Transgression
Posted in No Huddle by David Annandale on June 13th, 2011
Pierfancesco Campanella (who also wrote the film) stars as a university psych grad student working on his doctorate. He embarks on some radical research by shooting up, and the next thing we know, he’s killing his mother by depriving her of drugs, poking a baby with a needle, and generally behaving rather badly. He winds up at a rich man’s residence, hooks up with his spoiled daughter, and the two embark on a picaresque journey of debauchery and murder.
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The Real Cannibal Holocaust
Posted in No Huddle by David Annandale on June 13th, 2011
Sigh. Another day, another misleading title. Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat. This is NOT a sequel to Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust. It isn’t even an imitator. It isn’t even fiction (at least, it isn’t meant to be). It’s original title is “Nuova Guinea, l’isola dei cannibali” (“New Guinea: Island of Cannibals”), and it’s a 1974 mondo movie, purporting to feature footage shot for the benefit of Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of her visit to the island, so she would have a better idea of the culture she was encountering. Whatever. In any event, this is a film made five years prior to the movie its title suggests it is following, and doesn’t actually have any cannibals, as such, in it.
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Betty Blue (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 13th, 2011
Jean-Hugues Anglade plays Zorg (yup, that’s his name), a handyman living in a beach-front house, scribbling away quietly in his spare time. Not so quiet is his tempestuous affair with Betty (Béatrice Dalle in her debut), whose passions overwhelm both of them. First, she moves in on him with no warning. Then, when she discovers his writing, she decides they must move to Paris so he can have a career as a writer. To make sure Zorg complies, she burns his house to the ground. Once in Paris, her plans for him fall apart, and so, bit by bit, does she.
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David Byrne: Ride, Rise, Roar (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 12th, 2011
As one could probably guess from my tender age of thirty five years, I listen to lots of 80’s music. Not only did I grow up in it, the music was energetic and often thoughtful (without being too depressing). But the thing I remember most about the music on a whole is the brilliant videos behind them. David Byrne of Talking Heads was the head (literally) of one of my favorites, Burning Down the House. A great musician and pop legend, David Byrne is back to entertain us in Ride, Rise, Roar.
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Tigerland (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2011
“My father said the army makes all men one, but you never know which one.”
There have been a lot of movies about Vietnam over the years. Some are quite political, while others try to capture the sheer horror of war…any war. It’s been long enough now that there are even lighter works about the conflict. But this might just be the smartest film about the war ever made, because it never actually goes to Vietnam.
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Pretty Little Liars: The Complete First Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 10th, 2011
“Two can keep a secret as long as one of them is dead.”
And there are a lot of secrets to be found on the ABC Family show Pretty Little Liars. It seems that a year earlier Alison (Pieterse) disappeared in the small Pennsylvania town of Rosewood. She was the “queen bee” of a small clique of girls. She was fond of manipulating those around her, and it seems her head games have finally caught up with her.
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Once Upon a Time in the West (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2011
“People scare better when they’re dyin'”
Mention the name Sergio Leone and you immediately think of Clint Eastwood and their Man With No Name trilogy. The truth is that Leone was the master of the spaghetti western and largely responsible for making Clint what he is today. When the Italian director decided to try his hand at Hollywood, he was welcomed with open arms, except they weren’t interested in anything but an American copy of a spaghetti western.
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Drive Angry (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2011
“Since the birth of time, humanity has endeavored to restrict evil men in prisons. But since Cain fled the murder of his brother, evil men have fled the walls of punishment. So it doesn’t matter if you’re a badass mother on the run because you think you’re better than everyone else and somehow entitled to do what you gotta do. No, because you see, badass mothers are never fast enough. In the end, they will be accounted for.”
People have been breaking out of Hell since the days of Dante.
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Passion Play (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2011
One of the best signs that a film is a disaster is when the movie’s own star can’t seem to stop telling the world just how terrible it really is. Mickey Rourke at first had nice things to say about the film and particularly Megan Fox, calling her the best young actress he knew. Later he backtracked and qualified the statement about Fox. But his rantings about the film Passion Play have not been softened at all. He calls the film “Terrible” and a “Train wreck” while trying to assure us that he still loves director Mitch Glazer. We’d ask Mickey himself to write the review for the film here at Upcomingdiscs, but we tend to try and remain family friendly,
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Kill the Irishman (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 8th, 2011
Somewhere in my family’s history, I have a couple of odd branches. One of them leads to a former Pope (17th century I believe) and the other is even more curious, the mob. Specifically, it leads to the most popular gangster of them, Al Capone. It is pretty far down the branch, but interesting nevertheless. This leads us to our movie review for today: Kill the Irishman which deals with the real life story of Danny Greene, a man who escaped death countless times and took down the mob.
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Sledgehammer
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 6th, 2011
A mother locks her child in a closet so she can have an uninterrupted tryst with her lover. But the couple is rudely interrupted after all, as they are bludgeoned to death. Ten years later, a group of friends arrive at the deserted house to party down. After doing so for a fair bit of running time, they then fall prey to a hulking masked maniac, who not only has the titular hammer, but also has all sorts of supernatural powers.
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Fernando Di Leo — The Italian Crime Collection
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 6th, 2011
Looking for a something a bit different for you gangster flick fix? Then look no further than this box set of gritty, thematically linked Italian crime pictures from director Fernando Di Leo. Things don’t get much more delightfully 70s than this.
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Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (Collector’s Edition) (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 5th, 2011
Many times when you see a trailer over and over, one has to ask themselves: Do they really want to see the movie or is repetition to the point of acceptance playing its fatal card? In the case of Legend of the Fist: Return of Chen Zhen, I had seen the trailer several times in front of Ip Man and the sequel. I wasn’t sure if I was anxious for the movie, so much that I really wanted to see Donnie Yen go absolutely crazy with his kicks and amazing martial arts.
True Blood: The Complete Third Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 4th, 2011
The other day, I was taking a look at my past reviews and I realized that I have been reviewing on this site for over six years. If you have been reading my reviews for that long and you aren’t married to me, bless you for sticking it out that long. Heck, I’ve only known my wife for almost 4 of those years. Anyhow, I have reviewed a plethora of subjects. One of the hardest things to do is to review a dvd season in the middle of its run. It becomes even harder when that show is True Blood
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Seconds Apart (After Dark Original)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2011
Did you ever see a movie that might have been pretty good, but it reminded you so much of other things that you just couldn’t keep your concentration on the film at hand? That was my experience with the After Dark original film Seconds Apart. At almost every turn I couldn’t help thinking of other films. Often times it was such a distraction that I’m afraid I never fully appreciated the one I was watching. And, there is a lot to like about Seconds Apart.
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Fertile Ground (After Dark Original)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 3rd, 2011
“From cradle to grave.”
Lionsgate is really starting to crank out some original horror films under the After Dark label, and if this is any indication of what’s in store for us down the road, I’m eager to see a few more of these titles hit the shelves. The films are direct-to-video low-budget films that have a more independent feel. While I wouldn’t call the film terribly original, it does offer a slightly fresh face on the haunted house theme.
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True Grit (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2011
“People do not give it credence that a young girl could leave home and go off in the wintertime to avenge her father’s blood. But it did happen.”
Just like the book that both this and the 1969 John Wayne film were taken from, the film opens with the sad story of a young girl who has come to Fort Smith to see that justice is done for her father. The words were written by Charlie Portis, a journalist who went on to write a truly great American novel: True Grit.
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Platoon (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 2nd, 2011
There are a good number of people who have labeled Oliver Stone as a fan of conspiracy theories, out to destroy foundations of conservative ideology, while at the same time re-visiting 60’s nostalgic icons. Despite the jokes and the stereotyping, one has to admit that, as a filmmaker, he has helped bring to screen some of the most talked-about cinematic experiences of our time, including Midnight Express, Scarface, not to mention Conan the Barbarian. As a director, his works, such as The Doors, Nixon, JFK and Natural Born Killers, have generated discussion both within and aside from the technical merits
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Forget Me Not
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2011
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, release the one ignored by Heaven. 8, 9, 10 now run and hide or join her at the Devil’s side. 11 comes the clocks will chime, forgotten souls erased by time. Midnight comes, it’s not too late. So kill the ghost and seal your fate.”
Those nursery rhymes can really be a dangerous game in the horror movie scene. You can’t help but be reminded of the jump-rope rhyme that always warned us that Freddie Krueger was about. Now Phase 4 has given us something new to worry about in the above average thriller
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Swamp People: Season 1
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2011
“In the farthest corner of America lies the nation’s largest swamp. A hidden world where nature rules and man fights back. Welcome to the swamp.”
Leave it to History to find yet another profession that they can deliver to our living rooms and home theaters so that we can be entertained by someone else’s reality. When I first heard the title of Swamp People, I had something entirely different in mind than what I ended up with. I guess I was prepared for some hidden creature-folk who might be spotted between the swamp gas and the Spanish Moss Monster from an old Kolchak episode.
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The Mechanic (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2011
“What I do requires a certain mindset. I do assignments, designated targets. Some jobs need to look like accidents. Others must cast suspicion on someone else. A select few need to send a clear message. Pulling a trigger is easy. The best jobs are the ones nobody even knows you were there.”
Arthur Bishop (Stratham) is an accomplished mechanic. But you don’t want to bring your Toyota to him, unless you intend to use the car to get rid of a pesky spouse.
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The Big Bang (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on May 31st, 2011
Imagine that ‘40s tough-guy detective Philip Marlowe tangled with a billionaire mad scientist, along with the usual quota of thugs, strippers and sarcastic cops. Now suppose that writer Erik Jendresen and director Tony Krantz decided – perhaps over a meal of magic mushrooms and moonshine – to hire a fancy-pants cinematographer, rewrite author Raymond Chandler, and offer up what they obviously hoped would make them film-noir Fellinis for the new century.
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Dead Man Walking (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2011
I remember when I first heard that Dead Man Walking was coming out. The first news was that it was a death penalty film that involved Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon. I was not very keen to see the movie at that time. All three of these actors are known for their over-the-top liberal antics, and I just knew this was going to be nothing but a rant against the death penalty in the United States. But you see, that’s why you just have to watch the movie sometimes.
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Kids In The Hall, The: Complete Series DVD Megaset
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 31st, 2011
“Sketch comedy, what is it? What is required? The first thing that is needed is a premise.”
How about this for a premise? Lorne Michaels, who was a brainchild behind Saturday Night Live, puts together a show based on a Canadian comedy troop named The Kids In The Hall? The group gets their name from an old running Jack Benny routine where he would tell the audience that he got this next joke from the kids in the hall. Michaels struck comedy gold before; it would make sense that he would do it again. Doesn’t it?
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Year of the Carnivore
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 28th, 2011
Unlike most people my age, I still have a surreal view of love despite a plethora of failed relationships and a horrendous first marriage. Sometimes, I feel like I am the only person who doesn’t have a screwed up concept of love. But thankfully I did find my true love before anything happened to my ideology. Enter the movie Year of the Carnivore, a movie that disguises itself to be about sex when in reality it is more a statement about good old fashioned love.
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