Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2011
"A vile bag of garbage named I Spit On Your Grave is playing in Chicago theaters this week. It is a movie so sick, reprehensible and contemptible that I can hardly believe it's playing in respectable theaters..."
Seldom has a film been so proud of a bad review like the one Roger Ebert delivered when he saw the film in 1980 during its limited Chicago area run that year. The rest of the review continues its rant against the violence and despicable nature of the film. But Ebert doesn't stop there. He extends his contempt for the audience who shared the film with him. He describes them as a "profoundly disturbing" crowd. He continued to describe the audience: "they were vicarious sex criminals." The man's certainly entitled to his opinion. Give those associated with I Spit On Your Grave some credit for refusing to engage in the insult. Instead they wore it like badge of honor and used it in several of the film's later release campaigns. Good for them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by BABY on February 12th, 2011
You know you're in a lot of trouble when a movie opens up with the wedding of two dogs. Hi, I'm Baby. I'm the German Shepherd who runs security here at Upcomingdiscs. If you work for either UPS or Fed Ex, no introductions are necessary, and that spells R U N. I want to know why it is that you humans think that dogs want to look and act like people. We don't need no stinkin' sweaters. We don't want to walk on our hind legs. And we don't want to get married. Now I know why some politicians want a law to protect the definition of marriage. The truth is I get along just fine being a dog. I kind of have it made here. Someone always brings me my breakfast. I get belly rubs and treats all day long. The only job I have is protectin' this place, and that job's a cinch. Sure, it would be great to be able to open that fridge door by myself and the whole opposable-thumbs challenge gets in the way every now and again. But at the end of the day, it's a dog's life after all. There's a reason why people say stuff like that. You may think you have all the power, but when I give those delivery guys a piece of my mind, who do you think does all the runnin'? 'Nuff said.
Every now and then Gino asks me to look at some dog movies that get sent here. Okay, yeah, some of these things do happen to slip through my security net. Gino likes that, for the most part but, I'm afraid I really fell asleep on the job for letting Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 get through the door. And someone's gonna pay down the road for that one. But it was my mistake, so it was only fair I had to watch the stupid thing and then write the review while Gino sits here and plays his pinball machine doing something called "poppin" all the dang time while I'm trying to concentrate. Sensitive ears here, by the way. Anyway... here's what I found out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 9th, 2011
One of the most underappreciated films in my opinion in the last ten years is Undercover Brother. Stop looking at me strangely! Seriously, it was a very funny movie. It was because of one man and I don’t mean Neil Patrick Harris (though he was hilarious). That man would be Eddie Griffin. Eddie Griffin has starred in almost fifty different films but he also makes a respectable living doing stand up comedy. One such concert is new to dvd and we get the chance to talk about it my brother.
Live from Oakland, California, we have the star of Malcolm & Eddie, Deuce Bigelow, and Meteor Man (okay, some more than others), the one, the only Eddie Griffin. *waits for crowd applause*. Let’s find out what he has to talk about, shall we? The first thing out of Eddie Griffin’s mouth? Well, it would appear he wants to have his way with Michelle Obama, the president’s first lady.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 7th, 2011
Written by Diane Tillis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 7th, 2011
Simon Baker is riding high these days. Last year his new series, The Mentalist, was the highest ranked new drama of the year. That accomplishment got the show paired with CSI in that enviable Thursday night time slot. I’m amazed when I hear folks tell me how the actor appeared to come out of nowhere. A few film roles and he’s Mr. Television. Well, count me in with the small group that isn’t so surprised and saw him coming as far away as 2001 with a sleeper CBS series called The Guardian.
Baker played Nick Fallin, a talented young lawyer who just got busted for cocaine. Nick won’t see the inside of prison, however. His father, Burton (Coleman) is the senior partner at one of Pittsburgh’s most influential corporate law firms. Instead of jail, Nick is given five years probation and ordered to serve 1500 hours of community service. His court ordered assignment is Legal Services Of Pittsburgh, formally Children’s Legal Services. He’s placed under the charge of Alvin Masterson (Rosenberg), an idealist who set up the law clinic originally to speak for children who have no one else to do so. He’s resentful of Nick’s pampered lifestyle and at first wants to make the gig hard enough on him that he might ask to be assigned elsewhere. Eventually they warm to each other as Nick becomes more vested in the job than he thought he would be. Much of the show’s conflict is derived from Nick juggling these two worlds. He still has a duty as a shark attorney for his father’s firm, yet must find time to help these indigents and children that have come to the clinic for help.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 2nd, 2011
When a film is successful enough, it’s a relatively natural assumption today that a sequel will follow. In that sequel we expect more of the same and hopefully something new as well. Unfortunately, there is a disturbing sideline for the animation sequel. Because the actors aren’t really on camera at all, there is the temptation to replace them so that you can do a much cheaper, often direct-to-video sequel. The folks who did Madagascar didn’t go that route, but the folks who did Open Season did. Gone are the likes of Martin Lawrence, Gary Sinise, Ashton Kutcher, and Debra Messing. These voices are replaced by Matthew W. Taylor, Diedrich Bader and Kirk Baily.The result is a decidedly inferior film that was relegated to the Wal-Mart bins instead of the box office.
Boog is upset because no one wants to join him for guy's trip. Even Elliott has backed out of the annual camping trip. So he sets off on his own. He sees a sign for a circus that is coming to town and decides to check it out. There he runs into a circus bear Doug, who is looking to get out of the circus and live with the animals in the woods as the king of the forest. When Boog encounters Doug, he gets conned into switching places with the bear. Of course, both discover the grass really isn't always greener on the other side.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 31st, 2011
"Hello. I want to play a game."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 31st, 2011
"Contestants are experienced marksmen operating on a closed course. Do not attempt this at home."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 31st, 2011
"No young man, no matter how great, can know his destiny. He cannot glimpse his part in the great story that is about to unfold. Like everyone, he must live and learn. And so it will be for the young warlock arriving at the gates of Camelot. A boy that will, in time, father a legend. His name ... Merlin."
Merlin. You know the name. It conjures up images of a white-haired old man with a long gray beard and a long pointed hat. His story is indeed legend. In the myths of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, he is destined to be the mentor to the King of Camelot. We've all heard the stories of the Sword in the Stone and the Age of Chivalry. Perhaps it is totally appropriate that this telling of Merlin come from British television. England is, after all, the origin of the fanciful legends.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 23rd, 2011
If one were to look at my media collection, one would probably assume in advance that I have a lot of stand-up comedians. On the contrary, I have only a few stand-up discs because I tend to be critical of their replay value. I have the classics such as Richard Pryor, Robin Williams, George Carlin as well as a couple of more recent acts such as Joe Rogan and Lewis Black. However, my curiosity was peaked when I heard about Louis C.K. He has been called the George Carlin of today, a very tall order. Well here is hoping that he lives up to most recent special: Hilarious.
The Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was home to a Louis C.K. performance in April of 2009. For about 79 minutes he entertained a packed house of people with jokes on a variety of topics including the single life, misused words and being a divorced dad with a couple of children. The show did so well that it was even made into movie theaters across the country as a limited engagement. Eventually it found its way into our homes for everybody to enjoy.
![I Spit on Your Grave [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/i-spit-on-your-grave-blu-ray-large.jpg)
