Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on December 1st, 2015
I absolutely love it when I go into a film blind, save for my expectations after looking at the cover, and leave with a surprisingly pleasant experience. A Christmas Horror Story provided me with that exact experience. The cover depicts Krampus, the evil Christmas beast of German folklore, battling Santa in a snowy, mountainous area. This particular battle does not surface until the final moments of the film: instead, we are treated to three separate horror tales that are connected by the various characters that occupy them. Each one of the tales does a good job of maintaining the Christmas theme in creative ways.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on December 1st, 2015
Swim Little Fish Swim is, above all else, a very charming film. In fact, it may have been a little too charming for me. I appreciate character-driven dramas, but it is the drama in the film that keeps me engaged throughout. Swim Little Fish Swim introduces some really interesting conflicts into the story, and each conflict has a good variance of high and low stakes. However, the conflicts are either never quite resolved or resolved in a rather unsatisfying way. I did really enjoy the film, but it left me wanting more.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Gino Sassani on November 30th, 2015
It's time to tally up the body count for our 31 Nights Of Terror contests. Thanks to all who entered. If you didn't win this time, keep trying. Thanks also to the studios that made it all happen.
Don't forget we'll be serving up our 12 Days Of Christmas Giveaways in December. That's 12 straight days of contests.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 30th, 2015
“Why are people trying to stab you?”
People in action movies aren't usually inclined to stop and ask that question out loud. In American Ultra, a small army of CIA operatives repeatedly try to stab, shoot, gas, and blow up an underachieving slacker and his girlfriend. Seems like a lot of trouble for a panic attack-prone convenience store clerk who sketches a goofy graphic novel about an adventurous ape on his downtime. American Ultra is funny, violent, and tonally-jarring at times. However, it's also a fun subversion of the action genre and (more specifically) “supersoldier” movies.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 30th, 2015
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. Lionsgate has given us a lot of content this year. They also gave us the best film I've seen all year. That would be Mr. Holmes. From television to theatrical releases to direct to video. Lionsgate has something for you to put under the tree this year
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 29th, 2015
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. This time we turn our attention to CBS.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2015
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. HBO is the spotlight today. A couple of television's best shows had full-season releases in 2015.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 27th, 2015
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. When it comes to getting the current shows out in high definition, no one does it better than Warner Brothers.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on November 26th, 2015
The last time we checked in on Rocky Balboa was 2006. It was a bittersweet coda to a franchise that provided 30 years and six films of the life and times of Rocky Balboa. Some were truly great films. I'd count the first and last as in that category. Some were near misses like the third and fourth films, while the fifth was pretty much a total disaster. In those years and films we watched Rocky go from a hungry Philadelphia wannabe boxer to the champion several times over. Like the franchise, the character had his own highs and lows. There's no question that the Rocky franchise has gone the distance. And while it might have been a split-decision, the Rocky films still stand as the champion of the film genre.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on November 25th, 2015
“You've gotta earn your mark by doing something big...bigger than yourself.”
It was actually 20 years ago this month that a certain animation studio made an indelible mark on cinema. When Pixar released Toy Story in November 1995, it was the very first computer-generated animated feature, and it made us believe that movies really could go to infinity...and beyond! In the ensuing years, the studio has produced an unprecedented and unparalleled run of films that mix breathtaking technical wizardry with inventive stories that touch moviegoers' hearts along with their funny bones. The Good Dinosaur, Pixar's latest effort, gets about half of that equation right.









