Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2011
"That be the cold hand of fate I feel down my nape."
With each of the previous Pirates Of Caribbean films pulling in over a billion dollars in total revenue, it was indeed the cold hand of fate that determined the franchise would not end. Like Captain Jack Sparrow himself, this franchise isn't going to be easy to kill. It's true that the last two films, the third in particular, were rather universally scorned by the critics. But they still pulled in a boatload of money and quite honestly weren't near as bad as all of that. Like the theme park attraction that the franchise was named after, you have to consider these movies as rides. The only intention is to entertain. And by all accounts they've been doing a pretty good job of that for several years now. Even when the rest of the supporting cast bowed out of the franchise, it isn't finished yet, and there's no indication that the voyage is nearing its end any time soon.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 26th, 2011
“Now this might be the room of any small boy, but it happens to belong to a boy named Christopher Robin, and like most small boys, Christopher Robin had toy animals to play with. And together they had many remarkable adventures in an enchanted place called The Hundred Acre Wood. But out of all of his animal friends, Christopher Robin’s very best friend was a bear called Winnie The Pooh.”
“Oh Bother”A.A. Milne was quite an eclectic writer. He wrote murder mysteries that even appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents. From that fertile mind would also come a place known as the Hundred Acre Wood. In that select place some of literature’s finest characters had the greatest adventures any boy could imagine. And adventures are certainly no fun on your own. Young Christopher Robin was joined by Piglet, Tigger, Owl, Rabbit, Eeyore, and, of course, Winnie-The-Pooh. Who didn’t fall in love with that silly old bear… Winnie-The-Pooh. OK, so maybe Dahmer or Bundy might have been exceptions. Still, anyone growing up in the last 30-40 years who isn’t a psychopath has had a love affair with Winnie-The-Pooh, all stuffed with fluff.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 12th, 2011
"From the day we arrive on the planet and blinking, step into the sun, there's more to see than can ever be seen. More to do than can ever be done. There's far too much to take in here. More to find than can ever be found..."
There's a period in the 1990's that has often been referred to as the second golden age of Disney animation. The studio had fallen from its once mighty perch, and most film historians tend to agree there was a creative dark ages through the 1980's. But the renaissance of the studio began with Aladdin in 1992 would go on to include such tremendous classics as Beauty And The Beast and The Little Mermaid. None of these films speak to the resurgence of the animated feature like The Lion King. The film set every animated record there was and holds some of those box office records today. It can be safely stated that the great flood of animated projects that followed can be traced to the impact of The Lion King. In 1996 Simba was the most popular name chosen for new housecats. Elton John saw his appeal extend to children, and there could be no mistake that the animated feature was back.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 6th, 2011
Written by John Delia
I don’t know if you recently had the opportunity to see The Lion King in 3D at your local theater or the original version in 1994 when it came out, but I had the opportunity to see the film in the 3D Blu-ray disc version and it’s amazing. The film will probably never be replaced as the all time animated entertainment event for me because it has all the action, drama, comedy and values that make it the best for family viewing, and now in 3D Blu-ray.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2011
"Through the snow, and sleet, and hail / Through the blizzard, through the gale / Through the wind and through the rain / Over mountain, over plain / Through the blinding lightning flash / And the mighty thunder crash / Ever faithful, ever true / Nothing stops him, he'll get through."
When Walt Disney's big gamble with Snow White paid off an entire studio was created and financed. The man and his merry little band were on top of the world. But then Walt decided to try and sophisticate his audience somewhat, and the result was box office disaster. Both Pinocchio and Fantasia did miserable business, and the grand new studio was on the ropes. It's hard to believe that either of these movies failed on their original release. Walt's confidence in them has since been amply rewarded. Both are considered beloved classics today, but they appeared to be heralding the death of the studio when they were released. The studio needed a hit, and they needed one badly. It's a bit ironic that with all of the groundbreaking technological advances and innovations the studio had already made that it would be one of their simplest and least expensive efforts of the era that would lift the studio back on to solid ground. That movie was Dumbo.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by BABY on August 24th, 2011
Baby here again. No, you're not seeing double unless you're seeing two of me. That would be very bad since you're reading this and I'm not really there at all. No, you're not seeing double. But, thanks to the guys at Disney and a little bit to the guys at UPS who somehow got this thing through my tight security net, we get not one but two classic Disney animated movies on one Blu-ray release. This thing has so much canine content that you're gonna need a doggie bag for all the leftovers. Speaking of leftovers, you can send any of that stuff to us here at Upcomingdiscs in care of Baby. Now, how many paws am I holding up?
Of course, the movie should have been called The Hound And The Fox, because we know who should get top billing here. But don't blame the guys at Disney for that one. That blame belongs to a guy named Daniel P. Mannix. You see, he wrote a children's book a while before, and this was another one of those Disney versions of a classic story. I guess that means I should tell you the story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 19th, 2011
"Who knew mothering was so hard?"
If you thought that mothering was hard, you should see the work and creativity that goes into making a motion-capture computer animation feature. What started with The Polar Express led to a wonderful holiday special in the hands of Walt Disney with last year's charming A Christmas Carol. Now Disney has taken the magic one step farther with the recent release of Mars Needs Moms.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 24th, 2011
The story of Romeo and Juliet is a story that is retold at least once every generation. It can be retold using a different time period or with alien races or perhaps even in a thirty second commercial. It is a fairly easy story and parts can be tweaked given the audience and intention. So begins the story of Gnomeo and Juliet. Take one part animation, one part garden gnomes and a dose of laughter that could be just what the classic play needs. Or it could become a tragedy of the highest order.
There are two elderly people who share a large house. One is Mrs. Montague and the other is Mr. Capulet. They can not stand each other. In such, part of their daily routine is to look after their separate prized garden. One is decorated in blue (Montague) while the other is decorated in red(Capulet). However, they both share one thing in their design. They both like to use garden gnomes. When Mrs. Montague and Mr. Capulet go away however, the gnomes magically come to life. So starts our story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 23rd, 2011
When I was a kid, I always wished and hoped I had super powers. Frankly, I did not even think my parents were my parents, rather hosts for somebody who would eventually change the world. Somewhere along the way, I grew up (kinda) but always wondered what would happen if things were different. I Am Number Four explores the story of a teenager who could change the world with his powers if he can simply stay alive long enough. By the way, I still don’t think my parents were my parents.
Two men (played by Greg Townley and Reuben Langdon) are asleep in some remote part of the world. All of the sudden, they feel something is wrong and wake up. They find nothing, but then suddenly one of the men is grabbed by an unknown monster and taken out of the cabin by force. The other man witnessing this horrid event has no choice but to try and run to safety.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 5th, 2011
The movie to introduce Thor to the motion picture audience is set to open this Friday. Captain America isn’t too far behind that and opens up in July. Most movie goers have also seen one or both of the Iron Man and Hulk films. But all of those characters will soon be assembled into a mighty team called the Avengers. But before that mammoth movie, first we have to get the kiddies involved with a new cartoon series. Enter Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Iron Man has a problem. The name of this problem: Hydra. Hydra has apparently obtained the much desired Stark technology and is using it against the world including Iron Man and SHIELD (ran by Nick Fury). Before we know it, Tony Stark will come face to face with the Dreadnaughts and Nick Fury will have to take on the Grim Reaper. If Grim Reaper is allowed to take out Nick Fury, then he would be able to free Baron Strucker from the Vault.
