Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on November 4th, 2009
Some would say that what I do is a “wannabe” writer. I write reviews of dvds & games and also write a weekly column. However, I’m sure there are many novelists and newspaper writers who consider me nothing more than an Internet geek with a keyboard. But the truth is we are something more. Many of us are just as good as the novelists out there and better than the liberal media. Criminal Ways was originally called the “Wannabes” because it was about a group of men who wanted to be a children’s entertainment group. But like myself, there is so much more to the story than meets the eye.
As a kid, Danny (played by Nice Giannopoulos) was a childhood performer in dancing and singing. He got a spot on a television talent show and is being coached by his mother, Sally (played by Chantal Contouri). However, the show is the equivalent of the Gong Show and Danny’s act is gonged by guest star Jimmy King (played by Michael Carman). According to Jimmy, Danny simply lacks commitment.
Posted in: Dare to Play the Game, News and Opinions by Michael Durr on November 4th, 2009
Nintendo ponders the Kindle for DS, Japanese Gamers lack of Curiosity, & Industry Confessions? - Welcome to the column that contacted Montel Williams for an appearance but was pushed off because we were less exciting than an agoraphobic cat lady who isn’t sure who the Siamese’s baby daddy is (and doing the segment from her house) known as Dare to Play the Game.
So, it’s just another week in paradise eh? Except I live in Texas and most people seem to have the disposition of angry red fire ants. And they can’t drive. Most of my week was spent playing WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010. It’s the first wrestling game I’ve played since SvsR 2007. 2008 & 09 seemed like steps backward for the franchise, but I finally got back on board with all of the improvements.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 3rd, 2009
I’ve often spent a lot of time talking about how Pixar has dominated the computer animation, at least as far as full length features go. With few exceptions there isn’t anything out there that even comes close. Most films rely on toilet humor and crude innuendo to get a few laughs. A lot of the kids and adults might suck that stuff up, but they can’t hold a candle to Pixar. There are, as I’ve mentioned, some quite notable exceptions. The Fox Blue Sky Studios has had enormous success with their Ice Age films. And when you take a look at the third and latest entry in that franchise, you’ll understand why.
Ice Age came out in 2002 and took the box office like a blizzard piling up a drift of cash that amounted to almost $180 million before it was over. Not bad for a $50 million dollar film. Add in another $200 million in foreign receipts, and a sequel was an absolute forgone conclusion. The film introduced us to some memorable characters. Manny (Romano) was a lovable Woolly Mammoth. Diego (Leary) was a kind and wise saber-toothed tiger. Sid (Leguizamo) was their tagalong friend with not much going on in the noggin. A side story involved a prehistoric squirrel named Scrat who loved his acorns. He had a Wiley Coyote/Roadrunner relationship with acorns and took a lot of punishment to get one. Together they tried to return a lost human infant to his tribe. Four years later the characters were back. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown brought a change in their environment and love in the air for Manny. He meets Ellie (Latifah). Together they must find colder climes as their ice is melting fast. They find their Winter Wonderland, and Blue Sky Studios found another hit. This time the film brought in a crazy $200 million here and another $450 foreign. Before home video the film was close to $700 million in box office. Can you say number 3? Add some dinosaurs to the cast and another $250 million for a total take of nearly $900 million on the third film. If you’re doing the math that’s over $2 billion on 3 films. I think we’re going to see these guys again. Count on it, literally.
![Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (DVD + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/ice-age-dawn-of-the-dinosaurs-dvd-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 3rd, 2009
“A changing of the seasons brings wonder to the world. For ages has the magic of the fairies been unfurled. But nature’s greatest changes come beneath the Autumn sky and mysteries reveal themselves as harvest time draws nigh. This year a shimmering blue moon will rise before the frost. Perhaps its rays can light the way to find what has been lost.”
After giving us Tinker Bell’s origin story in the first film of this franchise, we get a chance to look even more deeply into this wonderland of fairies and magic. Ever wonder where that magical pixie dust comes from that allows fairies to fly? The origin of the substance is explored here. It seems there is a grand tree that produces the dust. Dust keepers care for the tree and cultivate the dust. They distribute it to all of the fairies on a rationing basis. Every 8 years the tree needs to be renewed or it will grow too weak and perish. On the 8th Autumn the fairies put on a revelry to celebrate the season and the new life the tree is about to be given. When the harvest moon rises, its rays will pass through the precious blue moonstone and those rays will create blue pixie dust. It is this snowlike blue dust that revitalizes the tree and the entire existence of Pixie Hollow.
![Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure (Two Disc + BD Live) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/tinker-bell-and-the-lost-treasure--large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 3rd, 2009
Written by Adrienne Ambush
If you were to take the movie Kill Bill, mix it with the Karate Kid, and then put it into animation form, the end result would be Chop Socky Chooks.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 2nd, 2009
There have been a couple of releases of Stargate. Mostly it’s been reissues of the same transfer. This time it really is an improvement. The Blu-ray contains a director’s cut which is about 16 minutes longer than the original. If you like the original better, you get that one as well. This was Devlin and Emmerich’s first real blockbuster. I found Independence Day and The Patriot to be better films, but Stargate has its moments. It’s a little hard for me to accept Kurt Russell as Jack O’Neal after 7 years of Richard Dean Anderson. I did gain a new appreciation for how closely James Spader and Michael Shanks portray the pivotal character of Daniel Jackson.
A whole franchise of Stargate has spawned from this 1994 motion picture, and over a dozen years later the franchise still remains successful. This film was originally intended to be a franchise of pictures but instead found its way onto television and writings, with a fair sized fan base. If people still like the concept thirteen years later, then it must be pretty appealing; myself, I have never seen this picture and am pleased that I finally have the opportunity.
![Stargate 15th Anniversary Edition [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/stargate-15th-anniversary-edition--large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 2nd, 2009
With so many cast changes, it didn’t really come as too much of a surprise to fans that the series was winding down. Only one more season would follow, and this year never clicked in quite the same way previous seasons had. By now the team was so significantly different that there was little of the cast chemistry that made this one such a winner. With its glory years behind and only one more struggling year to come, we reach the end of our journey with the IM Force.
Jim Phelps (Graves) led his team in a sixth season of Mission Impossible starting in 1971. The show continued its trademark traditions. Jim would receive a mission from the “self destructing” tape and would gather his IMF (Impossible Mission Force) team. The team was necessarily eclectic in nature, and it changed significantly in the sixth season. Gone were Leonard Nimoy, Leslie Ann Warren, and Sam Elliott in his signature role of Dr. Robert. Still in the team we had Barney Collier, the gadget man, played by Greg Morris. The muscle was still supplied by Willy Armitage, played by brute Peter Lupus. Together they took on missions that the government could not be officially a part of. They were always admonished that should they be caught “the secretary would disavow any knowledge” of them. Usually they were sent somewhere to put some evil mastermind out of business. Their tactics ranged from scams to outright theft. Sometimes they were a rescue team, while other times they would infiltrate a group of bad guys. There were certainly cold war elements to the whole thing. Each week the team concocted some convoluted con to play on their mark, walking away at the end of each episode often without getting any credit or congratulations.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on November 2nd, 2009
There are lots of people out there who watch cheesy horror films. Some blame it on boredom, some actually admit to liking a few of them. My personal feelings are about the same as any cheesefest, if there is something redeeming in the film; I can usually find a few nice things to say about it. However when it comes to films like the Beast Within, my momma always told me to just keep my mouth shut. Good for you, I never listened much.
Professor Bergen (played by Joost Siedhoff) is a world renowned scientist. His specialty is his work around bird flu or the H5N1 virus. He studies how it affects human kind and conducts various tests. However, his tests are not exactly fitting of normal research and his mental health isn’t the brightest. One day as he is reading and scribing notes, he is suddenly attacked by a large group of birds and dies in a pool of his own blood.
Posted in: Contests by Gino Sassani on November 2nd, 2009
We sure hope that you got a terrible fright from our 31 Nights Of Terror promotion. Everyone here at Upcomingdiscs had a blast and it looked like you did as well. You can count on seeing "Revenge Of 31 Nights Of Terror" next October.
We have chosen our winners of the contests in October. Here are they are:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 2nd, 2009
John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are a pair of 30-somethings who are expecting their first child. They have been counting on Krasinski's parents to step in and help, but when these two suddenly announce that they're moving to Belgium, our “heroic” couple embarks on a road trip to find the perfect place to settle down and have their baby. Numerous encounters with eccentric characters is the order of the day.
![Away We Go [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/away-we-go-blu-ray-large.jpg)
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