Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 3rd, 2014
“I’m Norma Rae. You know me.”
Chances are you’ve at least heard of Norma Rae, even if you haven’t actually seen the Oscar-winning film that bears her name. You might know it as the granddaddymomma of underdog stories centered on feisty female crusaders; Norma Rae begat Silkwood, Erin Brockovich, North Country and others. Or you might know it as the movie that made Sally Field a serious movie star, although it’d be another five years until she really believed that people liked her. But if you’ve neither seen nor heard of Norma Rae, now’s as good a chance as any to get acquainted: Fox is celebrating its 35th anniversary by debuting the film on Blu-ray.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 2nd, 2014
“Sometimes a day can be an eternity.”
It’s hard to tell a convincing love story, period. It’s even harder to tell a convincing love story when we’re supposed to believe the two characters fall for each other within the space of a single day. The good news is At Middleton somewhat manages to pull this off in a little over an hour. The bad news is the film is actually 1 hour and 40 minutes long.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 25th, 2014
Besides the fact that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and that it’s essentially a white collar gloss on Goodfellas, you’d be forgiven for thinking somebody other than Martin Scorsese directed The Wolf of Wall Street. I don’t mean to suggest Scorsese has lost his masterful touch or his passion for filmmaking, both of which were on display as recently as two years ago in the wonderful Hugo. It’s more that after spending the better part of the 21st century making strong, serious dramas, I didn’t necessarily expect Scorsese to make his funniest, loosest and most audacious picture in decades.
“I want you to deal with your problems by becoming rich.”
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on March 24th, 2014
“In my experience, people just aren't that interested in what happens to the help.”
Lifetime viewers and Devious Maids creator Marc Cherry beg to differ. After debuting to modest ratings last summer, the show steadily gained viewers and hit a series high in viewership with its finale. (Not surprisingly, it was promptly renewed for a second season.) Cherry previously struck eight seasons worth of gold with Desperate Housewives on ABC. As someone who enjoyed watched more Housewives episodes than I care to admit, I can appreciate both the positive and negative ways this show echoes Cherry's previous smash success.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 21st, 2014
For some reason, I have themes that I keep reviewing time in and time again (regardless of whether I enjoy the subject matter or not). One of those themes or rather people is Allen Ginsberg, one of the most important poets of the 20th century and symbol of the Beat Generation. A few years ago, I reviewed Howl which was more about his 1957 obscenity trial. This film, Kill Your Darlings deals with the relationship between Allen Ginsberg and Lucien Carr. Let us see how well this one turns out.
"Some things once you love them become yours forever.", the narrator speaks as we shift to a scene where a half naked man covered in blood carries another unconscious man. After this shocking imagery, we shift again to see Lucien Carr (played by Dane DeHaan) in jail with Allen Ginsberg (played by Daniel Radcliffe) outside the bars. Lucien tells Allen that he can't tell the story. Allen looks dead at Lucien and says, "Watch Me."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 21st, 2014
"The problem is you don't know my pain or emptiness. But now you're going to know how it feels to be me."
Mitch Brockden (Cooper) is an ambitious up and comer in the Chicago prosecutor's office. He has a reputation for being aggressive, and he doesn't lose cases. He's respected and liked by his colleagues. That's the man we first meet. But after a night of some power drinking with his buds, we are introduced to another Mitch Brockden. This Mitch is selfish and a coward. When he ends up hitting a man while driving drunk, his instincts tell him to call an ambulance from a pay phone so it can't be traced to his cell and drive away. You see, Mitch has a lot to lose. He's up for getting a DA job. He has a wife and a brand new baby. He's afraid the DUI accident will derail that life. Unfortunately for Mitch, it's his decision to run away that causes the most damage.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on March 20th, 2014
“So long as my enemies are alive, I will not die.”
During his lifetime, Genghis Khan reigned over one of the biggest empires the world has ever seen. There are literally dozens of action-packed epics that could be made about his various battles as head of the Mongol Empire, which included portions of China, Russia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. But Kingdom of Conquerors curiously focuses on the one adversary Khan couldn’t vanquish: death.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 16th, 2014
It is true what they say, every time you think you are done, you get pulled back in. I had been working on cleaning up my house and trying by any means necessary to get it on the market (42 gallon trash bags are your friend). But the big boss of Upcomingdiscs.com asked if I would like to review the final season of Flashpoint. I looked at my movie spinner and saw nestled between the Flash (the short lived TV series) and Freakazoid Season 1(okay, I'm odd, I get it), the first 5 volumes of Flashpoint. At that point, it was pretty much a done deal.
At the end of the fifth season (or fifth volume if we are being technical), we had arrived at the episode Slow Burn. In this episode, the main story was that an arsonist was at large. The arsonist proceeds to take a fire chief hostage and eventually the criminal gets caught. However, that was certainly not the end of the story as the arsonist actually had a partner working at the fire station. This doesn't go very well as the fire chief takes the partner hostage and the SRU Unit has to negotiate a peaceful settlement.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 14th, 2014
“One small fact: you are going to die. Despite every effort, no one lives forever.”
The Book Thief is narrated by Death, who opens the film with these sobering words. It is also set in Germany during the years leading up to World War II. On paper, the best-case scenario for this film appears to be “well-executed, watchable downer”, while the worst-case scenario is “do we really need *another* movie about WWII?!” But fans of Aussie author Markus Zusak’s 2005 best-seller know better. The Book Thief uses the silky specter of death to tell a beautifully affecting story that celebrates life.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 13th, 2014
"Greece, that hard and timeless land, where even the stones speak of man's courage, of his endurance, of his glory. And none more eloquently than this lonely pillar in a desolate pass, some 200 miles north of modern Athens. Across the hush of 24 centuries, this is the story of a turning point in history, of a blazing day when 300 Greek warriors fought here to hold with their lives their freedom and ours."
From that introduction you might guess that this is a review of Zack Snyder's 300 or the newly minted follow-up 300: Rise Of An Empire. That guess would be wrong. While 300 might be based on Frank Miller & Lynn Varley's graphic novel, the inspiration for that comic was the 1962 film 300 Spartans, which was, of course based on the famous battle described in both films and the comic book.
