Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 24th, 2016
“Taking the next step in a series of random steps.”
Those words are part of a toast near the start of this season, as chronically neurotic and self-absorbed writer Hannah Horvath prepares to embark on a mini-adventure that will temporarily take her away from her natural habitat of New York City. They also double as a tidy summary of the entertaining (and appropriately messy) fourth season of HBO's Girls, while simultaneously capturing what it's like to progress through your 20's.
Posted in: Contests, Tuesday Round Up by J C on February 23rd, 2016
The final Tuesday Round Up of February is set to close the month with a bang! Isn’t it funny how things tend to go boom whenever Bruce Willis is around? This week is no exception, as the action legend stars in new thriller Extraction, courtesy of Lionsgate. Speaking of lions, Disney takes its place in the circle of life with The Lion Guard: The Return of the Roar. Finally, Magnolia hits the road in search for laughs in Entertainment.
Of course, this is also your last chance to get some free stuff from our Round Up contest. Once a month we’re going to give away a surprise DVD title from our archives to a lucky winner who comments in our weekly Round-Up posts. All you have to do is comment in a Round-Up post — like this one! — and tell us which of the featured titles you’re most curious to read about. (Quick reminder: You're not telling us which title you'd like to win; your free DVD will be a surprise.)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 19th, 2016
“...Be like we were when we were 28. I think that would be awesome, right?”
It certainly seems awesome to the four main characters in Togetherness, who are each dealing with their own set of anxieties as they hover around 40. If that previous sentence doesn't exactly sound like a recipe for laugh-out-loud comedy, then you're on the same wavelength as this impressive HBO dramedy. Togetherness takes a bittersweet, refreshingly humane approach to portraying marriage and friendship.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 17th, 2016
“Before we start, I want you to know something...I'm not a rat.”
I could get into *a lot* of trouble if anybody found out I was talking to you. After all, there is absolutely, positively nothing worse than a rat, a point that is made crystal clear in Black Mass. But I'm putting my neck on the line here because I figured you'd want to know this fact-based crime drama marks the welcome return of Johnny Depp, who has spent the better part of the past decade in the Magic Kingdom loony wilderness.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 17th, 2016
“I earn money…I meet people…I can pay my debts…I can buy nice things for myself.”
Taken at face value, all of those pursuits sound totally admirable, especially when you consider that the person earning that money, meeting those new people, and buying those nice things is a bitter old woman who slowly comes out of her caustic shell. I mean, the only minor hiccup here is that Paulette — the title character in this wacky, soufflé-light French comedy — turns her miserable life around by selling drugs.
Posted in: Contests, Tuesday Round Up by J C on February 16th, 2016
Who's up for mid-week Mass? You don't even have to put on your Sunday best...in fact, all you have to do is pop in Black Mass, the star-studded Johnny Depp crime drama from Warner Bros. that highlights this week's Tuesday Round Up. The studio also mines drama from The 33. RLJ Entertainment engages in Criminal Activities, Sony mingles with Saints & Strangers, and Comedy Central yuks it up with Brian Regan: Live From Radio City Music Hall. Cohen Media Group fraternizes with the three-film Taviani Brothers Collection, Lionsgate races to the Wiener Dog Internationals, and Cinedigm eggs us on with Hatched.
HBO joins hands with Togetherness: The Complete First Season and continues its quarter-life crisis with Girls: The Complete Fourth Season. CBS whistles through The Andy Griffith Show: The Complete Series, and tells the story of The Brady Kids: The Complete Animated Series. Finally, Shout! Factory enlists in the two-film McHale's Navy/McHale's Navy Joins the Airforce.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 15th, 2016
“It's like five minutes before every launch, everyone goes to a bar, gets drunk, and tells me what they really think of me.”
During the final act of Steve Jobs — which is less of a biopic and more of a three-act performance piece inspired by the visionary Apple co-founder — the movie winks at its own gimmicky premise. The cheeky reference to the film's rigid, laser-focused structure is appropriate given that Jobs obsessively measured the design his own products down to the millimeter. The result is a movie that wonderfully mirrors its protagonist: Steve Jobs is enthralling, endlessly imaginative, and kind of exhausting.
Posted in: The Reel World by J C on February 12th, 2016
“Hi...it's been a long time.”
If Project Runway has taught us anything, it's that “in fashion, one day you're in and the next day you're out.” To a lesser extent, that adage can also be applied to comedy stars, since audience's tastes seem to shift almost as often as style trends. (There was a point in time when Pauly Shore was a movie star...that really happened!) As a result, any sequel to 2001's Zoolander — Ben Stiller's really, really, really, ridiculously good looking absurd fashion satire —had the odds stacked against it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 11th, 2016
A detective appears to be trapped between heaven and hell in Convergence, which is not all that different from the way I felt watching this supernatural thriller. On one hand, I was impressed by some of the mood and unsettling imagery established by writer/director Drew Hall; the film is mostly set in an abandoned hospital, which inspires even more dread than spending time in a fully functional one. Then again, there are also a lot of nonsense characters and story elements here that don't get a satisfying payoff, making Convergence an occasionally confounding and hellacious slog.
The story opens in 1999 with a series of terrorist bombings targeting clinics in Atlanta. Detective Ben Walls (Clayne Crawford) is supposed to be enjoying a day off with his wife Hannah (Alysia Ochse) and new baby when he is called in by his captain (Mykelti Williamson) to investigate the latest bombing. But faster than Det. Walls can say, “I'm not even supposed to be here today” he and a few others are rocked by the bomber's latest explosion. The next thing Det. Walls knows, he is in an eerily empty hospital. Captain Miller is there too, but he insists that they can't leave.
Posted in: Contests, Tuesday Round Up by J C on February 9th, 2016
Round Up...Tuesday Round Up. By now, our friendly little weekly post should need no introduction, and neither does a certain super spy who highlights our latest slate of offerings. That would be Bond...James Bond, who returns to action in Fox's Spectre. This week’s Round Up is also shaping up to be somewhat of a family affair. Lionsgate/CBS Films shows us how to Love the Coopers, which finds four generations of the titular family gathering for the holidays. Meanwhile, Sony pays a visit to Grandma, which stars Lily Tomlin as a scrappy senior. Lionsgate also spies MI-5 and tames Mountain Men: The Rules of the Wild Have Changed. Finally, Dark Sky Films moves heaven and earth with Convergence, while Cinema Epoch exhibits Sociopathia tendencies.
Just so you know, the Denver Broncos aren't necessarily the only big winners this week. Once a month we’re going to give away a surprise DVD title from our archives to a lucky winner who comments in our weekly Round-Up posts. All you have to do is comment in a Round-Up post — like this one! — and tell us which of the featured titles you’re most curious to read about. (Quick reminder: You're not telling us which title you'd like to win; your free DVD will be a surprise.)
