading scientist sent his infant son to Earth in hopes of his and the Krypton race's survival. We don't need to see it again. With the likes of Marlon Brando and Michael Shannon putting their imprints on Jor-El (Supe’s Pops), no one is going to do it better. I don't need to see Bruce Wayne's parents killed over and over again. I'm tired of watching Peter Parker get bitten by some messed-up spider, and James Gunn correctly assumes that we don't need to see that story yet again. That's a win in the Gunn column.
The film begins about three years since Superman/Clark Kent (Corenswet) has made himself known in Metropolis. He's already dating Lois Lane (Brosnahan), who already knows who he is. So Gunn saves us from another tired Superman film trope of him just barely staying one step ahead of his Pulitzer prize-winning partner. That's two for Gunn. In fact, after we see Superman after he got his behind kicked and saved by Krypto and his squad of robots, one of the best scenes in the film is this honest and candid exchange between Clark and Lois at her apartment. I'm not into the whole romantic screen stuff, but there is absolutely a dynamic here that sets the playing field and establishes the kind of chemistry these two characters just have to have. As much as I love Chris Reeve's version, I did not feel the chemistry between him and Margot Kidder That could be because the actress turned out to be bat-crap crazy. I'm not sure about that one. But here Gunn made good choices in his cast. I'll give him a half point here and explain later.
What is a superhero without a supervillain? Gunn did go for the obvious path here and, once again the bad guy is Lex Luthor (Hoult). They already hate each other, and Lex, again of course, has been plotting to defeat the Man of Steel. This time he intends to ruin his reputation. Luthor manipulates Superman into "invading" another country and using it as an excuse to unleash his havoc on Metropolis. There are stories of pocket universes and a series of henchmen characters, and we know Superman will win the day. The story is fine, if not a bit overcomplicated by the inclusion of too many central characters. Some of these, however, are quite good.
Great Caesar's ghost. If you're a fan of The Wire you know who Wendell Pierce is. Gunn cast Bunk as the Daily Planet's editor-in-chief (but don't call him chief). He's terribly underused here, but that's the problem when you have so many characters that you are trying to be faithful to. Gunn uses them all. Only the comic fans know who Steve Lombard (Bennett) is. He brought over Otis (Rosemore) and Miss Teschmacher (Sampaio) from the Donner films, and you have to have Superman's pal, Jimmy (Gisando). He also uses the film to introduce sometimes-bad-guy, sometimes-good-guy Metamorpho (Carrigan). He also plants the seeds of the eventual Justice League who go by the Justice Gang right now by giving us the first feature film versions of Green Lantern and all-around pain in the butt Guy Gardner (Fillion). He imagines himself the "guy" in charge, and Fillion is the perfect choice to play him, and I liked him even with the classic comics bowl haircut look. Maybe this is another half point, OK? We get Hawkgirl (Merced) and a really dynamic version of Mr. Terrific (Gathegi), but the problem is none of these characters have more than a few minutes to shine. There are a ton of other "Easter egg" characters and elements, but the film's own kryptonite is that it's too much all at once. There's even Krypto, and I'm taking away a point here, because Gunn decided to use the design of his own dog instead of his classic white shepherd look from the comics. I mean, come on, James. You pay attention to the details of Guy Gardner's haircut, but you turn Krypto into a yip-yip dog? Yeah. OK. A yip-yip dog with superpowers.
In tone the film reaches for camp more than dark and serious, which is fine with me. The Donner films were loaded with camp. I will admit it's a promising beginning, but if I could say one thing to the new DC boss: slow down your roll. You can't catch up to Marvel in a single movie. Give it time to evolve. If you load so many elements into each movie, it won't matter how well-cast they are, and these really are. The pace is almost manic because it has to be, and I suspect there's a 4-hour version of it out there somewhere. Cue The Gunn Cut.
Superman is presented in its original but odd aspect ratio of 1.90:1. The ultra-high-definition 2160p image is arrived at by an HEVC codec with an average bitrate of 75 mbps. This is a very colorful film, and that's quite appropriate for a comic book movie. The HDR/Dolby Vision allows for wonderfully vivid and bright reds and blues, which are crucial to the character. I'm particularly impressed by the white levels here, as much of the film takes place in the Arctic, although filmed all the way south in the Antarctic. It was a really good idea, because the snow and ice textures are pretty good here. That also means it's a little too easy to spot the moments where the environment is not at least completely real. Still the f/x blend quite nicely an issue Marvel has been fighting in recent releases. Contrast wins the day with solid delineation between bright and inky black elements. Sometimes the film is a little too glossy. I also loved the contrast of the warm colors of Lois's apartment against the frigid cold colors of the Arctic. It's close to a show-off piece for your setup.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 23rd, 2025
"Everybody deserves a second chance."
In some parts of the country there's a saying. If you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes. It'll change. That's exactly how I felt by the time my two hours watching M3GAN 2.0 was through. It was entertaining, to be sure, but I felt like I had been through about five movies before it was finally over. It's hard to imagine that is has been three years since we first met the robot/children's toy gone berserk, but it really has. It was my hope that everyone was just waiting until they had a great new idea before they trotted the killer doll out again. Most of the characters and actors who survived their first encounter with M3GAN returned for the sequel, with at least one of them being somewhat of a surprise appearance, and just like that first movie, you really have to be careful who you trust here, because killer dolls aren't the only things that are dangerous here. The humans can actually be a lot worse, and that just might be the point as M3GAN 2.0 gets a head start in the upcoming heated competition for the coming summer blockbuster season. We're just weeks away from a DC and Marvel one-two combination, but will M3GAN 2.0 survive the punches? Not likely, I'm afraid.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2025
"I can guarantee your safety ... more or less."
Some things cannot be beat, and they sure as heck can't be repeated. An old vintage cola commercial used to tell us, "Ain't nothing like the real thing, baby." And Jurassic World Rebirth is going to do anything it can for 134 minutes to try and tell you that isn't true, but we know better, don't we? Anyone who has seen the original Jurassic Park has their favorite moments, but one scene has always stood out for me and so many other film fans I've spoken to. When the camera pans to that peaceful swamp pasture and you see tons of dinosaurs walking about without a care in the world. If you didn't know how to react there, Sam Neill as Dr. Grant showed you how. His expression matched ours, and it was a wonderful cinematic moment of magic and wonder. You can never repeat that ever again. No matter how many Jurassic franchise movies or any other dinosaur movies might attempt to bring you that single moment, they never will. And that's OK. There are moments in Jurassic World Rebirth were it is quite obvious that director Gareth Edwards attempts to repeat that moment. He telegraphs it particularly in a scene where we get a wide shot of dinosaurs and we hear that old John Williams theme, and Edwards is pulling hard on our heartstrings. Sorry, Gareth. It didn't happen for anyone there. It's not your fault. You did everything right. But, you see, Steven Spielberg already took us there, and we will never have it again, but truly, man, thanks so much for trying. You did deliver the best of the Jurassic World films and the best franchise film since the original. You're just going to have to settle for that.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 23rd, 2025
"If you carry a 00 number it means you're licensed to kill ... not get killed."
1961 was a pretty big year for many of us. In the NFL one of the new teams entering the league was one in Minnesota called the Vikings, and they would draft a quarterback named Fran Tarkenton as one of their first acts. I was born that June, and a couple of weeks later one of the most important deals ever made in Hollywood was consummated. EON Productions had just been formed as the partnership between Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and their partnership started off with a bang when they acquired the film rights to Ian Fleming's British secret agent, James Bond. Fleming's first choice to play his spy was Roger Moore, who later did take over the role, but long after Fleming had died. Sean Connery would fill that role nicely, and within a short period of time Fleming was on board with Connery in the title role.
