Author: Michael Durr
Seire (DVD) Review
Korean Horror has picked up in the last twenty years tenfold. From films like Bedevilled and Thirst, they took on the revenge and vampire themes that a lot of classic horror films are built upon. But honestly, I’ve been most impressed with films like The Wailing and Train to Busan. The latter bred new life into the very tired zombie genre and made a darn watchable film while The Wailing knew exactly what buttons to push when it comes to religion but then use that to make an interesting and thought provoking film. That’s why when I saw that we had a copy of Seire, I knew I had to review it even though I probably would be too scared to write about it for a few days. I’m so glad I did.
The original copy of this review can be found at: https://upcomingdiscs.com/2023/09/11/seire/
Three into Two Won’t Go (Blu-Ray) Review
I probably could be called a lot of things, some kind and some not so kind. But the one thing that probably most people would say about me is that I’m loyal. Loyal to my job, loyal to my wife, loyal to my son. However, in my life, I have certainly felt the pain of disloyalty, even to the point of infidelity. Despite what people might say or think, you never quite expect it and furthermore one can’t predict how you might feel or act given the situation. Today’s movie Three into Two Won’t Go explores the idea of what happens when a man cheats on his wife with another woman. However, this woman stays around long after the fact and continues to press into his everyday life until it becomes unbearable. Let’s take a look.
The original version of this review can be found at:
https://upcomingdiscs.com/2023/09/02/three-into-two-wont-go-blu-ray/
The Day and The Hour (Blu-Ray) Review
Typically, I avoid World War II period films like the plague. I literally see the word Nazi or German occupation and usually find a reason not to see the movie. I have nothing against the pictures, the problem is so many of these films are surrounded in clichés that it feels like an old hat with nothing new to offer. However, when I saw The Day and the Hour in my review pile, I was intrigued by the notion of it being in France with a female lead and something of a romance. Far different from the usual pow pow, war is heck or a film that’s going to have buckets and buckets of tears and worrying about the human condition. Though from the looks of things, this one might have some water works too. Let’s take a look.
The original version of this review can be found at:
https://upcomingdiscs.com/2023/08/29/the-day-and-the-hour-blu-ray/
Dead Heat on a Merry Go-Round (Blu-Ray) Review
I’m a sucker for clever movie titles. The best example I can think off the top of my head is I’m Gonna Git You Sucka. Or perhaps you need something from yesteryear like Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia or They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Along the lines of Sucka, we can’t also forget about Don’t Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood or The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. So imagine my surprise when I saw the title of today’s movie and jumped at the chance to provide a review. Hopefully it is as good as the title suggests.
The original version of this review can be found at:
https://upcomingdiscs.com/2023/08/23/dead-heat-on-a-merry-go-round-blu-ray/
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Gloria (1980) (Blu-Ray) Review
Some of my fondest memories growing up were those of my Polish grandmother and visiting her in New York for a week or two during the summer. It was so different than when I was with my parents in North Carolina. From the living arrangements to actually having a real basement to the subway itself, it was almost surreal in a very urban type way. Then everyone seemingly moved to Texas including our family and all of the innocence was lost. Today’s movie is Gloria, a movie set in New York where a 6 year old Puerto Rican kid looses his innocence as his family is gunned down by the mob. The only thing he has to cling to is a friend of the family named Gloria who has a few special skills of her own. Let’s check it out.
The original version of this review can be found at:
Garbage Island by Fred Koehler (Book) Review
Full disclaimer, I do read kids’ books from time to time. Yes, I can read novels with fancy words no problems but especially since my son was born, I find myself diving back into books primarily of the middle school (8-12) age. I try to be a good parent and before I hand over to him a book (especially one that’s longer than a full description of Batman and his lineup of famous villains), I want to know what’s in it. But it’s way more than appropriate content, I want him to appreciate writing by finding great adventure. Today’s review, Garbage Island by Fred Koehler is one of those such books.
The original copy of this review can be found at:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5726095841
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Where the Heck Have I Been for the Last Month?
I looked at my calendar this morning and was amazed that we are already a week into August. What makes this worse is that my reviews/posts have been completely non-existent since I finished up the run of Police Story reviews. It was a major project for myself and I was so glad I finished it. I even had a side project that I was going to include as part of that franchise but while the discs materialized, I couldn’t find what I wanted to on the subject and my plans got derailed for the moment, at least until I get some hardware that should help things. It’s a long story. Then I had the idea to review Millennium Mambo, a recent Kino blu-ray release, and that also went by the waste side. But there is some hope in the next week or so that I should have a few reviews to bring to you.
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Police Story: Lockdown (Police Story 6) – Film Review
The blu-ray for Police Story: Lockdown was released in August of 2015. At that time in my life, I was only 3 months removed from having my first (and only) kid. I took a break from reviewing movies so I could help my wife as much as I could (and still go to work). That break from reviewing would last close to three years and in that time if I watched a movie, I mostly zoned out and couldn’t tell you much about it regardless of whether it was good or not. What makes this interesting is prior to watching Lockdown again, I could have sworn that I wrote a review mostly because I remember acquiring the blu-ray at release and actually liking it quite a bit. No matter how hard I searched on this site or Upcomingdiscs, I never found any evidence that I completed a review. Then the timeframe made sense, and even though Police Story: Lockdown made quite the impression on me, I never put words to a review. Let’s take another look.
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New Police Story (Police Story 5) – Film Review
As mentioned early on, I acquired a copy of New Police Story for these series of reviews. In truth, I had never seen it before despite having seen every single other Police Story in the series (even the last one, Lockdown). I missed it in a sea of reviews and other things that were on my plate at the time. One of the great things about getting myself to do these reviews is to find movies I’ve missed and as a bonus, the reader gets to receive my first time genuine comments and reflections. Quite frankly, I’m sorry it took me this long as this is a really good movie. As such, I’m not going to spoil the whole thing like I did with Police Story 1,2 and First Strike because I figure there will be others who won’t know about this movie at all (even with a working knowledge of the earlier films). Let’s take a look.
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Jackie Chan’s First Strike (Police Story 4) – Film Review
I probably could have put this out several days ago but I was still very frustrated that I was not bringing you a review of the definitive version of Jackie Chan’s First Strike or Police Story 4. All because some horrible vendor lied on Amazon. My anger actually increased as I was watching the movie because there were so many frustrating moments in the film where it’s a case of what the heck is going on. Obvious places for extra footage that would certainly enhance the story. Instead we got a very butchered film, and who knows if we will ever see a proper blu-ray/4k of the Japanese cut. It’s been what 20 years roughly since the dvd? I guess I should have spent the ~$35, but it’s frustrating when I “had” it for ~$15. Anyway, without further adieu, the WB Blu-Ray/International Cut film review of Jackie Chan’s First Strike.
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