Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 13th, 2012
Where do I begin? There was this rather formulaic movement that started in the 1990's and continued to just a few years ago. It was certainly that generation's version of Animal House. Every generation has them. They typically star teen idols or up and coming young stars and where my generation often placed them in college, these films were all about high school. They tend to take advantage of the cool trends of the time from the present pop culture to the style of music. The problem with these kinds of films is that they seldom have staying power and almost never translate to the next generation in either direction. A good example of this rule has to be She's All That.
At the time of its release in 1999, the film became quite hot. It yanked in over $60 million at the box office and became the fodder for teenage giggles and dates. Now we find the film making another generation jump into Blu-ray and high definition. But this might be one jump that just misses its mark. I freely admit I was never in the film's target audience either then or now. If you were a teen then, you might still have fond memories of this one. I just don't think those memories are going to be quite so magical this time around.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 28th, 2011
When I was a kid, I read a lot of books. The most fond tales of my youth include Sword of Shannara (Terry Brooks), Dear Mr. Henshaw (Beverly Clearly), Charlotte’s Web (EB White) and Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Richard & Florence Atwater). Each one of those books holds special memories and I’ve read each of them at least a few times. Today, we get to explore another one of those treasured books in film form. Enter, Mr. Popper’s Penguins.
It is the year 1976, we have a very young Tom Popper Jr. who is simply known as Tippy Toe on the radio. His father on the other side of the broadcast is known as Bald Eagle and he travels around the world in search of various adventures. They communicate for a long time over the radio but sometimes have lapses (such as the one from 1976-1981) where Bald Eagle does not make contact for the longest time. The last transmission was that he was on the verge of something big. That was unfortunately thirty years ago.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 22nd, 2011
In college, after years and years of being bullied, picked on and everything else, I just wanted to vanish. The bbs/internet scene was in vogue at that time and I developed the moniker of Kedrix, the Forgotten One. I still use it from time to time. The truth is, I as well as many other people do want to be remembered and not forgotten. Our movie today, Snowmen deals with that very same subject. Hopefully, this movie is not forgettable.
Ahhh, the simplicity of snowmen on a cold winter’s day. Billy Kirkfield (played by Bobby Coleman) puts together some small snowmen as he watches another kid (covered in snow clothes) move in to a local house. Billy tries to say hi to the new kid but the bundled kid reaches down for a piece of ice. Billy protests the oncoming ice shot but to no avail. So, Billy does as any other kid would do and returns fire. But the unnamed kid has catlike reflexes and is able to dodge each and every snow ball thrown.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on December 14th, 2011
“Here's the thing, I... I live my life a certain way. And that is that I like to think that if you put your trust out there, I mean, if you really give people the benefit of the doubt, see their best intentions, they're gonna want to live up to it. It doesn't always work out, clearly, but, more often than not, I think that if you do, people will rise to the occasion. I really believe that.”
In a deck of Tarot cards there is a major arcana card called The Fool. It depicts a young man wearing colorful motley clothes and carrying all his possessions in a bag on his back. A dog barks at his heel as he heads off into the world, his eyes so full of wonder and excitement he doesn’t see the cliff directly in front of him. Our Idiot Brother is a movie about that kind of fool.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 7th, 2011
Tim is the lone passive, sane voice in an insane world that whirls around him. Take the kooky scenarios you might find in an episode of Seinfeld, animated them (barely) and pepper it with some HBO-acceptable crassness, and you're looking at this show. Done in a minimalist 2D animation, each episode consists of two separate stories. By splitting the episodes in half, the two chapters make the show resemble the current trend of 10 to 15 minute long cartoons, popularized by Cartoon Network's “Adult Swim” programs.
Stories often end without complete resolution, but always cap themselves off with a punchline. The conflicts he finds himself in range from the domestic, such as work or relationship issues, to the ridiculous, like Tim needing to break a bond he developed with a circus elephant.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 7th, 2011
By proxy, I get to see a lot of Tyler Perry movies. Whether it would be a review for this site or perhaps my wife wanting to see something with Madea, I have seen just about every movie the director has put out there. Most of the time I found myself laughing quite a bit but sometimes his movies find themselves a bit preachier than I can tolerate. But what would I think of a Tyler Perry play? Well, I found out the answer when I watched: A Madea Christmas.
We open to a rendition of Oh Come All Ye Faithful. I guess I should expect lots of singing in this one. The stage re-opens as we see Lilian Mansell (played by Chandra Currelley Young) lecturing Margaret (played by Cheryl Pepsii Riley) her maid. It seems that Margaret wants to go home to see her family on Christmas but Lilian needs her to help around the house. It appears that Lilian’s daughter, China is bringing home a man this holiday season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 18th, 2011
"It finally happened – Comedy Central messed up and gave me a show."
I have to admit that I had not heard about Gabriel Iglesias before I saw a recent Blu-ray concert film. Gabriel is a rather rotund comic. For him, it's not a liability at all. Honestly, he's turned it into a cash cow, of sorts. It's a huge, pun intended, part of his routine. In fact, to understand his nickname "Fluffy" you have to be clued into one of his signature routines. He identifies six levels of obesity. They range from Big, Healthy, Husky, Fluffy, Damn, and the latest level, Hell No. As you might guess, Gabriel considers himself in the Fluffy category. Still, for all of his pounds he has quite a bit of energy, and he moves along the stage quite well for his weight. His body and child-like face make him disarming and more than a little bit charming on stage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 9th, 2011
The king of the parodies has been consistent in the studio, in videos and on stage for nearly 3 decades. This DVD allows him to prove the latter. Though various costume changes and instrument shifts, Al and his longtime band mates delight a packed Massey Hall in Toronto.
The lion's share of the set list is dedicated to Al's latest release Alpocalypse. Of course, a few of his staples, such as “Smells Like Nirvana,” “Amish Paradise” and “Fat” have to be present. There is also a lot of fan service made during a medley of 11 songs, new and old, played at the halfway point of the concert. During this set of songs, when it seems appropriate, Al will assume the lead character of the song . This sometimes means he's adopting the persona of the performer he is parodying, such as donning a blonde wig and thrashing about the stage ala Kurt Cobain, becoming the cartoonish version of an artust that has appeared in one of his music videos, such as Al's infamous fat suit for the “Fat” parody of Michael Jackson, or something completely original, such as his unnerving but amusingly lecherous lounge singer character for “Wanna B Ur Lovr,” who prowls through the audience seeking female targets to leer at while he croons sexual innuendos at them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 9th, 2011
"All things are intrinsically connected, no matter how different they may appear. Hi. You know me -- Robert Axle. As a fabricator, I bring existing, often different, items together, maximizing their atomic and molecular potential. Making ordinary inventions infinitely more prolific."
Kevin Spacey has been quite prolific himself in the last couple of years. It seems no matter where I go these days, I see him in another movie I'm reviewing. In just the last 6 months I've seen him in Horrible Bosses, Margin Call, Casino Jack and now Father Of Invention. In fact just since 2009 he's appeared in 10 films. One might expect the energy to be a bit sapped in that much production. But he continues to provide wonderful performances. At times he carries the entire burden on his own shoulders and makes a moderately average film just a little bit better. And while there is a pretty good supporting cast here, that's exactly what happens in Father Of Invention.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 8th, 2011
Greg (Ryan Scott Self) lost his fiancée when he couldn’t match her religious faith. Now he’s written a script based on the relationship, and is going to direct the movie. But the path of indie filmmaking is paved with thorns, as he is plagued by demands from the backers for inappropriate casting, more sex, edgier language, and so on. His ex isn’t too happy about the movie being made in the first place, too.
The film takes the form of a mockumentary. We are supposedly watching the behind-the-scenes doc shot by a camera crew following Greg around as he struggles to get his vision up on the screen. There doesn’t seem to have been a compelling need to adopt this fiction in this case, and the stylistic attempts at realism wind up underlining the improbabilities of the story. An indie film director worrying about landing a PG-13 rating? A scene with a hack script doctor is amusing, but would make more sense if the unfortunate Greg were working on a mainstream release. Furthermore, the plot is too meandering and pedestrian. That the movie industry is a difficult place is hardly a revelation, and so Cinema Salvation is ultimate a very nice, but also rather anodyne, film. Still, Self is a pleasant screen presence, one who engages the audience’s sympathy. We root for him, even if the material fails fully to engage us.
![She's All That [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/shes-all-that-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Our Idiot Brother [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/our-idiot-brother-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Father of Invention [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/father-of-invention-blu-ray-large.jpg)
