Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2023
"You think I know every human being with a mustache wearing an identical outfit with a hat with the letter of his first name on it? Because I don't!"
That's the big caveat for this review of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. You might be asking yourself a simple question. If I don't know anything about the Nintendo or Super Mario Bros. games and world, will I be able to enjoy this film? The answer is that you will still be able to enjoy it, but you'll walk away feeling like you've been left out of the joke. That's how I felt after the press screening for the film. I got to hear many of my fellow critics talking with great excitement about all of these wonderful Easter eggs and subtle homage moments, and I didn't get a single one. Check that. I did get one of them, and I'll explain that next.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 31st, 2023
"Him is he who bays and slavers forever outside time and space, who shambled down out of the stars when Earth was new and spawned abominations in the seas and blights upon the land. Woe to man when He comes again. To gaze upon his form is to invite madness. That is why in order to serve Him I chose to make some adjustments. Him, The Lurker is on the threshold, and behold, He is coming..."
The latest release from the Warner Brothers animation team in the world of DC Comics is Batman: Doom That Came To Gotham. This series of animated films is no longer part of any shared universe as the many that came before might have been. At least for now these animated adventures are standalone stories, often with their own atmosphere and universe. That's certainly true of Batman: Doom That Came To Gotham. This is likely the most uniquely-styled entry in the series of animated feature films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 30th, 2023
"Space...The Final Frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before!"
Since the relaunch of Star Trek on television via the Paramount + streaming service, I must admit to being a little underwhelmed. It's truly bad when Alex Kurtzman makes me pine for the days of Rick Berman. There have been some pretty good moments in the various new Trek shows. Picard has shown promise and has improved with a third season that looks very exciting. Lower Decks is just too campy for my tastes, and Discovery has so many ups and downs I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster. So along comes Strange New Worlds, and this is the Star Trek I've been waiting for these last decades.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on March 25th, 2023
I don’t believe any of us could have predicted that global phenomenon that the John Wick franchise would become. I mean, on its surface, it’s a movie about man avenging his dog. However, each film has peeled back a layer of the fictional underworld created in the film, drawing us deeper and deeper into this well-crafted universe. In the first film, we were teased about this world’s existence. In the second, we learned about the rules that govern it. In the third, we learned the consequences if you break this world’s rules. And in this likely final installment of the franchise, we see what happens when this world declares war on you. Keanu Reeves reprises this character for the fourth time, doing exactly what he’s done for each installment; literally putting his body on the line to deliver an action-packed and epic performance. Joining him are the Wick universe veterans, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, and most notably the recently departed Mr.Lance Reddick. Rounding out the cast are the Wick universe newcomers, many of whom are action stars in their own right, such as Donnie Yen, Scott Adkins, Hiroyuki Sanada, Shamier Anderson, and Bill Skarsgard. If I can for a moment, I would like to return to the subject of the recently departed Lance Reddick, who had been a part of the franchise from the very beginning. In John Wick Chapter 4 this tragedy came as a complete shock and made his character’s ultimate fate all the more impactful. I’ve been a fan of Mr. Reddick dating all the way back to The Wire, and I followed his extensive career from Fringe to Bosch. I intend to cherish his upcoming posthumous appearance, which include appearing as Zeus on the Disney+ remake of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the theatrical remake of White Men Can’t Jump, as well as the posthumous release of his reprisal of his Wick character in the continuation film, Ballerina.
Last we saw John Wick, he’d barely survived the betrayal of Winston, the New York Continental’s manager. Taken in by the by the freshly-scarred Bowery King, the two seemed to be hatching a plan to declare war on the High Table, the hierarchy which governs the criminal underworld. As the story picks up, John Wick, newly recovered from his injuries, strikes a massive blow against the High Table, essentially declaring war against them. In response, the Table unleashes a dangerous enemy to kill in the form of senior member Marquis Vincent de Gramont, who essentially scorches earth to kill Wick and anyone helping him. Still excommunicated and with very few friends or resources left, it’s John Wick versus the entire High Table and its limitless resources. Sounds like a fair fight, right?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 23rd, 2023
Damien Chazelle seems to have a thing for dreamers, or at least those who want to be larger than life. Whether it is a drummer aspiring to reach perfection in Whiplash, or an actress wanting to be a star in La La Land, to even being the first man to walk on the moon in First Man, he’s always made these films with an enthusiasm and energy that we can’t help but want to see them succeed. In his new film Babylon, he seems to be doing something a little different and on a grander scale as he explores the early days of Hollywood as it made the transition from the silent film era to the “talkies” (basically what we’re used to seeing on the big screen today, just minus all the CGI effects). A lot of money was injected into the production of this film, and you see it in every frame of this movie that is certainly a love letter to a time when Hollywood was trying to figure things out and entertain its audiences. But what I don’t think anyone was expecting is how deep this film was willing to go into the drug abuse and the sordid debauchery that went on in these early days of cinema.
The film opens innocently enough with Manny Torres (Diego Calva) simply trying to get an elephant to a big Hollywood party. Manny is a Mexican-American who is just trying to get his foot in the door, and we get to see these early struggles pay off, but first we get to experience this party that is lavish and epic with a strong Caligula-on-cocaine vibe. It’s at the party where we meet the rest of the cast we’ll be following over the course of the film. There’s Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), who believes she is a star who just simply hasn’t been discovered yet; there is also Sidney (Jovan Adepo), a horn player who is just trying to get by; there is Elinor St. John (Jean Smart), a Hollywood gossip reporter, and then there is Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), the biggest silent film actor in the business. Then we get to see the moment where Manny first meets Nellie and the moment where he falls in love with her; then moments later see how Nellie is simply plucked from the crowd to become a star, This sequence is so well crafted at letting the audience experience the party while getting to know these characters and several others, all while we are subjected to various sex acts and body fluids and drugs that when it ends we can feel the hangovers that these characters are experiencing. Unfortunately for most of these characters, they are due on set in just a matter of hours.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on March 18th, 2023
I know that we all know that the DC universe is going through a bit of a revamp right now. I’m sure we’ve all seen it, with the cancellation of the Batgirl movie and the getting our hopes up over the prospect of Henry Cavill’s return to the fold, only to be crushed when it was announced that the studio was going in a different direction. We all have our feelings about it. That said, if there was a franchise that I would recommend keeping around, it would be the Shazam films. I know, I know, I’m surprised by this revelation too, but the thing is, this franchise of them all was the one that took me by the most surprise. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it. Prior to the release of the first film, the character of Shazam (a.k.a. Captain Marvel) had been nothing more than a background character that I’d observed in the animated films and shows. I even questioned the wisdom of introducing a character like this when DC was behind the curve in comparison to Marvel. I thought they should focus on building up the main Justice League heroes so they could get back in the race. Then in 2019, I went and saw this , and it won me over. It gave the DC universe a dose of lightheartedness. Zachary Levi was a fantastic choice for the character because all the quirks and awkwardness that made NBC’s Chuck a gem were on display in our plucky hero. And now with Shazam: Fury of the Gods, DC just keeps that train rolling. The addition of Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu as the antagonists, the Daughters of Atlas, was a bold and interesting gamble, given that they do not appear in the comics, and are actually original characters created for the film. Yes, I did a bit of research.
When we last left off, Billy Batson (Asher Angel) had finally become a member of a family after a lifetime running away from them in order to find his birth mother. Solidifying his bond with his new family, he elected to share his power with them and create the Shazam family. Picking up years later, Billy, who is on the verge of aging out of foster care, worries as everyone begins drifting apart due to them all growing older and developing their own personal interests. This drifting also affects their heroism, as despite having the best of intentions, they begin doing more harm than good, causing the public to view them negatively even though they save countless lives.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 18th, 2023
“You got everything money can buy, except what it can’t. It’s pride. Pride is what got you here. Losing is what brung you back. But people like you, they need to be tested. They need a challenge.”
There have been a ton of boxing films. They’ve been popular going back to the silent era. Most of them have many of the same themes. But there was always something about Rocky that stood out above all of the rest. That “something” can’t really be described or defined. As the Supreme Court once said about the definition of obscenity: “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” That’s all you can say about Rocky. Some might call it heart. That’s about as good a word for it as anything else. Rocky himself would call it “stuff in the basement”. It almost demeans it to put a word on it at all. Whatever you call it, you don’t necessarily see it in Rocky … you feel it. Now the first 4 films are out together on UHD Blu-ray in 4K.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 14th, 2023
"The Colosseum. The Roman Empire distilled to its most basic essence. It is a symbol of conquest. It's a symbol of dominance. It's a symbol of imperial power radiating throughout the Roman world. Any emperor had the Colosseum at his disposal to use as a tool to reassert his power and authority. The message of the Roman people is that life is a combat. It was also a judicial warning: do not test the power of Rome."
After over 2000 years of both heavy use and neglect, much of the structure still remains. It survived the many sacks of Rome and its rebirth as a Christian empire. The building survived the bombings and invasions of two World Wars, and it remains. Its history is a testament to the best and worst of human nature. Now History has given us a series of eight television episodes that explore both the mystery and the majesty that was the Roman Colosseum.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on March 10th, 2023
We knew it was coming, a new chapter in the Ghostface franchise that has been a staple in the horror genre since the first Scream released back in 1996. Over the years we’ve gotten to see our favorite horror fan/serial killer terrorize the citizens of Woodsboro and even venture out to LA when he terrorized the film set of Stab (you know, the movie within a movie). It was only a matter of time before our killer ventured out of Woodsboro again, and this time he follows in the footsteps of another masked killing icon, Jason Voorhees, as Ghostface sets out to terrorize the Big Apple in Scream VI. Last year’s Scream I felt did a good job at rebooting the franchise (or worked as a requel) and worked as a way of passing on the torch from Sydney and Gale to the next generation, Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega). This new film will also be the first time Sydney doesn’t make an appearance on screen, though we do thankfully have Gale (Courtney Cox) and Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) returning in their “legacy” roles. Does Scream 6 manage to impress with the new cast and new locale, or does it take a misstep as Jason Takes Manhattan did for its franchise? Well, to be fair, it kind of did both.
It is crazy to think just how big of a year 2022 was for Jenna Ortega. She started the year off strong with her role in Scream; then she was great in the cult hit X from Ti West; then there was Wednesday, which really put her over as a star, and with the momentum her career path seems to be on, I’m expecting her to reach A-list status shortly. What I really enjoy about her character, Tara, is she’s not just a younger version to replace Sydney. This is a well-written character who a modern generation can root for and care about. Then there is Sam, the older sister who is not just recovering from discovering her ex-boyfriend was a homicidal maniac but is still haunted by the fact her father is Billy Loomis, one half of the original Ghostface killers. Its this relationship that anchors this new film, and when we catch up with them, there is a wedge that is building between them, because Sam is being overprotective and Tara is wanting to rebel now that she is away for college and just wants to move on from her past trauma. Just this element alone and how it is handled elevates this film from the typical franchise sequel and had me happy. Also returning are the brother and sister duo of Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), who are attending the same college as Tara; you know, survivors got to stick together. The writers seem to be having more fun with these returning characters and basically do a great job of making Mindy a more toned down version of her uncle Randy.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 6th, 2023
One of the things that stands out to me the most about Voodoo Macbeth has very little to do with the true story about how Orson Welles, who at the time he was only 20 was hired by the Negro Theater Unit to direct a stage production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth with an all black cast in Harlem. What’s more intriguing to me is that the film was actually the first feature film to come out of USC and gain theatrical distribution, but the film is listed with having 10 directors and eight screenwriters. With hat much ego and creative talent, it is impressive that they managed to squeeze out a cohesive story, and one that looks pretty good, though it does have some issues. I applaud the ambition to tackle a period piece and also a story that is a bit of both film and theater history, considering this was one of the first and most wildly successful stage productions with a black cast, but is also the production Orson Welles helmed before stepping behind the camera to direct his first film, a little thing called Citizen Kane.
The film is pretty straightforward as a mostly historically accurate telling of how the play came together. It glosses over how the Federal Theater Project was established during the Great Depression to fund live artistic performances, in this instance to fund the Harlem theater district. Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor) runs the Negro Theater Unit and is eager to get Macbeth into production. Her partner, John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) comes up with the inspired choice to bring in Orson Welles (Jewell Wilson Bridges) to direct the project which he is hesitant to take on until his wife, Virginia Welles (June Schreiner) convinces him to do the project. It’s also his wife who gives him the idea to shift the setting from Scotland to 1800’s Haiti and give it a voodoo theme.
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