Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 25th, 2024
by Joshua Nuances
"I don't want to be a product of my environment. I want my environment to be a product of me. Years ago we had the church. That was only a way of saying - we had each other. The Knights of Columbus were real head-breakers; true guineas. They took over their piece of the city. Twenty years after an Irishman couldn't get a f$#@&% job, we had the presidency. May he rest in peace. If I got one thing against the black chappies, it's this - no one gives it to you. You have to take it."
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Archive Authors on December 19th, 2023
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. This time we're talking about the greatest box office film in history. It's gotta be James Cameron's Titanic, and it's gotta be on UHD Blu-ray in glorious 4K.
"I've never spoken of him until now... Not to anyone... Not even your grandfather... A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets. But now you know there was a man named Jack Dawson and that he saved me... in every way that a person can be saved. I don't even have a picture of him. He exists now ... only in my memory.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2023
"All right, listen up, ladies and gentlemen; our fugitive has been on the run for ninety minutes. Average foot speed over uneven ground, barring injuries, is four miles per hour. That gives us a radius of six miles. What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, hen house, outhouse, and doghouse in that area. Checkpoints go up at fifteen miles. Your fugitive's name is Dr. Richard Kimble. Go get him."
The Fugitive, since its’ original release in 1993, has always been seen by a majority of people as the defining thriller of the 1990’s. The film stars Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble. Kimble, a very well known Chicago doctor, has just been framed for killing his wife. He claims a one-armed man killed her, which prompts nearly everyone to laugh at him. Kimble is immediately arrested and sentenced to death in a cold courtroom scene that doesn’t even give Kimble time to defend himself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2023
By JC.
Cinematically speaking, the name Eli Roth has been synonymous with murder and mayhem. The director is best known for his work in the horror genre, bursting on the scene with 2002’s Cabin Fever and upping the ante with Hostel and Hostel: Part II a few years later. So it was a bit surprising to hear he’d be taking on a remake of Death Wish — the iconic 1974 Charles Bronson revenge flick — until I started thinking about the bloody possibilities. If the Hostel films gained notoriety as prime examples of “torture porn”, then it seems like Roth has graduated to “revenge porn” with this slick and (intentionally) silly re-imagining.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 28th, 2023
"King Kong ain't got nothing on me."
Training Day stars Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington in the role of Alonzo Harris. Harris, who is one of the meanest, baddest cops in the city of LA, is a person who cruises the streets in his customized Caddy. Harris, in one of the film’s opening scenes, meets Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), a young cop whose dream is to be promoted to the elite narc squad. Naturally, this is Jake’s first day of training, and he is thrown into the arms of Harris. Alonzo tries to show him the streets so he can understand everything. He has Jake smoke pot just because he can. In one interesting scene, possibly Alonzo being a tough-ass to Jake, he doesn’t arrest two rapists like Jake wants to, but instead, proceeds to beat the living crap out of them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 18th, 2022
After watching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, my mind wandered over to Inception, of all places. Remember how Ellen Page’s character pretty much only existed so other people could explain to her — and, by extension, us in the audience — the rules of the movie’s universe and what the hell was happening? Well, watching Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy for the first time felt a lot like what I imagine Inception would look like if Page’s novice architect hadn’t been in the script: words and items have dual meanings, characters have double (and triple) motivations, and good luck figuring out everything that’s going on in this complex world! The plot, however, is deceptively simple: veteran spy George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is called out of retirement to uncover a Soviet agent in the highest ranks of MI-6, the British intelligence service. (I’ll refrain from further discussing the plot so that I don’t give anything away, but also because there’s a decent chance I haven’t comprehended everything that happened. That being said, my second viewing of this movie went considerably smoother than the first.)
Things only get complicated when you realize that almost every person presented on screen — with the notable exception of a shy schoolboy — is a spy or possesses a critical piece of intelligence. (It’s no accident that we never get a clear look at George’s wife, Ann.) As a result, the audience is constantly kept off balance, not knowing who or what to believe since every character harbors layer upon layer of secrets. The movie doesn’t explore the toll this takes on its characters, but it doesn’t have to: it’s plain to see in their resigned faces.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on April 8th, 2022
"I used to think of my body like an instrument for the accomplishment of my will. I could use it to run , pick things up, make things happen. There were limits, of course, but my body was nonetheless one with me. It obeyed my commands, mostly without complaint. Not anymore. Now there's tending to be done. I almost died when we first got here, they said sepsis. Pain makes your world very small. My world has been this room. Today I venture forth. My world can't be small. Not now. Because the others need me to protect them. Gilead is out there. Gilead isn't afraid. It does not hurt or sleep. It keeps coming forever and ever and ever..."
At least for another season. A lot has changed both within the world of The Handmaid's Tale and in our world of viewers. Ratings have dropped a little and this season the series is no longer being released on Blu-ray. That's a bit of a step down. I think the show is just as compelling but it has been somewhat politicized in recent times and that's never really a good thing when you're trying to reach a wide audience. In this case it's not the fault of the show itself but outside forces that have used the imagery to score political theatre points.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 17th, 2021
Besides the fact that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and that it’s essentially a white collar gloss on Goodfellas, you’d be forgiven for thinking somebody other than Martin Scorsese directed The Wolf of Wall Street. I don’t mean to suggest Scorsese has lost his masterful touch or his passion for filmmaking, both of which were on display as recently as two years ago in the wonderful Hugo. It’s more that after spending the better part of the 21st century making strong, serious dramas, I didn’t necessarily expect Scorsese to make his funniest, loosest and most audacious picture in decades.
“I want you to deal with your problems by becoming rich.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2021
"My name is Harris K. Telemacher. I live in Los Angeles, and I've had seven heart attacks. All imagined. That is to say, I was deeply unhappy, but I didn't know it because I was so happy all of the time."
Steve Martin plays a wacky TV weatherman who develops a close friendship with an electronic freeway sign in the sleeper hit comedy L.A. Story. I found the critically acclaimed film to lack hilarity, but it does get marks for inventiveness. Martin is enjoyable in most anything he’s in, even if the material is not so great. L.A. Story is one such example of an actor rising above said material. Most of the over-the-top silliness misses the mark, and Marilu Henner has little more to do than play the cliché of snobbish socialite. The true love of the Martin character’s life – played by Victoria Tennant – is so bland vanilla I would have much rather seen him end up with his free-spirited squeeze toy (Sarah Jessica Parker), though any such relationship would be doomed to fail. At least there would be some excitement.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 22nd, 2021
"This is the way the world ends..."
The Stephen King cycle has turned hot once again. With the enormous success of the two-part It feature at the box office, Stephen King is hitting the kind of popularity he had back in the 1980's and 1990's, when it seemed anything he put his name to had to be made into a feature film or some other grand project. The trend led to mixed results. Many of the films couldn't live up to the visceral detail that has become King's trademark. To do this, his books have taken on a large page count that has been nearly impossible to fit into a 2-hour feature film window. So there were attempts to expand that reach and use his material for the mini-series format. That's the way It was handled in those days. But there are limitations in network television, particularly 30 years ago, that had no chance of capturing the imagination of a writer with such brutal imagery. The lesson has taken hold. It was released as two films. But back in the day, it appears that even seven hours couldn't quite deliver a quality version of The Stand. Even with a brilliant cast and a script written by the horror master himself, the mini-series fell short of both expectations and the test of time. But like I said, Stephen King is back. He's got a shared world television series, a two-part blockbuster horror film, and now this second attempt to take another bite at the apple that is The Stand. What better time to take a nostalgic look at the 1994 mini-series The Stand now out along with the brand new version CBS Home Entertainment.
