Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 8th, 2010
I grew up on the Peanuts creations of Charles M. Schulz. Most of us have, in some way or another. His newspaper comic strip is one of the longest running and most successful strips of all time. The work has been translated into every language currently spoken on the planet. The images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have appeared on just about any kind of product imaginable. Our pop culture contains too many references to the strip to mention briefly. For me, it was the television specials starting in the mid 1960’s that brought the gang into my life. The classics are running annually, still after nearly 50 years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 7th, 2010
Written by Diane Tillis
The world of Avatar has been a part of James Cameron’s dreams for over a decade. When he initially approached studios to pitch the concept, they denied him the opportunity, citing the huge budget that would be necessary to create the film. Thus Cameron had to wait for technology to catch up with his vision. Flash forward a decade with the advancements in capture-motion cameras and 3D technology; Cameron finally saw his opportunity. With an amazing crew of visionaries, Cameron broke several boundaries in the film industry and created a cultural phenomenon.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 6th, 2010
In the first season of Showtime’s Californication, we were introduced to David Duchovny’s character, bitter yet upbeat writer Hank Moody. Hank, after moving to Los Angeles on the heels of his first novel – a critical darling entitled “God Hates Us All” – has recently lost his long-time love and, by extension, his daughter, to a straight-arrow bore who makes his girlfriend Karen (Natascha McElhone) feel safe.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 6th, 2010
Written by Diane Tillis
Deadland is about a man searching for his wife five years after an apocalyptic event has changed the world.
Deadland is an independent post-apocalyptic film that also incorporates a love story, action/adventure qualities, social/political themes, and supernatural elements. Sean Kalos (Gary Weeks) was trying to return to his wife in Georgia when the nuclear strikes of World War III began. Five years later the United States is divided into thirteen provinces, and brutal soldiers uphold martial law.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 6th, 2010
Leaves of Grass, the latest film from writer/director/actor Tim Blake Nelson, is one of those rare films that defies both description and expectation. While marketed as a violent stoner comedy along the lines of Pineapple Express, Leaves of Grass is far more difficult to categorize. Yes, there is comedy, though not as much or of the type one would expect. And yes, there is violence, but a far more realistic and less cartoony variety than you would think. But there is much more to this little film - there is thought and reflection and philosophy and poetry behind every piece of dialogue, and you get drawn into it so that, halfway through the film, it doesn’t even strike you as odd that you just watched Keri Russell recite Walt Whitman while gutting a catfish.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 6th, 2010
Supergroups generally don’t last very long. In one album and out the next, it is usually a case of too many egos trying to co-exist. A favorite band of mine can certainly be described as a supergroup: Velvet Revolver. The lineup is made up of powerhouses from such great bands as Guns n Roses and Stone Temple Pilots. It is grandiose power rock and a whole lot of awesomeness.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 2nd, 2010
"Cal Lightman sees the truth. It's written all over your face. It's also in your voice, your posture, the words you choose. Give him five minutes and 20 questions and he'll know whether you went off to Argentina to cheat on your wife, lied about a well-timed stock sale, or murdered a one-night stand."
I spent quite a few years as a detective. My specialty turned out to be in the interview room. When some of my fellow detectives had a suspect they couldn't break, they often called me in.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 2nd, 2010
Written by Diane Tillis
Vogue magazine editor Juliette (Patricia Clarkson) travels to Cairo to attend a UN function where she will meet up with her UN-official husband Mark (Tom McCamus). Mark is unavoidably delayed in Gaza, but sends a trusted friend and former UN official Tareq (Alexander Siddig) to keep Juliette company. Tareq and Juliette have known of each other for years, but this is the first time they have met face to face.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 24th, 2010
The Winners are anything but, being an undistinguished rock band playing to tiny, apathetic audiences in nowhere bars. Their time has not only passed, it never arrived. But just as they seem headed for the scrapheap, their bass player (Jessica Paré) is bitten by a vampire. Though her newly acquired taste for blood is a bit of an inconvenience, leading to some extremely messy murders to clean up, she now mesmerizes audiences, and the band catches fire. Leader Rob Stefaniuk is so desperate to catch a break that he is willing to turn a blind eye to just about anything.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 24th, 2010
I don’t like referring to myself as a “fan” of anything. The word leaves a bad taste in my mouth; it suggests a kind of mindless devotion that doesn’t leave room for noticing any shortcomings in the subject of one’s devotion - The legions of Twilight fans immediately spring to mind. However, if being a fan means to regularly watch, re-watch, and enjoy a show for a period of years, then I can call myself a fan of How I Met Your Mother. The show has had its high and low points,
![Peanuts Holiday Collection (A Charlie Brown Christmas / It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown / A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/peanuts-holiday-collection-a-charl-large.jpg)
