Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on January 2nd, 2016
"You know this story..."
At least you think that you do. Mary Shelly's Frankenstein is one of the best known novels of all time. But thanks in part to Hollywood, it is also one of the most misrepresented stories of all time. I'm a fan of both the novel and the series of Universal and Hammer films going all the way back to 1931 when Boris Karloff played The Monster and Colin Clive played the mad Dr. Frankenstein. Missing from both the original novel and the James Whale Universal film is any mention of a character named Igor. There isn't even an assistant at all in the book, and in the 1931 film the hunchbacked lab assistant was named Fritz and was played by Dwight Frye. The character of Igor, spelled Ygor then, didn't arrive until the third film in the Universal series. Ygor was not a hunchback but rather had a serious neck issue from a botched hanging. He was played by Bela Lugosi, long sought for the Monster in the first film, and it's my favorite Lugosi character of his career. Ygor can be found in both Son Of Frankenstein and Ghost Of Frankenstein. He would actually inhabit the Monster through his brain in Frankenstein Meets The Wolfman. The point is that Lugosi made such an impact in the role that our collective conscience appears to forever link him as the default mad scientist assistant. That's where the film Victor Frankenstein comes in. Daniel Radcliffe plays Igor to James McAvoy's title character Victor Frankenstein.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on January 1st, 2016
The Original Christmas Classics Anniversary Collector’s Edition. This time it's on Blu-ray. The collection features some of the biggest Christmas Classics from the vintage days of the television specials. In one collection you’re going to get 7 all-time classic specials. We’re talking Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty The Snowman. Those are two of the best there ever was. The set also includes the rare Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. In this day of super heroes this is one of the earliest. It’s Santa’s origin story told in wonderful stop-motion. I haven’t seen it since I was a kid. What a blast to share it with my family. The set also includes The Little Drummer Boy, Cricket On The Hearth which stars Roddy McDowall and Danny Thomas, Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol and Frosty Returns. You want this collection on your shelf before the next Christmas season rolls around. Now you can win it on DVD thanks to our Christmas buddies at Dreamworks.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on January 1st, 2016
The name Quentin Tarantino carries the weight of legacy of such directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, and more recently Christopher Nolan. I’m not saying one is better than the other, but simply by name recognition alone Tarantino is in the company of directors that when you hear that his name is attached, there will be a loyal fan base flocking to the theaters to see what they have to dazzle us with. This time around Tarantino returns to the cinema in his biggest release to date; in glorious 70mm we have The Hateful Eight. Tarantino returns to the Western genre, only this time he heads out west to Wyoming to thrust us into his most claustrophobic setting since Reservoir Dogs. Let me just come out of the gate and say, if you’re looking for the over-the-top fun you found in Django Unchained, you’re going to have to readjust those expectations; this time around we are given something much more intimate and all the more rich with dark humor.
John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell) is a bounty hunter on his way to turn in his prisoner, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to hang. It’s along their stagecoach ride that they come across another bounty hunter, Major Warren (Samuel L Jackson) who is looking to collect on a bounty of his own, only his prisoners are already dead. As we’ve seen in previous Tarantino films, he chooses to tell his story in chapter form, and for the first chapter of the film we spend it getting to know this trio of unsavory characters. If you were hoping chapter two would pick things up in the action department, I’m sorry to say instead it is spent with a new passenger hopping aboard to avoid the oncoming blizzard. The new passenger is Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins); he’s the new appointed sheriff in the town Ruth plans on taking his prisoner to hang, and with this new addition the dialog only continues to flow.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 1st, 2016
America’s most dysfunctional family is back for a fifth season. Showtime dramedy series Shameless, based on the popular UK series of the same name, continues with the same level of comedy and drama that has made it one of the network’s all-time popular shows. The Gallagher clan is always full of surprises, and this season is no different, especially when comes to the family matriarch, Fiona, who probably comes through the largest arc this season as always. Usually when a show reaches this point, it begins to show signs of tedium or signals that it is close to its end; however, that is not the case here, as the season 6 is expected to begin in January.
When we last looked in on the Gallaghers, Fiona was just released from jail and is now on probation. Mickey was worried about Ian, who was beginning to exhibit symptoms of his bipolar disorder. When Fiona wishes to hospitalize him, Mickey fights back and asserts that he will look after Ian. Frank the Plank awakens from his liver transplant to discover his marriage to Shelia. Told that the side effects of his transplant won’t be pleasant and he must refrain from drinking, Frank takes off with Carl and shares a drink with his way-underage son. The final scene was probably the most shocking, as a familiar face showed up outside the Gallagher house.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on December 31st, 2015
Roger Corman's cult classic Bucket Of Blood and Vincent Price in The Bat. These classic horror tales come to you in high definition on Blu-ray. You've read about them in our gift guide now you have a chance to have them on us and the friendly folks over at Film Detective. It's a Halloween Christmas and you get the treats. No tricks.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 31st, 2015
“We're in hell.”
The Blu-ray cover for Bone Tomahawk features a grizzled Kurt Russell donning a cowboy hat. That image immediately indicated to me that I would be in steady, exceedingly capable hands for the forthcoming Western adventure. What I didn't necessarily expect was for Bone Tomahawk to also deliver one of the more frightening, engrossing, and pulse-pounding movie-watching experiences of the year.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on December 30th, 2015
My Favorite Martian The Complete Series. This is quite the little treasure we have here. MPI has put together an impressive list of extras and every episode of the Bill Bixby / Ray Waltson classic. Long before The Avengers Bixby was The Incredible Hulk. (Okay, he was Banner and Lou Ferrigno was the big green guy). Long before Mork arrived from Ork Uncle Martin arrived from Mars and into the life of newspaper reporter Tim O'Hara. We're talking hours of memories here that you really want on your video shelf. This might well be one of my favorite giveaways.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on December 30th, 2015
Does anyone remember Full House? Of course you do. It was recently given a kind of reboot which is supposed to debut on Netflix in 2016. That’s pretty good for a show that debuted in 1987. It ended in 1995 with 192 episodes. That is a very successful run, and it launched the Olson twins as mega-moguls. The twins apparently no longer act, so they will not be in the reboot. I hear they are very, very rich ($300,000,000?). I also hear that Ashley might have Lyme disease, which is a long term ordeal and difficult to overcome. Apparently The Unauthorized Full House came about because Lifetime had success with The Unauthorized Saved by the Bell Story. I will say that I expected juicy dirt about the various cast members. It isn’t particularly juicy, but it is full of embarrassing details on just about everyone. It is also full of a fair amount of inaccuracies, some due to legal constraints (such as not being able to use sets, theme songs, catch phrases, etc.). It’s more of a behind-the-scenes look at the struggles of producing a network television show. There have been a few alleged scandals, but they did not make the cut of this somewhat friendly look at the show. The original cast included John Stamos, Lori Loughlin, Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, Jodie Sweetin, Candace Cameron, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson. The actors portraying them are almost entirely unknown faces. The only cast member who I even remotely recognized was Peter Deluise, who plays Stamos’s father. Stamos goes to the pizzeria that his father owns looking for advice about his faltering career. That all changes when he gets the show. We get to see all the cast members as they fret about their futures, but once the show takes hold, we focus on some personal tragedies like both Saget and Coulier suffering the deaths of their sisters. The show’s creator, Jeff Franklin, is depicted as a somewhat stressed out killjoy, constantly having to watch that Saget won’t say bad words in front of the kids. The show’s run is dutifully handled year by year even going to the effort of hiring new actors for the child actors as they grow. I may be giving the impression that I don’t know why they bothered.
The entire effort seems so lackluster and generic that it might have seemed more in place if had been broadcast back in 1987 instead of 2015. Whatever chemistry the original cast may have had is certainly not translated into this version. As a tribute, it seems well-intentioned but substandard. I would say if you are a huge fan of the original series, you might want to see this. If you are a fan of television, in general, you might find some behind-the-scenes information somewhat useful. But if you have any interest in a quality program that stands on its own, it is completely and totally useless. It is boring, dull, and sleep-inducing. The original Full House was probably something of a retread of routine sitcom situations, so this movie is a retread of a retread.
Posted in: Contests, Tuesday Round Up by J C on December 29th, 2015
Well, partners, it’s time for the final Tuesday Round Up of 2015…and we've got plenty of fireworks before year's end! We’ll be setting our sights on Hitman: Agent 47, courtesy of Fox. Lionsgate pulls one last major Heist, and Image Entertainment cuts straight to the Bone Tomahawk. Finally, the end of the year also means it’s Showtime! Reviews for two of the cable channel's series are on the way: Warner Bros. is utterly Shameless: Season 5, while CBS/Paramount reacquaints us with Ray Donovan: Season 3.
This is actually the fifth Tuesday of the month, which means you fine people are getting an extra chance to win free stuff. Once a month we’re going to give away a surprise DVD title from our archives to a lucky winner who comments in our weekly Round-Up posts. All you have to do is comment in a Round-Up post — like this one! — and tell us which of the featured titles you’re most curious to read about. (Quick reminder: You're not telling us which title you'd like to win; your free DVD will be a surprise.)
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on December 29th, 2015
We have some great friends over at Time Life and Star Vista. They’re you’re friends, too. This time it’s season 4 of The Wonder Years. Take a trip back in time to what it was like to be a kid in the 1960?s. Plus there’s Joe Cocker’s version of A Little Help From My Friends. It’s all here for a lucky Upcomingdiscs winner. 'Tis the season for some wonder.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
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