No Huddle Reviews

The Betrayed

Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on July 10th, 2009

Jamie (George) has just been in a violent car accident that was really not an accident at all. She awakes to find herself prisoner in a dirty warehouse room. She discovers that she and her young son have been kidnapped, but her captors are not looking for ransom. Her husband has been secretly working for some pretty bad dudes, and he has squirreled away 44 million dollars of the bad guys’ money. Now they want it back.
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Sergeant Preston of the Yukon: Complete Season 1

Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on April 23rd, 2009

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“Back to the days of the Gold Rush, as Sergeant Preston with his wonder dog, Yukon King, meets the challenges of the Yukon … A land inflamed with gold. Men who came quickly learned the heroism of sacrifice and the treachery of greed.”

These words first reached across the radio airwaves in 1947. Children and adults alike would gather around the warm glow of their large radios to hear the exploits of Canadian Mounties Sergeant Preston and his trusty companions Rex, his horse, and Yukon King, his Alaskan Malamute.
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Wyatt Earp: Complete Season 1

Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on April 23rd, 2009

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“I’ll tell you a story, a real life story, a tale of the western frontier. The West, it was lawless, but one man was flawless, and his is the story you’ll hear. Wyatt Earp, brave, courageous, and bold. Long live his fame and long live his glory, and long may his story be told.”

The catchy theme to The Life And Legend Of Wyatt Earp was written by Harold Adamson and Harry Warren. It was sung by The Ken Darby Singers. It set you up for the adventure and heroics that were to follow for the next 26 minutes in 1955 for anyone lucky enough to have a television set.
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Come Hell or High Water

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on April 14th, 2009

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Posted by Ken Spivey

Some movies are simply made better by enjoying them with a six pack of beer and several of your closest, silliest friends. Unfortunately, when I watched “Come Hell or High Water” I was alone drinking a Coke…so the desired experience was diminished. Yet, to better relay the plot of the film, I shall use the lens of myself after about six shots of “Wild Turkey.” This shall lend itself better to the film’s narrative style.
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Slumdog Millionaire

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on April 6th, 2009

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Written by Ken Spivey

“Slumdog Millionaire” grabs you by the lapel and forces you to watch the triumphant resilience of three orphans who thrive amid unbelievable poverty and cruelty which still exists among the lower classes in rapidly industrializing India. “Slumdog Millionaire’s” opening sequences employs both English and Hindustani, with English subtitles. The use of subtitles helps to draw the viewer into his this alien world.
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Marley and Me

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on March 28th, 2009

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Posted by Ken Spivey

What follows is a brief, yet accurate, recounting of the canine endowed cinematic masterpiece, “Marley & Me.” Jennifer and John Grogan (Jennifer Aniston & Owen Wilson) are a newly wedded couple who are enjoying their new life together. John is an up-and-coming journalist whose income allows the Grogans an increasingly comfortable lifestyle. John still hangs out with his old guy pals at the bar and holds on to some of the lighter points of bachelorhood while his married life remains rather carefree. This all changes when his wife’s biological clock starts ticking. Grogan’s best friend suggests that John get his wife a dog.
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Dark Reel

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on March 12th, 2009

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Posted by Ken Spivey

In the film “Dark Reel,” we are treated to an adventure. In the days of Prohibition, a fledgling filmmaker gave a promising ingenue a chance at celluloid immortality. This shot at fame sadly cost the young actress her life. Years later, the curse of this murder would haunt the movie set and crew of the production of the “B” movie, “The Pirate Wench.” Meanwhile, chubby and terminally apathetic Adam Waltz (played by “Terminator 2’s” Edward Fulong) won a walk-on role in the campy pirate film. He quickly develops a passionate relationship with the female lead, Cassie Blue (Tiffany Shepis), much to the chagrin and dismay of the director and rival actors.
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How to Lose Friends and Alienate People

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on March 10th, 2009

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Posted by Ken Spivey

Based upon Toby Young’s 2001 memoir and pseudo-confessional, “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People” is the uproarious tale of journalist Sidney Young’s ascension from a hack to a successful hack. Young tracks the rich and famous, writes scathing stories about them, sleeps with many of them, all while reaping a whirlwind of trouble along the way. His career receives a major coup when he is offered a job at the prestigious “Sharps” magazine. Toting witty comments and salacious attempts to bed every beautiful actress he meets, the story of Sidney Young’s (Simon Pegg) rise to journalist nirvana is a laugh a minute and a sincere delight from inception to completion.
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Picturing the Presidents

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on March 10th, 2009

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Posted by Ken Spivey

“Picturing The Presidents” is a glimpse into the Presidential Portrait Gallery found in the Smithsonian. A painting of each leader of our nation holds many meanings. The various ways of seeing these portraits are determined by the painter, the one being painted, and the ever changing audience viewing the art. The documentary begins by discussing the portrait of Washington and how he defined how a President was to appear: noble, strong, yet not regal. They contrast this with Clinton’s portrait, which shows the less formal man with rumpled jacket and a tired, earthy stare.
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Dead Like Me: Life After Death

Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on February 27th, 2009

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“We need to go back to a time where it all started. When God was getting busy with the creation of the universe, where there was only cosmic goo, God’s play-doh, if you will. While God was messing with this play-doh, creating all living things, he put death into a ceramic jar for safe keeping, until he could figure out what to do with it. One day God gave the jar to a frog and a toad to guard it from harm, while he went off to create something more fantastic. Why he gave it to a frog and a toad I’ll never know, but one thing led to another and the jar shattered, letting death out; and ever since, everything has to die. So, there you have it, the mystery of death finally revealed.”

What a fitting way to open up an unexpected new chapter in the story of Dead Like Me, the direct to video film that attempts to resurrect from it’s own death the cult favorite Showtime original series.
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Moving Midway

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on February 27th, 2009

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Posted by Ken Spivey

Filmmaker Godfrey Cheshire returned to his ancestral home, Midway Plantation, in 2003. When he arrived he found his cousin, Charlie Silver, about to move the southern mansion to make way for a shopping complex. “Moving Midway” is the story of Midway’s past, present journey, and future home.
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Redemption

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on February 2nd, 2009

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Posted by Ken Spivey

I am normally a fan of low budget films where the acting is sophomoric, the sets are made of cardboard, and the script could have been written by the C student in a high school creative writing class. These “so bad they’re good” movies include “Recon 2020,” “Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter,” and my former drummer’s favorite, “Piñata: Survival Island.” “Redemption” is not even worthy to be listed with the aforementioned films. To quote Enid from Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost World,” this film “went past bad to good then back to bad again.”
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City of Ember

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on January 21st, 2009

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Posted by Ken Spivey

In a box, the men of importance placed a secret. They then created an underground city capable of complete autonomy, isolated from the outside world in hopes of shielding them from the trials of time. The box was given to the first mayor of “Ember City” and passed on to each successive mayor. After two hundred years the box was to open, revealing to the mayor’s descendant the way out of Ember City. Yet, somewhere along the way the box was lost. Meanwhile, the city has fallen into a major state of disrepair.
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NatureTech

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on January 14th, 2009

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Posted by Ken Spivey

The Smithsonian Channel’s three part documentary, “NatureTech” explores the “striking parallels between nature and technology.” The episodes of “NatureTech” work with the assumption that scientists have ignored nature for the past century, and their narrow focus has limited their growth. Contemporary researchers who bear this in mind are making unexpected leaps in their respective fields.
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The History of Black New York

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on December 22nd, 2008

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Posted by Ken Spivey

“The History of Black New York” thematically explores various aspects of the black experience through the use of historian testimony and period specific media. The documentary begins with the early arrival of the Dutch on Manhattan Island and their fair treatment of black slaves. With the arrival of the English, morality and race became intertwined in New York, as with the rest of America, leading to the ensuing years of black oppression and segregation.
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Ninja Collection Volume One: 10 Feature Film Set.

Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on December 18th, 2008

Every now and then, the good folks at Upcoming Discs think it’s time I receive a little culture in my dreary, work-a-day life. There was the time they thought I could use some sensitivity training, so I ended up with Old Yeller, a film I had avoided for years because of the painful memories of Tommy Kirk gunning down his beloved pet. Sure wasn’t easy. (Bastards.)
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Horton Hears a Who

Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on December 8th, 2008

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Welcome to an all-new way of presenting even more review titles to you.

From time to time we’re given a kind of disc called a “screener”. It’s sometimes the industry’s way of getting review copies without spending a lot of money. Instead of final product, we get a paper slipcase with just a disc. Even the disc is far from final product, the one you would buy in a store. There are often no extras, and the A/V isn’t necessarily the way it will look on the ultimate release. For years we here at Upcomingdiscs have often avoided reviewing those titles because we can’t really comment on the many factors we like to include in our reviews.
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