Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 13th, 2013
This is my second trip to the land of Ooo, and this time I’d have all of season 2 to kick back and enjoy the weird and crazy adventures of Jake the dog and Finn the human. Fans of the show seem to have been clamoring to have entire seasons of the show released as a whole, rather than the compilation packs that have been released in the past. With this season 2 release there are 26 episodes together on one disc and running a little over 5 hours. Having just survived season 2, I feel it’s safe to say the show is something that will grow on you, but really like anything else should be indulged in small doses rather than a marathon viewing session.
The show doesn’t have anything that resembles a linear storyline; every episode can stand on its own, which makes it accessible for anyone to sit down and start enjoying the fun. Guardians of Sunshine stands out from the rest for me, where Finn and Jake get sucked into their friend BMO (who happens to be a video game console), and they are forced to take on the three big bosses of their favorite video game. This is a concept that most gamers I feel at some point have all fantasized about, whether it be to live in Zelda or even Grand Theft Auto, to live in this alternate reality would in theory be a blast. Leave it to Finn and Jake to show the perils of video game life, though it was pretty awesome seeing the 8-bit versions of Finn and Jake in action.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 15th, 2013
In 1363, the Black Plague had done its damage, leaving most infected areas uninhabitable. Escape — known in Norway as Flukt — is the story of a family that sets out into the countryside to get away from the plague and hopefully find a new place to rebuild their lives. But just as I’m thinking this is going to be a movie about sticking together and fighting to survive the elements, it shifts gears to something far darker but not all that original.
The small family is attacked and most are brutally slain; only Signe (Isabel Christine Andeasen), the daughter, manages to survive. Instead of simply killing the girl, the attackers decide to keep her around. When this decision was made by the attackers my mind instantly went to thinking they were going to torture and rape the girl. It seems extreme, but after seeing these attackers shoot down a young boy with a crossbow, well it should be safe to assume these killers are ruthless. Insert twist; back at their camp they have a little girl named Frigg. It seems all they want is for Frigg to have a sister.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 14th, 2013
Most cartoons these days seem to be carbon copies of cartoons gone past just with different settings and characters. You got the superhero cartoon, adventure cartoon, anime cartoon, the really kiddie cartoon and the adult cartoon. Today, we have a classic I want to be a Pokemon imitator cartoon. It goes by the name Monsuno. Let us take a look inside the second volume and see if this one is more than an attempt to sell action figures and trading cards.
John Ceballos did a fine job on the first volume in this series, go check it out:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 8th, 2013
After a four-month hiatus, I have been called to assignment, a very special assignment indeed. Thankfully, the message did not self-destruct after five seconds. However, the message did have demands and required negotiation tactics. That is when I called in the SRU Unit from the show Flashpoint and they burst onto the scene. While they are handling a memo that has a notebook at gunpoint, they left me with a copy of Season Five of Flashpoint to review. Let’s take a look.
Season Five of Flashpoint in U.S. terms are the first eleven episodes under the ION Television banner (though the dvd package is still put out by Paramount/CBS). In Canada, these are the last eleven episodes of season four. The last thirteen episodes of the series will hopefully be in a Season Six package later this year (and Canada will have it as Season Five). Got it? Good.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on April 11th, 2013
The boogeyman, who goes by the name Pitch Black, is gaining power by turning children's dreams into nightmares. An alliance of fantasy characters, North (Santa Claus), (the Easter) Bunny, Sandman, and Tooth (Fairy), come together to face this opponent. They call themselves Guardians who have sworn to protect all of the world's children. In this adventure they recruit a new member, Jack Frost, who is on his own personal quest of discovery.
Big budget CG animated films are largely excuses to have enormous chase scenes, or other similarly fast pace sequences, which amount to being the equivalent of a guitar solo for computer animators. This film is no exception. At least here the graphics are justified since that we are dealing with characters who are rooted completely in imagination and fantasy. If we want the Easter Bunny to have super-teleporting abilities and to live in a complex network of tunnels that is populated by various sizes of walking eggs...we can imagine it so. If we want to see the Tooth Fairy work out of a floating palace that is teeming with hummingbird style minions...why not make it happen? Every scene is an enormous spectacle. Our main villain and the Sandman both deal with...well..sand particles that each move in their own pattern on the screen...I can only imagine the animators losing their minds over having to choreograph all of them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 27th, 2013
Jersey Shore finally comes to an end. Of course, there are spinoffs and TV specials and TMZ reports and aaaarggh! We're never going to escape them are we?! This is an Uncensored version of the season so instead of 'beeps' we get to hear the versatility of the f-word and other assorted curse words that are flung across rooms and dance floors as these bronzed oddities continue their bitter stalemate against maturity and class.
(Much of what is about to be read is taken directly from my previous review of the last season of Jersey Shore because my feelings have not changed nor has my spite lost it's relevance):
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 26th, 2013
I tend to shy away from films that have come out before I was born. It’s not a rule, just a habit. The reason for that being because not being from the generation that movie was produced in, I fear that there will be a lot of cultural reference that I will be unfamiliar with and I will have to Wikipedia them all. I also feel that because I am from a different era I am not qualified to render a sound opinion of an older film, because I may judge it too harshly due to my growing up within a time of special effect advancement. Of course I am well aware that this aversion causes me to miss out on quality films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Apocalypse Now, and as it turns out, Zulu Dawn. Thank goodness for this job for introducing me to films I wouldn’t normally see of my own volition.
Zulu Dawn is a war film covering the Battle of Isandlwana, the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and Zulu Kingdom in 1879. The film is told mainly from the perspective of the British soldiers and features Hollywood household names Burt Lancaster, Peter O’Toole, Simon Ward, and Bob Hoskins on that side. The film starts off with Lord Chelmsford (Burt Lancaster, Lawrence of Arabia), a commander of British forces stationed in South Africa who is eager for advancement, and Sir Henry Bartle Frere (John Mills, Ryan’s Daughter), the High Commissioner of South Africa issuing a ultimatum to King of the Zulu Empire, King Cetshwayo: dissolve his empire or face the British forces that were looking to expand the ever-growing industrial economy. The King refuses and rallies his people to prepare for war.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 7th, 2013
In a film the pays its respects to the French soldiers who are participating in the war on terror as well as the journalists that risk their lives to cover the war, Special Forces delivers more of the same in this new release. Though the default setting has the spoken language in English and has English-speaking stars, don’t let this French release fool you; the dubbing is terrible and the film is better viewed in its original language. Elsa (Diane Krugar) is a French journalist who is in Afghanistan to cover a story about a woman sold as a child. By now we should all know speaking against the politics in these countries is not just bad, but when you are a woman this could get you killed. The woman is wanted by the Taliban, and Elsa wants to do what she can to help her friend escape, but there is little to be done when Elsa witnesses a raid of the woman’s home. It’s not long after that Elsa finds herself in the crosshairs of the Taliban and is also captured. Elsa reluctantly reads a message from the terrorist group, and the video is broadcast for the French government to see. This in turn causes the French president to take action and approve a mission to have the journalist rescued.
Though many of the story points have been seen before in numerous different films, it still works and had me gripped due to some beautiful cinematography, and it doesn’t hurt that it had Diane Kruger as the captive journalist. (If this woman was able to start the war in Troy, just imagine how she’d motivate a platoon of Special Forces soldiers.) Leading the platoon is Kovax (Djimon Hounsou), and the only other guy I recognized from the group was Lucas (Denis Menochet from the opening scene of Inglorious Basterds).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 19th, 2013
Spongebob Squarepants, the flagship cartoon for Nickelodeon for the last few years, has been churning out DVD specials inbetween releases of complete seasons. Sometimes these are linked by a theme (such as the Halloween DVD I reviewed in October https://upcomingdiscs.com/2012/10/15/31-nights-of-terror-spongebob-squarepants-ghouls-fools/ and this would mean taking episodes from numerous seasons. This particular special mostly contains more recent episodes, all of which have some sort of "extreme" or somewhat violent/action oriented story. 
To avoid some redundancy I'll repost my summary of Spongebob from my previous review:
Spongebob Squarepants is the children’s show that seems geared more for the college-age crowd than toddlers. This is not a revelation in cartoons, but I feel like this particular DVD set emphasizes this fact about Spongebob more than previous DVD releases of this show. The zaniness translates to all ages (just as it has from Tex Avery right through Ren & Stimpy) but this particular assembly of episodes displays some unnerving imagery that younger viewers may not be able to appreciate as much as older ones. Yes, there are subtle jokes spliced in that kid’s will not catch (such as Spongebob’s best friend Patrick explaining that looking at clouds helps to calm his “inner demons”), which is perfectl harmless, but it might be a bit much for someone just entering grade school to see Spongebob’s eyes melt before bursting into a pile of spiders or being infested with the ghosts of snakes. Such imagery, to me, is a testament to how little concern this show for being stricly for youngsters, and how much it wants to be lapped up by that media hungry 14-30 crowd.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on January 19th, 2013
Chris Hardwick is a card carrying, flag-waving nerd. He is very proud of said nerdiness and has devoted the lion's share of his career expressing this. Probably best known for his various hosting duties, especially for the Nerdist podcasts, Hardwick gets to display his stand-up chops in his first, full-length DVD special and he does not disappoint.
Mandroid (if the title was the first hint) is certainly for the nerds. There are references throughout that may not be fully understood by those who have not been initiated into nerd kingdom. Though if you are a part of said kingdom, Hardwick may well be the leading jester. Also, if you a “nerd” (by nature or by choice) you could set up a pretty nice drinking game for every time he uses a Harry Potter reference..just sayin'...
