Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 5th, 2014
Johnny Carson might have been king of the late-night airwaves, but it was Merv Griffin who held court during the day. From 1962 until 1986 Merv Griffin brought you the most important, entertaining and fascinating personalities to your living rooms. He was also quite the producer. Here's the question: He created two of the longest-lasting game shows in television history. Who was Merv Griffin? That's correct. He created both Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy. But it will be The Merv Griffin Show that he'll he's most remembered for.
Star Vista and Time-Life have combined to bring you a 12-disc collection of some of Merv's best moments. Taken from the entire series run these highlights includes such guests as: "Lucille Ball, The Everly Brothers, Willie Mays, Aretha Franklin, Salvador Dali, Dennis Hopper, Maya Angelou, Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., John Wayne, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Warren Beatty, Jayne Mansfield (seen with her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Mariska Hargitay), Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Jay Leno, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Jerry Lewis together (!), Joan Rivers, Steve Martin, Moms Mabley, Bill Cosby, Henny Youngman, Jack Benny, Redd Foxx, Carol Burnett, Andy Kaufman, Woody Allen, and more."
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 4th, 2014
It's funny how some actors mean different things to different people. It often depends on your age and interests. Michael Landon is one such actor. I was a horror movie fan who watched late-night creature features with my dad. To me Landon was the titular character from I Was A Teenage Werewolf. To my Dad and his generation, Landon was Little Joe from Bonanza. To continue the comparison, Little Joe's pop was always Commander Adama, with no offense intended toward Edward James Olmos. But there is another generation that doesn't know werewolves from cowboys, and to them Michael Landon will always be the warm father Charles Ingalls from Little House On The Prairie.
From 1974 until 1983 Little House On The Prairie told the story of the Ingalls family. The series was based on the book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, who is one of Charles' daughters and is played by Melissa Gilbert in the series. It had a very Waltons feel for family life in a bygone age. For the Ingalls family, it was the mid-1800's, and they were a true pioneer family. The show's focus was on the family, but the entire little town became a character on the show, as well. It was populated by many recurring characters who combined to give the show that rural charm found in shows like The Waltons or The Andy Griffith Show.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on December 3rd, 2014
Tis the season to be...overwhelmed with a crushing number of Christmas-themed movies on our television screens. In addition to holiday staples like A Christmas Story, It's a Wonderful Life, and Die Hard (yeah, I said it), many networks roll out original, made-for-TV yuletide tales. The Hallmark Channel is certainly doing its part this year with its “Countdown to Christmas”, which includes 12 new movies. One of those films transports us to the fictional land of Cordinia for the painfully cliched romantic-comedy stylings of A Royal Christmas.
Emily Taylor (Lacey Chabert) is a Philly girl who has been dating her charming boyfriend Leo (Stephen Hagan) for almost a year. Leo is a foreigner who came to America to attend business school, and Emily is a seamstress/aspiring fashion designer. (Get it? She's a seamstress...and her last name sounds like “tailor”...it's *that* kind of movie.) As the couple prepares to spend their first Christmas together, Leo is summoned back home by his mother. It's right around this time that Leo reveals to Emily that he's actually Prince Leopold, heir to the throne of Cordinia.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 2014
Our friends at Arc Entertainment have another great giveaway for you faithful Upcomingdiscs readers. On Dec 2nd Field Of Lost Shoes hits the stores and we have 2 copies to give out. This one is based on a true American Civil War story. A group of teen cadets shows their courage under fire when they are sent into the heart of battle. The film stars David Arquette and Tom Skerritt.
To win just follow these instructions.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 28th, 2014
“How the hell did this happen? I mean, I’m on the other side of the planet, and people know who I am and they’re laughing at my jokes.”
Despite his status as one of the biggest draws in stand-up comedy, Jeff Dunham really does seem taken aback by his success. On one hand, you wouldn’t necessarily expect a ventriloquist to be one of the hottest names in comedy in 2014. Then again, the hard work and precision he has put into his act is evident every time he takes the stage. For his latest comedy special, Dunham packed up his puppets and took his show on the road like never before.
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2014
"The gods finally bless us with a complete collection."
AnchorBay is going all out in delivering a couple of complete series collections. There is a limited edition with some cool stuff that we hope to talk to you about on Black Friday for your shopping edification. This set contains all of the show's 39 episodes on 12 discs. There is a 13th disc with limited extra features that were not found on the original individual season releases.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 27th, 2014
Holiday movies, to be more specific holiday kids’ movies: talk about being out of my depth. It’s been quite some time since the days where I used to sit down to enjoy a kids’ movie; dare I say that I don’t have the slightest clue what the kiddies are into these days? Seems to be a lot of movies about planes, trains, and automobiles (pun intended) dominating the box office; however, not the case with Frozen in Time, which is centered around the most popular holiday of all time: Christmas. To give this film the proper justice that it deserves, I turned to someone who would be able to watch this with the objective view needed: I sat down and watched the film with my godson Amare.
Frozen in Time tells the tale of mischievous brother and sister, Eric and Patty. It’s Christmas Eve, and the family is loading up the car to spend Christmas with their inventor grandfather. From the start of the film, Eric and Patty demonstrate the traits that lead kids into being put on the naughty list; they fail to listen to their parent’s instruction, they blow off chores in favor of having dangerous fun, and they attempt to sneak cookies when they are told that they can’t have any. However, it is one act of disobedience that land them in the biggest trouble they have ever been in. When the two sneak into their grandfather’s workshop and come across a mysterious clock, intrigued by the clock the two accidently break the clock. What they don’t know that this is not an ordinary clock. By breaking the clock, the two have thrust themselves into a time loop, doomed to repeat Christmas Eve over and over again, and we all know what the biggest problem with that is: never getting to open the presents the next day.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 26th, 2014
It’s great to see the love that comic books and their characters are getting from the public; only a couple decades ago people didn’t look so kindly on the medium. Growing up it wasn’t the wisest decision to broadcast to your classmates about your enthusiasm over the new Punisher or Batman comic. I got lucky and never really had to deal with bullies, but I had friends who had their fair share of torment over liking the kind of music, movies or comics that they did. The comic book store was a safe haven away from it all, and it was between the pages that all of us comic book geeks would escape and live vicariously through the animated panels before reality came barreling in.
In the documentary Legends of the Knight, writer and director Brett Culp seems to have two goals. First is to tell the story of how Michael Uslan made it his personal mission to bring Batman to the screen and to be viewed as a serious character, unlike the parody of what he was in the Adam West series. There is also the other side of this documentary; the heart of it that after watching this film I don’t think it is possible to view superheroes the same way ever again. I don’t mean to imply there is anything negative here. In fact it is quite the opposite, and the stories that fill this feature will tug at your heartstrings to the point that I believe it could possibly change and make a difference.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 24th, 2014
As adults we somewhat have a better understanding of how our dreams work and understand that those fears of the dark when we were children were somewhat silly in retrospect. But when we were kids, the nighttime was a mysterious time that held so many possibilities, where the magic in the world around us was something that was very real for us all. In the new Spanish language animated feature Nocturna, the first-time filmmakers (Adria Garcia & Victor Madonado) seem to have tapped into that childlike wonder and have crafted a film that I simply adore.
Tim (originally voiced by Helene Bizot) is a young orphan boy who like most young kids has a fear of the dark. To help him with his fears, he has become fascinated by the stars above, and on the roof top of the orphanage he has mapped out many of the constellations, but his favorite of all the stars above is Adhara. For Tim this is his last connection to his mother, who has told Tim that anytime he feels alone or frightened he basically will always have this star to count on. Unfortunately, one evening Adhara seems to vanish from the sky.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 24th, 2014
“Welcome to the 21st century!”
Sylvester Stallone has dedicated the better part of the last decade to giving moviegoers what they wanted 20 years ago. It started with 2006's Rocky Balboa, which closed out Stallone's signature franchise in the satisfying manner fans have been craving since 1990's Rocky V debacle. We’ve also gotten another Rambo sequel, as well as long-awaited team ups with icons both real (Schwarzenegger in Escape Plan) and cinematic (Grudge Match was “Rocky vs. Raging Bull”). But Stallone's biggest recent success is the veritable fantasy team of action stars he's assembled for the Expendables films.
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