Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2017
"All of human history has led to this moment. The irony is we created you. And nature has been punishing us ever since. This is our last stand. And if we lose... it will be a Planet of Apes."
I was always a fan of the original Planet Of The Apes series of films. While they often flirted with a camp style, I was impressed with John Chambers' makeup effects and the performances of Roddy McDowall as both Cornelius and Caesar. Then came the television show, and I was just as enchanted, and that was helped along by McDowall's appearance as a third ape, Galen. The show didn't last a season, and before long the Apes franchise was left in some kind of limbo. Then along came Tim Burton, and I was excited to see what he could do with the material. Could this be the beginning of a new series of films? No, it was horrible, and the franchise suffered another lingering death. I had now given up hope that the Apes would ever return. Then came Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, and I was suddenly enchanted once again. Little did I know that combined with Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and now War For The Planet Of The Apes, science fiction's greatest trilogy would emerge. Where will they go from here?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 13th, 2017
At first glance you would not expect 50 year old cartoon television specials to be this high on the UHD 4K list. Honestly, I was a bit surprised myself. But when you really think about the staying power of these cartoons you realize they've made an emotional connection to generations of children of all ages. I grew up on the Peanuts creations of Charles M. Schulz. Most of us have, in some way or another. His newspaper comic strip is one of the longest running and most successful strips of all time. The work has been translated into every language currently spoken on the planet. The images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have appeared on just about any kind of product imaginable. Our pop culture contains too many references to the strip to mention briefly. For me, it was the television specials starting in the mid 1960’s that brought the gang into my life. The classics are running annually, still after nearly 50 years. A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown are the most mentioned and certainly beloved by generations of children and adults. I thought I never missed an airing.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2017
"C'mon, you apes, you wanna live forever? I have only one rule. Everybody fights, no one quits. The bugs have breached Mars, and the Federation's fleet is too far to help. It's up to us to save the planet. On the bounce, Troopers! The only good bug is a dead bug! Oorah!"
Robert Heinlein wrote the Starship Troopers novel in 1959. Since that time it has taken on many forms from pulp fiction to comic books. It was finally translated on film in 1997 by director Paul Verhoeven and scripted by Edward Neumeier. The film wasn't greatly received at the time but became a bit of a cult classic thanks in no small part to home video. There were attempts at live-action sequels, but none of them enjoyed any real success at all. One of the problems with the franchise on film is the inability to really showcase some of the iconic equipment described in the original novel. And while Verhoeven's film actually did a pretty good job with the alien bug race, the film wasn't able to feature the amazing suit technology that was the core of the Federation military's fighting force. So the suits just never became a part of the cinematic universe of Starship Troopers. That all changes with Starship Troopers: Traitor Of Mars.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 5th, 2017
“This is a corpse infected with the plague. It is uncaring, unfeeling.”
When it comes to the overwhelming majority of zombie fiction, it’s all about brains (or rather, BRAAAINS!!!) It’s what the undead hunger for, and a well-placed headshot is usually the only way to kill them (again). And that doesn’t even cover the popular device of using the walking dead as an allegory for an increasingly mindless society. Warm Bodies stands out because it’s more concerned with an entirely different bodily organ. Based on Isaac Marion’s popular novel of the same name, the zombie romantic comedy deals directly with matters of the heart.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 29th, 2017
“These movies that I’ve done, they are massive movies. They take a lot out of you.”
That’s director Michael Bay talking about his decade-long work on the Transformers franchise on the eve of the fifth(!) film’s arrival. The movie also doubles as Bay’s swan song in the director’s chair, so when he says, “They take a lot out of you,” the filmmaker is presumably talking about the massive amount of energy and manpower (and horsepower) these big-budget bonanzas require. The problem is “They take a lot out of you” has also applied more and more to each subsequent movie in this series. Transfomers: The Last Knight isn’t just a bad movie…it is painful and exhausting to watch.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on September 28th, 2017
Taking a few ideas from superhero films, the animated adventure Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie flies onto DVD, Blu-ray and Digital HD for home viewing. The comical kids’ movie has some great characters and a cool plot that will keep tots to tweens laughing and talking about the fun film. The movie comes with over 30 minutes of fascinating extras, mostly for the youngsters. The movie opens with fifth-grade-schoolers George Beard and Harold Hutchins showing off the comic book they created about a world called “Underpanty” where people only wear underwear. Much like the beginning of Superman, there hero gets catapulted to Earth from a distant planet about to blow up. Landing on Earth, the child starts to save cities from the likes of Egg Salad Sandwich Man.
Switch to reality and we find George and Harold in the school yard being surprised by their Principal, Mr. Krump. He thinks that George and Harold spend too much time thinking up and drawing comic book characters instead of schoolwork. The boys are remanded to Krump’s office where he goes over many of the pranks the two have played and warns them if he ever gets proof, they’ll be sorry.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 27th, 2017
"In between the years when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the Sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of, when shining kingdoms lay spread across the world. Then came the dark empire of Acheron, where cruel Necromancers sought 'Secrets Of Resurrection'. They crafted a mask from the bones of kings, and awakened its wrath with the pure blood of their daughters. The mask summoned spirits of unspeakable evil, giving them power that no mortal man should possess."
The character started as a pulp fiction serial by Robert E. Howard in the 1930's. But Howard killed himself in 1936, and the character stood still for a time. There were several attempts to revive him, but it was likely Marvel Comics that gave Conan his greatest popularity in the 1970's. By 1982 the character was huge enough to justify a major feature film. That movie would start the movie career of a bodybuilder named Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnie would return to the character a couple of years later for Conan the Destroyer. The franchise was doing well, but a third film fell into development hell, and nothing much happened for a while. Rights would move around, and finally the property was rebooted in 2011 with Jason Momoa in the lead role. He appeared perfectly cast. He was a somewhat barbarous alien in Stargate: Atlantis and was a hit in HBO's Game of Thrones. Conan appeared to be a good fit for the action actor, and it was. Momoa is quite good in the part, helping return the character more to his Howard origins. But that's about all that went right with the reboot.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 25th, 2017
“You have been my greatest love. Be careful, Diana…they do not deserve you.”
Ever since Richard Donner made us believe that a man can fly with 1978’s Superman — considered by many to be the first modern superhero film — we’ve gotten three different Men of Steel, along with five different versions of Batman (if you don’t count Will Arnett’s voiceover work). Heck, in the last 15 years alone we’ve had three Spider-Men and (incredibly) gone through three Hulks! Yet in all that time, a movie starring Wonder Woman — a superhero just as iconic as all the ones I just mentioned — could never get off the ground…until now. I’m happy to report it was worth the wait.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2017
"This used to be a gentleman's game."
I must confess that I had not even heard of the comic book titles created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. I think that might have been one of the best things that could have happened to me as I sat down to watch the film Red. With a cast this strong, there was little doubt that they would provide a powerful stamp on these characters. No insult intended toward the graphic novels, but I can't imagine these characters any other way now.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 6th, 2017
“It’s important to enjoy life while you still can.”
My word, Bruce Willis must be exhausted, helming three movies this year so far and six last year alone; jeez, I know I’d be in need of a serious break. Luckily in RED 2, Willis doesn’t have to hold down the fort alone. Not when you have Malkovich, Mirren, and Parker available to help pick up the slack. That’s right, like Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman’s character from RED) said in the original, “The band is getting back together.” And this time they are picking up some new members as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins join the cast. RED was great, but RED 2 is epic.
