Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 7th, 2011
A small town girl named Lorie Walker is injured, which forces her to abandon her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. After a chance encounter with an old friend, she is convinced to appear in a rap music video. The director of said video is immediately smitten with her beauty and takes her away to Los Angeles to become a Video Model.
The music video's Lorie appears in are of the lowest common denominator standard (her debut video seems to only consist of the lyrics “I got a big booty cutie” repeated over and over) and her roles only demand that she stand around and look pretty for the camera. If you are not a casual fan of modern (and may I say, low grade) hip-hop, these will be the first hurdles you have to cross to become invested in this film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 5th, 2011
A couple in their 30s decide to adopt an injured cat and have 30 days before receiving it. In that time, the burden of responsibility becomes too much and they start making drastic changes to their lives. I have reviewed enough films to realise that, unless it is a science documentary, a film title such as “The Future” can only imply a pessimistic view of it's namesake when coming out of the “indie” film scene. This film validates such fears to a tee.
SPOILERS AHEAD. BE WARNED.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 5th, 2011
The latest incarnation of Deep Purple is going the route of many “classic” rock and/or metal bands, and are putting being accompanied by a symphony for a special release. This particular concert closed out the 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival.
Many do not realize just how powerful a symphony sound can be without ever hearing one live. For this concert film, it helps when a heavy metal band is present to be matched and/or enhanced by the sheer boom that is power of a symphonic sound to help make for a nice example. The frequently bluesy riffs of Deep Purple, coming from songs both new and old, are complimented well by a large assembly of strings and horns. It should be noted that this is not a full symphony, but something similar to the size of a Count Basie orchestra setup. In fact, there are some songs where the symphony do not play at all, such a “Space Truckin'' whose chunky riffs might be best left alone.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 4th, 2011
Good grief, these people again. I had previously shared my thoughts on this program when reviewing the third season on this site: https://upcomingdiscs.com/2010/03/13/designing-women-season-3/ I shall expand on this but assure you that little has changed in my sour opinion.
This season was the last to feature Delta Burke and Jean Smart, who comprised of half of the leading cast. This does not mean there are any climatic finale moments where the friends become sentimental for one and other. This season seems to stay the course of mediocre comedy it had for 4 seasons previous, except perhaps for a little more applause added character's entrances.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 4th, 2011
This historical film looks at the three-year siege of Leningrad during World War 2. The film follows a Russian, female police officer who aids a stranded, English news reporter as they try to survive the siege. Said survival goes beyond enduring the battles between Russian and German forces as a lot of focus is placed on the starvation of the denizens of Leningrad as supplies become desperately limited and the people must live off of 300 grams of rations a day, an amount that declines as days go by.
There is a nice balance between depictions of those fighting the battles and civilians just trying to survive. The battles themselves are accurately brutal at times, and the city of Leningrad is looks as cold and wreaked with famine as its inhabitants. Visually, this film does a wonderful job of recreating the horrible images of war. There are dead bodies frozen on the streets and battlefields that the characters have to become acclimatized to.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 3rd, 2011
Somewhere, somehow, Usher has been dubbed the reigning “King of R&B.” I understand his sales are immense and popularity is undeniable, but I am hearing his name being said in the same sentence as James Brown and Michael Jackson. Those are insanely high standards to live up to, so I was was expecting a lot from the “OMG Tour” live performance.
Amidst scantily clad women, soaring lasers, massive video screens, a hyperactive backing band and sweating buckets in front of a sold out crowd, Usher does an 19 song long Michael Jackson impression. Am I watching the next King of Pop? Or (lord help me) King of R&B? (may the ghosts of Motown have mercy on whomever anointed Usher with that moniker). No, I am not. I am, however watching an extremely smooth dancer, a hard working entertainer, and charismatic singer lead an enormous stage production with a confident, cool professionalism.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 2nd, 2011
A pirate radio station offers to grant wishes to listeners on full moon nights, but all of said wishes come with grave consequences as it seems that there have been monthly murder/suicides occurring since the radio station's inception. Without knowing what sort of evil she might release, a teenage girl, who is grounded by her parents, makes a wish with the “Oracle” of the station and soon her friends are falling victim to evil possession.
Like a million horror films before it, we start of the film by being introduced to a band of sexy teenagers (played by actors most likely in their twenties) who pal around and generally act like annoying idiots (for lack of a more graceful label) to the point where I could care less if they fall victim to a maniac or curse of any sort....but we'll get to that later on. The story goes, one of the sexy teens is grounded by her parents and cannot attend a party where she was planning to meet up with her crush; which in the teenage world, seems to be the equivalent of having your limbs sawed off. In her angst she calls a mystical pirate radio station and makes a wish that starts off a set of tragic events involving all of her friends and family. Apparently, only a young girl's crush triangle and petty feud with her parents were at stake, which meant that the audience has nothing worthwhile invested in these characters when some of them start to die.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 15th, 2011
Six different Nickelodeon children's programs aimed at preschoolers each have their own Christmas (or Holiday) special episodes and are compiled together on this DVD release.
Dora the Explorer: Using tons of repetition and visual cues, Dora and her friends teach kids while alternating between English and Spanish. This time they need to go to the North Pole.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 9th, 2011
Here is a forgotten 80s, romantic dromedy that may have been forgotten for a reason. Various love triangles arise around the setting of a Demolition Derby. Jamie Lee Curtis and Patrick Swayze star in a tale packed with the usual 80s comedy tent poles such as weird dreams, screwball scenarios, and youths having to stand up for the little guy.
Cody (Curtis) might lose her Derby site until a recent high school graduate stumble into her life to help, and perhaps steal her heart. Meanwhile a derby rider (Swayze) is pulling his life together after his long time girlfriend starts having an affair. The story runs through the sort of formula we've all seen before, with those aforementioned signifiers of its place in the American 1980s along with familiar 80s actors appearing. Heck, they even have cameos by John and Joan Cusack and Michael Winslow (yes, the guy who does the sound effects from Police Academy) sneak in. The performances are acceptable, the gags are not the freshest, and the romance is jammed with heartache and conflict.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 9th, 2011
The king of the parodies has been consistent in the studio, in videos and on stage for nearly 3 decades. This DVD allows him to prove the latter. Though various costume changes and instrument shifts, Al and his longtime band mates delight a packed Massey Hall in Toronto.
The lion's share of the set list is dedicated to Al's latest release Alpocalypse. Of course, a few of his staples, such as “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Amish Paradise” and “Fat” have to be present. There is also a lot of fan service made during a medley of 11 songs, new and old, played at the halfway point of the concert. During this set of songs, when it seems appropriate, Al will assume the lead character of the song . This sometimes means he's adopting the persona of the performer he is parodying, such as donning a blonde wig and thrashing about the stage ala Kurt Cobain, becoming the cartoonish version of an artust that has appeared in one of his music videos, such as Al's infamous fat suit for the “Fat” parody of Michael Jackson, or something completely original, such as his unnerving but amusingly lecherous lounge singer character for “Wanna B Ur Lovr,” who prowls through the audience seeking female targets to leer at while he croons sexual innuendos at them.
![Deep Purple with Orchestra: Live at Montreux 2011 [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/deep-purple-with-orchestra-live-at-large.jpg)
![Attack on Leningrad [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/attack-on-leningrad-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Usher: OMG Tour Live From London [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/usher-omg-tour-live-from-london-b-large.jpg)
