Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 5th, 2011
The latest incarnation of Deep Purple is going the route of many “classic” rock and/or metal bands, and are putting being accompanied by a symphony for a special release. This particular concert closed out the 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival.
Many do not realize just how powerful a symphony sound can be without ever hearing one live. For this concert film, it helps when a heavy metal band is present to be matched and/or enhanced by the sheer boom that is power of a symphonic sound to help make for a nice example. The frequently bluesy riffs of Deep Purple, coming from songs both new and old, are complimented well by a large assembly of strings and horns. It should be noted that this is not a full symphony, but something similar to the size of a Count Basie orchestra setup. In fact, there are some songs where the symphony do not play at all, such a “Space Truckin'' whose chunky riffs might be best left alone.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 5th, 2011
As some might be able to figure out from my personality, I tend to stay away from political and war type movies. Political movies (except for the special ones) tend to confuse the viewer until the final curtain is drawn. War movies on the other hand tend to be more about explosions and male bonding which is usually enough to put me to sleep. What happens when you combine the two of them? Well then you might get a movie like 5 Days of War directed by the one and only Renny Harlin .
Hiram Johnson, a US Senator once said that “The first casualty of war is truth.” We join the movie in Iraq, year circa 2007. Thomas Anders (played by Rupert Friend) is an American reporter. He is riding along with his camerman, Sebastian Ganz (played by Richard Coyle) and his fellow reporter/girlfriend, Miriam (played by Heather Graham). Sebastian is recording the two and asking them all sorts of relationship type questions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 4th, 2011
Good grief, these people again. I had previously shared my thoughts on this program when reviewing the third season on this site: https://upcomingdiscs.com/2010/03/13/designing-women-season-3/ I shall expand on this but assure you that little has changed in my sour opinion.
This season was the last to feature Delta Burke and Jean Smart, who comprised of half of the leading cast. This does not mean there are any climatic finale moments where the friends become sentimental for one and other. This season seems to stay the course of mediocre comedy it had for 4 seasons previous, except perhaps for a little more applause added character's entrances.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 4th, 2011
This historical film looks at the three-year siege of Leningrad during World War 2. The film follows a Russian, female police officer who aids a stranded, English news reporter as they try to survive the siege. Said survival goes beyond enduring the battles between Russian and German forces as a lot of focus is placed on the starvation of the denizens of Leningrad as supplies become desperately limited and the people must live off of 300 grams of rations a day, an amount that declines as days go by.
There is a nice balance between depictions of those fighting the battles and civilians just trying to survive. The battles themselves are accurately brutal at times, and the city of Leningrad is looks as cold and wreaked with famine as its inhabitants. Visually, this film does a wonderful job of recreating the horrible images of war. There are dead bodies frozen on the streets and battlefields that the characters have to become acclimatized to.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on December 4th, 2011
“Someone's in my fruit cellar! Someone with a fresh soooul!”
Sam Raimi wasn’t really interested in making a horror movie. Weaned on The Three Stooges, comedy was really more his style, but he could only find interested investors if he made a horror movie. So he and his filmmaking partner, Bruce Campbell, made the short film Within the Woods and with it secured funding for their first feature length movie, The Book of the Dead. When it was pointed out kids might not see a movie with book in the title, the name was changed to Evil Dead. With help from Stephen King proclaiming the movie as “the most ferociously original film of the year,” it became a moderate box office success (in short it made money even if the cast and crew didn’t). The uncut version which then circulated the video market elevated it quickly into cult status.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 3rd, 2011
Somewhere, somehow, Usher has been dubbed the reigning “King of R&B.” I understand his sales are immense and popularity is undeniable, but I am hearing his name being said in the same sentence as James Brown and Michael Jackson. Those are insanely high standards to live up to, so I was was expecting a lot from the “OMG Tour” live performance.
Amidst scantily clad women, soaring lasers, massive video screens, a hyperactive backing band and sweating buckets in front of a sold out crowd, Usher does an 19 song long Michael Jackson impression. Am I watching the next King of Pop? Or (lord help me) King of R&B? (may the ghosts of Motown have mercy on whomever anointed Usher with that moniker). No, I am not. I am, however watching an extremely smooth dancer, a hard working entertainer, and charismatic singer lead an enormous stage production with a confident, cool professionalism.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 2nd, 2011
A pirate radio station offers to grant wishes to listeners on full moon nights, but all of said wishes come with grave consequences as it seems that there have been monthly murder/suicides occurring since the radio station's inception. Without knowing what sort of evil she might release, a teenage girl, who is grounded by her parents, makes a wish with the “Oracle” of the station and soon her friends are falling victim to evil possession.
Like a million horror films before it, we start of the film by being introduced to a band of sexy teenagers (played by actors most likely in their twenties) who pal around and generally act like annoying idiots (for lack of a more graceful label) to the point where I could care less if they fall victim to a maniac or curse of any sort....but we'll get to that later on. The story goes, one of the sexy teens is grounded by her parents and cannot attend a party where she was planning to meet up with her crush; which in the teenage world, seems to be the equivalent of having your limbs sawed off. In her angst she calls a mystical pirate radio station and makes a wish that starts off a set of tragic events involving all of her friends and family. Apparently, only a young girl's crush triangle and petty feud with her parents were at stake, which meant that the audience has nothing worthwhile invested in these characters when some of them start to die.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 2011
"You have been activated."
You've got to hand it to Robert Rodriguez. Since he came onto the film scene in 1992 he has earned a reputation for delivering some very innovative films. His specialty appears to run toward more adult fare with such cult hits as Dusk To Dawn, Sin City, and his recent splashes into grindhouse territory. Anyone who has seen those films might find it strange that the writer/director is also responsible for a somewhat beloved children's franchise with the Spy Kids films. First introduced in 2001 the film pulled in a respectable box office and became a hit for the younger crowd who have fantasies of being James Bond spies with all of the terrific gadgets and the extra benefit of making evil adults look bad.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 2011
John Bonito has had very little experience in filmmaking. He's done a few wrestling tidbits and one earlier film called The Marine, and that was nearly six years ago. Chances are you haven't heard of either. If Carjack is any indication of his limited ability, the new film out on Blu-ray isn't going to help with that name recognition. So, with a no-name director and a direct-to-video release, the film really left small expectations. We might go into a film like this expecting a rather dull, "been there, done that" feel to it. In that sense Bonito doesn't disappoint at all. But take a closer look at the cast and hope emerges for something perhaps a little better than that. The only response I can offer for that is that a car wasn't the only thing jacked here. Someone made off with nearly a couple hours of my life. In that Bonito is guilty of grand theft, while some of you might plead it down to petty larceny.
Lorraine (Bello) is trying to put together the pieces of a broken life. Her husband has left her and is threatening to take her son away. She was once negligent and he wondered off into the night alone. She's in group therapy trying to work out those kinks in her life. Her therapist tells her she needs to take control more, and that aspect of her development is about to be tested.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 1st, 2011
My parents were always an oddball lot when it came to music. My mom liked the crooners and if she ever did touch rock and roll, it was something very light and airy. My dad however was a totally different animal. He listened (and still does) to Led Zeppelin, the Moody Blues and Queen. But perhaps one of his favorite albums of all time is Paranoid by Black Sabbath. The front man for Sabbath is the one and only Ozzy Osbourne. I find myself in a fortunate position where I get to review his documentary, God Bless Ozzy Osbourne.
As we open up this documentary, we are told that the makers of this movie have spent the last two years on the road with Ozzy Osbourne. Nearly everyone survived. We visit Argentina as one of Ozzy’s tourstops. We get a very candid look at Ozzy as he puts on makeup, exercises his body and his voice and his slow walk to the stage. He seems to be an everyday normal heavy metal singer but this person who is always been labeled as “Rock n Roll’s definitive crazy person” has a special tale to tell.