Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 14th, 2007
Usually a top young name combined with a recognizable name (or more accurately a recognizable body), brings a film that is somewhat underwhelming or even forgettable for all involved. In the case of Harsh Times, you’ve got Christian Bale, the latest Batman, and Eva Longoria, who stars in Desperate Housewives, appearing in a film about, well I’m not exactly sure.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 13th, 2007
Animal 2 is a direct to video sequel to a direct to video original film. I never saw the first film, but I suspect that you’re brought up to date in this one through some of the dialog. Because I did not see the first, it will not be possible for me to make any comparisons. Obviously the only real reason for this film is to provide a vehicle for Ving Rhames and in that respect it works OK. The story has enough originality to it to make all the street gang and prison clichés bearable, but only minimally. The box art claims this is the “unrated” version, but since there was no theatrical release I have to ask, unrated as compared to what? There are tons of F bombs and N words, but they come mostly in the horrid hip hop soundtrack and less in the dialog, although there’s plenty of “plain talk” there as well. It’s a good thing these guys don’t have to play by the same rules as people like Imus do.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2007
"Spidey's back, and better than ever." Good thing, too, because in this third installment in the highly successful comic book-to-film franchise, Spider-Man faces off against a trio of villains: Sandman, the new Goblin and, of course, Venom. Each is a handful on his own. Together, they're Spidey's toughest challenge yet. But he's up to it, so long as he can first overcome his own internal conflict.
Spider-Man 3 hits store shelves October 30, on DVD in both a single-disc widescreen edition and a two-disc special edition, and on a two-disc Blu-ray release. I got my hands on the single disc and put it through its paces. Does the bare-bones DVD hold its own? Read on to find out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 13th, 2007
What is it with horror films today? They just seemingly lack all original wit and style. And let’s not even mention the remakes that Hollywood forces on us. Having just finally watched John Carpenter’s Halloween (yes I know!!), forcing myself to watch the drab Black Christmas almost made me cringe.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 12th, 2007
So here we have another double feature of episodes from Movie Macabre, with Elvira this time taking on Maneater of Hydra (1966) and The House That Screamed (1969). The former has the disconcerting spectacle of Cameron Mitchell appearing not only as a baron (ookaaayyy) but being dubbed. He’s experimenting with plants on his remote Greek island, and a group of tourists run afoul of one of his results. Given how long it takes for the titular plant to show up and relieve the dullness, one starts to wonder if the title doesn’t refer instead to one of the hot-to-trot tourists.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2007
On January 23, 2002 Daniel Pearl, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped and eventually killed by terrorists while working in Pakistan. A Mighty Heart is based on this true story. The narrative comes from the book of his wife Marianne Pearl. While this is certainly the tragic tale of a murdered reporter, this film is more the story of Marianne and her struggle to locate
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2007
I grew up on a steady diet of horror hosts. In the
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 11th, 2007
Box Sets that compile older titles usually just make me cringe. Think about it. Recycled discs, tired old movies, and a fancy somewhat new box cover. In other words, I get to sleep for 4-5 hours and then wake up in a cold sweat wondering what happened. Alright; so that just sounds like my first honeymoon. Anyway, I happened to get the Partying 101 Boxset (because I am a wild and crazy guy) which featured Bio-Dome, Back to School and PCU. These are the old MGM discs from 8 to 10 years ago. Be afraid.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 11th, 2007
Apparently, someone out there really wanted to see another entry in the Species franchise, surely one of the most poorly conceived series ever. But here we go: Miranda (Helen Mattsson) is a college professor (yeah, right) who suddenly experiences a mysterious blackout, during which she transforms into monster in a rubber suit and slaughters the hospital staff. Her uncle, Ben Cross (no doubt dreaming sadly of the days when he starred in the likes of Chariots of Fire), reveals to her that the is in fact an alien/human hybrid, and the two set off to Mexico to find an ex-colleague of Cross’ who might be able to help. This unsavory sort has been making even more hybrids, which leads, in a roundabout way, to all kinds of trouble.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 10th, 2007
For decades it was the doomsday scenario. Cold War Americans lived in almost constant fear that the Soviets might drop a nuke on us and begin Armageddon. It was unthinkable that a conventional invasion could reach our shores instead. Red Dawn stirred its own mushroom cloud of controversy when it reached theaters in August of 1984. While the Cold War was actually closer to its end than any of us might have suspected, Red Dawn entered our collective consciousness as a shock to a system that had for some time moved beyond the culture of fear those older than myself knew growing up. By the 1970’s the air raid sirens and classroom drills were no longer commonplace in American cities.
![Harsh Times [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/harsh-times-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
![Black Christmas (Unrated) [HD DVD] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/black-christmas-unrated-hd-dvd-large.jpg)
