Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 18th, 2014
OK, in case you didn’t know this about me, I’m a sucker for South Korean action cinema. Sure, the 90’s were ruled by Hong Kong, but for about a decade South Korea has been killing it by putting out some of the most visually stunning action films in years. For a quick crash course in how simply bad-ass and epic their cinema is, I highly recommend checking out The Chaser and A Bittersweet Life. With Commitment we get a new entry in the spy genre that hasn’t been explored stateside.
Myung-hoon (Choi Seung-Hyun, a Korean pop star also known as T.O.P) and his sister are stuck in a North Korean labor camp after their father is killed in South Korea working as a spy. Myung-hoon is offered a chance to protect his sister and stay alive, only it requires him to go into training as a spy and travel into South Korea and await word for his mission.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 18th, 2014
Until recently DirecTV's Audience Network was a home for critically acclaimed shows that somehow lost their feet on another network. It started with Friday Night Lights and more recently with Damages. So DirecTV was no stranger to original series production. Now for the very first time the satellite carrier and network have developed their own television series. Rogue would be the first show on the network not to have played somewhere else first. The effort is a collaboration with eOne and Greenhouse Entertainment. From the first 10 episodes of the first season, you can bet it's a pretty wild ride and a relatively strong start.
Grace Travis (Newton) is an undercover cop for the San Jose Police Department, on loan from the Oakland Police Department. She is deep undercover and has managed to get quite close to kingpin Jimmy Laszlo (Csokas).When her son is killed in an apparent random drive-by shooting she is devastated and pulled from her cover and put on leave. That is until she discovers there might be a link between Laszlo's organization and her son's killing. Someone within Jimmy's crew is trying to take him out, and a bullet comparison ties his traitor with her son's death. Without permission she goes back under. When her cover is blown she ends up striking a deal with Jimmy to find the person that both of them want. It's a tricky accommodation that will send ripples through her family and work colleagues.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 18th, 2014
SyFy Channel is at it again, a film about the near end of the world. With the backlog of disaster films, you would imagine if there ever was an emergency and the world was on the cusp of massive destruction, thankfully there is a film out there to at least give us an outside-the-box theory of how to prevent the end. After all it’s not as though NASA or the numerous geniuses working in labs in front of computers or telescopes would have any idea about what to do. It’s always someone nestled in a small town no one has ever heard of, but this resident has the answers to everything. It’s with this kind of thinking and obsession with disaster films where End of the World wants its viewers. This isn’t a film that takes itself seriously, but it also is a far cry from being a parody.
Greg Grunberg (Alias and Heroes) plays Owen Stokes, a disaster-film-obsessed owner of a video store. It’s a small town, so it doesn’t seem as though Netflix or Red Box has made its corporate invasion quite yet. Selena (Caroline Cave) is Owen’s girlfriend and doesn’t seem too pleased that he’s forgotten her birthday or that he uses the birthdate of his favorite sci-fi writer Dr. Walter Brown to remind him. But before their argument can get too out of hand, a solar flare hits the Earth sending bursts of blue energy that destroy whatever it comes into contact with.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 17th, 2014
“If something was to come your way, I mean something so irresistible that you just had to have it, do you think you could sacrifice everything for it and not regret it?”
When it comes to down-on-their-luck men in movies, that “something” could be any number of things. Oh, who am I kidding? It's pretty much always a woman or a large sum of money. In Swerve — a twisty Australian thriller that goes down a number of familiar roads — our hero is tempted by both.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 16th, 2014
Jeff Dunham has always had a talent for making people laugh. His style of ventriloquism has found its way into millions of homes and probably a billion YouTube views. Of course these standup specials have translated into tons of merchandising potential such as lunchboxes, t-shirts, and even the puppets turned into cute and sometimes furry stuffed dolls. Well, with one of the most beloved characters, Achmed, they decided to do an animated special. Let us see how well it turned out.
Jeff Dunham and Achmed the Dead Terrorist (also voiced by Jeff) join us for a little introduction. Jeff asks Achmed who his favorite animated character is. Achmed sheepishly replies Tigger and also Eeyore. But certainly not Piglet, don't be ridiculous. Then Jeff tells Achmed that he can be an animated character too and to make a wish. Out pops Tinker Bubba (yes, that's Jeff too) who can make Achmed intoxicated, I mean animated. Achmed turns animated and that is how the show starts.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 16th, 2014
It is true what they say, every time you think you are done, you get pulled back in. I had been working on cleaning up my house and trying by any means necessary to get it on the market (42 gallon trash bags are your friend). But the big boss of Upcomingdiscs.com asked if I would like to review the final season of Flashpoint. I looked at my movie spinner and saw nestled between the Flash (the short lived TV series) and Freakazoid Season 1(okay, I'm odd, I get it), the first 5 volumes of Flashpoint. At that point, it was pretty much a done deal.
At the end of the fifth season (or fifth volume if we are being technical), we had arrived at the episode Slow Burn. In this episode, the main story was that an arsonist was at large. The arsonist proceeds to take a fire chief hostage and eventually the criminal gets caught. However, that was certainly not the end of the story as the arsonist actually had a partner working at the fire station. This doesn't go very well as the fire chief takes the partner hostage and the SRU Unit has to negotiate a peaceful settlement.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 14th, 2014
“One small fact: you are going to die. Despite every effort, no one lives forever.”
The Book Thief is narrated by Death, who opens the film with these sobering words. It is also set in Germany during the years leading up to World War II. On paper, the best-case scenario for this film appears to be “well-executed, watchable downer”, while the worst-case scenario is “do we really need *another* movie about WWII?!” But fans of Aussie author Markus Zusak’s 2005 best-seller know better. The Book Thief uses the silky specter of death to tell a beautifully affecting story that celebrates life.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by William O'Donnell on March 14th, 2014
On a flight from London to Los Angeles, an artifact taken from an ancient, Druidic ritual site is being transported in secret. During this flight a malevolent deity looks to exact revenge on the passengers for the desecration of the site that was used for sacrifices (this bit of information is pretty disposable. Sacrifices just sound better when vaguely referring to a pagan religion in a modern story). Now it's up to a band of 1970s b-listers like Chuck Connors, Buddy Ebsen, Paul Winfield and (lord help us) William Shatner to fight off this killer spirit.
Once in a while a film offers a gift to its reviewers. By describing this film I shall also provide a perfect analogy for the response it gives me. All criticisms I could possibly conjure are written right into the pacing and performances within The Horror at 37,000 Feet...and I thank it for that.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 13th, 2014
"Greece, that hard and timeless land, where even the stones speak of man's courage, of his endurance, of his glory. And none more eloquently than this lonely pillar in a desolate pass, some 200 miles north of modern Athens. Across the hush of 24 centuries, this is the story of a turning point in history, of a blazing day when 300 Greek warriors fought here to hold with their lives their freedom and ours."
From that introduction you might guess that this is a review of Zack Snyder's 300 or the newly minted follow-up 300: Rise Of An Empire. That guess would be wrong. While 300 might be based on Frank Miller & Lynn Varley's graphic novel, the inspiration for that comic was the 1962 film 300 Spartans, which was, of course based on the famous battle described in both films and the comic book.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 13th, 2014
Takeshi Kitano is to yakuza films as Robert DeNiro is to American gangster films. Whether it is in front of or behind the camera, Beat (his stage name) Takeshi has had a long, fruitful career, with many of his successful films like Sonatine. Fireworks, Brother and Outrage delving into the Japanese criminal underworld. His talents don’t only fall between acting and directing; he’s also worked as editor and writer for many of his films. He’s an artist whose films have found their way onto US shores, and for those that are fans of yakuza cinema, when a new film by Beat Takeshi comes along, it’s something you simply have to check out.
Beyond Outrage is a follow up to the 2010 release Outrage (this being the only sequel Takeshi has directed). It’s five years following the events that occurred in the previous film, and the yakuza underworld is in the midst of a struggle over not just what clan is in control, but who is in power within the clans. Ishihara (Ryo Kase) is the second in command of the Sanno clan; he’s young and power-hungry and believes the clan should be moving in a more modern direction. Unfortunately the senior members of the clan are more traditional and feel the new direction things are going is not to their benefit.
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