Elvira’s Movie Macabre: Lady Frankenstein & Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter
Posted in No Huddle by David Annandale on December 12th, 2011
This particular double-bill of offerings (in the form of rather muddy, scratched prints) from Elvira’s Movie Macabre makes a certain odd kind of sense: each film features one of Victor Frankenstein’s female descendants up to no good: his daughter in Lady Frankenstein, and his granddaughter in the inaccurately titled Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter.
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Elvira’s Haunted Hills
Posted in No Huddle by David Annandale on December 12th, 2011
In the late-19th Century, we find Elvira (Cassandra Peterson) as much in love with the idea of being a showgirl as she was in the original Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (1988). But given that Las Vegas doesn’t exist yet, she is on her way to Paris to be a can-can dancer. Elvira and her maid, Zou Zou (Mary Jo Smith) take a detour through the Carpathians (naturally), where they wind up at the castle of Lord Vladimere Hellsubus (Richard O’Brien). It transpires that Elvira is the spitting image of Lord Hellsubus’s deceased first wife, and all kinds of scheming and counter-plotting begins on the part of the various factions in the spooky old castle.
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Giveaway: Win The Complete 2011 World Series on 8 DVD’s From A&E
Posted in Contests by Gino Sassani on December 12th, 2011
Baseball season is over and with Spring Training still a few months away A&E has decided to help us ease your baseball withdrawal. Now you can relive every play of all 7 games of the 2011 World Series. It’s the St. Louis Cardinals defeating the Texas Rangers and all that action can be yours. Treat yourself to an early Christmas Gift. To win a copy of this 8 disc set on DVD, 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! Instead – Tell us who is your early prediction for next year’s World Series Champ?
- Only those comments that answer our question will be considered.
Contest is open to residents of the U.S. & Canada only, and will conclude on Sunday, Jan. 1st, 2012.
Please – only one contest entry per person!
Smallville: The Complete Tenth Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 12th, 2011
Look up in the sky. It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No, it’s…. well, Clark Kent. And we finally have to say goodbye to the wonderful universe that this show has brought to the Superman mythology. With the show ending on its own terms we expected a lot from this season, and it was something just short of impossible for the cast and crew to deliver on those fans expectations. The season wasn’t perfect, and I’m sure that each fan walked away disappointed in something that happened, or more likely didn’t happen.
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Tanner Hall (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 10th, 2011
As one could probably surmise from reading many of my reviews, I don’t know a thing about women. I am after all a man, that is really the only reason I need. But then again, we are slow witted creatures. But I do know I like watching women (that does not sound too perverted does it?). So perhaps when I saw a list of titles to review, I gravitated towards one called Tanner Hall which follows the story of four teenage girls becoming women. I probably still will not learn a thing.
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Blood Simple (Blu Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 9th, 2011
A bar owner hires a hitman to assassinate his wife and her lover upon discovering their affair. What proceeds is a neo-noir packed with ample murder, betrayal and suspicions throughout.
This film is the directorial debut of Joel Cohen, thus making it the first in the line of “Coen Bros.” productions (Joel’s brother Ethan naturally contributing as co-writer and co-editor). As well, Barry Sonnenfield is the Director of Photography, which helps to explain the outstanding visual composition of this film.
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The Life & Times of Tim – The Complete Second Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 7th, 2011
Tim is the lone passive, sane voice in an insane world that whirls around him. Take the kooky scenarios you might find in an episode of Seinfeld, animated them (barely) and pepper it with some HBO-acceptable crassness, and you’re looking at this show. Done in a minimalist 2D animation, each episode consists of two separate stories. By splitting the episodes in half, the two chapters make the show resemble the current trend of 10 to 15 minute long cartoons, popularized by Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” programs.
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The Smurfs Holiday Celebration
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 7th, 2011
At one point or another, most all family friendly television programs air some sort of holiday special. Just one special you say? Well smurf that! How about two?! Taken from their TV show, that ran for nine seasons, we are offered two Christmas (not Holiday) specials starring those tiny blue…whatever they are. The animation quality signifies that one special comes from the earliest seasons, while the other come from somewhere later in the nine year run.
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Video Girl
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 7th, 2011
A small town girl named Lorie Walker is injured, which forces her to abandon her dreams of becoming a professional ballerina. After a chance encounter with an old friend, she is convinced to appear in a rap music video. The director of said video is immediately smitten with her beauty and takes her away to Los Angeles to become a Video Model.
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A Madea Christmas: The Play
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 7th, 2011
By proxy, I get to see a lot of Tyler Perry movies. Whether it would be a review for this site or perhaps my wife wanting to see something with Madea, I have seen just about every movie the director has put out there. Most of the time I found myself laughing quite a bit but sometimes his movies find themselves a bit preachier than I can tolerate. But what would I think of a Tyler Perry play? Well, I found out the answer when I watched: A Madea Christmas.
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Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 6th, 2011
“On every world wherever people are, in the deepest part of the winter, at the exact midpoint, everybody stops and turns and hugs. As if to say, “Well done! Well done, everyone! We’re halfway out of the dark.” Back on Earth, we call this Christmas, or the Winter Solstice. On this world, the first settlers called it the Crystal Feast. You know what I call it? I call it expecting something for nothing!”
In 2005 the BBC decided to bring back the gone-but-never-forgotten character.
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The Devil’s Double (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 6th, 2011
There have been a lot of films out that deal with the Iraq war and the various political situations that region of the world has had to deal with since that time. Most of these efforts are trying so hard to make some radical political point that they tend to serve their audiences poorly as entertaining films. Happily, that’s not the case with Lee Tamahori’s The Devil’s Double. The film cuts through the polarizing political elements and provides a brutal view of the Hussein regime through the actions of one of Saddam’s sons, Uday. Tamahori has created a modern Scarface
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Mission: Impossible – The ’88 TV Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 6th, 2011
“Your mission, should you decide to accept it…”
Those words have certainly been a part of the American pop culture for almost 50 years. It all started with the Desilu television series that hit the airwaves in 1966. That first year is probably unfamiliar to most of us. It was in black & white and starred Steven Hill as the leader of the Impossible Mission Force. A year later the show jumped to color and Peter Graves took over the team as the indomitable Jim Phelps.
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The Future
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 5th, 2011
A couple in their 30s decide to adopt an injured cat and have 30 days before receiving it. In that time, the burden of responsibility becomes too much and they start making drastic changes to their lives. I have reviewed enough films to realise that, unless it is a science documentary, a film title such as “The Future” can only imply a pessimistic view of it’s namesake when coming out of the “indie” film scene. This film validates such fears to a tee.
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Deep Purple with Orchestra – Live at Montreux
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 5th, 2011
The latest incarnation of Deep Purple is going the route of many “classic” rock and/or metal bands, and are putting being accompanied by a symphony for a special release. This particular concert closed out the 2011 Montreux Jazz Festival.
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5 Days of War (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 5th, 2011
As some might be able to figure out from my personality, I tend to stay away from political and war type movies. Political movies (except for the special ones) tend to confuse the viewer until the final curtain is drawn. War movies on the other hand tend to be more about explosions and male bonding which is usually enough to put me to sleep. What happens when you combine the two of them? Well then you might get a movie like 5 Days of War directed by the one and only Renny Harlin .
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Designing Women – The Complete Fifth Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 4th, 2011
Good grief, these people again. I had previously shared my thoughts on this program when reviewing the third season on this site: http://upcomingdiscs.com/2010/03/13/designing-women-season-3/ I shall expand on this but assure you that little has changed in my sour opinion.
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Attack On Leningrad (Blu Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 4th, 2011
This historical film looks at the three-year siege of Leningrad during World War 2. The film follows a Russian, female police officer who aids a stranded, English news reporter as they try to survive the siege.
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Giveaway: Win A Copy Of Lifetime’s Magic Beyond Worlds The J.K. Rowling Story
Posted in Contests by Gino Sassani on December 4th, 2011
Lifetime has given us 3 copies of Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story to give away to you Harry Potter fans here at Upcomingdiscs. The film stars Poppy Montgomery as the famous writer and creator of the Harry Potter Universe. To win a copy of this unauthorized biography 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! Instead – who your favorite Potter character is.
- Only those comments that answer our question will be considered.
Contest is now closed Winners are Catesha, Nicole & Sandra Short
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.
Giveaway: Win 2 Jane Fonda Prime Time Workout DVD’s from Lionsgate
Posted in Contests by Gino Sassani on December 4th, 2011
Holiday time is here and we’re all going to have a bit too much to eat. Lionsgate has the answer to your holiday pounds. In the first of four great “get into shape” contests, they’re giving us a copy of two of Jane Fonda’s latest workout videos. We have Jane Fonda Prime Time Firm & Burn and Trim Tone & Flex. To win these two DVD’s 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! Instead – what your favorite holiday treat is.
- Only those comments that answer our question will be considered.
Contest is now closed Winner was Anne-Marie T.
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.
Evil Dead 2 (25th Anniversary Edition) (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on December 4th, 2011
“Someone’s in my fruit cellar! Someone with a fresh soooul!”
Sam Raimi wasn’t really interested in making a horror movie. Weaned on The Three Stooges, comedy was really more his style, but he could only find interested investors if he made a horror movie. So he and his filmmaking partner, Bruce Campbell, made the short film Within the Woods and with it secured funding for their first feature length movie, The Book of the Dead. When it was pointed out kids might not see a movie with book in the title, the name was changed to Evil Dead.
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Usher : OMG Tour Live from London
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 3rd, 2011
Somewhere, somehow, Usher has been dubbed the reigning “King of R&B.” I understand his sales are immense and popularity is undeniable, but I am hearing his name being said in the same sentence as James Brown and Michael Jackson. Those are insanely high standards to live up to, so I was was expecting a lot from the “OMG Tour” live performance.
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The Open Door
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on December 2nd, 2011
A pirate radio station offers to grant wishes to listeners on full moon nights, but all of said wishes come with grave consequences as it seems that there have been monthly murder/suicides occurring since the radio station’s inception.
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Spy Kids 4: All The Time In The World (3D Blu-ray / Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 2011
“You have been activated.”
You’ve got to hand it to Robert Rodriguez. Since he came onto the film scene in 1992 he has earned a reputation for delivering some very innovative films. His specialty appears to run toward more adult fare with such cult hits as Dusk To Dawn, Sin City, and his recent splashes into grindhouse territory. Anyone who has seen those films might find it strange that the writer/director is also responsible for a somewhat beloved children’s franchise with the Spy Kids films.
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Carjacked (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 2011
John Bonito has had very little experience in filmmaking. He’s done a few wrestling tidbits and one earlier film called The Marine, and that was nearly six years ago. Chances are you haven’t heard of either. If Carjack is any indication of his limited ability, the new film out on Blu-ray isn’t going to help with that name recognition. So, with a no-name director and a direct-to-video release, the film really left small expectations. We might go into a film like this expecting a rather dull, “been there, done that” feel to it. In that sense Bonito doesn’t disappoint at all. But take a closer look at the cast and hope emerges for something perhaps a little better than that.
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