12 Days Of Christmas Giveaways: Day 1 – Thanks for the Memories: The Bob Hope Collection Deluxe Box Set by Time Life
Posted in Contests by Gino Sassani on December 25th, 2017
It’s back. Upcomingdiscs proudly presents our annual 12 Days Of Christmas Giveaways. We’re running a new contest for each of the 12 Days Of Christmas.
On The First Day Of Christmas Time-Life Gives To You:
Plenty of Hope for Christmas this year. Bob Hope, that is. How about 19 DVD’s just filled with Bob Hope specials? Thirty-seven hours of Bob Hope and his great friends spilled out on 39 television special broadcasts. A full-sized 32-page full-color book chronicles the life and career of the man himself. It’s Thanks For The Memories – The Bob Hope Specials. This is a monster set, and it’s just the thing to kick off our 12 Days Of Christmas Giveaways. Special thanks to our great pals at Time-Life who are going to make this holiday special at Upcomingdiscs this year.
Contest is now closed Winner is Todd Wilson
Winners are notified by E-mail. If you did not get a confirmation E-mail from us, check your Spam filter and contact us. Any prize not claimed in 2 weeks will be forfeit and be placed in the end of year contests next Holiday Season.
Darkest Hour
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on December 23rd, 2017
I suspect that at about this time last year too few Americans knew anything about Dunkirk and the pivotal role it played in the early moments of World War II. In July Christopher Nolan brought his 70mm cameras out to play and we relived the courageous evacuation of over 300,000 British soldiers from their surrounded position just across The English Channel. Dunkirk was an incredible film that will likely take away some Oscars for the year. But what Nolan’s spectacle failed to demonstrate was the reason for all of that action. Why were civilian vessels picking up these soldiers? Those questions are answered in Darkest Hour. I suspect that this film might be sharing some of the stage come Oscar night. e two films appeared less than 6 months apart in the cinemas but they make extraordinary companion films. As movie-goers we couldn’t have asked for a better one-two punch on a subject a lot of people have been learning more about just by going to the movies.
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Valley of Bones
Posted in No Huddle by Dan Holland on December 23rd, 2017
Valley of Bones is one of the most interesting films I’ve seen recently, simply because it takes an old B-movie trope and transforms it into a decent drama. However, rather than unearthing some soon-to-be-live prehistoric beast in the desert (a la The Mole People, Tarantula, or The Black Scorpion), Valley of Bones keeps the excavation underground and the real danger way out of the control of the characters. Where the trope is to have the fault of having a monster on the loose lie with the excavation team, this film develops the danger and drama as an outside force imposing upon the excavation team. While this form of external conflict can be found in countless films, this is the first I’ve seen it as it applies to a family-run archeological dig.
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Interstellar (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 22nd, 2017
Most movies are just not very good. Lots of money goes into turning out boring, repetitive garbage. You watch it and then dispose of it and make room for the next thing. There are some who do more, but the more you do, the greater the risk. Most filmmakers are not given the freedom to take really big risks, but someone who has been given the opportunity to take the big risk is Christopher Nolan. Interstellar is $165,000,000 gamble shooting for the moon. Actually Nolan is shooting for something way past the moon. He wants to take us to another galaxy. There is so much speculative science in this film that it is mind-boggling. The cutting edge of real science is, frankly, getting crazier and crazier. The average person really has no idea how crazy, but Interstellar is going to try to show us just how crazy. The true nature of some of the elements of the theory of relativity and other related theories is that they defy all logic.
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Dunkirk (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 21st, 2017
When Christopher Nolan has a new release, it’s an event to get excited about. There are few directors I can say this about. Sure, there are directors that I like, but still there are few who manage to capture what makes going to the cinema an experience. Dunkirk is his latest cinematic opus. Despite it being his shortest film, with the exception of The Following, this is the first time he has shot a film almost entirely in IMAX form. What’s the big deal? Well, aside from the picture being twice the size of the regular format, what he does with these cameras is deliver a beautifully striking picture of destruction and survival. There’s a lot of buzz going around with this film, and already it’s being looked at as the first real Oscar contender of the year. Is the film worth the hype? Is it really Nolan’s best picture?
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Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: FOX Television on DVD
Posted in Uncategorized by Gino Sassani on December 21st, 2017
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. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. The kinds of things we recommend here are things I would be delighted to find under the tree.
Fox has put out a few good releases this year, and you really should think about putting some of this under the tree
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Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: HBO on Blu-ray
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by J C on December 20th, 2017
The countdown to Christmas has reached single digits! Hopefully, that means everyone on your naughty/nice list (which, I assume, you’ve checked twice) has been accounted for. But maybe that’s not the case, and you’re racking your brain for a last-minute gift idea. Fortunately, Upcomingdiscs has come to the rescue every Christmas with our Gift Guide Spotlights. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. The kinds of things we recommend here are things we would be delighted to find under the tree.
For well over a decade, HBO has been producing some of the most extraordinary content on the small screen. This past year was no exception. Take a look at some of these complete sets that will be sure to please any fan of quality television.
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Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Acorn Media On Blu-ray
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 20th, 2017
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. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. The kinds of things we recommend here are things I would be delighted to find under the tree.
The folks at Acorn keep churning out the best of British television productions. Take a look at some of these complete sets that will be sure to please any fan of quality television
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Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Warner Brothers Television on Blu-ray
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 20th, 2017
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. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. The kinds of things we recommend here are things I would be delighted to find under the tree.
Warner Brothers continues to lead the industry with television on Blu-ray. Other studios have experimented with some of their shows but no one puts more TV out in HD than Warner Brothers. Here are some of my favorite titles from 2017. Any of them would look great under the tree this season. Warner also has a nice collection of DC films out on Blu-ray
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Fuller House: The Complete Second Season
Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 19th, 2017
Like most people my age (I’m not telling), I watched my fair share of Full House. I wished I could be as cool as John Stamos, be as funny as Dave Coulier and wished Bob Saget was my dad. Then I grew up and realized I wasn’t as cool as John Stamos, didn’t find Dave to be quite as hilarious (sorry Dave), and still wished Bob was my dad (Actually, even more so when I found out he was quite the dirty comic). Fast forward about twenty years and the Full House theme has been brought back into the present with some familiar faces and a few new ones. Let’s take a look at Season 2 of Fuller House.
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Tuesday Round Up: December 19, 2017
Posted in Tuesday Round Up by J C on December 19th, 2017
We’re less than a week away from Christmas, and it appears Santa is a Christopher Nolan fan! This week, two of the acclaimed filmmaker’s blockbusters arrive on UHD. Warner Bros. does battle with Dunkirk (4K), while Paramount goes out of this world with sci-fi hit Interstellar. Meanwhile, Universal explores a unique royal friendship between Victoria & Abdul.
Before signing off for the week, here’s the usual reminder: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon — maybe a last minute Christmas gift — and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week and have a very Merry Christmas!
The Shape Of Water
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on December 19th, 2017
“You may think, “That thing looks human.” Stands on two legs, right? But – we’re created in the Lord’s image. You don’t think that’s what the Lord looks like, do you?”
A couple of years ago I talked to Joe Dante about a variety of subjects. One of them was The Creature From The Black Lagoon. Dante along with several other directors like John Carpenter had once been attached to a remake of the Universal classic. I asked him why it never worked out. He told me it was the suit. We agreed that no one could ever improve upon the original design and that the temptation would be to go computer-generated and that would be a bit of a shame no matter what it looked like
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Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on December 19th, 2017
“There is only one war that matters. The Great War…and it is here.”
Ever since Game of Thrones premiered in 2011, viewers have been tantalized by the notion that “winter is coming.” (And it’s been a *much* longer wait for book readers who fell in love with the first installment in George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga more than 20 years ago.) Ned Stark’s famous words have launched a thousand memes, and this shortened seventh season of HBO’s spectacular fantasy drama — 7 episodes instead of the customary 10 — seemed poised to begin delivering on their promise. While the show is still able to thrill audiences like nothing else on TV, the strain of wrapping up such an epic story finally started to show.
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Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Barron’s 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die 7th Edition
Posted in Holiday Gift Guides by Gino Sassani on December 19th, 2017
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. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. The kinds of things we recommend here are things I would be delighted to find under the tree.
Back for it’s updated 7th edition Barron’s brings you the book for the movie collector who has everything. It’s 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. This book is a lot of fun as well as being informative. It’s a hefty book that will put some weight under that tree, to be sure.
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Interview with Consolata Boyle Costume Designer On Victoria & Abdul
Posted in Podcasts by Gino Sassani on December 15th, 2017
When you see a period piece there are so many elements that can either bring you into the world on the screen or take you completely out of the experience. Such is the case with Universal’s Victoria & Abdul. No one understands that responsibility than the film’s costume designer Consolata Boyle. The film appears on Blu-ray on Dec 19th but you won’t have to wait that long to find out more about the film and its period costumes. I had the opportunity to chat with Consolata Boyle about her work on Victoria & Abdul. Now you can listen in on our conversation all the way from London. Bang it here to hear my chat with Consolata Boyle.
One of Us
Posted in No Huddle by J C on December 15th, 2017
“We’re taking a stab at an alternative lifestyle.”
The notion of unplugging from modern society and living a stripped-down life alongside a group of like-minded individuals will always be appealing to a segment of the population. One of Us, a low-budget indie about a journalist who falls in with a cult as she searches for her missing best friend, is more interested in the thriller aspects of its story than it is in exploring the reasons why people might want to retreat from society. The result is a tight, pulpy suspense flick that isn’t likely to gain a mass following.
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Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on December 13th, 2017
“A long time ago in a galaxy far far away…”
It was exactly 40 years ago that we first saw those words flash across the screen. Star Wars was born, and it has become one of the most enduring franchises in film history. The franchise survived a long drought when it didn’t seem likely we would ever see those words again. The franchise survived the throes of George Lucas, who created it all and then went a little rogue when he finally did follow up his iconic trilogy. If The Last Jedi and the two previous films are any measurement at all, the best thing George Lucas ever did for the universe he created was to give it up.
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Mysteries Of China (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 13th, 2017
“Welcome to one of the most fabled and mysterious places on Earth…”
Mysteries Of China appeared in many IMAX theaters across the country and was often titled Mysteries Of Ancient China. That would be a more appropriate term for this exploration into a mystery that is over 2000 years old. These IMAX features make perfect additions to any 4K library. Their short 40-minute running time allows for plenty of space on these 100 GB discs. The source material is also often 70 mm (65mm here) which is natively 8K instead of the usual 2K of most films shot digitally today.
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Tuesday Round Up: December 12, 2017
Posted in Tuesday Round Up by J C on December 12th, 2017
Winter is here…and not just because sub-50 degree temperatures in Florida this week have everyone in the Sunshine State dusting off their sweaters and winter coats. This week, HBO releases Game of Thrones: Season 7, the penultimate installment of its blockbuster fantasy drama. Elsewhere, Lionsgate plays Cops and Robbers and gets in the holiday spirit with Once Upon a Christmas. Finally, Shout! Factory explores The Mysteries of China (4K), while Monarch releases cult flick One of Us.
Later this week, we’ll have reviews for a pair of exciting theatrical releases. Come back for our take on Guillermo del Toro’s creature feature The Shape of Water…and a little movie called Star Wars: The Last Jedi. (Here’s hoping the latter film can somehow find an audience.) One last reminder before signing off for the week: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon — a Christmas present for a loved one, perhaps — and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Transformers: Age Of Extinction (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 11th, 2017
When I was a young boy I loved playing with my toys. We didn’t have Transformers in those days, but we did have Major Matt Mason, plastic dinosaurs, Hot Wheels and Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker sets. Yeah, in those days a toy could cause third-degree burns and no one really worried about getting sued. Kind of takes the fun out of being a kid today. You know who else, I bet, loved to play with his toys? Michael Bay. I bet he had the coolest toys in his neighborhood. He probably wasn’t the best guy to be friends with, however. He didn’t invite the kids over to play with his toys. He likely charged you a nickel to watch him play with them. It’s many decades later, and Michael still has the coolest toys on the block. Only now you have to cough up twenty bucks if you want to watch him playing with them. Sadly, that is what the Transformers film franchise has been reduced to. We’re all watching the rich kid playing with really cool toys.
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The Disaster Artist
Posted in The Reel World by J C on December 8th, 2017
“Wish we could just make our own movie.”
I have more than 800 reviews to my name on this site, and I’ve probably watched several thousand movies overall throughout the course of my life. A lot of them are bad. Some are even worse than The Room, which has been dubbed “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.” However, I’ve never seen a movie that is bad in the way The Room is bad. It seems a substantial chunk of Hollywood — led by star/filmmaker James Franco — feels the same way. The creation of The Room is chronicled in The Disaster Artist, but there’s more here than just an anatomy of a trainwreck. The film also works as an ode to underdog Hollywood dreamers who take a DIY approach to (accidental) stardom.
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Transformers: Dark Of The Moon (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 8th, 2017
“In any war, there are calms between the storms. There will be days when we lose faith, days when our allies turn against us. But the day will never come, that we forsake this planet and its people.”
Following the events of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the Autobots are working hand-in-mechanical-glove with human authorities (in other words, the apparently all-powerful CIA), keeping close watch for Deception activity, but also helping out in human-on-human conflicts. Meanwhile, Shia LaBeouf has traded in improbably hot girlfriend Megan Fox for the equally improbable Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (an improbability that the script does have some fun with). He is also out of work and dismayed at not being given due consideration as a savior of the planet.
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The Fall: Complete Collection (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 8th, 2017
“Art is a lie. Art gives the chaos of the world an order that doesn’t exist.”
The X-Files will soon return for a second revival season with 10 episodes that will likely finish the franchise. But if you’re a Gillian Anderson fan, you won’t have to wait until next year to get your Anderson fix. Acorn has a release that you really have to discover. Gillian Anderson has served three seasons (or series, as the Brits call them) in Belfast for the BBC series The Fall. With the broadcast of that third and final season, Acorn is releasing a nice complete set of all three seasons on both DVD and Blu-ray.
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The Osiris Child (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 7th, 2017
There is a sense of dread that unintentionally comes along with an independent science fiction film. Despite how far technology has come, it seems that for a science fiction film to really be impressive they need a reasonably decent VFX budget or suffer with a look that often times appears cartoonish by comparison of the larger-budget films. The Osiris Child somehow manages to not just create a grounded realistic futuristic world, but even manages to use practical effects to create some nasty-looking monsters and not pull its punches with the scope of its story. In a film that seems to be parts Elysium and parts Pitch Black; this might be the most ambitious effort I’ve seen in the genre that manages to succeed in many ways.
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Transformers (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 7th, 2017
“Before time began, there was the Cube. We know not where it comes from, only that it holds the power to create worlds and fill them with life. That is how our race was born. For a time, we lived in harmony. But like all great power, some wanted it for good, others for evil. And so began the war. A war that ravaged our planet until it was consumed by death, and the Cube was lost to the far reaches of space. We scattered across the galaxy, hoping to find it and rebuild our home. Searching every star, every world. And just when all hope seemed lost, message of a new discovery drew us to an unknown planet called… Earth.”
In this version of Transformers, Earth is caught up in an age-old conflict between two factions of an Autobot society.
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