Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 2nd, 2011
Bubokan is one of those venues that has become a goal for any major band. Dream Theater had toured Japan numerous times over the course of 12 years but never yet rocked this venue. Japan is, and has been, one of those markets that tends to embrace things differently than North America or Europe; and Progressive Metal is not exactly rocking the Top 40 stations (at least, not since RUSH were in their prime...and even then...). It was only a matter of time that the most relevant “Prog” band playing today would make it to Budokan, and they celebrated by making it into a concert film.
Each member of this group is a virtuoso at their instrument. Taking time for instrumentals or solos are rather commonplace for arena concerts. Instead of the standard guitar or drum solo, all but the lead singer of the group would flex their progressive metal playing muscles while putting on a clinic of just how flashy a musical education can be when the most technically impressive of scales and rhythms are played at breakneck paces and mixed with very strange time signature changes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on November 2nd, 2011
“I might be wrong, but I'm guessing you know something that I don't.”
First off, this is not the 2011 Sucker Punch directed by Zack Snyder. This was shot in 2008, but released in 2011 under the name Sucker Punch just months after Snyder’s action fantasy. I can only imagine this was done to capitalize on confused DVD renters and buyers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on October 31st, 2011
“In a blaze of blood, bones, and body parts, the vivacious young girl was instantly reduced to a tossed human salad... a salad that police are still trying to gather up... a salad that was once named Elizabeth.”
Ah, there is nothing that can bring an exploitation movie alive like the unhinged imagination of Frank Henenlotter. Frankenhooker is another love letter to the seedy side of a New York City from a long-gone era. It is a cult film extraordinaire.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 30th, 2011
The Reverend Cotton Marcus (Patrick Fabian) has made a tidy living preaching the Gospel and working his specialty: exorcisms. But he has lost his faith and, along with it, his willingness to fleece the gullible. He does, however, acknowledge that an exorcism can prove psychologically beneficial if the recipient believes in the ceremony. All that said, Marcus wants out of the business, but he takes on One Last Case, and a film crew tags along with him to the backwoods (where else?), where the devout Louis Sweetzer (Louis Herthum) is convinced that his daughter Nell (Ashley Bell) is possessed. Marcus slips into his routine, but soon discovers that there is is much more afoot here than he could have imagined.
The first half or so of The Last Exorcism is not without interest. It does, in some ways, handle the faith-vs-reason question more interestingly than The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and it does a credible job of gradually building suspense. But as we approach the climax, the cracks in the found-footage conceit begin to show, and the resolution blasts straight past “frightening” and into “ridiculous” and makes nonsense of the entire mockumentary premise. Maybe it’s time to retire what is rapidly becoming a tiresome cliché. In the end, then, the film is a misfire, but kudos to Ashley Bell for her disturbing physical performance – she does all the back-breaking double-jointed shenanigans without the benefit of special effects.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 29th, 2011
Season 2 of the Tyler Perry-created series continues misadventures of Leroy Brown (David Mann), who, last season, opened up a seniors’ residence. This season has all the characters firmly in place, and the stage is set for no end of misguided schemes and misunderstandings, all of which conclude with lessons learned and heartstrings tugged.
If the above sounds a little generic, that’s because so is the series, and furthermore, I’m referring to an archaic quality to this series’ generic nature. Put another way, this is an unapologetic (though it should be deeply ashamed) throwback to situation comedy’s dismal era of the 1980s. The performances broad, unfunny caricatures, all squealing yelps and bugging eyes. The laugh track comes in on every other line, underscoring just how desperately unfunny the dialogue is. As for the plots, I cry mercy. Brown hopes to get rich marketing his family’s barbecue sauce, Brown becomes an over-demanding patient after being grazed by a bullet, Brown wins twenty bucks in a lottery and becomes a gambling fiend, and so on and so on and so forth. Storylines that would creak even if the main character were named Ralph Kramden, overlaid with thudding sanctimony and Real Social Issues.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2011
Italian writer and director Giuseppe Tornatore was born in the small village of Bagheria on the island of Sicily in 1956. The life and culture of his home village has had a tremendous influence on his work. Many of his films have an autobiographical nature to them that he takes no pains to disguise. Earlier we reviewed his love letter to movies with Cinema Paradiso, which also took place in Bagheria. This time we explore five decades of life in that same village, known here by its nickname and the title of the film: Baaria.
The journey begins in the 1920's Peppino ("Giuseppe") Tornatore is a young boy whose services have been sold to a local shepherd to feed the family. He learns the trade but discovers it's not what he wishes to make of his life. When the Communist Party begins to make inroads in his village, Peppino is attracted to the message and soon works his way to becoming an important leader of the party. He falls in love with Mannina (Made), and the two must elope because he has no personal fortune and her parents are against the relationship. It is up to Peppino's father to take the ostracized couple into his own home when her family rejects them both. While there is no real plot here, the film follows the young boy through 50 years of life in the village and beyond, taking in the various historical events that effected Sicily at the time. Fascism and eventual World War take their toll. Peppino has a front-row seat to the land riots that rocked the country. His party loyalties cause serious trouble for the man as he goes up against both the established government and even the Mafia.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2011
"The punishment's gotta fit the crime."
Believe all of the hype and controversy. In the language of the day The Exterminator was one bad mother. And when I say one bad mother, we're not talking Casey Anthony. The Exterminator came at the tail end of the era of grindhouse, exploitation, and revenge films. So, how do you close out a memorable era like that? You do a movie with all three. You put the violence and the grit out there for all to see, and you don't make any apologies about any of it. That's exactly the attitude that writer/director James Glickenhaus plays it, and the result is... well... one bad mother.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2011
"Boldly go where no man has gone before."
Is there anyone out there who hasn't noticed that William Shatner the actor has become William Shatner the character over the years? Give the man some credit for finding ways to reinvent himself. After Star Trek he was the only actor to find himself another regular television character and shakes the typecasting that most actors in the franchise have been victimized by. When TJ Hooker was gone he found a few other shows and ways to take advantage of what could have been fleeting fame. By the time he did Boston Legal he had completely reinvented himself as a somewhat humorous character and wonderful mate for James Spader. But all along there was and always will be more than a little Captain Kirk in the actor. And over time the two began to meld into a being that has been the fodder for jokes for most of the world. Shatner's laughing, too, but not in the way you might think. Shatner's been laughing all the way to the bank.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2011
"I'm Rick Harrison, and this is my pawn shop. I work here with my old man and my son, Big Hoss. Everything in here has a story ... and a price. One thing I've learned after 21 years? You never know what is going to come through that door."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 27th, 2011
A while back we ran a contest where we gave away several discs that contained some of the most exciting games in baseball history. These games were released individually as full broadcasts on one DVD. Now A&E has decided to put the collection together in one special sweet baseball collection. Just in time for the dramatic end of this year's World Series, you now have a chance to stretch more than that seventh inning. You can keep the baseball season going for as long as you like with these classic games. You get the entire television broadcast and a special audio that contains the home team's radio broadcast. For Phillies fans that means getting to hear the late great Harry Kalas once again.
There's a game in here for everyone. Here's a rundown:
![Live at Budokan [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/live-at-budokan-blu-ray-large.jpg)
![Baarìa [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/baara-blu-ray-large.jpg)
