Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 22nd, 2023
“Four years ago, I was basically unemployed, a wanderer with no home. But now I'm a husband, and a father. And I wouldn't have it any other way.”
This film release marks the end of the DCEU as we know it (also known as the Snyder-verse). The DCEU has been an interesting ride to say the least, full of ups and downs. And while it never truly challenged Marvel with their multi-phased gameplan, it did provide unique opportunities that gave some deserving talents a platform to showcase their abilities. Momoa was one of them. For me, his casting was among the most unique and triumphant. When he was first announced, I had to take a hard look at that decision, as it went against the grain as far as traditional casting for Arthur Curry went. However, it is difficult for me to imagine anyone else who could have brought the same kind of life to the character. Momoa gave the character an exotic and wild-man energy that made for a very entertaining interpretation. Granted this at times made the character seem dimwitted, making his path to the throne seem all the more unlikely. On the other hand, the character was intended to struggle and chafe under the pressure of the crown, thus making Momoa’s performance believable.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 22nd, 2023
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. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it.
"This is more than the history of a woman--it is a portrait of the Puritan period in American life. Though to us, the customs seem grim and the punishments hard, they were a necessity of the times and helped shape the destiny of a nation."
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 22nd, 2023
"I would like to play a game."
I heard it everywhere. When I would mention that I'd be reviewing the 10th entry in the Saw franchise, almost everyone thought I had miscounted. It's hard for anyone to believe that the franchise has gotten into the double digits, and there's more. Next October should be the release of Saw XI. I think what confuses folks is that the numbers stopped with Saw VII. The 8th film was called Jigsaw, and the 9th was called Spiral: From The Book Of Saw. Before you know it, numbers don't mean a heck of a lot. We keep going to see the films and buying them for our home entertainment collections. A movie here. A movie there. Before you know it you have 10 films. Now you can add the 10th film to your library on UHD Blu-ray in 4K. Just remember that it goes next to Spiral on the shelf.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Michael Durr on December 21st, 2023
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. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. It certainly feels like the holiday season. Deadlines you have to meet at work before the end of the year, getting down those eight crates of random festival garb from your attic, ordering gift cards for people you'll never see until this time next year, and an expensive gift for your father who will probably only provide you with expired wits of wisdom. I think it's high time you, the reader, get something for yourself. I don't mean a new pair of socks or some non-alcoholic eggnog. Something worthwhile, like a wonderful Shout Factory Anime Collector's Edition Blu-Ray or 4K set. Today we are looking at the Masaaki Yuasa Five Films Box Set as well as the 4K Edition of Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time. These gorgeous box sets can be yours today and provide you with more hours of enjoyment than any Christmas Party with second, third, and fourth (twice-removed) cousins ever could. Let's take a look..
To start off the movie, we get a recap of the first three movies very quickly (so fast that attempting to summarize that here would take longer than the actual review).
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Michael Durr on December 21st, 2023
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. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. It certainly feels like the holiday season. Deadlines you have to meet at work before the end of the year, getting down those eight crates of random festival garb from your attic, ordering gift cards for people you'll never see until this time next year, and an expensive gift for your father who will probably only provide you with expired wits of wisdom. I think it's high time you, the reader, get something for yourself. I don't mean a new pair of socks or some non-alcoholic eggnog. Something worthwhile, like a wonderful Shout Factory Anime Collector's Edition Blu-Ray or 4K set. Today we are looking at the Masaaki Yuasa Five Films Box Set as well as the 4K Edition of Evangelion: 3.0+1.11 Thrice Upon a Time. These gorgeous box sets can be yours today and provide you with more hours of enjoyment than any Christmas Party with second, third, and fourth (twice-removed) cousins ever could. Let's take a look..
To start off the movie, we get a recap of the first three movies very quickly (so fast that attempting to summarize that here would take longer than the actual review).
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 20th, 2023
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. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. This spotlight looks at Shout Factory's release of the entire Police Academy film collection all in one Blu-ray collection. You have the right to laugh your tush off, and you can give that right to one or more members of your Christmas list.
It all started with the film The Right Stuff. Paul Maslansky was the man who had come up with the original film concept based on the bestselling book. He was also a producer on the film. When they were filming the big tickertape parade for John Glenn, they need a tremendous amount of police presence for the scene. They hired all of the off-duty cops they could and still needed more. So the department brought out cadets from the Police Academy. Maslansky was shocked at how inept they were and asked the commander of the post about them. He was told they were cadets and the result of the mayor needing to open up hiring requirements because of lawsuits. Maslansky claims that night he started writing the seeds of what would be Police Academy. The result was seven feature films, a television series that ran two seasons, and an animated series. When the first film arrived, it was the biggest box office comedy up until that time. A ton of actors would go on to better renown following stints in the franchise, most notably names like Sharon Stone, David Spade, and Kim Catrell. Thanks to Shout Factory, your gift will allow someone to relive all of the best ... and the worst … the film franchise had to offer.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Archive Authors on December 19th, 2023
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. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. This time we're talking about the greatest box office film in history. It's gotta be James Cameron's Titanic, and it's gotta be on UHD Blu-ray in glorious 4K.
"I've never spoken of him until now... Not to anyone... Not even your grandfather... A woman's heart is a deep ocean of secrets. But now you know there was a man named Jack Dawson and that he saved me... in every way that a person can be saved. I don't even have a picture of him. He exists now ... only in my memory.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on December 16th, 2023
“Ladies and gentlemen of the Galeries Gourmet, my name is Willy Wonka! I've spent the past seven years travelling the world, perfecting my craft. You see I'm something of a magician, inventor, and chocolate maker. So quiet up and listen down. Nope. Scratch that, reverse it.”
I usually don't go in for musicals. It’s not usually my cup of tea. However, this one took me by surprise. I grew up watching Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and for me the character of Wonka has always been synonymous with Gene Wilder. But there is something to be said about the showmanship that Timothée Chalamet brought to the role in Wonka. As the titular character, I dare say that he gave Wilder a run for his money as far as showmanship and naïve charm. In this third adaptation based on the 1964 Roald Dahl book, we meet Willy Wonka as a young and naïve man with a pocket full of sovereigns (the film’s currency of choice, though I am unclear as to what one sovereign equates to) and a head full of dreams. Who better to display this charm and innocence than the up-and-coming actor responsible for some of the biggest films in recent years like The King, Dune Part 1, and the upcoming Dune Part 2. He’s also backed up with an excellent cast which includes Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, and Hugh Grant in a role of a character that goes hand-in-hand with the name Willy Wonka.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 15th, 2023
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. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. Well... being safe isn't exactly what this gift guide is about. Some of the people on your list like to mix a little fear with their Yuletide. Think about it. There's last year's sleeper hit Violent Night, Nightmare Before Christmas, and who can forget jolly ol' Krampus? Shout Factory's Scream Factory has you covered once again. They've released four Chucky movies and the original Night Of The Demons on 4K just in time for the horrordays ... eh ... holidays. So be of good cheer, and slide some fear under the tree this year.
There have been four films so far released under the Chucky name and, of course, we're into the third season of a Chucky television series. One of this year's best houses at Universal Florida's Halloween Horror Nights was ... you guessed it ... Chucky. So there hasn't been a better Christmas to take advantage of the hype and pick up some 4K's for that certain someone on your Christmas list. Get one. Get a couple. Jingle Bells, just rock all four films. They come separately, but I think that gives you bonus Christmas points, yeah?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 14th, 2023
“Let’s go get the s**t kicked out of us by love.”
It’s hard for me to accept that Love Actually is really 20 years old already. I remember being a projectionist when this came out and splicing the film together back when movies were actually shown on film. When I first saw the film, it was after hours in the movie theater, and we had to screen the movies the day before release to make sure it was put together properly, and I was with my girlfriend at the time, so it was just us in the auditorium, and from that moment on I was in love with this film. I’ve seen the film well over a dozen times through different phases of my life, and each experience it hits a little differently, but I still come away from this film feeling a bit schmaltzy and in the Christmas spirit. For those of you who have missed out on this classic and are wondering just what is so great about this sentimental British love fest, the movie is written and directed by Richard Curtis; this would be his first time directing, but he had previously made a name for himself after writing Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones Diary. These were a trio of films that American audiences were ravenous about and basically set up Love Actually to become an instant success, but I don’t think anyone was ready for just how charming and heartwarming this film would actually turn out to be.
On The Web
Sponsors
