Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on June 22nd, 2018
"Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur?"
By the time you get to the fourth sequel of a film the results are usually not very good. Even a groundbreaking film like Jurassic Park has been followed by at least one terrible sequel. The problem with these kinds of things is pretty easy to figure out. You can't please all of any film's diehard fans, and it's hard to continue to deliver on the formula's expectations, all the while breaking new ground without the result feeling more contrived than original. That's certainly all been true of this franchise. When Jurassic World set all kinds of box office records three years ago, it appeared that those entrusted with this franchise had found a way to turn it around.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 22nd, 2018
“I just need you to not freak anybody out tonight.”
Flower ends up being a pretty strong reflection of its promiscuous protagonist: both the movie and the anti-heroine at its center are sharp, profane, a little all-over-the place, and contain a surprising undercurrent of emotion. The movie is a polarizing experience, to be sure, but I enjoyed going on this particular wild, unpredictable ride.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 20th, 2018
Cinematically speaking, the name Eli Roth has been synonymous with murder and mayhem. The director is best known for his work in the horror genre, bursting on the scene with 2002’s Cabin Fever and upping the ante with Hostel and Hostel: Part II a few years later. So it was a bit surprising to hear he’d be taking on a remake of Death Wish — the iconic 1974 Charles Bronson revenge flick — until I started thinking about the bloody possibilities. If the Hostel films gained notoriety as prime examples of “torture porn,” then it seems like Roth has graduated to “revenge porn” with this slick and (intentionally) silly re-imagining.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 19th, 2018
When Pacific Rim first came out, I had a blast with the film. It was the ultimate giant-monster-versus-giant-robot film that my inner ten-year-old has wanted to see for so long. Sure, the film had some dialog issues, but the world that Guillermo del Toro created with the film was so over-the-top and beautiful that the bad dialog was easy to forget. It knew what it was, brainless eye candy, and it delivered in a big way. Now we have the sequel coming out; del Toro is no longer at the helm, and in his place we have Steven S. DeKnight whose previous directorial efforts have been episodes from Daredevil and Dollhouse. Does the sequel hold up? Well, to put it bluntly, not even close.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 19th, 2018
It’s been eleven years since that cast and crew took their final bow on the show Will and Grace. In those eleven years so much has occurred such as gay marriage and the rise of the social justice warrior. Just one glance at our political climate these days you can imagine there is plenty of material for comedy gold, heck there was even the revival of Roseanne that attempted to seize the moment. But of all the shows that are on the reboot and revival trend train Will and Grace is the one sit-com I feel is the most suited to take the airwaves. A lot of time has passed, a decade in Hollywood is a few eternities and would seem to be an overwhelming task to reunite the cast and crew but it would seem the stars have aligned for this show but will it actually work?
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on June 19th, 2018
Welcome to this week’s monster-iffic Tuesday Round Up! We kick things off with Universal going back for a second round of robots vs. kaiju butt-kicking with Pacific Rim: Uprising (4K) and trying not to go too crazy with Unsane (4K). And while calling Scrooge McDuck a monster is probably a bit strong, the penny-pinching quackster and his nephews get into some hot water in Duck Tales: Destination Adventure. In less monstrous news, Lionsgate puts the petal to the medal with Flower and Warner Bros. kicks things into high gear with soccer-centric family film Alex & Me.
The end of the week brings the biggest (and certainly oldest) monsters of them all. We’ll have a dino-tastic review of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. And now it's time for your customary reminder: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon 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 Brent Lorentson on June 17th, 2018
Despite falling into the “coming of age genre”, Love, Simon is actually so much more than your typical mainstream teenage film. In the 80’s John Hughes ruled the box office with his films, everything from Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink and of course The Breakfast Club were the films that spoke to the kids of the era. It’s been a while since a film has come along that has fit into the genre that has managed to handle the awkwardness of being a teenager while also toeing the line of being heartfelt and humorous. Over the years there have been attempts to capture the essence of the 80’s John Hughes films, but these seem to always fail by either going to raunchy or attempting to make the lead characters cool and popular.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 17th, 2018
When it comes to the Italian western aka the spaghetti western, the first director who comes to mind is Sergio Leone (The Good The Bad And The Ugly); and then there is Sergio Corbucci. While Leone was blazing a successful career, Corbucci first came onto the scene with his film Django. The film was dirty, violent, and mean. For those who are only familiar with the Quentin Tarantino version of Django, well, you’ll definitely see the films are drastically different aside from them both being revenge films. Much later on Corbucci got the chance to follow up his first big hit with another western, The Great Silence. I had gotten to see this dark western before, though it was in the form of a bootleg copy.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by John Delia on June 17th, 2018
Irreverent, totally off-the-wall, and exaggerated are the good things about the dark comedy Death of Stalin. The film goes bonkers on the Russian regime lead by Stalin as they picture the death of their leader in 1953. In actuality when the Soviet leader died rumors were rampant on whether it was ordinary or murder; well, this film isn’t going to answer that question, but it’ll lay to rest the madness of it all. You don’t have to be a historian to enjoy the film, just be able sit back and laugh at what may or may not have taken place.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on June 16th, 2018
“You’re not good...you’re super.”
For a while, it honestly felt like Disney/Pixar was messing with us. When The Incredibles swooped into theaters in 2004, it was simultaneously one of the best animated/action/superhero movies I’d ever seen. Plenty of people shared that opinion, so a sequel seemed like a no-brainer. That’s why it seemed like a cruel joke when we got not one but two forgettable Cars sequels before The Incredibles got a chance to suit up again. Guess what…the wait is officially over!
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