Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 11th, 2023
12 Angry Men is one of those rare films that appears to defy all the Hollywood constants and yet become one of the best films of its kind ever made. The setting is entirely too claustrophobic. With the exception of two bookend scenes, the entire film takes place in the tight quarters of a jury deliberation room. The story had only a couple of years earlier been the subject of a live television drama, so the story was far from a fresh idea. The director was a complete unknown who had not at that point directed a major picture. Enter Henry Fonda, the only member of the cast who was a strong A-list name. He was also the driving force behind getting the film made. He produced the film and was involved with most of the major decisions. With all of these elements going against it, you would expect the film to fail miserably, and that’s exactly what it did. During its premier run, the film only lasted a week and was a complete financial failure. It happens all the time, and we would expect the story to end there, but it didn’t.
Enter the 1970’s. There was a rush of independent television stations that were looking for anything and everything to fill up air time. This constant need for programming meant pretty much any film that could be had cheaply was bought and aired, often for an almost nauseating number of showings. 12 Angry Men was one such film, but something amazing happened. People began to notice just how brilliant the film actually was. By then that first time director, Sidney Lumet, had gone on to rather remarkable success. Films like Fail-Safe, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Murder On The Orient Express, and Network had exposed just how much talent the young man actually had. Suddenly the kid from Philly was hot, and the public became interested in his earliest work. Everyone discovered what Fonda already knew back in 1957: Lumet was a genius. These television airings led to revival screenings at local movie houses, and before the first year of the 1980’s this one-time failed film was an admired classic.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 23rd, 2023
Damien Chazelle seems to have a thing for dreamers, or at least those who want to be larger than life. Whether it is a drummer aspiring to reach perfection in Whiplash, or an actress wanting to be a star in La La Land, to even being the first man to walk on the moon in First Man, he’s always made these films with an enthusiasm and energy that we can’t help but want to see them succeed. In his new film Babylon, he seems to be doing something a little different and on a grander scale as he explores the early days of Hollywood as it made the transition from the silent film era to the “talkies” (basically what we’re used to seeing on the big screen today, just minus all the CGI effects). A lot of money was injected into the production of this film, and you see it in every frame of this movie that is certainly a love letter to a time when Hollywood was trying to figure things out and entertain its audiences. But what I don’t think anyone was expecting is how deep this film was willing to go into the drug abuse and the sordid debauchery that went on in these early days of cinema.
The film opens innocently enough with Manny Torres (Diego Calva) simply trying to get an elephant to a big Hollywood party. Manny is a Mexican-American who is just trying to get his foot in the door, and we get to see these early struggles pay off, but first we get to experience this party that is lavish and epic with a strong Caligula-on-cocaine vibe. It’s at the party where we meet the rest of the cast we’ll be following over the course of the film. There’s Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie), who believes she is a star who just simply hasn’t been discovered yet; there is also Sidney (Jovan Adepo), a horn player who is just trying to get by; there is Elinor St. John (Jean Smart), a Hollywood gossip reporter, and then there is Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt), the biggest silent film actor in the business. Then we get to see the moment where Manny first meets Nellie and the moment where he falls in love with her; then moments later see how Nellie is simply plucked from the crowd to become a star, This sequence is so well crafted at letting the audience experience the party while getting to know these characters and several others, all while we are subjected to various sex acts and body fluids and drugs that when it ends we can feel the hangovers that these characters are experiencing. Unfortunately for most of these characters, they are due on set in just a matter of hours.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 18th, 2023
“You got everything money can buy, except what it can’t. It’s pride. Pride is what got you here. Losing is what brung you back. But people like you, they need to be tested. They need a challenge.”
There have been a ton of boxing films. They’ve been popular going back to the silent era. Most of them have many of the same themes. But there was always something about Rocky that stood out above all of the rest. That “something” can’t really be described or defined. As the Supreme Court once said about the definition of obscenity: “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” That’s all you can say about Rocky. Some might call it heart. That’s about as good a word for it as anything else. Rocky himself would call it “stuff in the basement”. It almost demeans it to put a word on it at all. Whatever you call it, you don’t necessarily see it in Rocky … you feel it. Now the first 4 films are out together on UHD Blu-ray in 4K.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 2nd, 2023
"Inspired by the global threats of the Second World War, the U.S. Navy welcomes a surge of aspiring aviators ready to fight in what they called The Big Show. But now it's 1950, and after five years of peace, a true conflict is growing at the North and South Korean border. This is a story from America's forgotten war."
One of the best things about this job is that we get to see some of the up-and-coming talents as they evolve into superstars. I was lucky enough this week to get a double dose of one of the most dynamic young stars out there. Of course I'm talking about Jonathan Majors, who plays US Navy aviator and hero Jesse Brown. Just one night after watching the UHD/4K disc for this review, I was treated to my second dose of Majors at a press screening for the upcoming Creed III, where Majors plays the antagonist Damien Anderson. The roles could not have been more different, and Majors stole every scene in both films. I already can't wait to see him once again. I missed our screening of the new Ant-Man & Wasp film, so I have his portrayal of Kang to look forward to. The buzz I heard was that he had been the best part of the film, and I believe it after Devotion and Creed III. I'm sure there'll be more to say about this talented young actor, but let's talk about Devotion out on UHD Blu-ray in 4K from Paramount.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 28th, 2023
"King Kong ain't got nothing on me."
Training Day stars Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington in the role of Alonzo Harris. Harris, who is one of the meanest, baddest cops in the city of LA, is a person who cruises the streets in his customized Caddy. Harris, in one of the film’s opening scenes, meets Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke), a young cop whose dream is to be promoted to the elite narc squad. Naturally, this is Jake’s first day of training, and he is thrown into the arms of Harris. Alonzo tries to show him the streets so he can understand everything. He has Jake smoke pot just because he can. In one interesting scene, possibly Alonzo being a tough-ass to Jake, he doesn’t arrest two rapists like Jake wants to, but instead, proceeds to beat the living crap out of them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 17th, 2023
"Life is not like the movies."
Maybe sometimes life is exactly like the movies. You know the old phrase of art imitating life and that kind of thing. That's exactly the territory that's covered in Steven Spielberg's latest film The Fabelmans. It's an autobiographical film where the names are changed to protect both the guilty and the innocent. It's also the first time that Spielberg has directed his own writing in over 20 years. In those 20 years Spielberg has become something of a moviemaking machine, and I think he felt it was time that the machine walked away from the spotlight for a minute and allowed the man behind the machine to show his face again. It used to be about heart; lately it's been about box office, and more recently it's been about surviving after the hit the industry took with COVID. I think Spielberg had a lot of things to get off his chest, and it looks like he might have found the time and place to do just that. While the film is a love letter to people who still think movies are a kind of wizard's magic, it was also a little bit of therapy for this particular wizard. Like all autobiographies, it's not really finished, and that's the most profound takeaway I had when the film ended.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 26th, 2023
"We've come here to pay our respects to Great Aunt Nellie. She brought us up properly and taught us loyalty. Now I want you to remember that during these next few days. I also want you to remember that if you don't come back with the goods, Nellie here will turn in her grave, and, likely as not, jump right out of it and kick your teeth in."
Ian Kennedy-Martin was a television writer for the BBC in the late 1950's and early 1960's. When London adopted one of the world's first computerized traffic light systems, it gave him an idea for a series or television movie. The idea was pretty simple. A group of crooks would hack into that system and use a traffic snarl to get away with a big bank job. The problem was that the idea was too large a production for the BBC staff to pull off. So he sold the idea to his brother, Troy Kennedy-Martin, who wrote the final script for The Italian Job. He moved the action to Turin, Italy where one of the most sophisticated of these early computerized systems was in use. The rest is pretty much history.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 24th, 2023
"What about the old American social custom of self-defense? If the police don't defend us, maybe we should do it ourselves."
Vigilante justice has always been a popular subject in our movies, television shows, literature, and even comic books. Batman is nothing more than Bruce Wayne out to get back at criminals like the ones who murdered his parents when he was a kid. Batman is the ultimate vigilante. And let's be honest. Haven't you ever once fantasized that you could cross that line and punish some injustice or another that crossed your path? The subject has been around since stories have been told. There are those landmark tales, however, that for some reason or another reach the soul of the masses. For good or evil? You can decide that for yourself. But one of those iconic vigilante films has to be the original Death Wish with Charles Bronson. There's some extra visceral element that isn't in so many of the imitators, remakes, or even sequels. The film has its own storied origin tale and long history of roadblocks before it ever hit box office gold in 1974.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on December 6th, 2022
Hopefully, most of you have enjoyed my review of Unidentified, the first in a series of three films directed by Bogdan George Apetri set in a small town in Northern Romania. It is a nontraditional trilogy, as all three stories share the same universe but do not require the viewer to watch them together or in a certain order. Well, today I have received the second film in this series, entitled Miracle. Since they were filmed at the same time, one would hope that it is just as good and just as brilliant as the first film. Let's take a look and see what it has to offer.
We see a girl crying over some holy water. Her name is Cristina Tofan (played by Ioana Bugarin). She is dressed in clothes that resemble those of a nun and is staying at the covenant. Sister Mina (played by Nora Covali) enters and hands her a bag with a cell phone and tells Cristina to call. She does so, but there is no answer, and she tries again. Again, no response. The car is waiting by the side gate, and Cristina prays for safety.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2022
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them.
"Maycomb was a tired old town, even in 1932 when I first knew it. Somehow, it was hotter then. Men's stiff collars wilted by nine in the morning; ladies bathed before noon, after their 3 o'clock naps, and by nightfall were like soft teacakes with frosting from sweating and sweet talcum. The day was twenty-four hours long, but it seemed longer. There was no hurry, for there was nowhere to go and nothing to buy ... and no money to buy it with. Although Maycomb County had recently been told that it had nothing to fear but fear itself ... That summer, I was six years old."
