The Reel World

Written by John Delia

Just to make sure that the trailer for Drive doesn’t give you the wrong idea, NO, this is not a Jason Statham movie in the vein of the adrenaline pumping Transporter series.  Ryan Gosling holds his own in this rough surrealistic drama that inserts all the thrills shown in the preview and more.  If you like looking into the mind of a tough loner who is on a road to a life full of angst, then take a ride to Drive.

Not all documentaries can make a mark in society, but I found Genius On Hold a remarkable film that takes a crack at big business and proves positive.  Genius On Hold is eye opening, courageous and extraordinary. It’s a father and son story of fate that intertwines life struggles, crime and monopolies, which decide their future.  If there’s one documentary you see this year, make it be Genius On Hold.

Slick, compelling and gripping Contagion uses the fright brought on by past outbreaks of deadly virus attacks around the world to punch home a ‘what if’ plot that succeeds in scaring the pants off accepting moviegoers.  The recognizable actors saves the plot from being hard to follow as it jumps from country to country in this thriller that ‘could actually happen’.

As with many of the audience who reads the reviews we write, I have been to a ton of movies. But most of the time when I go, I go on the second or perhaps third week of release. Rarely do I ever go the first week. Even rarer is when I get invited to a screening of a movie before it even opens. Well, on August 31st, 2011, I got the chance to see the new feature from Lionsgate entitled The Warrior which opens September 9th, 2011. Let us see what it had to offer.

Today we begin a new feature here at Upcomingdiscs.

From time to time we are invited to take a sneak peak at some of the movies that are about to make their box office debuts. They are not coming out on home theater release... just yet. You can count on them truly being Upcomingdiscs. The new series of articles will be called The Reel World. They may include several new films in one piece or focus on one particular release. With a summer filled with potential blockbusters, we decided this was the time to roll out the new feature. What better way to kick the whole thing off than with one of this summer's most anticipated films: Thor.

As we head into the movie release year of 2010, we understand you might like a handy reference guide to show you the various films coming this year to cinemas near you. Upcomingdiscs has done all of the work for you. Here is a comprehensive look at the films scheduled so far for 2010.

Feel free to bookmark the post and refer to it throughout the year.

Remember that release dates are not static and often change. This post represents the schedule as of January 2010.

I will try to update it each quarter.

Enjoy:

Direct to DVD comes #1 of 4 direct-to-DVD Futurama feature length movies - "Bender's Big Score." Of note: lots of PR flackery over the fact that this production is "carbon neutral" with Fox apparently ponying up for offset credits against CO2 releases from energy and materials used in production. The extras (after the jump) also include a "Terrifying Message from Al Gore" - Huzzah!

Uncancel your plans for the future — Futurama is back! In this all-new, feature-length epic, evil nudist aliens send Bender on a rampage through time, forcing him — slightly against his will — to steal all of Earth's priceless historic treasures. Will the heroic Planet Express crew save the planet? Will Leela find true love? Will the ancient and terrible secret of Fry's buttocks be exposed? All will be revealed in Futurama: Bender’s Big Score, the greatest adventure of our time, and also the greatest adventure of several other times! In the words of a certain beer-fueled robot . . . “We're back, baby!”

Pricing: $29.98 U.S. / $37.98 Canada

Special Features follow after the jump...

January 15th is the just announced release date for the Family Guy "Blue Farce" - apparently an extended version of the season six premier that is a protracted sendup of Star Wars.

I'd link to a trailer or some clips, but hey! Fox has taken everything related to this down off of YouTube. And of course, the Fox media site is lagging their press releases with no coverart, trailers, stills, or anything related to this release available. So enjoy some mildly descriptive text instead!

Featuring hysterical cameos from Rush Limbaugh, Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo and Helen Reddy, Family Guy Presents: “Blue Harvest” is “a dead-on homage that hilariously picks apart Star Wars, along with much of real life” (Associated Press). The DVD features more than four minutes of never-before-seen material; an uncensored track; animatics; commentaries; interviews with Seth MacFarlane and George Lucas...

Man, these guys are bundling hard on the SE release. T-shirts, 3-D glasses, trading cards (meh), and, of course 3D footage to go with the glasses...

See the full specs after the jump...

The Simpsons announcement has dropped: December 18th is the day! Coming out on Blu-ray and DVD, both single disc releases:

The DVD Release

The Simpsons announcement has dropped: December 18th is the day! Coming out on Blu-ray and DVD, both single disc releases:

The DVD Release