Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 21st, 2016
Most villains on earth are those who believe that they are the good guys. She Who Must Burn proves that in spades when a local preacher wages war against a woman’s counselor for Planned Parenthood (not called that during the film, but that is the best way to describe it). This is another welcomed addition to the 31 Nights of Terror, again featuring human evil rather than supernatural evil, which in my opinion makes it even more terrifying, because it could easily go from a fiction to reality.
In a mining town plagued by stillborn children and cancer, Angela is a women’s counselor for a local clinic. In wake of the murder of two doctors at the clinic she works at by a religious fanatic, the state decides to stop funding for the facility. Angela decides to remain in the town in spite of the decision, in order to help those in need. She is met with contempt from many of the townsfolk who view her profession as a sin and want to drive her out of town.
Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on October 21st, 2016
Forbes magazine called Jack Reacher and author Lee Childs as the strongest brand in publishing as much for his over 100,000,000 in sales and billion dollar imprint as for the strong loyalty of fans and favorable ratings of the readers. The 21st Jack Reacher novel, Night School, is coming out in a couple of weeks (which I’m sure Simon & Shuster would thank me for mentioning, but they don’t need my help), and Reacher fans will buying in droves. The second Reacher movie will be out on November 21.
One of the first things I want to address is that Lee Childs had been actively involved in the picking of Tom Cruise to be Jack Reacher. It was a controversial decision, but Childs rightly said there are no big movie stars who could accurately portray the physical characteristics of Reacher. I personally am 6 ft. 4in tall and 250 pounds, so I could be a close proximity except for the fact that I am not a movie star nor could I disable eight opponents simultaneously. The closest movie star I could name who approximates Reacher’s physical dimensions is Vince Vaughn, and I doubt anyone would say he is as big a movie star as Tom Cruise (box-office-wise, that is). Five Mission Impossible movies alone demonstrate that Cruise’s box office is as strong as ever based on their increasing popularity.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 21st, 2016
"The universe, a vast expanse of space and matter. It includes all that we see and all that we know. Since the beginning of time, we have wondered how it all came to be. A gloriously orchestrated plan? A chance series of events? Or something much, much dumber?"
Space really is the final frontier. It's where they send tired franchises to die. They sent Jason and Pinhead to space. They sent the Three Stooges into orbit. Abbott & Costello ended up in space. They even sent Machete into space. It's the filmatic version of jumping the shark. In Ice Age: Collision Course they send lovable Scrat into space. Maybe it's time to put this beloved animated franchise on ice for a little while. It's clear they've pretty much run out of ideas, and the box office is the proof in the pudding. What the heck does that mean, anyway? And this is from a reviewer who has been rather fond and kind to the Ice Age films up to this point. Need more proof for that pudding? Bang it Here for past Ice Age reviews.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on October 20th, 2016
Do you know what scares me about this Halloween? It's all these prizes I'm going to be sending out in about a month. You could say The Devil made them do it. Our friends at Allied Vaughn have given us a copy of Lucifer: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray to give away. Now you can catch it all in high definition.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 19th, 2016
I can’t be the only one who misses seeing Mel Gibson in a tent pole movie for the studio every year. Sure, he said some rotten things, but does it matter what he does in his personal life? The man still is a great actor and an even better director. Hollywood has always been forgiving of its talent; it’s a system that seems to enjoy seeing talent make a comeback and do some amazing work. What it seems is that sometimes we forget that these icons on the screen are human, and they make mistakes and do stupid things and they have to own these experiences for the rest of their lives in the spotlight. I bring this up simply because when you look back at Mel Gibson and his downfall, Blood Father seems in many ways a reflection of the past decade for Gibson, minus the body count, of course. Rather than just roll over and phone in some roles like many of his contemporaries have, Gibson has been finding roles that continue to remind me why audiences connected so much to his work.
John Link (Gibson) is an ex-con and also a recovering alcoholic who struggles every day to make up for his past mistakes. He’s lost his wife and hasn’t seen his kid in years; he manages to get by running a tattoo shop out of the trailer he also lives in. He’s living on hard times but owns up to his mistakes and is working towards the day he can be forgiven for those mistakes. His sponsor, Kirby (William H. Macy), is pretty much his only friend and does what he can to keep John on the right path, but things get more than a little complicated when John hears from his daughter, and she is asking for help.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 19th, 2016
Growing up one of coolest jobs I thought was out there was undercover work. Not to diminish all the threats to one’s well-being associated with that profession, but come on, who didn’t want the opportunity to reinvent themselves as someone else entirely. Undercover affords that opportunity. That said, it does not come without a cost, and that cost is explored thoroughly in The Infiltrator, a based on a true story tale about a U.S. Customs agent who infiltrates the most successful and equally dangerous drug cartel led by the one and only Pablo Escobar. An interesting little tidbit that I was unaware of before the opening credits was that this film was shot right here in the Tampa area, which provided recognizable environment and a chance to pick out familiar territory.
The Infiltrator follows Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston), a seasoned agent with the United States Customs Service with a talent for undercover work. After successfully completing an operation, he finds himself thrown back into the mix for possibly the biggest operation he has ever every undertaken: infiltrating the money laundering operation used to clean the proceeds for the Medellin Cartel, led by Pablo Escobar.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on October 19th, 2016
We want to see something scary. Upcomingdiscs is inviting you to send us a photo of your Halloween decorations. The day after Halloween (11/1/16) we will post the photos we get and give our readers 2 weeks to vote on their favorite in the comments. The photo that gets the most votes will win a mysterious collection of horror films.
Here's how to enter:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 19th, 2016
I’ve always been a fan of Tarzan; I loved the old series and the films basically because I just dug how he was this fearless character who lived in the jungles who fought the bad guys and a few wild animals as well. As I got older that was when I discovered the books of Edgar Rice Burroughs, and I just had a blast with all these pulp tales about the civilized Wildman and the beautiful Jane. I even remember how excited I was about seeing Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan as a kid; even though this screen adaption bored me to tears, it was still exciting to see the character up on the screen. Now it’s 2016, and the character is swinging into action on the big screen again, and with a large budget to back it up. The trailers had me excited; everything seemed to look how I always hoped a Tarzan movie should be. Did the film manage to meet my expectations? Well, it came close, and the result is a film that shows how the wrong director can ruin a great story.
The casting of Alexander Skarsgard is just about as good as you can hope for in casting the role of Tarzan/ John Clayton. It’s absolutely vital how important it is to get the physical look of the character and make it believable that he can be stealthy, as well as a brute force who can fight giant apes and crocodiles but still look the part of a British lord. Sure, many audience-goers will enjoy the numerous shirtless scenes the film offers, but it makes it all the more believable when we see the character pull off some superhero-like scenes. When it comes to the casting of Margot Robbie as Jane, she is a knockout here. She plays this damsel (not so) in distress in such a charming loveable way that it’s clear that by the end of summer following the release of Suicide Squad she will be the A-list actress off Hollywood. She brings so much life to Jane that you can understand why Tarzan will do just about anything for this woman, and when they are together it’s a chemistry that has me hoping so much that we’ll get more adventures of Tarzan and Jane.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on October 19th, 2016
Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange are two great women of American film, and living legends. It is always a pleasure to see them work. They both have won shelves of awards including Best Actress Oscars. But they both have also been in bad movies. The process of being a creative artist is always a journey where you take a leap through a hoop with the hopes of doing good work. It also becomes difficult for actresses, even for living legends, to get good work as they grow older. But films about older people are important too. All movies can’t be about young attractive new faces being forced on you with little understanding of who they are. We all know who Shirley MacLaine and Jessica Lange are. They are part of our collective history. They are like our family. It makes us feel good when they keep going and do good work. Lange especially has been hitting career highs with her recent work on multiple seasons of American Horror Story. Lange has won numerous awards for that alone. But eventually it is time to move on to new risks. I forgot to mention that Demi Moore is also in this movie.
Wild Oats is a movie that premiered on the Lifetime network. That can be perceived as a bad sign, but it doesn’t necessarily have to, in a case like this. In this case, it is an opportunity to showcase a type of film that doesn’t get made much anymore; films that celebrate old age. It is also a film that went through numerous difficulties getting made. It had so many difficulties getting made that Shirley MacLaine wrote a book about it. It’s called Above the Line and is the latest in a long line of bestsellers written by MacLaine.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on October 18th, 2016
While it may not technically be eligible for our “31 Nights of Terror”, one of our entries this week absolutely qualifies as a horror show. Everything that can go wrong, does go wrong for the young protagonist in HBO's The Night Of. But let's not forget that it's still October, so we've got a double feature more suitable for the spooky season. Vestron brings some familiar monsters to life with its Waxwork Collector's Series, which includes both Waxwork and Waxwork II: Lost in Time.
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!
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