Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 6th, 2016
NCIS: LA differs in several ways from NCIS or JAG. While LA is still a military show, that angle is downplayed here. The atmosphere for the team is more civilian-looking all the way around. There are seldom folks walking around in uniforms. The operations utilize more of the standard surveillance and undercover work. There’s a […]
Posted in Tuesday Round Up by J C on September 6th, 2016
Time flies when you’re having as much fun as we are cranking out our patented TV and movie reviews for you. But it still doesn’t move quite as fast as a certain superhero making a long awaited return to home video. Warner Bros taps into the speed force to bring us The Flash: Season 2 […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 3rd, 2016
Things are really going to change over at Criminal Minds. Season 11 is going to be your last chance to see the team as it’s been for several years. I’d say it’s in for the biggest change since Mandy left early in the show’s run. Now two more of the show’s original actors will be […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on August 17th, 2016
“Put your game face on.” When you have the highest-rated drama on television, there is a temptation to milk it for all that you can. We’ve seen it happen with both the Law & Order and CSI franchises. The results tend to be mixed, with some capturing and even exceeding the popularity of the original. […]
Posted in The Reel World by J C on July 29th, 2016
Moviegoers tend to have better memories than amnesiac assassins, but I think it’s fair to say we’ve mostly put The Bourne Legacy out of our minds. Universal’s underwhelming, half-hearted attempt to spin off one of its more lucrative franchises all but guaranteed the eventual return of original star Matt Damon and two-time director Paul Greengrass […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on May 10th, 2016
With The Choice, there have now been 11 movies based on the work of mega-selling author Nicholas Sparks. (Eat your heart out, John Grisham.) However, I’m pretty sure that even the most ardent Sparks fan/apologist caught on to the author’s formula about 8 or 9 tearjerkers ago, and practically every one of those clichés is […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 14th, 2016
“There’s always some variable you didn’t account for.” Manhattan is one of those variables. It’s one of those dramatic stories where mankind is altered forever. If it weren’t absolutely true, someone would have had to make it up. Every child in schools around the world knows about the atomic bombs that ended World War II. […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 10th, 2016
Popular opinion and so-called critical opinion often seem to careen off cliffs like lemmings in increasingly unpredictable ways guided by whims and subtle shifts in the proverbial winds. I find myself shocked by things praised and things condemned. Sometimes I feel like a little boy who sees a naked emperor while everyone else is shrieking […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on January 10th, 2016
“Four weeks ago, an invisible dome crashed down on Chester’s Mill, cutting us off from the rest of the world. The dome has tested our limits, forcing each of us to confront our own personal demons… rage… grief… fear. Now, in order to survive, we must battle our most dangerous adversary… the enemy within.” Under […]
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 29th, 2015
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 8th, 2015
“Listen, my friend. This is going to be very hard to comprehend, but none of what you are seeing is real.” Of course it’s not real. It’s not really that hard to comprehend at all. This is an animated show, after all. And the figures look like cut-out pieces of construction paper. Of course, we’re […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 29th, 2015
“To understand what I’m about to tell you, you need to do something first. You need to believe in the impossible. Can you do that? Good. Because all of us, we have forgotten what miracles look like. Maybe because they haven’t made much of an appearance lately. Our lives have become ordinary. But there is […]
Posted in Tuesday Round Up by J C on September 15th, 2015
That sound you hear blaring out of UpcomingDiscs headquarters this week is probably The Who. We’ll be saying B-Y-E to CSI, as The Final Season of the long-running procedural crime drama arrives courtesy of CBS/Paramount, which also delivers CSI: Cyber — Season 1. If you listen closely, you might also catch a little Electric Light […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2015
“It’s New Orleans; there’s always something bad coming.” When you have the highest-rated drama on television, there is a temptation to milk it for all that you can. We’ve seen it happen with both the Law & Order and CSI franchises. The results tend to be mixed, with some capturing and even exceeding the popularity […]
Posted in Random Fun by Archive Authors on September 1st, 2015
Popular opinion and so-called critical opinion often seem to careen off cliffs like lemmings in increasingly unpredictable ways guided by whims and subtle shifts in the proverbial winds. I find myself shocked by things praised and things condemned. Sometimes I feel like a little boy who sees a naked emperor while everyone else is shrieking […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 1st, 2015
“Book ’em Danno.” It’s been 30 years since we last heard that phrase. Still it persisted in the modern lexicon along with the term Five-0, which is still shouted in high-crime areas in cities all over the country whenever a police presence is felt closing in on the bad guys. Hawaii Five-0 ended in 1980. […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on August 25th, 2015
What can I say about Criminal Minds that hasn’t been said in the last 10 years? It’s the little show that could. I’ve been a fan since the first episode when Mandy Patinkin was the show’s leader. His departure left the show with a hole it was swift to fill, and I have to say […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2015
“Let’s do it!” NCIS has become the number-one-rated television show in the world. It might stand alone in that distinction, but it certainly doesn’t stand alone. Last season saw a new spin-off that took us to New Orleans. It’s hard to believe that it was six years ago now that NCIS: Los Angeles took to […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 19th, 2015
CBS has finally decided to release the number-one-rated show in the world on high-definition Blu-ray. It’s a milestone event for the network and for fans of the show, and it only took 12 years to get it done. To be fair, Blu-ray hasn’t quite been around for 12 years, but many networks have gotten us […]
Posted in No Huddle by J C on August 19th, 2015
Discovery Channel’s annual Shark Week extravaganza is billed as “cable’s longest-running programming event.” The summertime ritual premiered in 1988, and its longevity is a testament to viewers’ enduring fascination with the majestic, sharp-toothed creatures. Of course, the flip side of that longevity is that coming up with new material each year is increasingly difficult. As […]
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on July 1st, 2015
What young 1970’s pup, learning to play a guitar for the first time, didn’t, at one time or another, attempt to imitate Pete Townsend’s windmill power chord strum? I count myself in that group. While I was not a very dedicated Who fan, I had an appreciation for the musicianship. There were still songs like Pinball Wizard […]
Posted in The Reel World by J C on June 5th, 2015
“If you call out to one of the dead, all of them can hear you.” This lesson is very familiar to anyone who has seen either of the first two Insidious films, a pair of old-fashioned (no sex, no gore), highly-profitable chillers. Of course, a potential problem for this third installment was that the characters […]
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on January 19th, 2015
What if Elvis Presley had an identical twin brother no one ever knew about? (It would certainly help explain all those Elvis sightings years after the King’s death.) That’s the kooky conceit at the center of The Identical. Unfortunately, rather than embracing the absurdity of its premise, the movie is an amateurish, uninspiring combination of […]
Posted in Contests by Gino Sassani on January 3rd, 2015
On The Tenth Day Of Christmas Time Life / Star Vista gives to you: China Beach Season 1. We’ve got a special treat for you. Summer may be a long way ahead but we decided it was time to hit the beach once again, China Beach, that is. They’ve given us a copy of China […]
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 22nd, 2014
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too […]
