Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 12th, 2019
“This meeting of the Losers’ Club has officially begun.”
I don’t think I’d be exaggerating by saying It Chapter 2 might be the most highly anticipated horror film in quite some time. Two years ago when the first It hit the cinemas, sure, I expected it to be a hit, but the film went on to be a pop culture sensation. Pennywise was already well known because of the books by Stephen King, but also because of the loyal fan base of the 90’s mini-series. Debates were heated about which Pennywise was better and more terrifying, while other debates went on about which adaptation was better. I always felt it was unfair to compare this new version to the mini-series simply because we only had half a film, and now finally this weekend we have the conclusion to the story about our favorite Losers’ Club, only instead of teenagers they are all grown up. Now that the wait is over, how does this film stack up alongside the first half and the mini-series? Well, I’ll say it’s better than the mini-series but doesn’t quite have the magic of the 2017 film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 10th, 2019
IMAX films are the perfect source material to show off the capabilities of the UHD Blu-ray/4K format. Most of the films we watch in theaters today have been shot around 2.8 K and mastered at just 2K. A 35mm film actually shot on film has a native resolution of 4K. The IMAX film format uses 65mm and 70mm film that increases its native resolution well beyond our 4K televisions and players. They are relatively short and have a ton of bandwidth to deliver the best possible image and audio. Shout Factory discovered this as soon as the format was launched, and Upcomingdiscs was there to check them out. The titles have slowed down in the last year, but they haven't stopped. And just in time for Christmas, you can take a journey down under to visit with beautiful sea turtles in Shout's new IMAX masterpiece, Turtle Odyssey.
Meet Bunji. She's a sea turtle, and when we first encounter Bunji, she hasn't even been born. She's the last turtle to hatch out of a clutch of eggs that have been buried under the sands of Australia by a mother who has months ago already departed this area. Bunji must work her way to the surface where she faces a gauntlet of deadly challenges just to make it to the water. Hungry birds dive all about her, but she eventually makes it to the relative safety of the ocean, and we're about to follow her life.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 10th, 2019
When it comes to movies that come from the The Asylum film company, you need to go into the film with the bar set pretty low. When I say low, a Troma film is nearly high art by comparison. By some miracle their film Sharknado has found an audience, but for all the wrong reasons. I can appreciate a cheesy B monster film; even a no-budget horror or action film can hold my interest. All I ask for is a decent story and I can forgive a film’s low budget or amateurish quality. But sometimes a movie comes along that is so bad it’s hard to find its redeeming qualities. D-Day: Battle of Omaha Beach is that film, and I can say with certainty that this is the worst film that I’ve seen this year. It’s one thing to be a bad film, but what bothered me most about this film is how shameless it is about simply making a buck off of the lives of soldiers who actually fought in WWII. You don’t need the budget of Saving Private Ryan to tell a good story about the war; all you need is a good story, a decent script, and some creativity, and you can make a good film.
The film is based on a true story about a group of soldiers who are sent behind enemy lines to take out some heavy-duty machine gun nests. The appeal of a “guys on a war mission” film is something I’m always willing to give a shot. The Dirty Dozen and Inglorious Bastards are two of the best films in the sub-genre, but there have been numerous films that take place in a variety of different wars. Really, it’s hard to not make a fun film in this sub-genre. The problem is that nothing about this film is believable. The film opens as the soldiers are prepping for the Normandy invasion; this was a huge battle that resulted in 1,000 deaths. As for this film’s attempt to bring this battle to life, well, it looks as though it were nothing more than a minor brawl that got out of control. Then there are the CGI ships. Really, it appears as though no attempt was made to make this look believable, but then again, while watching the invasion you’ll see numerous palm trees…I’m pretty sure there are no palm trees in France. The costumes are a mess. I’m pretty sure I saw patches that were not properly sewn on, and then there is my favorite bit: to mark the obvious Nazi foxholes, there are big Nazi flags draped around the opening. There is so much more to groan over, but this is only thirty minutes in.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 6th, 2019
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. This time we turn our sights on to one of the worst films you'll ever see. You're confused, yeah? Why am I recommending you give your favorite special film fan a bad movie? Because they're going to love it. I know. Now you're even more confused. Let's see if I can explain.
There are several ways for a film to achieve classic status. Some films are just so good that they last the test of time and wind their way throughout our popular culture. Some films fail immediately but end up finding an audience years later through nostalgic showings or the old late-night television audiences. Some films end up speaking to a particular audience who claim the film as their own. This is usually some sub-culture who often feels alienated by mainstream entertainment. Then there's the film that is so bad, so terribly bad, that it becomes one of those human experiences that you just have to experience once in your life. This is the film that is so bad that it's a hoot to watch just so you can make fun of it. It's the kind of films you watch with your friends and invent drinking games to pass the time as you watch. Ed Wood was the king of those kinds of films. Today we call it schlock, and it's the kind of film that Mystery Science Theater 3000 made their own fame riffing. That's exactly where you'll find Arch Hall Sr.'s EEGAH. The only reason anyone is still watching it today is because of how bad it really is. And that's exactly why you'll want to put this one under a film fan's Christmas tree this holiday season. It's so bad...it's great. Oh, "Watch out for snakes."
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 6th, 2019
"This is a story about control. My control. Control over what I say. Control about what I do."
Hustlers tells the "true" story of a team of strippers who found a way to turn the tables on their Wall Street clients and is based on a New York Magazine article by Jessica Pressler. It promises a pretty good time. I mean, think about it. Wall Street is the stuff of mustache-twirling villains these days. Brokers might have dropped beneath ambulance-chasing lawyers and used car salesmen as the people we love to hate. Throw in some strippers and a clever con that happens to target these modern bad guys, and it sounds like the kind of romp that has something in it for everybody. Well ... maybe not the Wall Street guys who go to the movies, you might say. Did I mention it's got strippers? At first blush the film reminds me a little too much of Paul Verhoeven's infamous Showgirls. The problem is that the schlock value of that film has allowed it to find its place in film history, and so it has survived in all its badness. Will the same be true of Hustlers? Or will it quickly vanish into a sea of obscurity before another couple of years are over? I have to say that I suspect it's the latter. By this time next year, you'll be asking a friend what the name of that stripper film with Jennifer Lopez was last year. Let me know if anyone remembers, won't you?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 4th, 2019
When a film comes along directed by Richard Linklater, I’m always going to have a little interest in what he’s up to. He’s one of those directors I’ve followed from the 90’s that every few years he cranks out a film that I can’t help but enjoy. Dazed and Confused, his Before Sunrise series, Boyhood, Everybody Wants Some!!, School of Rock, and several other of his films are proof enough that he has a solid filmography, but he’s never quite been the guy to make a splash at the box office. Because of his track record, I’m a bit surprised to see his new film Where’d You Go, Bernadette managed to squeeze into the tail end of the summer when the trailers would have me thinking this could be an awards-caliber film. Well, as it turns out, the film is a swing and a miss. While I still enjoyed the film, it’s a bit frustrating, because this film seems like it’s so close to being something great, but it just manages to disappoint throughout.
Bernadette Fox (Cate Blanchett) is a bit of a mess, to put it lightly. She’s more than a little difficult to get along with, she heavily self-medicates, drinks, and seems to hate most people with the exception of her family. From the start it’s a bit difficult to decide if Bernadette is simply a quirky individual or if she is genuinely just an unlikeable person. The problem is the film doesn’t seem to know either, so with each awkward situation we see Bernadette get into, she just becomes a frustrating and tiresome character. We see she doesn’t get along with her neighbors, and her relationship with her husband, brilliant computer animator Elgie Branch, played by Billy Crudup, is odd in its own way as well. It’s hard to understand why they’d be on board for a last minute trip to Antarctica.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 2nd, 2019
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. This Christmas you are in for a great treat. Shout Factory is becoming the laugh factory, and you'll find there is no one better at making you laugh than Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. Nearly all of their films have been missing in high definition on Blu-ray. The Universal Classic Monster Collections gave us the Abbott & Costello meet the monsters films, but the rest of the collection has only been available on DVD with poor transfers. Now Shout offers an amazing 28 of the dynamic duo's films on Blu-ray. It's an astonishing collection that had me doing back flips when I first heard about it. Abbott & Costello The Complete Universal Pictures Collection is so hot it might just set someone's Christmas tree on fire. Who are Abbott & Costello, you ask?
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello began their career completely by accident. Bud Abbott had tried his hand at doing the straight man bit with limited success. One night in 1931 he was working as a cashier for a vaudeville company when Lou Costello's partner came down with an illness. The performer needed a stand-in, and Bud Abbott filled in for the night. It was a temporary gig, to be sure. A temporary gig that happened to last 25 years. The two continued to work together on stage. While the team certainly reused a ton of the classic routines of the era, there was something unique and clever about the duo. The natural way in which they fell into each other's lines was a rare sight indeed. They eventually stood out for their ingenious word play, culminating in one of the most famous comic routines in history, Who's On First.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 1st, 2019
Dark Waters is an alarming, based-on-true-events thriller that will have you more than little worried about your cookware. Mark Ruffalo plays Robert Bilott, an attorney who is drawn into a conspiracy involving a chemical conglomerate that resulted in hundreds of unexplained deaths. Anne Hathaway is his wife, who has to endure her husband’s over-twenty-year obsession with bringing down this company, all while trying to hold their family together. As I said, this was truly illuminating movie based on the 2016 New York Times article, “The lawyer who became Dupont’s worst nightmare.” The idea that something like this could happen for so long without any real consequences makes this story worth telling. Robert Bilott is a corporate defense attorney and partner at his firm. He is married with a baby, and he seems to have his life and career trajectory well in hand. That is, until an acquaintance of his grandmother shows up at his office unannounced, demanding his help suing a chemical company for the deaths of his cows. Robert initially wants nothing to do with the situation and is unconvinced that there is even a case to be made until he travels Parkersburg, VA and sees the devastation firsthand. Soon he finds himself caught up in a long-running conspiracy with life-threatening consequences and the involvement of one of the worlds largest companies that has been making billions as a result.
I didn’t know what to expect going into this movie, but I was floored by the revelations of it. I must confess that I had no idea that something like this was going on, and I am eternally grateful to this film for opening my eyes. What is more shocking is the fact that it took well over twenty years for DuPont to be brought to some kind of justice. In my opinion, the penalty should have been far worse, but that is just a byproduct of the world we live in. Moving on, the film can drag in some areas, but for the most part I was entertained throughout.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 1st, 2019
Who killed renowned novelist Harlan Thrombey? Was it the dutiful son? Was it the rebellious grandson? Was it the sweet caretaker? The answer to this question is actually far more complicated than I expected, as Knives Out delivers a very engaging and extremely entertaining murder mystery in time for the Thanksgiving weekend. This story is chock-full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing until the ending credits. This Rian Johnson-helmed film is worth a trip to the theater because of its excellent plot and all-star cast that includes Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Daniel Craig, Christopher Plummer, Michael Shannon, and many more. Harlan Thrombey is cleaning house on his birthday, looking to stop indulging his spoiled and entitled children and grandchildren. After years of catering to their every whim, he has decided that he will no longer bankroll their lifestyles. Well, that sounds like a motive for murder if I ever heard one, and that is just what happens when his body is discovered the day after his birthday. Initially suspected to be suicide, the knives come out when renowned private detective Beniot Blanc arrives and announces that he suspects foul play.
With the suspicions of murder in the air, as well as the substantial estate left behind by Harlan, the family wastes no time turning on one another. Caught up in the family drama as well as the murder investigation, caretaker Marta Cabrera is quickly in over her head with the biggest surprise to come. Family secrets will be revealed, and you won’t be believe who the killer is.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 1st, 2019
For some the ‘haunted house’ sub-genre is a bit stale. Sure, there have been some great films and TV shows that have tackled the sub-genre, but many of the films tend to be recycled trash. Personally I’m a fan of haunted house flicks, even the bad ones I tend to find at least somewhat enjoyable. Mary may not fall into the classic definition of the haunted house film, mostly because it takes place on a yacht and in the Atlantic Ocean, but really it plays by the same rules. Seeing a familiar story unfold in a different location, where the characters have no place to run to, is enough to inject new life into a stale story, but is it enough to keep viewers engaged to the very end? Mary is a ship that that David (Gary Oldman) finds at a boat auction and ends up purchasing with hopes of turning it into a vacation sailboat his family can use to run a business with. To say Mary is a “fixer-upper” would be the understatement of the decade, as it seems to be falling apart from the inside out. We’ve seen it before, where the protagonist finds some busted-up car, bike, boat, etc., and what follows is the required montage of the protagonist fixing up the boat. Well, the film of course delivers the montage, but as montages go this one is lame … It’s as though the filmmakers never saw a film in the 80’s ( a time when every film seemed to have a montage cued by some 80’s pop or rock song). It doesn’t take long before his family suspects that there could be something wrong with the boat. Now here’s the fun little tidbit: David is struggling to patch things up with his wife Sarah (Emily Mortimer) after discovering she had cheated on him. So yes, David’s need to repair the ship is indeed a metaphor for his need to repair his marriage. Honestly, having Sarah’s affair brought into the story is simply a distraction from the plot. When you consider the film is only 84 minutes, it becomes too much drama to attempt to flesh out in such a short amount of time, and because of this wasted time, it does take away from us getting attached to these characters.
Another issue I have with the film is that it is told in flashbacks; basically Sarah is in police custody and is telling her story to Detective Clarkson (Jennifer Esposito). Here is a huge problem: if you’ve seen The Usual Suspects, you will see through this movie. Had this film kept it simple and just told a linear story it would have been fine, but in its attempt to be clever this film falls apart so quickly. Everything surrounding the story on the boat works fine, but these scenes between Sarah and the detective ruin all the tension that the film has been building for itself. Most damning is that it reveals the demise of characters and the survival of others. Even when the film delivers a fun back-story to the ship, this fun twist has already been ruined, because we know from the start Sarah is telling the story about what happened on the ship.
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