Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on January 9th, 2019
“This is Gilda Radner…her voice and her writing.”
Since its debut in 1975, Saturday Night Live has churned out more comedy superstars than you can count. However, the first performer that SNL creator Lorne Michaels cast for the show wasn’t Chevy Chase or even John Belushi. It was Gilda Radner, the daring and vivacious comic who became a breakout star on the show…and passed away much too soon in 1989. So while Love, Gilda is certainly a love letter to the late comedy legend, the documentary is at its best when it relies on Radner’s own musings to tell her story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 16th, 2018
“Nothing...no one...will ever separate us. We are one.”
Four young siblings take this vow shortly after arriving in America from Great Britain, having just experienced their latest tragedy. Unfortunately for them, these words are spoken less than 10 minutes into Marrowbone, so you just know their vow is bound to be severely tested. But while the movie looks and sounds like a typical horror flick on the surface — and is even largely set in what seems like a classic haunted house — Marrowbone is much more of a soulful, spooky family drama than it is a bloody good time.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on July 18th, 2018
“Don't be jealous of a ghost.”
In Ismael's Ghosts, a French filmmaker's wife strolls back into his life 21 years after her sudden disappearance...much to the chagrin of the director and his current girlfriend. The tension created by the long-lost wife's return — combined with the question of where she's been and why she returned — is intriguing enough to carry this film. Unfortunately, Ismael's Ghosts is filled with way too many silly, half-baked tangents and ends up being as messy and frustrating as its main character.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 29th, 2017
With a title like 2:22 it’s more than a little on-the-nose to point out something major is going to occur at this time. For a film about premonitions, it’s a shame the film opens up as it does, because it leaves no mystery to the audience and simply tells us what is going to happen, or at least something close enough in the film’s final act. I hate films that are done in flashback just as much as I hate it when it doesn’t put in the effort to conceal how things are going to unfold. In a lot of ways the film is like Groundhog Day, only instead of the same day replaying over and over, it is the same events occurring over and over for our protagonist to figure out.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on July 20th, 2017
We here at UpcomingDiscs strive to provide our beloved readers with the most informative and well-thought-out reviews, regardless of the movie or TV show genre that comes flying through the door. Collectively, our awesome little staff covers a wide range of interests. But when swing dancing documentary Alive and Kicking arrived at UpcomingDiscs HQ…there was only one man for the job. The toe-tapping doc is equal parts enlightening and entertaining, whether you’re a swing dancing novice (like my wife/occasional movie-watching partner) or — like me — a guy who’s been into this stuff for the last 15 years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 25th, 2017
While I’m not usually a fan of gimmicks involved in trying to get my attention to see a movie, I’ll happily take an anthology of a found-footage film, simply because the odds of me finding something I like in the anthology are greater. VHS 2 is personally my favorite anthology film out there; even though it suffers from having to be a found-footage anthology, it at least delivers several unique perspectives and stories. I find it hard to believe a horror fan out there can’t enjoy the film. With XX the anthology presents us with a unique proposition when it comes to horror, four tales that are all crafted and presented by women. A rather unintentional taboo notion when you consider horror has been a boys’ club for many years, but we are in a new era, and with this anthology this is the business card that is here to show us what they got.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 27th, 2017
You ever hear that old adage about not putting your hands too close to the flame? Obviously Walter Stackhouse, Patrick Wilson’s character in A Kind of Murder, did not heed the warning as he finds himself embroiled in a murder conspiracy of his own while investigating a separate one. This film noir is based on a novel from the famous author of The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith. Murder mysteries in recent months have become a huge interest of mine, so when presented with this film, I was extremely excited with the opportunity. However, after watching, though I was intrigued by the whodunit aspect, I found the other areas lacking, specifically connecting with the lead character.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on October 14th, 2016
Imagine if Three Men and a Baby was remade with just two guys, a baby, a battle axe, and a bunch of arrows. Despite its exceedingly generic Americanized title, The Last King has a little something different to offer action-weary movie watchers. The story is set in a time and place — 13th century Norway during the country's civil war — that is probably unfamiliar to U.S. audiences. And while much of the hand-to-hand combat and royal treachery will prove cliched to some, they are presented with some fun tweaks and an occasionally sentimental tone that doesn't always mesh with the hard-hitting action.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 14th, 2016
When a movie that so clearly lifts its inspiration from the films of Roman Polanski and Alfred Hitchcock, I would have expected to simply embrace this film for the nail-biting thriller it is attempting to be. Instead I found myself sitting back wondering why I just couldn’t get into this film. Is it because the storyline seems uninspired? Whatever it is when it comes to The Ones Below, it may hit all the right notes when it comes to what to expect with a thriller, but that’s the problem; it plays everything by the book and doesn’t dare to take unexpected twists.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 9th, 2016
“High Rise,” the novel written by the late English author J.G. Ballard, was published in 1975. The story follows a diverse group of characters who live in a luxurious skyscraper that features every amenity imaginable. Things are so convenient, in fact, that the tenants gradually become less interested in the outside world. The idea of people becoming increasingly uninterested in the outside world is obviously still relevant more than 40 years later, since many of us prefer to order everything online and only venture outdoors if there's a rare Pokemon to be caught. But while this movie adaptation has its moments of inspired lunacy, it's ultimately too slight and scattershot to leave a lasting impact.
