Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 29th, 2019
Family Guy has reached a level of impact upon the American pop culture where I believe the characters need little to no introduction. Is there anyone, really, who doesn’t recognize Stewie? After all, he’s reached the status of icon and has even become a fixture of the Thanksgiving parade as one of the many floats. Where The Flintstones, then later The Simpsons, were at one time the dominating animated family on television tackling day to day struggles of the modern American (each in their own and unique way), Family Guy (love it or hate it) now seems to be the go-to animated family. In this collection of 20 episodes, the creative force, Seth Macfarlane, and his team continue to deliver the laughs along with their twisted moral messages. In today’s culture, it seems like it is harder and harder to be a comedian and manage to not offend anyone, and for the first time I feel the show is restraining itself too much, and it’s hurting the product. Family Guy has always been a show that was self-aware and would break the fourth wall, so it was not a big surprise when a character mentions how they’ve eased up on their jokes against the gay community. Is this a move brought on because Disney now is writing the checks for those involved, or is this decision made by the writing team?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 29th, 2019
It’s been a while since a film has come along that has frustrated me as much as Adopt a Highway has. The film opens up with numerous sound bites that are discussing the “three strike law” from the Clinton era. This is pretty much used to set up a bit of a back story for Russ Millings (Ethan Hawke), a “victim” of this third-strike law that resulted in him serving 21 years for possession of an ounce of weed. With this kind of opening, I’d be expecting this to be a film that would delve into the unfairness of this law and how it affected many individuals, but instead, this film had other plans. The film takes on the journey Russ takes from his last day in prison to being thrust out into the free world again, but over the course of two decades, the world is nothing like it was before. Russ is in a unique situation where he went into prison in the late 90’s, and upon his release he’s now in the digital age. Basically he’s never had an email, nor has he had the chance to discover internet porn or YouTube. There is so much potential with this character, but at the same time, while watching this, I couldn’t get past his numerous bad decisions.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on December 28th, 2019
Toy Story 4 on Blu-ray. It's the franchise that put Pixar on the map. Is it Buzz and Woody's last round-up? It's a touching story with characters we've all grown to love. Now you can add it to your collection thanks to our good friends at Disney.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on December 27th, 2019
The Lion King (2019) on Blu-ray. It was one of the most beloved animated features of all time, holding the box office record for decades. Now it's a computer-generated/live-action film. Our friends over at Disney have given us a copy of the new film on Blu-ray so you can enjoy it in high definition.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on December 26th, 2019
The 2019 World Series on Blu-ray. The Washington Nationals beat The Astros in a thrilling Game 7. Hey, at least someone in Washington was winning in 2019. This historic 2-disc set includes the official MLB 2019 World Series film along with regular season highlights, clinching moments and even covers the World Series Parade. It's all thanks to our wonderful friends at Shout Factory. So what are you waiting for? Shout!
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: Contests, Random Fun by Gino Sassani on December 25th, 2019
We wish all of you the best of the season and a wonderful new year full of promise and success.
To help you celebrate we're sending out to you this Christmas song written by G. E. Sassani called Passage.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on December 25th, 2019
Alita: Battle Angel on Blu from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. It's back. Upcomingdiscs delivers 12 days of contests. Each day a new prize is going to be offered. We kick it all off with Alita: Battle Angel on Blu-ray in HD. It's a bleak future for Alita and her friends but a chance to score an extra gift for you.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on December 21st, 2019
It was 1978 when it all began. That's when George Lucas and a fairly unknown band of filmmakers and actors introduced us to that galaxy far, far away. We met characters like Han Solo and Princess Leia. We fell in love with droids named R2D2 and C3PO. We booed and hissed at the classic villainy of Darth Vader. And the hero of it all was a young farmer boy who pined for adventure on a backwater planet where nothing exciting ever happened. That's where we met Luke Skywalker, and for three films ending in 1983, we were treated to an epic adventure. This unknown band would become cultural icons, but it was all over after five years of space swashbuckling and good old good versus evil. At some point Lucas made it known that the first Star Wars film was actually the fourth film in a trilogy of trilogies. Star Wars would gain the tag A New Hope, followed by The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. Of course, while Lucas teased there was a prequel trilogy and a sequel trilogy, we were told not to get our hopes too high. But in the 1990's Lucas felt ambitious, and he delivered on that prequel trilogy with underwhelming result. Surely the rest of the story would remain untold.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 21st, 2019
This film proves that not all things need to be adapted for the silver screen. This re-imagining of this Broadway musical was best left on the stage. Now I am saying this having never seen the musical, but given the execution of this film, I am forced to make that the assumption that the musical has to be better than what I witnessed at the theater. Despite having a top-shelf cast that included Idris Elba, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Rebel Wilson, Jennifer Hudson, and Taylor Swift, the film fails to entertain. This isn’t just a biased opinion, either; my wife, who was very excited for the film, fell asleep at multiple points and was highly annoyed by the story. I have no idea what was initially hoped for this adaptation, but I am hard pressed to believe that it was this. As much as I want to put the film behind me, there is one song regarding a magician cat that is just staying with me, furthering my frustration. The film was already going to have a difficult time making its mark based on the fact that is going against a film that is basically guaranteed to win not only this week but also subsequent weekends at well. Given the cult status of the musical, I assume that the die-hards will make the trip to the theater, and I would be curious to speak with any of them and find out if they were as disappointed as I was.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 21st, 2019
"The near future. A time of both hope and conflict. Humanity looks to the stars for intelligent life and the promise of progress. To the stars..."
You know a movie’s bad when Brad Pitt isn’t enough to save it. However, where Ad Astra falls down is in execution of story rather than a failure on the part of Mr. Pitt. The premise was interesting: a son follows in the footsteps of his hero astronaut father to learn that his father, who was previously believed to be dead, may be responsible for catastrophic events plaguing the Earth. There is depth to the story, and the idea of human beings colonizing other planets was shown in a truly interesting and realistic manner, but instead of this being the forefront of the film, the story focuses primarily on a emotional journey that never pans out. The film also features a cast of superstars whose performances were little more than cameos. A waste of talent, if you ask me. I mean, why put together a cast that includes Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, Liv Tyler, and Ruth Negga, just to have their contributions be the length of a commercial. Yes, I know that was an exaggeration, but it just seems wasteful.
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