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. For Easter you had The Greatest Story Ever Told and King Of Kings. For Passover there was always The Ten Commandments. And so it is an appropriate time to see all three of these films make their way unto high definition and Blu-ray for the very first time. We've already reported on the excellent release of The Ten Commandments and King Of Kings. Our review of The Greatest Story Ever Told concludes this Holy Trinity of movies to review.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on April 23rd, 2011
By the early part of World War II, the Soviet Union’s ultra-harsh prison system was already an established key to Josef Stalin’s paranoid dictatorship. Hundreds of concentration camps, called gulags, kept criminals and innocents alike trapped behind barbed wire, without edible food or minimal medical care. The most miserable gulags were the notorious Siberian compounds, stuck in such hostile sub-arctic territory that an attempt to escape was considered just another form of suicide.
One such frozen hell is the starting point for The Way Back, a visually breathtaking but icily uninspiring adventure saga from director Peter Weir. Based on a best seller that was sold as non-fiction but later revealed to be largely the author’s invention, it’s long on scenery and short on suspense. That’s because we are told at the start that it’s about escapees who slogged some 4,000 miles through Siberia and Mongolia to freedom in India.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 23rd, 2011
There are usually two schools of thought when it comes to judging sequels. One tends to be very harsh on the proceedings expecting it to surpass the original (which it hardly ever does) in all aspects of film-making. The other still expects a good film but realizes that this sort of thing is usually financially driven and just hopes for something that can favorable stand against the original. I happen to be in the later crowd. But, I certainly found myself inching towards the former when I received the blu-ray package to review Ip Man 2, Legend of the Grandmaster. Let's go inside, shall we?
Ip Man (played Donnie Yen)has escaped from Foshan and has made way with his family to the Hong Kong of the 1950's. His wife, Cheung Wing-Sing (played by Lynn Hung) is pregnant with her second child. However, the family is barely making ends meet. Cheung can't work much and Ip Man's martial arts school isn't going as well as planned. They can hardly cover rent and school fees for their son, Ip Chun (played by Li Chak).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 21st, 2011
I've long held the belief that the folks at Pixar are really just children who have refused to grow up. That doesn't mean that they don't have to deal with the realities that adulthood thrust upon each of us. I'm sure they have families and are responsible citizens and parents. They consistently make movies, that while there is certainly appeal for children, are obviously intended for adults, adults like them, who have decided to never grow up. If you ever required proof of that concept, The Incredibles should prove the point quite nicely. Brad Bird and his team weren't writing about superheroes. They decided to do a movie about themselves. Finally out in high-definition Blu-ray the team now calls all of us like-minded souls to join the fold. This Blu-ray serves as our membership card and absolutely grants all of the privileges of membership right from your most comfortable home theatre seat. Count me in.
Bob Parr (Nelson) has a secret identity. He's in reality Mr. Incredible. He is a superhero who has dedicated his life to fighting crime. He has super strength and other abilities. He's not the only one. There is his best friend Lucius (Jackson) better known as the cool hero Frozone. There's also Helen (Hunter) who protects the city as Elastigirl. She has the same powers that The Fantastic Four's Mr. Fantastic has to stretch her body. Bob and Helen get married and join their superpowers with two super kids. Dash (Fox) has super speed and Violet (Vowell) has the abilities of The Fantastic Four's Susan Storm. She can become invisible and create powerful force fields. Unfortunately, the world has had enough of masked heroes. Lawsuits cause the heroes to turn in their capes, and they are put into a sort of witness protection program where they must swear off crime fighting. That's been hard for Bob and Lucius who do a little rescue work on the side while their wives think they're out bowling. It's a good thing, too. A new super-villain has emerged, and now it will be up to the Parr family to save the world from Syndrome (Lee), a one-time stalker fan who has decided to get revenge on the hero who once spurned his advances to join him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 20th, 2011
"So far every person I've met in this strange place suffers from the most florid delusions, chasing green mists and looking for lost lords. I can only assume that this is the result of poor diet, or they're all just barking mad."
C.S. Lewis created an incredibly imaginative world when he wrote his Chronicles Of Narnia. The stories were an escape, of sorts, from a war-torn Europe. They integrated elements of Christianity in an effort to provide a semblance of hope in the form of a children’s fairy tale. And like all such tales, the world of Narnia was first and foremost a place of magic and bewilderment. It was a place where fantastic creatures of both good and evil thrived, living out epic lives of adventure. It was also a world where only children could enter. The stories became hugely popular, first in England, and eventually around the globe. Since that time we live in a different planet than the one Lewis was attempting to offer a respite from. Still, the images and ideals are remarkably relevant today. With such sweeping grand adventures and marvelous creatures, it’s no surprise that the franchise has found its way into films. The only real mystery is why it took so long. Perhaps it was necessary for the technology to finally catch up, providing a far more realistic and captivating experience. Some credit must also go to the enormous success of the Harry Potter and even the Lord Of The Rings films. With the investment of time and money required to bring such a world into existence on celluloid, there must be some reasonable assurance that, if done correctly, there was a large enough profit to be found. These earlier, and continuing, franchises have overwhelmingly proven that point. It was only a matter of time before the studio that practically invented movie magic would find such a place as Narnia and claim it for their own. When you combine these extraordinary histories together, can there be any question as to the results?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on April 14th, 2011
Urine jokes. Fart jokes. Breast and penis jokes. What could be more tasteless? How about telling them all in a place where people are trying to eat? That’s the unappetizing summary of Still Waiting …, one of those unnecessary, straight-to-video sequels designed to make a quick payoff before the first film’s fans catch on.
The 2005 original Waiting . . . was, well, fairly original. Writer-director Rob McKittrick based it very loosely on his own experiences working in typical franchise restaurants – think Bennigan’s, Chili’s or TGIFridays. That ensemble comedy, set in a place named Shenaniganz, starred Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris, who wisely avoided this tacky follow-up. Returning cast members include Rob Benedict as a horny manager and Alana Ubach as an exceptionally testy hostess. Others, including Justin Long, Chi McBride and Luis Guzman, show up in extended cameos, as do Max Kasch and Andy Milonakis as the white boys who pose as gangsta rappers.
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. In fact, in a way it hardly matters that the characters are Jewish. As we learn from a famous anecdote, when the first Japanese production of the stage musical opened, the show’s creators traveled to Japan to meet the producer. He said to them, “I don’t understand, I don’t know how this piece can work so well in New York. It’s so Japanese!”
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. They were becoming disenchanted with the product Disney was producing at the time, and it is generally accepted that this was the dark ages of the studio. The group of animators joined Bluth and formed their own company, and the first film to come out of that collaboration was The Secret Of NIMH.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 12th, 2011
Rory Gallagher was somewhat of an enigma in the British music scene. While he never did have the breakout hit or career that he worked so hard to achieve, he has managed to develop quite a cult following over his troubled career. His roots went deep into the British blues scene where he first received some notice in the band Taste. But Rory was a force of nature and couldn't be contained in the local scene. He grew up in the small town of Cork in Ireland and managed to fight his way onto a world stage by the time he reached his 20's. His music was a unique blend of blues and hard-edge rock and roll. His voice wasn't ever described as smooth. He belted his words out in screams and shrieks. He was all about the energy, connecting with the audience live far more effectively than he did through his recordings. He was the kind of guitarist that flew across a fret board like a supersonic jet flying over clear calm skies.
Rory Gallagher died of liver failure in 1995. He lived hard, and it obviously took its toll on his heath. He didn't really get into the drug scene, but he could put away the ale. He was a man forever in motion. This concert/documentary from Eagle Rock is a perfect window into the lifestyle and music that was Rory Gallagher.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on April 9th, 2011
Everybody loves dolphins. We marvel at their graceful rolls among the waves. We enjoy watching trained ones do tricks for Sea World audiences, and some of us even pay big bucks to swim with them at specially built facilities. But behind these glimpses of intelligent marine life, there’s a deadly, disgraceful hypocrisy. There are mega-millions being made at the expense of innocent creatures, and the people behind the conspiracy will stop at nothing – including murder – to preserve their lucrative, dirty business.
The Cove exposes the evil, bringing the documentary format into the world of cinematic thrillers. Hidden cameras, hostile authorities and horrible slaughter are key elements in this eloquent but depressing documentary that won dozens of awards last year, including a well-deserved Oscar.
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![Still Waiting... (Unrated) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/still-waiting-unrated-blu-ray-large.jpg)
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![Rory Gallagher: Irish Tour '74 [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/rory-gallagher-irish-tour-74-blu-large.jpg)
![The Cove [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-cove-blu-ray-large.jpg)
