The Standoff at Sparrow Creek
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 7th, 2019
It may only be March, but I’m willing to bet The Standoff At Sparrow Creek will make the list of my top films of 2019. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that this is the next breakout film people will be talking about, because it’s just that damn good. Think about what Reservoir Dogs mashed up with Glengarry Glen Ross would be like if they were mashed together and the characters were all members of a militia; then you’ll somewhat have an idea of what The Standoff at Sparrow Creek has in store for you. We’ve all heard rumblings about militia groups, the kind that have their hidden bunkers that have stockpiles of weapons and ammunition that are ready to go into battle at a moment’s notice.
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Creed II (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 6th, 2019
“In the ring, you got rules. Outside, you got nothing. Life hits you with all these cheap shots. People like me, we live in the past. You got people that need you now. You got everything to lose; this guy has got nothing to lose.”
For the last couple of decades the sport of boxing has lost much of its popularity, at least here in the United States. The big matches used to be events where neighbors and friends would gather and enjoy the spectacle together. It likely started when long-time fighting fan and announcer Howard Cosell distanced himself from the sport, and the collapse appeared finally complete around the time Mike Tyson added ear to his menu. It’s devolved so far that I haven’t known who the champ is for more than 10 years.
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Tuesday Release Round-Up For Tuesday March 5th, 2019
Posted in Super Round Up by Gino Sassani on March 5th, 2019
Howdy Partners. It’s Gino down on the Upcoming ranch, and I have some titles we need to round up and get to market for you. A little birdie told us that RLJE Films is releasing The Standoff At Sparrow Creek on Blu-ray today. RLJE Films also score with 100 Yards out on DVD. Warner Brothers is going the distance with Creed II out on UHD Blu-ray, and you folks know what that means; yeah, it’s 4K for your home theater enjoyment. Shout Factory pairs up Liz And The Bluebird on Blu-ray. Paramount takes a shortcut with Instant Family out on Blu-ray. Fox picks sides with The Favourite also out on Blu-ray.
Out in The Reel World, Marvel takes command of the box office with Captain Marvel.
And, Partners, don’t forget. If you’ll be making that video withdrawal from Amazon, lasso yourself one of our many links to get there. It helps keep us going here on the Upcomingdiscs ranch. Until next week, share some light with someone this week… television light, that is. Now let’s get those titles rollin’!
The Unseen
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on March 4th, 2019
It’s been a while since there has been a good invisible man film. It’s one of the original Universal horror monsters that just doesn’t seem to get the fanfare that I feel it deserves. Some of the greats in Hollywood have tackled incarnations of the character. John Carpenter with Memoirs of an Invisible Man (1992); then there was Hollow Man (2000), but neither of these films are what you would consider classics, though they are films I had fun with. So when The Unseen crossed my path, I was looking forward to this. After all, it has been a while since this type of character has been tackled; then factor in that it is being helmed by Geoff Redknap, who previously worked as a special effects artist on Cabin in the Woods, Watchmen, and numerous other projects. This just seemed like it would be a good match. The result is a bit of a mixed bag.
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Greta
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on March 2nd, 2019
“I’m the master of the slow fade.”
That would be a good way to describe director Neil Jordan and his latest Hitchcockian thriller, Greta. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Ray Wright, but let’s be perfectly honest here. The film doesn’t score on the writing. It’s a completely predictable thriller, and there’s nothing truly innovative or clever about the story. There’s nothing here that we haven’t seen before. This isn’t a clever film by any stretch of the imagination. It’s the execution of a tried story that makes this film as compelling as it actually becomes. And all of that comes from some rather unique cinematography and two quite powerful performances by the leading ladies in the star roles. Put that together and this ordinary film at least touches on something close to extraordinary.
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The Possession of Hannah Grace
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on March 2nd, 2019
The city morgue on the graveyard shift? Well, you can’t ask for a better setting for a horror film, can you? Shay Mitchell has been making a decent run in horror/suspense with her role of Peach on the stalker thriller You, as well as her newest role in this horror film The Possession of Hannah Grace. Horror films have become a new obsession for me in recent years, so I was very excited for this addition. Though given how saturated the market has become in recent years, my expectation was on the lower side of the spectrum. In its favor, there are several other familiar faces, including Stana Katic of Castle fame and Grey Damon. Additionally, the story unfolds in a suspenseful manner, which is half the battle right there. Though no possession film will ever top The Exorcist, The Possession of Hannah Grace is a worthwhile addition to the genre. I mean, it scared my wife out the room.
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Mary Queen Of Scots (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 27th, 2019
At first glance, Mary Queen of Scots has all the makings of a film you’d expect to be nominated for numerous awards; after all, it’s a period drama that showcases some remarkable performances from Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. Unfortunately this retelling of the story between Queen Elizabeth (Robbie) and Queen Mary (Ronan) is bogged down with its politics and the struggles these women have being leaders while their differing religions present a conflict preventing them from ever working together. Let me just jump into this and attempt to sort this film out.
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Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on February 27th, 2019
“For the record, I am a better Dorothy Parker than Dorothy Parker.”
Looks like Melissa McCarthy is attempting to branch out from her usual branch of raunchy comedy. Or at least she is dipping her toe in the water of such an idea, as Can You Ever Forgive Me is not without its raunch. Based on the novel by Lee Israel, a known literary forger said to have forged over 400 false letters from notable writers, McCarthy plays the character and brings the comical quips that she has became famous for. Paired with Richard E Grant, the two work off one another with positive results. Probably one of the best examples of a non-romantic pairing I’ve seen this year.
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Tuesday Release Round-Up For Tuesday Feb. 26th, 2019
Posted in Super Round Up by Gino Sassani on February 26th, 2019
Howdy Pards. Last week we didn’t have a lot to share with you so we stayed down at the bunkhouse on Tuesday. Things are still quiet this time of the year but we have a few things coming your way. In fact some of it’s already here. Walt Disney Studios lets us go sleepin’ with the fishes in the 30th anniversary Blu-ray of The Little Mermaid along with some fun and games as Ralph Breaks The Internet on Blu-ray. Congrats to Rami Malek for his Oscar playing Freddie Mercury but Universal has a different kind of queen with their Mary Queen Of Scots on UHD and that’s 4K here on the ranch. Monarch Home Entertainment goes invisible with The Unseen out on DVD. Sony Pictures takes control of our screens with The Possession Of Hannah Grace on DVD. On the big screen Focus Features names the thriller Greta for a reel world review this Friday.
And, Partners, don’t forget. If you’ll be making that video withdrawal from Amazon, lasso yourself one of our many links to get there. It helps keep us going here on the Upcomingdiscs ranch. Until next week, share some light with someone this week… television light, that is. Now let’s get those titles rollin’!
The Little Mermaid: 30th Anniversary Collection (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 26th, 2019
All good things must come to an end, and so it was at Walt Disney Studios. The Golden Age of feature film animation had started with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. By the end of the 1970’s, it was all but gone. As the studio entered the 1980’s the things had gone from bad to worse. Walt was gone, and so it seemed was the magic. Most of The Nine Old Men had either retired or passed away. The studio leadership was considering closing the animated studio and moving on to live-action films only. It was a dark time for the artists and creative folks at the Mouse House. A shadow had fallen. Sounds pretty much like the beginning of a Tolkien tale, doesn’t it?
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Ralph Breaks the Internet (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 26th, 2019
Ralph Breaks the Internet is a sequel to the hit Disney animated film Wreck it Ralph. In Ralph Breaks the Internet, we follow our heroes from the last movie, Ralph and Vanellope, as they travel the internet in search of a broken part for Vanellope’s arcade game. They find the missing steering controller on eBay, and it’s the last one in existence. Up for auction, they give the winning bid for $27,000. They now must find a way to earn the money to pay for the controller with a deadline in five hours, or they will lose Vanellope’s game forever. Ralph Breaks the Internet is a painfully average film, and compared to its predecessor, a huge disappointment. This sequel wasn’t bad, however, but it wasn’t too great either. There’s one big problem I had with this movie, and it’s Ralph. Ralph in the first movie had already gone through his character arc and was a very well developed character by the end of the film. In this movie it feels like they purposely broke the character just for a story line. Ralph in Ralph Breaks the Internet is now a needy, clingy, and annoying character. Throughout the movie Ralph is constantly holding Vanellope back from doing the things she wants to do to save herself. People who relate to her should start to feel how annoying Ralph can be.
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How to Train Your Dragon 3: The Hidden World
Posted in The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on February 22nd, 2019
It is surreal to know less about a subject than your six-year-old daughter, but that was the case going into How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World. Aside from a knowledge of this franchise’s existence, I knew next to nothing about the films as a whole. My daughter, Nalyce, on the other hand turned out to be a subject matter expert about the series, as well as he television series, apparently. It was quite the role reversal having her explain to me significance of Hiccup and his dragon Toothless. Also, it gave us something to bond over, which was further expanded upon thanks to the opportunity to take her with me to this screening. For me, I found the film to be a wholesome family experience and a satisfactory conclusion to a well-liked franchise, though I’m sure there remains the opportunity for expansion of the film’s universe. Nalyce was mesmerized by the Hidden World and the different species of dragons. All in all, this is a treat for the whole family.
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Overlord
Posted in Disc Reviews by John Delia on February 22nd, 2019
“Three months ago, I was cutting grass on my front yard. The mailman shows up with a letter from the army. Now I’m here, and no idea where I’m going to end up.”
Wow, another gut-wrenching action-packed war film that takes on an ominous shroud of terror. It’s perfect for war buffs and horror fans who just can’t seem to get enough. The film Overlord from J.J. Abrams, the producer of the Cloverfield series, takes off in five minutes of absolute madness; then turns its guns on the Nazis as a squad of paratroopers look to complete a battalion saving mission. I loved every minute of the fast-moving film, and it brought back memories of the recent Trench 11 (2017). If you like this one, check that one out for the fun of it.
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The Key To Rebecca
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on February 22nd, 2019
It was 1985 when The Key to Rebecca first aired. It was a made-for-TV film based on the novel by Ken Follett. I had never heard of the film until a couple of days ago and had no knowledge of the book, so I was pretty much going into this with nothing more than the blurb you can read off the back of the DVD box. The one thing that jumped out at me was the running time on the film: 3 hours and 14 minutes, so one thing I knew was it would be a film I’d be spending a decent amount of time with. I have nothing against long film. I don’t care what the runtime is on a film, just so long as the film is good, and unfortunately The Key to Rebecca didn’t turn out to be the suspense-filled spy film I had hoped it would be.
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A Star Is Born (2018) (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 20th, 2019
When I first heard that Bradley Cooper would be making his directing debut with A Star is Born, honestly, I kind of groaned. It’s not because I didn’t believe he’d have the chops; after all, he’s worked with many successful directors over the span of his career. I groaned because I believed the world didn’t need yet another remake of the film. This will be the fourth incarnation of the film, and while many can debate on which version is their favorite, the film was pretty much a relic I felt should have stayed in the past. I mention this and want to also put it out there that even after some of the trailers I had caught for the film, my excitement level was pretty low going into this. Well, this turned out to be the sleeper hit of the year for me. Sure, many could have told me this would be a hit, and because of the cast I wouldn’t dispute it, but when I walked out of the auditorium I felt like I had experienced something special (even if it had been made three times before).
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Alita Battle Angel
Posted in The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on February 20th, 2019
If you look at the box office rankings for last week, you will undoubtably see Alita: Battle Angel occupying the number one slot, and with good reason. I know what you are thinking: last week is being heralded as one of the worst box office performances for a Presidents’ Day weekend, but that does not damper my opinion of the film. Though it took a second for me to gain traction with the series, as I was unfamiliar with the original source material, I found myself treated to a unique action-packed experience. Alita is unquestionably one of the top action films of 2019. I know it’s early, but I have no reason to doubt that my claim will be just as true as the year continues. I would have liked it a bit more if they expanded on the universe slightly more, but it was still a solid opening for the inevitable franchise.
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American Vandal: Season One
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on February 20th, 2019
American Vandal is a mockumentary series that premiered on Netflix back in 2017. For those unfamiliar with the term “mockumentary,” it is a parody film or television series in the format of a documentary. This particular series is a parody of the Netflix series Making a Murderer and a investigative podcast called Serial. American Vandal has been on my radar for quite some time thanks to a friend of mine that sang its praise for weeks, trying to convince me of the show’s merit. My buddy’s recommendation had me intrigued, but as you can imagine my queue of media content is a long one, and I was waiting for inspiration to strike to push the series to the front of the queue (thank you, Upcomingdiscs). First thing I did after watching the series is call up my friend and let him deliver his “I told you so” speech.
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Exclusive Interview With Kirk Taylor Of Revival!
Posted in Uncategorized by Gino Sassani on February 20th, 2019
Kirk Taylor is an artist with many talents. He’s an actor who can be found on such films as Oliver Stone’s Full Metal Jacket and television shows ranging from Law & Order to Chicago Hope. He’s an acting coach, musician and composer. He’s living proof that an actor of faith can still make his mark in the entertainment industry. His latest appearance is as Cephas (Peter) in the film Revival! along with Chaka Khan and Mali Music. It’s a retelling of The Gospel According To John that’s part Jesus Christ Superstar and part classical stage production. It’s a film that’s hard to nail down. But I decided to give it a try and that led to an interesting conversation with Kirk Taylor. There’s a passion for his art and faith that is very evident in his conversation. You don’t have to take my word for it. Bang it hear to listen in on my conversation with Kirk Taylor.
Find out more about the film here: Revival: The Movie
You can also visit Kirk Taylor’s website here: Kirk Taylor
Happy Death Day 2U
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2019
“The math is right. Something else must be wrong.”
Remember math class back when you were in grade school? Yeah, I know. Talk about your horror and nightmares. There used to be this thing called a Venn diagram. I imagine it was named after a guy named Venn. The idea was you had two circles. Inside the circles you had stuff. There were the things in circle A, the things in circle B, and then there were the things in a shaded area where the circles intersected like the Olympic rings. That’s the only way I can really describe the experience I had watching Happy Death Day 2 U. I had not seen the first film, so I borrowed a copy and watched it literally hours before I attended the screening for the new movie. I thought it was shaving things a bit close, but it turned out to be the most fortunate circumstances that could have happened. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen Happy Death Day. You need to watch these films as closely together as you can, because this isn’t a sequel, it’s a lateral move to another angle. And these two films are intersecting like crazy. These would have been Venn’s kind of movies.
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Widows (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2019
Steve McQueen has established himself as a rather talented director. 12 Years A Slave was one of the better films of 2013 and one of the few times I happened to agree with the Oscars’ choice for Best Picture. When he tackled the heist format, I expected something unique, and I wasn’t at all disappointed. McQueen managed to put a clever spin on a tired genre and provide us with a superior and inspired cast. It wasn’t all completely his idea, of course. The film is based on a Canadian miniseries that goes back to the 1980’s. That doesn’t mean he hasn’t found a way to imprint the material with his own style and bold choices. There’s a lot to love about Widows, but I have pretty low expectations for this film at the box office. More on that later. Let’s get down to it, shall we?
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Aircraft Carrier: Guardian Of The Seas (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2019
“They have assembled here from the four corners of the earth. Fifty-five warships, among them the newest and most sophisticated ever produced. The United States is here. Great Britain, India, Japan, Canada, Australia, Germany. Twenty-six nations together; each will introduce the latest in naval technology in their arsenals.”
And this is actually the true subject and focus of the latest IMAX/4K release from Shout Factory. If you came strictly to spend 45 minutes on an aircraft carrier, you went away a little disappointed. But now that you can have it at home to watch in UHD whenever the mood strikes you, there’s less to be disappointed in here.
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They Shall Not Grow Old
Posted in The Reel World by John Delia on February 15th, 2019
I’m sure many of you reading this review have seen documentaries about war that have run on cable TV. The most prevalent is World at War that covers World War II and other American conflicts. Digging through archives of war museums could be a very difficult task and one that would have to be approved by the powers that be. Most of you also know Peter Jackson for his films, the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy. He also released the recent Mortal Engines that is currently in theaters. Well, put him in a room filled with British war movie film taken during World War I and he’ll come up with They Shall Not Grow Old, a documentary that shows the gritty battles of the Great War and the men who fought it. And It’s Utterly Amazing!
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Lu Over the Wall (Blu-Ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 15th, 2019
It is interesting to see two or more of a director’s works in a short period of time. One sees similarities, differences, and how the filmmaker hones his craft as they improve with every production. Masaaki Yuasa is certainly one of those directors, and if you enjoyed my review on Night is Short, Walk on Girl, then you will want to go ahead and read my review today on Lu Over the Wall. While there are similarities, I can safely say that is quite the departure from the previous film. Let us take a look in the animated world of merfolk and the people who live around them.
Suburbia (Blu-ray)
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on February 14th, 2019
Shout Factory is at it again, releasing yet another cool and unappreciated film from the past, so hopefully a new audience can possibly embrace this fun, punk-rock, exploitation gem. Writer and director Penelope Spheeris, who created the brilliant documentary The Decline of Western Civilization (1981), followed her documentary with the 1984 film Suburbia. It’s no surprise that she would follow her punk documentary with a low-budget film that delves into the lives of kids who are entwined in the punk scene. Seeing how Roger Corman is listed as a producer on the film, it should come as no surprise that this is shot on a low budget; this is one of those times where cheap goes a long way in setting the tone for a film and keeps the look of the film honest. But is it worth taking a trip through Suburbia?
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Bohemian Rhapsody (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 12th, 2019
“Is this the real life or is this just fantasy?”
I think even Queen’s biggest fans might have trouble distinguishing between the two in the Freddie Mercury/Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. And that’s absolutely OK. If you look at the film’s trailers, the movie looks less like a bio-film and more like a celebration, and that’s exactly the kind of experience you’re going to have from beginning to end. I’m sure that a lot of film and Queen fans shared more than a little skepticism over the project. I know that I certainly did. But all of that magically disappeared when the first trailer hit the internet and we all watched in amazement as actor Rami Malek appears to be channeling the manic spirit of Queen front man Freddie Mercury down to the smallest detail.
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