Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 2nd, 2023
"Inspired by the global threats of the Second World War, the U.S. Navy welcomes a surge of aspiring aviators ready to fight in what they called The Big Show. But now it's 1950, and after five years of peace, a true conflict is growing at the North and South Korean border. This is a story from America's forgotten war."
One of the best things about this job is that we get to see some of the up-and-coming talents as they evolve into superstars. I was lucky enough this week to get a double dose of one of the most dynamic young stars out there. Of course I'm talking about Jonathan Majors, who plays US Navy aviator and hero Jesse Brown. Just one night after watching the UHD/4K disc for this review, I was treated to my second dose of Majors at a press screening for the upcoming Creed III, where Majors plays the antagonist Damien Anderson. The roles could not have been more different, and Majors stole every scene in both films. I already can't wait to see him once again. I missed our screening of the new Ant-Man & Wasp film, so I have his portrayal of Kang to look forward to. The buzz I heard was that he had been the best part of the film, and I believe it after Devotion and Creed III. I'm sure there'll be more to say about this talented young actor, but let's talk about Devotion out on UHD Blu-ray in 4K from Paramount.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on February 18th, 2023
“We deal in lead, friend.”
In the fall of 1956, Anthony Quinn watched a special screening of Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai and had an epiphany: this Japanese masterpiece, inspired by the great American westerns of John Ford, would, itself, make a great American western. Quinn acquired the rights and contacted his then close friend Yul Brynner and pitched the idea of him playing the bad guy and Brynner the good guy. Brynner screened Kurosawa’s film and called in producer Walter Mirisch, who in turn contacted director John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Great Escape). Sturges loved the concept and immediately set about acquiring the rights, ultimately forcing Quinn out of the picture. Quinn sued, but lost.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 10th, 2023
This may come to a surprise for some, but there was a time that comic book movies just weren’t taken seriously. We had Richard Donner and his Superman The Movie film, and then there was Tim Burton’s take on Batman. Every other movie that was based on a comic book property was treated as cheesy camp fodder that no one took seriously. Wes Craven’s attempt at adapting Swamp Thing was slightly impressive for the time, but in retrospect I’m just not really a fan of the film despite how much I like the DC character. As for the sequel, The Return of Swamp Thing, I know I’m in the minority when I say how much I enjoy this camp classic. The first Swamp Thing I felt took itself too seriously and was lacking in the fun practical FX department, but to be fair, it also had a low budget and felt the need to be an origin story. Helming the sequel is one of the B-movie workhorses of the industry, Jim Wynorski, who is responsible for the 80s kill-bot classic Chopping Mall. It’s time to return to the bog and deep dive into the camp classic from 1989, The Return of Swamp Thing.
The film wastes no time getting things started when a group of hunters are attacked by Leech Man in the swamp, and it is Swamp Thing (Dick Durock) that comes to the rescue. I’m a fan of these practical FX suits, and just seeing this fun showdown in the film’s opening minutes definitely sets the tone for the rest of the film. If this sequence leaves you groaning and rolling your eyes, well, to be fair, this film just isn’t for you. But if you like your old TOHO man-in-suit battles, and enjoys some goofy B-cinema from Roger Corman or Lloyd Kaufman, then this film you are going to eat up. From the get-go we know this film is very tongue-in-cheek, and sure, I one day want to see a straight-up horror adaptation of the character, but till then, this is what we got.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 26th, 2023
"We've come here to pay our respects to Great Aunt Nellie. She brought us up properly and taught us loyalty. Now I want you to remember that during these next few days. I also want you to remember that if you don't come back with the goods, Nellie here will turn in her grave, and, likely as not, jump right out of it and kick your teeth in."
Ian Kennedy-Martin was a television writer for the BBC in the late 1950's and early 1960's. When London adopted one of the world's first computerized traffic light systems, it gave him an idea for a series or television movie. The idea was pretty simple. A group of crooks would hack into that system and use a traffic snarl to get away with a big bank job. The problem was that the idea was too large a production for the BBC staff to pull off. So he sold the idea to his brother, Troy Kennedy-Martin, who wrote the final script for The Italian Job. He moved the action to Turin, Italy where one of the most sophisticated of these early computerized systems was in use. The rest is pretty much history.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 16th, 2022
Over the past decade we’ve seen a resurgence in reboots, remakes, and anthologies, so it isn’t much of a surprise that the beloved horror anthology Creepshow would get the reboot treatment. To be fair, this is an extension from what the first films set out to be, though the big difference is instead of just being a film with a few stories, it is now a TV series, each episode containing two tales to horrify and entertain. When I first heard about the series, I was cautiously optimistic. The first two films I consider classics, as do many other fans of the horror genre. Then there was that third Creepshow that I feel we all just want to forget and pretend never really happened. Without George Romero being around, I just wasn’t even sure I’d want to see a show that could possibly just water down everything that was great about the films and simply turn out to be a cheap imitation. The first two seasons of the series I enjoyed, and they offered plenty of promise for things to come. How do Greg Nicotero and his creative team deliver on their third season endeavor?
Episode 1 is a bit of split bag. The first story, Mums, is a fun little revenge tale that involves some carnivorous plants, and the second story, Queen Bee, is a bit of social commentary about fans idolizing their celebrity heroes and going a bit too far in the name of fandom. The revenge aspect of Mums certainly makes this a fun story. I don’t want to spoil much with it, but it is definitely the stronger of the two stories. My biggest issue with Queen Bee is the actual creature effect. This is one where less would have been more, because I simply wasn’t a fan of the creature design, and it just took away from the potential creep factor of the storyline.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2022
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them.
"Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning; ladies bathed before noon, after their 3 o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go and nothing to buy ... and no money to buy it with. Although Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself ... That summer, I was six years old."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2022
"It's opening up all kinds of doors."
Alcatraz Prison was one of the country's most secure facilities for over 60 years. It was built on a rocky island off San Francisco. You couldn't dig through the rock, and the surrounding ocean was cold and heavily populated by sharks big enough to feed off the plentiful seal population. For 60 years no one had successfully escaped the prison. That record was broken in June of 1962 when three inmates, brothers Clarence and John Anglin, escaped with Frank Morris, who was believed to have masterminded the plot. Sixty years later the case remains officially open, and no one knows what happened to the three men. In 1963 J. Campbell Bruce wrote a non-fiction book called Escape From Alcatraz. The book attempted to document all of the serious attempts to escape the prison, which of course included the 1962 escape. The book also called attention to some of the conditions of the prison and was a part of the reason it shut down completely just a year after publication of the book.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2022
"It's what people know about themselves inside that makes 'em afraid."
Clint Eastwood might have gotten his film career started with bit roles in the sci-fi classics Tarantula and Return Of The Creature, but he made his mark in Europe with Sergio Leone and his famous spaghetti westerns. He became The Man With No Name in a trilogy of films, and it would create the character of Clint as much as it would any film character. Eastwood was smart, and he used the time on those films to learn. He was observant and took in all of the technical aspects of the business of making movies, and it continues to serve him 60 years later, as Eastwood has become as much of an icon behind the camera as he ever did in front of it. His first directing job was Play Misty For Me, but he returned to those still fresh spaghetti-western roots for his second time in the director's chair and his first time directing a western. High Plains Drifter would fit nicely into the trilogy of Leone films. The character called The Stranger could very much be the same Man With No Name, and it's clear enough that he took away more than a paycheck from his time spent in Italy and Spain with Leone. High Plains Drifter would be Clint Eastwood's exclamation point on his earlier career and would take him to places I'm sure even The Stranger could have imagined. Let's just say he's earned more than a fistful of dollars. Now thanks to Kino-Lorber it's out in UHD/4K, and it's never looked better.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 23rd, 2022
"Like a river flows, Surely to the sea, Darling, so it goes, Some things are meant to be ..."
Elvis Presley is often referred to as the King Of Rock and Roll, at least to his fans. There's no denying the impact that he had on the music scene. He was the first rock and roll star, to be sure. Colonel Tom Parker, his long-time manager and partner, created many of the marketing traditions that are commonplace in the industry today. He knew the value of his star, not only as a performer, but as a brand. For the first time, a musician's image and name started to appear on everything from bath towels to women's underwear. Fans are often split on their feelings for the self-styled Colonel, but Elvis would not have become the name brand he still is today without him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 23rd, 2022
Many times when we watch films for the first time, we get distracted. Maybe it's a pretty girl, money issues, or perhaps you had something else on your mind that's hurting your focus. Whatever it is, it can really change your interpretation of a movie in a positive or negative way. One such movie for me is Mystery Men when I saw it in early 2000. Back when rentals were a thing, I remember renting this film and being distracted completely by someone who shall remain nameless. I barely liked the movie and didn't really watch it again until many years later only to realize I liked the film far more than originally thought. Four or five times later, I revisit the film again, this time in glorious 4K. Let's see how it does.
Thunder is rumbling, and we have arrived in the futuristic Champion City. A place of superheroes and supervillains. The scene is a private party with some rich senior citizens. All of a sudden, Big Red (played by Artie Lange) runs in with his gang of bad guys to rob the place. They steal everything in sight; nothing is safe, not even a prosthetic arm. But just when you think nothing can save these wealthy elderly members of society, we have a few heroes who might save the day.
