1.85:1 Widescreen

Arctic Tale (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 23rd, 2009

Animal films have done quite well at the box office in recent years. Who can forget the astounding appeal of March Of The Penguins. With wonderful cinematography and the commanding narration of Morgan Freeman, the film took the box office by storm. There have been countless efforts to reproduce those results ever since. The latest of these to hit Blu-ray is the indoctrination piece, Arctic Tale. I say indoctrination because this movie is never content with following the natural migration or struggles of the animals it depicts.
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Sin City (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 23rd, 2009

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Sin City arrives in high definition with some pretty high expectations. You get both versions of the movie here, and I have to say that I’m very pleased to see that. By now fans of the movie have seen the recut version of Sin City and likely have your own opinions as to what you thought of it. The fan base appears to be somewhat divided on the effort. For me it’s never been a case of better or worse. It’s merely a case of different. The two versions are very different experiences. Watching the recut version is not really like watching a movie at all. Frank Miller presents them more akin to the original graphic novel experience.
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Splinter

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 21st, 2009

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So Toby Wilkins will be helming The Grudge 3. That’s a bit of a shame. Not because I think he’s the wrong man for the project. Rather, it’s the wrong project for the man. Or, less glibly but more precisely, he is showing real promise as a filmmaker, and it would be a shame to see more talent squandered on a franchise that should definitely be put out to pasture. I base this evaluation on the evidence presented in Splinter, a nifty little creature flick .
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Mean Girls (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2009

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Raise your hand if you’re sick and tired of Lindsay Lohan. Fortunately I can type with one hand. Honestly. How did this girl get to be so big? Why is she dominating our entertainment news cycles? Are there more than a handful of folks out there who think she has any talent at all? She’s nothing close to hot. It’s that wonderful modern phenomenon of being famous for being famous. It really does tend to color one’s opinions when you watch her in a film. She’s so overexposed, in more ways than one, that it’s impossible to watch her play any character without seeing the spoiled bratty whiner she has become so perfect at.
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Not Easily Broken (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2009

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“I found out that if you wanna know the purpose of a thing, you can’t ask the thing to tell you. A car doesn’t know why it’s a car; only the manufacturer knows what it was meant to do. And I guess that’s the same way it is with God.”

Not Easily Broken was written by a minister, Bishop T.D. Jakes. So you should expect a very spiritual message when you watch this movie. If that’s not your cup of tea, as they say, this really isn’t going to be the film for you.
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Blitzkrieg: Escape from Stalag 69

Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on April 12th, 2009

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The sleaze of the grindhouse era inspires a special kind of love. Warped, dubious, indefensible, yet real all the same. Part of that love is a nostalgia from those bad old days. But it takes an even more special brand of that special love to seek to recreate forgotten exploitation genres, and yet that is what we have here: the first Nazisploitation flick in close to thirty years.
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Donkey Punch [Unrated]

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 10th, 2009

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Donkey Punch was partially funded by the British Lottery. That means you might have actually lost twice. Once if you bought a losing ticket, and again if you watched this movie made possible by your gambling itch. Mama always said nothing good comes out of gambling. Turns out she was right. If this is what the British Lottery Authority is doing with the money, you’re better off going to a bookie. At least Mario “The Shark” Cabliario will spend the money on something worthwhile, like women and booze.
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Doubt (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 10th, 2009

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Doubt is a case of art imitating art imitating life. John Patrick Shanley based the character of Sister James on a real sister that he knew as a child. He grew up attending Catholic school, and Sister James was one of the nuns he knew during that experience. While the character was based on something real, the events were not. He took this familiar character and developed the fictional story of Doubt around her. This story became a play. W hen it came to adapting the successful play into a movie, John Patrick Shanley took on the job nearly singlehandedly.
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Doubt

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 8th, 2009

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John Patrick Shanley brings his thought provoking play to the big screen in 2008’s best picture, in my book, Doubt. The Academy likely shied away from the controversial content, likely because it doesn’t make it clear this priest must have done what he’s accused of doing. Many of the actors received deserved nominations, but the film was generally snubbed in the final verdict. While I enjoyed Slumdog Millionaire, for Doubt to not even get the Best Picture nomination is a crime.
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Special

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2009

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“I know I’m too old to love comics as much as I do. But, in comics, the villain can launch a missile at a superhero and the hero just keeps on coming. And then the villain can throw an atomic bomb, or an asteroid, or an entire planet at the hero, but that won’t stop them either, because a real superhero’s like a force of nature and when I read comics I get a faint glimpse of what it would be like to be not just stronger, or faster, or smarter than ordinary people, but what it would be like to be unstoppable”.

Who among us hasn’t felt that way at one time or another in our lives? We all have the desire to feel that in some way we are
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Timecrimes

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2009

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If you can’t see where this thing is going after 10 minutes, check your forehead for lobotomy scars. I strongly suspect that everyone associated with this film, from the writer to the actors to the money people who thought this was a good idea, all have matching scars. The box art claims that someone from Bloody Disgusting calls this the best time travel movie of all time. What?! Either that guy was taking some serious medication at the time, or he was paid off, or his sister worked on the film in some capacity, or he’s actually managed to never see films like
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To Catch a Thief – The Centennial Collection

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 3rd, 2009

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To Catch A Thief is not typical Alfred Hitchcock territory, but then again, it really is. It’s not a terribly suspenseful film coming from the acclaimed “Master of Suspense”, nor is it at all a frightening film even though it was directed by one of horror’s genius minds. What really is scary, however, is how close to a different film this almost was. Cary Grant had exiled himself into retirement. If you can believe his statements at the time, he was concerned that the moviegoing public was pretty much sick of seeing him and preferred the younger actors just then coming of age. He turned Hitchcock down for the role at least twice, before Hitch made a personal visit and appeal to the Hollywood legend.
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Star Wars: The Clone Wars – A Galaxy Divided

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 2nd, 2009

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A short time ago in a galaxy right in your own back yard….(cue music)

Star Wars Episode XXCV: The Clone Wars: A Galaxy Divided DVD Release:

It’s 2009 and the Emperor Lucas has come up with a new plan to extricate spending dollars from the public. With the defeat of his latest trilogy at the hands of the rebellion, he has turned his attention to a new kind of presentation. The first attempt was rather simple and not widely effective.
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Hamlet 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 1st, 2009

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What would you get if you were to cross the films Dangerous Minds and Waiting for Guffman? Well, add a liberal helping of High School Musical and you might end up with Hamlet 2 (though it is difficult to imagine the High School Musical drones belting out songs like “Rock Me Sexy Jesus” and “Raped in the Face” with such gusto).
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Bolt (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Athena on March 23rd, 2009

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Hi, Athena here. Well, this is going to be my last post for the doggie movies at Upcomingdiscs. Gino says it’s time to retire. He says my investments need to be cashed in so I can take it easy, before they’re all gone. I guess that means someone’s trying to eat up my treats. They better watch out or I’m going to go Siberian Husky all over them. I may be 14 years old and a little slow, but my teeth work just fine. Just ask Baby. She’s the newest member of the family here, and I had to let her know who the boss is right away, if you know what I mean.
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Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 13th, 2009

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Long before the magicians of movie special effects had computers to conjure up monsters and otherworldly creatures, or even talking dogs, they relied on more physical tricks of the trade. One method, used perhaps most famously in 1933’s King Kong, is stop-motion animation. Kong inspired a young boy who would go on to master the art form and establish himself as a legend of fantasy filmmaking: Ray Harryhausen. Over a career spanning more than 40 years, Harryhausen produced some of the most delightful moments ever captured on film, wowing audiences and inspiring people to believe in movie magic.

Primal Fear (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 12th, 2009

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Actor Edward Norton first came to my attention in the heist film, The Score. I hadn’t heard a lot about the bright young actor, but I remember that he impressed me quite a bit. When you consider he was playing along with the likes of Marlon Brando and Al Pacino, that’s no small achievement. Somewhere along the way I missed the 1996 release of Primal Fear. Based on the William Diehl novel, the film would be the first major feature to star Norton. It was a breakout character and a breakout performance. He deservedly was nominated for an Academy Award for the role, one he likely should have received.
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Primal Fear

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 12th, 2009

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Richard Gere is Martin Vail. Vail is an egotistical hot shot lawyer who is looking more for news cameras than an innocent client. The truth is, he doesn’t give a crap if they did it or not. His only concern is what the case can do for him. He thrives on front page magazine articles and sound bites on the 6:00 news. It’s no surprise that when Vail sees a headline making case unfold live on the television, he chases the case. The entire city of Chicago witnessed police chase 19 year old altar boy Aaron through the railroad yards.
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Dead in 3 Days

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 11th, 2009

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The international horror market is becoming quite the money maker. It started with the Asian Invasion. We started seeing American remakes of these mostly Japanese or Korean ghost stories. They usually had a common thread that featured some type of technology. It started with Ring, the American version of Ringu. Here it’s a videotape that demands to be reproduced or you’re dead in 7 days. Eventually we’ve seen films where ghosts inhabit everything from computers to video games to cell phones and digital cameras. It seems the dead just can’t let go of their hi-tech toys.
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Exit Speed

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 11th, 2009

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Dateline: Texas. Christmas Eve. Christmas carols are playing on the radio. And even though this is one heck of a hot day, the stores are decked out like the preverbal halls. It’s Christmas time in the city. But this isn’t going to be one of those White Christmas warm and fuzzy eggnog cozying by the fireplace stories. Don’t get me wrong. There’s going to be plenty of roasting by an open fire, but those aren’t chestnuts. Those are people.
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Air Bud (Special Edition)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Athena on March 5th, 2009

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Athena here again. Yup, that’s me, the 13 year old Siberian Husky who sometimes “sub-woofs” for Gino. For some reason he only gives me these dog movies to review. Something about being an expert witness. ‘Cept there aren’t any Siberian Huskies in this movie. So, I settled into Gino’s theater, but almost got kicked out when I decided to pass a little Air Athena. Turns out that while we may share a taste in movies, Gino and I don’t share a taste in smells. Actually I was pretty excited to see this one.
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I’ve Loved You So Long (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 4th, 2009

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The highpoint of I’ve Loved You So Long is a rather brilliant performance by Kristen Scott Thomas. She is able to inhabit a character in ways I’ve rarely seen. You’ll be hard pressed to find any identifiable boundaries between the actor and the character. Now, usually, that’s the foundation for a solid film. The problem is that her character just isn’t that interesting of a person after a while. Of course, there are nuances to observe, and Thomas serves them up well, but after a short time we’ve really come to know this character pretty well. We just don’t find her all that interesting.
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I’ve Loved You So Long

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 4th, 2009

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Juliette (Thomas) has spent the last 15 years in prison for the murder of her 6 year old son. She has been expectedly abandoned by her family while locked up. When it is finally time for her to be released, the only one willing to even talk to her is her estranged sister, Lea (Zylberstein) who takes her into her home. Lea has a family of her own now. She is married with two adopted Vietnamese children.
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The French Connection (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 3rd, 2009

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“Did you pick your feet in Poughkeepsie?… Have you ever been to Poughkeepsie?… When you were in Poughkeepsie, you sat on the edge of the bed, didn’t you? You put your fingers between your toes and you picked your feet…. If I can’t bust you on this other thing I’m going to bust you for picking your feet in Poughkeepsie.”

There can be no argument on this point. The 1970’s was a golden age for the cinema. When you think about the iconic characters and films the decade produced, it’s hard to contradict the point.
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French Connection 2 (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 2nd, 2009

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The French Connection had one of the best film endings a show of this kind could ask for. There was absolutely no need for a sequel. Obviously the success of the first film laid the groundwork for another adventure. In reality the case was rather left open, so there was certainly room to follow up the action. The problem is that none of the elements from the first film remain in the second beyond Gene Hackman’s portrayal of Popeye Doyle and the return of Fernando Rey as the villain Charnier. Friedkin would not return to direct, and even though he was replaced by an even greater director in John Frankenheimer, not much of the original crew remained.
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