Samson & Delilah
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on December 10th, 2013
In this day and age, making a small film about people on the fringe of civilization is not the way to make friends and influence people. In this case, the film made many friends and influenced many people. It is no doubt a small film, but it won the Camera d’Or at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated as Australia’s official selection to the Academy Awards. It won numerous major awards in Australia, Asia, and oddly enough, at the Dublin Film Festival.
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All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on December 9th, 2013
“There she is boys…Mandy Lane. Untouched. Pure. Since the dawn of junior year, men have tried to possess her and, to date, all have failed.
With its deep-red title card and the blood-curdling scream that opens the film, All the Boys Love Mandy Lane is very clearly a horror flick from its first frame. However, the movie displayed its greatest potential — a lot of which it squandered — when it seemed less preoccupied with who was going to kill Mandy Lane, and more interested in who was going to deflower her. The result is a promising, pitch black high school satire that eventually gets invaded by a run-of-the-mill horror film.
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Mary Poppins: 50th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 9th, 2013
“Wanted: a nanny for two adorable children. If you want this choice position, have a cheery disposition, Rosy cheeks, no warts. Play games, all sorts. You must be kind, you must be witty, very sweet, and fairly pretty. Take us on outings, give us treats, sing songs, bring sweets. Never be cross or cruel. Never give us castor oil or gruel. Love us as a son and daughter, and never smell of barley water. If you won’t scold and dominate us, we will never give you cause to hate us. We won’t hide your spectacles so you can’t see, put toads in your bed, or pepper in your tea. Hurry, nanny! Many thanks!”
And so the call goes out for Mary Poppins
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Impractical Jokers: Season One
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on December 9th, 2013
“WARNING: The following program contains scenes of graphic stupidity among four friends who compete to embarrass each other…”
Pranking…the bedrock of any friendship; I don’t know about you, but I don’t really consider myself friends with anyone until one of us pulls a prank on the other one. Don’t misunderstand, I in no way condone harmful pranks (unless they’re funny, just joking) but there is absolutely nothing wrong with a little good-natured ribbing between close friends. After all, if your friends can’t embarrass you, who can?
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Women Without Men
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on December 9th, 2013
Women Without Men is a unique film. It is not a perfect one. It is full of divided loyalties between people and cultures. It mixes reality, dreams and magic. It is mundane and beautiful. It is full of resentment, pain and hatred, but it strives for freedom and happiness. The filmmaker Shirin Neshat has been exiled from Iran for many years and has lived in many places including New York City. Neshat left Iran in 1979 when the Islamic revolution overthrew the government of the Shah. As an artist critical of the Iranian government, Neshat has been banned from returning to her homeland since 1996.
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Out Of The Furnace
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on December 6th, 2013
Director Scott Cooper made his directorial debut with the much critically acclaimed film Crazy Heart. It was an impressive first film that managed to get Jeff Bridges an academy award. With Out of the Furnace, Cooper again has a film on his hands that may gain some award recognition due to the many great performances sprinkled throughout the film. But aside from the great performances, how does the actual film hold up? It’s something I’ve been pondering for a bit. The film wastes no time showing us its dark side right from the start. Harlan DeGroat (Woody Harrelson) is out on a date and heaving outside his car at a drive-in theater.
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Gift Guide Spotlight: Paramount/CBS
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 6th, 2013
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. This time we turn our attention to Paramount/CBS
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Gift Guide Spotlight: Warner Brothers
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 5th, 2013
Warner has put out a few solid films and television shows on home video this year. There are a few of them that would make fine gifts for the home theatre fan on your Christmas list. From superheroes to hobbits and vampires, there’s something in this list for everyone. Wouldn’t hurt to snag a little something for yourself, now would it?
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Pain & Gain: Special Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on December 5th, 2013
People have used a lot of different words to describe Michael Bay and his films: “loud”, “blockbusters”, “mindless”, “soulless”, “Hitler” and, of course, “awesome.” One of the words you don’t normally associate with Bay’s undeniably successful output is “clever.” I daresay Pain & Gain is the most interesting movie the action auteur has ever made; the film is both seriously silly and surprisingly smart in how it presents its stupid characters
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Good Ol’ Freda (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on December 4th, 2013
We’re about 50 years removed from the Beatles taking the entire world by storm, so you’d be forgiven for thinking that everything anyone could possibly say about the Fab Four has already been said. Fortunately, the success of Good Ol’ Freda — a Beatles documentary that doubles as a loving tribute to its subject and the famous band she adored — doesn’t hinge on any heretofore unknown/shocking revelations. In other words, the film’s charm doesn’t so much come from what Freda Kelly says; instead, it comes from the delighted, no-fuss way she recounts her time with, arguably, the most famous band of all time.
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Galactic Adventures Double Feature: 3D Sun / Mars 3D (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 4th, 2013
Galactic Adventures from Image Entertainment is a nifty little collection of two Solar System IMAX films both running just under a half hour. The two short documentaries off a 3D ride to both the Sun and Mars. The films were produced in 2007 with 3D Sun opening at The Smithsonian’s Air & Space Museum. Both films have made the circuit of science museums throughout the country and come to you now through the modern milestone of home 3D for the first time ever
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Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Image Entertainment Television Classics
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 2nd, 2013
Everyone has one on their Christmas list. It’s the guy who already has everything on home video. He’s a classic television fan, and you just don’t know what to get. For years you’ve been counting on us for advice. We aren’t about to let you down this year. Image Entertainment has two awesome classic television sets out just in time for Christmas. If your list has a classic cop show fan, then it’s Naked City. If they’re a war series nut, you just gotta get them Combat. If you really, really like them, how about getting them both
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Bill Cosby… Far From Finished
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on November 29th, 2013
Everyone knows the name Bill Cosby, and if you’re an 80’s kid like me then you most likely know him as one of TV’s most likeable dads, Mr. Huxtable. Cosby has been the comedian who’s managed to succeed for decades by keeping his comedy routine clean and family-friendly. From his animated series Fat Albert and his numerous other television projects and the Jell-O pudding pop ads, we all seemed to just feel this was a guy we all let into our homes through the television where we all felt we knew him as a part of our extended family.
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Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Star Vista/Time Life
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 29th, 2013
Star Vista and Time Life get our vote for some of the coolest gift sets for the holiday season. It’s no surprise that they’ve delivered some quality television. What is a such a great surprise this year is that they’ve dug deep into the television archives and brought three particular shows that are long over-due for complete series treatments. These sets have provided us here at Upcomingdiscs with some of our favorite television watching in 2013, not to mention a lot of hours. It’s a tough job, but somebody has to do it.
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Getaway (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 28th, 2013
What makes a bad movie? What makes a good movie? The standards are getting lost in murky waters, because many of the critics have no interest in film history and the clear record of what is great and what is garbage. That goes for many filmmakers too. Their standards are what works in the last 12 months and how to try out the latest technology. Unfortunately they often forget the tried and true basics like good writing and good acting. Ethan Hawke gets a lot of these small movies
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Homefront
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on November 27th, 2013
This is a film that was sitting on a few shelves for quite some time. It was first a novel by Chuck Logan back in 2006. Sylvester Stallone liked the idea and put together a screenplay. It was intended as a vehicle for him, but that’s where the whole sitting on a shelf thing comes into play. The movie never really got off the ground, and before long Sly was a little too long in the tooth to do the role. It’s not like he was a spring chicken when he wrote the thing, which could account for, you know, that sitting on a shelf business. The screenplay has finally gotten off the shelf and into our movie screens. After careful consideration, I’m looking for that shelf again.
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All the Presidents Men (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 25th, 2013
This is a film that has become a significant contribution to the very the timeline it depicts, which is that of US President Nixon being forced into resignation after the Watergate scandal. This film is an engrossing depiction of the actual reporters who used anonymous tips to help uncover a scandal so big that it rocked the entire US nation. This film was released only four years after the infamous attempt to bug the Democratic offices in Watergate, which spurred the entire course of events in this film.
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Paranoia (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 25th, 2013
It’s nice to see two Spielberg veterans in the same movie. It’s been a long time since American Graffiti when Harrison Ford and Richard Dreyfuss last appeared together. It’s been a long time since Hooper in Jaws and Roy Neary in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but Dreyfuss and Ford don’t appear together in this movie either. It’s like they are in two different movies. Paranoia is a corporate espionage thriller with two CEO’s played by Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman, who have strong ties and stronger hates. There is lots to like about the movie, but many, many missed opportunities too.
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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Posted in The Reel World by J C on November 22nd, 2013
The most peculiar thing about The Hunger Games — both in the books and the blockbuster movie adaptations — is that the Games themselves are easily the least interesting part. The first film’s staggering box office success predictably led to a much bigger budget for the rabidly-anticipated sequel. (Catching Fire cost a reported $140 million, which is nearly double the original’s $78 million budget.) The extra money is on display in almost every engrossing frame, including the action-packed arena scenes filmed in Hawaii. But the real reason Catching Fire is an improvement over its predecessor is because the story’s satirical, political, rebellious spirit has been placed front and center.
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Delivery Man
Posted in The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on November 22nd, 2013
What would you do if you found out that you fathered 533 kids? Better yet, how would you handle that news on top of the news that the children you fathered are petitioning the courts to have your identity revealed? Well, that is the dilemma that Vince Vaughn is faced with in his new comedy Delivery Man. As you can figure out from the funny premise, this is a comedy, but it is not just hapless jokes without any real substance; Delivery Man actually has another side to it, a side that tugs on the heartstrings a bit.
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Star Trek: The Next Generation – Season 5 (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2013
“Space… the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Quality shows only get better with time, and by the time Star Trek: The Next Generation entered its 5th season it was already beating out most network shows in the ratings. First-run syndication was still quite new, and it was almost unheard of to expect to go up against the networks and survive…let alone win. The Next Generation went where no series had gone before, and it was just getting better all the time.
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Roger Corman’s Horror Classics Vol. 1
Posted in No Huddle by Archive Authors on November 22nd, 2013
Roger William Corman was born on April 5, 1926. If he ever dies, his funeral will be legendary. It is always possible that he will re-enact some scene from one of his Poe classics and emerge from his crypt. The fact is that many famous people in Hollywood owe an enormous debt to Corman. Some of the people I am talking about are Jack Nicholson, Robert DeNiro, Sylvester Stallone, Charles Bronson, Ron Howard, James Cameron, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Martin Scorsese, David Carradine, Johnathan Demme, Curtis Hanson, Robert Towne, Francis Ford Coppola, Gale Ann Hurd, Nicolas Roeg, John Sayles, Peter Bogdanovich, Richard Matheson, Peter Fonda, Bruce Dern, William Shatner and others too numerous to mention.
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Bubble Guppies/Team Umizoomi: Into the Snow We Go!
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 21st, 2013
Nickelodeon has released a Holiday compilation DVD before(http://upcomingdiscs.com/2011/11/15/nickelodeon-favorites-merry-christmas/) which makes this particular release a sort of sequel to that. This time around only two shows are featured, and there is half the episodes featured than in the previous release.
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It’s a Spongebob Christmas!
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 21st, 2013
It was inevitable. Spongebob Squarepants gets its own Christmas Special. Usually television shows take the lazy route and inject their own characters into a familiar Christmas story and make a parody or adaptation (how many times have we seen Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol redone?). Thankfully this special offers a unique tale of the malevolent Plankton creating a special fruitcake that turns any eater into a totally jerk. Will Spongebob’s demeanour make him immune? Of course…but what of the rest of Bikini Bottom?
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Treme: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 21st, 2013
Creator David Simon (The Wire and Generation Kill) has never been a show runner concerned about cliffhangers or plot twists; instead he thrusts his viewers into the day-to-day life of the everyday Joe and shows that real life generates more conflict than most fiction can ever deliver. Ever since I first watched The Wire I’ve considered myself a fan of Simon’s work, and I feel it could be argued that what Simon did with The Wire is a large factor in why we have the quality of television that we do today.
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