Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 31st, 2024
In 1989 John Woo released The Killer, and it became an instant classic in Hong Kong cinema. The Killer and Hard Boiled were my introduction to John Woo and his Gun Fu cinema. The way he choreographed his shootouts it was like watching this beautiful bullet-fueled ballet and typically always shot in slow motion. When he came to the US, John Woo was able to find some success in the action genre, delivering hits like Broken Arrow and Face/Off. His career has kind of cooled off, and when they announced that Woo was going to be remaking The Killer, I’ll admit I hated the idea. It’s a movie I don’t feel can really be improved, but with Woo involved, I was still willing to give the film a chance. My concerns were pretty much confirmed when I heard about the casting and I saw this was going to be a straight-to-streaming release. Let me be very blunt; the 1989 version of The Killer is top-tier action, and it is a film that I feel just can’t easily be replicated, nor should it be. Unfortunately Hollywood just wants to reboot and remake everything …
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 31st, 2024
Ever since I saw the Demon House documentary in 2018 I’ve kind of been obsessed with this story. It is one of the best documented stories of the paranormal out there with a number of witnesses, many of whom are government officials, and people who you would consider reliable. It was inevitable that a film would be done about this house, and it seems Lee Daniels (Precious and The Butler) is the guy who got the job. This story is one that took a while to bring to the screen, and what kind of blows my mind when it comes to bringing these “true stories” to life is that they find these fascinating stories and then decide to just change things and make them more “Hollywood”, and for the most part that is never a decision that improves the story (like was it necessary to change the location from Indiana to Pennsylvania?). So I’m going to just say that if you want the “true” story, check out the documentary. It is at least a nice companion to the film … As for my review of the film, I’m just going to focus as much as I can on the film and ignore the true story.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 14th, 2024
“Ladies and gentlemen! Start your engines.”
Back in 2015 when Mad Max: Fury Road was released, it was a film that I don’t think anyone expected audiences to respond to as they did. It was 30 years since audiences had last been to the Australian Wasteland when they previously saw Max, then played by Mel Gibson, play the title hero in a dystopian trilogy that has a very loyal fan base. Fury Road managed to exceed expectations as it delivered on having over-the-top chases through the desert wasteland, spectacular stunts, a great score, and then there was the character of Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron, as a one-armed badass who managed to steal the film from Tom Hardy, who was now starring in the title role of Max. While I do love Fury Road, my major gripe was with the over-simplicity of the film. Basically it is nothing more than one large chase where our heroes spend 2/3 heading in one direction and then in the final portion decide to turn around and continue their chase. I have nothing against a great car chase; after all, I still think Vanishing Point is hands down the ultimate car film with the best chases put to celluloid, but considering George Miller had 30 years to brainstorm ideas and come up with a script,
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 14th, 2024
Jeff Nichols is one of those directors who may not be a household name, but he’s one of the few working directors out there who I feel is just one box office hit away from breaking out and becoming one of the modern greats. The 2012 film Mud is hands down my favorite from his filmography. Then there is Take Shelter and Midnight Special that are close behind. While these may not be considered box office hits, these films I feel are each cinematic gems that deserve to be checked out. So of course when I hear he is helming The Bikeriders with a stacked cast of Tom Hardy, Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Michael Shannon (who was also in Midnight Special and Take Shelter), Boyd Holbrook, and Damon Herriman, this easily became one of the films I was most looking forward to this year. As it turns out, this is one of the most frustrating film experiences I’ve sat through in some time.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 7th, 2024
For horror fans, the past couple of years have been pretty great with the amount of quality films we’ve been getting. Now, for the amount of good films we’ve gotten, there should be no surprise that there have been some duds along the way. This year I’m feeling like Night Swim is the worst of the bunch. As for Tarot, I have to admit I went into this one with pretty low expectations, but the trailer had enough in it for me to want to still give it a try. While I missed it in theaters, this weekend I caught it on Netflix, and I’ve got to say, it’s better than I expected, but still it left me wanting more. The film opens up with a group of friends renting a mansion in the middle of nowhere to celebrate their friend’s birthday. When they run out of beer, they search the home looking for more to drink but end up finding more than they bargained for when they find a door telling them to Keep Out … but this is a horror movie, so of course they open the door that leads to a creepy basement filled with creepy artifacts. When they find a deck of tarot cards, Haley (Harriet Slater), the tarot expert of the group, volunteers to give everyone a reading, and of course curses them all in the process.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on July 12th, 2024
We are living in the era of the “legacy sequel”, it seems all sorts of properties that began in the late 70s or 80s are getting sequels and for the most part they have been rather successful at the box office. This is the part that frustrates me with streaming services, a film like Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F has been gestating for years, it even went to becoming an a TV series that failed to take off but after the success of Top Gun: Maverick, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and the Creed films it seems Hollywood execs have decided maybe a new Beverly Hills Cop film might be a good idea after all. Then factor that this summer isn’t all that stacked with tent-pole films you’d think Netflix would take a chance and give Axel Foley his time on the big screen like he deserves, but nope this new film is exclusive to Netflix and while I get their motivations, I still think they are stupid for missing out on the potential added income, just like they’ll most likely forego releasing the film on physical media. It is an interesting time in film and I don’t feel it is a good thing, streaming may be huge but most of the films that are direct to streaming whether it is Netflix, Prime, Apple and so on…most of these films just are not very good and unfortunately it seems audiences are fine with settling for mediocrity.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 9th, 2024
When you look back at 2004, it’s a little hard to imagine just how big an impact Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy would have on the film industry. I’m not trying to say the film invented anything new with this fun, satiric comedy, but what it did do was launch the careers of many and really helped make comedy fun and raunchy for a while, and more importantly, profitable at the box office. I mean, this film is stacked with stars. Sure, there’s Will Ferrell front and center, but this is had a pre-40 Year-Old Virgin Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Christina Applegate, Kathryn Hahn, Seth Rogan, David Koechner, Fred Willard, and numerous others who are in the background or just make cameos. Seriously, this might be the best comedic cast put together of all time, and when you dive into the extras, you get a glimpse at just how talented everyone is. The film may be 20 years old, but it holds up. I’ve seen the film at least a dozen times, and it still makes me laugh. So what makes this film so special?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 5th, 2024
“I will not accept a life I do not deserve.”
In 2022 writer and director Ti West gave horror fans the gift of the one/two horror punch of the films X and Pearl. From those two films came the rise of Mia Goth, who has since become horror royalty, and since the rumors began to rumble about a third film in this horror series, it has been hard to not get excited. Ever since the announcement of MaXXXine and hearing the cast of the film, it’s been the horror film I’ve been most looking forward to. I’ve been a big fan of Ti West ever since 2009 when I saw The House of the Devil. I adore that film, to the point where I have a Mondo poster of it hanging in my living room, and then he did The Innkeepers, which for me cemented his awesomeness, and that he wasn’t simply a fluke. When you look at his filmography and you watch his films, you can see the man has talent, but for some reason he’s not a bigger name in the industry. But I feel like that’s going to change soon, and it seems like A24 knows that West can deliver the goods, especially when you consider that they are releasing the film over 4th of July weekend, typically a spot meant for huge tentpole movies … or am I just being delusional?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 3rd, 2024
In 2004 when Team America: World Police was released, Trey Parker and Matt Stone were already well established in the film industry as the guys who created South Park. They had even dipped their toes into doing live action films like Orgazmo and BASEketball, but what the industry knew them for was their animated series South Park that began back in 1997 and is still going strong on Comedy Central. The duo isn’t afraid to take chances, whether it’s insulting celebrities (after all, part of their charm is being equal opportunity offenders) or creating their musical for the stage, The Book of Mormon, so was it a big surprise they’d want to do an action adventure film entirely with puppets? The film is very much a parody of the action films of the 90’s and early 00’s that were produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. In case you are unfamiliar with his name, he produced the mega hits like Top Gun, The Rock, Con-Air, and Pearl Harbor. But what this film was also tapping into was the over-the-top patriotic attitudes that the media projected. I mean, everything needed to be patriotic in a post 9-11 world.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 29th, 2024
In 1993 when this film came out, 1962 just seemed like another time that as a teenager I just couldn’t wrap my head around. While the kids in Matinee were excited about these giant monster films, I could sort of relate, as I was getting into horror myself, but instead of atomic bugs, I was getting into the slasher heavy hitters like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. So a film about kids spending most of their time at a movie theater was something I could relate to easily, and as I got older I simply continued to appreciate the film more as I consumed more films from the past and grew to appreciate filmmakers like Val Lewton, William Castle, Roger Corman, and Lloyd Kaufman, the guys who knew how to turn a cheap film into an event experience through a variety of marketing gimmicks. The idea of ambulances being staged outside a theater because audience members may faint or having people in costume lunge at unsuspecting guests. These innovators make going to the movie theater an experience even if the movie wasn’t all that great … and now 30 years after the release of Matinee, I find myself bitten by the bug of nostalgia.
