Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 11th, 2021
It is a tall order to create a compelling television series with virtually no dialog. However, Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal fills that order. Then again, what would you expect from the creator of such entertaining animated series as Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This time around Tartakovsky tackles the prehistoric period with this series that follows a caveman and a Tyrannosaurus that were bonded by grief. As unrealistic as the pairing sounds, the themes of the series make it quality television. Normally, I’m not one for shows with minimal dialog; in this series, its absence makes the artwork and storylines resonate deeper as extra time and care was taken to convey the plot’s significance. Of particular intrigue is that fact that though the series is a work of fantasy, all the animals depicted are based on real prehistoric animals.
As expected, the pilot sets up the rest of the series. Spear (as he is referred to in the production notes), a caveman, barely survives an encounter with a Deinosuchus (extinct ancestor of the crocodile) while fishing for his family. This was actually the moment that hooked me, as I was caught completely off guard by the Deinosuchus appearance. In truth, I was starting to get the sense that I wouldn’t be interested in the show beyond this review, and at that exact moment of my disinterest, the beast sprang out of the water, making me jump back. Sorry to spoil that bit for anyone, but I felt it was important for you to grasp my frame a mind before we continued. Surprisingly, the eerie calm is what made this scene so great. Needless to say, from then on I was hooked, and given that this sequence occurs in the first two minutes, that is a significant accomplishment for the series.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 11th, 2021
Are you feeling a little déjà vu when you turn on a television or live stream these days? While Tom Selleck is playing a family patriarch on Blue Bloods, Jay Hernandez is in Hawaii driving a bright red Ferrari in a new version of Magnum P.I. Hawaii 5-O was one of the most popular shows on CBS, and Charmed is bewitching an entire new generation of streamers on the internet. You might consider this a time of little ingenuity on the tube, but CBS has gone back in time to resurrect the very definition of ingenuity in MacGyver. The show just completed its fifth and final season, while the fourth season is now out on DVD thanks to some cooperation between Lionsgate and CBS.
The basic idea of the original series remains here. Angus MacGyver is now played by Lucas Till. He still works for the Phoenix foundation, which remains a covert government agency disguised as a think tank. Just like the Richard Dean Anderson character, MacGyver has the uncanny ability to use whatever happens to be handy to build what he happens to need to bring down a bad guy or save lives. The name has become a part of our lexicon and refers to using something in a makeshift procedure to solve a problem. As much as the basic elements of the original remain, there are quite a few significant differences to be found here.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 8th, 2021
"If this is all a dream, what's gonna happen when we wake up?"
If you look at the stats, it would be so easy to conclude that Joe Dante's 1985 film Explorers was a complete dud. The film cost a little over 25 million dollars and raked in less than 10 million dollars. It didn't last very long in the theaters, and one might conclude that's the end of that story. But one would be quite wrong. Since the day I first saw it at the theaters during its short run, it has remained one of my favorite films of all time. Looking at the stats might keep you from giving this old gem a try, but you would be missing one of the most heartfelt films of the last 35 years. It's one of those films that the studios still don't have much faith in, so it hasn't been released with any kind of frequency or care. For years I relied on my laserdisc copy. Shout Factory has a habit of unearthing little diamonds in the rough like this one. They get the home entertainment distribution rights. Film some new interviews and release it, hopeful that there is more of an appreciative audience out there than any other studio believes. I don't know what kind of audience this Blu-ray release will find, but I'm grateful it's here on Blu-ray and I can add a good transfer of the film. I think you will be, too, if you can avoid looking at the stats.
Posted in: Podcasts by Gino Sassani on June 6th, 2021
Michael Starr is no stranger to visitors at Upcomingdiscs. Last year we had a look at his well-crafted Cicada Song and we spoke about that film in an interview available on the site. Michael's latest directorial project has him teaming up with producer Michelle Talbert for a wonderfully nostalgic documentary on "The Origins Of The Chattanooga Racing Circuit. Talbert's journey to find out about her grandfather's racing history has led to a wonderfully nostalgic look at a not so small corner of racing history. It's Called It's In The Blood and it's not surprising that Michael Starr would visit again for another chat. This time he brought along Michelle Talbert. So strap yourself in and bang it here to listen in on my chat with Michael Starr and Michelle Talbert
Bang it here to watch the film or learn more: It's In The Blood and enjoy.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on June 5th, 2021
What James Wan did with The Conjuring (2013) was something I don’t think anyone expected. He not just delivered a haunted house film that’s genuinely scary as well as being a technical achievement, but also he kicked off a successful franchise that’s now seven films deep with no signs of stopping. I’ll admit when it comes to the stories about Ed and Lorraine Warren, I have a bit of a bias. I’m a sucker for just about any and every paranormal show out there, and I’ve read numerous books about the Warrens and their case files. Everything from the “true” story behind the Amityville house, the “real” Annabelle, to some of the not-so-famous cases (at least the ones we haven’t seen a movie about). Whether you believe in the paranormal or feel the Warrens were nothing more than skilled hoaxers, the stories behind their cases are the stuff that will always make for a great campfire story, and as it’s been proven, some successful and entertaining films. So when it was announced that the next film was going to be about case where a man being put on trial and using the defense of possession, claiming the devil made him commit the crime, I was excited. Seeing how this was a real murder case that the Warrens were involved with, I was hoping we’d see a break from the traditional possession and haunted house film and delve into a courtroom drama. Alas, that isn’t the case. While the new film does take a somewhat different approach, I definitely have some mixed feelings on this one.
My biggest concern from the get-go about this film was that James Wan was not involved with directing the film. Granted he may have only done The Conjuring and its sequel, but I feel we can all agree those films outshine the other entries in the franchise by a great deal. Wan is simply one of the best directors working in film period. Though he may only stick to genre films, his work with crafting stories and his work with a camera is well above many of his contemporaries in the genre. Then to decide to have Michael Chaves, the director of The Curse of la Llorona helm the film was immediately cause for concern for me. To be blunt, I hated that film, and it was one of the worst films I saw that year. The saving grace was that at least Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga would be reprising their roles of Ed and Lorraine.
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on June 5th, 2021
“All I know is that girl came into your life for a reason.”
A love story that transcends time and space. Now, granted, this is not a brand new occurrence; we’ve seen several examples of characters falling in love despite not being from the same time. I mean, there’s The Time Traveler’s Wife with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams (which is currently slated to become an HBO series featuring Theo James and Rose Leslie), Kate and Leopold with Hugh Jackman and Meg Ryan, and who could forget About Time with Domhnall Gleeson and again Rachel McAdams. However, I dare say that Long Weekend may have just revitalized the idea. It certainly managed to hold my interest despite a twist that took this film out of the realm of the traditional romance and infused it with a little bit of science fiction. Initially when the science fiction was introduced, I couldn’t help my eye roll, especially given that it was spoken aloud, it was literally the last thing that I expected to hear. On the surface, it was utterly ridiculous, but on the other hand, it had shock value, and what more can you ask for?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on June 4th, 2021
By David Annandale
It is 1979. While filming a Super 8 horror movie, a group of young friends on the cusp of adolescence witness a spectacular train wreck. They later discover that they accidentally captured evidence that there was an alien creature on the train, and it is now loose in their small town. But if the mysterious disappearance of dogs, engines, and (increasingly) people wasn’t trouble enough, the military descends upon the community with an agenda far more merciless and inhuman than that of the alien itself. I was 12 in 1979, and I was shooting Super 8 monster movies, so I get the nostalgia that writer/director J.J. Abrams is going for here, and this is an utterly unapologetic exercise in nostalgia. Abrams is out to recreate the experience of a Spielberg movie from that era, and with the man himself acting as producer, the mission is accomplished. Super 8 plays like the Lost Spielberg Movie, with all the wonder, thrills, and sentimentality one would expect. There is so much here that works beautifully. The young cast is terrific, the dialog crackles, the effects are spectacular, and the creature is both menacing and sympathetic, like some unholy version of ET reworked by H.P. Lovecraft.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 1st, 2021
When I was in grade school, I remember reading High King, the fifth book in the Prydain Chronicles, as part of a reading assignment (since it was a Newbery Award winner). I also at some point watched Black Cauldron in my youth, but I'm pretty sure it was on a crummy VHS tape. Anyhow, many years later, with an old friend, I was gifted a treasured copy of Prydain Chronicles (all five books in a hardback format). Being much older, I took the time to read the entire hardback collection, and ever since then I've been tracking down related items including the Black Cauldron movie from Disney to revisit. It might not be the wonderful series of books, but it's still an excellent movie on its own accord. Let's explore the recent release from the Disney Movie Club.
In the mystic land of Prydain, there was once a king so evil and cruel that even the gods feared him. He was imprisoned in a crucible of molten iron since no prison could hold him. His demonic spirit was harnessed in the form of a great black cauldron. That Black Cauldron lay hidden while evil men tried to find it. The one man who did would be able to harness a power to resurrect an evil army which would then rule the world.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2021
"I can see it now... Supernatural: The End. And the cover is just a grave stone that says 'Winchester'. Fans are gonna love it. Welcome to the end"
The brothers made an emotional announcement during the airing of the previous season that the 15th year would be the final season of the show. It's hard to believe that we'll soon know a television landscape without the Winchester brothers. It's the last show that goes back to the original WB Network that eventually lead to the current CW Network that has become more and more the home of the Warner Brothers-owned DC Comics television universe. But in the middle of speedsters, archers, aliens, and time travelers, there was always room for the Winchesters. It'll be a bit of a culture shock to have them gone. Hard to imagine, but if you were a young 15-year-old kid when you started to watch the show, you're now 30, likely with kids of your own. You live in an entirely different world than you did when you first came aboard. How will you feel without it? We'll always have over 300 hours and 15 seasons to watch whenever we want thanks to these wonderful releases on Blu-ray from Warner Home Entertainment. So let's give the boys one hell of a sendoff. If you have no idea who these guys are, you are in for one sweet treat, I can tell you that much. But you can't start here. You'll never understand what's going on, and it will taint your experience. You have a lot of watching to do to be ready for this release. Check out our long list of reviews here and start binge-watching fast. Once you're caught up, continue on. Caught up? Excellent. On to the final season.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 29th, 2021
"The thing is, I was born brilliant, born bad, and a little bit mad. I'm Cruella."
Growing up just about every kid I knew saw 101 Dalmatians in one form or another. It was released the year I was born, so I didn't get to see it originally on the big screen. Still it was a part of those magical Disney features that found a way to reach you and eventually into your heart. While the film's stars were the dogs, of course every good story needs a good villain. The villain in 101 Dalmatians was the white/black split-haired Cruella de Vil. With the help of an iconic Sherman Brothers' song children would be able to tell you about it in verse. You're left with the idea that "if she doesn't scare you no evil thing will". There was a sequel that wasn't so good, and that horrible live-action version back in 1996. After that dismal failure it appeared we were done with the dogs and the fashion designer who wanted to make a coat out of the adorable puppies. We were but lately Disney has been in the thrall of two trends. They are remaking all of their animated classics into live-action, or at least CGI-action films. They have also traveled down a path to redeem the lady villains of their films. There have been mixed results with an awful version of The Lion King and an amazing version of The Jungle Book. Maleficent set the bar high for the telling of these bad girls’ origin stories, and it's going to be hard for Cruella to match up. Did it even come close? I'm glad that you asked.
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