Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on August 11th, 2016
When I think of the Bible, I don’t think of northern Ontario. But there is an appetite for Christian-themed movies, and Canada is one of the most cost-effective places to produce movies. They have studios and sets up there, so it isn’t the worst idea in the world to go there to make any movie, even movies that take place in a very arid, hot, and dusty place. I have reviewed a group of Biblical films that Ted Turner produced for the TNT Network in the 1990’s. They were fairly well made, and, yes, they were made pretty close to the original locations. This new group of Biblical films is not quite up to those standards. I am reviewing The Apostle Peter: Redemption, but the same company has also produced Joseph and Mary, so we can probably expect more.Peter The Redemption follows the story of Peter (John Rhys-Davies, The Lord of the Rings I, II and III, Raiders of the Lost Ark) when he is lying in a Roman prison at the end of his life. He is still plagued by guilt for how he acted when Jesus was taken to the cross to die. The Roman Empire is ruled by the viscious and insane emperor Nero (Stephen Baldwin, The Usual Suspect, Bio-Dome). Two people, Susanna (Brittany Bristow) and Martinian (Steve Byers, The Man in the High Castle) find themselves shuttling back and forth from the court of Nero to the dudgeon of Peter. Susanna is a court servant of the empress Poppaea (Bobbie Phillips, Showgirls, Murder One). I should mention that Bobbie Phillips is playing probably the most complicated character in this film. At times she is sweet and understanding, but she also enables her husband’s numerous infidelities. Eventually she is downright despicable, which probably makes it OK that she was one of the fully nude showgirls from infamous Hollywood debacle, Showgirls. Martinian is a hardworking and honest Roman soldier who slowly falls in loves with Susanna and becomes a follower of Jesus.
I should stop now and say that this not a very good movie. I say that because most of us have a reasonable standard for what we can accept. We already know the standards have been lowered by making a Biblical movie in northern Canada. The acting is OK and mostly professional. I want to single out one person who stands out for chewing up the scenery. That would be Stephen Baldwin (one of the famous Baldwin brothers) who has been good in movies as long as he plays a mouth-breathing thug or near moronic goofball. In this case he plays a famously ruthless monster who killed somewhere between 100,000 and 1,500,000 people during his reign depending how you interpret history. That was a very healthy number back in those days. Baldwin is very central to this story and plays the part like a mafia mob boss. He looks like a bad hairdresser. The reason I say this is that it is a good example of how details of a production can accumulate and make a movie a disaster. The story also is somewhat unfocused and the production values marginal. So overall, I have to give this a low rating even though everyone involved probably had good intentions.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 11th, 2016
I fear our acceptance of A Haunted House has opened a door that we may never be able to close, as it would cause the disaster that is Meet the Blacks to be born. Parody films have the potential to be extraordinarily funny or incredibly bad. Can you guess what side of the scale this film falls on? Whether it be through overacting or jokes that attempted to play on every stereotype known to man, Meet the Blacks never really manages to get off the ground and make me laugh, which is equally disappointing given the sheer talent pool of comedians in the film: Mike Epps, Charlie Murphy, DeRay Davis, Lavell Crawford, Michael Blackson, Lil Duval, Paul Mooney, and the list goes on. As I said, this was a clear waste of talent.
A clear ripoff of a film which features the allowance of any crime for a predetermined period of time, the overall storyline involves Carl Black (Epps), a father with an on-the-nose name that moves his family out of the south side of Chicago after landing a lucrative contract for his wiring business, or at least that’s what his family believes. In reality, Carl stole the nest egg of a recently incarcerated drug dealer.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on August 10th, 2016
HBO's groundbreaking medical drama, The Knick is set at the turn of the 20th century. One of the highlights of the series has to be the graphic depiction of surgical techniques from 1901. From the splitting of the first co-joined twins to the second season finale where Dr. Thackery performs surgery on himself. Justin Raleigh leads the team that delivers on these extraordinary makeup effects. His methods have even led to the medical community calling on the team to create materials for actual doctors in training. He's also the man behind the effects on Viral which John reviewed for us Here. I had a chance to talk with Justin for a few minutes. Now you have a chance to hear about these groundbreaking creations. Bang it here to listen in on my chat with Justin Raleigh.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on August 9th, 2016
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird...it's a plane...it's Superman! (Wait a minute, that's not right...let me grab my glasses and take a closer look.) I stand corrected...it's actually Supergirl flying into UpcomingDiscs HQ this week! Thanks to Warner Bros., we'll have a review of the CBS CW action-drama's freshman season. Meanwhile, CBS/Paramount takes it (Big) Easy for Season 2 of NCIS: New Orleans and gets our hearts racing with Code Black: Season 1.
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 Gino Sassani on August 9th, 2016
"Everything just feels so out of control. I don't remember who I am. Who I was. Whatever life I had is gone. Shattered into a million tiny pieces. Sometimes it's hard to breathe."
I have to credit Blindspot's creator Martin Gero with providing one of the more memorable moments on television with the opening minutes of the series. Unfortunately, by the time we saw the pilot that image was already ruined by the countless spots used to promote the show's premiere. We see a police officer in Times Square approach a bag with a sign on it that asks the FBI be alerted. The cop approaches the bag a bit frightened it might be a bomb and blow up on him at any time. It could have been a nice iconic moment when he opens the bag to reveal a naked woman who is covered with tattoos. She is shivering as the camera pulls back to reveal the emptied Times Square. A wonderful moment that we already saw a thousand times before the pilot aired. NBC just couldn't help themselves, and they denied us that experience in context of the series premiere.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 8th, 2016
In the days leading up to the release of Suicide Squad, over the internet there has been one of the most vicious attacks on a film before its release that I can remember. Sure, we had all the negative talk about Ghostbusters,but that was before anyone had ever seen the film, and as screenings came along, opinions seemed to sway. Now I was lucky enough to attend a screening Monday for Suicide Squad, and there were up to 150 people turned away at the door because the auditorium was filled to capacity. I mean, the buzz for this was high, and we DC fans were giddy, because this film was our hope that WB would be turning things around. I mention all this because now this has managed to become one of the worst-reviewed films of the year, and I’m just sitting here like WTF happened, did they see some other cut of the film? I’ve held off on writing this, because I’ve struggled with the direction I wished to write this. There’s the comic fan in me that has so much to say, then there is the more critical side, and usually I fall somewhere in between. Then I decided the hell with it, I’m just going to come at this full film geek. My reasoning, it seems 90% of critics out there have forgotten how to have fun at the movies, and it’s a shame, because I know at some point all of them were film lovers, but at some point they decided to turn their noses up at the trashy and the cool popcorn flicks. So strap yourself in, and let me give you the real rundown on the film.
After the events of Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice, a government official, Amanda Waller, (Viola Davis) has a plan to get a team of the world’s most dangerous villains to fight the battles the government may find too dangerous to openly confront. Among these villains are “meta-humans” who have special gifts that can be used as weapons against the “Supermans” of the world. It’s a dangerous prospect, but as she is pitching this idea, you can’t help but agree with where she is coming from. This leads us to our roll call to our soon-to-be anti-heroes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 8th, 2016
When I first saw the trailer for Keanu I wasn’t sure if what I was watching was a real trailer or simply a sketch from the Key and Peele Show. Thankfully this turned out to their first starring foray in taking their talents to the big screen. With one look at the trailer, I felt they were attempting to capture the over-the-top stylish action we got in most 90’s action films, Face/Off is the first that comes to mind, but really there are countless examples. But the real star of the film is little Keanu himself, the ball of feline cuteness that will either have you embracing the film from the start or have you rolling your eyes (yeah, I’m talking about those cat haters out there). Grab your Glock, and don’t forget the catnip, as we scratch a little deeper into Keanu.
Two ruthless assassins come into town, hired to take down members of a gang. In the midst of the gunfight, a little kitten manages to make an escape. The kitten finds his way to the doorstep of Rell’s apartment. Rell (Jordan Peele) has hit some rough times after a breakup, and Keanu (adorable kitten) seems to be what has brought Rell out of his rut. But things turn for the worse when Rell’s home is broken into and he discovers that Keanu has been catnapped. Rell’s cousin Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) tags along to help Rell find his lost cat. Unfortunately it takes them deep into the street gang underground where they are mistaken for the two assassins. To rescue Keanu and to ensure they both don’t get killed, Rell and Clarence go ahead and pretend to play the role of the assassins.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on August 7th, 2016
The setup for Viral is promising enough. Throughout the early part of the film, we get subtle yet effective hints at the escalating catastrophe that is about to infect the story. (We hear about someone's mom coughing uncontrollably, plus a video of a bloody, unexplained elevator attack goes, well, “viral.”) So it's a shame that this sci-fi/horror thriller is limited by both its micro-budget and (more importantly) a filmmaking team that only sporadically delivers the goods.
Teenage sisters Emma (Sofia Black-D'Elia) and Stacey (Analeigh Tipton) have recently moved to a town called Shadow Canyon. Emma is the withdrawn, serious-minded sister who has a crush on a neighbor/classmate named Evan (Travis Tope). Meanwhile, Stacey is the rebellious black sheep in the family. (You can tell she's a rebel because of the purple streak in her hair.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 3rd, 2016
“Our planet holds a kind of parallel universe. A place of wonder where giants roam free. For thousands of years, we could only wonder about humpback whales. Now, by exploring their world, we’re getting surprising glimpses into their lives.”
In 1986, Leonard Nimoy led Kirk, Spock and their mates back in time to collect a couple of humpback whales and bring them to the 23rd century where they are extinct. If the whales aren’t there to communicate with a deadly probe, Earth is in deep trouble. Fortunately, thanks to conservation and educational programs, there should be plenty of humpbacks in the 23rd century to answer that long-distance telephone call. The animals have made an incredible comeback, and while the numbers are a long way from pre-whaling populations, they can be found all over the world. Most of us can’t afford the tickets to Alaska, Hawaii, or the Tonga Islands to see them firsthand. Shout has bought us a couple of roundtrip tickets to see these amazing marine mammals. The magic of 4K brings them right into your living room or home theatre. It’s so lifelike that you might just get wet. Enter the splash zone of Humpback Whales.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on August 2nd, 2016
This week's Tuesday Round Up has me seeing Red. Don't get me wrong...I'm not mad at anybody. I'm talking about Raymond “Red “Reddington, the criminal mastermind at the center of The Blacklist. And thanks to Sony, we'll be checking off a review of The Blacklist: Season 3 very soon. Anchor Bay goes Viral with a new horror thriller, so it's a good thing Cinemax is letting us check into The Knick: Season 2. Cinedigm saddles up for Traded and keeps the faith with Peter: The Redemption. And while Shout! Factory goes looking for Humpback Whales, Warner Bros. leaves its mark with Blindspot: Season 1 and kitty caper Keanu.
Here's your weekly reminder as we kick off a new month: 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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