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.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on August 30th, 2011
“We deal in lead, friend.”
In the fall of 1956, Anthony Quinn watched a special screening of Akira Kurosawa’s The Seven Samurai and had an epiphany; this Japanese masterpiece, inspired by the great American westerns of John Ford, would, itself, make a great American western. Quinn acquired the rights and contacted his then close friend Yul Brynner and pitched the idea of him playing the bad guy and Brynner the good guy.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2011
An ancient facility beneath Antarctica becomes the launching platform to the lost city of Atlantis. Atlantis is buried beneath an ocean in another galaxy and can only be reached with an additional symbol on the Stargate. Because of power limitations this trip, at least for the time being, is a one-way adventure. A crew of scientists and military officers from many countries assemble to explore the Pegasus Galaxy from the Atlantis gate.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2011
“The die was cast. If I just said City Hall the story would end here. But I didn’t, and Betsy and I took our fateful trip to Vegas.”
Everyone remembers the 1993 provocative film Indecent Proposal with Robert Redford as the rich playboy who offers Woody Harrelson a million bucks to spend a night with his wife, played by Demi Moore. The movie created quite a stir, and more than a little water cooler conversation about what you might do in that situation. What most people overlook, however, is that same kind of situation appeared a year earlier with a more romantic-comedy take in Andrew Bergman’s Honeymoon in Vegas.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on August 2nd, 2011
“Zippedy Doo-Dah. Zippedy Yay. My, oh my, I got a wonderful slave.”
I’ve never really been a big fan of director Gary Marshall’s films. I prefer his work as a producer of classic sitcoms, like The Odd Couple and Happy Days. Marshall’s most popular film, Pretty Woman, plays off the Cinderella cliché a little too much for my taste, with a man ultimately finding and saving a woman by redefining her. Three years before Pretty Woman, Marshall explored these same themes in Overboard, but instead of slick fantasy salvation at the hands of a wealthy Richard Gere,
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 27th, 2011
I’ve got to admit that for a long time, Four Weddings and a Funeral was in a category of movies that I had no intention or curiosity to see because of the title, the cast and the story. Hugh Grant was a significant step down towards the emasculation of man, where we start wearing large sweaters, hang out in pseudo-Starbucks coffee shops and talk about what happened on American Idol or some lame thing along those lines.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on July 25th, 2011
“Give me a head with hair, long beautiful hair, shining gleaming steaming flaxen waxen. Give me it down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer, here, baby, there, mamma, everywhere, daddy, daddy hair! Flow it, show it, long as God can grow it, my hair!”
Born in the late 50s, I was a child of 60s and a teen in the 70s. I believed in the revolution. The Beatles and The Stones would lead the charge against the establishment.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 14th, 2011
The story of Jesse James has been told many times over the years. There isn’t a medium in the world that hasn’t seen its share of tales concerning the infamous outlaw. You could find radio dramas, plays, television shows, films and even songs that recount his exploits. Some of these have been honest and brutal depictions of a lawless man and his gang of thugs who terrorized the West by robbing trains and banks, leaving corpses in their wake. Then there’s the romantic telling that picks up on the folk heroes that Jesse and his boys have become over the years.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 11th, 2011
The setting is a comfortably large house in the English countryside. Kin and friends have gathered for the funeral of the family patriarch bringing with them their foibles, eccentricities, and disasters waiting to happen. At the centre are the two brothers, Daniel and Troy (Matthew MacFayden and Rupert Graves). The former struggles under the shadow of his famous brother’s success as a writer, his plight encapsulated by the fact that everyone in attendance is disappointed that Troy will not be giving the eulogy. But his problems are about to become much, much greater, as the funeral descends into a chaos of unwelcome revelations, blackmail, drug freak-outs.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 8th, 2011
“As the American Civil War ended, another war was just beginning. The Mexican people were struggling to rid themselves of their foreign emperor – Maximilian. Into this fight rode a handful of Americans, ex-soldiers, adventurers, criminals, all bent on gain. They drifted south in small groups. And some came alone.”
Ben Trane (Cooper) was one of those who came alone. He was a southern officer fresh from the defeat of the Confederacy. He’s come to Mexico to hire out for the Emperor in fighting the rebellion. Along the way he meets Joe Erin (Lancaster)
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Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 24th, 2011
The second version of Cornell Woolrich’s novel “Waltz Into Darkness” (previously filmed as François Truffaut’s Mississippi Mermaid), this is a decidedly steamier version, especially here, in its unrated form.
Cuban plantation owner Antonio Banderas advertises for a wife, and the woman who answers his ad is, he believes, plain but pure. Who shows up, however, is the beautiful but duplicitous Angelina Jolie, who has larceny rather than matrimony on her mind. Her scam runs smoothly at first … but she hasn’t counted on the depth of Banderas’ obsession with her.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 14th, 2011
For ten years we watched Jack O’Neil, Samantha Carter, Dr. Daniel Jackson, and the Jaff’a Tealc’ enter the Stargate. Others would join the team over the years. Each week we would follow their adventures, first on Showtime and finally on the Sci-Fi (now Sy Fy) Channel. We watched with awe as they stepped through a portal that was in reality a wormhole transporting them instantly to another world, brought online by dialing the device like an old-fashioned telephone. For another five years we traveled not only to another planet
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 2nd, 2011
There are a good number of people who have labeled Oliver Stone as a fan of conspiracy theories, out to destroy foundations of conservative ideology, while at the same time re-visiting 60’s nostalgic icons. Despite the jokes and the stereotyping, one has to admit that, as a filmmaker, he has helped bring to screen some of the most talked-about cinematic experiences of our time, including Midnight Express, Scarface, not to mention Conan the Barbarian. As a director, his works, such as The Doors, Nixon, JFK and Natural Born Killers, have generated discussion both within and aside from the technical merits
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2011
I remember when I first heard that Dead Man Walking was coming out. The first news was that it was a death penalty film that involved Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon. I was not very keen to see the movie at that time. All three of these actors are known for their over-the-top liberal antics, and I just knew this was going to be nothing but a rant against the death penalty in the United States. But you see, that’s why you just have to watch the movie sometimes.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 28th, 2011
“I don’t remember if I started drinking because my wife left me or my wife left me because I started drinking.”
Nicolas Cage has played quite an array of oddball characters in what has to be one of Hollywood’s most eclectic careers. But whatever your favorite might be, this is the one that earned him an Oscar. The movie also earned Elisabeth Shue her only nomination for an Oscar. While those were not the only nominations for this cult favorite film, that’s really where the money is.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 25th, 2011
I’m kicking myself. Martin Scorcese’s The Color of Money has long been a favorite of mine, but for some reason I never knew it was a sequel to The Hustler, a film 25 years older and three times better.
Starring a young Paul Newman (Road to Perdition) in a role that earned him his second Oscar nomination, The Hustler is about a cocky pool player hustling his way to the top. When “Fast Eddie” Felson (Newman) challenges undefeated straight-pool champ Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason,…Requiem for a Heavyweight) to a high stakes game,
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 20th, 2011
“The machines rose from the ashes of a nuclear fire. Their war to exterminate mankind had raged for decades, but the final battle would not be fought in the future. It would be fought here in our present… Tonight.”
Where were you on Judgment Day?
If you don’t know what the original Terminator film is about by know, I’ll still tell you.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 20th, 2011
The Usual Suspects is a most unusual movie, and in this case, that is a good thing. The Usual Suspects keeps you interested throughout its entirety by making you think and trying to figure out what will happen next. If only today’s movies did the same thing!! As this has been one of my favorite movies of all time, the excitement I felt when I received this in the mail today could only be compared to a young child on Christmas morning.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 19th, 2011
During the Korean War, a platoon led by Laurence Harvey and Frank Sinatra is captured and sent off to Manchuria. Here the men are brainwashed into believing that Harvey saved them all in an incredible feat of heroism (which he did not) and that he’s a loveable guy (which he isn’t).The unfortunate Harvey is programmed to become a remote-control assassin. Back in the States, Sinatra is plagued by nightmare memories of the experience, and gradually comes to believe that something … really did happen.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 25th, 2011
“In the beginning was the word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. I am He. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him, was made nothing that has been made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of man. And the light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness grasped it not. The greatest story ever told…”
Every spring around the time of Easter you could count on several annual films to make their way to televisions across the country for special family presentations.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 12th, 2011
Adapted from the hit stage musical, Norman Jewison’s film version of Fiddler on the Roof has established itself as a classic over and over again since its release in 1971.
“He loves her. Love, it’s a new style… On the other hand, our old ways were once new, weren’t they?” I’ll hardly be the first to write it, but the reason Fiddler on the Roof, a story about Jewish people and their culture, is so popular, is that its themes have universal appeal.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 12th, 2011
“Jonathan Brisby was killed today. It is four years since our departure from NIMH, and our world is changing. We can not stay here much longer. Jonathan was a dear friend. I am lost in knowing how to deal with his widow. She knows nothing of us or the plan.”
When Don Bluth left Walt Disney, he led an exodus of some of the studio’s top talent.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by BABY on April 7th, 2011
“You can’t keep a good dog down.”
Baby here again. Yeah, that’s right. I’m the German Shepherd/Chow mix that runs security here at Upcomingdiscs. I make sure only the best movies get through my complicated security system. And that spells F A N G S. Okay, I made that last part up. I try to keep them all out, but let’s not talk about that right now.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 9th, 2011
There have been very few films of this stature that I have not had the chance to see over the years. Even if I don’t think I might enjoy a particular movie, there are those titles that have become so well known or a part of the culture that one feels a sense of obligation to take in. For years The Last Tango In Paris was one of those films for me. Thanks to a new Blu-ray release by MGM, I was finally afforded the opportunity.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2011
“I’ve always believed that, done properly, armed robbery doesn’t have to be a totally unpleasant experience.”
You would think that Thelma And Louise would have been a blockbuster film. It’s certainly become entrenched in our pop culture. The famous ending has been spoofed to death in other films and television shows, including the latest Star Trek, if you can believe that. You would think, but you’d be completely wrong. This was one of the movies that got a ton of critical attention and even some Academy Award attention.
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