In the 1970's the critically acclaimed Upstairs Downstairs was a television mainstay in England. American audiences were soon introduced to the series through PBS broadcasts in the late 1970's and beyond. It was a unique kind of drama that served both as a period piece and an examination of the class lifestyles. The series began at the turn of the century and led up to the events of World War I and the period that soon followed. We were witness to the wealthy Bellamy family who occupied the estate at 165 Eaton Place.

"Only one creature has carved out a life for itself in every habitat on Earth. That creature is us. All over the world we still use our ingenuity to survive the wild places, far from the city lights, face to face with raw nature. This is the Human Planet."

Most of us live in, or at least near, a modern city. We live a life where our food comes from a grocery store. Sure, you might have a garden or even raise a few animals, but unless you live on a farm, you likely purchase most of what you eat from metal shelves in large buildings

I suppose there is something to be said about shows where we literally watch the main characters grow up. This season of Boy Meets World sees Cory Matthews (played by Ben Savage) and his cohorts enter their final year of high school. In some fashion, this is the season where the boy really is about to “meet the world,” but perhaps that is just a little too much poetry smeared onto this season of family friendly prose.

Today we begin a new feature here at Upcomingdiscs.

From time to time we are invited to take a sneak peak at some of the movies that are about to make their box office debuts. They are not coming out on home theater release... just yet. You can count on them truly being Upcomingdiscs. The new series of articles will be called The Reel World. They may include several new films in one piece or focus on one particular release. With a summer filled with potential blockbusters, we decided this was the time to roll out the new feature. What better way to kick the whole thing off than with one of this summer's most anticipated films: Thor.

There are a lot of films that I never expected to see on Blu-ray, at least not for many years. With so many blockbusters still not available in high definition, it's not reasonable to expect that some of the gems you've loved for years, but with limited marketability, would soon find their way to your home theater in HD. If you had asked me a short time ago to list some of those treasures, I think that The Terror would have easily made the list. This is one of those times that it feels good to be wrong, and The Terror might end up being the best surprise release of the year.

The movie to introduce Thor to the motion picture audience is set to open this Friday. Captain America isn’t too far behind that and opens up in July. Most movie goers have also seen one or both of the Iron Man and Hulk films. But all of those characters will soon be assembled into a mighty team called the Avengers. But before that mammoth movie, first we have to get the kiddies involved with a new cartoon series. Enter Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

"The year: 1990. The problem of traveling to the moon has been solved for many years. Space stations have been built there and authorized personnel come and go as they wish. But the moon is a dead world, and the great question about space still remains: Does life exist on another planet?"

In the 1966 Curtis Harrington B-Movie, that question is finally answered. Earth has contacted a civilization on a distant planet. They have agreed to send an ambassador to Earth to extend their friendship toward our planet, at least that's what Earth believes.

There have been few horror writers with the understanding of human nature that Edgar Allen Poe had. We only see one or two in every generation. Likely Stephen King is the closest that our generation has seen. But Poe knew the psychology of horror. He knew those dark special places in the mind where the true terror resides. Most of his characters encountered their fatal demons deep inside of themselves. With source material like that, how can you go wrong? Buried Alive demonstrates that you can still go horribly wrong.

Herman's Hermits was a huge part of the 1960's British Invasion that started with the Beatles. They were a five-piece band that had the typical shag haircuts and produced candy pop music that was particularly lapped up by millions of swooning teen girls here in America. The band's hits included There's A Kind Of Hush, I'm Henry, The Eighth I Am, and Mrs. Brown You've Got A Lovely Daughter. Unfortunately, none of these standards from the band's days of hits can be found in this rather silly movie.

"In the beginning there was darkness. And then bang, giving birth to an endless expanding existence of time, space, and matter. Now, see further than we've ever imagined. Beyond the limits of our existence. In a place we call The Universe."

The History series lasted for five seasons. The show used modern space photography, computer-generated images, and demonstrations along with respected scientists to explore the various aspects of our universe.