Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 28th, 2022
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. This time we turn our attention to CBS. We’ve got you covered some complete series sets from CBS/Paramount/Showtime.
“Tonight’s the night, and it’s going to happen again and again. It has to happen …”
Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on November 25th, 2022
I think I see your problem. You have this list. It’s a list of people you need/want to buy a Christmas gift for. The trouble is that they’re into home theatre, and you don’t know Star Trek from Star Wars. You couldn’t tell a Wolf Man from a Wolverine. And you always thought that Paranormal Activity was something too kinky to talk about. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. And for your Black Friday shopping frightmare, we present Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection. Your horror fan friends will just eat this up. Just don't make any sudden loud noises around them for a while.
Here’s the thing. Fans of the franchise should be pleased with Paranormal Activity: The Ultimate Chills Collection. The series has been a solid October tradition for some time now. When you consider the low cost of creating one of these films with the proven box office numbers, this was all really a no-brainer, to say the least. You’re going to get more of what you are expecting, and with all of the films together there are enough new angles and tricks to keep the idea as fresh as possible. The history is of vital importance if you’re going to appreciate where all of this is going. That isn’t to say newcomers won’t be entertained. There are enough jumps and shocks to have a relatively good time. Still, if you haven’t gotten yourself caught up in the franchise’s mythology yet, you'll find it all here, which allows you to go back to the beginning and see it all together for the first time.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2022
"Life is not like the movies."
Maybe sometimes life is exactly like the movies. You know the old phrase of art imitating life and that kind of thing. That's exactly the territory that's covered in Steven Spielberg's latest film The Fabelmans. It's an autobiographical film where the names are changed to protect both the guilty and the innocent. It's also the first time that Spielberg has directed his own writing in over 20 years. In those 20 years Spielberg has become something of a movie-making machine, and I think he felt it was time that the machine walked away from the spotlight for a minute and allowed the man behind the machine to show his face again. It used to be about heart; lately it's been about box office, and more recently it's been about surviving after the hit the industry took with COVID. I think that Spielberg had a lot of things to get off his chest, and it looks like he might have found the time and place to do just that. While the film is a love letter to people who still think movies are a kind of wizard's magic, it was also a little bit of therapy for this particular wizard. Like all autobiographies, it's not really finished, and that's the most profound takeaway I had when the film ended.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 23rd, 2022
"Like a river flows, Surely to the sea, Darling, so it goes, Some things are meant to be ..."
Elvis Presley is often referred to as the King Of Rock and Roll, at least to his fans. There's no denying the impact that he had on the music scene. He was the first rock and roll star, to be sure. Colonel Tom Parker, his long-time manager and partner, created many of the marketing traditions that are commonplace in the industry today. He knew the value of his star, not only as a performer, but as a brand. For the first time, a musician's image and name started to appear on everything from bath towels to women's underwear. Fans are often split on their feelings for the self-styled Colonel, but Elvis would not have become the name brand he still is today without him.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 23rd, 2022
Many times when we watch films for the first time, we get distracted. Maybe it's a pretty girl, money issues, or perhaps you had something else on your mind that's hurting your focus. Whatever it is, it can really change your interpretation of a movie in a positive or negative way. One such movie for me is Mystery Men when I saw it in early 2000. Back when rentals were a thing, I remember renting this film and being distracted completely by someone who shall remain nameless. I barely liked the movie and didn't really watch it again until many years later only to realize I liked the film far more than originally thought. Four or five times later, I revisit the film again, this time in glorious 4K. Let's see how it does.
Thunder is rumbling, and we have arrived in the futuristic Champion City. A place of superheroes and supervillains. The scene is a private party with some rich senior citizens. All of a sudden, Big Red (played by Artie Lange) runs in with his gang of bad guys to rob the place. They steal everything in sight; nothing is safe, not even a prosthetic arm. But just when you think nothing can save these wealthy elderly members of society, we have a few heroes who might save the day.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2022
"Good evening. Let me welcome you to this parlor of paintings. We offer them to you for your enjoyment and edification. Feel free to dwell on them at your leisure and in your own good fashion, but kindly don't touch, because here they frequently touch back."
When I mention the name Rod Serling, I'll bet that The Twilight Zone is the first thing that pops into your head. And why not? It would be very hard, indeed, to argue against the impact that The Twilight Zone has had on television. To say that the series was a milestone in that medium would be an understatement of the worst kind. When Rod Serling brought his landmark series to CBS in October of 1959, television was still very new. No one was quite sure what the future held for that magical box. For five years Rod Serling would enter our living rooms with the most bizarre tales we'd ever seen. But no matter how exotic and strange the stories might appear on the surface, Serling always brought our own humanity into vividly sharp focus before it was over. When the series had run its course, we didn't hear much from Serling for over a decade. He continued writing, of course. His screenplay for the 1968 Planet Of The Apes would lead to record breaking at the box office, but Serling's home was always that magical box, and it didn't take long for him to find his way back.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 22nd, 2022
"It's uncensored, so language and sexual material is off the charts. So if that's not your style, you have been warned. No political correctness..."
It was the early 1990's, and record producer Russell Simmons got an idea and brought it to the folks at HBO. In a very short period of time, the half-hour show he created would become the highest-rated show in cable television history. He brought both the big names in black comedy as well as so many newcomers who have gone on to become big stars themselves. This was the days before streaming, and it came on Friday nights just as the folks who usually watch these things were out getting their entertainment live and in person. It was quite an accomplishment to get those folks to stay home and watch a half-hour television show instead. But that's exactly what happened, and while the series ended in 1997, in five short years it made both television and comedy history.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 18th, 2022
Favorite movies are usually easy to come back to. It's a familiar song, stars you feel at home with, and even if you recite all the lines by heart, you can find something new to come back to. In the case of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, even though I had seen the movie probably around a dozen times or more, I was lured by the promise of new deleted and extended scenes but also a 4K-quality picture. But as with life, you don't always get everything you want. Let's take a look.
Please note that portions of this review came from my 2011 article on the Blu-ray, and I have improved on it where possible (and it makes sense to).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 17th, 2022
I usually don’t go in for mockumentary series. I missed the boat when it comes to series like The Office and Parks and Rec. However, there was something about Abbott Elementary that captured my interest. So much so that upon completing the first season, I immediately binged the available episodes for the second season. It would appear I’m not the only who has become captivated by the series, as it cleaned up on the award circuit, to include a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Sheryl Lee Ralph), and more impressively, a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (for show creator, writer, executive producer, lead actress Quinta Brunson). And after watching the show in its entirety, all I can say is those awards were well deserved. Abbott Elementary is a breath of fresh air that has become my new Wednesday night pleasure.
In true fashion for a mockumentary series, a documentary crew records the lives of teachers working at Abbott Elementary, an underfunded, mismanaged Philadelphia-based school. A predominantly black Philadelphia public school, conditions at the school are harsh and most teachers do not last more than two years. Second grade teacher Janine Teagues (Brunson) and history teacher Jacob Hill (In The Dark’s Chris Perfetti) are two of three teachers in a group of twenty to make it past one year. They work with experienced kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard (Ralph), second grade teacher Melissa Schemmenti (Lisa Ann Walter), self-absorbed school principal Ava Coleman, and recent substitute hire Gregory Eddie (Everybody Hates Chris’ Tyler James Williams).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 13th, 2022
When the MCU announced their intention to move forward with this sequel despite the tragic demise of Chadwick Boseman, I voiced my displeasure loudly. As far as I was concern, there could be no Black Panther without Chadwick Boseman. Additionally, it just seemed unnecessary. The first film was masterful and complete. It didn’t require a sequel. We could have just preserved the integrity of the first film by letting it stay untouched. However, that is not how the business works. If there is a dollar to be made, there isn’t anything that won’t be diluted down for that sake. I realize that sounds harsh, but if I’m being honest, that is what Wakanda Forever felt like to me. This not to say that there weren’t some good, genuine moments that brought me back to my feelings that I had while watching the first one. It is also worth mentioning that I found the film to have paid Boseman the proper respect that I believe he deserved, both with a powerful moment of silence at the beginning of the film, as well as a funeral processional for his character that was fit for a king that he was in film and in real life. It just still wasn’t enough. The elements to make it great were there, but the story leaves a lot of things incomplete and unresolved despite having a runtime of nearly three hours.
I will caveat this review by acknowledging my clear bias. I am a big Chadwick Boseman fan. I believe that we lost an all-time great. While his career may not have been long, it certainly was illustrious. He was without question the go-to actor for autographical films featuring historical black figures, having played Jackie Robinson, James Brown, and Thurgood Marshall. I also believe that he was deserving of that Academy Award he was nominated for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. I’m not bashing Anthony Hopkins, just saying that Boseman was deserving as well. I won’t go on and on; I am merely trying to say how sad I am for the loss of a true talent and an even better gentleman.
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