Veep: The Complete Fifth Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on April 20th, 2017
“As it turns out, there’s a virtually unprecedented tie in the Electoral College.”
If you thought the latest U.S. presidential election cycle was a soul-crushing and unpredictable mess, you should take a peek at what’s happening on Veep. (At least we got a definitive real-life result…eventually.) The show’s outstanding fifth season begins with President Selina Meyer — who assumed the office after her predecessor resigned — locked in a frustrating Electoral College tie as she seeks to become the first woman to be *elected* to the highest office in the land. President Meyer sums up her predicament in a manner befitting HBO’s caustic, constantly-cussing comedy: “didn’t those Founding F—ers ever hear of an odd number?!”
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Split (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 20th, 2017
When it comes to writer/ director M. Night Shyamalan, it’s hard to find a more polarizing director between film critics and film geeks. I was a fan up until he did The Village. It’s not as though I “hated” the film; I just was getting sick of the gimmick plot twists that seemed to go hand in hand with his work. As he continued to release films, I just would shrug at the trailers, and my enthusiasm for his films quickly declined. For me Unbreakable has grown to be my favorite work of his, which is funny to me because the first time I saw it I had a hard time deciding how I felt about the film. It was a comic/ superhero film that showed us perhaps what it would be like in the real world if some regular Joe realized he was perhaps meant for something greater.
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Tuesday Round Up: April 18, 2017
Posted in Tuesday Round Up by J C on April 18th, 2017
Hello, my name is John and I am your regular Tuesday Round Up host. But back in my college days, I temporarily adopted an alter ego called “Bruce” when I was heavy into ballroom and swing dancing. (I wish I were kidding.) My two separate personas were absolutely peanuts compared to the 20-something distinct personalities that battle for supremacy inside the mind of Kevin, the main character in Split. M. Night Shyamalan’s latest psychological thriller was the director’s biggest hit in years…and today it arrives on Blu-ray. Be sure to keep an eye on the site for our take. Elsewhere, Candy Factory brings about the end of the world with Apocalypse Child. We’ll also have some Reel World reviews as a pair of new movies hit theaters: things are sure to heat up with the arrival of Free Fire, and we’ll venture to the ends of the Earth (and the ends of the alphabet) to find The Lost City of Z.
One last reminder before signing off for the week: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
The Circus Season 1
Posted in No Huddle by Gino Sassani on April 17th, 2017
Ben Franklin once said that there are two things that no one should see made. He was talking about sausage and laws. In the 18th century most people had little exposure to the workings of their government. Campaigns were waged on the road in public squares, and seldom by the person running for office. Party nominations were held in halls attended only by the party faithful. It was here in the span of a few days that a nomination would be haggled out of the delegates who attended. Since the riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968, the selection of nominees was handed to the registered voters, usually of the party in a series of primary elections that begin in January of each election year. The campaigning has become intense and now often begins nearly a year before that first nomination struggle.
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Happy Easter
Posted in News and Opinions by Gino Sassani on April 16th, 2017
From all of us here at the Upcomingdiscs Family, I would like to wish you a very Happy Easter.
May your gatherings be blessed. Enjoy some family, sun, and when it gets later, gather around the home theater for a nice family film or two.
Take Care one and all,
Gino, John, Brent, Jeremy, Dan & Ellen
The Fate Of The Furious
Posted in The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on April 14th, 2017
Family is everything to Dominic Toretto. He has said as much in Furious 7, “I don’t have friends, I have family.” Over the course of seven films, we have seen him undertake impossible task including driving a car off a plane or through a building in order to rescue or avenge a member of said family. So what would make him make him betray that very family? In The Fate of the Furious, the team will face the biggest challenge they have ever faced when they find themselves working against their very leader. The long-running film franchise continues to up the ante with the action, producing its most action-packed film to date. Every time I think that there is no way the series can top itself, they add a tank or drive off a plane. This time, they got a submarine, y’all.
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The Bye Bye Man (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 14th, 2017
Every year there are dozens upon dozens of horror films released, each with the intention to make an impact on the genre. Horror is easily my favorite genre in film, but it’s a genre that easily allows itself to spill into other genres. It doesn’t matter to me what the budget is, or whether the special effects are on point; what matters most is if the story holds up. I mention this because going into The Bye Bye Man I had heard some pretty bad things, but I don’t usually let that get in the way of my opinion of a film; after all, everyone has their own tastes. For me the film’s tagline “Don’t think it. Don’t say it.” should have the added line, “Don’t remember it.”
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Silicon Valley: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on April 13th, 2017
“Think inside the box.”
One of the major through lines in season 3 of Silicon Valley is that our heroes at Pied Piper have created a product so ahead of its time that it is failing to connect with consumers, which puts the start-up company in peril. Fortunately, HBO’s brainy and bawdy tech comedy hasn’t had any problems connecting with its audience: the show’s confident and hilarious third season seamlessly mixes talk of “compression algorithms” with outrageous sight gags involving horses getting, um, familiar with each other.
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Office Christmas Party (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 12th, 2017
The trouble with most holiday films is that once the holiday passes, there is about another year of waiting till it seems right to put the film on again. Everyone knows about A Christmas Story and Polar Express, but really, the staple holiday films are sparse, but they are great. Every year, despite the high probability to fail, studios churn out some holiday films in the hopes that one of these attempted swings will turn out to be a box office giant. I believe it’s safe to say that there hasn’t been a holiday hit for a while, but despite the long odds, Office Christmas Party comes out strong with a big cast and raunchy intentions. Is it enough to lure people into the darkened Cineplex or have you want to go out to Netflix or Redbox to cure those holiday fever blues?
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Daughters of the Dust (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on April 12th, 2017
“At the turn of the century, Sea Island Gullahs, descendants of African Captives, remained isolated from the mainland of South Carolina and Georgia. As a result of their isolation, the Gullah created and maintained a distinct, imaginative, and original African American culture.”
Prior to watching Daughters of the Dust, I was completely unfamiliar with Sea Island Gullahs. To tell their story, the film (intentionally) deviates from the traditional narrative playbook, which doesn’t necessarily make for the most pleasurable movie-watching experience. However, the three key adjectives used in the opening text — “distinct,” “imaginative,” and “original” — absolutely apply here.
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Drunk History: Season Four
Posted in No Huddle by Dan Holland on April 11th, 2017
Drunk History is a good example of a good idea that lost steam very quickly. I remember when initial idea was aired as a web series produced by Funny or Die in 2007, and it was a rather brilliant idea. The show was not picked up by a major network for six years; then in the summer of 2013, it made its premiere on Comedy Central. Granted, I remember being excited about this premiere. However, about midway through that first season, I realized how too much of a great idea can be a bad thing. The format just became tiresome and dull after a few episodes. Now, four years later, the show has returned for four entire seasons, but it definitely feels it has run its course.
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Tuesday Round Up: April 11, 2017
Posted in Tuesday Round Up by J C on April 11th, 2017
Election season is firmly in the rearview mirror, but I reckon this week’s weekly Round Up could easily be dubbed “Super Tuesday.” Veep is in its second term as the Emmy winner for Outstanding Comedy Series…that being said, I’m not sure anything in this fiercely funny and profane show can match the levels of ridiculata we’ve already witnessed in real life. You’ll get a chance to cast your vote this week as the brilliant HBO comedy’s fifth season arrives on Blu-ray. And speaking of brilliant HBO comedies arriving on Blu-ray this week, be sure to pay a visit to Silicon Valley: Season 3. Elsewhere, Universal says hello to The Bye Bye Man, Cohen Media Group releases a 25th anniversary edition of Daughters of the Dust, and Showtime opens up the big top for The Circus: Season 1.
Oh and I almost forgot: later this week, a certain street racing franchise speeds into theatres with The Fate of the Furious, so be sure to check back for our review. Now it’s time for your weekly reminder before signing off: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Why Him? (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 6th, 2017
Let me tell you a few things about movie reviewers. We’re the kind of people who love watching movies. We spend entirely too much time doing so, and we can find some entertainment even in a bad film. We’re the kind of folks who don’t ask what’s playing when asked if we want to go to the movies. The answer is always yes. When someone applies to write for Upcomingdiscs, one of the first things I tell them is that they have to watch a movie all the way through…no matter how bad it might be. I’ve always been the kind of person who could do that. I’ve watched some stinkers in my day, and I never once left a film until the ending. Sure, there have been a couple of times I was tempted. I’ve had a few painful experiences. No film has ever put me to the test as much as Why Him? Halfway through the movie I was asking Why me?
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Archer: Season 7
Posted in No Huddle by Brent Lorentson on April 6th, 2017
With Season 8 gearing up, Season 7 of Archer makes its way onto DVD, for many to binge and catch up before the season premiere. I have to admit this was a show I had watched perhaps a handful of episodes but I could never quite get into. I’ll admit at times I can be a bit thick-headed when it comes to watching an animated series. After repeated requests (or demands that may or may not have been at gunpoint), I settled in and binged a season of Archer. To my surprise, I had a blast with the show and quickly devoured more episodes which finally caught me up to Season 7. So what trouble has the former world’s greatest secret agent, Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) gotten himself into?
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 5th, 2017
“You have to start somewhere.”
I could sense a great disturbance in the Force. I could not quite put my finger on the reason, but there appeared to be much to worry about with the debut of the first ever Star Wars film that was not one of the driving episodes in the epic story of the Skywalker family and friends. There was worry that Disney might have been pushing their luck with these sidetrack stories. The Force Awakens was very good, but should the Mouse House really be tempting fate with such “filler” material? Then there were the disturbing reports that the film required so many rewrites that as much as $5 million had been spent on the services of Tony Gilroy to provide those touch-ups.
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Tuesday Round Up: April 4, 2017
Posted in Tuesday Round Up by J C on April 4th, 2017
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…the latest entry in a massively beloved sci-fi franchise hit theaters and became the highest-grossing movie of 2016. Ok, so it was more like 3 ½ months ago, which isn’t all that long. And it was playing practically everywhere, so chances are you didn’t have to drive very far, far away to go watch it. Nevertheless, the commute will be nonexistent now that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is out on Blu-ray! Disney was nice enough to send us a copy and we’ll have a review of this disc very soon. On top of that, Omnibus Entertainment introduces us to Heidi. Finally, we’ll be wrapping up the week with some panache thanks to the big-screen release of Going in Style.
Even though it’s a brand new month, the same reminder still applies here: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Contest: Enter To Win Why Him? On Blu-ray From 20th Century Fox
Posted in Contests, Expired Contests by Gino Sassani on April 3rd, 2017
20th Century Fox asks the question Why Him? And we have the answer. Thanks to our cool buddies at Fox we’ve got a copy of Why Him? on Blu-ray to give away to a lucky Upcomingdiscs follower. Bryan Cranston and James Franco battle wits in this confrontation between Dad and the Rich Boyfriend. We’re giving away the laughs. All you have to do is enter.
To win a copy of this prize, follow these instructions.
- Fill out your name and email address in the comment form below – your email address will remain private and visible only to us.
- Do not post your address as an actual comment! Instead tell us – What is the funniest movie you’ve seen recently?
- Only those comments that answer our question will be considered.
Contest is now closed Winner is Cyndi Butler
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.
The Zookeeper’s Wife
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on April 3rd, 2017
“What have you been up to in your little zoo?”
It appears that we have been due for one of those untold stories amid the many tales of courage and bravery both fact and fiction, real and imagined, that have been told of the World War II era. There have been plenty of the battlefield hero films that include last year’s exceptional Hacksaw Ridge from Mel Gibson. Then there are the quiet and unlikely heroes. These are people who did incredible things that were often unknown during the war and often even after it was all over. Schindler’s List has become the gold standard for these kinds of emotional war movies. The Zookeeper’s Wife is set in the mold of that kind of a film, telling essentially that very kind of tale.
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Life
Posted in The Reel World by Gino Sassani on April 1st, 2017
“In space no one can hear you scream”
Yes, Life is very much a knockoff on the basic premise of 1979’s Alien. That’s not so much of a problem for me. It’s become increasingly true that there are few truly original ideas remaining, at least in Hollywood. And while it’s trendy to complain that this is the unique state of affairs of our time, that isn’t really true either. Alien itself was pretty much a knockoff of the 1958 classic It The Terror From Beyond Space, where a vicious life-form is a stowaway on a ship sent to rescue the lone survivor of a Martian expedition. In all three films we are treated to a claustrophobic rendition of Agatha Christi’s Ten Little Indians as an alien creature picks off the confined astronauts one at a time.
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Trainspotting 2
Posted in The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on March 31st, 2017
“First, there is an opportunity. Then…there’s a betrayal.”
It’s been 20 years since the release of Trainspotting, and it’s fair to say a lot has changed in the past two decades. I remember going out to the United Artists Mission Bell Cinemas to see Trainspotting the weekend it came out. I was with my best friend at the time, and neither of us was old enough to buy tickets for the film, so we ended up having to sneak into the film. We’d seen the trailers, and in a time before the internet, there just wasn’t much we could find out about it aside from reading articles in the entertainment magazines. To this day, I remember walking out of the auditorium simply floored by the film.
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Silence (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 30th, 2017
“The price for your glory is their suffering!”
For most of us, hearing the name “Martin Scorsese” leads to iconic wiseguys, rock and roll, and Robert De Niro/Leonardo DiCaprio movies dancing into our mind’s eye. Further down the list of Marty-related things — probably even below Scorsese’s real-life film preservation work — but no less crucial to appreciating the director’s filmography is the role that faith has played in his personal and professional lives. The most obvious manifestations are the three religious epics Scorsese has directed, including his latest film Silence.
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)
Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 30th, 2017
“I’m writing a book about magical creatures.”
The wizarding world J.K. Rowling conjured for her Harry Potter series captured the imaginations of children (and many, many adults) throughout the globe because it was precisely that…a fully realized, living and breathing world with its own lingo and lore. So while spinning off a corner of that universe might seem like a blatant cash grab, Rowling’s imagination has provided particularly fertile ground for new franchise opportunities. (OK, OK…the part where Warner Bros. agreed to make five of these before the first one even came out *does* feel like a cash grab.) For example, this latest crowd-pleasing stab at a billion-dollar series is based on…a fictional textbook mentioned in Rowling’s Potter saga.
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Split
Posted in No Huddle by Dan Holland on March 30th, 2017
Let me preface this review by clarifying that this is not M. Night Shyamalan’s 2016 thriller about a dangerous man with different personalities. Instead, this review addresses Deborah Kampmeier’s Split (2016). It is an unfortunate circumstance for films to share the same name when released in the same year, especially if one of the directors has a considerable amount of fame under his belt. Thankfully, Kampmeier’s film came through the Upcoming Discs hub; otherwise, I might never have heard about it through my traditional consumption. Split is most certainly worth the watch, but the imagery is uncomfortably intense for the majority of the film. To the average film consumer, I offer a fair warning to stay away. However, Split delivers image after image of disturbing symbolism, nearing the caliber of Alejandro Jodorowski.
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Tuesday Round Up: March 28, 2017
Posted in Tuesday Round Up by J C on March 28th, 2017
There’s more than a little magic in the air for this week’s Round Up. Warner Bros. casts an enchanting, ultra-HD spell with the blockbuster Harry Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which we’ll be reviewing in 4K. And speaking of “fantastic beasts,” I hope you don’t mind if I spend a few words on Baby, the sweet and loyal German Shepherd/Chow mix who could usually be found welcoming guests to UpcomingDiscs HQ. Baby, who was also a part-time movie critic, passed yesterday and she’ll be greatly missed.
In other Round Up news, Paramount holds a moment of Silence for Martin Scorsese’s latest religious epic, while Candy Factory tries to put the pieces of a murder together in Americana. Finally, we’ll also check in with The Zookeeper’s Wife later this week and offer our take on the World War II drama. One last reminder before signing off for the week (and for March): if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
A Kind of Murder (Blu-ray)
Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 27th, 2017
You ever hear that old adage about not putting your hands too close to the flame? Obviously Walter Stackhouse, Patrick Wilson’s character in A Kind of Murder, did not heed the warning as he finds himself embroiled in a murder conspiracy of his own while investigating a separate one. This film noir is based on a novel from the famous author of The Talented Mr. Ripley, Patricia Highsmith. Murder mysteries in recent months have become a huge interest of mine, so when presented with this film, I was extremely excited with the opportunity. However, after watching, though I was intrigued by the whodunit aspect, I found the other areas lacking, specifically connecting with the lead character.
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