Archive for the ‘1.33:1 Fullscreen’ Category
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 14th, 2013
“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.”
When the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation beamed into our living rooms, I was quite impressed with the quality of work that was done to bring the next generation of Star Trek into the next generation of home video.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 27th, 2013
Jersey Shore finally comes to an end. Of course, there are spinoffs and TV specials and TMZ reports and aaaarggh! We’re never going to escape them are we?! This is an Uncensored version of the season so instead of ‘beeps’ we get to hear the versatility of the f-word and other assorted curse words that are flung across rooms and dance floors as these bronzed oddities continue their bitter stalemate against maturity and class.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 25th, 2013
Biblical strongman Samson accomplishes many amazing feats and makes many a powerful enemy along the way. None are able to defeat this champion until his action catch the eye of Delilah, and he becomes the target of her affections. Unbenounced to Samson, Delilah has been tasked to discover the source of his supernatural strength. God granted Samson amazing physical strength, but his heart and mind are weak to the machinations of this sly, deceitful woman and it is only a matter of time before she learns his greatest secret.
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Disc Reviews by John Ceballos on February 9th, 2013
I didn’t know what to make of this Pig/1334 double bill when I took it on as my latest assignment. All I had to go on were the aggressively grotesque images on the Blu-ray case. I wasn’t yet familiar with the work of Dutch filmmaker Nico B. or former Christian Death frontman Rozz Williams. I did a bit of research, mostly because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being handed a real-life version of the videotape from The Ring. (Surely, there would be a less drastic way of informing me my services were no longer required on this site.) What I uncovered instead was an intriguing and haunting back story.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 19th, 2013
Spongebob Squarepants, the flagship cartoon for Nickelodeon for the last few years, has been churning out DVD specials inbetween releases of complete seasons. Sometimes these are linked by a theme (such as the Halloween DVD I reviewed in October http://upcomingdiscs.com/2012/10/15/31-nights-of-terror-spongebob-squarepants-ghouls-fools/) and this would mean taking episodes from numerous seasons. This particular special mostly contains more recent episodes, all of which have some sort of “extreme” or somewhat violent/action oriented story. 
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 14th, 2013
“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.”
It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. No, this is not a Charles Dickens review. It very accurately describes the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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Disc Reviews by John Ceballos on January 9th, 2013
If you’re any sort of discerning cinephile — and if you’ve taken the time to visit our fine site, I’m going to assume you are — you’ve probably heard of The Jazz Singer. Of course, for the movie-going public in the late 1920s, The Jazz Singer was unlike anything they’d ever heard: the first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue. Or, put more simply, the first “talkie.” Though you probably know it revolutionized the film industry, I’m betting it’s a lot less likely you’ve actually seen The Jazz Singer.
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Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 31st, 2012
In the same fashion as Batman Begins, Casino Royale the 21st Bond film ït starts over the franchise with a new outlook. Daniel Craig stars as James Bond in this film based on the 1953 novel by Ian Fleming, which hopes to rejuvenate the series by getting rid of some of franchise trademarks as well as the gadgets they supply. Grossing nearly 600 million dollars worldwide, Casino Royale was commercially a great success, but does the new bond fall short of past expectations, or does this reboot on the series provide for good cinema?
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 11th, 2012
I’ll say this about a program that has remained consistent in quality for twenty seasons…it makes for challenging reviews. Talking about each season of Gunsmoke is difficult in that you either write briefly to try to avoid redundancies, but might seem too hasty, or you have to labour over each episode, in which case, you’re only going to have hardcore fans paying attention. Since this website has touched on previous seasons: ( http://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=gunsmoke ) I shall opt for the former option, and hope y’all out there catch that I’m not being hasty…but respect a show that warrants no fresh complaints after 7 years a-runnin’ thus far.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 29th, 2012
This is the eighth and final season of this slightly offbeat crime drama. Nothing has brought me more joy than seeing that instantly recognizable CBS packaging that is used for older programs being revived onto DVD releases such as Perry Mason or Barnaby Jones. Now Mannix has the opportunity to wow me as I have been before. Will this be a pleasant experience or surprisingly disappointing?
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 14th, 2012
There are two films that are on the main disc; an experimental film by Nicholas Ray and a documentary by Susan Ray about the making of said film. They are perfect companions on this release and I feel one is crucial for the other, therefore I’m going to treat neither as simply a “Bonus.”
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 28th, 2012
Quick, what cartoon was generally considered to be the first primetime cartoon of its kind, running from 1960 to 1966 with over a hundred and sixty episodes? Give up? Well that show would be the Flintstones, a stone age comedy that imitated the Honeymooners with quick wit and wholesome family jokes. Today, we have a review that brings together a couple of primetime specials that aired during the late seventies. Let’s explore the first volume of Flintstones Prime Time Specials Volume 1 from the Warner Archive.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 15th, 2012
There have been numerous DVD releases of Spongebob episodes that are linked together by a theme. Holidays are obvious choices and Halloween is an inevitable choice for any series that has multiple seasons under their belt. As expected as it may be, that does not dampen the loony fun that comes along with Sponebob.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 3rd, 2012
Dora sets out to teach kids a little English here, and a little Spanish there, as she goes on some Halloween themed adventures; most of which involving costume parades. The formula for each episode (Halloween themed or not) is identical, allowing kids to speak along with the characters, while grating the patience of nearby adults.
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Disc Reviews by John Ceballos on September 20th, 2012
The voice of Etta James — specifically on her rendition of “At Last” — has launched 1,000 wedding receptions. The singer, who passed away earlier this year, also had a long history with the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Though this Blu-ray includes performances from the 1970s and 1980s, the focus is on her 1993 show, which came the same year James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and followed a late ‘80s comeback from drug and alcohol addiction.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 18th, 2012
The changes in the 6th season of The Virginian were not intentional, to be sure. They were the direct result of a real-life tragic event. Actor Charles Bickford who was playing John Granger became ill. He was temporarily replaced by John McIntire, who joined the cast as his brother Clay. Clay and his wife Holly, played by McIntire’s real-life wife Jeanette Nolan, were looking after the ranch while John was out of town. Bickford continued in the credits, but was not fated to return. His illness lead to his death, and the characters of Clay and Holly remained
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 10th, 2012
Geared towards pre-schoolers, and their fascination with dinosaurs, this show teaches us about dinosaurs, one at a time, in 10-minute episodes. A group of young dinosaurs, eager to learn, travel on a magical train through time to meet the dinosaur highlighted in their episode.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 26th, 2012
The “cast” of Jersey Shore have returned from their adventures in Italy as Season 5 is back to the American location that is the show’s namesake. This means a return to their familiar zones for more partying and more…talking about how they partied.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 16th, 2012
Dan Tanna is a private investigator whose home-base is on and off the mains strip of Sin City itself, Las Vegas. Every week saw Tanna in some sort of deadly adventure chasing bad guys down with his ’57 Thunderbird, or firing at them with his signature Magnum pistol.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 10th, 2012
A group of teenage faeries are graduating from their Faerie academy, and set off on a grand adventure to stop an evil force from…doing evil in general. Meanwhile, one of the faeries is searching for her birth parents, while the rest are giggling about boy faeries and various colouful, giggle-inducing cute items.
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Disc Reviews by John Ceballos on August 4th, 2012
- “It’s our duty, this is war.”
- “Agreed, but even so let’s remember our manners.”
You know how Citizen Kane is considered by some to be the greatest film of all time? Well, I’m the kind of curious movie nerd who subsequently wonders which film was atop Kane auteur Orson Welles’ personal list. Unfortunately, I can’t ask him, but there’s evidence suggesting the answer was Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion/Grand Illusion.
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 2nd, 2012
“You have been summoned to a place beyond this Earth, a place beyond your understanding. A place with laughter and love, safety and happiness for all eternity. A trusted friend will accompany you to this other plain of existence. And your journey will begin. Watch for the signs, my friend. Godspeed and good luck.”
The place you are being summoned to is that wacky film study group that is MST3K. Classes are about to begin again thanks to Shout Factory and their continuing release of these classic films and the men who hate them.
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Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 2nd, 2012
I’ll say this about a program that has remained consistant in quality for twenty seasons…it makes for challenging reviews. Talking about each season of Gunsmoke is difficult in that you either write briefly to try to avoid redundancies, but might seem too hasty, or you have to labour over each episode, in which case, you’re only going to have hardcore fans paying attention.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 26th, 2012
“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.”
Nearly 20 years after the original Star Trek left the network airwaves, Gene Roddenberry set out to discover if he could catch lightening in a bottle once again. Some say he did an even better job with Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are times I tend to agree. The Star Trek sequel series had a lot more advantages from the moment it was conceived
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Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 16th, 2012
When I was eight, nine years old I remember watching two things on a regular basis. First, was wrestling (think back to the old NWA days) and the second was He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He-Man is a very fond memory of my youth and I could always count on that show for a good adventure. I even had He-Man and Skeletor action figures and they would do battle for control of Castle Greyskull. However, I am still not exactly sure what Orko was. Perhaps we will find out in Mill Creek’s latest release: The Best of He-Man Season 1 and 2.
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