"You like that stuff, but it's kind of a tease."

Give Elijah credit for taking some interesting chances with his acting choices since his long and successful run with the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and his subsequent cameos in the Hobbit films as well. No one can accuse the actor of resting on his laurels. His roles have been outside the mainstream.

Rutger Hauer is the star of this latest giveaway thanks to our good buddies over at Arc Entertainment. We're talking future world where money just might buy one man eternal youth...or maybe an endless nightmare. It's a game played for your life. We're talking RPG  (Real Playing Game) and it hits stores on Tuesday Feb. 10th. But we have 3 copies to give away here at Upcomingdiscs.

Contest is now closed Winners are Jim Gardner, Kelvin Hobson & James Coyne

Despite Stephen King’s place in modern literary history, Hollywood continues to be hit-or-miss at successfully adapting King’s work for the big screen and television. Personally The Mist is one of my favorite films based off of King’s work, but one can never forget The Shawshank Redemption. Unfortunately, though, there are many more duds than there are successes when it comes to adapting “the Master of Horror’s” work.  Big Driver is the most current work to be brought to the screen.

Who Killed Alex Spourdalakis sounds like a murder mystery. The cover of the DVD says, “Ignorance, negligence, indifference”. The documentary was produced by the Autism Media Channel, and the cover also says, “Autism and the US healthcare system”. The implication is that things are not going well for the growing number of parents of autistic children. In March of 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that the rate of autism had risen to 1 out of 68 births in the United States, and that was nearly double from ten years prior.

"I found something."

Once in a while a film comes along that defies the current trends and styles in Hollywood. Inevitably, those films usually end up being dumped on the box office in the late winter months after the holiday blockbusters have run their course and the push for notice by the Academy has reached the end of the calendar year. It is in the depths of these cold months that studios deliver the almost-rans, the square pegs, and once in a while a gem that doesn't really fit any of the other models.

There are certain things that are obvious to some of us, and nobody wants to talk about them. All people are full of weaknesses that they then try to deny exist. People are people, but some people think they are better than other people. It seems obvious that we should all try to get over our hatred and be more accepting of all our differences and see how much alike we all are. Black or White is an important movie that comes in the form of a fun and heartwarming melodrama.

I give James Franco a lot of credit. He works very hard for a big-shot Hollywood actor. He is ambitious in ways that no one from his generation even comes close to being. He's fearless in his choices and will do practically anything that sparks his creative muse. He is constantly working on film projects, making sure that he includes big-budget blockbusters, but his real passion is a string of micro-budget experiments. He just starred on Broadway in Of Mice And Men. He has won Golden Globes, and he has been nominated for Oscars. He also pursued simultaneous degrees at numerous institutions.

Art And Craft is a documentary about an off-kilter mind. That is not necessarily a bad thing. To have an off-kilter mind, that is. Many great geniuses and many great artists have had off-kilter minds, like Van Gogh and Kafka and others too numerous to mention. Art And Craft is about a man who painted many of the great works of art. The only problem is his paintings are nearly exact copies of the originals by famous artists. Mark Landis is one of the most prolific art forgers of the last 30 years. The other thing that should be noted is that he gives all the art away to museums as original works of the great masters.

"Who are the Mythbusters?" 

You know who the Mythbusters are, don't you? They've been a staple on the Discovery Channel for over 12 years now. Yes, this 10th year anniversary release is a little late, but a welcome title all the same. If you really don't know who the Mythbusters are by now, I can't think of a better way to get acquainted than to pick up 50 of their best episodes in one collection

“Love is an endless act of forgiveness.”

May Brennan is the best-selling author of a successful book centered around Arabic proverbs. She is played by Cherien Dabis, who is also the writer/director/producer of May in the Summer. Both Dabis and her fictional counterpart use short, pithy phrases like the one above as the basis for exploring familial and romantic relationships. But while May encounters rousing success with her (fictitious, unseen) book, Dabis' picturesque, breezy, ultimately disposable film is a little bit more of a mixed bag.