Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 14th, 2009
British comedy for me has always been big hit or big miss for me. There really is no between. Monty Python & The Holy Grail – big hit. This movie makes me laugh from the first second until the closing credits. But some of the Monty Python sketches or all of Meaning of Life – big miss. Same thing with television, the Black Adder is simply awesome. Absolutely Fabulous? I never got it and found it completely droll. So I was eager to see Gavin & Stacey and find another wonderful British hit. I was totally pleased.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on May 11th, 2009
Based on a play by Wallace Shawn (who also co-wrote the screenplay), this film is a day in the life of an unhappily married couple, played by Juliane Moore and Matthew Broderick, who don't know what to do about said unhappiness. The story is simple but the paths each character take is not. After a bitter breakfast scene, they separately go about their day before meeting at a party in the evening where Marie may or may not leave Bruce once and for all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2009
Two And A Half Men reached their 100th episode in the 5th year. That’s the milestone when a series becomes viable in syndication to local market stations. That’s the kind of show you see once, twice, a hundred times a day on those local stations either just before primetime or late at night. This is also the year that the writers of CSI and Two And A Half Men switched shows for an episode. It’s one of those cross-over ideas that I don’t think had been done before.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 5th, 2009
Dustin Hoffman is the titular Harvey, a morose jingle composer who, with his job hanging by a thread, arrives in London for his daughter's wedding. He is a complete outsider at the rehearsal dinner, and feels even more cut off when his daughter informs him that she wants her stepfather to give her away. Meanwhile, the scarcely more cheerful Emma Thompson spends her time being set up for disastrous blind dates and being constantly harangued on the phone by her mother. These two losers at the game of love meet, and something blossoms between them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 4th, 2009
With the gigantic success that the Blue Collar Comedy Tour has accumulated, it was only a matter of time before each one of the comedians received their own HBO or Comedy Central special. Jeff Foxworthy is associated with the “Are you smarter than a 5th grader?” game-show. Larry the Cable guy is showcasing his acting range with box office phenomena (i.e. Witless Protection and Delta Farce). Bill Engvall has struggled to find his niche and seems to be on every sitcom pilot that has come out in the last two years. And then there’s Ron White, if you’re anything like myself, this is your next question, who?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 24th, 2009
“The best movies you totally forgot about”
That’s the marketing slogan for this Lionsgate collection of mostly 1980’s films that never really broke any ground in their box office releases. They are, for the most part, cheap comedies. A few have somewhat of a cult following. None of them ever really set the receipts on fire. At just under $15 each, likely less if you shop around, they are good for a couple of laughs, but little more than that.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 17th, 2009
Everybody who is old enough remembers Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. It was once one of the highest rated shows on television. On NBC it ran from 1963 until 1971. It would continue to run in syndication for decades. An elder Marlin Perkins would host the show, while a young Jim Fowler would be out in the field. Every week they would show us animals in the wild from all over the world. Long before there was a Crocodile Hunter or Nigel, there was Wild Kingdom. Strange Wilderness attempts to urinate all over our fond memories,
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2009
Raise your hand if you’re sick and tired of Lindsay Lohan. Fortunately I can type with one hand. Honestly. How did this girl get to be so big? Why is she dominating our entertainment news cycles? Are there more than a handful of folks out there who think she has any talent at all? She’s nothing close to hot. It’s that wonderful modern phenomenon of being famous for being famous. It really does tend to color one’s opinions when you watch her in a film. She’s so overexposed, in more ways than one, that it’s impossible to watch her play any character without seeing the spoiled bratty whiner she has become so perfect at.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2009
The curtain finally falls on Wings on DVD some 12 years after the show came in for its final approach on television in 1997. The end was a planned one so that the final episode was a fitting goodbye for the series and its collection of crazy characters. The final episode finds Joe and Helen off to Vienna to live while Helen studies cello. Brian is left alone to man the business. For us, we’ll get this one last chance to laugh it up with the clever and often hilarious television series.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 13th, 2009
Try this plot on for size: Gordo, an ape owned by carnival sideshow barker the Great Lampini (Paul Richichi), gets loose and rampages about Long Island, raping and killing and stealing cars (!). Meanwhile, the moronic detective in charge of the murder case dismisses the idea that an ape is the culprit, and casts his racist eye on the unfortunate Duane Jones (Christopher Hoskins, whose character is named after Night of the Living Dead's lead).
![Strange Wilderness [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/strange-wilderness-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Mean Girls [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/mean-girls-blu-ray-large.jpg)
