Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2011
By Natasha Samreny
In a world where people still got land-line phone calls in restaurants and $1 cocktails were considered expensive, Boris Karloff is detective James Lee Wong. Better known as Mr. Wong, the Chinese sleuth is based on author Charles Wiley's mystery series character. In Doomed to Die, Wong works the case of a shipping magnate's mysterious death.
Posted in: MGM, No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 7th, 2011
Written by John Delia
It’s a 1946 black and white movie, but the entertainment value still holds true. The classic film Tomorrow Is Forever, a love story on many levels, survives the test of time with performances by some of the top film stars ever. If you enjoy films made by the hands of filmmakers for the love of an audience’s embrace, then try Tomorrow Is Forever, now on DVD.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2011
When you think of Sam Peckinpah, Straw Dogs usually isn't the film that comes to most people's minds. For most of us it's the 1967 classic The Wild Bunch. Straw Dogs did little business at the box office in 1971. In fact it was banned in many countries including England where it was shot. The movie was criticized for its unrestrained violence and the rather brutal depiction of a rape. Critics were unimpressed at the time, and the film faded away for a while. It received a bit of a resurrection in the mid-1980's when the film showed up at second run houses and eventually on home video. Perhaps it can be appreciated now, in a time where these taboos have been broken consistently and the film no longer appears to be the controversial piece it was then. If you have any doubt on that score you need look no farther than the remake in theaters now. While you'll find it often a word-for-word retelling, the level of violence has been amped up considerably. If you take the time to watch the original, you might find yourself asking what all the fuss was about.
David Sumner (Hoffman) is a mild math teacher who wants pretty much to be left alone to do his quiet research. He decides to return with his wife Amy (George) to the small rural English town where she grew up. It sounds like the perfect place for David to do his research in peace and quiet. To try and be a good guy he hires several local tradesmen to do work on the estate his wife recently inherited from her father. There's a roof that needs fixing and a rat problem that needs to be controlled. The group of locals happens to be led by Charlie Venner (Henney) who was also an old love interest of Amy's. The locals begin to leer a bit at Amy, and she is upset at her cowardly husband who doesn't appear willing to stick up for her. The teasing by the group extends to both of the Sumners and escalates to the point where a cat ends up killed. Still David refuses to push the issue. When the guys take him out on a hunting trip, it's really to keep him busy while two of the gang rape Amy. Still, she keeps quiet about the attack, while David is finally upset that the guys stranded him out on the moors.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2011
Imagine a time when Joel and Ethan Coen weren't household names. The two have become something of Hollywood legends with films like No Country For Old Men and the superior remake of True Grit. But every legend has to have a beginning, and the story of the Coen Brothers goes back to 1984 and a quirky little film called Blood Simple. The film had only a limited release and pulled in a mere couple of million bucks in its initial release. Even the cast with the notable exception of M Emmett Walsh was pretty much unknown at the time. The movie came and went without very much fanfare. It would be about three years later with Raising Arizona that the Coen Brothers would finally arrive in our collective consciousness where they have continued to have a strong impact through the present day.
Blood Simple is not a great film by any standards. The pace is quite slow, and it fails to fully realize the film noir nature that it so strongly emulates. In truth, it deserves to be overshadowed by the many Coen Brothers films that have come since. That doesn't mean it's a particularly bad film either. MGM has released the bare-bones Blu-ray more for an eye toward the historical value that the movie offers. It was not directed by both of the brothers. In those days they still functioned less as a whole. Only Joel is credited with directing the film, but if you believe that then I have some prime swamp property here in Florida I'd love for you to take a look at. They collaborated on the script and the film is a wonderful peek at their developing style. Already many of the trademark Coen Brothers style points are clearly on display. It all started here from the intense close-ups of trivial objects to the odd angles and rather dark lighting. It's all on display in a movie that no fan of the duo should not see at least once.
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 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 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.
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. Brynner screened Kurosawa’s film and called in producer Walter Mirisch, who in turn contacted director John Sturges (Bad Day at Black Rock, Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Great Escape). Sturges loved the concept and immediately set about acquiring the rights, ultimately forcing Quinn out of the picture. Quinn sued, but lost.
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. Led by scientist Dr. Weir (Higginson) and Maj. John Sheppard (Flanigan) they take over the Atlantian command center and begin to explore. In their initial investigations they accidentally awaken the area’s top bad guys, the Wraith. These vampire-like beings suck the life-force out of humans.
When Stargate SG-1 was about to enter its ninth year, there was speculation that after season 8 the series would bow out gracefully with the anticipated exit of Richard Dean Anderson. With that plan in mind, the folks at Stargate Command decided it was time to spin off the franchise, and so was born Atlantis. Stargate Atlantis boasts pretty much the same production team as SG-1. The quality of the production and tight storytelling have translated well to this sister series. Stargate Atlantis took a little getting used to. I wasn’t sure the characters had enough chemistry or were even dynamic enough to carry the high expectations for a Stargate series. Those concerns eventually evaporated by the time Atlantis began to live without the SG-1 companion series. These characters really took off, and they’ve developed into nearly as strong a group as SG-1 ever was. Now with Atlantis available on high-definition Blu-ray, you’ll have the chance to explore where the show from beginning to ending.
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. It wasn't one of Bergman's best and certainly not one of his most remembered films. Who can’t argue that The Freshman, The In-Laws (writer), and even Fletch (writer) were better movies? But you can't escape the fact that Bergman was the first to offer up the conundrum that faced Moore and Harrelson a year later. But you probably don't remember Honeymoon In Vegas. Not many folks do if the box office numbers are any indication. Now you have a second chance with this latest wave of catalog titles from MGM now out on Blu-ray.
![Straw Dogs (Unrated Version) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/straw-dogs-unrated-version-blu-r-large.jpg)
![Blood Simple [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/blood-simple-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![For a Few Dollars More [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/for-a-few-dollars-more-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Fistful of Dollars [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/fistful-of-dollars-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Return of Magnificent Seven [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/return-of-magnificent-seven-blu-ra-large.jpg)
![Magnificent Seven [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/magnificent-seven-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Stargate Atlantis: Complete Series Gift Set [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/stargate-atlantis-complete-series-large.jpg)
![Honeymoon in Vegas [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/honeymoon-in-vegas-blu-ray-large.jpg)
