Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 6th, 2018
As a fan of The Conjuring films, I keep hoping that these spinoff films will manage to step up and be on par with The Conjuring, but instead they just keep letting me down. But that doesn’t stop the hordes of fans from still seeing these films; after all, the pair of Annabelle films were box office hits, and The Nun had a nice theatrical run as well, earning over $110 million. The Nun is a bit of a departure, as it takes us back to 1952 and is set in Romania to deliver a gothic horror story that seems as though it’s a bit of a nod to the old Hammer films from the 1950’s on into the 1970’s. Does the film deserve its box office success? Well, thankfully I didn’t have to take a vow of silence, and I can tell you all about it.
The film wastes no time in setting the tone and delivering the terror as we see a pair of nuns walk through the bowels of an abbey in Romania as they open a big, scary door that has the inscription “God Ends Here”.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 6th, 2018
“Sometimes when you trust your impulses, incredible things can happen.”
I doubt this is what Jesse Usher’s character had in mind when he used it as a pickup line for Bella Thorne’s character. However, Ride does feature what turns out to be an extraordinary night for these two characters as they find themselves at the mercy of a demented individual with a .44 Magnum. This movie has been on my radar for a while, and it was a movie that I jumped at the chance to review. I’m fortunate to say that I was not disappointed, although I did find the ending to be a bit anticlimactic. When I saw the runtime for this film, a mere 77 minutes, I anticipated that the thrills would be over fairly quickly, but the story managed to pack quite a bit into this brief period.
James is a struggling actor by day, and a rideshare driver by night.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on December 4th, 2018
The mission for this week’s Round Up, which we quickly chose to accept, was to let you know about some of the new releases we'll soon be reviewing on this very website. Thanks to Paramount, that list includes the latest Tom Cruise spy adventure Mission: Impossible — Fallout (4K), which will be helicoptering (and HALO jumping…and motorcycle riding…) its way onto these pages before long. Elsewhere, Warner Bros. finds some spooky religion with The Nun and returns to the world’s most dangerous theme park with Westworld: Season 2 (4K). Finally, RLJE Films snags tickets for The Ride.
While this is the start of a new month, you're going to get the same ol' reminder: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon — maybe a Christmas present for a loved one — and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 3rd, 2018
This year, I have gravitated more towards watching movie courtroom dramas. I watched Anatomy of a Murder for the first time. The same could be said for the Verdict with Paul Newman. I re-visited A Few Good Men in glorious 4k with pleasing results. Then I got an opportunity to review The Third Murder, a courtroom drama that takes a look at the Japanese court system when one lawyer decides to seek the truth. Even though I was about to go on review hiatus for the holiday season, I eagerly wanted to take a look, and I am glad I did.
Posted in: The Reel World by John Delia on December 3rd, 2018
by Diana Delia
Ralph Breaks the Internet is a sequel to the hit Disney animated film Wreck it Ralph. In Ralph Breaks the Internet, we follow our heroes from the last movie, Ralph and Vanellope, as they travel the internet in search of a broken part for Vanellope’s arcade game. They find the missing steering controller on eBay, and it’s the last one in existence. Up for auction, they give the winning bid for $27,000. They now must find a way to earn the money to pay for the controller with a deadline in five hours, or they will lose Vanellope’s game forever.
Ralph Breaks the Internet is a painfully average film, and compared to its predecessor, a huge disappointment. This sequel wasn’t bad, however, but it wasn’t too great either. There’s one big problem I had with this movie, and it’s Ralph. Ralph in the first movie had already gone through his character arc and was a very well developed character by the end of the film. In this movie it feels like they purposely broke the character just for a story line. Ralph in Ralph Breaks the Internet is now a needy, clingy, and annoying character. Throughout the movie Ralph is constantly holding Vanellope back from doing the things she wants to do to save herself. People who relate to her should start to feel how annoying Ralph can be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 3rd, 2018
So this was not one of Nalyce’s favorite films to watch, but she was a trooper and watched it till the end. Benji Off the Leash is a digitally remastered telling of the 2004 film. To its credit, the story surprising holds up. Even more to its credit, my daughter was actually able to follow the story. I mean, I had to explain certain parts, like who was Benji? And explain the profession of dog breeding, a profession she automatically decided was a bad job given that to her eyes it broke up puppy families. However, once we cleared that hurdle, we were able to continue the movie. Full disclosure, my knowledge of Benji beforehand was nonexistent. I mean, I knew the name, but not the significance. Fortunately for me, there is a decent opener so that I could catch up.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 30th, 2018
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.
Universal has released a strong slate on both Blu-ray and 4K this year. The Universal Monster films is a particularly nice gift for a fan to find under their tree. Here's more on that Blu-ray set and some 4K titles from Universal
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 30th, 2018
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. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. The kinds of things we recommend here are things I would be delighted to find under the tree.
Paramount has taken the 4k/UHD Blu-ray release to the next level. They are the first studio to really offer franchise sets so that you can watch your favorite film series in a complete collection. Here are some of the best from 2018 that any home theatre nut would be grateful to have under their tree. Just don't expect to spend a lot of time with them for a while. They're going to have some watchin' to do.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 29th, 2018
“I get it. You’re taking me back in time to show me my mother and father, and I’m supposed to get all goosey and blubbery. Well, forget it, pal…you got the wrong guy!”
Bill Murray was the absolute best at being a jerk on screen during the 1980s, which made him the right guy to step into the role of a modern-day Scrooge. Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” had been adapted countless times before Scrooged and there have been dozens of versions since the movie’s 1988 release. But while this sarcastic, intentionally gaudy update isn’t exactly the most faithful version of Dickens’ classic tale, it remains a personal childhood favorite.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on November 29th, 2018
“It’s handled, baby.”
Scandal, which followed the exploits of elite Washington D.C. fixer Olivia Pope and her torrid on-again/off-again relationship with the president of the United States, was never the Best Drama on television. But if the Emmys handed out a prize for “Most Drama,” this Shonda Rhimes-created soap opera would’ve been a shoo-in each of its seven seasons. So the fact that ABC released the final two seasons of Scandal in a handy bundle means there are almost too many twists and turns to count.
If you’ve never been Scandal-ized before, here’s a quick primer: Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington, who earned a pair of Emmy nominations for her work on the show) and her crisis management team of “gladiators” — which over the years included violently loyal techie Huck (Guillermo Diaz), the intense and enigmatic Quinn Perkins (Katie Lowes) and her former assassin boyfriend Charlie (George Newbern), along with the focused and capable Abby Whelan (Darby Stanchfield) — find themselves entangled with Washington D.C. power players, including President Fitzgerald “Fitz” Grant III (Tony Goldwyn) and his wife-turned-presidential hopeful Mellie Grant (Bellamy Young), who later vies for the Oval Office against Fitz’s Machiavellian former chief of staff Cyrus Beene (Jeff Perry).
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