Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on March 23rd, 2017
Probably the most silly of animated films this year, and that’s a good thing for Sing. Enjoyable, very funny, touching, and absolutely incredibly wacky. The family film targets children, but the adults will enjoy it a lot more than the average toon. I’m surprised the filmmakers waited so long to put the film in theaters, but with no children’s anime to stop it from becoming a blockbuster, it’s a very possible chance it will. Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey voiced), the grandson of a theatre owner, has the tough job of bringing the venue back to its glory after he inherited the entertainment palace. Heading for oblivion, he will have to come up with entertainment that will bring in the crowds, or it’s doomsday for the young entrepreneur. With his back to the wall, he comes up with a contest for the best singer who will win $1,000, every cent he has to his name.
His assistant Karen Crawly (Garth Jennings) doesn’t have a clue about her job, but takes orders just the same. One of her duties is to print out the flyers that will be spread all over town for the competition. But, unbeknownst to Buster, Miss Crawly makes a typo on the flyer offering $100,000 to the winner, and a gust of wind blows them all over the city.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 22nd, 2017
“Some people build fences to keep people out, and other people build fences to keep people in.”
In its transition from stage to screen, Fences — the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by the late August Wilson — doesn’t venture far beyond the Maxson household. And that’s precisely the point: director/star Denzel Washington isn’t overly concerned with masking the story’s stage origins. The existential claustrophobia that the characters in the play have been carrying their entire lives is right up there on the cramped screen.Fences is set in 1950s Pittsburgh and centers around Troy Maxson (Washington), a boisterous former Negro League baseball player who works as a garbage collector alongside best friend Jim Bono (Stephen Henderson). Troy shares a home with Rose (Viola Davis) — his wife of 18 years — and their son Cory (Jovan Adepo), who is being recruited to play college football. The other people in Troy’s orbit include Lyons (Russell Hornsby) — Troy’s musician son from a previous relationship who has a penchant for visiting on his father’s payday — and Gabriel (Mykelti Williamson), Troy’s mentally disabled younger brother who also lives in the neighborhood. Gabriel was previously under Troy’s care after suffering a head injury in World War II; Troy used the subsequent government payout to buy his family’s house.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on March 21st, 2017
Help! UpcomingDiscs HQ has been overrun by a koala, a couple of pigs, a gorilla, an elephant, a porcupine, and other adorable animals! Fortunately for us, these crooning critters happen to be the stars of Universal’s Sing, which we’ll be reviewing in 4K pretty soon. Meanwhile, Candy Factory leaves us torn with Split, while Magnolia Home Entertainment examines A Kind of Murder. Shout! Factory answers When Calls the Heart: The Heart of Faith, and HBO navigates the (often awkward) lives of two contemporary black women with Insecure: The Complete First Season. Finally, we'll bring you a pair of theatrical reviews this weekend, including Woody Harrelson's star turn in Wilson. We'll also try to determine if there is Life on Mars (and in this sci-fi horror flick starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Reynolds).
Now it's time for your weekly reminder before signing off: 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: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 20th, 2017
We’ve reached a point where I’m starting to wonder if there is anything new that can be brought to the vampire genre. They may not be my favorite horror creature, but vampire movies tend to be fun for the most part, and being fun is mostly what we look for when we decide to check out a horror film. Bloodrunners attempts to show us something new, taking us back to the prohibition era of the 1930’s, but is this a trip worth taking? Grab a bottle of hooch and a stake for the road, because it’s nightfall, and I’m about to dive into this vampire tale.
A new club has opened up. It offers up swinging music and most importantly illegal booze that is served on the hush-hush. Trouble is, news about the place travels fast, and it is even frequented by some dirty cops. Running the club is Chesterfield (Ice-T), a smooth band leader who also has been in the illegal hooch selling business for a while. This is a role for which from the start Ice-T was perfectly cast, and as the film progresses, for me it’s his performance that kept me engaged. Despite the modest budget, the club looks more than serviceable; after all, most speakeasy joints were in hidden-away rooms that the police were never supposed to suspect. This is where Jack Malone (Michael McFadden, who also had script writing duties) shows up to shake down the place.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on March 17th, 2017
“Who could ever learn to love a beast?”
Although it’s not quite a tale as old as time, people around the world have been enchanted by the story of “Beauty and the Beast” for centuries. The French fairytale was first published in 1740 and has subsequently spawned everything from a classic 1946 big-screen romance to Ron Perlman. Still, the most popular iteration of this story is Disney’s beloved 1991 animated musical, which helped solidify the Mouse House’s cartoon revival and serves as the most direct inspiration for this dazzling live-action adaptation. Then again, the fact that this new version is essentially a pretty close copy of a copy takes some of the bloom off this particular rose.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on March 16th, 2017
How long has it been since you’ve spent some time with Mama? It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 25 years. Our good friends at Time Life have decided that it’s just been too dang long. Of course, we’re talking about the television classic Mama’s Family staring Vicki Lawrence. We’re teaming up to give you a good deal of time to spend with Mama. It’s called Mama’s Favorites and it’s a collection of 6 DVD's. There's one from each season featuring Vicki Lawrence’s hand-picked favorite episodes. You get 37 episodes in all. Guest stars include Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman and Alex Trebek.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 16th, 2017
- “OK, first, I'm not a princess...”
- “If you wear a dress and you have an animal sidekick, you're a princess.”
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on March 14th, 2017
Howdy, neighbors! I realize our readers come from all over the world, but I feel like I can be at least a little familiar with some of you after writing for this site a little more than five years. And since they say that “good fences make good neighbors”, it's only fitting that this week we find out if the great, Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Fences" makes for a good movie. Paramount was generous enough to send along a copy of recent Best Picture nominee Fences, starring Denzel Washington and Viola Davis, so check back soon for our review. On the lighter side of the spectrum, Comedy Central serves up a drink (or 10) for Drunk History: Season 4. Finally, we revisit a tale as old as time later this week with the much-anticipated arrival of Beauty and the Beast.
One last reminder before signing off for the week: 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 J C on March 13th, 2017
“Life's pretty simple, you know. It's long periods of waiting broken up by brief moments of change. That's it...that's all it is.”
100 Streets tells three barely-connected stories set in the same one-square-mile area of present-day London. (The neighborhoods of Chelsea and Battersea to be exact.) The stories are each quite compelling in their own right, and they're performed by a talented group of actors. Unfortunately, the movie is occasionally bogged down by distracting, pseudo-profound soliloquies like the one at the top of this review. I appreciate the stabs at thoughtfulness and depth, but they come off as forced here and are more likely to make you roll your eyes than inspire you.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 12th, 2017
When it comes to exploitation films you really are rolling the dice when you find a title you’ve never heard of and you decide to watch it. Through the 60’s and 70’s there were countless exploitation films that covered many genres, many of which were sold to audiences by a cool-looking poster and catchy title. Sex and violence were the major exploits with these films, and at this time there was also the birth of black cinema, or simply blacksploitation films. Many have heard of Foxy Brown, The Mack, and Truck Turner, but for all these hits there were many more misses, and it’s the lost gems of the era that film geeks get excited over. Just because a film wasn’t a hit at the time didn’t mean the film was no good; many just fell between the cracks, and Joe Bullet just happens to be one of those titles.
Joe Bullet is about as exploitation as it comes. If you are looking for something on par with the quality of the recent Jason Bourne film, well, you better keep on looking. This is one of the examples of low-budget filmmaking at its finest, where having a car explode most likely was a big chunk of the budget. I know some people can’t appreciate the camp of these films and quickly dismiss them, but for me I feel there is a bit of charm that comes through because you can see that everyone involved is actually trying to make the best film they can within their financial means.
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