Piranha (2010)
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 24th, 2011
Underwater tremors open up a cave that has been sealed off from the rest of Lake Victoria for millions of years, unleashing a ravenous school of giant piranha. Making short work of a cameoing Richard Dreyfuss (in his Matt Hooper clothes), the fish descend on a resort town in the middle of Spring Break celebrations and so, naturally, the financially-minded authorities Won’t Close The Beaches.
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Unstoppable (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 23rd, 2011
“In training they give you an F. Out here you get killed.”
When was the last time you saw a good train movie? There have been a few classics. Most of the best merely happened on a train with the drama having to do with what was happening on the train. I can’t really remember when I saw a good train film where a train itself was the source of the tension. Yes, there have been several films where terrorists hijack a train and threaten something bad if their demands weren’t met. But in Unstoppable, the threat really is just the train.
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Jefferson
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 23rd, 2011
“When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
Of course, that declaration would be heard the world
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The Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 23rd, 2011
“My money is on you being brutally killed within two days, but what choice do we have?”
The works of H.P. Lovecraft have a reputation for being imaginative and utterly horrifying. The same can be said for the many attempts to bring this work to the screen. Most of these have been horrifying, but for the wrong reason. With the very notable exception of the Re-Animator films, which owe a great deal to the portrayal of West by Jeffrey Combs, the Lovecraft films usually miss their mark by a mile.
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The Brazen Bull
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on February 23rd, 2011
A young couple are drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse when they investigate a piece of real estate and a psychopath starts to trail them. Brazen Bull is the title of the film and the killer’s mantra, which means he acts as if he has nothing to lose, when in fact he’s already lost everything.
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Megamind (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 21st, 2011
It’s funny how the zeitgeist works, in that it is hardly unusual for two films with very similar high concepts to hit the screens at close to the same time. Dante’s Peak and Volcano. Deep Impact and Armageddon. Hell, The Towering Inferno came about as a result of Fox and Warner cooperating in order to avoid making identical films. And this year, two animated features with super-villains as their protagonists: Despicable Me and our current subject: Megamind.
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The Time Traveler’s Wife
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on February 16th, 2011
A Chicago man has a strange genetic disorder that makes him involuntarily travel through time. This film follows the unimaginably complicated romance he has with a woman who he has known since she was a little girl and they never get to age chronologically together, and sometimes share different memories of the past (which might be the future for the other…I know…I told you its complicated).
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Thelma & Louise (20th Anniversary) (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2011
“I’ve always believed that, done properly, armed robbery doesn’t have to be a totally unpleasant experience.”
You would think that Thelma And Louise would have been a blockbuster film. It’s certainly become entrenched in our pop culture. The famous ending has been spoofed to death in other films and television shows, including the latest Star Trek, if you can believe that. You would think, but you’d be completely wrong. This was one of the movies that got a ton of critical attention and even some Academy Award attention.
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I Spit on Your Grave (2010) (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2011
“This despicable remake of the despicable 1978 film, I Spit On Your Grave adds yet another offense: a phony moral equivalency.”
Roger Ebert is at it again. Over thirty years ago he pretty much hated the original film, but he didn’t stop there. He extended his hatred to the fellow movie-goers he encountered as well. The 2010 remake appears to retain his disgust, and couldn’t be prouder of the slight. Go figure.
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The Twilight Zone: Season 3 (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2011
“You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead your next stop, the Twilight Zone.”
Image follows up its great Blu-ray release of seasons 1 and 2 with a third season that continues to impress.
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Ice Road Truckers: The Complete Season Four (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2011
“At the top of the world, there’s a job only a few would dare. The Ice Road Truckers are back. Last year they chased their fortune over the frozen gauntlet of the Daulton. But this season, Alaska’s most fearsome road is just the beginning….”
It was the peak of the 1970’s, and CW McCall was teaching ordinary people like us about Cabover Petes with reefers on and getting by those Smokeys.
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How the Earth Was Made: Complete Season 2 (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2011
“Earth: a unique planet. Restless and dynamic. Continents shift and clash. Volcanoes erupt. Glaciers grow and recede. Titanic forces that are constantly at work, leaving a trail of geological mysteries behind.”
I saw a bumper sticker recently that read; “Geologists dig classic rock”. I should have taken it as an omen that I would be spending some quality time with a few geologists over these last couple of weeks.
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I Spit on Your Grave (1978) (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2011
“A vile bag of garbage named I Spit On Your Grave is playing in Chicago theaters this week. It is a movie so sick, reprehensible and contemptible that I can hardly believe it’s playing in respectable theaters…”
Seldom has a film been so proud of a bad review like the one Roger Ebert delivered when he saw the film in 1980 during its limited Chicago area run that year. The rest of the review continues its rant against the violence and despicable nature of the film. But Ebert doesn’t stop there.
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Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by BABY on February 12th, 2011
You know you’re in a lot of trouble when a movie opens up with the wedding of two dogs. Hi, I’m Baby. I’m the German Shepherd who runs security here at Upcomingdiscs. If you work for either UPS or Fed Ex, no introductions are necessary, and that spells R U N. I want to know why it is that you humans think that dogs want to look and act like people. We don’t need no stinkin’ sweaters. We don’t want to walk on our hind legs. And we don’t want to get married.
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Stone (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 12th, 2011
Character studies. They might be the most misunderstood movies in the business. Those who do understand them love them when they’re done right. When the perfect balance of performance and direction create dynamic moments through character and to a lesser extent the story, we get pretty excited. I watched Stone recently, and I got pretty excited. But that’s not the experience a lot of folks had. Perhaps because the film had a limited release in just over 100 theaters nationwide, the idea that it was an art-house or festival film might have put the mainstream folks off a bit.
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The Trotsky
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 11th, 2011
Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel, in a knockout performance) is convinced that he is the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky, and is determined to live out his life in the same way, right down to getting himself assassinated (“hopefully somewhere warm” his note appends). He also has only three years left to find Lenin, but in the meantime, his attempts to kick-start the revolution are meeting with little success. His struggle to unionize his father’s factory manages only to embarrass and anger his father, who retaliates by removing him from private school and packing him off to a public one run by the tyrannical Colm Feore.
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Greenberg
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 11th, 2011
Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) once was a musician, but now he is a carpenter and an inveterate writer of letters of complaint (to pet taxis, for instance, for not having a soft carpet for the paws of their passengers). After a stay at a mental institution, he arrives in LA to look after his brother’s house and dog while the family is away in Vietnam. He reconnects with an old friend from his band days (Rhys Ifans, a long way from his manic energy in Notting Hill), and circles around a stop-start romance with personal aid and professional doormat Florence (Greta Gerwig).
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Rain Man (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 10th, 2011
Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is a self-centered dealer in exotic cars. He imports high-end sports cars into the states and sells them to the highest bidder. Within the first 10 minutes, we learn that he is not above bribing the EP for the cars to pass emissions, that he treats his girlfriend poorly, and that his father has just passed away. As he goes to the reading of the will, hoping for a big payday, his father leaves him only a car.
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Happy Valentine’s Day From A&E And Upcomingdiscs Romantic Giveaway
Posted in Contests by Gino Sassani on February 10th, 2011
Our very good Valentines over at A&E have given us a romantically wonderful prize for all of you lovers out there. They’ve given us 5 romantic films from Lifetime to share with our readers. The films are: I Me Wed with Smallville’s Erica Durance, Confessions Of An American Bride with Shannon Elizabeth, Making Mr. Right with Christina Cox, How I Married My High School Crush with Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff and I Do (But I Don’t) with Denise Richards. That’s 5 movies to give away! To win one of these romantic Valentine movies, 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 your top three choices from the movies being offered in order of your preference. Should you win, you will get one of the movies you selected.
- Only those comments that answer our question will be considered.
Contest is now closed Winner are:
Confessions Of An American Bride – Kathleen Gereg, Making Mr. Right – Julie, How I Married My High School Crush – Melina, I Do (But I Don’t) – dal, I Me Wed – Tonya
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.
Eddie Griffin: You Can Tell ‘Em I Said It
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 9th, 2011
One of the most underappreciated films in my opinion in the last ten years is Undercover Brother. Stop looking at me strangely! Seriously, it was a very funny movie. It was because of one man and I don’t mean Neil Patrick Harris (though he was hilarious). That man would be Eddie Griffin
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Visioneers
Posted in Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on February 9th, 2011
In this satire of modern life, Zach Galifianakis plays a man named George Washington Winsterhammerman who has a beautiful wife, a large house, a stable job in the world’s most successful corporation, and even a boat. Despite all of this he fears he is showing symptoms (which include dreams) that he might be about to literally explode, a mysterious and unexplained epidemic that is sweeping the country.
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The Girl
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2011
Written by Diane Tillis
It is rare for a film to create a complex portrait of a child with the same thoughtfulness as a serious portrait of an adult. The Girl is unusual compared to the countless other coming-of-age films is in its depiction of the title character and the events she experiences in one summer.
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See You In September
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 7th, 2011
Written by Diane Tillis
See You in September is Tamara Tunie’s (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) first attempt behind the camera as director and producer. It is a romantic comedy with a cast of recognizable faces, such as Estella Warren from Planet of the Apes (2001) and Justin Kirk from Showtime’s Weeds. See You in September is a lighthearted film for the optimistic romantic in all of us.
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Red Hill (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 7th, 2011
Westerns are typically fun movies to review because they usually don’t deviate much from a basic formula. There is usually a criminal, and there is usually a good guy out there to shoot that varmint. Technically, that is all there is to it. Furthermore, the budget (unless big stars are involved) is small, making for some creative storytelling. Today, we get to review an Australian western: Red Hill. Let’s see if it differs from the typical American one.
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The Guardian: Final Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 7th, 2011
Simon Baker is riding high these days. Last year his new series, The Mentalist, was the highest ranked new drama of the year. That accomplishment got the show paired with CSI in that enviable Thursday night time slot. I’m amazed when I hear folks tell me how the actor appeared to come out of nowhere. A few film roles and he’s Mr. Television. Well, count me in with the small group that isn’t so surprised and saw him coming as far away as 2001 with a sleeper CBS series called The Guardian.
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