Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 17th, 2014
"Spartacus' mongrel horde has swelled with each passing victory since Glaber's defeat at Vesuvius. They added thousands to rank liberating the mines of Lucania. Slaves across the Republic, humble and grateful to their masters for so many years, have broken to treachery in the wake of the ever-expanding legend of Spartacus."
Starz has had a pretty good run with their Spartacus series. Coming off the style of blood and violence that was popularized with Zach Snyder's 300, Spartacus brought that comic book/graphic novel intensity to television. The presentation was both original and effective for a television series. Instead of presenting a typical ongoing story, Starz used a serialization method that made each season a separate collection of shows while maintaining the continuity that fans could appreciate and follow.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 17th, 2014
CSI is one of the longest-running shows on television. There are still a great number of original or early-years cast members still there. But I think it's actually the changes that have allowed the show to rediscover itself once again. It's actually been a good thing for the series and the franchise. It's a family again. That's no dig on anyone who has left. It's just that I like this group a lot, and we've been able to see stories that just would not have been done in the old days. It has new legs, and I think we just might be in it for the long haul.
For the two or three people on the planet who don’t know, the idea is actually quite a simple one. The CSI night shift crime scene investigators utilize all of the latest science to solve often brutal crimes. Instead of guns, these detectives come packing microscopes and test tubes. If you want to know more about the previous seasons and spinoff shows, bang it here to catch up: CSI Reviews.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on September 15th, 2014
Anchor Bay is releasing The Dead 2: India on Tuesday (9/16). We've got John Ceballos at work on the review. In the meantime I had a lot of fun talking to the film's star Joseph Millson last week. We talked about everything from Pop Tarts to working with the Ford Brothers. Millson is also known for playing in Casino Royale and the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures. Unfortunately, it was a quick conversation. Here's your chance to eavesdrop on our conversation. Bang it here to listen to my interview with Joseph Millson.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 15th, 2014
Writer and director Steven R. Monroe has made a decent career in genre filmmaking and since his remake of I Spit on Your Grave gained some moderate success. Monroe is one of those directors that I feel has a great film in him but the right project just hasn’t crossed his path. Though many of his creative efforts have been on more meager budgets, Monroe still manages to pull together tight little films. Unfortunately with Monika he may have bit off a little more than he should have with his new supernatural revenge film.
Despite the title, Reagan (Jason Wiles) is the “hero” of this revenge fueled romp. Reagan takes off from Los Angeles to a small motel just of the Vegas strip. Reagan isn’t your average everyday fellow, in fact he has a special gift, one that allows him to glimpse into the future. These premonitions that haunt him revolve around a beautiful blonde Monika (Cerina Vincent) that he meets just outside of his friend’s motel room. Rather than wait around for his friend, Reagan sets out for a good time on the town with Monika. Unfortunately when Reagan wakes up the next morning it is only to discover that this heavenly night with this blonde beauty couldn’t have occurred since Monika was murdered the day before.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 12th, 2014
"There's virtually nothing the Winchesters can't do if they work together."
But that's the rub, isn't it? The tradition has been that each of the last several seasons end up beginning with the brothers separated for one reason or another. Often one of them is trying to escape Hell, purgatory or some fantasy mental land. There are at least two times a year they split up over an argument. But the truth is that they know just as the fans do that when the chips are down and there's an apocalypse around the corner, these guys are going to come together and kick some evil behind. Like that old energizer bunny, they just keep going and going and going. It's been nine years now, and the boys are about to enter a tenth season on the CW. With no end in sight, it's time to look at the ninth season of Supernatural.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2014
"One must regard the 30 years of strife, turmoil and suffering in Europe as part of one story. One story of a 30 years war." - Winston Churchill
He was exactly correct, and one of only a few people of the time who had the vision to understand that concept. Before the end of World War II the first world war was known as The Great War. The idea of two separate world wars came later. I can foresee a day when history will once again change its perspective and refer to the entire period as The Great War. It's the tactic that this History mini-series has taken.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on September 11th, 2014
Some of the most iconic stand-up comics of all time have famously wrestled with personal demons while simultaneously mining them for material on stage. Few have done so more successfully — and for a longer period of time — than Richard Lewis. His neurotic, self-flagellating act earned Lewis his “Prince of Pain” nickname, but his longevity is just as impressive. The fact is a lot of great comics don't last as long as Lewis because they lose that battle with their demons too soon. So it's great to see that, at age 67, Lewis finally gets his due with a DVD set that covers some of his most seminal work.
The career-spanning Richard Lewis: Bundle of Nerves, now available courtesy of Video Services Corp., offers the full Lewis experience by showing the comedian on stage, on the small screen, headlining a movie, and in his beloved, memorabilia-packed house. Disc One contains 1979's Diary of a Young Comic and his Magical Misery Tour HBO special from 1997. (Both of those titles are making their DVD debuts.) Disc 2 has the 1995 drama Drunks and House of a Lifetime, a Cribs-style documentary created exclusively for this set. Let's break them down in the order in which they are presented on this set.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 10th, 2014
"It's been a long summer."
And my how things have changed in Mystic Falls. Elena is a vampire, and Katherine is now a human, and doing a pitiful job of that, to be sure. Bonnie is a ghost who only Jeremy can see, and they're trying to keep it all a big secret from everyone so they all think Bonnie is out globe-hopping and having a great time. Stefan is at the bottom of a lake in a safe where everyone else thinks Silas is. He's drowning, dying and then waking up again and again and again. In between he's hallucinating conversations with Damon and Elena. Meanwhile those two are hitting the sheets together again and again and again. All the while big bad from last season Silas is masquerading as Stefan. Turns out that's his true form, and this season is going to make you sick and tired of the whole doppelganger thing. That is, if you weren't already. Yes, it's been quite a long summer, but it's time to head back to Mystic Falls once again.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2014
"It's called compartmentalization. No one spills the secrets because no one knows them all."
I was lucky enough to grow up during Marvel's wonderful rebirth of the 1960's and 1970's. Of all of the comics they produced during that time, I was always least impressed with Captain America. I don't think I ever read an issue of any of his mags with the notable exception of The Avengers. So how can it be possible that after dozens of Marvel films, and I'm including the Fox and other-studio-produced stuff, that Captain America: The Winter Soldier can end up being my favorite? Could it be that I've warmed up to the Cap under the compelling performances of Chris Evans. Nah! Could it be I've grown and matured a lot since I was a teenager? Anyone who knows me is certain that can't be the answer. Could it be that maybe, just maybe, this just happens to be their best film yet? No maybe’s or could be's about it. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is even better than The Avengers. It's too early to tell if it'll be my favorite tent-pole film of the summer, but it's starting in the pole position, to be sure.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 9th, 2014
“Drag racing is for fast cars. Road racing...that's for fast drivers.”
I imagine that distinction — along with one character scolding another for pulling a “Vin Diesel stunt” — is meant to set this straight-to-DVD racing drama apart from the Fast & Furious franchise. That separation is an interesting choice for a couple of reasons. On one hand, I assume it's been easier to finance any car-centric flick ever since a certain high-octane film series proved there's an audience for the genre. Then again, the increasingly staggering success of the Fast movies seems to be directly proportional to how ludicrous they've become. So by positioning itself as a less outlandish/more grounded alternative, Born to Race: Fast Track seems to be targeting gearheads craving a more realistic racing drama. And, apart from its half-baked cliches and total predictability, it actually kinda succeeds.
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