Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 7th, 2017
In times of war it is very easy to think of your enemy as the embodiment of evil. Sometimes it is necessary to do so. However, more often than not, the person on the other side of the line is just like you, a patriot doing their duty for their country, with mild to moderate understanding of the overall big picture. 1944 helps to illuminate this point, as the audience gets to experience the war from both sides of the battle. In this case it was Estonians fighting on both sides, further complicating the morality of the situation. We are thrown into the middle of the war almost instantly, opening up in the trenches with one of the main focal points of the story, Karl. Karl is a haunted young man, traumatized by his family deportation to Siberia. He brings that intensity into the battle until his first face-to-face confrontation with the enemy when he sees that it was his fellow countrymen, young and inexperienced soldiers.
Across enemy lines, Red Army soldier Juri must walk a fine line in regards to his duty to the men he is serving with and his obligation to his commanding officer who expects him to report any anti-communist comment made by his fellow soldiers.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 7th, 2017
It’s difficult to be original and innovative when it comes to tackling a haunted house film. Ghost stories have been around for ages and told just about every way you can imagine, so what do you do to give the audience something they have never seen before? After coming back from directing Pete’s Dragon, writer/ director David Lowry a delivers a small intimate film that manages to take the haunted house story and makes it something unique from all the rest. Though when I say unique, and when I say innovative this may not be a positive for some. The film begins by introducing us to a couple played by Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara; their characters are simply credited as C & M. Early on we see them interrupted from their sleep after hearing a crash on the piano, the pair investigate the noise but of course find nothing. The film does a great job at pulling us in early on by creating a creepy unsettling atmosphere. From the start what helps set the tone is its boxy 1.33:1 aspect ratio, this is something that may seem distracting but it’s a crucial storytelling device that is used so effectively here, I have no doubt we’ll see more of this down the road.
It’s when C (Affleck) dies in a car accident that the story begins to take shape. We watch from a distance as M (Mara) goes to the morgue to identify her husband. The scene doesn’t cut away as we watch her go through the emotions of nervousness, shock and grief. As the sheet is pulled back over to cover C, the camera continues to hold…and hold…and hold till suddenly we see C sit up with the sheet still covering him. We watch him roam the corridors of the hospital with the sheet covering his body, two black slits for his eyes, though all we see is black. C is faced with the white corridor of light which we are to believe is to be heaven or whatever you’d like it to be, but C doesn’t enter it and instead continues to walk. His walk takes him back home; a home that we will eventually see is where he seems to wish to remain.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 4th, 2017
An action film with a running time of 89 minutes should mean that it’s going to be lean on the story and keep things moving at a fast pace. S.W.A.T: Under Siege delivers just that, but unfortunately in the process delivers something that we’ve seen many times before. The film is being branded as a sequel (by name only) to S.W.A.T (2003), the film with Colin Farrell which was an adaptation from the TV series from the 70’s. S.W.A.T: Under Siege has nothing to do with any of the previous incarnations, and has relocated from sunny California to Seattle Washington. But is the film worth checking out? Well I’m not a fan of sequels that go straight to DVD, but this film does dangle a wild card for the audience that convinced me to give this a shot, Michael Jai White (Spawn, Black Dynamite).
It’s the 4th of July and the S.W.A.T unit is ready to have a short and easy day so they can get home and enjoy the holiday with their families. But what kind of an action movie would it be if the holiday didn’t take a turn for the worse with terrorists and a lot of gun fire? The team gets a call about a big shipment that’s being made at a shipping yard, with the DEA taking lead they head to the warehouse that turns out to be something more dangerous than it seems. After an intense firefight, instead of finding drugs or guns in a shipping container, they find a man The Scorpion (Jai White).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 4th, 2017
“It's not all it's cut out to be...it's not about being on stage all the time. It's about the killing of time.”
There certainly hasn't been a shortage of sitcoms starring stand-up comedians. Many of them (Roseanne, Home Improvement, Everybody Loves Raymond) have grafted the comic's persona onto a family-friendly format. Even the shows that have depicted the life of a comic tend to take a surreal approach (Louie) or fast-forward to the part where the star is an established comedian (Seinfeld). HBO's Crashing stands out because it honestly (and painfully) depicts the struggle of an aspiring stand-up...and makes it look very, very funny.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on August 3rd, 2017
Having studied and enjoyed the works of Freud, Lacan, Kristeva, and other great psychoanalytical thinkers in school, the term “psychoanalysis” carries a significant weight for me. That being said, I had quite a few expectations when picking up this film. Expectations that were not met. Now to be fair, etymologically, “psychoanalysis” means ‘mental (psyche) loosening/break apart (analysis),’ and that is most certainly delivered. However, I believe that the only relationship that this film has to the writings and theories of psychoanalysis is that literal definition of the title. Otherwise, it is a tremendous mystery to me as to how this film received its name.
Dr. Paul Symmonds is a young, successful psychologist who is making great strides in his field: he is scheduling big conferences, his book is about to be published, and he is about to finally settle down with his partner. Then, in one week, five of his patients commit suicide without warning. Soon, Dr. Symmonds begins to speculate that a rival psychologist, Dr. Andew Fendell, has murdered his patients in an effort to sabotage his career. Soon thereafter, an independent documentary crew catches wind of the story, and they decide to observe Dr. Symmonds as he searches for his answers.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 3rd, 2017
“My persona's very, like, witty yet narcissistic.”
These self-aware words are spoken by Hannah Horvath, the on-screen alter ego of Girls star/creator Lena Dunham during the premiere of the show's final season. Of course, anyone who's watched Girls knows the “witty yet narcissistic” label applies to practically every character in Dunham's often flawed (and even-more-often brilliant) HBO dramedy. So while this final batch of episodes includes some superb moments, it's not a total surprise that this polarizing series concludes its run with a frustrating finale that is more satisfying for the show's creators than it is for its fans.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on August 1st, 2017
We're ringing in a new month with our latest Tuesday Round Up, and Fox has decided to show everyone who's Boss. Among the titles we'll be reviewing this week is the animated hit The Boss Baby, which Fox has released in 4K. Meanwhile, HBO bends the truth with Big Little Lies, and spends some quality couch time with the comedy series Crashing: Season 1. Sony gets in on the action with SWAT: Under Siege, Candy Factory goes on a Bender, and Film Movement takes us back to 1944. Finally, Warner Bros. steals some laughs with the heist comedy Going in Style.
Even though it's a brand new month, the customary reminder still applies here: 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 July 31st, 2017
Ever since Lionsgate acquired the Vestron Video collection and has been re-releasing these remastered titles, I have to say I’ve been in nostalgia heaven. I remember seeing these VHS boxes in the horror section at my nearby video store and renting many of these to get my weekly horror fix. Waxwork was always a box cover I always appreciated, but one of the most memorable was Warlock, because in the sea of black VHS boxes with gory box art, Warlock was this white box with the mysterious Julian Sands and this menacing shadow in red. I even remember seeing the trailer attached to my VHS copy of The Monster Squad, and I always dug the trailer for the film, but it took forever for me to finally get to see the film. Now jumping ahead two decades later, I’m getting to review this trilogy. I have to say this is the title from the Vestron series I’ve been the most looking forward to.
Director Steve Miner (Friday the 13th 2 & 3) helms the first film in the series from a script by David Twohy, who would go on to create the little sci-fi gem Pitch Black. Despite how the cover art may look for this film, and even though it is about a warlock (Julian Sands) hoping to eradicate all existence, the film really doesn’t play out as a horror film. In many ways the film feels more so like The Terminator or Highlander. Not that this is a bad thing, but the trailers are a bit misleading.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on July 28th, 2017
John Wick was an action film that seemed to sneak up on everyone. Sure, it had a great trailer, but I don’t think anyone expected to walk away from just how great it actually was. What made it so effective weren’t just the well-choreographed fights and the stylish look of the film, but it was the characters that while over the top, were also ones the audience could relate to. Atomic Blonde is helmed by half the directing team that gave us the first John Wick, and from what the trailers first teased us with, I came into it with hopes we’d get something special. While on the surface I can’t say that this film surpasses John Wick, what it does is stand alone for being a culturally and socially important film as it delivers not just the ultimate badass female in an action film, but I believe the first that belongs in the LBGT community. It’s a big deal what this character represents, but how does the rest of the film fare throughout the fistfights and shootouts?
It’s the fall of 1989 in Berlin when we are introduced to Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron). She’s bruised and battered as she enjoys an ice bath. The Cold War is coming to a close as the Berlin Wall is closer than ever to coming down. She is an agent with MI:6 and is being debriefed by her superior, Eric Gray (Toby Jones) and a member of the CIA, played by John Goodman. The debriefing is a combative one. Obviously we can tell she’s been through hell, and she begins to tell her story from the previous days as she attempted to complete her mission.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 28th, 2017
"Two can keep a secret as long as one of them is dead."
The Pretty Little Liars have finally reached the end of their rope. And while you discovered who little mini-A's were over the previous six years, you're finally going to get to the bottom of the entire mystery. I'll admit it's a bit of a shocker. With the end upon us, this is no place for beginners. If you don't know who Aria, Spencer, Emily, Hannah, and Alison are, it's time for you to head back to the beginning and catch up. You can find our reviews from those seasons here. For the rest of you, let's talk Pretty Little Liars, shall we?
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