Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 4th, 2017
Coming along the heels of Straight Outta Compton, the new HBO documentary series The Defiant Ones takes a more in depth at the life and career of Dr. Dre as well as famed musical producer Jimmy Iovine. The 4-part series comes out to over four hours of interviews and stock footage that spans over the course of both of their careers, and as a result we get a comprehensive look at the music industry like we’ve never seen before.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 29th, 2017
“Cauliflower.”
When Steven Soderbergh announced his retirement from directing films in 2013, it was an announcement that was followed by shock and disappointment for fans and others in the industry. He was a workhorse who managed to deliver a variety of art house titles (The Girlfriend Experience) and then numerous successful blockbusters (Ocean’s 11, 12 & 13) that seemed to always allow him to make films by his own rules. Soderbergh makes his return to film with a heist film that uses West Virginia as its backdrop and NASCAR as its target. It’s familiar subject matter, but it’s the characters that separate this film from the rest of the pack.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 16th, 2017
John Wick was an action film that seemed to sneak up on everyone. Sure, it had a great trailer, but I don’t think anyone expected just how great it actually was. What made it so effective weren’t just the well-choreographed fights and the stylish look of the film, but it was the characters who while over the top, were also ones the audience could relate to. Atomic Blonde is helmed by half the directing team that gave us the first John Wick, and from what the trailers first teased us with, I came into it with hopes we’d get something special. While on the surface I can’t say that this film surpasses John Wick, what it does is stand alone for being a culturally and socially important film as it delivers not just the ultimate badass female in an action film
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 10th, 2017
When it comes to Victorian era serial killers, Jack the Ripper is pretty much a household name. Whether you know much about the terror he caused in White Chapel, all these years later you still know the name and what he did. With The Limehouse Golem, the filmmakers create a more sinister serial killer and deliver a Hammer-esque murder mystery. I’m all for a dark murder mystery, and when a film is channeling other successful films like Seven and From Hell, you’d imagine that you’d be witnessing a terrifying gory spectacle. The result, however, left me frustrated, as the film seems to pull from other films but never quite presents an engaging story to go along with the quirky mix of characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 27th, 2017
Ever since Birdman was released, it seems many filmmakers have been attempting to pull off the continuous take and outdo all the others. It was impressive when we all saw it the first time, but since then everything just seems like a bad knockoff. The newest film to follow this trend is Bushwick. While the camera work in the film does allow for an immersive experience, honestly it felt like I was in a first-person shooter video game, which was cool, but it seemed like the camera work was a distraction from the story. This is a frustrating film. On the technical side there is a lot to appreciate, but the moment you start looking at the story, the film seems to simply fall apart.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on October 27th, 2017
As a director, George Clooney just hasn’t managed to reproduce the magic he had in his first effort Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. I keep hoping that we’ll get another film at that caliber, but it seems over and over it is a swing and a miss. Now he has his new film Suburbicon, and this could be his most divisive work to date. There is nothing wrong with adding a social commentary to a film, but sometimes adding it can be a distraction from the film. In the case of Suburbicon, it is a tale of two films that couldn’t be any more different from each other. First we have a tale of a family attempting to keep their lives together following a home invasion, and then we have the story of a black family moving into a white neighborhood and the backlash that follows.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on October 20th, 2017
When I first heard about The Snowman, this was a movie that got me excited, that we could possibly have a great thriller to look forward to. At one point Martin Scorsese was attached to direct the film. He eventually backed out of the project, though he is still credited as an executive producer for the film. To step in for the directing duties, Tomas Alfredson got the call, and it’s his involvement that initially got me excited. Back in 2008 Alfredson directed Let the Right One In, which I consider to be one of the greatest horror films to be released in decades. It’s hard for some directors to meet expectations when their first films are such a success.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 19th, 2017
When it comes to hearing the name Loch Ness, just about everyone will think about the giant lake where “Nessie” the mythical monster inhabits. Whether you are a believer or not thousands converge to the Scottish Highlands location in hopes to be one of the lucky ones to catch a peak of the elusive beast. But the Loch Ness I am talking about is a beast of a whole other ilk. Thought the TV series does take place in a small tourist town that thrives on the legend that haunts the cold water, the series instead is about a serial killer that has been unleashed upon the town and given its residents something more to fear other than a giant monster that roams the lake.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 18th, 2017
It’s hard to believe it was way back in 1992 when Buffy the Vampire Slayer was first introduced to audiences. It was a title I had missed in the theaters, but I remember picking it up at our local mom-and-pop video store. With the title being what it was, to go in expecting more than a cheesy horror comedy filled with stakes, fangs, and witty dialog would be on the viewer. I wasn’t a huge fan of the film when I first saw it. I sort of felt like it was a film that was trying to be Fright Night, but let’s face it, there are very few vampire films that are as cool. It’s been over two decades since I last visited the film; how does it hold up? Well, to be honest, it’s grown on me quite a bit.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 16th, 2017
For the most part it seems the summer blockbusters tend to be sequels, superhero films, or CGI bonanzas that are simply eye candy to get us to the dark auditoriums to escape the heat. It’s rare that something comes along that is so clever and fresh as Baby Driver. Personally I’ve been a fan of Edgar Wright from the moment I first saw Shaun of the Dead; he was a writer and director who I felt knew how to make films fun. When he was set to direct his dream project Ant-Man, I was excited to see him finally get a chance to do a giant tent-pole studio film, but weeks before filming was set to begin, he got pulled away and replaced.
