Disc Reviews

This was one of the best documentaries that I have seen in a long time. Very engaging, and it covers subject matter that everyone already has an opinion on: infidelity. Of course you can tell from the appropriately coined title that it focuses on the idea of individuals in a committed relationship who seek additional gratification outside their relationship. This documentary does a good job of addressing all expects of this topic including how media outlets such as poplar television series and reality portray the stigma. Broken down into multiple sections, we are even treated to hearing from celebrities as well as the public about their opinions of having or being a side piece. It was a truly illuminating experience.

One the key aspects I enjoyed about this documentary was that when illustrating the role extramarital affairs play in our everyday television watching, they point out a prime of example of a side piece in one of the most watched television series of this generation: Scandal. For those not in the know (though I doubt there are many not in the know) Scandal is a popular series starring Kerry Washington who, and I hope I’m not spoiling this for anyone, is the mistress of the President of the United States. This is the best example of this story topic possible; honestly, I’m a little stunned at the fact that I didn’t register this until they pointed it out. Scandal is an example of this stigma of knowing that the person you’re with is committed to another, and instead of doing the right thing and dumping this person, you engage in an affair, and the crazy thing about the show is we tune in every week to cheer for the person who is essentially a mistress. Now before I receive a ton of negative comments about this, let me be clear, this is not an indictment at all, simply a statement of fact, and the documentary does cover both sides of the issue.

by Dustin P. Anderson

We find three roommates, all not living up to their potential: a starving artist, a struggling writer, and a desperate gambler. While their dreams fall to the wayside, they work for the apartment complex they live in, performing maintenance and checking on tenants. One day the landlord calls for them to check on someone who is behind on their rent. They find that the man who lives there is dead, and seems to have been taking photos of them without their knowledge; however, these are photos set a day in the future taken by a strange machine. They start to use this machine to their advantage, but they always keep in mind that time is a tricky thing to mess with, and act out whatever they see on the photo even if they don’t want to do what the photo says they will. The photos keep coming, and like addicts, they can’t turn away from them, even while the situation starts to escalate into violence.

"It means what it always means. Nobody tells you anything when you wanna know it. Only when they feel like telling it. And then only enough to make you crazy to know more." 

When it comes to Pretty Little Liars, it seems making the fans crazy is what they do best. The fifth season of the show is out on DVD, and this is no place for beginners. If you don't know who Aria, Spencer, Emily, Hannah and Alison are, it's time for you to head back to the beginning and catch up. You can find our reviews from those seasons here. For the rest of you, let's talk Pretty Little Liars, shall we? 

Now this was an interesting one for me. Usually when I watch a movie I like to look for uniqueness, what sets it apart from the thousands of films (I’m pretty sure that’s accurate) I have seen in my lifetime. In the case of As Night Comes, I didn’t particularly find it unique, but there was something that I just liked about it. Given the choice, there are aspects I would change to provide a more engaging experience; however, as is, the story is still worth a watch. Well, to start off, I kind of got the wrong impression of the film; I was expecting a fantasy drama, possibly a film about vampires. Not the film’s fault, so I accept the blame on that score; however, if you watch it, I’m pretty sure you would likely get the same vibe I did. What led me to that impression was the antagonist Ricky; he is not a very big guy, but he is treated in a fashion that displays that he is feared by quite a few. The reason for that is explained a bit later, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I was not fond of the way the film opened; we are just dropped right in the middle of a conflict between Ricky and a secondary character (who serves no real purpose; the film would have likely been the same without him). It would have been helpful to start off with a different scenario, somewhere I could identify the characters and their overall roles in the story, because it is difficult to do that from this opening. At this point, it is not even possible to truly determine that Ricky is the antagonist; I mean, yes, it is clear from the secondary character that Ricky and his friends’ presence is not welcome, but the only real conclusion you can draw from that is that this group are outsiders. Possibly a less confrontational opening would have made things slightly easier.

To talk about the acting aspect, the actor chosen wouldn’t have been my first choice. It’s not that he did a bad job; he had a slight presence to him; however, his look just didn’t fit the character he was portraying, especially during the opening. I did warm to the character as the film progressed, and I began to see his talent, especially during the climax of the film between Ricky and Sean. To touch on the character of Sean, the actor does an adequate job of illustrating how misguided his character is and being torn between his affiliation with the group that essentially saved him and his mother (if you want to know how, you’re going to have to watch the movie, I’m afraid) and the call of fitting into the social hierarchy that is high school. When it comes to the acting, these are the only two characters worth mentioning, as everyone else is clearly secondary and truth be told one-dimensional. The dynamic between Sean and Ricky is the best part of the acting aspect; Sean attempts to act as the group’s moral conscience during their escapades of petty crime and vandalism; however, he is very timid and lacks the assertive personality needed to be effective in that position. Later on we learn the reason for his personality, but for now you’ll just have to take my word for it.

As a member of the Upcomingdiscs family, it probably isn’t a surprise that I am a fan of David Hewlett. Yes, Dr. Rodney McKay is a role we are most familiar with, but my appreciation of the good doctor goes a little deeper than the Stargate universe. I first became a fan of David Hewlett after watching him in Vincenzo Natali’s low-budget feature Cube (1997) and began looking to other films in which he was featured, such as Pin (1988) and Nothing (2003). His body of work as an actor goes much deeper than these films, but they are largely responsible for my fandom. With the release of his directorial debut A Dog’s Breakfast in 2007, David Hewlett graced us with a dark comedy that adequately demonstrated his knowledge of filmmaking. Seven years later, he tackles the sci-fi/horror genres with Debug.

The film follows criminal computer hackers and their supervisor, who are assigned to debug a neglected prison ship. Upon their arrival, we learn of a tension between squad members Mel (Kerr Hewitt) and Kaida (Jeananne Goossen) who quarrel over being squad leader. Ultimately their supervisor, Capra (Adrian Holmes), delegates this position to Mel, and the crew begins their mission. Unbeknownst to the team, the ship’s AI (Jason Momoa) has taken over the ship by killing all the prisoners, absorbing their life forces. Soon the squad realizes that their debugging mission’s stakes have risen from finally returning home, to leaving the ship alive.