Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 12th, 2015
“A straight line…you just go, and you never…look…back.”
Well, I hope you’re ready to have everything you know about the Terminator franchise turned on its head. As a franchise known for his alternative timelines where the things we come to know are often turned around, my previous statement may sound like the usual bread and butter to you. However, I must say that I feel like the latest incarnation of the franchise, Terminator Genisys, has really outdone itself this time. As far as reboots go, this may be one of the best that I have seen in quite some time as we are introduced to a completely new cast (well, almost completely new cast) portraying characters already near and dear to our hearts. Terminator Genisys was an action-packed experience sure to leave the audience entertained.
Posted in: News and Opinions by Gino Sassani on November 12th, 2015
At the turn of the millennium a decade and a half ago, lists were pretty popular. It didn't matter if you were into the world of sports or movies, everybody was looking for the all-time best of everything. The American Film Institute got into the trend by releasing top-100 lists. Heroes, villains and memorable quotes all got the treatment. We all argued about the "classics" we felt were unfairly slighted and the "idiotic" choices that did make the lists. If only the lists were so much larger. Then everyone's favorites would be included and we could all finally find a list we could agree on. But, what number would that be? 100 was too small. A million was just too large. What number might be just right? 1001?
The millennium passed and the manic number of lists subsided. 2007 came and we all learned what a Bucket List was. We all started thinking about those wonderful things we felt we simply must experience before we kick that figurative bucket. If you're reading these pages, you likely included a list of films that you had to see before you die. It seems that the folks at Barron's Publishing have attempted to answer that question for us with their encyclopedic book: 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 11th, 2015
"Different, entirely."
I have been a fan of Sherlock Holmes since I was a kid. Mixed amidst those Universal horror films I watched with my Pop on weekend chiller shows was an occasional Universal Holmes film with Basil Rathbone as the master of deduction. Soon followed the Doyle books, and a new world was opened for me forever. Since those days we have seen every kind of incarnation of the character possible, or so I thought. I've seen Holmes as a child in Spielberg's Young Sherlock Holmes. There have been several comedies and even a musical or two. Robert Downey Jr. has turned him into an action hero, and Benedict Cumberbatch has brought him into the modern world. I even remember Larry Hackman's television version of a motorcycle cop who has a head injury and believes he's the famous detective, gaining the requisite deductive skills in the process. It was called The Return Of The World's Greatest Detective. Star Trek fans reveled in Data's immersion in the detective's world, even bringing back his infamous nemesis as one of The Next Generation's more sympathetic bad guys. But in all of these incarnations I have never seen anything as truly remarkable as Mr. Holmes. It is most decidedly something different entirely.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 11th, 2015
I don't think there has ever really been a great film about a great writer. We naturally compare their lives to works of great fiction. Great fiction tends to distill the tedium and awkwardness out of real life. Real life can be exhausting in the day-to-day disappointments that can sometimes be wrapped in small victories. David Foster Wallace was a great writer. This is almost universally acknowledged. David Foster Wallace no longer is because he hung himself in 2008 at age 46. Many people who were in his life are now very protective of him and his privacy. They are angry at the idea of a movie being made about his life. Authors like J.D. Salinger and Thomas Pynchon have spent their lifetimes being reclusive, but the fact that they had published and provoked our thought means we are entitled to explore their lives. The problem always will be rising to the occasion and doing justice to the thoughts they provoked.
The End of the Tour is about five days a reporter for Rolling Stone spent with Wallace. The journalist was David Lipsky, who had written a novel of his own and was clearly in the grips of some hero worship. The hero he met was self-conscious to a nearly painful degree. He also seems to be struggling to be an average guy. I don't think the movie is a good indication of what Wallace was really like. But then, let's just look at this as a movie first. As I said, I don't think the author should be protected and hidden from us because he had faults and deficiencies. I think we should keep an open mind as to what the truth really is. I have listened to interviews done with Wallace, and he always comes off as reflective, thoughtful, truthful, intelligent, profound, and open-minded. I think the intention of this movie was to reveal a more unvarnished view of the writer.
Posted in: Contests, Tuesday Round Up by J C on November 10th, 2015
Arnold Schwarzenegger is a man of his word. As promised, the Terminator is back…and he’s busting into UpcomingDiscs headquarters! Paramount’s Terminator: Genisys highlights this week’s slate of new releases. Meanwhile, Shout! Factory tunes into WKRP in Cincinnati: The Final Season and catches up with Maude: Season 3. Cinedigm sticks its neck out for Zarafa, and Cohen Media Group introduces us to Two Men in Town. Finally, Lionsgate punches a ticket to The End of the Tour and reminisces with Mr. Holmes (which comes *very* highly recommended).
This post is also your latest chance to enter our Tuesday Round Up contest for November. Once a month we’re going to give away a free DVD title 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 excited to watch or read about. The winners and their prizes will be announced the first week of every month right here in our Tuesday Round-Up post. You can’t win if you don’t comment. Contest is open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on November 9th, 2015
Tibet has been under Chinese oppression for more than fifty years. Recently, a wave of self-immolation has become a disturbing form of protest among Tibetan monks, with approximately 138 incidents since 2011. This alarming number of self-immolations is essentially the “straw that broke the camel’s back” for the filmmaker, as that is a theme that is brought up quite a few times in the peaceful protests depicted in this documentary. However, what earned this film a four-star rating is the nuances of a man’s journey to understand himself within the entirety of the Tibetan conflict.
Lotem Namling is an exiled Tibetan musician living in Switzerland. The increase in Tibetan monks’ self-immolation protests greatly disturbs him, so he begins a journey from Europe to India, dragging a large black coffin with the words “Free Tibet” painted onto its side. As Lotem’s journey progresses, the mentality behind his peaceful protesting seems to sink down into that of radical violence. Only through a meeting with the Dalai Lama does his anger and radicalism subside.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on November 9th, 2015
Dustin P. Anderson
Our story follows Davide, a scientist who is trying to exorcise aliens out of the bodies of people who have been abducted. One day Davide is visited by a strange girl who says that she is possessed by an alien. Davide and his team look into it and are startled when they find out that this girl is royalty, and possessed by a leader among the aliens. I would love to give you more explanation, but after sitting through this movie twice, I still cannot make heads or tails of what is going on. I have never been so confused while watching a movie. The small bits and pieces I could understand were that there is a guy who is trying to use the human soul to force out aliens who have taken control of a host body. After that I know that the main character used the help of the Catholic Church in order to purify the host body which was taken over by the alien invader. This makes sense in a loose sort of way; church and soul go hand in hand I guess. Still don’t understand how barcodes are supposed to help purify the soul. Still don’t understand why the end scene needed to take place during a rave. Still don’t understand the entire end of the movie. Still don’t understand why heroin was needed to knock the aliens out. After sitting through this movie twice I could only connect two things, the church and the soul. There are times where there is something sexual happening, and it is almost completely unexplained, like when a possessed girl just kisses some other random girl with no lead-up or explanation as to why they are kissing. It seems like things are just sexual for the sake of being sexual, like when someone says ”just a little orgy between kids” in response to a group of our characters randomly making out to hide an alien. It feels as though at least thirty minutes of explanation was missing from this movie. I shouldn’t have been surprised though; the synopsis on the back of the DVD didn’t even make sense.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on November 9th, 2015
“Why, this is getting more farcical by the moment!”
It's easy to point at the 1960s Batman TV series and laugh. For Dark Knight loyalists who insist their hero be gritty and tortured, the show is (at best) a campy amusement. At worst, it's an embarrassing atrocity. The two most important things to note are 1.) the show is very much a product of the Swinging Sixties time period in which it was made, and 2.) the series is *supposed* to be funny. (Batman picked up an Outstanding Comedy Series Emmy nomination during its run.) Keeping those two factors in mind is crucial to enjoying this entertaining, monumentally bizarre run of episodes.
Posted in: The Reel World by Archive Authors on November 7th, 2015
It is widely believed that the early 70’s was a great renaissance for American film. Part of the reason for this is that society was in upheaval, and the studios had lost their way trying to understand the American public. Young filmmakers were allowed to come in and do what ever they wanted. Sometimes it worked. Sometimes it didn't, but there was real freedom in the anarchy of the times. Then movies like Jaws and Star Wars changed the industry again, and the money managers were back in control. Today, the studios run things based on formulas and templates. There are still interesting independent films being made, but they are strictly treated as fringe dwellers.
I Smile Back is a throwback to an old style 70’s classic drama in all its raw power. There are lots of interesting things to say about what's happening here, but the big focus is the startling and attention-getting performance by Sarah Silverman. Silverman is well known as a comedian, and through that medium it was always obvious that she was bashing against the limits of what was acceptable and expected. Her subject matter was confrontation and abrasion, which she subverted through her charming good looks. It was always obvious she needed to branch out and explore beyond the somewhat limited confines of comedy. In I Smile Back, she has succeeded in an astonishing and spectacular fashion, but I really don't want to focus only on Silverman's performance. Everything she is doing is completely in sync with the style of the movie and the story that is being told. It is a harsh and raw exploration in every way. It is the story of a suburban Westchester housewife but without any Hollywood phoniness in its depiction. Music is used very sparingly. Scenes are constructed around awkward moments. All the cliche elements that we have seen in this type of movie have been stripped away. The connection to many 70’s movies is an unpolished feel we just don't see much anymore.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on November 6th, 2015
"You have got a tricky day ahead of you."
And this is going to be one tricky film to review. It's safe to say that Daniel Craig peaked as James Bond with Skyfall. Sam Mendes was the man who figured out how to make Craig work in the part. The secret wasn't in the classic images of Bond's past but in the future. Instead of trying to mold Craig into Bond, Mendes molded Bond into Craig. It was the right thing to do as long as Daniel Craig was going to continue in the role. With Mendes repeating as director and John Logan from Gladiator and Penny Dreadful fame handling the script, expectations were through the roof for this one. That is before Craig himself toured the interview circuit complaining about playing James Bond. I believe there was a reference to a hot poker in the eye being preferable to reprising the role again. Now I've seen Spectre twice, and I don't believe Daniel Craig has anything to worry about. I suspect the next film will sport a brand new James Bond. And indeed, I think this film proves it's time for a change. Let the speculation games begin.
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