Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 12th, 2013
A New York city homicide detective is haunted by the night where her mother was murdered by two gunmen, who themselves were killed by a mysterious being. A decade after that night she finds out that the mysterious being is still around. As this “Beauty” and her “Beast” finally meet, they start investigating the truth behind their secret ties to each other.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 10th, 2013
This latest incarnation of “90210” ending in its fifth season means it ran for half the length of the original series (which ran for ten). Like the original, the stories of these sexy Beverley Hills residents began in high school. Now we see the sorts of adults they’ve become and the absolutely ridiculous success they’ve had. They all started on the top, and somehow manage to claw their way…to the top. Yup…real growth here.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on October 9th, 2013
This is the third stab at making an animated series about these radical reptiles. This particular DVD set is the latter half of this show’s first season. We are privy to a wide array of toys…er, I mean, characters whose stories are firmly established at this point (roughly 13 episodes into a 26 episode season).
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 1st, 2013
“Toilet time is the last bastion of American freedom.”
In this case it’s toilet humor. I often have trouble believing that South Park has been around for as long as it has. It’s not just the passing of 16 years, but the sheer brilliance in the face of an increasingly politically correct society. It’s like watching old episodes of All In The Family. Who believes that Archie Bunker would have any chance of survival in the 21st century? It’s no wonder that Norman Lear has become involved in the series. It’s the last remaining vestige of a once great freedom to be ridiculous and offend
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 16th, 2013
Half of this story deals with a group of teenage faeries, who are smitten with some cute boys from a neighbouring magical kingdom, trying to connect with said boys. The other half deals with this same group of faeries and boys fighting against a trio of evil witches trying to steal all of the world’s “positive magic.” In both halves there is a lot of girlish giggling, butterfly fluttering and sparkly colours….the enemy of any diabetic epileptic.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on September 12th, 2013
Modernizing Sherlock Holmes has been a popular trend in film and television lately. We have seen two slick action film adaptations courtesy of Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes and its sequel), a contemporary BBC adaptation (Sherlock) and now there is Elementary, which transplants Sherlock Holmes and his loyal companion Watson from Victorian Era England to modern USA (New York, more specifically).
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 10th, 2013
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
Every Star Trek fan has had that phrase beaten into their brain about as many times as Uncle Ben’s mantra about great power and great responsibility. Who knew that the tagline was appropriate to filmmaking? When J.J. Abrams signed on to direct the reboot/remake/reimagining/rehash (insert your own word here) of Star Trek he quickly made it known that he was not really that into the franchise.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on August 28th, 2013
People have used a lot of different words to describe Michael Bay and his films: “loud”, “blockbusters”, “mindless”, “soulless”, “Hitler” and, of course, “awesome.” One of the words you don’t normally associate with Bay’s undeniably successful output is “clever.” I daresay Pain & Gain is the most interesting movie the action auteur has ever made; the film is both seriously silly and surprisingly smart in how it presents its stupid characters.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 25th, 2013
Chicago Law firm Lockhart & Gardner is facing bankruptcy so each attorney works harder to reel in high profile clients so that they can save themselves from being sold, or shut down. Meanwhile Alicia Florrick (played by Juliana Margulies), who is an attorney at this firm, is caught amidst her husbands election campaign for the office of governor, as well as the temptation to become either an Equity partner in her current firm, or leave to be a name partner in a brand new one.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 23rd, 2013
“It’s been a long time getting from there to here.”
Thirty-five years to be exact. Enterprise is the fourth spinoff from the original 1960’s hopeful series. The Earth is finally ready to send its first starship to explore the vast galaxy. This first starship Enterprise is smaller than the ships we’ve become used to. There are no shields or photon torpedoes. The transporter has only been cleared for inanimate objects. Not that this stands in the way of its occasional “emergency” use. The ship is very much like the cramped spaces of today’s submarines.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 17th, 2013
For nine seasons and several TV-movies afterwards, Raymond Burr was Los Angeles based defense attorney Perry Mason. This character’s verbal gymnastics, and uncanny hounding for evidence makes his famous winning streaks seem not just plausible but rather entertaining to behold. His adventures have been well-reviewed by myself and my reviewing compadre Gino on this very site (http://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=perry+mason).
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 17th, 2013
It is very common for Nickelodeon to release these sorts of compilation sets. Previously I had covered their themes of Learning the ABCs as well as their Christmas release (as found here: http://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=nickelodeon). This time we get 6 different Nick Jr. programs focusing on the “Wild West” (aka, country music, cowboys hats and horses).
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 17th, 2013
Best known as the launch point for Michael J Fox’s career (along with a major booster from the Back to the Future films), Family Ties was a decently delightful series that may now be mostly remembered via the many references placed into Family Guy (creator Seth MacFarlane has noted it as one of his all time favourites). It has been previously covered very well on this site, which can be found at this link: http://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=family+ties
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 7th, 2013
“Space… the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.”
With the success of Best Of Both Worlds, Star Trek: The Next Generation would make frequent use of the season-ending cliffhanger. Believe it or not, that wasn’t so common in those days. The fourth season ended with part one of Redemption.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 2nd, 2013
I’ll say this about a program that has remained consistent in quality for twenty seasons…it makes for challenging reviews. Talking about each season of Gunsmoke is difficult in that you either write briefly to try to avoid redundancies, but might seem too hasty, or you have to labour over each episode, in which case, you’re only going to have hardcore fans paying attention. Since this website has touched on previous seasons: ( http://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=gunsmoke ) I shall opt for the former option, and hope y’all out there catch that I’m not being hasty…but respect a show that warrants no fresh complaints after 9 years a-runnin’ thus far.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on August 1st, 2013
This is the third stab at making an animated series about these radical reptiles. This lone DVD acts as a sampler of seven episodes taken from the middle of its first season, instead of the complete season set. (A common move from Nickelodeon.) These episodes introduce the characters well enough that it will make you curious to see more of what this series has to offer.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 31st, 2013
“Space… the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.”
The fourth Season of Star Trek: The Next Generation erased any doubts that the show could stand on its own. The series had developed its own characters and situations that allowed the show to somewhat separate itself from the confines of the original series
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on July 25th, 2013
I was not looking forward to this sequel at all. Now, to those who saw the film in theaters and loved it, before you get bent out of shape, allow me to explain why. See, I don’t react to change very well, and after seeing the first film and liking it, let’s just say that I had certain reservations after learning that much of the original cast wouldn’t be returning (not to mention news of the worst kept secret about the demise of one of the characters). Needless to say when I sat down to watch Retaliation, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy. Happy to say that after watching it, I’m eating crow.
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Posted in No Huddle by J C on July 3rd, 2013
“Only a few people in the world have the ability to remember everything. I’m one of them. If I miss something the first time, it’s okay; I can go back and look again. My life…is unforgettable.”
You’ve got to admire the courage of the person who decided to call this show Unforgettable. He or she had to know they’d be leaving themselves open to easy pot-shots from viewers and snarky critics like me if the drama series failed to make a lasting impression. And, for a while, it looked like this Unforgettable: The First Season DVD set might wind up being Unforgettable: The Only Season.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 25th, 2013
Every generation since “X” has lionized its slackers and frat boys with films (perhaps earlier if you look to Animal House as the beginning). Workaholics dances between this honouring of the stoner/slacker lifestyle and satirizing it. This show’s third season is just like the previous two. Three best friends, Adam, Anders and Blake, spend their work days with pranks, pot and parties on their minds, and each episode showcases their adventures therein.
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 12th, 2013
Hansel and Gretel, everyone has heard of this fairy tale, right? The Brothers Grimm tale about a brother and sister lost in the woods who come across a house made of candy. They go inside and are soon captured by a witch who goes about stuffing them with candy to fatten them up to be slaughtered. Somehow the cunning pair manages to escape their shackles, and while the witch is distracted with the oven, they push her into the oven and destroy her. We have all heard the tale, but what happened afterwards?
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 9th, 2013
For 8 long seasons Rawhide followed the adventures of a cattle drive. Season 6 was separated into two releases. Here we shall look at what Part Two has to offer. Feel free to browse previous releases covered by Gino on this same site: http://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=rawhide
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 9th, 2013
For 8 long seasons Rawhide followed the adventures of a cattle drive. Season 6 was separated into two releases. Here we shall look at what Part One has to offer. Feel free to browse previous releases covered by Gino on this same site: http://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=rawhide
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Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on June 7th, 2013
For nine seasons and several TV-movies afterwards, Raymond Burr was Los Angeles based defense attorney Perry Mason. This character’s verbal gymnasitcs and uncanny hounding for evidence makes his famous winning streaks seem not just plausible but rather entertaining to behold. His adventures have been well-reviewed by myself and my reviewing compadre Gino on this very site (http://upcomingdiscs.com/?s=perry+mason).
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Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 16th, 2013
“Who is Jack Reacher? Born Jack, not John. No middle name. He’s a ghost. Served in the military police. A brilliant investigator, troublemaker, too. And two years ago he disappears. You don’t find this guy unless he wants to be found.”
We’ve found him. The character of Jack Reacher comes from a series of thriller novels written by Lee Child. From the very start you know that this is going to be a different kind of Jack Reacher than fans have come to know and love from the books. He described as being 6′ 5’’ and about 250 pounds. Tom Cruise doesn’t really fit any of those description elements.
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