Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 1st, 2009
Google this title now while you can, before Robert Rodriguez completes his Predator sequel "Predators" forever consuming your search results.
This DVD is a mashing of three different Animal Planet programs, After the Attack, Up Close, and Dangerous and Wild Discovery, together to make a compilation that is dedicated to the world's most dangerous animals (perhaps in an attempt to steal some of Shark Weeks thunder).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 1st, 2009
Decades after their moment in the sun in 1984, Canadian heavy metal band Anvil plugs along, playing bars and releasing CDs that barely sell, still hoping for that break that bypassed them while landing on their festival cohorts Whitesnake, Bon Jovi and the Scorpions. The documentary charts their new European tour that starts off promisingly but disintegrates into a disaster of Spinal Tap proportions, their struggle to produce and promote another new album, and a climactic return to the site of their past glory. While the opening minutes might engage laughter as one expects a real-life version of This Is Spinal Tap, the laughter is choked off almost immediately and replace by sympathy and real hope that these guys catch a break. They are not clowns – they have real talent – and the beyond-all-measure optimism of lead singer “Lips” is heartbreaking. A rock documentary to rank with the best of them, and one that proves that the absence of fame can be as compelling as its presence.
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on October 31st, 2009
Today's musing involves two recent films experiences. The movies could hardly be more different, but they have made me think again about the wonderful flexibility of my beloved horror genre, a flexibility that extends to swallowing up films that don't, in theory, even belong to it. Allow me now to elucidate that rather cryptic remark.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on October 30th, 2009
Years ago I was fishing at an isolated hidden mountain lake with my friend, local DJ Willie Nelson. It was midnight just as my birthday was to begin on June 21st (Summer Solstice). We both witnessed something that neither of us were ever able to explain. What can only be described as a UFO, was what we saw. Bright lights moving silently close to the ground and over us. I wrote this song about the experience years later and included it on my Invented Memories album. Enjoy this real-life horror tale:
Bang it here to listen to Is Everything Alright (Faster Than The Speed Of Light) Song
Posted in: News and Opinions by Archive Authors on October 30th, 2009
The film is a nightmare. The good kind of nightmare, the one where you're breathing increases and there seems to be no escape. The kind of nightmare where you wake up and you need several minutes to catch your breath. I may be slightly embellishing, but there are moments that catch you off guard. The film works quite well at establishing tempo and uses its handheld camera very efficiently from start to finish. I have not had an opportunity to see the American remake Quarantine. However, I can only speculate that the spirit of the original is painfully lost.
To some, the beginning of the film may seem like a lost cause. There are moments that can feel meaningless. However, the viewer's emotions are being played with in order to satisfy the director's vision. The opening sequence of viewing the Firehouse and meeting the staff is not integral in the plot. However, it does allow the viewer to identify with the female lead. Her performance is good and believable. Lately, some of the more recent horror efforts out there, the acting seems to be less of a focal point. This is not the case with this film. Viewers actually care about the characters, even if they are only on the screen for a little over 70 minutes. The directors establish this with the profound use of the handheld camera.
![[Rec] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/rec-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 30th, 2009
It is true, I’m not a big fan of lawyer shows. A long time ago when I was about twelve years old, my future vocation wish was to become a lawyer. I visited lawyers, I talked to them for what seemed like hours. Except it wasn’t hours at all, it was more like thirty minutes. My realization then was that I wasn’t cut out for the business and went into what I do now. However, after watching Ally McBeal for a season of episodes, I come to the realization that I’m so very glad that I didn’t stick around.
Ally McBeal (played by Calista Flockhart) has just lost her job at her law firm. It seems that a co-worker decided to touch her rear in an unprofessional manner. The co-worker decided to say it was OCD and unfortunately Ally found herself on the streets. She is immediately picked up by an old colleague of hers named Richard Fish (played by Greg Germann) and invited to work at his firm.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2009
“Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality. But, there is, unseen by most, an underworld, a place that is just as real but not so brightly lit, a darkside.”
I have been waiting a long time for this release. Tales From The Darkside. Not since the likes of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits has there been a really good sci-fi/horror anthology until 1984’s Tales. Not to say that each episode was a winner. In fact, most were pretty weak and relatively lame, but when this show was good, it was very good. These tales weren’t any ordinary specter spectaculars, but were told by spectacular story writers, directors, and producers. Look at just this first season and you’ll find some of the top names in the field involved in one way or another. You’ll see the likes of: Stephen King, Tom Savini, George Romero, Robert Bloch, Frank De Palma, and Harlan Ellison. The tales often came with a twist or at least a big finale in the end. Much like a train’s headlight in a long tunnel; you might have seen it coming from a mile away, but it’s hard to avoid the impact.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2009
“Dr. Hood is a high priority asset. He’s a brilliant biophysicist, but he spends most of his time in his head. About a year ago some radical group had his car bombed. You want to see him blush? Ask him where the shrapnel is. You see, he’s got this annoying habit of telling the truth, and the truth hurts a lot of people’s pocketbooks. And no, I’m not free for dinner.”
The Eleventh Hour is based on a British series of the same title that stared Star Trek’s Patrick Stewart as Dr. Hood and lasted only 4 episodes. So, someone in America decided that if we took a far less charismatic actor and redid the same show in the States, it might be a hit. Someone was wrong. The first problem was the timing. The American version of the series came on at the same time as J.J. Abrams entered the scene with Fringe. Compared side by side, The Eleventh Hour didn’t stand a chance. Fringe offered us far more compelling characters and a bit of science fiction fancy to allow ourselves to escape in the adventure. The cases of this series, while also at the edge of science, are far more down to earth and not nearly as interesting. The show also suffers from an impossibly awkward pace. Dr. Hood will stop at times and begin to deliver a college lecture using some items at hand to illustrate his point. We already get this with Numb3rs, and most minds can’t afford to be numbed twice in one week.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 29th, 2009
As a child growing up in the 1970’s I remember quite vividly the Saturday morning cartoon experience. It’s what we all lived for. We’d wake up early and pour out a bowl of sugar and milk, reaching for some cheap toy that was buried in the cereal box like Blackbeard’s own chest of gold. Then we would entertain ourselves with zany characters, superheroes, and action filled adventures until the noon news programs would begin and it was time to take our playtime outside. It was a far more innocent age, and we didn’t have video games to play. These were our video games. If they appear simple and at times crude, perhaps they were. But these were something of our very own. Watching them today, they don’t hold the same kind of magic they did then. That doesn’t mean it isn’t fun to revisit those days from time to time. It wasn’t the cartoons that were always special. But, Saturday morning … man, that was something special.
These cartoons are mostly Hanna Barbera shows which dominated the Warner archive from that era. No question this group contains some of the most recognizable characters from my childhood. Certainly, there some of the very well known titles from Bugs to The Roadrunner. I’m glad to see a few other characters added here like El Kabong and Atom Ant. It’s a very eclectic collection, to be sure, so you should find a little something for everyone.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 28th, 2009
This time it’s a quad of whitewater rafters looking for some high adrenalin action. It doesn’t take long before they’re introduced to our favorite clan of cannibals and their arrows. This one doesn’t waste any time with a setup. You know what that title represents, and the filmmakers decide to give you what you want with no delay. Okay. Actually the raft trip IS the setup here. As the rafters escape into the woods, we just know they’re going to run into those snares and traps. And there you won’t be disappointed. This time a guy gets sectioned into three parts. As Kimberly Caldwell was beside herself in two sections for the second film, I can’t wait to see the setup by the time they get to entries 7 or 8.
The real meat, pun intended, of the film begins in a West Virginia prison compound. There’s about to be a high profile prisoner transferred to another facility. Because they fear his “boys” on the outside, they decide to do the transfer a week early with a U.S. Marshall undercover as one of the moved prisoners. You and I already knew that it’s not the mob guys they needed to concern themselves with. It’s no big spoiler to reveal that the bus doesn’t make it to the next stop. The Clan crashes the bus, and before you can say Deliverance, it’s the cons versus the cannibals with a couple of the good guys in the middle. Sounds like a perfect Wrong Turn sandwich, doesn’t it?
![Wrong Turn 3 [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/wrong-turn-3-blu-ray-large.jpg)
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