Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 10th, 2015
American Heist is an independent action flick that eventually nods to Michael Mann's Heat and Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon. (Along with Ben Affleck's The Town, if you're interested in a 21st century doppelganger.) However, the movie's action-packed finale can't completely disguise the fact that this is actually a dour family tragedy masquerading as a heist film. But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, at least the makers of American Heist know who to rip off flatter.
James Kelly (Hayden Christensen) is an ex-con trying to go legit; his big dream is to open his own auto repair shop. Those dreams get turned upside down when his older brother Frankie (Adrien Brody) is released from prison after 10 years. Frankie took the lion's share of the rap for a crime the brothers committed together. Now Frankie is looking to James — an Iraq war veteran with a useful knowledge of explosives — to help him repay a debt to a pair of shady characters named Sugar and Ray (Akon, Tory Kittles), after they helped protect Frankie in prison. James gets an extra jolt of motivation when his former flame Emily (Jordana Brewster) re-enters the picture long enough to be threatened by Sugar and Ray. It all leads to the titular bank Heist, which is meant to give the brothers a fresh start. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that no one gets away clean.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Dan Holland on September 10th, 2015
When Calls the Heart is a typical romantic drama series from the Hallmark channel, with forty-five minute episodes. This particular disc, When Calls the Heart: Heart and Home is a combination of episodes six and seven from season two. While combining the two episodes places this particular disc at feature length, it does not give context to what has happened to the characters in previous episodes. In other words: being introduced to this disc as a standalone movie, without prior knowledge of the television series, may not be the best way to watch it.
At this point in the story, Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow) must take a leave of absence from teaching in order to return home and tend to a family emergency. Thatcher’s sister, Julie (Charlotte Hegele) is involved in a car accident with her boyfriend, and her father is looking to press charges. In addition to this storyline there is an “intense” high-stakes poker game involving ownership of land, multiple rifts in relationships (including Elizabeth and her betrothed, Jack, played by Daniel Lissing), and multiple threats involving money/land disputes.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on September 10th, 2015
Ralph Dale Earnhardt (Dale Earnhardt Sr.) died at age 49 on February 18, 2001. The accident took place in the final lap of a thrilling race in which Dale Sr. was helping his teammates Dale Jr. and Michael Waltrip (the brother of one of his biggest rivals and the announcer of the race, Darrell Waltrip). What was remarkable about the accident is that it was unspectacular. Dale Sr. had been in many horrible crashes in which the car flew and flipped many times and he walked away. Not this time. He got tapped and glided quietly on the bumper of another race car. He was taken away by ambulance and was pronounced dead on arrival of a basilar skull fracture. His teammates, Michael Waltrip (who had never won a race) and Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished in first and second place respectively. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was “The Intimidator” and “Darth Vader” throughout the 1980's and 90's because of his relentless focus and desire to win when he was behind the wheel. He was frequently hated but would win back love and respect from his fellow competitors with his gruff good nature off the track. It was remarkable to see a notorious tough guy and black hat seem so laid back 99% of the time. He was beloved by NASCAR fans not just because of his winning ways but because of his believable country ways. When he wasn't driving he was farming, fishing and hunting. Dale Sr. won 76 Winston Cup races and seven NASCAR Winston Cup Championships. Dale Jr. is in the middle of a great career himself, but I won't be talking about him in this article. I will mention his father, Ralph, because Dale Sr. spent a lifetime living in the shadow of man he modeled his life after. Ralph was a born mechanic and natural racer, himself. Ralph died of a heart attack at 45. Dale said, “Everything I ever did was to make my daddy proud”.
I Am Dale Earnhardt is part of a series of documentaries from Spike television. I will admit I always heard the name, but I wasn't a racing fan. I just recently learned the difference between Formula 1 and NASCAR. (They are two different worlds, and I'll leave it at that.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2015
For most of our characters, the season begins pretty much in real time from the season 5 finale. There is a spell keeping magic out of the city limits of Mystic Falls, and that means no vampires or supernatural beings can cross into town. Elena is taking pre-med courses at college, mostly because it gives her access to the hospital's blood bank. Stefan is supposed to be out looking for a witch powerful enough to bring back Bonnie and Damon after they were trapped destroying "the other side". It's an act that brought some others over from the dead, including now-vampire Alaric and Enzo. In reality, however, Stefan has given up and is working as an auto mechanic for 200 bucks a week. Jeremy is hitting the bottle because Bonnie told him she was going to die over the phone. Tyler is trying hard tot to reignite his curse that will once again make him a werewolf. It's been a busy summer in Mystic Falls and its outskirts. And that's just the beginning.
What is Mystic Falls? Who the heck are Damon and Elena, you ask? Bonnie? You've got questions. We've got answers, but not here. You've heard me say this before, and it's become more and more true of television shows these days. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're just not ready for season 6 of The Vampire Diaries. But you are in luck. You can check out my reviews for the four previous seasons here: Vampire Diaries Reviews. Then you can pick them up and start a mega-marathon session. Once you're up to speed, join us back here for the next thrilling installment.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2015
"It's New Orleans; there's always something bad coming."
When you have the highest-rated drama on television, there is a temptation to milk it for all that you can. We've seen it happen with both the Law & Order and CSI franchises. The results tend to be mixed, with some capturing and even exceeding the popularity of the original. Others never quite seem to connect and are gone while their mother ship is still on the air. It's too early to tell if NCIS: New Orleans will fall in the former or latter category. There's certainly plenty of the tight writing and production value that the NCIS label is known for. The cast is better than average, and we have the addition of an iconic city with plenty of personality to help drive the atmosphere of the show. But how does that translate on a week-to-week basis? The jury's still out on that one.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on September 9th, 2015
The Star Wars universe is famously vast, and that's before the Force even Awakens this Christmas and kicks off a new series of feature films. (And let's not even go down the Expanded Universe rabbit hole.) My point is that it's been almost 40 years since Star Wars premiered, and the army of artists who have taken on George Lucas' iconic creations haven't even come close to running out of material to explore. It was actually 10 years ago that the first Lego Star Wars short premiered and applied the toy company’s irreverent, spoofy brand of humor to deconstructing Lucas’ “Empire” brick by brick.
The latest offering, Lego Star Wars: The New Yoda Chronicles, didn’t quite premiere a long time ago. In fact, the four installments included here — labeled “Episodes IV-VII” — initially aired on the Disney Channel last year and comprise the entire “second season” of the Yoda Chronicles. They also follow the three episodes that aired on Cartoon Network in 2013, which is considered the show’s first season.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on September 8th, 2015
Despite our heroic efforts to bring you the best, most detailed reviews we possibly can, nobody here at UpcomingDiscs wears a cape. Neither do the heroes in Gotham: Season 1, which leads the pack of new titles arriving this week. We've already reminisced with Image Entertainment's Crystal Lake Memories and copped to Shout! Factory's Hill Street Blues: Season 6, while Warner Bros. will also offer Supernatural: Season 10 to go along with Gotham. Shout! Factory also answers When Calls the Heart: Heart and Home, and CBS/Paramount will spill Blue Bloods: Season 5. Lionsgate lives in The Age of Adaline and pulls off an American Heist, while Entertainment One offers us Haven: Season 5, Vol. 1.
Remember that once a month we’re going to give away a free DVD title from among the comments in our weekly Round-Up posts. All you have to do is comment on a Round-Up post — like this one! — and tell us which of these 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.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 8th, 2015
What a great time it was to be a teen in the late 1970’s. No, I’m not referring to disco music. It was a great time to go to the movies. It was the culmination of the perfect date, and Hollywood was riding the beginning of a trend that remains alive and healthy today. I’m talking, of course, about the slasher film. You could argue that Hitchcock started the ball rolling in 1961 with Psycho, but it would be decades before that film would find its true audience and plethora of imitators. Although The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween came before Friday The 13th, can it be argued that any horror film franchise is as widely known? The truth is that even the man behind the film, Sean Cunningham, never really knew what it was that he had. It was never his intent to follow the film with a barrage of sequels. He also scoffed at the idea that Jason could become the centerpiece for future films. By now Jason has become such an iconic character that there is an entire generation out there that doesn’t know that Jason wasn’t the culprit in the first film. Jason’s stature has reached the heights of the classic monsters of the Universal days. While some of us hesitate to put his name and hockey mask up there with the likes of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Dracula, and The Mummy, the recognition and sheer dollars generated make it difficult not to. By the beginning of the 1980’s names like Jason, Freddy, and Michael Myers would be scaring audiences around the world, rendering the classics somewhat silly in the eyes of a more visceral generation of teens.
Here we are 35 years removed from that first Friday The 13th film and the franchise has racked up nine sequels, one remake, a television series, and a team-up film with Freddy Krueger...oh my. Of course, not all Friday The 13th projects are created equal, and the debate rages on as to what constitutes official canon for the franchise. Certainly the television series can be discounted, because it had really nothing to do with the films at all. The title was merely used to cash in on the fans. Still, it managed to last three years and has developed a somewhat cult following of its own. But whatever you consider part of the "true" franchise, it's all found in one place.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 8th, 2015
The Star Wars universe is famously vast, and that's before the Force even Awakens this Christmas and kicks off a new series of feature films. (And let's not even go down the Expanded Universe rabbit hole.) My point is that it's been almost 40 years since Star Wars premiered, and the army of artists who have taken on George Lucas' iconic creations haven't even come close to running out of material to explore. Disney XD's Star Wars Rebels is an engaging, thoroughly zippy entry that is likely to entertain its intended young target audience along with those who have been obsessed with the Force since a long time ago.
“The Emperor has foreseen a new threat rising against him. The children of the Force...they must not become Jedi.”
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 8th, 2015
Good Kill is a term used by drone operators to signify whether ordinance have successfully hit the intended target however the term takes on some much more meaning. Ethan Hawke portrays a former jet pilot now transitioning into a position as a drone operator. Day in and day out, he surveillances areas from thousands of miles away periodically eliminating targets that would look to destroy American lives. However when his section is loaned out to the Central Intelligence Agency, the clear cut targets become less clear cut and both his personal and professional life begin to suffer as he struggles with the morality of what he does.
Ethan Hawke is Major Thomas Egan, a former jet pilot transitioning into the position as a UAV operator. Egan is not entirely comfortable in his new position, preferring the inside of a fighter jet to a bunker. Early on, it is clear that Egan is trouble by his situation. Despite being able to go home and be with his family as opposes to being deployed with the possibility of never seeing them again, Egan is as his wife would say is miles away.
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