Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 19th, 2016
“He's just got a knack for being in the wrong spot at exactly the right time.”
Jack Irish, the disheveled former lawyer-turned-debt collector with a nose for trouble, is at it again. The character is the creation of novelist Peter Temple, but Australian TV audiences got to know Jack thanks to a trio of TV movies starring the great Guy Pearce. The movies were successful enough that Jack Irish returned as a six-episode series that brings the entire gang back together.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on August 16th, 2016
The start of the new Fall TV season is still a little more than a month away. That also means it’s about the time of year that UpcomingDiscs HQ gets flooded with titles from the previous small-screen season so everyone can play catch-up before new episodes begin to air. Warner Bros. sinks its teeth into The Vampire Diaries: Season 7, while the villains rise and unleash their wrath on Gotham: Season 2. ABC swans into this week’s Round Up with Once Upon a Time: Season 5. Finally, Showtime turns up the temperature and embarks on The Affair: Season 2.
One last reminder before signing off for the week: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 15th, 2016
“Who do you think I am? Miss Marple?”
Despite his knack for becoming entangled in byzantine plots and conspiracies, no one would confuse Jack Irish for an Agatha Christie character. Instead, Jack is the creation of novelist Peter Temple, and the character's rumpled charm and general aversion to violence means he has more in common with Jim Rockford than Hercule Poirot. The character has been adapted for Australian television and brought to life thanks to a winning performance by the great Guy Pearce. You can now get to know Jack yourself since Acorn Media was nice enough to put three Jack Irish TV movies on Blu-ray.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 11th, 2016
“The story of the American Frontier is a tale of conquest, but also one of survival, persistence, and the grit of the people.”
And the story of the American Western is a tale of quick draw competitions, fights aboard speeding trains, and other assorted horseplay. Each of those elements can be found in Traded, which inelegantly grafts the plot of Taken onto an Old West setting. The problem is that nothing here is executed particularly well.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on August 9th, 2016
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird...it's a plane...it's Superman! (Wait a minute, that's not right...let me grab my glasses and take a closer look.) I stand corrected...it's actually Supergirl flying into UpcomingDiscs HQ this week! Thanks to Warner Bros., we'll have a review of the CBS CW action-drama's freshman season. Meanwhile, CBS/Paramount takes it (Big) Easy for Season 2 of NCIS: New Orleans and gets our hearts racing with Code Black: Season 1.
One last reminder before signing off for the week: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on August 7th, 2016
The setup for Viral is promising enough. Throughout the early part of the film, we get subtle yet effective hints at the escalating catastrophe that is about to infect the story. (We hear about someone's mom coughing uncontrollably, plus a video of a bloody, unexplained elevator attack goes, well, “viral.”) So it's a shame that this sci-fi/horror thriller is limited by both its micro-budget and (more importantly) a filmmaking team that only sporadically delivers the goods.
Teenage sisters Emma (Sofia Black-D'Elia) and Stacey (Analeigh Tipton) have recently moved to a town called Shadow Canyon. Emma is the withdrawn, serious-minded sister who has a crush on a neighbor/classmate named Evan (Travis Tope). Meanwhile, Stacey is the rebellious black sheep in the family. (You can tell she's a rebel because of the purple streak in her hair.)
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on August 2nd, 2016
This week's Tuesday Round Up has me seeing Red. Don't get me wrong...I'm not mad at anybody. I'm talking about Raymond “Red “Reddington, the criminal mastermind at the center of The Blacklist. And thanks to Sony, we'll be checking off a review of The Blacklist: Season 3 very soon. Anchor Bay goes Viral with a new horror thriller, so it's a good thing Cinemax is letting us check into The Knick: Season 2. Cinedigm saddles up for Traded and keeps the faith with Peter: The Redemption. And while Shout! Factory goes looking for Humpback Whales, Warner Bros. leaves its mark with Blindspot: Season 1 and kitty caper Keanu.
Here's your weekly reminder as we kick off a new month: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on July 29th, 2016
Moviegoers tend to have better memories than amnesiac assassins, but I think it’s fair to say we’ve mostly put The Bourne Legacy out of our minds. Universal’s underwhelming, half-hearted attempt to spin off one of its more lucrative franchises all but guaranteed the eventual return of original star Matt Damon and two-time director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum). The duo has re-teamed for the entertaining yet inessential Jason Bourne, which — for better and worse — will feel extremely familiar for fans of the trilogy.
“I remember…I remember everything.”
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on July 26th, 2016
It's been well over a year since we started this Tuesday Round Up, so I like to think we're beyond certain formalities. For example, I hope you all know that you're welcome to stop by our fair site anytime you want. No RSVP necessary. That being said, Drafthouse Films was still kind enough to drop off The Invitation this week. Shout! Factory tumbles down a Hellhole while offering a howling good time with The Boy Who Cried Werewolf. Finally, Lionsgate unleashes the John Travolta actioner I Am Wrath.
One last reminder before signing off for the week (and for July): if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on July 25th, 2016
“You talk dreams to those kids, you better follow through.”
There's a (not-so) grand cinematic tradition of white knights riding into rough neighborhoods and inspiring the disadvantaged kids who are seemingly stuck there. We've seen this plot applied in everything from Hardball and McFarland USA to Sister Act 2. (Hey...no one said the white knight *has* to be white). For the most part, these movies are as formulaic as they are enjoyable. So one of the many wonderful things about New Zealand chess drama The Dark Horse is that its white knight hero is a complex, damaged, well-meaning figure who's actually in worse shape than the kids he's trying to help.
