BlogRollin’ – Get your at-least-somewhat-movie-related site in our blogroll
Posted in Blogroll, Site News by Archive Authors on July 25th, 2007
In the inner right-hand column you’ll see an area labelled “blogroll” – this is where we link out to other great DVD, Movie, Entertainment, or Whatever sites that we UpcomingDiscs bloggers frequent.
Got a suggestion for our blogroll? Your site? Other good DVD sites? Anything else we really should be reading?
Comment it and we’ll add it!
ITS ALIVE
Posted in Site News by Archive Authors on July 24th, 2007
Yes, the rollover to WordPress has… rolled over. The new UpcomingDiscs is live. I’m working feverishly to sort out bugs and inconsistencies; please bear with me. If you see anything specific that needs attention, please comment here.
Pride (2007)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 24th, 2007
The latest in Lionsgate’s line of movies about nice black people (see Daddy’s Little Girls and Akeelah and the Bee), Pride presents a well-tread story with a few tweaks.
Its formula is the sports team underdog winning against all odds. The sport is swimming, which I don’t think we’ve seen much of in the past. All of the usual players are here, though: the frustrated coach inspired to lead, the unlikely athletes who are too poor and too black to succeed, the rival team too rich and too white to be beaten, the crusty old guy who helps out and the token love interest for our protagonist coach.
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Shooter (HD DVD)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 23rd, 2007
Shooter is based upon the Stephen Hunter novel Point of Impact, and although there are multiple similarities, readers of the book can look forward to a modern rehash of the Hunter story. Since the release of the trailer I have been looking forward to this one, especially now that its being released on HD DVD, how does it turn out?
Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg, The Italian Job) is an elite Marine sniper and patriot. But that all changes when his commanding officer abandons him behind en…
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Batfink – The Complete Series
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 23rd, 2007
Synopsis
I started watching cartoons in the 80’s growing up and remembering most fondly cartoons like Transformers, Batman, Thundercats, TMNT and so forth. Oh I’ve had my fill of Looney Tunes and appreciate them greatly. But once you go past Looney Tunes a lot of the older cartoons escape me (with the exception of Droopy and Scooby Doo). Good examples are the Flintstones and almost anything out of the Hanna-Barbara lineup like Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound. So imagine my …
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The Adventures Of Sonic the Hedgehog – Volume One
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 23rd, 2007
Video games (especially those with platformer elements) were easy fits for syndicated cartoons. I spent a lot of time watching the Super Mario Super Show despite the show’s silliness and use of Captain Lou Albano. Another show I naturally watched in the same vain was the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Featuring Sonic, the speedy blue hedgehog and his sidekick Tails (something resembling a fox but with two tails) would face off against Dr. Robotnik and a legion of robots that wanted to take over the planet Mobius.
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High School Musical: The Concert – Extreme Access Pass
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 23rd, 2007
I did a couple of high school musicals growing up. South Pacific and Oklahoma. South Pacific I remembered much more fondly as sometimes I wanted to wash that man right outta my hair. Wait…umm…*taps fingers* *pause*. Oh, right, musicals. High School Musical was a low-budget Disney tv movie that would end up becoming one of Disney’s best successes in recent memory. It was only natural that due to its musical nature and teen fanbase that it would expand into a national tour that would encompass 51 dates over 6 months.
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Highly Defined – The World of High Definition
Posted in Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on July 23rd, 2007
So who knows how Harry Potter ended?
The big disc news this week is New Line’s announcement that they’ll be coming out with next-gen titles, even if the first title is the current musical of Hairspray. Lord of the Rings, here we come? Aside from that, the biggest disc release news appears to be related to discs that don’t have street dates attached to them yet. Warner says that there will be a box set of the first five Harry Potter films on HD DVD and Blu-ray, and there’s even pricing f…
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A Bullet for Joey
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 22nd, 2007
George Dolenz is the Montreal scientist working on an atomic something-or-other. Foreign spies (could they be…. Communists??!!) hire exiled American gangster George Raft to get Dolenz and his secret into their clutches. His secret weapon for this project is the seductive power of Audrey Totter. Working for the angels is RCMP detective Edward G. Robinson. The expected race against time ensues.
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For Your Eyes Only (Region 2)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 21st, 2007
Synopsis
Honestly, the only thing that I remembered from watching For Your Eyes Only was that Sheena Easton sang the title song (qualifying her as probably the most attractive Scotsperson out there) and that there was a sprawling chase scene involving Roger Moore on skis that was cool. But that’s it. And now that I’m wrapping up this long winding once over for all the James Bond Ultimate Edition DVDs and I get a chance to see everything again, it turns out that this film is a pretty good one.
Premonotion
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 20th, 2007
While expecting her husband home from a business trip, Sandra Bullock receives word that he has died. But the next morning, when she wakes up, he is still alive, and hasn’t even left yet on the trip. Next morning, he’s dead again, and it’s the day of the funeral. Understandably, our poor heroine is a might discombobluated as she deals with having become unmoored in time, struggling to save her sanity, her husband, and her marriage.
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The Number 23
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 20th, 2007
Jim Carrey is an animal control officer whose wife (Virginia Madsen) gives him an odd crime novel for his birthday. The book is narrated by a police detective who becomes violently obsessed with the recurrence of the number 23 in all aspects of life. The book has plenty of strange similarities with Carrey’s life, and he becomes consumed with finding the author and knowing what it’s all about, not to mention descending into the 23 obsession himself.
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Brain Blasters
Posted in Brain Blasters, News and Opinions by David Annandale on July 20th, 2007
It’s been a fairly commonplace activity over the last few years to compare our current troubled era with that of the late-sixties/early-seventies, with special attention paid to discussion of parallels (and to what degree they are or are not justified) between the Iraq and Vietnam wars. In that context, it is interesting to consider the way popular culture has dealt with those conflicts, with particular reference to genre offerings.
This is by way of making a bit of a case study of Deathdream (AKA
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On the Riviera — Marquee Musicals
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 18th, 2007
Synopsis
Danny Kaye plays Jack Martin, entertainer in a Riviera nightclub, as well as Henri Duran, philandering aviator. Duran is being driven to the edge of bankruptcy by a man with which he is forced to do business. Desperate to raise cash, he leaves town, but then his rival is invited to a dinner party. If Duran is not present at the party he is supposed to be hosting, disaster will ensue. So his partners conscript Martin, who has done a pitch-perfect impersonation of Duran at the club, to act as …
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Big Changes to UpcomingDiscs Coming
Posted in News and Opinions by Archive Authors on July 18th, 2007
Good morning, evening or afternoon! I’m pleased to announce that there are big changes in the works for UpcomingDiscs – to bring you more reviews, news, and great movie coverage in a much better format.
In a nutshell, were moving UpcomingDiscs from its current layout, design, and “backend system” to WordPress. WordPress is a fantastic blogging platform that will make UpcomingDiscs easier to read and enjoy – on the site, in your email inbox, and in your RSS reader. WordPress also makes UpcomingDiscs much eas…
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Dare to Play the Game
Posted in Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on July 18th, 2007
Bomberman XBLA style, Paper Mario VC, and the bait & switch of the PS3 – Welcome to the column that is about to have a price drop on our old column but only if they soon discontinue it for malicious puns known as Dare to Play the Game.
Welcome to another edition of Dare to Play the Game. Business has kinda picked up since last week. The situation I referred to last week regarding speaking up will come to be realized at lunch today. I am exci…
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Matthew Barney — No Restraint
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 17th, 2007
Synopsis
Famed for his obsessive love of petroleum jelly as a medium for sculpture, Matthew Barney uses 45 000 pounds of the stuff in the creation of Drawing Restraint 9. This film documents the making of that piece, which is both sculpture and film, done aboard a Japanese whaling vessel. Intimately involved in the production is Barney’s collaborator and partner Björk.
For those, such as myself, for whom this is a first exposure to Barney, this film is both intriguing and frustrating…
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Roving Mars
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 17th, 2007
Mars has always held a certain fascination with us mostly earthbound humans. What child has never looked to the heavens at night, mind filled with more questions than they could ever hope to find answers for? If you are one of these star crossed dreamers, Roving Mars be a thrilling journey indeed. I’m sorry to say that I missed the Roving Mars IMAX experience. I’m sure it was available at one of the several IMAX facilities here in Tampa. Life, as usual, is often too busy to get to everything I want to see. As I wat…
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Renaissance
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 17th, 2007
Style over substance. Why is it so rare that we find quality in both at the same time? I suppose I might be showing my own age here, but Renaissance is an extremely hard film to watch. The high keyed image offers no middle tones at all. The result is a stark black and white that offers a strain on my eyes. I understand the idea was to recreate the experience of reading a graphic novel (that’s comic book to my generation). Still, I wasn’t reading a comic, was I? It took the French film crew 7 years to create this film.
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Coming To America
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 16th, 2007
Synopsis
Ever know that feeling when you’ve seen a movie about twenty times and vow never to see it again until it comes out in a new collector’s edition dvd? Coming to America is exactly like that. Coming to America is the tale of Prince Akeem (played by Eddie Murphy) who isn’t quite happy with his country’s arranged marriage practice. (but apparently pretty happy with the country’s bathing procedure) He decides that with his friend Semmi (played by Arsenio Hall) he should travel to New Yo…
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Reno 911! – The Complete Fourth Season Uncensored!
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on July 16th, 2007
Synopsis
The show that started out as basically a Cops parody (which is pretty funny on its own trailer trash merits) has become a holy grail of sorts for the Comedy Channel. The show has now spanned four seasons and a major motion picture. Reno 911 can be best described as a faux reality show with a good deal of improvisational comedy performed by some very capable actors and actresses. It loosely has a plot from season to season. This season focused on the pregnancy of Depu…
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Straight Time
Posted in Disc Reviews by David Annandale on July 16th, 2007
Synopsis
Dustin Hoffman plays Max Dembo, a burglar out on parole after serving six years. He initially makes a committed effort to reintegrate into society, getting a nowhere job in a can factory and dating placement agent Theresa Russell. But when parole officer M. Emmet Walsh unfairly targets him, Hoffman gives it up and returns to a life of crime, his violent and self-destructive urges making a bad situation that much worse.
Interestingly, the more unlikable Hoffman’s character becomes, …
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Highly Defined – The World of High Definition
Posted in Highly Defined, News and Opinions by Archive Authors on July 16th, 2007
Hey, guess who showed up on time?
Yes, you guessed it, DirecTV showed up on time Saturday, installed my MPEG-4 dish and receiver (well, to be more exact, they just did the former), so now when the ESPNs, Discoverys and History Channels of the world all get into HD (which should be occurred starting in September), I’ll be ready to enjoy millions and millions of high definition broadcasts like I should.
Anyway, moving onto news that doesn’t pertain to me, Samsung appears to be on the verge of releas…
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Watcher, The (HD DVD)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 15th, 2007
Synopsis
The Watcher is a groundbreaking piece of cinema. It takes the crime thriller film genre, employs a few recognizable stars, and proceeds to waste them by boring the absolute beejeezus out of me with performances and a story that is so holistically unoriginal that I didn’t feel good about myself after watching the film.
For the sake of plot synopsis, the movie’s concept is pretty simple. Based on a screenplay by Clay Ayers and David Elliott (Four Brothers) and directed by Joe …
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Color Me Kubrick
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 15th, 2007
Synopsis
Try to wrap your mind around this one. Take the guy who was the center of attention and played the role in Being John Malkovich, and have him play a role as a guy who impersonates the film auteur Stanley Kubrick, of 2001 fame in a story that may or may not be true.
Color Me Kubrick tells the tale of Alan Conway, who decided to take on the personality of the director of Dr. Strangelove lore, as the director had become notoriously reclusive for almost two decades…
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