Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 31st, 2010
For most people in high school, Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare is required reading. Sometimes more than once. Somehow, whenever it came time to read aloud in class, I always ended up with the part of Romeo. It certainly wasn’t for my striking good looks but apparently for my charming voice. As a result, I remember most of Romeo’s part to this very day. But would I be able to enjoy a fairly recent adaptation of Romeo and Juliet directed by Baz Luhrmann? We shall see.
Somewhere in Verona Beach there are two families who struggling for power, the Montagues and the Capulets. The blood feud has continued for years between Ted Montague (played by Brian Dennehy) and Fulgencio Capulet (played by Paul Sorvino). But everybody from their wives, Caroline Montague and Gloria Capulet (played by Christina Pickles and Diane Venora respectively) to their families have felt the impact.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2010
Anyone who is looking for a direct sequel to the 2008 sleeper hit with Kiefer Sutherland or even a connection to the original Asian ghost film might tend to be disappointed in the direct-to-video Mirrors 2. This is absolutely one of those films where the name is used merely because of its franchise value, and the film's associations are mostly just a few familiar names. Add the same basic idea of a haunted mirror at the center of it all, and you pretty much have all of the connections this movie makes to either of the original projects. With that said, there is a bit more to like about Mirrors 2 than you might suspect on the surface.
This time it's Nick Stahl who plays a down-on-his-luck security guard at another branch of the Mayflower Department Store. He is Max, who has been dealing with a great deal of guilt of late. His fiancée was killed in an auto accident by a drunk driver. But Max was driving and wasn't paying attention to the road. He was playing a game of "find the ring" with his girlfriend when the tragedy occurred. As it turns out, Max's father (Katt) is the owner of the Mayflower Department Store, which is about to reopen its doors in New Orleans. The previous night watchman cut himself quite severely and quit his job, apparently going crazy during a night shift. Of course, we saw what really happened. It was an image in the main mirror that caused his injuries. The grand opening has been plagued with mishaps. Eleanor Reigns (Honore) has been missing for several weeks. Max discovers her spirit in the store mirror on his first night on the job. He also sees a vision of the store's executive buyer, Jenna (Romano) lose her head, literally. Later that night, he discovers that the woman really was decapitated by a shower door. He begins to see other prophetic images and decides something is seriously wrong here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2010
"So come up to the lab and see what's on the slab."
It was 1975. Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa goes missing. South Vietnam falls. The Superdome opens in New Orleans. Elizabeth Seton becomes the first American saint. Patty Hearst ends her fugitive run. George Carlin hosts the first episode of Saturday Night Live. Phil Collins replaces Peter Gabriel as the lead in Genesis. And The Rocky Horror Picture Show opens to absolutely terrible box office numbers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2010
A Joss Whedon universe is always a strange and fantastical place to visit. It doesn’t matter if it’s populated by vampires and demons or space cowboys. If Whedon’s name appears anywhere on the credits, you know you’re going to be in for one hell of a ride. It’s been a little while since Whedon’s been back in the saddle. His most recent series, Firefly, was fraught with problems with the network. It was very badly handled, and the show died an undeserved swift death after just a few episodes. Whedon appeared somewhat bitter after all of that and disappeared from the television radar for a few years. They say you can’t keep a good man down, and now Whedon is back with his latest mythology-heavy series, Dollhouse.
For a lot of fans, it looked like Dollhouse was heading down the same black hole that Firefly flew into. There were numerous delays in getting started, not the least of which was the writers’ strike just days after the series was given the green light. Whedon had his cast and crew already in place, but it seemed they were all dressed up with no place to go. Once the strike ended, they quickly punched out the pilot episode from the series. Unfortunately, the new pilot had some issues. Whedon and the network hadn’t exactly been on the same page, and as quickly as it had been made, the pilot was scrapped. Fans were getting restless. It was just this kind of pilot debacle that started so many of Firefly’s problems. Fortunately, a second go went quite smoothly, and the show was off the ground. Ratings were not exactly the atmospheric numbers FOX was expecting from a Joss Whedon series. There was already talk by the middle of the first 12-episode run that the series was in danger. Then there was a problem with the number 12. Apparently FOX and Whedon had another one of their, by now, classic misunderstandings. The network was expecting not 12 but 13 episodes. The result was a pretty unconventional final episode that just might have saved the series as it turned out. Finally, the show finished production with no word on renewal. The show was considered on the bubble, with most predictions leaning toward its cancellation. It seems that the curse was going to make Dollhouse just another of its many victims. But then something unexpected happened, and the marginal show was renewed. But that was to be a short-lived reprieve. The series is gone now and these final 13 episodes are all that you'll have left to remember it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2010
In June of 1987 many of us took to our local theaters to watch two future state governors tackle an alien creature in the jungles of southeast Asia. Director John McTiernan had combined the Rambo mercenary-styled film with that of a creature feature. The result was an impressive $60 million on a mere $15 million budget, and a franchise was born. From its first reveal in those Asian jungles, the Predator was an impressive sight. The creature was highly intelligent, to be sure, but it possessed those baser instincts of hunting and survival. It was a monster, but one who utilized advanced technological weaponry to accent its own fearsome brutal nature. It was the stuff that new nightmares would be made of. A sequel featuring Danny Glover and placing the creature in an urban setting soon followed. While that film is widely disregarded, I found it to be a rather good film. I still think it's an underrated monster movie.
It didn't take very long before the fan boys in Hollywood started getting their imaginations running wild. The inevitable question, since Frankenstein's Monster met up with The Wolfman -- who would win if we put the Predator against the Alien. It was a heavyweight fight just itching to play itself out at the box office. And, it did ... twice. The result might have destroyed both franchises. It seemed that these creatures had finally met their match, and it wasn't each other. Bad writing and wayward filmmaking brought down both creatures. It appeared as if they were both gone, forever.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 19th, 2010
"Born with a steering wheel in his hand and lead in his foot, he is the Nightrider, cruising at the speed of fright! This is the Nightrider, and we ain't never coming back. I'm a fuel-injected suicide machine..."
Long before Mel Gibson's troubles involved real-life police officers and a bad case of "foot-in-mouth disease” that has made him his own worst enemy, Mel had more dramatic enemies to deal with. The unknown Australian actor was only 22 years old when he starred in the Outback production that would put both Mel Gibson and his native Australia on the filmmaking map. The movie was originally a very low-budget film. It was made in an attempt to show the world that America wasn't the only place you could make a non-stop action film. When American audiences got their first glimpse of the unique post-apocalyptic showcase, they still didn't get a real dose of Mel Gibson. All of the Australian actors, including Gibson, had been dubbed to lose the accents. If you saw Mad Max in the cinema in 1979 or 1980, you heard someone else's voice coming out of Mel's mouth. Too bad he didn't have that option a few years back when he was stopped for a DUI and proceeded to offer up a rendition of History of the World according to Mel, only it wasn't Mel Brooks. The anti-Jewish rant and belligerence has thrust the once-superstar into a decade where he hasn't had a real starring role.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 10th, 2010
So Troll 2 hits Blu-ray. That fact is as sure a sign of the coming Apocalypse as any I can think of, and, at the very least, must threaten the entire Blu-ray format with destruction, as judgment rains down from the hands of an angry God. If, Gentle Reader, you come to this review without any foreknowledge of the film, and are actually wondering if a movie called Troll 2 might be good, then please run as fast as you can and hide. Or at the very least, please watch the legendary YouTube clip appended below. What, you're still here? Don't say you weren't warned.
I'm risking my immortal soul by writing any kind of a synopsis of this film, but here goes. Little Josh (Michale Stephenson) is regularly visited by the rather cranky ghost of his grandfather, who warns him about the dangers posed by goblins (yes, this is a movie called Troll 2 that features goblins instead of trolls – already a dire omen). Josh's family heads off into the countryside for a pioneer-style holiday. Less than happy to be on the trip is teenage daughter Holly (Connie McFarland), whose callow boyfriend Elliot (Jason Wright) was supposed to come along, but was late. Elliot and his equally idiotic friends are now trying to catch up under their own steam. Our characters arrive in the town of Nilbog, where the residents turn out to be goblins in disguise. Their dastardly plans involve transforming the people into vegetable hybrids, and then eating them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 30th, 2010
We all remember Ed O'Neill as Al Bundy from Married With Children. It's an iconic role that he'll never be able to shake no matter what he does for the rest of his life. After that series ended its 11-year run, he even attempted to get out of comedy and take more dramatic roles. I'm sure there was a deliberate intent to try to distance himself from Al. It's not that he likely didn't love playing the role. He just wanted to avoid getting forever typecast in the mold. Those efforts weren't all that successful. But now he's back where he belongs again in a pretty solid sit-com. He's not playing Al Bundy anymore, although you won't have to look very hard to find some of Bundy in Jay from Modern Family.
I have become somewhat frustrated over the television comedy genre for a lot of years. It seems that they all take the same path no matter what the show's actual concept might be. It's usually the same jokes, just in a different environment. I don't have children, but I expect that it must be near impossible to sit down and watch a comedy with your family any more. If I were a stranger visiting this planet for the first time, I would quickly come to the conclusion that sex is about the only thing that's funny here. Thank God that once in a while something fresh comes along and swims against the current tide of innuendo and toilet humor. Modern Family is the kind of show you can enjoy with the entire family. And guess what? It's pretty darn funny on top of it all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 30th, 2010
Most people who actually know me can say that I do love to sing. Much of my singing is relegated to a combination of karaoke and Xbox 360 games (Lips/Rock Band). But a long time ago, I wasn’t very comfortable with my singing. Had I been comfortable, I might have joined my school’s glee club. Fast forward a few years and we have a show about a high school glee club. Its funny how you can miss an experience you have never had.
William McKinley High School is in need of a new director of their glee club. The last one was a bit too handy and had to be dealt with. Luckily, there is a Spanish teacher named William Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison) who wishes to take over the position. Principal Figgins (played by Iqbal Theba) lets him know they have almost no budget but he still must place them in regionals for them to continue.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 30th, 2010
"God bless fantasy football. There are many things a man can do with his time. And this is better than most of those things."
I'm a big football fan. I watch the Vikings from my high-definition theater here in Tampa, Florida thanks to the wonderful invention of the Sunday Football Ticket. No, this is not an advertisement for DirecTV. In fact, don't get me started on the problems these guys cause me every year. The point is, the Sunday Ticket allows me to watch my favorite football team even if it's not the local losers. I think that was how it was intended to work. But lately fantasy football has literally taken over the sport. Players in these fantasy leagues need information from all of the games so that they can keep an eye on how their players are doing. I tried it once. It just is too much work. It's bad enough that watching movies has become work these days. Why would I want my football to become work as well? What the heck am I going to do for fun then? But, for some, fantasy football is very serious business. Don't believe me? Watch a few episodes of The League.
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![Mirrors 2 (Unrated Edition) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/mirrors-2-unrated-edition-blu-ra-large.jpg)
![The Rocky Horror Picture Show (35th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-rocky-horror-picture-show-35th-large.jpg)
![Dollhouse: Season 2 [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/dollhouse-season-2-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Predators ( + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/predators-digital-copy-blu-ra-large.jpg)
![Troll 2 [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/troll-2-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Modern Family: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/modern-family-the-complete-first-s-large.jpg)
![Glee: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/glee-the-complete-first-season-bl-large.jpg)
![The League: The Complete First Season [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-league-the-complete-first-seas-large.jpg)
