I Am Zozo
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on November 21st, 2013
Now here’s a game I never had a desire to play: the Ouija board. I not sure what it is about this game that has made me have a natural aversion to ever being in the same room with it; perhaps it is the knowledge that by playing this game, I may be contacting the dead. Never having been an overly superstitious person, I recognize the extremeness of this act; however, after watching I am Zozo, I believe my aversion is now justified. “Based on a true story,” providing me with yet another reason to avoid Ouija board.
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Star Trek: The Next Generation – Unification (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 20th, 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.”
What a difference a couple of years makes. Rick Berman was pretty stubborn about wanting The Next Generation to live on its own without connecting to the original show, perhaps as much as the fans would have liked.
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Combat!: The Complete Series
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on November 20th, 2013
They’ve been called The Greatest Generation, and who are we to argue the point? Sitting here writing reviews from my comfortable seat in a state-of-the-art home theater, I’m in no position to lay claim to the title. They fought in the bloodiest conflict in modern human history. Over 20 million were killed. That’s a staggering number. If you’re like me, it’s not even real. I can honestly say that those facts have never really reached home.
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We’re the Millers (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 20th, 2013
The line between hilarious raunchy comedy and over-the-top raunchy comedy is very fine, and We’re the Millers tends to dance on both sides of it. In time such action will be revealed to be both a blessing and a curse, I suspect. With the young crowd, I believe the film will fall right into place with such movies as Horrible Bosses (a comedy which coincidently starred Aniston and Sudeikis) and to be more recent, This is the End. With more mature audiences, the raunchiness may prove to be slightly more than they were expecting to see. With me, I find myself on the side of the young.
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Saga: Spin It Again! — Live in Munich (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on November 19th, 2013
“Five years ago, I stood on this stage and I said goodbye. Five years later, I’m standing on this stage and I say, ‘Hello.’”
I’d honestly never even heard of Saga before popping in this Blu-ray, but it was impossible to miss the family reunion atmosphere of this show. The Canadian prog rockers released their self-titled debut album in 1978, but — like many successful, long-running bands — have undergone a number of lineup changes. (Including a non-lethal, Spinal Tap-esque run of drummers in the early part of this century.) Saga, in its various forms, has found some of its greatest success in Germany, so there was no better place to get the band back together for a concert movie.
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Kenny Rogers: The Gambler (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 18th, 2013
Kenny Rogers…chances are that is a name you have heard throughout your life regardless of whether you are a fan or not; regardless whether you have ever heard any of his music, which happens to be the case when it comes to me. His name just has a way of sticking with you, and that can be doubly said of his song “The Gambler.” See, even now I bet the mere mention of the song’s name has the chorus of “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,” playing in your head. Well, here is the film version for Rogers’ most infamous song; however, I doubt that the movie will have the same effect on you as the song.
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Parkland (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on November 18th, 2013
“On November 22, 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, made a political trip to Dallas, Texas with his wife, Jacqueline, and Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.”
Of course, you don’t have to be an American History buff to know what happened next. The circumstances surrounding President Kennedy’s assassination instantly seared themselves into the country’s collective consciousness. This month marks the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s death, which has brought along the expected number of tributes, TV specials and movies breaking down the crime and its corresponding conspiracy theories. Parkland, however, serves as a microcosm of how Kennedy’s assassination affected an entire nation.
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Gentle Ben – Season One
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 16th, 2013
In the Florida everglades, the Wedloe family have a 650-pound tame bear for a loyal pet. A very young Clint Howard stars as Mark, the son of a game warden (played by Dennis Weaver),who leads Ben around on several adventures and merry mishaps. Though “merry” may be the wrong word as Mark and Ben encounter their fair share of real life dangers.
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Prince Avalanche (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on November 15th, 2013
On paper, the premise of Prince Avalanche sounds about as exciting as watching paint dry. The film follows a pair of squabbling workers whose job it is to paint yellow lines in the middle of a country road in the aftermath of a devastating wildfire. They’re basically the only two characters in the movie, and the story never moves away from their desolate surroundings. Although his film is occasionally self-indulgent (by design, I suspect), director David Gordon Green finds the strange beauty in that desolate landscape. He’s also armed with stars who bring this meandering character study to life.
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Ben 10: Omniverse, Vol. 3 – Aliens at War
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on November 15th, 2013
Ben Tennison is back in the action packed collection of Ben 10 Omniverse from Cartoon Network. In 10 newly released episodes we follow Ben and his fellow Plumbers as they do battle against the meanest and the ugliest aliens the galaxy has to offer, in our universe or any parallel universe out there. This cartoon is infectious. From its catchy opening music, imaginative characters and fun action sequences this is a cartoon that simply grows on me more and more, and I have no shame in admitting that I’m a fan of this “kids’” show.
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Dallas Buyers Club
Posted in The Reel World by Archive Authors on November 15th, 2013
In 1986, AIDS was all over the headlines. Now AIDS is forgotten and ignored by most, but the pandemic remains a world wide disaster. It’s not like syphilis is all over the news either, but AIDS is both an insidious killer and one with a stigma all its own. Aside from the stigma is the world wide spread of HIV (the precursor to AIDS) which had reached 34 million people by 2010. Across the world, the majority of new infections are male to female. Modern pornography is exponentially more available than it has ever been and does nothing to promote safe sex, and condom use is still something that has strong opponents in society.
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Dexter: The Complete Final Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 14th, 2013
It’s been six months since last we visited with Dexter (Hall) and his pals. Deb (Carpenter) had just shot and killed Lt. LaGuerta (Velez), and the blame went to another killer. It was LaGuerta or Dexter, and she made her choice. Now she’s suffering some post-traumatic consequences for her actions. She’s left the force, and no one has heard from her in weeks. She’s hanging out with lowlifes doing drugs and playing undercover cop as a private investigator with Jacob Elway, played by Sean Patrick Flanery. Dexter is trying to track her down and possibly save her life from a hitman. Needless to say, it’s going to be a long road for the siblings.
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Man of Steel (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 14th, 2013
“What if a child dreamed of becoming something other than what society had intended? What if a child aspired to something greater?”
It’s appropriate that exactly 75 years ago this very month Superman was born at the hands of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. He was born to be the patriotic hero symbol for a nation on the brink of a devastating world war. The war came and went as many others would since the hero’s inception. Styles would change. Technology would come and go. Superman would find himself invading each and every medium that has come along since.
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The Carol Burnett Show: Christmas with Carol
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on November 14th, 2013
So what made The Carol Burnett Show such an outstanding hit? You have to start with Carol herself, of course. She’d been doing this kind of show for years and was paying attention to what worked and what didn’t. She knew it started with the writing staff, and she hired only the best and the brightest. When it was time to put together a cast, she knew the first thing she wanted was a “Harvey Korman type”. She did better than that. She got Harvey Korman. She knew you had to have a ladies’ man in the cast, and she got that element with Lyle Waggoner. He was relatively unknown at the time, but she knew how to spot talent.
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Dora’s Christmas Carol Adventure
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 13th, 2013
Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol is vastly re-imagined with characters from Dora. Swiper replaces Scrooge as the one who travels through time in order to learn the true meaning of Christmas. This special is twice the length of a normal episode.
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Contest: Win Happy Tree Friends: Complete Disaster From The Media Grind
Posted in Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on November 12th, 2013
They’ve been seen over 2 billion times on Youtube. Of course, I’m talking about the cult cartoon sensation Happy Tree Friends. Now our friends over at The Media Grind want to bring some happy times to three lucky Upcomingdiscs readers. We’re giving away 3 copies of Happy Tree Friends: Complete Disaster. It’s Mondo Media’s most popular series and now it can be yours.
To win just follow these instructions.
- Fill out your name and email address in the comment form below – your email address will remain private and visible only to us.
- Do not post your address as an actual comment! What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?
- Only those comments that answer our question will be considered.
Contest is now closed Winners are Evan, Pamalot & Connie Lewis
Winners are notified by E-mail. If you did not get a confirmation E-mail from us, check your Spam filter and contact us. Any prize not claimed in 2 weeks will be forfeit and be placed in the end of year contests next Holiday Season.
Naked City: The Complete Series
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on November 12th, 2013
“Ladies and gentlemen. You are about to see the Naked City. I’m Bert Leonard, the producer. As you can see we’re flying over an island, a city, a particular city…and this is the story of a number of people, a story also of the city itself. It was not photographed in the studio. Quite the contrary. The actors played out their roles in the streets and the buildings of New York itself.”
On September 30th, 1958 television audiences heard this narration for the first time. They had no way of knowing this, of course, but they were about to watch one of the most influential police dramas in the history of the industry. They were about to watch, for the first time, The Naked City.
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Blackfish (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on November 12th, 2013
“To this day, there’s no record of an orca doing any harm to any human…in the wild.”
Orcas are sometimes referred to as “blackfish,” but Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s thrilling, thought-provoking documentary examines why they’re most commonly known as “killer whales.” The movie’s obvious standout moments involve breathtaking footage of these massive animals violently turning on their trainers. Although some viewers will undoubtedly make the leap to wondering whether it’s ok to keep any animal in captivity, the thing that elevates this film is that it serves as an eloquent argument against keeping this particularly majestic, highly-social beast in a concrete pool.
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Ambushed (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on November 11th, 2013
The most surprising thing about Ambushed is that it’s not quite as generic as its completely uninspired title might suggest. (Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 15 movies that could credibly be re-titled Ambushed; I’m sure you can too.) This particular straight-to-DVD action thriller is being sold as The Expendables-lite, with tough guy supporting players (and Ambushed producers) Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture — along with Vinnie Jones, who really should’ve been in an Expendables movie by now — glowering from the Blu-ray cover. But this stylish L.A. drama — which liberally borrows from superior crime flicks — has a few tricks of its own.
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Thor: The Dark World
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on November 8th, 2013
” There is nothing more relaxing than knowing that the world is crazier than you are.”
When Disney Studios bought the Marvel line, what they were buying was really a printing press that printed freshly-minted money. That doesn’t mean it was automatic, however. It was done right. Starting with the first two Iron Man films, the franchise that would lead to Joss Whedon’s superior Avengers film was one of creating a universe. God made the universe in seven days. It took Marvel five movies. What we end up with is not just a fine collection of treats for the geeks and fanboys.
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Morrissey: 25: Live (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 8th, 2013
Twenty-five years in any business is a feat to be recognized, especially when it is in the field of entertainment. It requires constant dedication, devotion, and a loyal fan base that sticks by you; Morrissey seems to have all three. In his latest concert series, Morrissey 25 Live, the English singer celebrates his latest career milestone at Hollywood High School in Los Angeles. From the very beginning, it is obvious that the singer has a loving and dedicated fan base, which was the most surprising detail for me given that before this disc, I had never heard of the singer.
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About Time
Posted in The Reel World by J C on November 8th, 2013
“For me, it was always going to be about love.”
The best time travel stories don’t endure because people really like thinking about wormholes and paradoxes. No, it’s the idea of reliving the past or getting a peek at what’s next — before realizing we’re better off just living each day to the fullest — that captures our imagination. That’s why a filmmaker like Richard Curtis, best known for writing and directing romantic comedies like Love Actually, as well as his Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill screenplays, can take on a fantastical concept like time travel so naturally.
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Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 7th, 2013
“I like people to go away from a Queen show feeling fully entertained, having had a good time. I think Queen songs are pure escapism, like going to see a good film – after that, they go away and say that was great, and go back to all their problems” – Freddie Mercury
I had that very pleasure back in the late 1970’s when I attended a Queen concert at the old Spectrum in Philadelphia. It was one heck of a show. Freddie was flamboyant as always
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Clear History (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on November 6th, 2013
“You think you had a bad day? This guy lost a billion dollars.”
Clear History is ostensibly about hot-shot marketing exec Nathan Flomm, who misses out on a billion-dollar payday after a petty disagreement. But really, this HBO Films original comedy is basically a 100-minute, all-star episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm with prettier scenery. As such, it’s another opportunity for writer/star Larry David to profanely and incredulously sound off on a fresh set of social landmines, including insincere apologies and birthday e-card etiquette.
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Magic City: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 6th, 2013
Ike Evans (Morgan) owns the most swank hotel in Miami. It’s the Miramar Playa. He bought the land at a song from his deceased wife’s family, and he’s turned it into a luxury city where the likes of Frank Sinatra call home. He’s determined to make it without caving to the influence of his minority partner, who happens to go by the name of The Butcher. He’s Ben Diamond (Huston), and he wants the hotel to become a kingdom of gambling and other profitable vices. Sure, Ike allows a little prostitution and backroom bookie action, but he wants to keep the hotel pretty much legit. That’s hard with a bank nut that runs $65,000 a month.
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