Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 23rd, 2011
Fishing is fairly foreign to me I admit it. The idea that you have to get up at the crack of dawn just to sit in a rusted over boat without saying a word to only catch not a darn thing seems like a waste of time if nothing else. The television fishing shows on TBS do not make it sound any better either. The only thing appealing to me about it is if you can find some beautiful scenery to fish in. Perhaps a place like Oregon, which is the setting for our new review: The River Why.
There is nothing like fly fishing up in the lakes of Oregon just outside of Portland. At least that is what Gus (Augustine) Orviston (played by Zach Gilford) has always thought. Why even as a baby, he was delivered underwater (in a tub). He would sleep with a pet fish; he would be able to catch his own fish even at ten years old. Gus loves fish and everything to do with fishing, well except his fishing crazy parents.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 23rd, 2011
To say I am a sucker for hard rocking music films is an understatement. One of my favorite films in this genre is Rockstar of which I am still waiting for a good blu-ray release. Other films like This is Spinal Tap or even The Runaways also hold my interest for a good time. So, I was a little interested when I saw Trigger come to my doorstep, a tale about two reunited female musicians who are brought back together for one great night.
Two girls tear up the stage and put on a great performance of rocking their hearts out set to a peaceful piano number. The music ends with some guitar bashing, lead singer boozing and general chaos. Ahhh, so peaceful. We fast forward to ten years later and arrive in a fancy restaurant. Vic (played byTracy Wright) shows up (the guitarist) and is seated at a table. About forty five minutes to an hour later, Kat (lead singer) (played by Molly Parker) shows up and apologizes for being late.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on November 23rd, 2011
If you try to look at the state of independent films in the modern age, it would be a huge undertaking.
Let’s look at a film called Bellflower. It just came out and is a good example of what the state of independent films is like in the year 2011. It is very low-budget project in which everyone sweats blood, especially the writer/director/star, to get the movie done. It has some novel ideas, some youthful energy, and way too many rough edges.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2011
"My name is John Crichton...an astronaut. Four years ago, I got...shot through a wormhole to a distant part of the galaxy. I ending up on this ship...this living ship, populated by escaping prisoners...who became my friends. I made enemies..."
Take a magical journey with me now. I don't mean into outer space. It's a journey back in time to a day when the SyFy Channel was called the Sci-Fi Channel. A day when it was an exciting and promising place on the cable dial. After a few fledgling years showing old repeats it was time to grow, and grow they did. When the powers that be decided to begin making new original programming they teamed up with Brian Henson who was just getting his feet running his late-father's Jim Henson Company. Yeah, the Muppets guys. He believed it was time to do something darker, something with an edge and targeted more to an adult audience. His father began the journey with The Dark Crystal. Now it was time for more of that kind of thing. The two companies found their solutions together in a show called Farscape.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on November 22nd, 2011
“When you're a Jet, you're a Jet all the way! From your first cigarette to your last dyin' days.”
West Side Story is a masterpiece in film making. Its DNA comes from the greatest entertainers in the business. The great Robert Wise (The Sound of Music, The Day the Earth Stood Still) shares directing credit with one of the world’s greatest choreographers, Jerome Robbins. The music was composed by Leonard Bernstein with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Daniel Fapp’s cinematography is epic and evocative. The movie was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10, a record at the time, including Best Picture and Best Director. This is film sets the bar so high for musicals there really hasn’t been a good filmed one since.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2011
By Natasha Samreny
Santa Claus is neither jolly elf with rosy cheeks nor heart of gold. He doesn't reward the good kids and he tortures the bad ones.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on November 21st, 2011
“10,000 people crammed… no bed, no toilets and little water.”
Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas) is an American journalist living in Paris covering the anniversary of the 1942 Vel' d'Hiv Roundup, a horrific atrocity when occupied France bowed to the will of the Nazis and rounded up over 13,000 Jews to ship them off to concentration camps. As she investigates the story she discovers a dark secret in her French husband’s family directly connecting them to the event. The story is split between Julia’s modern day investigation and 1942 where it follows 10-year-old Sarah Starzynski (Melusine Mayance) as she deals with the horrors of the roundup.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 20th, 2011
Deep inside most people's hearts lies a layer of curiosity. Many of us could go that one step farther and say it boils down to perversion. Whether it involves a spectacular car crash or two lovers in the throws of passion, there are uninhibited moments that we want to see. But what happens when those moments go beyond curiosity and straight into voyeurism? Worse yet, perhaps straight into a very dangerous situation? Well then one might be feeling much like Jeffery Beaumont in Blue Velvet, one of David Lynch's best movies.
In the serene peaceful town of Lumberton, we see blooming flowers, kids walking and Mr. Beaumont (played by Jack Harvey) watering the grass. However, the water hose hits a snag and gets caught up in the bushes. As he struggles with the apparatus, his heart suddenly gives out and he falls to the concrete below. As he lays there motionless on the ground, a child comes out to see what happened and the dog decides to take a drink. Ants lurch out of the ground and we fade to black.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 18th, 2011
"It finally happened – Comedy Central messed up and gave me a show."
I have to admit that I had not heard about Gabriel Iglesias before I saw a recent Blu-ray concert film. Gabriel is a rather rotund comic. For him, it's not a liability at all. Honestly, he's turned it into a cash cow, of sorts. It's a huge, pun intended, part of his routine. In fact, to understand his nickname "Fluffy" you have to be clued into one of his signature routines. He identifies six levels of obesity. They range from Big, Healthy, Husky, Fluffy, Damn, and the latest level, Hell No. As you might guess, Gabriel considers himself in the Fluffy category. Still, for all of his pounds he has quite a bit of energy, and he moves along the stage quite well for his weight. His body and child-like face make him disarming and more than a little bit charming on stage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 18th, 2011
Erle Stanley Gardner wrote crime fiction, and while many of his 100 or so works are unknown to most of us, he created a character that has become as identified with criminal lawyers as any other in fiction. It was in these crime novels that Perry Mason first faced a courtroom. He developed a style where he would investigate these terrible crimes his clients were on trial for. He would find the real killer, and in what has become a Hollywood cliché, reveal his findings in a crucial moment during the trial. While we may not remember the novels, we all remember the man in the persona of Raymond Burr. Burr had a commanding presence on our screens and enjoyed a well deserved 11-year run as the clever lawyer. What makes this run so amazing is that the show followed pretty much the same pattern the entire time. We always know what’s going to happen, but we wait eagerly for that gotcha moment when Perry faces the witness on the stand. We know when he’s got the guy squarely in his sights, and we can’t sit still waiting for him to pull the trigger. OK, so maybe that’s a little over the top, but so was Perry Mason. From the moment you heard that distinctive theme, the stage was set. To say that Perry Mason defined the lawyer show for decades would be an understatement. Folks like Matlock and shows like The Practice are strikingly similar to Perry Mason. If you haven’t checked this show out, this is your chance. See where it all began.
Raymond Burr did not carry the show on his own. There was a very fine cast of supporting characters. The most famous has to be his faithful secretary Della Street, played by Barbara Hale. The two were inseparable. Perry had the help of a good private investigator in the Raymond Chandler style. William Hopper played the tough-as-nails Paul Drake. One of Orson Welles’ famous Mercury Theater Players took on the part of Police Lt. Tragg. Ray Collins starred in Citizen Kane as the political party boss Gettys. He was a fine example of top talent working in television. Mason was often pitted against prosecutor Hamilton Burger, whose name too often reminded me of hamburgers. There wasn’t anything funny about Burger, however. He was a worthy opponent who drew the short straw most of the time because he was up against Perry Mason. The task was accomplished with a lot of style by William Talman, a one-time evangelistic preacher.
![The River Why [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-river-why-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Farscape: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/farscape-the-complete-series-blu--large.jpg)
![West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/west-side-story-50th-anniversary-e-large.jpg)
![Blue Velvet [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/blue-velvet-blu-ray-large.jpg)
