Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on December 25th, 2014
On the First Day Of Christmas ABC Studios gives to you:
Grey's Anatomy The Complete Tenth Season. Sometimes you have to be naughty to be nice. The season's theme was "Live for the moments" and there are a ton of moments in this collection of episodes. It's time to say goodbye to Sandra Oh. Now you can have landmark season thanks to ABC and Upcomingdiscs.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on December 25th, 2014
It took a while for Hollywood to finally venture Into the Woods. On one hand, the delay isn’t surprising given that the popularity of live-action musicals at the box office has ebbed and flowed many times since Woods made its Broadway debut in 1987. Then again, the story’s free-wheeling mash-up of Grimms’ fairy tale characters fits perfectly with the current obsession with shared cinematic universes. As a result, Disney — which has a storied past with fairy tales, and a lucrative present with cross-platforming popular characters — seems like the perfect landing spot for an Into the Woods movie.
“Be careful what you wish for.”
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on December 24th, 2014
Well, it’s that time of year when the studios make that extra push for awards season, and with Angelina Jolie at the helm directing her second film, Unbroken is the kind of film where after one viewing of the trailer you just know this is Oscar bait. I love this time of year, and I love seeing the best of what the studios have to offer, but sometimes these films with high hopes just don’t deliver as expected. Unbroken takes us on a journey through the life of Olympian Louis Zamperini (Jack O’ Connell) from his early years as a troubled child on through his torturous years as a prisoner of Japan during World War 2. The front portion of the film jumps from Louis as a soldier and working inside a bomber to flashing back in time to what inspired Louis to become America’s fastest high school runner. Having Louis reflecting back on his early years is understandable while his plane is taking fire, but the scenes we flash back to just don’t seem to have any real connection with the story, but seem to only serve the idea of putting action in the front half of the film to get the viewer’s attention. As the film progresses, and the flashbacks seem to suddenly cease. If this jumping back and forth through time isn’t too jarring, what turns out to be most off-putting is the film’s script. Even with Joel and Ethan Coen (Fargo, No Country For Old Men) as well as Richard LaGravenese (The Horse Whisperer) and William Nicholson (Gladiator) sharing writing duties, what seems to work best for this film is when the characters are saying little to nothing at all.
Very little attention is paid to Zamperini and his journey to receive a medal in the Olympic games in Germany. Instead most of the film focuses on the physical and mental abuse Zamperini endures from the moment his plane crashes into the Pacific on through the punishing time he is prisoner in a detention camp. Fellow soldiers come and go throughout the film, but the one constant, and in my opinion the most intriguing character in the film, is that of The Bird (Mutsushiro Watanabe), a ruthless commander of the detention center Zamperini first arrives at. It doesn’t take long to see that all The Bird wants to do is break Zamperini’s spirit, but as we know by the title of the film, this man just can’t be broken.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 24th, 2014
A&E always has something for everyone. They changed the landscape of television by turning the reality show on its head. Instead of losers trying to win a prize by acting like idiots, the cameras of A&E's shows take us in to the often bizarre and hyper-real worlds of pawn shops, ice road truckers and pest control businesses. The team has put together some nice sets to help fill some gaps in the collection of someone on your shopping list. It's time to load up on some of these collectible sets before someone ends up with coal in their stocking.
It’s that time of the year again to dust off the old hunting rifle and shake out the camouflage suits, because Duck Commander is back in action. Duck Dynasty comes to Blu-ray for seasons 4-6. This new release brings the show back to the backwoods charm that gained my appreciation from the start. Yes, I still have a hard time calling this a reality series, since just about every episode and sequence seems more scripted than most hour-long dramas, but the characters are so likeable and goofy that a lot can be forgiven.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 24th, 2014
It’s the holidays as you all are well aware of by now, and if not, well, you may have some last minute shopping to do. But for the rest of us, finding time between eggnog parties and decorating, to stay in the holiday spirit I try and squeeze in as many holiday films as I can. Unfortunately for my girlfriend, to me a holiday film is Lethal Weapon, Gremlins and Die Hard. But on the bright side, here at Upcomingdiscs we are given titles that we normally wouldn’t give a look to, and in the case of The Nine Lives of Christmas, this little Hallmark film turned out to be a sweet little gem.
No, seriously, guys, don’t roll your eyes; I know the words Hallmark films seem a bit scary, but this is a film that really isn’t half bad, and what may help make it a little more attractive is that it stars Superman himself, Brandon Routh. Routh plays Zachary, a firefighter that is living up the single life dating beautiful models and working on remodeling a home while he’s keeping the town safe from burning down. It’s while coming home he rescues a stray cat and his life takes a drastic turn, and though he originally has no plans of keeping the cat, the cat manages to work its feline magic and warm this fireman’s heart.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on December 23rd, 2014
“Life is always a tightrope or a featherbed. Give me the tightrope.”
Edith Wharton was born into the “featherbeds” of New York’s high society, and some of her most famous books — “The Age of Innocence”, “The House of Mirth” — are set among the well-to-do elite. But this dry, informative documentary — which focuses on her work as a designer, world traveler, and philanthropist — makes the case that Wharton chose the “tightrope.”
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 22nd, 2014
“Space… The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Nearly 20 years after the original Star Trek left the network airwaves, Gene Roddenberry set out to discover if he could catch lightning in a bottle once again. Some say he did an even better job with Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are times I tend to agree. The Star Trek sequel series had a lot more advantages from the moment it was conceived. Star Trek, a series that barely registered on the ratings during its three-year primetime voyage, became a huge sensation in syndication. By the time Next Generation came on the scene, the original show had been syndicated in over 20 different languages all over the world. It had launched an animated series, and a fifth feature film was already in the early stages of consideration. So it isn’t quite fair to judge the success or quality of The Next Generation over the original series. One thing is inarguable. The second would never have existed if not for the first.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 22nd, 2014
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. This time we turn our attention to CBS. You already know about Star Trek releases, but you say you have some drama fans on your shopping list. They don't want aliens or spaceships. They want stories and criminals getting caught. We've got you covered with the best from CBS.
To the point, Criminal Minds is very compelling television. Ever since The Silence of the Lambs and perhaps long before, we have been fascinated by serial killers and the profilers who try to get inside their heads. To see evidence of the continuing trend, one needs only look toward the success of films like Zodiac and shows like Dexter. Of course, serial killers are not the only prey this FBI team pursues, but they are certainly the marquee item on the agenda. To be sure, there are equally disturbing subjects such as arsonists, bombers, kidnappers, and rapists to give the show a touch of variety, but let’s face it, it’s the killers that keep us tuned so attentively to Criminal Minds.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 22nd, 2014
Cursed mummies have been a part of cinema dating as far back as you can likely imagine. That being said, I won’t call it worthy of his own subcategory or say that there aren’t new avenues to take with the premise. However, I will say that I find it difficult to imagine new approaches given that the films of the past have already found some truly entertaining avenues already. Day of the Mummy deserves credit for the unique avenue it attempted to take, but it doesn’t deserve much of anything else after that.
First person point of view, I suppose, would be the best way to sum up the way the film was administered in that every angle of the film came from a webcam or the special spy glasses our main characters wore throughout the film. At first an interesting idea which brought of fond memories video game series Doom, the novelty quickly wore off within the first twenty minutes, and afterwards it become clear that the film truly lacked depth and wasted much of its runtime telling the story of traveling to retrieve the Codex stone rather than the adventure of battling for survival. Given that the runtime was already under the normally standard 90 minute running time, the brief time would have been better spent on an epic battle between humans and zombie mummies (who doesn’t love a good mummy fight, right?) or giving a more in-depth backstory instead of learning of the legend of the supposed Codex stone secondhand from the characters. The film spent over half the running time traveling to the destination and even more time leading into an underwhelming battle that few will survive (mainly referring to the audience).
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on December 19th, 2014
- “There she is, our little orphan Annie.”
- “I'm a foster kid!”
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