Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 19th, 2015
“We’re not in the middle of the third act. We just got to the end of the first.”
Aaron Sorkin almost definitely knew The Newsroom had been simultaneously renewed for a third season and canceled when he wrote those words, which come at the end of the season 3 premiere. It’s a winking and bittersweet bit of writing for a show that seemingly infuriated as many more people than it delighted over the course of 25 episodes. (Which apparently amounts to a single season of Pretty Little Liars.) So how else would you expect The Newsroom to go out than with moments of singular brilliance mixed in with a few controversial bangs?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on June 18th, 2015
by Dustin P. Anderson
We find three roommates, all not living up to their potential: a starving artist, a struggling writer, and a desperate gambler. While their dreams fall to the wayside, they work for the apartment complex they live in, performing maintenance and checking on tenants. One day the landlord calls for them to check on someone who is behind on their rent. They find that the man who lives there is dead, and seems to have been taking photos of them without their knowledge; however, these are photos set a day in the future taken by a strange machine.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 17th, 2015
“Tell everyone to get ready. Jimmy is coming.”
If someone were to tell me while walking out of Schindler’s List that 20 years later Liam Neeson would be an action star, I would have thought they were out of their mind. Between the trio of Taken films and numerous films that seem to be cut from the same ilk, Liam Neeson seems to be walking in the same footsteps as Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood as being the go-to everyman who just so happens to be a badass with or without a gun.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 17th, 2015
I’m hard pressed to think of a movie star who is better at playing rich a-holes than Michael Douglas. He’s played a Murderous Rich A-Hole, a Rich A-Hole Who Gets Put In His Place, and a Self-Destructive Rich A-Hole, to name just a few. And that’s not even counting his Oscar-winning turn as Gordon “Greed is Good” Gekko, the Definitive Rich A-Hole. It’s tempting to tidily sum up Beyond the Reach as “Gekko’s Got a Gun.” Unfortunately, what starts out as a picturesque two-hander becomes more preposterous as it goes along before completely flying off the rails in the final act.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on June 16th, 2015
We have some great friends over at Time Life and Star Vista. They’re you’re friends, too. This time it’s season 3 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. It's getting pretty much Summer and most of you are about to create your own wonder months. This might just fit in with those plans.
Contest is now closed Winner is Anne Derkat
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 16th, 2015
"It means what it always means. Nobody tells you anything when you wanna know it. Only when they feel like telling it. And then only enough to make you crazy to know more."
When it comes to Pretty Little Liars, it seems making the fans crazy is what they do best. The fifth season of the show is out on DVD, and this is no place for beginners. If you don't know who Aria, Spencer, Emily, Hannah and Alison are, it's time for you to head back to the beginning and catch up. You can find our reviews from those seasons here. For the rest of you, let's talk Pretty Little Liars, shall we?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on June 15th, 2015
“People you knew — people you forgot you knew — all ready to spend your money. And we got to be careful. We got to be smart.”
We look at professional athletes who've hit the genetic jackpot and make unseemly amounts of money, and we assume that they'll be financially set for the rest of their lives. Survivor's Remorse, a Starz sitcom that follows a young basketball star who's just signed his first big-money deal, gives us a frequently funny, consistently crass glimpse into why that isn't necessarily the case.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 14th, 2015
Now this was an interesting one for me. Usually when I watch a movie I like to look for uniqueness, what sets it apart from the thousands of films (I’m pretty sure that’s accurate) I have seen in my lifetime. In the case of As Night Comes, I didn’t particularly find it unique, but there was something that I just liked about it. Given the choice, there are aspects I would change to provide a more engaging experience; however, as is, the story is still worth a watch. Well, to start off, I kind of got the wrong impression of the film; I was expecting a fantasy drama, possibly a film about vampires.
Posted in: Tribute by Gino Sassani on June 14th, 2015
"I don't want to sound gloomy, but at some point of your lives, every one of you will notice that you have in your life one person, one friend whom you love and care for very much. That person is so close to you that you are able to share some things only with him. For example, you can call that friend, and from the very first maniacal laugh or some other joke you will know who is at the other end of that line. We used to do that with him so often. And then when that person is gone, there will be nothing like that in your life ever again."
That was how Christopher Lee described his long-time friend and frequent co-star Peter Cushing when he died in 1994.
The two shared the screen dozens of times, most notably in the Hammer Studios cycle of horror films. The words can also describe the man himself. Hammer had picked up on the popular movie monster when the Universal cycle had pretty much run out its string. Following in the footsteps of Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney (both Sr. and Jr.), Lee was part of a next generation of horror film icons. Vincent Price, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee would become the horror giants who would pick up where the Universal greats left off. It started with Curse Of Frankenstein, but it was Dracula for whom he will always be remembered. Not surprisingly, Lee never cared for the term “horror film”. He would borrow a French description often used by Boris Karloff and referred to these films as "the theatre of the fantastique"
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on June 12th, 2015
"We need more teeth."
That's the problem with sequels, isn't it? There's always the belief that you have to go bigger and stronger than you did before. It's an ideal that is also reflected quite literally in the story of Jurassic World. You know what kills worse than dinosaurs? Expectations. It is those expectations that will turn what is a pretty solid action movie into a disappointment for so many. No doubt, Jurassic World is a fun and entertaining movie. But it's not Jurassic Park, and the truth is it never could be. If you go to this movie hoping to recapture what you felt the first time you heard the words "Welcome to Jurassic Park"
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