Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 25th, 2012
It’s been six years since the end of the Civil War, and zombies have managed to overrun the landscape. Had this been the actual turn of events, I believe more kids would surely enjoy digging into their history books, but as we all know this is not the case. But this is the “what-if” scenario that writer/director John Geddes portrays for us in his new Canadian horror film Exit Humanity.
We meet Edward (Mark Gibson) as he has returned home to find that his wife has been attacked by the undead and his son is missing. With no choice but to dispatch his zombie turned wife, he sets off into the countryside to find his son. In his search Edward confronts many zombies along the way, and with each confrontation he learns more about them. When the time comes and Edward does find his son, he is too late; his son is also among the walking dead. After killing his son, Edward is left as a broken shell of a man. His only drive is to take the remains of his son to Ellis Falls where he intends to bury his ashes and end his own life. Paired along with a narration given by Brian Cox, this is one of the stronger opening acts in the zombie genre in years. Unfortunately this doesn’t last.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 23rd, 2012
"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."
That famous proverb comes from a couplet in the Robert Burns poem "To a Mouse." ("The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft agley") Simply put, it means that even the most carefully prepared plans can go wrong at any time. The line also provided the title for John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men", the classic 1937 novella that has since become required reading in many high schools, along with "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Great Gatsby" and others. Steinbeck tells the tragic story of slow-witted Lenny and his friend/protector George, two migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression. I imagine Steinbeck's best laid plans probably didn't involve his story becoming the basis for a British cage fighting movie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 22nd, 2012
As mentioned previously in my reviews, Iron Man in animated form does not have the greatest track record. I remember watching the Iron Man animated film not too long ago (check here for a small review: https://upcomingdiscs.com/2012/04/29/marvel-animated-features-3-movie-collection-blu-ray/) and just thinking that it never even got close to the awesomeness that is the live action films with Robert Downey Jr. Today, we get to review some episodes of Iron Man Armored Adventures. Hopefully the series improves from last season.
(For those who need to catch up on the first season, please take a look at my review of the first season:
https://upcomingdiscs.com/2010/05/13/iron-man-armored-adventures-the-complete-first-season/)
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on June 22nd, 2012
Expectations can mean everything when you go into a film. That's usually a problem for that certain class of movie which defies definition at almost every turn. It's the kind of movie that often flows from a first-time director and writer. It's also the kind of film that plays best in the festival circuit where the audience isn't really looking to so much pigeonhole a movie as much as a mainstream audience does. When Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World decided to join a crowded summer of blockbuster anchor films, it invited such expectations. I won't deny that I had them. And this is a case where I walked away from a film very much unlike what I expected...for the better.
The world is about to end. An asteroid named Matilda (huh?) is careening toward the Earth, and the last effort to pull an Armageddon-style rescue plan has failed. Mankind has about three weeks until the next extinction event on planet Earth. People react differently to the news. There are the expected riots and chaos, of course. Some use the news as an excuse to party, as if they really needed one. Some reexamine their lives, while others turn to spirituality. Some just want someone to spend the end with.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 21st, 2012
With technology constantly evolving and becoming more affordable, it has allowed more and more film makers to get their projects made. With so many films now filling the market it’s become harder to sort through the crowd and find the ones that actually stand out from the pack, and because of this some really good films just get lost among the masses. A Bag of Hammers seems to be one of those films. This isn’t groundbreaking cinema, but it’s a story that has us look at the idea of what family is from a unique perspective without beating the message into our head.
Allen (Jason Sandvig) and Ben (Jason Ritter) have been best friends for years who are also a pair of bumbling grafters that want nothing more than to go through their lives having to do as little as possible. At first this slacker comedy seems like something we’ve already seen before, but the lead characters are charming enough to keep you watching. It’s when Lynette (True Blood’s Carrie Preston) and her 12-year-old son Kelsey (Chandler Canterbury) come into the story that things start to shift directions. Lynette and her son have recently moved to Burbank to try to make a new start with their lives, but with a weak resume and lacking any office skills, getting a job is becoming a bleak and impossible task. She’s trying to be a good mothe,r but nothing seems to pan out, as the bills pile up and it becomes more difficult to keep their refrigerator stocked with food. But still Kelsey does what he can and doesn’t complain, because for him all that matters is having his mother around.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 20th, 2012
"I'm a consulting detective of some repute. Perhaps you've heard of me? My name is Sherlock Holmes."
In 1887, readers of the popular periodical Beeton’s Christmas Annual were to receive quite a special treat. There wasn’t much fanfare or hype to the event. Inside the pages of the magazine was a story called A Study In Scarlet. It was a detective story, perhaps like many published before, except for the detective himself, a certain Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Together with his faithful companion and chronicler Dr. Watson, Holmes would win the hearts of those holiday readers. It might have been an ordinary day, but the world was about to change. Sherlock Holmes would become the most famous detective in the world. His stories would remain in print nearly 130 years later. Over 100 films would be made featuring the character. There would be television shows and cartoon spoofs. No other character has appeared in more productions. When his creator dared to kill the beloved detective in order to move on to newer stories, his very life was threatened. It would seem that Doyle was on the verge of becoming a victim much like those in his stories. There was only one man who could save him from such a grim fate, and he did just that. It was Sherlock Holmes himself.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 20th, 2012
When I saw that Nicolas Cage and January Jones were headlining a little-seen/straight-to-DVD-caliber title, part of me was perversely excited. This had the potential to be a historic summit of bad acting! To be fair, I generally enjoy the — shall we say — avant garde stylings of Cage's performances, but I'm much less impressed by the relentless joylessness Jones bring to her work (even on the excellent Mad Men). In short, I was prepared to laugh and I was prepared to wince. However, I was not prepared to enjoy this entertaining, preposterous thriller as much as I did.
Cage and Jones star as Will and Laura Gerard, a happily married New Orleans couple. You know they're the perfect little cultured pair because she's an orchestra cellist, and he's a high school English teacher who plays hyper-competitive chess games with a co-worker (Harold Perrineau). Their world is shattered one night when Laura is brutally attacked after leaving work. While an emotionally distraught Will is in the hospital, he is approached by a stranger named Simon (Guy Pearce). Simon claims to represent an organization that is fed up with the shortcomings of the criminal justice system. He offers to exact vengeance on Laura's attacker in exchange for a favor from Will somewhere down the line.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 19th, 2012
"Nikolai Petrovich Rachenko...our warrior elite...a very powerful and valuable tool...if he can be controlled."
It's no secret that they just don't make action movies like they used to. (Sylvester Stallone just shot a brawny arm into the air in protest. I see you, Sly!) These days the odds of seeing a pretty boy like Matt Damon and a perennial tough guy like Bruce Willis headlining an action flick are just about even. You're just as likely to see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in family fare like Journey 2: The Mysterious Island as you are in an manly romp like Fast Five. Heck, the Arnold Schwarzenegger role in the upcoming Total Recall remake is being played by...Colin Farrell.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on June 19th, 2012
The Raconteurs were formed in Detroit in 2005 by Jack White, formerly of The White Stripes; he pulled together artists Brendan Benson, Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence, who were formerly with the Cincinnati garage rock band, The Greenhornes to create the radio friendly garage band, The Raconteurs. Pulling from the roots of rock and roll with a raw, gutsy sound, they immediately scored with their debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, which went to number two in the U.K. and made the top 10 on Billboard's album chart in the U.S. In 2008, the band played one of the premier musical festivals, the Montreux Jazz Festival in support of their second album, Consolers of the Lonely. The concert was captured on video and is The Raconteurs’ first live recording and official video released by the band.
To enjoy the garage band sound, one must be ready for rough and unpolished rock and roll. The Raconteurs: Live at Montreux 2008 is about as rough and unpolished as it gets. I realize this is going to sound like blasphemy to fans of Jack White and the band, but the concert sounds so raw it seems as if they didn’t even practice for the set. Harmonies are way off, guitars crazy out of sync, voices cracking and croaking off key, even the rhythm of the percussion is unsteady at times. This is not helped by a terrible live mix which at times buries the vocals and other times highlights them to the point of crushing the backing instruments.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 19th, 2012
Since the age of 15 jazz guitarist Lee Ritenour has been strumming his Gibson guitar with The Mommas & The Papas and even doing some guitar work for Pink Floyd’s the Wall ‘’Run like Hell” track. It was during his time with the Mommas & The Poppas that he was given the name “Captain Fingers” which would also later go on to be the name for one of his more successful albums. In 2010 after fifty years of performing, Guitar Player Magazine awarded Ritenour a lifetime achievement award, that same year his new album which he produced Lee Ritenour’s 6 String Theory received several accolades from the music community.
Back in 2004 Ritenour put together a project that would try to encompass the work he had done over the years. To do this he brought in other musicians of the various styles he had played in to come together and record live with an audience; this project was called Overtime.
