Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 25th, 2023
"Space ... the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before."
From 1978 through 2002, 10 Star Trek films were released at the box office. The franchise almost ended with the first, but it was followed up by what I consider the best of the 10. The films are a collection of ups and downs, but you know you want the complete collection up there on your shelf. You already have the first six, starring the original crew. Now your wait for completion is over. The Next Generation films are out from Paramount Home Entertainment, and here they are ..
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 22nd, 2023
In 1965 when The Truth About Spring was released, Haley Mills was turning 18 and was already a well established star after being in a string of hit Disney films like Pollyanna, The Parent Trap, and then That Darn Cat. Back when this film was made, it was simply a family adventure. It is simply so charming and wholesome; it really is the kind of film that is just about impossible to find at your local cinema anymore. When watching this, I couldn’t help but realize how if this very same film was put on the big screen today it would cause certain groups out there to lose their minds, all because it is a story about a tomboy who “changes” for a young man she falls in love with. Now, I’m not about to stir anything up and bring up politics or social ideologies with this review, but it was something that I wanted to mention, because sadly something’s in this movie just wouldn’t be done in a film today
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 21st, 2023
Even though I consider myself to be well-rounded when it comes to films, I admit my personal viewing history of French film to be a little lacking. Go Google any top 20 list of French films, and I've probably seen maybe two or three of the films. This is very contradictory to say Chinese, Japanese, English (UK), Australian, etc. where I've seen hundreds of films. But I'm always willing to expand my repertoire, so I jumped when I saw there was a French crime thriller named L'Homme Du Train or The Man on the Train available for review. Let's see how it plays out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 21st, 2023
"Them clothes got laundry numbers on them. You remember your number and always wear the ones that has your number. Any man forgets his number spends a night in the box. These here spoons you keep with you. Any man loses his spoon spends a night in the box. There's no playing grab-ass or fighting in the building. You got a grudge against another man, you fight him Saturday afternoon. Any man playing grab-ass or fighting in the building spends a night in the box. First bell's at five minutes of eight when you will get in your bunk. Last bell is at eight. Any man not in his bunk at eight spends the night in the box. There is no smoking in the prone position in bed. To smoke you must have both legs over the side of your bunk. Any man caught smoking in the prone position in bed ... spends a night in the box. You get two sheets. Every Saturday, you put the clean sheet on the top ... the top sheet on the bottom ... and the bottom sheet you turn in to the laundry boy. Any man turns in the wrong sheet spends a night in the box. No one'll sit in the bunks with dirty pants on. Any man with dirty pants on sitting on the bunks spends a night in the box. Any man don't bring back his empty pop bottle spends a night in the box. Any man loud talking spends a night in the box. You got questions, you come to me. I'm Carr, the floor walker. I'm responsible for order in here. Any man don't keep order spends a night in..."
You guessed it ... the box. Enter our anti-hero, Luke. The anti-hero has become somewhat cliche today. What was once an artistic expression of the gray line between good and bad guys has morphed to the glorification of the just plain bad guy. We end up loving and rooting for such vicious characters like Vic Mackey, Tony Soprano, and Dexter Morgan.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 18th, 2023
Most anime fans, particularly those in the west, would probably consider Cowboy Bebop one of the greatest series of all time. Before it got bastardized in a clueless live-action remake, it was a wonderful story of a bounty hunter crew down on their luck who never made any money but always had one hell of an adventure. Set to some wonderful jazz numbers. So naturally, when I heard about a new anime movie about an once powerful god who is now down on his luck as a penniless bounty hunter, my curiosity was certainly piqued. Let's check out New Gods: Yang Jian.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on April 15th, 2023
" Some call me the Dark One. Others, the Lord of Death. To most, I am... Dracula!"
After nearly 90 years, the Universal horror cycle stands as one of the most enduring collection of horror movies today. Their influence on modern horror is unmistakable. There have been literally thousands of incarnations of Dracula, The Wolf Man, and Frankenstein's monster, but the first image that comes to your mind will always be the nightmare creations of those Universal films. Studio head Carl Laemmle, Jr. was trying to break away from his father's control and create a studio culture of his own. The results would start in 1931 when an unknown Hungarian actor named Bela Lugosi jumped from the stage to the screen in Dracula, directed by Tod Browning. Laemmle's niece, Carla Laemmle, is the girl in the coach headed for Borgo Pass as the film opens to the musical strains from Swan Lake.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on April 14th, 2023
I usually don’t say this about a movie, as they are my passion, but this film was unwatchable. I usually don’t take this stance, as I generally believe that every movie has something to offer, but in the case of The Weapon, this was not a movie that I enjoyed. It was a movie that I endured. This took me by surprise, as I was expecting to be moderately entertained given the sheer number of recognizable faces: Cuba Gooding Jr., Bruce Dern, Annalynne McCord, Jack Kesy, and the list goes on. The film even had Richard Grieco, who if I’m being honest, I didn’t recognize until the end credits. However, despite all of this, the film had no real substance, not to mention the cutting between character storylines and time periods, enough to make me want to ask for a roadmap just to keep up. I not sure what the intent was, but I feel safe in saying that this film missed it. Even the action sequences, of which there are many, did not hold my interest. That is saying something, because I love good action film. Unfortunately, that wasn’t what this was.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 11th, 2023
"In 1539 The Knight Templars of Malta paid tribute to Charles V of Spain by sending him a Golden Falcon encrusted from beak to claw with rarest jewels --- but pirates seized the galley carrying this priceless token, and the fate of the Maltese Falcon remains a mystery to this day."
What is not a mystery today is the significant role that The Maltese Falcon has played in cinema history. The film itself was a remake. In fact, it was actually Warner's third attempt to film the Dashiell Hammett novel in a single decade. The first version came in 1931 and starred Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade. That film also featured Dwight Frye as Wilmer Cook. The film was a moderate success but never really delivered on the potential of the source material. Five years later Warner would attempt a comedy version of the story in Satan Met A Lady. It was a total flop. It would only take another five years before the studio took its third crack at the material. In this case, the third time certainly was a charm.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 11th, 2023
12 Angry Men is one of those rare films that appears to defy all the Hollywood constants and yet become one of the best films of its kind ever made. The setting is entirely too claustrophobic. With the exception of two bookend scenes, the entire film takes place in the tight quarters of a jury deliberation room. The story had only a couple of years earlier been the subject of a live television drama, so the story was far from a fresh idea. The director was a complete unknown who had not at that point directed a major picture. Enter Henry Fonda, the only member of the cast who was a strong A-list name. He was also the driving force behind getting the film made. He produced the film and was involved with most of the major decisions. With all of these elements going against it, you would expect the film to fail miserably, and that’s exactly what it did. During its premier run, the film only lasted a week and was a complete financial failure. It happens all the time, and we would expect the story to end there, but it didn’t.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on April 7th, 2023
You don’t have to be a sports name to know the name Michael Jordan, and there is a good chance you’ve even heard of the Air Jordan even if you are not a sneakerhead. What is a little surprising is that someone out there believed that the story about how a shoe could change the sports industry and go on to make the Nike company a multi-billion dollar industry could be a movie that people would actually want to go see. Well, that person was screenwriter Alex Convery, who wrote a screenplay that would make it onto the Hollywood Black List (For those that don’t know, The Black List is a list that comes out every year that ranks the top 10 unproduced screenplays. It’s an elite list to be on, and typically these eventually get turned into films that gain critical acclaim). As it would turn out, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon would get a shot at the script, and after a polish it would become the new film Ben Affleck would direct since the last film he helmed, Live By Night back in 2016.
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