Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jonathan Foster on January 23rd, 2013
When I first received Love Me, I thought it was going to be just another angsty teen drama. (Something along the lines of Dawson’s Creek.) That notion was quickly disabused, however, when a young girl is stalked and attacked in the opening scene. From there, the film jumps ahead three months, with the town still reeling from her disappearance. While discussing how eerie the case is with her friends, Sylvia Potter (Lindsay Shaw, TV’s Pretty Little Liars) quite literally bumps into rich pretty boy Lucas Green (Jamie Johnston, TV’s Degrassi: The Next Generation) and falls for him instantly.
Fortunately for Sylvia, the feeling is mutual and, despite her friend’s many protests, Sylvia begins dating Lucas. As their relationship deepens, Sylvia discovers some unsettling things about Lucas, including the fact that he was dating the missing girl at the time of her disappearance and police consider him the prime suspect. As the pressure mounts and new evidence comes to light, Sylvia must decide what — and, more importantly, who — she believes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 19th, 2012
The debut season of this Comedy Central program was entitled "Hoodies" on it's DVD and Blu Ray release. Season 2 is called "Deep V's" in honour of the garment Daniel Tosh, the host, wears in each episode. Very little is different as far as format or new segments are concernced since the last time I wrote about this show (https://upcomingdiscs.com/2012/06/05/tosh-o-hoodies-blu-ray/. To avoid redundancy I shall simply add to that review with a couple new relevant points for this season.
YouTube had all but killed off the idea of mailing silly home videos to the likes of America’s Funniest Home Videos. These days, people prefer to stream dozens of videos on their computers and save themselves from the watered down jokes of Bob Saget or current host Tom Bergeron. Tosh.O takes a similar format of displaying such silly videos, but focuses on things that have gone “viral” online. Like AFHV, Tosh.O adds their own commentary and sketches to the presentation but in a much more crass, cable-savvy manner.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 16th, 2012
To be a cannibal or not to be? That seems to be the question we will all have to ask ourselves if we ever go on to live in a post-apocalyptic society. Sure it’s in the name of survival, but can things really get so bad that one day I could be huddled up with a group of survivors and everyone wondering whose the next to keel over and if there are any special recipes someone would like to try out? Remember it’s all in the name of survival, and in the words of Andrew Zimmern, “If it looks good, eat it!”
The Day isn’t just a movie about cannibals; in fact they are simply in the background for the story of five survivors trying to make it day to day in a cruel, unforgiving landscape. It’s never made clear what has happened to the world our survivors live in, but it’s understood that a large portion of society is dead, and those that remain can do nothing more than prepare themselves for the inevitable. These survivalist movies need to be bleak and depressing, because let’s face it, when the world has managed to reach the point of creating a near extinction of the human race, having hope is a bit naïve. And that seems to be what the film makers understood when creating The Day.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 13th, 2012
People make fun of us Floridians for a variety of reasons. (Some of them don’t even involve our performance in presidential elections.) One of the most popular ways out-of-staters in the northern part of the country — as well as our Canadian readers — mock us is by chuckling whenever we dash to our closets and dust off our winter wear as soon as the weather dips below 60 degrees. So I can’t even imagine how we’d handle a full-blown Snowmageddon!
Snowmageddon is the latest disaster — in every sense of the word — courtesy of SyFy Original films, which has already brightened countless Saturday nights with tastefully-titled flicks like Stonehenge Apocalypse, Piranhaconda and Snipers vs. Vipers. (Have fun figuring out which one of those I made up. No Googling allowed!)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 8th, 2012
My favorite genre of music to make fun of is Metal (even though I like listening to it). As an example, This is Spinal Tap, the best musical mockumentary ever, we learn that metal can be freaking hilarious. That’s why when my webmaster offered me Metalocalypse Season Four on Blu-Ray, I eagerly said yes even though I had only seen the cartoon once or twice. However, once I opened it up, I realized before me was perhaps one of the funniest dark comedic cartoons I have ever seen.
This site has not really touched this series since Season One, so I will go ahead and go over the basics. Metalocalypse is about a band, possibly the world’s greatest death metal band, Dethklok. This band has become so successful that they are considered the seventh largest economy in the world. Dethklok consists of five members: Nathan Explosion (lead singer), Skwisgaar Skwigelf(lead guitar), Toki Wartooth (rhythm guitarist), Pickles (drummer) and William Murderface (bassist).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2012
"Long story short, I want to reshape my navel, and allowance won't cover it."
Long story short is precisely the words I would use to describe Excision. You see, it started out as a short subject film and writer/director Richard Bates, Jr. decided to make it his first feature film. That was his first mistake. While I have never seen the short film that inspired this feature, I get the strong feeling that this was better served in that format.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 19th, 2012
"I'm so proud of my boys. They never forget their Momma."
What did you do for your mother the last Mother's Day? Did you buy her some flowers and candy? Perhaps you took her out for a little adventure. You might have even cooked her a special meal. If you're like Ike (Coffin) and his brothers, you treat your mom to a show. You torture, rape, and kill a few women who happen to find themselves in the woods. Good times, right?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 13th, 2012
“I thought this was a family show.”
“Well, it depends on your family.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2012
"Every ambition has a dark side."
And that includes the world of the cable television series. The world of cable series has brought us some of the most ambitious and compelling television shows we've ever seen. There's no censor board to answer to, so that means the shows have the freedom to expand into visual areas that have long been taboo on network shows. Nudity, sexuality, language, and even violence are often huge parts of these kinds of shows. Because there isn't really a ratings pressure, the shows can also cater to more specialized audiences. Of course, it's not completely true there are no ratings issues. For these networks it's getting the carriers to distribute their networks, and for some it's signing up premium members. There's little doubt that HBO did enjoy subscriptions completely tied to having The Sopranos. But that kind of programming is no longer rare. It no longer shocks us with its novelty, and the standards for quality have been established at a high level. When you watch a cable show, you don't just expect R material. You expect film-quality production values on the small screen. You also expect quality writing and compelling drama. In the case of Starz new Magic City, you'll have to settle for 2 out of 3. You get the edgy R material and outstanding production values. Unfortunately, the series misses more than it connects on the compelling drama front.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 2nd, 2012
It’s been quite some time since The Chappelle Show went off the air, and it would appear Comedy Central has finally found its replacement. I wouldn’t go so far as to say the two shows are on the same par, but what Keegan Michael Key and Jordan Peele bring to the small screen is something that has peaked my interest and shows some potential. Both Key and Peele got their big breaks from working on the sketch comedy show MADtv, and it would seem they are taking their talents and what they learned to bring us something that is a little familiar but still fresh, and keeps its audience laughing.
To be fair, though, the only endorsement the pair will ever take notice of is that of President Obama, who has actually seen their show and has publicly given it his approval. Not many sketch comedians can put that in their resume.
