Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 9th, 2016
The story is the star in Freeheld, which chronicles a same-sex couple's fight for equality. The film is based on the Oscar-winning documentary short of the same name and follows Laurel Hester, a New Jersey cop with terminal lung cancer, as she attempts to pass her pension benefits to domestic partner Stacie Andree. Despite being a modest production, Freeheld was able to enlist some top-drawer acting talent. Unfortunately, it also attracted a risk-averse team of filmmakers who tell Laurel and Stacie's story in a thoroughly rote and uninspired manner.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on February 5th, 2016
“Our final fight didn’t go as planned. But one thing was clear…this would be the bloodiest battle yet.”
TNT's post-apocalyptic, alien invasion war drama has never been short on casualties. So hearing that the last episodes in the show's run would result in even more losses — human and otherwise — wasn't exactly a shock. Following a fairly ludicrous cliffhanger, the final season starts off quite promisingly before falling back on some bad habits. Unfortunately, it all culminates with a semi-disastrous series finale.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 4th, 2016
- “Justice is not about popularity…”
- “…but politics is.”
The title of Show Me a Hero is taken from an F. Scott Fitzgerald quote: “Show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy.” So it’s not a surprise that in the hands of David Simon — creator of an all-time great drama with The Wire — this HBO miniseries is short on conventional heroics and long on personal, political, and institutional tragedy.
Posted in: Contests, Tuesday Round Up by J C on February 2nd, 2016
Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, and Dopey…these are just a few of the words I would use to describe my mood over the last couple of months as I bought and moved into my first house. More importantly — and much more famously — those are, of course, a few of the iconic title characters in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which gets a shiny new “Signature Collection” Blu-ray from Disney this week. Cinedigm boards Noah’s Ark, regales us with Extraordinary Tales, and visits Meadowland. Hallmark accepts us For Better or For Worse, and hounds My Boyfriends’ Dogs. HBO comes to the rescue with Show Me a Hero, while Warner Bros. reintroduces us to The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: Season 2 and goes out of this world with Falling Skies: Season 5.
Dreamworks crosses a Bridge of Spies, and Entertainment One pulls an all-nighter with From Dusk Till Dawn: Season 2. Lionsgate charts the Rise of the Krays, battles in a Fight to the Finish, advocates in Freeheld, and breaks the curse of The Last Witch Hunter. Sony cuts to the chase with The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, while RLJ Entertainment celebrates All Hallows’ Eve 2, and lays eyes on The Sin Seer.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on February 1st, 2016
My first All Hallows' Eve experience was an unexpected fright delight. The 2013 horror film featured a trio of stories tied together by a creepy clown and a familiar “babysitter-in-peril” plot line; it was a fun, unsettling, and grungy throwback to low-budget scares. So you can't blame me for actually being pretty excited when I found out they'd made another one. Unfortunately, this sequel is a disappointing, thoroughly unsatisfying mish-mash that undoes practically everything that was good about its predecessor.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on January 27th, 2016
“Being a woman's hard work.”
Femininity — the quality and essence of being a woman — is at the forefront of The New Girlfriend, a gender-bending and genre-bending offering from French director Francois Ozon. The film is a curious mix of farce, rom-com hijinks, frank sexuality, and serious drama about loss. The formula isn't always cohesive, but it makes for an intriguing twist on the old “boy meets girl” story.
Posted in: Contests, Tuesday Round Up by J C on January 26th, 2016
After a *very* welcome vacation last week, I’m off the cruise ship and happy to be back at the UpcomingDiscs ranch. (Although I kinda miss the part where I got to eat all the time and someone else made my bed.) Speaking of returns, Jack’s Back thanks to Shout! Factory, which also takes the good and takes the bad with The Facts of Life: Season 8. Cohen Media Group moves on with The New Girlfriend, Warner Bros. takes Forever: The Complete Series, and Sony finds Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise. Finally, Anchor Bay decodes Da Vinci’s Demons: Season 3.
This Round Up post is also your last chance to win our January giveaway. Once a month we’re going to give away a surprise DVD title from our archives to a lucky winner who comments in our weekly Round-Up posts. All you have to do is comment in a Round-Up post — like this one! — and tell us which of the featured titles you’re most curious to read about. (Quick reminder: You're not telling us which title you'd like to win; your free DVD will be a surprise.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on January 18th, 2016
“In our experience, almost everything ends in death.”
Given its morbid-sounding title, I suppose you can also say that in the case of Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, things *start* in death as well. The inevitability of death — a notion that is simultaneously profound and crushingly simple — is one of several big picture ideas explored by the small potatoes title characters. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, now making its Blu-ray debut, is equal parts brilliant and befuddling. But as thought-provoking and exhilarating (and funny!) as the exchanges are, I'm not entirely sure this material was meant to be presented as a movie.
Posted in: Tribute by J C on January 14th, 2016
- “After all your posturing, all your little speeches, you're nothing but a common thief.”
- “I am an exceptional thief…”
The above exchange occurs in Die Hard, which (in addition to being the gold standard for modern action movies) marked the film debut of Alan Rickman. The beloved, commanding actor — who died of cancer Thursday at age 69 — had already distinguished himself as a superstar of the British theatre world. But it was with his iconic performance as Bill Clay Hans Gruber that Rickman stole his way into the hearts of moviegoers worldwide.
It would’ve been all too easy for Rickman to settle into a career playing haughty villains, thanks to his velvety baritone (the Voice of God!) and clipped diction. (And he did portray his share of baddies in films like Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Sweeney Todd.) Fortunately for us, his immense charisma and magnetism simply made that impossible. As a result, Rickman also excelled at comedy (Dogma, Galaxy Quest), romance (Truly Madly Deeply, Sense and Sensibility), and everything in between (Love Actually). It’s no accident that the actor’s best-known, big-screen work — playing the enigmatic Professor Severus Snape in eight Harry Potter movies — contains dashes of humor, villainy and pathos. You often hear about characters that audiences “love to hate.” In Rickman’s case, he made it practically impossible to hate him…no matter how “bad” he was.
We’ve actually had the pleasure of reviewing some of Rickman’s work here at UpcomingDiscs. Join us for a quick trip through our archives.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on January 13th, 2016
Yak: The Giant King is a 2012 animated offering from Thailand. It is based on Ramakien, the country’s version of a famous Hindu epic poem. Neither of those facts is readily apparent in the packaging and presentation of The Giant King, an American adaptation that was recently released on DVD. On the one hand, it helps explain why the dialogue here hardly ever matches the characters’ lip movements. But knowing that this crude, chintzy offering is actually based on something rather substantial makes it even more of a letdown.
