Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 9th, 2014
With all these found-footage films that seem to be coming out week after week, I wonder just how audiences will react when they finally get a scene that is shot on a tripod. It will be hailed as a revelation, I’d imagine, and finally the world will be able to watch a film without pondering if they should have double-dosed on their motion sickness pills. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Infliction is yet another entry into the canon of found-footage films and is also another example of why it is a style that is not meant for everyone to try or to use as an excuse for a low budget.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 9th, 2014
Few musicians have enjoyed the career that Elton John has enjoyed. From the release of Your Song in 1969, he hasn't seen many years without hit records. He's had number one songs in every decade since that day, and the hits continue to roll in. When the music industry changed, Elton managed to change enough to keep up with the times, yet hold on to the poignant songwriting that has made his songs stand out. I've been a fan since the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road days of 1973.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 8th, 2014
Anyone who ever sat through an elementary school science class knows that about 70 percent of the Earth's surface is covered in water. We've all heard the spiel, but I don't imagine most of us spend much time contemplating how truly staggering that figure really is. Watermark seeks to convey the many different ways humans and the planet's water supply affect one another. The documentary is maddeningly scattered, but it also manages to capture and convey a small part of the world's awe-inspiring bigness.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 8th, 2014
Any time I see a film released with the words Once Upon a Time (insert location), I feel the film is already setting itself up for failure. There are numerous classics that boast that title; Once Upon a Time in the West as well as Once Upon a Time in America are two that come to mind that are classics in their genres. But then you have Once Upon a Time in Mexico, which for me was a lackluster conclusion to the El Mariachi trilogy. Now we have the release of Once Upon a Time in Vietnam and, well, despite its attempts to be a big sprawling epic, the film just doesn’t deliver.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Archive Authors on July 6th, 2014
by Normandy D. Piccolo
In 2011, four men, Larry Black (big cat expert), Ben Black (cinematographer/Larry’s brother), Budi (a local) and Adi (a government tracker) ventured into the jungles of West Java, Indonesia in the hopes of finding and filming a documentary about the endangered Javan leopard. Unfortunately they crossed paths with something deadlier, and it was all caught on film. The Jungle, a documentary/found footage film, was written/directed/produced by Andrew Traucki.
Posted in: Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on July 4th, 2014
Here at Upcomingdiscs we’re getting in the spirit of Independence Day by watching China Beach on DVD.
It’s a pretty solid way to remember the men and women who served this country in Vietnam. The series is very much a tribute, particularly to the women who volunteered not to take lives, but to try to save them. The series featured quite a few young actors who have gone on to pretty big things. They include Dana Delany from Desperate Housewives, Robert Picardo from Star Trek: Voyager, Marg Helgenberger from CSI, Michael Boatman from Arli$$/Spin City and Jeff Kober.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 3rd, 2014
"We have some interesting times ahead of us."
This is really the tale of two cities; no, not those cities. But like the Dickens character, we are dealing with two different countries, and while neither is going through a revolution, they are two very real and disparate places indeed. Juarez is in Mexico (the state they named those annoying little yip-yip dogs after). Here there is poverty and crime on levels that would make most Americans shudder. There is corruption that runs through every aspect of government.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 3rd, 2014
After the number of horror films I’ve seen, the prospect of going on a road trip and taking a back road seems like just about the worst idea anyone could ever have. Whether it’s in the mountains where you have to fear backwoods cannibals (Wrong Turn) or it’s the open desert highway and fearing maniacs in semi-trucks (Joy Ride), really, is anywhere safe to travel? Even the quaint little roadside motel is a place to fear, and I don’t mean the bedbugs either.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on July 3rd, 2014
“He's old! How he gonna relate to me?!”
For a good portion of his latest stand-up special, Sinbad playfully berates a 15-year-old audience member named Cory. It's mostly standard-issue, old man, “back in my day” ribbing. But the most incisive observation comes when Sinbad points out that Cory would probably much rather be in the audience for a Kevin Hart show. The feeling that Sinbad is no longer the hot comic of the moment — and hasn't been for a while — informs much of this inoffensive, baby boomer-friendly set.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on July 2nd, 2014
"Missed it by that much." Never before was that Don Adams/Maxwell Smart catchphrase more appropriate to a movie. Sometimes there is a very thin line between instant classic and near miss. Earth To Echo is the best example in decades of a film that could have, should have, would have been so much more if not for just one bad decision. The film has all of those coming-of-age moments that exist in those 1980's classics like Goonies, Explorers and, of course, ET. The film sports a wonderful cast with plenty of nuance in characters.
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