DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 28th, 2018
“How will we be remembered? Will it be for saving the world…Twice? Nope. We’re the team who broke time. That’s right. History has been torn to shreds, which means it’s up to us to put it back together again, piece by piece, finding these so-called anachronisms before we get torn to shreds. So please, don’t call us heroes. We’re legends.”
At the end of the second season the team broke one of the cardinal rules of time travel. You can’t revisit a time and place that you already visited. The result is that you break time, and that’s exactly what the Legends of Tomorrow have done. The result is that they have been recalled and dismissed from service by the newly-formed Bureau of Time. Now our legends are back in the mundane world, where Sara (Lotz) is working as a clerk at a bed and shower store, having fantasies of killing her boss.
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Occupation (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on September 28th, 2018
“Told you it was aliens.”
What if Michael Bay was Australian and he was only given $6 million to make an alien invasion movie? The result might look a lot like Occupation, a rollicking, gleefully dumb sci-fi/action flick that works best as a throwback to simpler (i.e. dumber) times at the multiplex. But while Occupaton has its charms, the movie’s shoddy special effects and production values consistently undermine the kickass story it’s trying to tell.
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Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert — Encore (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on September 27th, 2018
“So here we are…in the belly of the beast. A lot of power and money in this room.”
That cheeky line came from Iggy Pop during The Stooges’ induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. It’s also featured in Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert — Encore, a wonderfully comprehensive collection of the four induction ceremonies between 2010 and 2013. The 2-disc Blu-ray set features over 8 hours of content, including full induction speeches and 44 musical performances from rock and roll icons and rising stars. Iggy was right about the power and money in the room; this set features some of the biggest names in the history of music…plus A-listers like Meryl Streep and Oprah Winfrey!
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X-files: Season 11 (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2018
“Is there life out there? Good heavens! To doubt it is a failure of more than the imagination. It is a failure to recognize the limits of our own stupidity. The nascency of our science. The rudiment of our tools. We listen. We search. We hope for a sign, as if our eyes and ears are good enough, our brains large enough, our egos small enough.”
By the time The X-Files had reached its seventh season, the two stars of the show were feeling the stress of doing over 20 episodes of the series every year. In the eighth season David Duchovny was going MIA, and Gillian Anderson’s Scully character had a new partner in Robert Patrick’s Agent Doggett.
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Macgyver: Season 2
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2018
Are you feeling a little déjà vu when you turn on a television or live stream these days? It seems like almost half the shows on television today are either revivals or reboots of shows that have aired before. Recently there have been revivals of The X-Files, 24, Prison Break, Growing Pains, Roseanne, and even Murphy Brown. The box office is filled with feature films of Star Trek, The Equalizer and Baywatch. While Tom Selleck is playing a family patriarch on Blue Bloods, Jay Hernandez is in Hawaii driving a bright red Ferrari in a new version of Magnum P.I. Hawaii 5-O is one of the most popular shows on CBS, and Charmed is bewitching an entire new generation of streamers on the internet.
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Solo: A Star Wars Story (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 26th, 2018
“A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…”
Yes, those lines open this Star Wars story, because the filmmakers want to be sure you know what you’re watching. This is Star Wars. Just in case there was anyone at all in the audience who had no idea they just bought a ticket to Star Wars. If he were dead, George Lucas would be rolling over in his grave. Instead, maybe he’s just having some restless nights with little sleep. It is Star Wars. And that means there will be a droid as a main character, space battles, and some good old fashioned one-reel-serial-days adventure. It’s a heck of a visual amusement park ride, and the film will certainly entertain. But I have to open by saying it is my least favorite of the Disney Star Wars films to date.
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The Row (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 26th, 2018
With Halloween just around the corner, it’s that time of the year when the studios start cranking out horror films to fill up the shelves hoping that eager fans will scoop up any new horror titles they can add to their collection. The Row is one of those releases that has the cover with beautiful girls and the tease of murder and mayhem to ensue. Does it deliver what the cover is attempting to sell? Well, the simple answer is yes, but to call this film horror is the equivalent of calling a toddler’s finger painting art. This is a film that sadly is a product of the times. Though it has an R rating, the film seems tame, and considering the director claims he was aiming for Spring Breakers meets Friday the 13th, I have to wonder if he saw either of those films.
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Tuesday Round Up: September 25, 2017
Posted in Tuesday Round Up by J C on September 25th, 2018
Do you feel that chill in the air? (Well, if you’re anywhere near UpcomingDiscs HQ in Florida, the answer is an emphatic “No”…but just go with me on this.) That spine-tingling feeling signals the impending arrival of Horrorcane season and our annual 31 Nights of Terror throughout October. This week’s Round Up offers a sneak peek at 31 Nights thanks to RLJE Films pulling some strings with Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (4K) and Scream Factory’s head-spinning Exorcist II: The Heretic. In slightly less spooky news, Lionsgate fends off an alien invasion with Occupation and goes back to school with The Row. Warner Bros. assembles a team of time-traveling heroes with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: Season 3, while Shout! Factory recounts Rolling Stone Magazine: Stories from the Edge.
Acorn gets in a different sort of holiday spirit with Murdoch Mysteries: Home for the Holidays, CBS/Lionsgate gets resourceful with MacGyver: Season 2, and Time Life hosts an all-star jam session with Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert — Encore. Fox takes on a new case with C.B. Strike: Season 1, tries to find out if the truth is out there with The X-Files: Season 11, and gets re-acquainted with its most famous mutants thanks to The X-Men Trilogy: Evolution (4K). Finally…never tell Disney the odds for Solo: A Star Wars Story.
That’s it as far as this week’s home video releases, but we’ll also be enrolling in Night School as Universal releases its Kevin Hart/Tiffany Haddish comedy on the big screen. One last reminder before signing off for the week: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Once Upon A Time: The Complete Final Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 24th, 2018
“Once upon a time there was a magical forest filled with fairytale characters. One day a powerful curse trapped them in a city which had no magic, and each of them forgot who they really were. This is how it happened…”
Once Upon A Time hasn’t been a big ratings winner for the last few years. Each season the show appeared on the bubble and ended up getting renewed at the last minute. One of the reasons the show managed to escape the axe was because it had some value for the network’s parent company, Walt Disney Studios.
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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 24th, 2018
“Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur? The first time you see them, it’s like a miracle. You read about them in books, you see the bones in museums, but you don’t really believe it. They’re like myths. And then you see the first one alive.”
By the time you get to the fourth sequel of a film, the results are usually not very good. Even a groundbreaking film like Jurassic Park has been followed by at least one terrible sequel. The problem with these kinds of things is pretty easy to figure out. You can’t please all of any film’s diehard fans, and it’s hard to continue to deliver on the formula’s expectations, all the while breaking new ground without the result feeling more contrived than original.
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Life Itself
Posted in The Reel World by John Delia on September 23rd, 2018
by John M. Delia, Jr.
Our life experiences influence what we do in our future, and what our parents experience could also influence how we are as well. And in tragedy and death, we experience large amounts of loss that could also transfer to our unborn offspring. Lastly, we experience many ups and downs throughout our lifetime, and how we react to those good or bad experiences make up who we are and how strong our will is to survive. Keep moving along knowing that there will be good life experiences, even though you will always have many hurdles to overcome, as we see in Life Itself.
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The House with a Clock in its Walls
Posted in The Reel World by John Delia on September 23rd, 2018
Children’s fairy tales have taken a new drift with the film The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Packed with exciting action adventure, the movie, based on the book by John Bellairs, envisions the story with an incredible amount of CGI. You could almost call the film animated, but that’s a good thing here as things go bump in the night, magic forms the basis, and solving the mystery becomes the prominent focus for older youngsters. Orphaned due to a car crash that took his parents, young Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) gets invited to live at his Uncle Jonathan’s (Jack Black) magical mansion. He’s a bit fearful of the old house with its grand stairway and many mysterious rooms, but Lewis sort of likes the flamboyance of the magician turned warlock. There he’s introduced to Jonathan’s neighbor and best friend Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), who assures Jonathan that he will enjoy living with his uncle.
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Supergirl: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 23rd, 2018
“My name is Kara Zor-El. I’m from Krypton. I’m a refugee on this planet. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin. But my pod got knocked off course, and by the time I got here, my cousin had already grown up and become… Superman. I hid who I really was until one day when an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world. To most people, I’m a reporter at CatCo Worldwide Media. But in secret, I work with my adoptive sister for the D.E.O. to protect my city from alien life and anyone else that means to cause it harm. I am Supergirl.”
So, you’re asking yourself, who the heck is Kara Zor-El, and what is this D.E.O.? I get it. You’re just not caught up on the CW series Supergirl. It’s not such a good idea to start here, however. You can check out our reviews for the first two seasons here. Catch up on the episodes, and then join the rest of us for Supergirl: The Complete Third Season.
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Ocean’s 8 (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2018
“It’s not just for profit. It’s for revenge. It’s a twofer.”
Hollywood has been making a greater effort these days to add some diversity to their film casts. From minorities to women, this has been a year of unprecedented changes in the makeup of so many films. One of the new trends in this effort is to remake/re-imagine/reboot an already established franchise with a gender-switched cast. The results have been somewhat mixed. The female Ghostbusters film was a complete disappointment.
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Sid Caesar: The Works
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2018
“In the exciting days of live television, there was one show that won major awards in all categories. It was a live show in a live theater, and what you will hear is live laughter – a genuine reaction of a live audience.”
That was Sid Caesar’s Your Show of Shows. Sid Caesar is arguably the world’s first major television star. His show was a monster hit that eventually earned him $25,000 an episode back in the early 1950’s. He was something of a comic chameleon. He portrayed many iconic characters where Sid himself appeared to completely disappear into the role. His skits were often like small films that ran 20 minutes or more.
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Found Footage 3D (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 21st, 2018
It’s okay to groan. I get it. Just when you thought the found-footage genre was dead, another film manages to get released. I think at this point we all simply have to accept that this is a genre that will never completely die on us, but we can always hope that it will eventually produce a hit every once and a while. When it comes to Found Footage 3D, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me, and since the Blu-ray came with both a 3D and 2D version, I did in all fairness watch both versions, and there is definitely a version that won out, and if the time comes that I check this out again, I know how I plan on doing so. In case you were wondering, the disc does come with two individual 3D glasses, not the ones you can pick up at your local theater, but instead the throwback red and blue kind.
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Rolling Stone: Stories From The Edge (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 21st, 2018
Just about everyone has heard of Rolling Stone magazine. For me it was circa 1995 when I bought my first Rolling Stone magazine that had the band Green Day on the cover. While I never had a subscription, I still remember hitting up the Barnes and Noble and getting the new magazines when I could. It was the magazine I went to to read up on my favorite bands and random pop culture influences. The magazine is now celebrating 50 years of journalism on music, politics, and just about everything else in between. In the 4 ½ hour documentary, it is a combination of interviews and archival footage that tells the story from when the magazine was birthed in San Francisco to becoming one of the most popular publications of our time.
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Between Land & Sea
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on September 19th, 2018
Lahinch is a coastal town in County Clare, Ireland. It has a population of around 642 people and is known for the Dough Castle tower ruins and the Lahinch Golf Club, where the South of Ireland Championship is played. However, it is mostly notable, especially for the purpose of this documentary, for being one of the foremost surfing locations in Ireland. That is the key component of the documentary, Between Land and Sea, which is set against the backdrop of Ireland’s west coast and captures the beauty of the landscape as well as the waves that even someone like me, who has never stepped on a surfboard, is tempted to ride.
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This Is Us: Season 2
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on September 17th, 2018
When it comes to shows that simply sneak up on you and manage to suck you in, This Is Us would be a show I never saw coming nor expected to simply fall in love with. As a show that is on network television, it stands toe to toe with the best that cable has to offer. But what is most surprising is that what sets this show apart from the rest of the pack isn’t a complex antihero or dragons; instead it is as simple as being a show that feels as real as anything I’ve seen on television in some time. As the title would suggest This Is Us is simply about a family and the struggles and successes that come day to day, though as many of you can understand and relate, there is nothing simple about life and the constant hurdles that are thrown at us on a day to day basis.
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Revolution: New Art for a New World
Posted in No Huddle by Jeremy Butler on September 17th, 2018
I have never really been one for art, and Revolution: New Art for a New World, did little to move me on that particular subject, but it was very informative. I can honestly say that I learned a lot more about the Russian avant-garde period than I knew beforehand, which was basically nothing. This educational film would be very suitable for an art history class or those who are very passionate about art, as it truly does present a great amount of detail regarding the time period. It even goes as far as to interview descendants of the pioneer artists of the era, such as Kazmir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky. For those among you who are art lovers and want to be able to talk about the avant-garde with some level of understanding and comprehension, I would encourage you to give this documentary a watch.
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The Predator (2018)
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on September 16th, 2018
“Predators don’t just sit around making hats out of rib cages. They conquered space.”
In 1987 Predator became somewhat of a milestone film for many reasons. The movie would anchor a franchise thanks mostly to a wonderfully original Stan Winston creature design and the performance of Kevin Peter Hall under the suit. Both Winston and Hall have since passed, but the alien hunter that they created together is still going strong. The film also featured two stars who would later go on to become governors of their states. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jessie Ventura made their mark in politics. The film also featured Rocky’s Carl Weathers. It also featured Shane Black in a small role that might not have contributed to the blossoming franchise then, but he has made his own impact by writing and directing the latest installment of that franchise The Predator.
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White Boy Rick
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on September 15th, 2018
There is something about the words “based on a true story” that seems to have a certain effect on us and seems to alter our perception of a film. Then there is something about a true crime story that seems to excite us even more; at least for me, I enjoy these films where we get a glimpse of the seedy underbelly of society. So when White Boy Rick comes along to tell the tale of the youngest FBI informant who also happened to be an arms dealer and drug kingpin, well, this is the kind of film I tend to get excited about. When I first saw the trailer, it had me thinking this could be a hodgepodge of American Hustle, Blow, and Goodfellas all wrapped into one. Unfortunately, though the film has some great talent and oodles of potential, the result is a good-looking mess on the screen.
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A Simple Favor
Posted in The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on September 14th, 2018
The favor, a paramount commitment of friendship. Everyday friends engage in this covenant, without batting an eye. But what if that favor had lasting consequences? That is how this story begins, and it rapidly descends into a tale of love, loyalty, murder, and revenge. Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively join together for a quirky and campy mystery entitled A Simple Favor that I actually must admit that I enjoyed more than I was expecting to. I mean, obviously, Blake Lively is a captivating beauty, and Anna Kendrick is the embodiment of the girl next door. Not to mention no one does that quirky charming persona like Kendrick. However, if I had to pick who was the more entertaining of the two, I would have to give a slight edge to Lively, for reasons that I will soon elaborate on. A Simple Favor is based off a book of the same name. I’m not sure how closely the film followed the book, but I imagine that the audience will not be disappointed with the film.
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The Big Bang Theory: The Complete 11th Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 14th, 2018
“You’re in a stolen cop car with a dead hooker in the trunk; you don’t have to obey traffic laws.”
The Big Bang Theory certainly didn’t obey the established laws for television comedy. The series was certainly more cerebral than most, and a lot of jokes went over a lot of heads, I suspect. But it was never about the geek factor or the IQ of the characters. The show was simply about the characters, and that extended family has spent 11 years in our living rooms or home theatres. But like all good things, The Big Bang Theory is about to come to an end.
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Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now — Live at The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on September 13th, 2018
“It was the ‘hate the performer’ festival.”
With more than 600,000 people in attendance, the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 became the largest musical event of its time. In terms of sheer numbers, it was even bigger than Woodstock a year earlier. But instead of celebrating peace and love, the hippies who attended Isle of Wight were put off by performers who showed up in ostentatious vehicles. They were determined to aggressively protest the commercialization of music, which led to fences being torn down and artists subsequently dropping out of the festival lineup. Joni Mitchell: Both Sides Now — Live at The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 documents how one of the quietest, most unassuming artists in the lineup made some everlasting noise.
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