Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 5th, 2010
Meg Ryan arrives at her country home a day early, catching hubby Timothy Hutton in the middle of writing her a note telling her that he wants out of their marriage. Knocking Hutton out, Ryan duct-tapes him to a chair, and declares that he will remain her prisoner until he loves her again. Hutton is understandably skeptical that this tactic will work. He is also furious and freaked out. He is even less happy the next day when Ryan heads out to do some grocery shopping, and a thief (Justin Long) breaks enters the house.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 5th, 2010
The title is grammatically ambiguous. Is this a film about vampire killers who happen to be lesbians, or killers of lesbian vampires? The former might have given the film some nicely subversive potential, but the latter is the case. Our heroes are the gormless pair of the serially dumped Jimmy (James Corden) and the piggish Fletch (Mathew Horne) – basically Shaun and Ed from Shaun of the Dead, minus the wit. Heading out to a randomly picked village in rural England for a low-budget vacation, the duo happen upon a VW bus filled with women who, based on the available evidence, have just finished a gig as background dancers for a hip-hop video. The group arrives at a decrepit mansion and proceed to party, unaware that the area is cursed by the lesbian vampire queen Carmilla. Seeking to resurrect their matriarch, her minions proceed to vamp all but one of the women, and the stage is set for a supernatural battle of the sexes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on July 2nd, 2010
A young man, who is struggling as both a Tae Kwan Do tournament contestant and University student on a shaky student visa, is house sitting at a mansion as a favour for the friend that helped him obtain said student visa. While staying there, a mysterious young woman seduces him, and turns his life into a literal hell.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 1st, 2010
"Responding to the pleas of people who are victimized by distressing and inexplicable activities in their homes and workplaces, these cops bring their no-nonsense approach to hunting ghosts and their real-life police skills to separating fact from fiction - and often happen upon results much scarier than the paranormal."
I've had a lot of opportunities to watch and review many of the new wave of reality shows, from Ice Road Truckers to riding along with Steven Seagal in his real-life police job. This is my first exposure to "unreality" television.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 1st, 2010
Fans of classic science fiction know very well who Philip Jose Farmer is. Chances are you have read one of his many Riverworld novels going back to the early 1970's. It's absolutely required reading for any fan of the genre. When you think of those classic book series, this one stands right up there with Asimov's Foundation books or Frank Herbert's Dune series. I've only read the first novel, but remember it still. It's an enchanting world that I always meant to return to one day. That day hadn't yet come by the time I received this DVD release of SYFY's latest take on the work. I'm sad to say that even after watching this 3 hour mini-series, that day still hasn't come.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 30th, 2010
Of all of the cop or detective shows I’ve seen over the years, I can relate to this one better than any of them. You see, years ago, I was a detective. I wasn’t a cop and mostly did internal investigations for a large Florida retail chain. While I was a fair detective in most areas, I did eventually develop a specialty of sorts. When other detectives ran into a brick wall interviewing their subjects, they’d often call on me to get whatever information they were trying to extract. No, I didn’t beat it out of them. I was never a physically intimidating guy. I was just good at getting them to talk. I guess I was a little bit of a con artist who was working for the good guys instead of preying on hapless marks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 30th, 2010
"Cursed (kur'sid) adj. To be afflicted with, suffer from the calling down of calamity on someone by a spirit, deity, demon, or one of the dead, esp. from a desire for revenge, resulting in an evil, malevolent being."
I'm well aware of the popularity of the Twilight series. I have to admit that I've pretty much avoided the films, mostly because after 7 years of teaching high school I've had more than my fair share of teenage angst. Let's face it. These films are not really for the die-hard vampire, werewolf, or horror fans. They're genre chick flicks full of all of that overflowing romance and adolescent hormones.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 30th, 2010
Some of my longtime readers might remember my review of The Game Season One. I found it to be rather slow at first but once they fleshed out the characters, it became a likeable show with decent characters. But unfortunately, I was not able to review the second season and was a little surprised that the third season showed up on my doorstep. Hopefully, I would be able to jump right back in and still enjoy the show. As long as it still has the qualities I enjoyed before.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 29th, 2010
"The Earth has immense power, and yet that's rarely mentioned in our history books. I'm here to change all that."
The BBC has a reputation of putting out some very high quality documentaries, particularly recently in the high-definition age. Planet Earth became an award winning series lauded all over the globe for its stunning photography and epic tales. Most recently I watched and reviewed their Life series. Once again the series was dominated by startling images, many never before captured on film, all in wonderful high definition. Now I have a chance to visit yet another recent BBC project:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 28th, 2010
Most people associate the book, War and Peace in the same respects as they do torture. A one thousand, two hundred and twenty five page book that is regarded as one of the most brilliant pieces of historical fiction is a nightmare to most advanced high school and college kids. However, perhaps more fascinating than any single piece of work by Leo Tolstoy is the life in which he lead. Last Station attempts to give us the last few years of the Count’s life in film form.
![How the Earth Changed History [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/how-the-earth-changed-history-blu--large.jpg)
![The Last Station [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-last-station-blu-ray-large.jpg)
