Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on February 14th, 2017
HBO is known for their quality original programs. The latest to join the elite list is Quarry. This is a 1970's period-piece that reminds one of The Deer Hunter. It's a high-octane drama and HBO is giving us a copy of the Complete First Season on DVD to pass on to one of our lucky readers. John will be telling you more in his upcoming review. You'll want to get in on this series from the ground floor.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on February 14th, 2017
Exploitation film has reached a point where there are just too many subgenres to count, or to care about for that matter. This film combines three of the subgenres into one incoherent amalgamation of boredom: Blaxploitation, Kung Fu flicks, and “Brucesploitation.” While the two former concepts should be familiar outside of the realm of cinephilia, Brucesploitation may be a little more difficult to grasp. Basically, after the death of Bruce Lee, filmmakers began to capitalize on Lee’s image posthumously, by using barely passable lookalikes such as Bruce Le or Bruce Li as lead martial artists.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 14th, 2017
When it comes to having a serial killer being used as the main character or used as the anti-hero, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer and of course Dexter are titles that first come to mind. The difference between these two titles is that we understand their code, or see the lack of code, when it comes to whom they choose to kill. It’s escapist entertainment, and I appreciate the morbidity of rooting for such deplorable characters, but that’s what cinema and television do; they take us along for a ride that reality cannot. When it comes to Dead West, we’re on board for a cross-country trip with a serial killer, but sadly this is a trip that had me reaching for the door handle before arriving at our destination.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on February 14th, 2017
Hello again movie lovers...and just lovers in general! It's Valentine's Day and I'm sure romance is in the air. It's also Tuesday, which means it's time for our weekly Round Up of reviews we've got coming your way. HBO rocks out with Quarry: Season 1, a drama about a Vietnam War veteran who gets a very unwelcome reception when he arrives back home. But wait, there's more! (Heh-heh...I said “but.”) Paramount has made sure we'll be planted on our couch watching Beavis and Butthead: The Complete Series. Finally, Paramount is also speaking our language with Arrival in 4K.
Before you run off to get that last minute Valentine's gift, here's for your weekly reminder until till next time: 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: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2017
"You wanted me back. I'm back."
Keanu Reeves has enjoyed somewhat of a career renaissance thanks in no small part to the success of John Wick in 2014. There he teamed up with some stunt friends of his going back to The Matrix, and together they brought a new action hero to the screen that was as much graphic novel as it was action film. It would become the directing debut of the stunt team of Stahelsky and David Leitch. Along with their action star, everyone stuck to what they knew and refused to overcomplicate the whole thing.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on February 11th, 2017
“Black...all important movies start with a black screen...”
I completely understand if you're Batman-ed out by now. The Caped Crusader barely had a chance to catch his breath since the end of Christopher Nolan's landmark superhero trilogy in 2012 and being pressed back into duty to help kickstart Warner Bros.' budding superhero universe last year. But between those two iterations, we got a glimpse at a fresh, knowingly funny version of a hero that takes himself entirely too seriously. Batman was a scene-stealing supporting player in 2014's block-buster The Lego Movie, and now he once again takes center stage in a sharp, hilarious, irreverent adventure that celebrates practically every version of the beloved character.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on February 10th, 2017
From the suggestion of the title, you would think that we would be diving deeper into the world of BDSM, but after watching, the only thing that I can say about Fifty Shades Darker is that it’s a love story. Yes, I know that it was always a love story, but the first film possessed an edge and intensity, which no longer exist in the sequel. Disappointing is too pale a word for the film. From its failure to properly capture the essence of the source material, less than engaging performance of the leads, and the vanilla nature of the sex scenes, the movie does not live up to the hype. If 50 Shades of Grey pushed the envelope with its sexuality, 50 Shades Darker embraces the commercialism of a sequel for profit rather than effect.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 10th, 2017
Danny McBride managed to inhabit the role of Kenny Powers to such an extent that I do appear to have trouble keeping them separate. I thought that the arrival of a new series would finally put that issue to rest. I’m discovering there was a reason I had trouble telling them apart. They are indeed the same person. Add to the situation that Vice Principals uses the same writing and production team headed by McBride and Jody Hill, and there are moments when you will think that you’re still watching Eastbound And Out. The wild card that changes things up enough happens to be Walter Goggins. Goggins came to notice as the cold Shane in The Shield and the quirky Boyd Crowder in Justified.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 10th, 2017
Don’t call it a comeback, but World War II movies are having a bit of a renaissance. (Seriously, don’t call it a comeback…they’ve been here for years.) There are seemingly endless ways to approach a WWII story — Hacksaw Ridge and Allied were in theatres recently, while the next few months will bring The Zookeeper’s Wife and Dunkirk — but the majority of movies that actually get made skew toward the American/British perspective. That’s the main reason Come What May — a somewhat sappy, intensely personal film from France — stands out from the pack.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 10th, 2017
Season 1 of From Dusk Till Dawn gave us a ten-episode remake of the hit original movie while setting up a mythology to stretch its story over numerous seasons. Season 2 took us deeper into the culebra syndicate, and we got to see how they operate in their world as Carlos (Wilmer Valderrama) searched for an ancient blood source and sought to sit at the throne as the leader of all the culebras (a snake/vampire hybrid of sorts). All while the baddest outlaws North and South of the border, the Gecko brothers Seth (D.J. Cotrona) and Richie (Zane Holtz) were forced to work out their differences ever since Richie was made a culebra.
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