Genre

Evocateur: The Morton Downey Jr. Movie (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on September 16th, 2013

I have a prediction about reality shows: with a new one seemingly sprouting up like a weed every few minutes, the number of people on television will eventually be greater than the number of people watching at home. Granted, some of these shows are amusing, educational and even inspirational. But too many of them reward negative, repulsive behavior with fleeting fame. Speaking of rewarding negative, repulsive behavior with fleeting fame, The Morton Downey Jr. Show was on the air for less than two years, yet that was long enough to earn its host the title of “Father of Trash Television.”
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Elementary – The First Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 12th, 2013

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Modernizing Sherlock Holmes has been a popular trend in film and television lately. We have seen two slick action film adaptations courtesy of Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes and its sequel), a contemporary BBC adaptation (Sherlock) and now there is Elementary, which transplants Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion Watson from Victorian Era England to modern USA (New York, more specifically).
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Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 11th, 2013

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Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is an acquired taste. For me, I’ve really got to be in that certain mood to watch it. The idea is pretty whacked. Depending on the season you’ve got, Joel or Mike is trapped in space on the “Satellite of Love”. Doomed to spend his life watching very bad films, our hero makes the best of a bad situation. He uses his resources to construct a couple of robot pals. Together they watch the films from the front row, constantly riffing on them. If you’re like me, you’ve invited a few friends over to watch a schlock festival.
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Star Trek Into Darkness (Blu-ray 3D)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 10th, 2013

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“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

Every Star Trek fan has had that phrase beaten into their brain about as many times as Uncle Ben’s mantra about great power and great responsibility. Who knew that the tagline was appropriate to filmmaking? When J.J. Abrams signed on to direct the reboot/remake/reimagining/rehash (insert your own word here) of Star Trek he quickly made it known that he was not really that into the franchise.
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Portnoy/Sheehan/MacAlpine/Sherinian: Live in Tokyo (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on September 10th, 2013

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Supergroups are hot right now: witness the astonishing box office dominance of The Avengers, as well as Warner Bros./D.C. Comics’ frantic attempts to replicate Marvel’s success. But the idea of a supergroup — a collective whose members have previously achieved individual success — has been around for a very long time, and is most commonly found in the world of music. The members of PSMS (Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, Tony MacAlpine and Derek Sherinian) certainly fit the supergroup bill. Late last year, they united to rock the faces off their fans in Europe and Asia.
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Starbuck

Posted in No Huddle by J C on September 9th, 2013

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High concepts don’t come much loftier than the one behind Starbuck. An underachieving slacker learns he has fathered 533 children thanks to frequent deposits at a sperm bank 20 years earlier. In fact, the premise was so nice, writer/director Ken Scott decided to do it twice. Vince Vaughn will star in an American remake later this year called Delivery Man. Whether you’re excited for the new film or you think it looks stupid, I highly recommend you give the funny and touching French-Canadian original a look.
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Parade’s End

Posted in No Huddle by J C on September 6th, 2013

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“It’s not a good thing to find oneself living by an outmoded code of conduct. People take you to be a fool.”

Christopher Tietjens, the furiously principled Englishman at the center of this early 20th century drama, is simultaneously a man ahead of his time and part of a dying breed of gentleman. The most frustrating part of Christopher’s predicament is that he also has enough intelligence and self-awareness to realize exactly how out of place his behavior is.
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Da Vinci’s Demons: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 5th, 2013

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“I believe man will fly. And I base this assumption on the fact that God has blessed us with minds that are capable of imagining it. Anything that can be dreamt of will eventually be built. Anyone who says otherwise is a fool.”

The term “Renaissance man” is often used to describe a person who has a very wide range of interests in which they have become quite skilled. It’s taken from the traits of the many artists, innovators and writers of the 15th century. And while the term might well apply to any number of such historical figures, there is none for whom it is more apt than Leonardo Da. Vinci.
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Scandal: The Complete Second Season

Posted in No Huddle by J C on September 5th, 2013

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“You’d be surprised what powerful people can get away with behind closed doors.”

Viewers experiencing cop/lawyer/doctor show fatigue might be happy to learn the hottest job on TV these days appears to be “fixer.” Of course, the sneaky appeal of shows centered on these professional problem solvers is that they actually combine elements of cop and lawyer dramas; the fun twist is that the fixer’s job often requires them to prevent crimes from being solved. Before Ray Donovan became a hit for Showtime this summer, the second season of Scandal transformed the nighttime soap into ABC’s buzziest drama.
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Sons of Anarchy: Season Five (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 4th, 2013

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“Something happens at around 92 miles an hour — thunder-headers drown out all sound, engine vibrations travels at a heart’s rate, field of vision funnels into the immediate, and suddenly you’re not on the road, you’re in it. A part of it. Traffic, scenery, cops – just cardboard cutouts blowing over as you past. Sometimes I forget the rush of that. That’s why I love these long runs. All your problems, all the noise, gone. Nothing else to worry about except what’s right in front of you. Maybe that’s the lesson for me today, to hold on to these simple moments.”

There’s nothing simple about Sons Of Anarchy. But there are some moments that will cause you to hold on… for dear life.
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The Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 4th, 2013

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“When the world goes to Hell How will you survive?”

The first thing you should know about The Walking Dead is that it’s unlike any television series you have ever seen before. The images here are intense, and the crew has been given a blank check to create this vision without the burden of censors looking over their shoulders. There are plenty of blood-and-gore effects that rival any of the Hollywood zombie films you’ve seen in the last few years. The makeup effects are handled by the very capable hands of KNB and supervised personally by Greg Nicotero (the N from KNB).
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Super Buddies (Blu-ray)

Posted in No Huddle by BABY on August 30th, 2013

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“You don’t have to have super powers to be a superhero.”

I know that’s right. Hi. I’m Baby, and I’m the German Shepherd / Chow mix that runs security here at Upcomingdiscs. We call it Baby On Board Security, and if you want to know what my superpower is, just try and deliver one of your Fed Ex or UPS packages when I’m on duty, which is all the time. And that spells F A N G S.
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Zombie Massacre (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 30th, 2013

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Seeing the words ‘Uwe Boll Presents’ was enough to have me a little worried about this one. For the most part any time I’ve seen the name connected to a film, it resulted in a disaster most would rather have gone without seeing. But then I think about the films Rampage and Postal, two films that are really quite fun if you give them a fair chance. In the case of Zombie Massacre, Boll’s presence is in the form of producer (as well as a fun cheeseball appearance playing the President), and the talent put in charge of the production are a duo that show some promise.
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The Good Life

Posted in No Huddle by J C on August 29th, 2013

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“We have to understand as a whole entire world that marriage will have its ups and downs, but we have to have faith in God that he will help us through those tough times to stay faithful and committed, no matter what happens.”

These words are attributed to writer/director/producer/actor Christopher Nolen. (Not to be confused with this guy.) They also appear at the end of The Good Life, a low-budget, unintentionally funny relationship melodrama working in the same arena dominated by Tyler Perry’s low-budget, unintentionally funny relationship melodramas.
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Pain & Gain (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on August 28th, 2013

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People have used a lot of different words to describe Michael Bay and his films: “loud”, “blockbusters”, “mindless”, “soulless”, “Hitler” and, of course, “awesome.” One of the words you don’t normally associate with Bay’s undeniably successful output is “clever.” I daresay Pain & Gain is the most interesting movie the action auteur has ever made; the film is both seriously silly and surprisingly smart in how it presents its stupid characters.
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Arthur Newman (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 27th, 2013

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“Poor John Doe, what a way to go.”

You might be asking yourself the obvious question here. I know that I was. Who is Arthur Newman? Arthur Newman is Colin Firth. The busy actor has been the king of the hit-or-miss movie. He’s scored some wonderful roles in films like The King’s Speech. But much of his career has been as a chameleon actor in niche independent festival films. Arthur Newman certainly fits in that latter category.
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Super Storm (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 27th, 2013

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You can always tell a SyFy television movie right off the bat; they generally involve some type of scientific principle run amuck, they generally take place in a small out-of-the-way town, and they include at least one actor who has had moderate success on television or films. True to form, Super Storm (known as Mega Cyclone on IMDB) is the embodiment of all those things, and it tends to teeter between mediocre and mildly interesting as the story’s events unfold in unexpected ways revealing that no one is safe, especially the cast.
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Santana & McLaughlin: Invitation to Illumination (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on August 27th, 2013

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Carlos Santana is too cool for words. When I say that, I refer to both his widely-acknowledged status as a “Guitar God” and to the fact that he doesn’t utter a single word until the 30-minute mark of Invitation to Illumination, his 2011 reunion with John McLaughlin. Having another rock deity on stage appears to have inspired Santana, who performs with an extra little bounce in his step during this Montreux Jazz Festival show. This Blu-ray also has the unintended consequence of serving as a tribute to the festival’s late founder.
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Epic (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on August 26th, 2013

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Any story about a hidden world that exists just outside the view of human eyes is bound to fire up your imagination. It helps explain why the Toy Story movies and Monsters Inc. are some of the most beloved family films of the last 20 years. Epic — the latest offering from Blue Sky Studios — seeks to capture some of the inventive magic of those Pixar films, but too much of the movie winds up playing out like a generic hero’s journey. Thankfully, there are still plenty of things to like in this animated hit, which suggests there’s a big world of little people out there.
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The Good Wife: The Fourth Season

Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 25th, 2013

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Chicago Law firm Lockhart & Gardner is facing bankruptcy so each attorney works harder to reel in high profile clients so that they can save themselves from being sold, or shut down. Meanwhile Alicia Florrick (played by Juliana Margulies), who is an attorney at this firm, is caught amidst her husbands election campaign for the office of governor, as well as the temptation to become either an Equity partner in her current firm, or leave to be a name partner in a brand new one.
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Star Trek: Enterprise – Complete Second Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 23rd, 2013

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“It’s been a long time getting from there to here.”

Thirty-five years to be exact. Enterprise is the fourth spinoff from the original 1960’s hopeful series. The Earth is finally ready to send its first starship to explore the vast galaxy. This first starship Enterprise is smaller than the ships we’ve become used to. There are no shields or photon torpedoes. The transporter has only been cleared for inanimate objects. Not that this stands in the way of its occasional “emergency” use. The ship is very much like the cramped spaces of today’s submarines.
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Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2013

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“Everybody’s got guns.”

Lately, you might have heard a lot of folks talking about getting home for a little Nucky. Well… it’s not what you think. They’re talking about Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi on HBO’s latest gangland series, Boardwalk Empire.
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Once Upon A Time: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2013

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“There is a town in Maine where every storybook character you’ve ever known is trapped between two worlds, victims of a powerful curse. Only one knows the truth, and only one can break her spell.”

ABC has had a very important asset going for it for years. It’s one that the network has seldom taken any advantage of. That asset is its parent company. You see, ABC is part of the Walt Disney family. With the rich history of stories the studio has in its arsenal going back to the 1920’s, it was only a matter of time before some clever people decided to find a way to use that rich history into a television series
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Aftershock (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 20th, 2013

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When you read that Eli Roth is part of the production team, the first thing you probably think about is the potential gore that will be associated with the project, and Aftershock is no exception, but there was also an interesting twist with this disaster flick: the involvement of a director who’s most known for his work in the romantic comedy genre, Nicolas Lopez, who’s most notable for his Que Pena Tu (translation: F*** my (blank)) trilogy. He tries his hand at something new with this dark tale based in reality that highlights that the most frightening part of a natural disaster is not necessarily the disaster itself.
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Revenge: The Complete Second Season

Posted in No Huddle by J C on August 20th, 2013

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The first season of Revenge was soapy perfection. I’m not saying it belonged alongside the great, ambitious television series of our time. But in terms of sheer entertainment value and ridiculously delicious (or is it deliciously ridiculous?) gotta-see-what-happens-next-week drama, the debut season of Revenge was as good as it gets. Unfortunately, season 2 is, by comparison, a disappointing slog. By the time the smoke from the explosive two-part finale cleared, Revenge had lost its creator/showrunner and become the latest poster child for the sophomore slump on TV. (NBC’s Heroes was more than happy to pass that baton.)
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