Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 30th, 2011
“As an exterminator I'm called upon to curb the destruction by beasts both great and small, be it eliminating a deadly menace or safeguarding a lake from ruin. But sometimes one wrong turn on the job can become a question of life or death."
Billy Bretherton is the owner of Vex Con Pest Control in Shreveport, Louisiana. It's a family-run business. Mom is the office manager and takes all of the service calls and then dispatches the technicians to their various jobs. Dad is the office mascot. He's had a heart attack along with a few other medical scares, so he's not really very hands-on. You might say his main job is to worry and complain. Ricky is Billy's brother and often his partner on many of his two-man jobs. It's interesting that we're constantly told that Ricky is deathly allergic to wasp stings. One sting and it's an airlift ride to the ER, Billy is always reminding us. But when a wasp call comes in, who do you think Billy takes along to help? Of course, it's Ricky. Mom always reminds us of the allergy and admonishes Billy to be sure his brother doesn't get stung. It's things like this that make this the most frustrating A&E series I've ever watched.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 30th, 2011
Written by Bamboo
Shot in the Dark is a very well done documentary by Adrian Grenier (before he starred on HBO’s Entourage) about what it means to be a father. The film starts as a series of interviews with random people in New York, as well as Adrian’s friends and family members. Adrian has not seen his father in over eighteen years. He feels as though he doesn’t know what it means to have a father or how he should feel about not having a father around while he was growing up. Adrian hopes to gain some insight through this documentary.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 26th, 2011
As I have mentioned before on this site, I was married to somebody else before my lovely Sarah. So unfortunately, I know a thing or two about controlling spouses. People who try to force them their loved ones into things they would not normally do and make the least insignificant things into overly important ones. It is a terrible harmful practice and leaves both partners scorned. Thankfully I learned to love again. Let me see what I will think of another controlling drama entitled N-Secure.
A horse carriage rides across the city. We see a young couple, David Alan Washington (played by Cordell Moore) and Robin Joyner (played by Essence Atkins). Later at Chez Philippe, they enjoy some dinner and share some time at their fireplace where David gives Robin a necklace and then we get a romantic night. The next morning, David wakes up and starts his meticulous daily routine before telling Robin to get up and make him breakfast.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 26th, 2011
When my webmaster asked if I would like to rehash my dvd review for Priscilla: Queen of the Desert for the new blu-ray edition, I jumped at the chance. After all, I did love the movie. But in this blu-ray era, this was strangely the first time I had to do this. I wrote that review almost four years ago to the day. As many would argue, my writing has changed considerably in that time. But without further adieu, let us take a look back at the review.
From the DVD:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 24th, 2011
Most film-goers could identify a Michael Bay film just by the techniques he uses — quick edits, sun drenched color palette, and lots of action. This usually means that Bay is suited more for low-brow action movies as opposed to high-concept films. In Pearl Harbor, Bay proved that he couldn’t handle anything that didn’t explode — resulting in a lopsided film. The first hour was a tedious love story; the last 90 minutes were better — including an excellent recreation of the surprise attack.
The same is true in The Island. Bay can’t wait to make things explode, and once they do — Bay is very much at home. Though while the explosions are very well choreographed, The Island becomes another action movie that would have worked better had the concept been given more thought.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 24th, 2011
The second version of Cornell Woolrich’s novel “Waltz Into Darkness” (previously filmed as François Truffaut’s Mississippi Mermaid), this is a decidedly steamier version, especially here, in its unrated form.
Cuban plantation owner Antonio Banderas advertises for a wife, and the woman who answers his ad is, he believes, plain but pure. Who shows up, however, is the beautiful but duplicitous Angelina Jolie, who has larceny rather than matrimony on her mind. Her scam runs smoothly at first … but she hasn’t counted on the depth of Banderas’ obsession with her.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 22nd, 2011
One of the most commonly asked what if questions, is the question about superpowers. If you were a superhero, what would be your superpower? My initial reaction is X-Ray vision because I am after all a dirty old man. After some thoughtful moments, I do however come up with the ability to instantly adapt. There are many moments where I might feel out of place or unable to help. But with that power, I could change that. Or maybe I will just wear a green amulet and fight bad guys like Callan in the film: Cross.
The movie opens to the pages of a comic book flipping. Wait, is this a Marvel Comics presentation? Okay, not exactly. They mention that amulets are some of the most powerful source of power in the universe. The strongest amulet, that would be the Cross of the Isles. It is green, it glows a lot. Hey, was that Machete (Danny Trejo)? Doesn’t matter, he isn’t in the rest of the movie. We also learn about the Staff of Sekhmet which has the potential to kill the whole word.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 20th, 2011
"There was a time in baseball when there were only eight teams in each major league. They played an orderly balanced schedule visiting each city four times. A trip out West meant St. Louis or Chicago. There was a comfortable rhythm to the season... That time is gone now."
I might be from the last generation who understands exactly what that means. Some of the best memories of my life were of the lazy afternoons I spent with my grandfather at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia. Over the course of a decade or so we must have attended a hundred games. Mike Schmidt became my idol, outside of my grandfather, of course, who made it all possible. In those days players didn't get into a ton of legal troubles. It would have shocked my young life to hear that one of my Philly players had been arrested for beating his wife or carrying a gun into a nightclub. Players didn't argue about contracts, at least not publicly. It was the 1970's, perhaps the end of that era when baseball really was a game. I treasure those memories. My grandfather is gone now, but he gave me something that will always be a part of who I am. And while this HBO series deals with the years before 1970, I can relate to those earlier generations who felt the same way about their sport and their heroes. Obviously, my grandfather was a part of those generations. And now HBO brings to high-definition Blu-ray a safe place to store those memories.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 20th, 2011
"The mission of the FBI is to protect the innocent and to identify the enemies of the government of the United States."
In 1965 ABC would launch the long-running series based on the cases of the FBI. The series starred Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as Chief Inspector Lewis Erskine. He was a seasoned veteran with a keen instinct for tracking down some of the nation's most elusive criminals. He received his instructions and cases from Arthur Ward, played by Philip Abbott. Ward answered directly to the director himself. He usually gave Erskine a free hand, but was responsible for getting results from his best investigator. Erskine's partner was Special Agent Jim Rhodes, in the first few seasons played by Stephen Brooks. In these early episodes, the family life of Erskine was also part of the story. He had a daughter played by Lynn Loring, and she was in love with his partner. His wife had been killed by a bullet that was meant for him. After a couple of years the family stories disappeared completely, and the show remained focused on the cases.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 20th, 2011
"In America we give our lives to our jobs. It's time to take them back."
It was only a matter of time before the current economic situation made its way into our theaters and finally our homes with a movie like The Company Men. Certainly the economy has influenced many films in the last five years. There have even been other movies to explore many of the current issues. But it's this film that makes those issues, particularly corporate raiding and downsizing, its sole reason for being.
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![The Island [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-island-blu-ray-large.jpg)
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![The Company Men [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-company-men-blu-ray-large.jpg)
