The Brain From Planet Arous (Blu-ray)
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on June 30th, 2022
“You never kissed me like that before.”
Steve March, played by John Agar, is a radiation expert who lives and does research out in the desert. His instruments detect a strange source of gamma rays in an isolated area of the desert. It’s a good bet they aren’t coming from Dr. Banner, so March decides to investigate, and it turns out you wouldn’t like him when he’s angry. Along for the ride is red shirt … I mean lab assistant Dan Murphy, played by Robert Fuller. They discover a brand new cave, and as they follow the radiation scent, they encounter a giant floating brain with eyes. Murphy ends up dead, and March ends up possessed by the giant floating brain, who calls himself Vol from the planet Arous. The name is an obvious riff on Eros, and we soon get the connection when March returns to his fiancée, who finds his passion a little hotter than when he left.
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Exclusive Interview With Sam Nelson About The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Restoration & Release From MPI
Posted in Podcasts by Gino Sassani on June 29th, 2022
Long before there was Gene Simmons and his Family Jewels or Living With The Kardashians there was Ozzie and his wife. No, not Ozzie Osbourne but Ozzie and Harriet Nelson. In 1952 they took their popular radio show and brought it to the rather new medium of television. The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet starred the entire Nelson family, including David and Ricky. The show became the first series to ever reach 10 years and remains the longest-running live action sit-com in television history. Now MPI is bringing you the first 2 seasons of the show in DVD. The episodes were restored with loving care. How do I know there was loving care? Because it was spearheaded by Ozzie and Harriet’s grandson and Ricky’s son Sam Nelson. I also happen to know a little bit of the passion he brought to the process because I had the opportunity to talk with him about the show and the new releases. The story about how all of this happened is a truly fascinating tale. Now you can hear it for yourself. Bang it here to listen to my interview with Sam Nelson.
Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Eleventh Season
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on June 28th, 2022
I have to admit my knowledge of the show Curb Your Enthusiasm is casual at best. I’ve seen a few episodes over the years, but not enough to call myself a fan. So to have Season 11 handed off to me to review was a bit daunting, but as a long-time fan of Seinfeld and having at least seen Larry David in the Woody Allen film Whatever Works, I figured I had a good enough idea of what I was in store for. Thankfully the show isn’t something like Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad, and I could simply start the season and not feel lost. The season starts off with Larry David waking up after hearing a noise in the house. When he goes to investigate, he eventually finds a body floating in his pool. It was an attempted robbery gone bad, and as it turns out there is a law in Larry’s district that states there needs to be a fence around the pool. This basically is the catalyst for the whole season, and things just get worse for Larry and him not having this fence.
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The Black Phone
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on June 24th, 2022
Joe Hill has done a good job of establishing himself as a horror writer, and when you consider his dad, Stephen King, has been the “master” of horror fiction for over four decades, you’d have to imagine the expectations on Hill are pretty high. I’m a fan of Hill’s work, and I’ve enjoyed seeing his work translate to the big screen and television (though I’m still hoping one day we’ll finally get an adaption of his book Heart Shaped Box). I’ll admit my expectations for The Black Phone were a bit high, and to be fair, can you blame me? The Black Phone would be a return to horror after director Scott Derrickson’s work on the first Doctor Strange film and a reunion with actor Ethan Hawke and screenwriter C. Robert Cargill from the great 2012 film Sinister. I don’t think enough praise is given to the film Sinister. It’s a film that just gets better with time and has a high rewatch value. Personally I feel it’s the masterpiece in Derrickson’s filmography. The Black Phone has all the ingredients to be another modern classic, but it pains me to say it just doesn’t quiet deliver despite how much promise this film had.
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The Cellar (Blu-ray)
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on June 24th, 2022
“It’s simply his way of illustrating the misrepresentation of having quantum particles existing in two states. The cat in the box is either dead or alive. But we can’t tell until we open the box to observe it, so until we do so, the cat is both dead and alive.”
I’ve seen a lot of horror and thrillers in my time. This is my first one with mathematics at the heart of it. I applauded the film for introducing me to something new. However, the moments of intrigue are surrounded by periods where the plot seems to drag on. Also, I’m not sure that the characters’ reactions to particular events are sensible. For example, my daughter suddenly goes missing, and I suspect that her disappearance is somehow the result of my newly acquired residence. No matter how irrational that idea may be, the first thing I would do is get me and the rest of my family a hotel.
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Agent Game
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on June 22nd, 2022
All is fair in the spy game. Or least that is the principle that this film embraces, as every character attempts to get the upper hand on the others. Though the film is not without its thrilling moments, it does take a bit of time to get to those thrilling bits. Told in a nonlinear fashion, it takes a moment to adjust to the constant shift between the two plots. It is only when things start to synch that I found myself completely engaged with the story. On the plus side, the film has a cast of recognizable faces, to include Arrow’s Katie Cassidy, The Cleaning Lady’s Adan Canto, Chicago Fire’s Annie Ilonzeh, Dermot Mulroney, and last but not least, Mel Gibson. While I would not categorize the film as box office quality, there are some elements that make for an intriguing story once things get into a groove.
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Exclusive Interview With Joyce Meadows From The Brain From Planet Arous
Posted in Podcasts by Gino Sassani on June 21st, 2022
When I was a kid, going to the drive-in movies was a pretty big deal. In those days your parents would hide you under a blanket on the back seat floor or even in the trunk just to shave off a buck from the admission price. But it was worth it to see many of the films I would not otherwise have experienced. One of those films that had kids sneaking in was The Brain From Planet Arous. A couple of days ago I felt just like I did sneaking into those movies. I had the honor and pleasure to talk with Joyce Meadows, who starred along with John Agar in the film. It’s about to be released on Blu-ray from The Film Detective with a brand new introduction that stars … you guessed it, Joyce Meadows. You can eavesdrop on our conversation. Just bang it here to listen to my interview with Joyce Meadows.
Offseason (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 21st, 2022
Offseason is the type of film we just don’t get a lot of anymore. It’s a film that heavily pays homage to HP Lovecraft and The Messiah of Evil and other films of the 70’s era, only there is little to no gore to show for it. There’s a strong Silent Hill vibe going on with the film, especially with the copious amounts of fog that seem to always be around. It would seem that this film has all the makings to be a hit, especially when it seems to be going for tropes that I like in a horror film, but unfortunately this one just missed its mark by making two big mistakes. One, it was too obvious, and two, it just totally screws up the ending. I’m not expecting every movie to be the next Wicker Man, but it seems that writer and director Mickey Keating is trying so hard to be on the same level as Ti West and Robert Eggers that the film just comes off looking like a good-looking snore-fest we’ve seen before. I really wanted to like this, and it had a lot going for it, but it seems when you pull inspiration from too many sources, it can get pretty messy.
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Lightyear
Posted in The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on June 17th, 2022
“To infinity….”
Well, if you have ever wondered what the basis of the Buzz Lightyear action figure that Andy gets in the first Toy Story movie was, the wait is finally over. While it was briefly mentioned in the original film that the action figure was based a movie that the Andy character had seen, outside that mention, the character’s background remained predominantly a mystery … until now. Now with Lightyear, we finally know Buzz’s backstory. However, before we get into that, I believe that it is important to address the elephant in the room: the replacement of Tim Allen with Chris Evans. As expected, removing Allen as the voice of a character that he has been synonymous with since its inception, a character that he has played for nearly 25 years and across four films, was a bitter pill to swallow. On the surface, it would seem that Allen’s appearance was a repeat of what happened with his popular Fox television series, which was cancelled and eventually revived.
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Billions Season Six
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on June 17th, 2022
Every era has their Hollywood good guys and their Hollywood bad guys. Back in the early days, we had Nazis to pit against our heroes. When they didn’t quite fit the bill, we had the Japanese. For much of the Cold War, we had great Russian villains to test the mettle of our heroes. Terrorists fit the bill a lot today, but perhaps the only group hated by large segments of American audiences more are the 1%ers. Anyone who makes an obscene amount of money must have cheated to get there. It doesn’t hurt that financial power companies have been immersed in the last couple of economic disasters. Michael Douglas taught us that greed is good, and while every single one of us wants to be at the top, it’s not quite the politically correct thing to express … at least out loud. Billions gives us the kind of power broker who is just too much fun to hate.
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Ninja Badass
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on June 16th, 2022
“But I like to have sex with dragons.”
Have you ever had the desire to see a midwestern take on ninjas? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that you have not, but the if you happen to be that one person out there with an itch for bad cinema, I’m talking the kind of film that makes Troma look like high art cinema, then Ninja Badass may be the movie to quench your need. After 30 minutes of watching this film, I had to stop it and take a break. When Ed Wood set off to make his films, he didn’t intend to make a bad movie; it just happened. He was a filmmaker just trying to do the best he could without any real talent supporting him. Ninja Badass seems to go above and beyond to create one of the worst films in history
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Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark – Limited-Edition Steelbook (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 14th, 2022
“For nearly three thousand years, man has been searching for the lost ark. It’s not something to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It’s like nothing you’ve ever gone after before.”
Just in time for the wrap of principal photography on the next and final Indiana Jones film, Paramount cashes in on the renewed interest with the long-awaited, at least from this reviewer, release of the first four films in the Indiana Jones franchise on UHD Blu-ray in full ultra-high-definition complete with HDR and Dolby Vision. OK, I lied about the long-awaited four films. Now you can own the first on its own in this special Steelbook release of Raiders Of The Lost Ark on UHD/4K. No, I’m not going to call it Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and yes, Han shot first and those feds in ET were not carrying walkie talkies in those hands. So sue me.
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Eraser: Reborn (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 14th, 2022
“Congratulations, you’ve just been erased.”
In 1996, when Eraser came out, it was pretty much what everyone expected from an Arnold Schwarzenegger film: lots of action and cheesy one-liners. It was far from Arnold’s finest work, but it was fun, and the big guns used in the film were pretty cool, too. Eraser is a film you can look back fondly on if you grew up in the 90s, because it was silly fun and nicely directed by the legendary Chuck Russell, who had a pretty good streak of films going when he did Eraser. Before he’d had success with the breakout Jim Carrey film The Mask, and before that he had the remake of The Blob and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors. I bring this up because the reason Eraser worked when it did was because it had the biggest action star on the planet in its lead role and a talented director working behind the camera, and to top it off a $100 million dollar budget to play with.
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Jurassic World Dominion
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2022
“Bigger. Why do they always have to go bigger?”
You don’t really need me to answer that one, do you? What started with Jurassic Park in 1993 and even earlier with the blockbuster book by the late, great Michael Crichton has actually been 65 million years in the making. When an idea has been percolating for that long, you have to go bigger, or the audience will go home. Expectations take a bite out of your options, and by a sixth film you really have to come up with a game-stopper, so what do you do? You reinvent the franchise after two sequels failed to capture the magic and awe that was Jurassic Park. You let the idea sit for a decade or so, and then you bring it back with enough of the new and enough of the old to bring folks back into the theaters. And that’s just how they did it with the Jurassic World trilogy. The first two films gave us a new cast of characters with the likes of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard.
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Exclusive Interview With Julian David Stone, Author Of It’s Alive
Posted in Podcasts by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2022
We mostly deal with movies and television shows here at Upcomingdiscs. As the name implies discs are what we’re all about. But once in a while we find something we just have to tell you about. Many times we take a look at books written by or about the film industry folks. It’s rare when I came upon a novel that I just have to tell you about. It’s Alive is deserving of that rare post. Written by Julian David Stone the novel takes us back to the Hollywood of the 1930’s. It’s the very first days of the “talkies” when actors first spoke on film. It was the height of the “studio system” where stars were at the beck and call of the studios who paid their salaries. It was also the rise of Carl Laemmle, Jr. or Junior to those who knew him. His father, Carl Sr founded Universal Studios and now it was Junior’s turn to shine. It’s just days before the production start on Frankenstein and Junior still can’t convince his father that these horror films are going to launch Universal into the future. Worse. He still hadn’t decided who would play the pivotal role of The Monster. Bela Lugosi was intended for the role following his hit in Dracula but he was playing hard to get. There was this other guy discovered by the film’s director, James Whale. He was an unknown small-bit actor by the name of Boris Karloff. We all know how it turned out. Now go deep inside and see how it almost didn’t happen. I read the book and I loved it. I also got the chance to spend some of my Memorial Day Monday talking with the book’s author. Now you get to eavesdrop on that conversation and let us take you back to 1931. Bang it here to listen to my interview with Julian David Stone.
You can pick up the book from our Amazon link to the right. You can also head over to the author’s web site here: Stone Web Page.
Infinite (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2022
“There are among us a people, gifted with a perfect memory of all their past lives. They call themselves Infinites. Among the Infinites, two groups have vied for power. On one side the Believers, dedicated to using their knowledge for the protection and growth of all humanity. Against them stood the Nihilists, who see this power as a curse. New technologies have given the Nihilists an opportunity to end all life on Earth, and the race is on for its control.”
Infinite is an adapted story from D. Eric Maikranz’s novel The Reincarnation Papers. On the surface this is one of those great concepts that could support a film franchise, and might have accomplished just that if the film itself hadn’t taken the route of spectacle over substance. It doesn’t help that this film was hurt by the COVID shutdown of productions and never ended up with the wide release it was originally intended to have.
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Paramount Presents: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2022
“Let me speak to you directly and from the heart.”
My first exposure to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance wasn’t the film at all. It was the song (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance, written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. It was a 1962 hit song by Gene Pitney and was written to be included in the film. I wouldn’t really be taken with the song until James Taylor would cover it and have his own hit with the song in 1985 with his album That’s Why I’m Here. By then I’d seen the film but only on late-night television broadcasts which offered bad transfers and plenty of commercials that caused the film to be chopped by over 26 minutes. The funny thing about the song is that while it was written to be included in the film, it actually never appears. Director John Ford thought it sounded too modern and suggested it would only weaken the film and insisted it not be used
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Lucifer: The Complete Fifth Season
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on June 2nd, 2022
When I heard Fox had cancelled Lucifer after Season 3 and Netflix had picked up the show, I have to admit I got excited about the possibilities. I had hoped that the transition from network TV to the streaming service would mean the show could get away with more, because the show wouldn’t be bound to network rating guidelines. As it turns out, the show still has its TV-14 rating, but on the bright side the episodes are longer now, which in my opinion is a good thing. When Netflix picked up the show, they had announced that Season 5 would be the last season of the show. While the show does take some major storyline leaps as ways to wrap things up, thankfully things don’t come to an end just yet, as a Season 6 was produced and is currently airing on the streaming service.
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Top Gun Maverick
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on May 27th, 2022
It has been about 36 years since the release of the first Top Gun. This is one of my earliest memories as a kid, seeing the movie on the big screen with my parents at the old Main Street 6 Cinemas. I was a bit obsessed with this movie growing up. I had a copy of the film that I had recorded off of Showtime, and over the years I’d imagine I’ve seen Top Gun at least 100 times. I was obsessed with the movie and its soundtrack. Kenny Loggins and “Danger Zone” lived rent-free in my head throughout my childhood. I know I’m not alone on this when saying just how much Top Gun is a movie I just love. It’s not perfect, but I just can’t find anything I dislike about it. Even in my forties, I look at this film as comfort food. It doesn’t matter the time or day, if it’s on, I can’t help but sit down and watch it. I’m putting this out there because, yeah, when I heard the talk of them first doing a sequel
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Batman, The (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2022
“They think I’m hiding in the shadows, but I am the shadows.”
You have certain expectations when you go to a superhero/comic book movie. Sure, it changes a little depending on the character that you’re going to see. But there are certain things that all of these films tend to have in common. There’s an expectation of frantic action and some mind-bending special f/x. You’re looking for colorful villains who tend to act over-the-top and always provide that gentle wink back at the audience. When these expectations aren’t met, audiences tend to be disappointed, and big-budget films can end up costing the studios hugely in the end. Even as we appear to be reaching the last days of the limited pandemic crowds, that risk gets multiplied. It also doesn’t help if audiences are still riding the high off the first big global billion-dollar film in almost three years.
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Licorice Pizza (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 27th, 2022
Licorice Pizza marks writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s 9th feature film, and it seems to be his most personal film to date, as it takes place in his hometown of San Fernando Valley during 1973. It’s difficult to go into a Paul Thomas Anderson film and not have high expectations. I can’t even guess the number of times I’ve watched Boogie Nights, and Magnolia is one that I adore just as much. These two films just impacted me from the first time I experienced them in the cinema and really fostered my appreciation for film and storytelling with large ensembles. Since then I’ve been waiting somewhat patiently for PTA to do another film like those two, but instead he’s grown as a filmmaker and genuinely become an auteur. While I can look at his films The Master, There Will Be Blood, and Phantom Thread, they are great cinematic achievements that show he can do award worthy films and that he’s definitely one of the best working directors out there, BUT
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Ray Donovan: The Movie
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2022
“Who’s the wolf now, Ray?”
For all intents and purposes, Season 7 was the final season of Ray Donovan. The end came rather suddenly, and after it was too late to create and film some kind of satisfying finale for the series. The cast and crew were taken by surprise, so you can imagine how the fans of the show were taking this. To make matters worse, the last episode, while not a complete cliffhanger, leaves too many strands of thread that weren’t connected. There’s nothing satisfying about the finale, and that created waves in the world of fandom. Star Trek is famous for being the first television show that a network cancelled and then brought back because of a huge letter-writing campaign that flooded network executives and pushed them into an unprecedented action for that time. The show was brought back.
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Grand Slam (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 25th, 2022
The original heist movie is often credited to The Asphalt Jungle, directed by John Huston. A criminal mastermind, a million-dollar jewel heist, a band of outlaws, and the dame in a seamy and gritty underworld. It had all the qualities that would set up that genre for decades to come. Today’s offering is another film that is often listed on top-twenty lists for the genre, Ad ogni costo, better known by its English title as Grand Slam. In it, a retiring school professor recruits four criminal masterminds to steal ten million in diamonds. We’ll have to see if it makes the grade or is doomed to be held back for another year.
Beverly Hills Cop II (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 20th, 2022
From the bouncing opening music by Glenn Fry to the final frame of Eddie Murphy’s smile, Beverly Hills Cop had established itself as a classic. The movie had a complicated history, and it’s a kind of miracle that the version we know ever happened at all. The movie was originally conceived as a straight action film with the plan to have either Al Pacino or Clint Eastwood in the title role. At that point the script was called Beverly Drive. When they couldn’t get Al or Clint, they turned to Sylvester Stallone, and Sly took the role. He took the script and rewrote it to fit his own particular style. The main character’s name went from Axel Foley to Cabretti so that he could be called The Cobra. The problem with Sly’s version is that the cost was rising higher than the execs at Paramount were willing to put out. Sly was offered another film to drop Beverly Hills Cop. He took his rewrites with him, and they eventually formed the nucleus of his movie Cobra. The rest of the film had already been cast, so imagine their surprise when the action movie they thought they were making with Rocky turned into a comedy/drama starring the Saturday Night Live but unproven box office comedian Eddie Murphy.
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Clean
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on May 20th, 2022
I’m still looking for answers. I just don’t know the questions anymore. I just know there’s too much out there. Seas of filth. An endless onslaught of ugliness. Blight. Plastic. Cheap s#$t cloggin’ up our minds. Cloggin’ up the drains, poisoning our water, turning us to s@4t. Where does it all go? I’ve got blood on my hands. I’m stained. I’m dirty. No matter how hard I try, I can’t wash away the past.
With Adrien Brody’s picture-perfect delivery of this monolog, I was all in with this film. It was like Brody’s voice was made for this voiceover. And while the film did have some intriguing moments, it didn’t really break any new ground like I hoped it would. It reminded me of a couple years ago when Hollywood tried to remake Death Wish, and while I did enjoy this film immensely more than that one, Clean isn’t a film that I will feel compelled to rewatch anytime in the near future. The film essentially has more of a one-and-done feel to it.
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