Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 17th, 2021
Besides the fact that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and that it’s essentially a white collar gloss on Goodfellas, you’d be forgiven for thinking somebody other than Martin Scorsese directed The Wolf of Wall Street. I don’t mean to suggest Scorsese has lost his masterful touch or his passion for filmmaking, both of which were on display as recently as two years ago in the wonderful Hugo. It’s more that after spending the better part of the 21st century making strong, serious dramas, I didn’t necessarily expect Scorsese to make his funniest, loosest and most audacious picture in decades
Posted in: Uncategorized by Gino Sassani on December 16th, 2021
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. Keep checking back to see more recommendations for your holiday shopping. These gift guides ARE NOT paid advertisements. We take no money to publish them. With conditions as they are, shopping won't be easy this season. The nice thing about discs is that they're so easy to get from places like Amazon that you can give a great gift and stay perfectly safe while you do it. Warner Brothers release of The Mad Max Anthology
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 16th, 2021
I was disappointed when it was announced that James Wan wouldn’t be returning to helm the third Conjuring film, but when the reasoning was that he had a new original concept to direct, well, it still made me pretty happy. When it comes to the technical side of filmmaking, I feel James Wan is one of the most exciting directors currently working in the industry. What the guy pulls off is impressive mostly because he relies more heavily on in-camera trickery than depending on CGI. Sure, he did Aquaman and is about to do the sequel, but those films aside, he’s pretty much a master of the practical craft who I’d put up there with Hitchcock. So when I saw the trailers for Malignant, I’ll admit I was a bit excited, especially when Wan had said that this was a nod to the Giallo films of the past. But did he deliver?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 16th, 2021
"That was a long time ago, wasn't it?"
Everyone has one. There is that shirt in your closet. Or maybe it's a pair of pants, socks, or even shoes. Whatever it is, it should have been thrown out decades ago. There could be holes, and it's certainly so threadbare that you could do the New York Times crossword through the fabric. It's not practical, if it ever even was. If it were any other piece of clothing, you'd be embarrassed to be wearing it. But the dang thing is so comfortable. It's soft against your skin, or maybe it brings back one of your favorite memories. Whatever the reason, you love that thing, and you wish you could wear it all the time. That's exactly how some of us feel about Clint Eastwood.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 16th, 2021
A whodunnit with teeth … that is a most apt description, and for me, that made the film all the more entertaining. I mean, who doesn’t love a good whodunit? And when that whodunit comes with a supernatural twist … even better. In the case of Werewolves Within, that supernatural twist in kind of on the nose. One of the characters actually gives a great explanation regarding the existence of werewolves being more likely than a particular type of person. I wish I could use the exact phrasing, but I fear that would ruin the whodunit element of the film for you. Sam Richardson leads the cast in this quirky yet intriguing comedy horror. Richardson is someone who has been showing up more and more on my radar in recent years. Each time he does, he feels a bit typecast in the role of a socially awkward individual
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 16th, 2021
Be honest; who hears the theme music when anyone even mentions The Addams Family? I know I do, and then I have to resist the urge to do the finger snaps. Just in time for the release of the animated version comes the double release of The Addams Family and its sequel, The Addams Family: Family Values, featuring Raul Julia and Angelica Huston as Gomez and Morticia Gomez, and let’s not forget Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci as Fester and Wednesday Gomez respectively. Based on the wildly popular cartoons that appeared in the New Yorker that went on to find success as television series, the The Addamses are a satirical inversion of the ideal 20th-century American family.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on December 10th, 2021
You could say that West Side Story goes back to 1957 with the iconic collaboration of composer Leonard Bernstein and the very recently deceased lyricist Stephen Sondheim. But that isn't exactly true. The play was a modern retelling of William Shakespeare's equally iconic Romeo And Juliet. Instead of Capulets and Montagues, we have street gangs from 1950's New York City. All of the beats are there and then some. The legendary Robert Wise adapted the play as a film in 1961, which has deservedly gone on to classic status. And there it all sits for 60 years outside of the expected revivals and local productions of the work. Along comes Steven Spielberg who wanted to create a film as homage to his father.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 10th, 2021
Over the past decade we’ve seen a resurgence in reboots, remakes, and anthologies, so it isn’t much of a surprise that the beloved horror anthology Creepshow would get the reboot treatment. To be fair, this is an extension from what the first films set out to be, though the big difference is that instead of just being a film with a few stories, it is now a TV series, each episode containing two tales to horrify and entertain. When I first heard about the series I was cautiously optimistic. The first two films I consider classics, as do many other fans of the horror genre. Then there was that third Creepshow that I feel we all just want to forget and pretend never really happened.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on December 9th, 2021
RLJE Films has just released their lycanthrope horror/comedy Werewolves Within on Dec 7th. It's a rather unique take on the often tired werewolf story. I had the chance to talk to the film's director, Josh Ruben. Josh took time out of his busy holiday schedule to talk about the film. I found his insights rather interesting, and I think you might agree. You won't need a wiretap warrant to eavesdrop on the call. Bang it here to listen to my chat with Josh Ruben.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 8th, 2021
When Netflix released The Haunting of Hill House, I fell in love with the series. I have watched it several times since its release, and it continues to hold up. So when it was announced that Mike Flanagan would be returning to do a follow-up series, it was impossible not to get my hopes up. Mike Flanagan is perhaps the best thing to happen to horror in quite a while. He doesn’t depend on gore or crazy special FX, but instead his focus is more on that natural evil that people can do to one another. From Hush to Doctor Sleep to The Haunting of Hill House and his most current work Midnight Mass and all his projects in between, he’s maintained a consistency that I feel ranks him as one of the better visual storytellers of the past decade, and he seems to only get better with each project.
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