Posted in: The Reel World by J C on December 8th, 2017
“Wish we could just make our own movie.”
I have more than 800 reviews to my name on this site, and I've probably watched several thousand movies overall throughout the course of my life. A lot of them are bad. Some are even worse than The Room, which has been dubbed “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.” However, I've never seen a movie that is bad in the way The Room is bad. It seems a substantial chunk of Hollywood — led by star/filmmaker James Franco — feels the same way. The creation of The Room is chronicled in The Disaster Artist, but there's more here than just an anatomy of a trainwreck. The film also works as an ode to underdog Hollywood dreamers who take a DIY approach to (accidental) stardom.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 8th, 2017
"In any war, there are calms between the storms. There will be days when we lose faith, days when our allies turn against us. But the day will never come, that we forsake this planet and its people."
Following the events of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the Autobots are working hand-in-mechanical-glove with human authorities (in other words, the apparently all-powerful CIA), keeping close watch for Deception activity, but also helping out in human-on-human conflicts. Meanwhile, Shia LaBeouf has traded in improbably hot girlfriend Megan Fox for the equally improbable Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (an improbability that the script does have some fun with). He is also out of work and dismayed at not being given due consideration as a savior of the planet.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 8th, 2017
"Art is a lie. Art gives the chaos of the world an order that doesn't exist."
The X-Files will soon return for a second revival season with 10 episodes that will likely finish the franchise. But if you're a Gillian Anderson fan, you won't have to wait until next year to get your Anderson fix. Acorn has a release that you really have to discover. Gillian Anderson has served three seasons (or series, as the Brits call them) in Belfast for the BBC series The Fall. With the broadcast of that third and final season, Acorn is releasing a nice complete set of all three seasons on both DVD and Blu-ray. If you want to win a copy of the DVD set, you have to stay tuned here and be sure to check out our 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways. In the meantime, I'm going to tell you about the Blu-ray set that I've just had the pleasure to consume for review.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 7th, 2017
There is a sense of dread that unintentionally comes along with an independent science fiction film. Despite how far technology has come, it seems that for a science fiction film to really be impressive they need a reasonably decent VFX budget or suffer with a look that often times appears cartoonish by comparison of the larger-budget films. The Osiris Child somehow manages to not just create a grounded realistic futuristic world, but even manages to use practical effects to create some nasty-looking monsters and not pull its punches with the scope of its story. In a film that seems to be parts Elysium and parts Pitch Black; this might be the most ambitious effort I’ve seen in the genre that manages to succeed in many ways.
Kane (Daniel MacPherson) is an officer who works in a space station over a planet and discovers that the planet is about to be wiped out. Unfortunately his daughter is visiting him from Earth, has travelled through space to visit him, and is staying at the planet her father is looking over. Kane goes against orders to rescue his daughter and get her to a bunker to protect her, but in the process his ship is shot down and he crash-lands miles away from where he needs to be. As luck would have it, Kane is rescued by a mysterious figure, Sy (Kellan Lutz) who happens to be an escaped prisoner who reluctantly helps Kane get him to the city where his daughter is supposed to be.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 7th, 2017
"Before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life. That is how our race was born. For a time, we lived in harmony. But like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil. And so began the war. A war that ravaged our planet until it was consumed by death, and the Cube was lost to the far reaches of space. We scattered across the galaxy, hoping to find it and rebuild our home. Searching every star, every world. And just when all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown planet called... Earth."
In this version of Transformers, Earth is caught up in an age-old conflict between two factions of an Autobot society. These sentient mechanical beings ravaged their own planet with war and now threaten to continue their struggle on a new battlefield: Earth. The bad guys are the evil robots called Decepticons. They see Earth as a new place to sow their seeds of destruction and humans as a minor infestation to be eliminated. The leader, Megatron, has been secretly kept in suspended animation by the government since the 1930’s. The good guys are a guardian group of robots called Autobots, led by a bot named Optimus Prime. Both groups are in search of a cube structure that is more than a little reminiscent of a Borg cube, called The Spark. This cube contains the power of life that can be spread to any technological device to create new Decepticons. So our evil friends envision an Earth overrun by newly created bots from Earth’s own machines.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 7th, 2017
“Sounds like you don't have a lot of faith in faith.”
You know how sports teams retire the jerseys of their most beloved, outstanding players so that no one can ever wear their number again? Well, we are well past the point where movies about exorcisms need to be hanging from Hollywood's rafters. Simply put, no one has ever come close to doing it as well as William Friedkin did almost 45(!) years ago with his adaptation of The Exorcist. If anything, The Crucifixion is an even more egregious misfire than other head-spinning stabs at the genre because this movie is actually based on an intriguing, horific real-life case.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on December 6th, 2017
The Despicable Me series that includes Minions never seems to get tiring as they extend their comedy one more time with Despicable Me 3, opening this weekend. The key to the filmmaker’s success is the handling of the characters and inserting them into the animated movie with a plan in mind. That plan consists of starting with a little comedy involving the Minions, then working into some intense action that leads to a champion who either succeeds or fails. In the meantime there are multiple stories going on with each one targeting certain audience members. Sounds complicated? Well, the best comedy adventure is intricate, and Illumination Studios does that very well.
The lovable characters are back again with a new twist on Gru’s (Steve Carell) employment. It seems that the government has hired him as a partner for Lucy (Kristen Wiig) in the Secret Service following their marriage. Gru, now an agent looking for the bad guys instead of being one himself, seems to have found his goal in life.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 6th, 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.
CBS still has the highest rated dramas on television. There have been quite a few good DVD sets from the network in 2017. Here's a look at my recommendations.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 5th, 2017
It is difficult to become invested in a group of characters in just six episodes, but I can say in the case of The Good Karma Hospital, by the time we reached the season finale, I was definitely invested. The story of a big city doctor who leaves her life behind in favor of a journey of self-discovery in a foreign locale is not precisely a new tale, but it is unfolded in such a charming way that you will find yourself willing to overlook its sometimes predictable nature. With a backdrop in south India, the show takes place in a public and underfunded hospital unofficially run by a strong-willed and surly matriarchal character. Mix that with our fish-out-of-water junior doctor, and you get a dynamic reminiscent of the relationship between J.D. and Dr. Cox. Extremely charming and unafraid, they tackle serious issues that plague an underfunded hospital. The Good Karma Hospital is a worthwhile watch.
Following a breakup, Dr. Ruby Walker finds herself overwhelmed and overworked, which prompts her to make the decision to change her life completely and apply for a job with a hospital in south India. Shortly after her arrival, she comes to find that the job she applied for is not the one she got. She finds herself outsourced to the Good Karma Hospital, an underfunded public hospital run by the blunt and no-nonsense Dr. Lydia Fonseca. Unlike what she experienced at the previous hospital, there is no advanced equipment to aid in her diagnoses, and she will need to rely solely on her intuition and the intuition of her colleagues; of course, that is easier said than done. Shortly after meeting Dr. Fonseca, Dr. Walker finds herself insulted and learns that before even being considered for the position she applied for, she must complete a year at a public institution. She quickly finds herself out of her comfort zone as she finds that she will be expected to perform surgery despite her predisposition to pediatrics.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on December 5th, 2017
Earlier this year, the fifth film in the Transformers franchise made its UHD debut. This week, the rest of the robots in disguise arrive in 4K! Thanks to Paramount, we'll soon have reviews for Transformers (4K), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (4K), Transformers: Dark of the Moon (4K), and Transformers: Age of Extinction (4K). Elsewhere, RLJ Entertainment goes out of this world with The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Vol. 1 while Omnibus Entertainment crowns The White King. Finally, Lionsgate loses its religion with The Crucifixion.
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!
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