Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 22nd, 2011
"Hello, Pretty Bird..."
Director/writer Carlos Saldanha is perhaps best known for his work on the Ice Age films. He's been a part of the director duties on all three of the films so far. It's natural that he might wish to step away from the popular franchise and find a computer animation project that is more of a work of passion for the young talent. He decided to write and direct his own feature and set it in his native Brazil. His own childhood growing up in the area allows him to infuse the creative process with vivid environments and a story that is rich in cultural flavor, particularly the music of the country. It's a work straight from his heart, and it takes us on quite a nice journey through his home country. But is Rio up to par with the likes of the Ice Age films? Probably not.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 22nd, 2011
In my life, I have always made a habit rooting for the underdog. Whether it would be in the business world with a small company or at the NCAA March Madness tournament with a Cinderella team, I always like to see the unexpected. It happens in movies too for the most part, I routed for Rocky, I routed for the Indians in Major League (didn’t root for Rudy though, that was too much even for me.) But what would I think of the little soldier in Little Big Soldier? Well, we will have to see.
It is the year 227 B.C., battles are waged, and wars carry on. Land is gained, people are lost. However, we as the viewer are interested in one large battle between the Liang and the Wei that involves over 3000 people. There are those three thousand people that are soon annihilated by each other in an attempt to win for the other side. It is then when we join the action in progress with bodies lining the earth as far as the eyes can see. The ground is silent until we see one body move in the distance.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on August 21st, 2011
“The Hamptons are like a zombie movie directed by Ralph Lauren.”
Although I prefer genre films, chick flicks can prove a guilty pleasure. I can get in touch enough with my feminine side to shed a tear at a powerful love story, laugh at romantic misadventures, and embrace the belief in soul mates. So I slipped on my pink silk pajamas, grabbed a box of tissues, curled up on my chaise lounge and approached Something Borrowed with an open mind. OK, I might not have pink pajamas or a chaise lounge, but, in all fairness, this romantic comedy, based on the bestselling novel by Emily Griffin, doesn’t have anything particularly romantic or very funny in it. What it does have are vapid, banal, selfish caricatures trapped in a forced premise which could be resolved in minutes if anyone acted in a remotely adult manner; as well as something borrowed from just about every bad rom-com movie that came before it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 20th, 2011
The grindhouses may be long gone, but their memory lingers on, thanks to releases like this one, which, being released in 1993, is from the twilight years of theatrical exploitation, and thus more accurately from the second, virtual life the grindhouse aesthetic found on home video. This is the life of Jeffrey Dahmer, narrated in retrospect by the serial killer (screenwriter Carl Crew). Dahmer recounts his obsessions and growing need to kill, and a fair bit of the film’s running time consists of Dahmer hooking up with young men and murdering them.
The film has, then, a very episodic structure, with very little clear narrative progression. Text on the screen fills us in as to dates and locations, and that is about it. The insights into the mind of a serial killer are of the most obvious kind. There is a bit of restraint present when it comes to the killings, in that there could have been a lot more gore, but they are certainly unpleasant, and I don’t necessarily mean that it a good way. No, they shouldn’t be fun, but the endless parade of murders becomes the film’s reason for being, and the lack of any connection between the audience and the victims is a problem. Given how recent the killings were when the film was made and released, it’s not too surprising that the victims’ families were a little upset. So this is an exploitation film in the purest sense, and interesting for that reason, and rather off-putting for the same reason.
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 August 18th, 2011
Sometimes, I look through my collection of dvd and blu-rays. I tend to notice patterns fairly well. First, I like plenty of science fiction or thriller types. On the animation front, for the most part I tend to like anything oddball or superhero. Plain jane ordinary kid cartoons never seem to be my thing. The weirder the better. Today, I review Hey Arnold!, the first season. Perhaps I can give this Nick classic some bland cookie cutter love.
Hey Arnold! was a show that ran from 1996 to 2004 on the Nickelodeon network. It was a staple for that station for many years. It even churned out a movie at one point. It had a ton of characters but I will go over a few. There is the main character, Arnold who is in the fourth grade. His head is shaped like a football (something that many of the earlier cartoons beat to death) and he stays with his grandparents, Phil and Gertie. He also has a pet pig named Abner and they live in an old apartment building.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 17th, 2011
After reviewing the entire first season of Batman: The Brave & the Bold, it looks like I am back for another season of that Silver Aged Guardian of Gotham. Outrageous adventure and more kooky villains await this reviewer every episode. We get twelve episodes to sink our teeth into and it looks like there will be some interesting plots for us to tackle this time around. Let’s go Boy Wonder, to the Batcave!
These twelve episodes of the Batman, Brave & the Bold are all over the map. As explained before, there is some minor continuity but pretty much we can jump into any episode we darn wish and not feel like we have missed anything. Remember, the setup is one two minute teaser, followed by a roughly twenty minute full length cartoon. Without further adieu, let’s look at this half of season two with four episodes of my choosing.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 15th, 2011
Animation is traditionally geared towards kids. From Bugs Bunny to Monsters, Inc, cartoons have been a staple of kid’s viewing experience for decades. However, as time wore on, more and more adults have craved for animated experiences that not only are kid friendly but have adult nods so that the older audience can enjoy it. Shrek is probably the most famous of these types of pictures. Perhaps the sequel to Hoodwinked! can provide an equal passion to please both audiences.
Boingo the Bunny is locked up in the pen and the Happily Forever After agency is up and ready for business. The team is comprised of Red Riding Hood (or “Red” for short), Granny (Red’s grandma), Wolf W. Wolf, and Twitchy the Squirrel. They are overseen by Nicky Flippers, a very tall frog. At the time of the opening scene, Red is busy training with the Sisters of the Hood, a clan of Kung Fu Bakers. But the other three members of the group are more than ready to take on the evils of this fairy kingdom.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 13th, 2011
This is normally where I would summarize the plot of the film. I could tell you that this is the story of three friends in a woodland cabin who must fight monsters spawned by the wife of one of them. But that would be misleading. What the story is really about is two, sometimes three, guys sitting around and drinking beer. Later they switch to whiskey. And then there’s this one dude who puts a cockroach in the other dude’s sandwich...
As I’m hoping you will have realized from the above, this is no ordinary movie. In his excellent They Came From Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema, Caelum Vatnsdal argues that Things holds the title of Worst Canadian Horror Film Ever Made, and it’s really, really hard to believe that there could possibly be another contender. Badfilm connoisseurs, this release is manna from Heaven. This is a film that would embarrass Ed Wood. Tommy Wiseau would weep with despair over the future of cinema. Doris Wishman would beg to take over the camera and sound duties, just so such a thing could never happen again. I could go on.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 11th, 2011
Get Shorty was one of the best films of the mid 90’s. I have seen it about five or six times and it is one of those rare movies that you see something new every time you watch it. It had amazing dialog, good action and this style to the whole movie was just uncanny. The movie was a film where one had to think but at the same time could enjoy themselves. So, when the sequel Be Cool dropped on blu-ray, would I be able to enjoy it as much as the original?
Chili Palmer (played by John Travolta) and Tommy Athens (played by James Woods) are riding along in the car talking about the movie business. Chili has been a producer for a few years now and is starting to think that he needs out. Tommy is half owner of NTL Records and pitches an idea about a movie involving his story as a music producer. They pass by a Get Lost movie poster with Martin Weir (played by Danny DeVito).
![Little Big Soldier (Bluray + DVD Combo) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/little-big-soldier-bluray-dvd-co-large.jpg)
![Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil [Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/hoodwinked-too-hood-vs-evil-two--large.jpg)
![Be Cool [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/be-cool-blu-ray-large.jpg)
