Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on November 13th, 2016
"There are days that define your story beyond your life. Like the day they arrived..."
The problem is that this starts out with the kind of story we've seen a thousand times before. The alien invasion theme is nothing new. H.G. Wells was describing it back in the 19th Century with War Of The Worlds. Unrelated Orson Welles scared the crap out of a depression-era radio audience with the same story. Independence Day gave us a brilliantly visual story that also begins the same way: alien ships begin to take strategic positions around the world. Here we go again, right? Wrong.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on November 12th, 2016
Violence in America has been a hot topic in the news these days. But it's not as new of a topic as you might imagine. In the 1980's Sheldon Renan directed The Killing Of America. He put together news footage, much of which never made it to air at the time. He interviewed serial killers and investigated the stories. The documentary was never released in The United States. Now Severin is finally releasing it on Blu-ray. Of course, I just had to talk to the director and get the scoop on this one. Bang it here to listen in on my chat with Sheldon Renan.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 4th, 2016
"This train don't stop." That's what we're told in an Elton John ballad. But it doesn't matter if it's that Midnight Train to Georgia or a freight train, you can bet the farm that it's going to run out of track. That's for sure, and you can expect more than a little crying over it all. The saddest news, however, is the show's final year. You really should not even think about joining the series from this point. I suspect it will still be quite entertaining, but for the full experience you do have to start from the beginning. The evolution of the Cullen character from Civil War veteran out for vengeance to the man who we see in the fifth season is a rather nice journey to witness. So saddle up for the first four. You can find the reviews for other seasons here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 2nd, 2016
"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."
Every Star Trek fan knows the words by heart. For 50 years they've heralded the promise of something special. From the television show that couldn't but did anyway to 12 feature films. Would #13 be the lucky one? The trailers left many of us worried that it would more than likely be unlucky.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Gino Sassani on October 31st, 2016
Our 31 Nights Of Terror comes to an end. The decorations contest did not go as well as we hoped. There won't be any voting because we only had one entry. The winner of a Troma 3-Blu-ray set is Paul Blacker with the following winning photo:
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2016
"Lets go find you a fish."
I've been told enough times that it is often not a good idea to meet your heroes. It's too often impossible for anyone to live up to expectations, particularly when they are already up on a pedestal in our minds. All humans have their flaws, and Ernest Hemingway was no exception. I never met him. He killed himself around the time I was busy being born. I often joked to my writing professors that he feared my arrival. The truth is that he had so many demons.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2016
“The countless lives we lost in the War Of '96 did not perish in vain. They inspire us to rise from the ashes as one people of one world. For 20 years the world has seen no armed conflict. Nations have put their petty differences aside. United, we rebuilt our families, our cities and our lives. The fusion of human and alien technology not only enabled us to defy gravity and travel at unimaginable speeds. It also made our planet finally safe again."
Not so fast there, cowboy. There would be no need for a sequel to the 1996 hit film Independence Day if the big bad aliens weren't coming back.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on October 26th, 2016
This will be our last giveaway for 31 Nights Of Terror. We saved the classic for last. We're giving away Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein on Blu-ray. Bela Lugosi returned to the role of Dracula for the 2nd and last time for this farce. It was also the final appearance of Lon Chaney, Jr. as The Wolf Man. It marked the end of an era and it's going out to one lucky winner.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: Random Fun by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2016
Most of the time we're telling you what we think here at Upcomingdiscs. I thought it would be nice to use 31 Nights Of Terror to let you hear what the filmmakers themselves have to say. We have talked to many of them over the years. Take some time to "chill" with some masters of horror.
Sara Karloff has been keeping the memory of her father alive for decades. Boris Karloff was one of the true masters of horror. Sara's a friend and it's always great to talk with her. Join us for one of those talks. Sara Karloff Interview
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2016
You know, I miss James Gandolfini. I know that HBO misses him as well. When The Sopranos finished, Gandolfini signed a development deal with HBO. He would not only work in front of the camera but help find and produce material for the network. We all know what happened next. Gandolfini passed suddenly, just when it seems he was breaking out of his Tony Soprano typecast, and one gets the feeling that he was going to do great things. One solid indication of that promise comes in the HBO series The Night Of... which was one of those passion projects that the man never got to see through.
![Wrong Turn 4: Bloody Beginnings (Unrated) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/wrong-turn-4-bloody-beginnings-un-large.jpg)
