Posted in: News and Opinions by Gino Sassani on December 2nd, 2017
If you live in the Tampa Bay Area you absolutely must check out the Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival. They have some amazing films from some up and coming artists in the field. Check out the schedule of films at the Tampa Bay Underground Film Festival. Do a little Holiday shopping, enjoy a meal and then see some great independent films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 29th, 2017
“Cauliflower.”
When Steven Soderbergh announced his retirement from directing films in 2013, it was an announcement that was followed by shock and disappointment for fans and others in the industry. He was a workhorse who managed to deliver a variety of art house titles (The Girlfriend Experience) and then numerous successful blockbusters (Ocean’s 11, 12 & 13) that seemed to always allow him to make films by his own rules. Soderbergh makes his return to film with a heist film that uses West Virginia as its backdrop and NASCAR as its target. It’s familiar subject matter, but it’s the characters that separate this film from the rest of the pack.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 29th, 2017
Of the many films based on books by prolific writer Stephen King, Misery ranks near the top. Falling somewhere between the horror and thriller genres, this film about a twisted obsession is frightening because the premise seems very real. Directed by Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men), who first visited King territory with his 1986 film Stand By Me, Misery tells the story of romance writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan, Elf) and the fan who rescues him after a car accident.
Paul wakes to find himself in the care of Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates, About Schmidt), who’s obsessed with his “Misery” romance series. At first she seems caring, nursing him while he recovers from the accident, which left him with two broken legs and a dislocated shoulder. Soon, though, it becomes apparent that Annie is quite disturbed, and Paul realizes he’s in captivity. When his latest book in the Misery series comes out, Annie is outraged to discover that Paul, who wants to do more serious work, has ended the romance series and killed off the protagonist. She forces Paul to begin writing a new Misery book to fix things, and in his crippled state he has little choice – he’s at Annie’s mercy, until he can escape or be rescued. But is anyone out looking for him?
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on November 28th, 2017
We are a little less than a week removed from Thanksgiving, and we are feeling thankful for your continued support of our site. (And I'm still feeling like I'm in a bit of a food coma.) We're also feeling Lucky this week. Thanks to Universal, we'll bring you our take on Steven Soderbergh's latest heist comedy Logan Lucky (4K). Universal also profiles a pair of music mavericks (Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine) with The Defiant Ones. Finally, Warner Bros. seeks to recapture the magic of one of its most successful franchises with the Harry Potter Film Collection 1-4 (4K).
Before signing off for the week (and for November), here’s the usual 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 and have a spooktacular Halloween!
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides, Uncategorized by Gino Sassani on November 26th, 2017
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.
No studio has embraced the 4K format as much as Warner Brothers in 2017. They have become the first to release a television series in UHD and the first to release vintage material in 4K. They have consistently provided us with 4K versions of their new releases, and the results have been impressive. If you have a 4K/UHD Blu-ray adopter on your list, you won't find a better selection than Warner Brothers to start checking names off swiftly.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 26th, 2017
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.
Usually we stick to movies and home theater equipment when we do talk about gifts here at Upcomingdiscs. However, I do keep my eye out for things that might be of special appeal to the film collectors in our audience. If you're at all like me, you've been trying new ways to keep track of your video collection for years. I have stuff on so many formats that it gets pretty tough to find a way to keep it all together and easy to access. Most of the time I used to just work with Works database options and let that be my database. But a few years ago I've finally found a commercial database that does everything I want it to do, and a ton more. I'm talking about Collectorz.com, and they've been helping to organize my film collection for a few years now. We talked about them last Christmas, and I'm here to talk about them again. This thing rocks and is about as easy to use as anything else I've ever tried. It keeps track of everything you need.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on November 26th, 2017
Afterimage is the final film of Andrzej Wajda, prior to his death in late 2016. Though I am not familiar with the cinematic stylings of Wajda, I researched enough to know that he typically helms projects that are historical and biographical, and cover very controversial topics taking place in Poland. Specifically, the ways in which occupation affected Poland during WWII. If this film has done anything for me, it has given me a curiosity to seek out more films from Wajda’s oeuvre. Afterimage is very methodic in its narrative and its set designs. Which is necessary given the film’s source material.
The film studies the twilight years of internationally renowned abstract painter, Wladyslaw Strzeminski (Boguslaw Linda), as Stalin’s socialistic ideologies permeate Poland, leaking into the world of fine arts. Not only is Strzeminski a gifted visionary, he teaches Art History and Analysis at the Academy of Fine Arts in Lodz, Poland. His charisma and teaching style causes his students to develop into an almost cult-like group of followers. However, these followers are interested in keeping the tradition of abstract art alive through the difficult times of Stalin’s call for socially uniform realism among all of the fine arts, including painting. As the film progresses, Strzeminski faces many bouts of artistic discrimination and he continuously rebels, no matter the cost.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2017
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.
We turn our first spotlight on the folks at Time-Life. They put the wow into gift sets and have assembled some mighty big collection sets particularly for that person on your list who loves all things vintage. Here's what they have this Christmas:
Posted in: The Reel World by John Delia on November 24th, 2017
A great assembling of actors, excellent control by director Martin McDonagh and a vicious script make Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri a winner. The crime drama, laced with cynical comedy, puts the film up there with the movie Fargo and even TV’s Fargo. While I may like the film, it does have some racist tones that may offend. That said, McDonagh has a penchant for turning the tables on the offensive comments and actions, and here he does it big time.
In the small town of Ebbing, Missouri, Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) has a bright idea to light a fire under Sheriff William Willoughby’s (Woody Harrelson) inability to find the murderer of her daughter Angela (Kathryn Newton). On a lonely stretch about a mile from her house, she rents three billboards that contain a sharp accusation.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on November 23rd, 2017
“Sometimes I think I'm cursed.”
Up until recently, Pixar Animation Studios had a pretty spotless reputation. (At least when it came to the quality of their films.) But while the studio's last three efforts (Cars 3, Finding Dory, The Good Dinosaur) have been financially successful, Disney's own in-house animation studio (Moana, Zootopia, Big Hero 6) has been out Pixar-ing Pixar in terms of delivering creative, crowd-pleasing blockbusters for all ages. (I didn't even mention a little movie called Frozen.) That's why I'm pleased to report that Coco — Pixar's moving, colorful and exhilarating take on Mexico's Day of the Dead holiday — is a thrilling return to form.
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