Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 11th, 2009
Why does every Adam Sandler character seem to be Happy Gilmore? I don’t know if there’s an actor out there, comedian or otherwise, who has made so many movies essentially playing the same character. If it seems at times like I really hate Sandler, believe it or not, I don’t. The guy has a charm and natural ability that can, when he works at it, come off as a very entertaining couple of hours at the movies. Unfortunately, he’s not willing to work at it, and so continues to bombard us with new versions of the same character and story.
![The Waterboy [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/the-waterboy-blu-ray-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 10th, 2009
The Super Friends as a cartoon show had a long and sketchy past. It started out in the 1970’s and ran in nearly a dozen different incantations and over a hundred episodes until 1986 when it was put down for the last time. In the 1983-84 season, the series had been cancelled officially for a second time. This was due to the fact that they did not wish to compete with the syndication run of the original episodes that was already on air. Hence, the new episodes were dropped and didn’t appear until many years later. Here, the people at WB have compiled these 8 episodes (24 shorts) into a 2-disc set and dubbed them the “Lost Episodes.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 10th, 2009
After an opening, fragmentary montage of a traffic accident, we encounter Melvin Devereux (John Savage), standing in front of his father's grave, making a few cynical remarks apparently in the wake of dad's funeral. Then, after a strange conversation with a mysterious woman (Sandi Schultz), Devereux begins to make his way home. But his route is blocked by one obstacle after another, and his journey becomes ever longer and ever more frustrating as he drives down the empty roads of the Louisiana countryside. He is then plagued by a hearse, which will not let him overtake, and that turns up wherever he goes. Soon he becomes obsessed with catching the hearse, after seeing his name on the coffin inside.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on August 9th, 2009
There are a handful of actors and actresses on this planet who you could say gained more by their death rather than their entire life. One of these actors was James Dean. James Dean was born on February 8th, 1931 in Marion, Indiana. In the next 24 years, he would bridge himself to stardom. But arguably, he wouldn't receive that iconic status until he died on September 30th, 1955 in a horrible car accident in his Porsche 550 Spyder in Cholame, California. The people at Hollywood Select Video decided to release a 2-disc collection of various television pieces he did before his most recognized three films: Rebel Without a Cause, Giant & East of Eden. These pieces give an interesting look at the rise of a legend.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 9th, 2009
Dr. Stephen Arrowsmith is a haughty scientist who sees himself above such petty concerns as ethics. He has married his wife Muriel (Barbara Steele) for her money, and when he catches her in the arms of one of the servants (Rik Battaglia), he tortures and kills them both, cuts out their hearts, and uses their blood to create an elixir of youth for the maid/co-conspirator Solange (Helga Liné). He then marries the psychologically fragile Jenny (Steele again, now blonde), Muriel's heiress, planning to drive her insane and take control of the his dead wife's fortune. Sure enough, Jenny starts seeing things, but the ghosts she is seeing are real.
Posted in: Brain Blasters by David Annandale on August 8th, 2009
So John Hughes died the other day. What does that have to do with this column's mandate, as flexibly defined as it might be, you might well ask. As it turns out, not much, at least not directly. But Hughes' passing did wind up overshadowing two other deaths in the film industry. Screenwriter Budd Schulberg also died, and he wrote such fare as A Face in the Crowd (1957) and a little thing called On the Waterfront (1954), which, I dunno, might wind up standing the test of time better than Pretty in Pink, but what do I know? More to the point, as far as this space is concerned, Harry Alan Towers also passed on.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 8th, 2009
Welcome to the first of what I hope to be many hardware reviews. When I first heard that Oppo Digital was breaking into the Blu-ray player market with their new model BDP-83 I was immediately intrigued. The company had almost singlehandedly set the standard for upconvert DVD players just a short time ago. To say I was eager to get my hands on one of these units was an understatement.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on August 7th, 2009
Cult Epics continues its love affair with director Tinto Brass, and here once again delves into one of his early works. For my money, for all that his later erotica is handsomely shot and produced, what I'm seeing of his 1960s output (so far Deadly Sweet and this) is far more interesting. If 1967's Deadly Sweet was demented, it at least followed a semi-recognizable mystery plot. The Howl (1969), on the other hand, defies description. It is basically a surreal picaresque, as a young woman (Tina Aumont) flees her wedding with a stranger (Luigi Proietti) who gives her a come-hither look. Already, this sounds far more sensible than the film really is. The couple race from one lunatic encounter to the next: a resort hotel apparently designed by Sade; a naked, cannibalistic philosopher and his family, and on we go.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 7th, 2009
Who doesn’t remember the original Witch Mountain films from Disney back in the 1970’s. They were clever family films. They were camp, to be sure. But, most of us remember them fondly, if not as particularly outstanding films. While Disney’s reimagining of the franchise doesn’t have a great deal in common with those earlier films, you can pretty much describe the reaction as being spot on. Race To Witch Mountain isn’t going to be breaking any box office records, but it is the kind of film you get a pretty warm feeling for, and like its predecessors, you’ll end up remembering it with fondness.
![Race to Witch Mountain (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/race-to-witch-mountain-blu-raydvd-large.jpg)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 7th, 2009
An ancient facility beneath Antarctica becomes the launching platform to the lost city of Atlantis. Atlantis is buried beneath an ocean in another galaxy and can only be reached with an additional symbol on the Stargate. Because of power limitations this trip, at least for the time being, is a one-way adventure. A crew of scientists and military officers from many countries assemble to explore the Pegasus Galaxy from the Atlantis gate. Led by scientist Dr. Weir (Higginson) and Maj. John Sheppard (Flanigan) they take over the Atlantian command center and begin to explore. In their initial investigations they accidentally awaken the area’s top bad guys, The Wraith. These vampire-like beings suck the life-force out of humans.
![Stargate Atlantis: Fans' Choice [Blu-ray] dvd cover art](https://upcomingdiscs.com/ecs_covers/stargate-atlantis-fans-choice-bl-large.jpg)
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