Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2010
Remakes are a fact of life. It might seem now more than ever that we are plagued with this reality, but it's been true for a very long time. It's not so new, as you might expect. Even the lauded Cecil B. Demille The Ten Commandments was a remake of his own silent 1923 film. They've existed almost as long as the movies themselves and will continue to exist for the foreseeable future. So, the question should be: Why should a particular film be remade? Often technology catches up with the content in a film. The ability to create on the screen something that was simply impossible originally is a legitimate reason to tackle an older film. Sometimes the movie is so powerful that it bears retelling for a new generation.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 15th, 2010
Nearly 10 years before Ben Stiller spent his first Night At The Museum with that eclectic cast of characters, The Relic brought us a much different kind of night at a museum. What comes to life here is anything but playful. There's nothing amusing about this nightmare in a museum. Peter Hyams might be more famous for several other action science fiction films, but none of his works before or since The Relic could claim to be quite so atmospheric. Together with the truly genius invention of creature creator extraordinaire Stan Winston
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 15th, 2010
Holy crap, this movie made a boat load of money for Fox when it came out around Christmas 2006, making $250 million and running second only to the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel for box office money. And to see Ben Stiller finally appear in a film that could be considered a blockbuster success was nice too. And in Night at the Museum, he gets to play Larry, night security guard in the New York Museum of Natural History.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 15th, 2010
Ice Age – The Meltdown is a funny, well-animated sequel that offers up a new adventure for the memorable characters from the original Ice Age film. As a great bonus, it’s nicely balanced for audiences young and old.
20th Century Fox Animation is still a poor second cousin to Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios, but for sheer entertainment value, Ice Age – The Meltdown doesn’t get knocked completely out of the water by top-shelf blockbusters like The Incredibles. Sure, the animation is weaker, and story is less inspired, but the voice work is excellent, with the talent of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Queen Latifah, Denis Leary, Jay Leno, and the list goes on.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
"One … two… Freddy’s coming for you, three… four… better lock the door, five… six… grab your crucifix..."
Freddy might have been born in the mind of Wes Craven, but he grew and developed in the knife-wielding hands of Robert Englund. Granted, not all of these films are equal in quality, but the first was everything you could ask for in a horror/slasher film of the era. Freddy himself is by far the most colorful and animated of the slashers. His burned face, fedora, striped sweater, and knife-blade glove were all integral parts of the wise-cracking maniac.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
I’ve often spent a lot of time talking about how Pixar has dominated computer animation, at least as far as full-length features go. With few exceptions, there isn’t anything out there that even comes close. Most films rely on toilet humor and crude innuendo to get a few laughs. A lot of the kids and adults might suck that stuff up, but they can’t hold a candle to Pixar. There are, as I’ve mentioned, some quite notable exceptions. The Fox Blue Sky Studios has had enormous success with their Ice Age films, and when you take a look at the third and latest entry in that franchise, you’ll understand why.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
"Imagine a world of incredible color and beauty. Of crabs wearing jellyfish for hats. Of fish disguised as frogs, stones, and shag carpets. Of a kaleidoscope of underwater life. Now go explore it."
Jim Carrey narrates this IMAX experience that takes you deep under the ocean. The film focuses on five particular locations: New Britain and Milne Bay (both in New Guinea), South Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, and Indonesia. Because this was filmed with IMAX equipment and presented here in high definition, you can expect a pretty spectacular ride on this one.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 12th, 2010
If you're the kind of person who feels the need to understand, at least, what kind of film you're watching, then this movie must be avoided at all costs. It wasn't until the bonus features when I discovered that this was, in reality, intended as a dark comedy more than anything else. There were certainly signs in the movie that might have led me to that conclusion, not the least of which is a 2-minute Iguana Cam moment that had me questioning what might have found its way into my iced tea.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 12th, 2010
"If you can control the sky, you can control the world."
With the current remake of Ray Harryhausen's Clash Of The Titans, is it any real surprise that there might be a resurgence of interest in the gods and goddesses of Mt. Olympus in Greek mythology? The Greeks created an entire family of deities to explain the various natural elements and phenomena around them. There were gods of the sea and of the underworld. There were even gods of wine and music. It was believed that these supernatural beings sat high on the highest point of the Greek island nation, interfering in the affairs of men to settle their own petty squabbles and arguments.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 12th, 2010
One of my soft-spots in films (puns aside) are erotic thrillers. This genre includes some of my favorite movies of all time include the likes of Basic Instinct, Sliver & Fatal Attraction. As it turns out, Basic Instinct & Sliver’s screenplay was written by one Joe Eszterhas. Then I get a copy of Jade to review on Blu-Ray which just also happens to feature Joe on screenplay credits. Color me interested.
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![The Relic [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-relic-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Night at the Museum [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/night-at-the-museum-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Ice Age - The Meltdown [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/ice-age-the-meltdown-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![A Nightmare on Elm Street [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/a-nightmare-on-elm-street-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Ice Age [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/ice-age-blu-ray-large.jpg)
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![Jade [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/jade-blu-ray-large.jpg)
