Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 8th, 2011
"Every story has a beginning, but ours doesn't start the way you might think. Sure, it begins on a street that looks like most and with a family that was, for the most part, normal...ordinary."
Superheroes are big business these days. I'm not just talking the blockbuster tentpole films, either. Television has enjoyed a bit of a resurgence thanks to shows like Heroes. All we've been waiting for was someone to come up with a fresh take on the whole thing. We almost got that with No Ordinary Family. It came close, but you remember what they say about horseshoes and hand grenades. The show had great potential and some rather impressive star power. And, as the man on the box of rice keeps telling us: "With great power comes great responsibility". After watching a full season in just under a week I found that I was underwhelmed more than I was wowed. And to think it all started out so promising...
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 8th, 2011
Timing is everything, and it is no coincidence that this nearly forgotten film version of Captain America is just now seeing the light of day on DVD, even if only as a manufactured on demand release. It would be so very easy to compare this film with the big-budget affair that was released this past summer. Easy, but certainly unfair. The 1990 production looks very much like a made-for-television film, but it wasn't at all. It did sit on the shelf for over two years before it was finally released to a limited American audience. It's a bit ironic that the United States was literally the last to see a film called Captain America. Heck, most of it wasn't even filmed in North America. The exterior locations were all filmed in what used to be Yugoslavia.
The film attempts to cover the origins of both Captain America and his main arch-villain The Red Skull, just as the new film has done. There are a few other notable similarities. Both films have Captain America crashing in the arctic trying to stop one of The Red Skull's weapons and later resurrecting in modern times. Both films feature a shootout during Rogers' transformation scene. That's about all that these films have in common. The 1990 movie takes most of the action after he is thawed out, while the latest film uses that part of the story more or less as a coda. Of course, the size of the budgets and the 21 years of improved f/x date the older movie pretty badly. The Red Skull makeup is unimpressive. But it's not really the technology that makes this film such an inferior effort.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 7th, 2011
"Where life had no value, death sometimes had its price. That is why the bounty killers appeared."
If you had asked Clint Eastwood about the chances of Fistful Of Dollars being at all successful, he admits he hadn't given it much of a chance. The film took a lot of chances with what was already a tired genre. Add to that the fact that it was a low-budget European effort and there really was no chance that the movie would be remembered a year later. But the film did pretty good money and made a ton of international noise. The men involved ended up with more than a fistful of dollars in their banking accounts. Who could blame them for wanting A Few Dollars More?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 7th, 2011
Somehow in addition to my love for bad action movies and cartoons, I have developed another feather in my cap as being one of the people on this site that regularly reviews concerts and musical documentaries on dvd or blu-ray. This is despite the fact that about the only musical talent I possess is the ability to sing glam metal or hair band rock. Okay, perhaps I can sing some other rock songs too but I would not consider myself a musical aficionado. So today’s musical act to review? That would be the Counting Crows.
Most people when they hear the band name Counting Crows think of the song, Mr. Jones, a very curious alternative rock hit that blew up the radio rock airwaves in late 93 and early 94. The truth is that song was an unexpected hit for the band who sang the song out of fun and fantasy. Lead singer Adam Duritz ’s childhood friend, Marty Jones (Himalayans bassist) was one of the inspirations for that song that spoke of the desire of musicians who wanted it to make it big.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 4th, 2011
It is cartoon review time boys and girls. We have a very special guest today, he is the president of the The More Angry Beavers in Cartoons Today Thingy club. He is going to show us a cartoon today called, wait for it. *Waiting* *Random children start to flic boogers at each other* It's the Angry Beavers! *One kid cheers and the others throw paper wads at him* Wait, you don't know the Angry Beavers?! Well, then let us start the show and we will introduce to these two, Daggert and Norbert who live in a bachelor dam (not under the sea but above it!).
The Angry Beavers was a very successful cartoon for the Nickelodeon network that ran from 1997 to 2003. They did a total of sixty three episodes over four seasons and were nominated for eleven awards, four of which they actually won including a Daytime Emmy for Sound Editing and an Annie Award for Production Design. But enough about how wonderful this show and let us move on to the main characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on September 3rd, 2011
“They're right. All those people who say it's our job to just sit and watch people die. They're right.”
A starving, war savaged toddler girl squats, burying her face in the sun baked earth of the Sudan. She remains motionless, near death and locked in catatonic despair. A few feet behind her a vulture, nearly as big as the child, eyes her hungrily and patiently waits for her to grow too weak to fight it off. A photographer quietly circles the scene, snapping away and looking for the best angle. He finds it, gets the shot and leaves. The photo wins a Pulitzer Prize. The little girl presumably gets eaten by the vulture.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 3rd, 2011
A Mini-series is probably the hardest thing to review for me. Movies are fairly easy, even the ones that exceed two hours. Television series since they are episodic in nature, one can watch a few, come back and watch a few more. Video Games despite taking triple the effort of an average movie are easy because they are interactive. But most mini-series are usually 3-4 hours long and really can not be broken up. Well for today’s review, multiply that duration by two and we have the Thomas Hardy Collection.
There are two tales contained in the Thomas Hardy Collection. There is Tess of the Dubervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge. Each of these run over three hours long and are split up in two parts a piece. So theoretically you could watch these in at least four parts but most will want to watch Mayor in one sitting and Tess in the next. Our chariot awaits and may we not fall asleep on the way.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 2nd, 2011
"Everybody here has become very rich, or else they are dead."
In 1964 things were very different from the way they are now. The Hollywood western movie was winding down. The genre had pretty much played itself out and was struggling to maintain even on television. Few people knew who Clint Eastwood was. He had a pretty sweet gig on the television series Rawhide but wasn't anywhere near a household name. Sergio Leone was a name almost no one had heard of. And there was no such thing as a Spaghetti Western. With the release of one very low budget film, all of those things changed practically overnight.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 2nd, 2011
"You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension -- a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on September 2nd, 2011
“How would you like to use that gun belt for something more than just holding up your pants?”
Although the title of the blu-ray is Return of the Magnificent Seven, the original film’s title sequence just calls it Return of the Seven, and for good reason. There is nothing vaguely magnificent in this movie. This is the type of sequel that gives sequels a bad name.
![For a Few Dollars More [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/for-a-few-dollars-more-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![August and Everything After: Live at Town Hall [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/august-and-everything-after-live-a-large.jpg)
![The Bang Bang Club [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-bang-bang-club-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Fistful of Dollars [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/fistful-of-dollars-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![The Twilight Zone: Season 5 [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-twilight-zone-season-5-blu-ra-large.jpg)
![Return of Magnificent Seven [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/return-of-magnificent-seven-blu-ra-large.jpg)
