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 Brent Lorentson on February 18th, 2016
I was a little hesitant with picking up this film. I wasn’t sure if a film about a grandmother spending the day raising money to pay for her granddaughter’s abortion was a film I could find the humor in. Well, I’m glad I took a chance on this film; not only does this film have so many layers beneath its overall plot, but it never once attempts to have an agenda towards its audience. Considering the potentially heavy subject matter, the film instead keeps its attention on what matters most, the people who come in and out of our lives whether they are friends or family; in the end it’s how we treat them that make us who we are.
Elle (Lily Tomlin) is about as feminist as they come; she’s a proud lesbian who is independent and at one time was a successful poet who wrote about feminist themes. When we first meet her, it is in the middle of her and her girlfriend calling it quits. Like any breakup, it’s ugly and filled with emotion. Despite the tough exterior we see Elle trying to hold up, we know it is all an act, and we understand she is still hurt after the loss of her true love of 30-plus years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 17th, 2016
"Will you follow me, one last time?"
It's time to say goodbye to Middle Earth, at least from a cinematic perspective. The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies marks the last time we shall see Peter Jackson's version of Middle Earth. Sure, Ian McKellen has told us he wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of a return. I would. There is certainly enough work from Tolkien to support future adventures, but the rights to anything beyond these books belongs to the Tolkien estate. To say they are not very fond of Jackson, New Line, Warner, or the six films themselves would be an understatement. There is great animosity there, and no amount of money is going to change that.
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 Gino Sassani on February 17th, 2016
On the surface MI-5 looks to be a mundane direct-to-video film attempting to cash in on a couple of things. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is the fifth in the series and often referred to as MI:5. The new James Bond film has a plot involving the head of MI-5 attempting to take down the MI-6 department and our beloved 007. None of these would contribute to the fortuitous name. Rather it’s the difference in racial sensitivity between Britain and the United States. MI-5 is actually a feature-film version of the long-running British series Spooks. The film’s original title happens to be Spooks: The Greater Good. It seems that even foreign nations have noticed we can be offended by words that have completely innocent meanings so long as someone out there can find an offensive albeit completely unintended meaning. Don’t believe me? Just check in with how many sports media refer to the Washington Redskins these days. It’s unfortunate, because I like the original title. It’s more original. MI-5 is so generic these days.
If you’re up on the show, you already know the Intelligence Chief of MI-5, Harry Pearce, still played by Peter Firth. After 10 years he’s now a disgraced agent and on the run after terrorist Adam Qasim (Gabel) escapes from a prisoner transport that Pearce was in charge of conducting. Some inside the agency think that Pearce was a part of the escape plan.
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: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 16th, 2016
The Martian, which is about an astronaut stranded on Mars, is one of the biggest hit movies of the summer. By the end of the movie, the entire world is united in their hope that the astronaut will be saved. The Martian is not a true story. The 33 is. It is the true story of 33 miners trapped underground for 69 days in a Chilean gold mine in 2010. The world really does come together in their hopes and prayers for the trapped miners. Even though it is a true story, it also functions as a good old-fashioned disaster flick in the tradition of The Poseidon Adventure or The Towering Inferno. It also showcases Latino actors primarily, but some other big-name actors round out the cast as well. The two biggest are probably Academy Award-winning French actress, Juliette Binoche (The English Patient) and Irish actor Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects). Antonio Banderas, Rodrigo Santoro, Lou Diamond Phillips, Jacob Vargas, Bob Gunton, and Oscar Nunez are just a few of the familiar faces known for playing Latin characters (Latino, Hispanic, and Latin are all technically politically correct according to various sources) who anchor this movie. One of the most familiar faces is Cote de Pablo, who was born in Chile but is best known for playing Israeli Mossad officer Ziva Davis in the monumentally successful TV show, NCIS. Kate del Castillo is a hugely popular Mexican actress who also had success in the United States on the Showtime series, Weeds. I could go on, but the point is that this is a product meant to appeal heavily to the Latin American population while still having a broad worldwide recognition factor. It succeeds mostly, but it has a greater responsibility than that. It also has to honor the story of the 33 men who were trapped in that mine.
The film includes footage from Anderson Cooper, Brian Williams, and other international journalists who covered the worldwide, potentially tragic event. It also has the active participation of Don Francisco, the host of Sabado Gigante, which just ended a 53-year run on the air. Don Francisco is a television personality in 185 countries (but is actually Mario Luis Kreutzberger Blumenfeld, the son of Jewish German immigrants who escaped to Chile fleeing the Nazi occupation). Clearly this is a film with international appeal. It is a well-known story the world over when we all held our breath wondering whether the miners would be saved. In case you don’t remember how the story concluded, I won’t spoil it for you here. The film definitely milks the suspense at every opportunity.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2016
In 2013 husband-and-wife production duo Mark Burnett and Roma Downey teamed up to bring The Bible to the History Channel. The 10 episode series gave as a whirlwind tour of the milestones from the Bible and brought about some critical acclaim along with solid ratings. It aired during Easter/Passover season. It was certainly an ambitious project and left the team feeling they could do more with the project. They managed to strike a deal this time with NBC to air a sequel of sorts to the mini-series. Enter AD The Bible, which takes an opposite approach to the first show. Instead of cramming thousands of years into just 10 episodes AD spreads out quite a bit, offering us 12 episodes on just the first years after the death and resurrection of Christ. We're basically talking the book Acts of the Apostles. It's the story of the birth of Christianity and the early work done by the followers of Jesus. If you felt rushed the first time, this is the series you've been waiting for.
There were a few obstacles to overcome to bring the series to television. Diogo Morgado was not available to reprise the role of Jesus this time around. This led to a rather radical decision that appears to have paid off. Juan Pablo Di Pace takes over the role admirably. If they were going to replace Christ himself, why not start with a fresh cast all around? That means that every part that was also shown in the first series has been recast. This includes the role of the Virgin Mary, who was originally played by series producer Roma Downy. Credit the filmmaker for understanding that making an exception for herself might have sent the wrong message. It also was the kind of distraction a series like this really doesn't need.
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: Disc Reviews by Dan Holland on February 11th, 2016
"Ah, the holidays. The most wonderful time of the year. And so begins my tale..."
Love the Coopers seems to be a holiday title that arrived a little later than expected at the Upcoming Discs hub. Within the first five to ten minutes, you come to realize that it is a family-oriented holiday film with a rather impressive A-list cast, consisting of Steve Martin, John Goodman, Diane Keaton, Alan Arkin, Ed Helms, and Olivia Wilde. If you aren’t already a fan of any of these actors and actresses, the film’s story is endearing, as are most holiday films. However, what sets this film apart from other holiday titles (for me, anyway) is the hauntingly accurate idea of a “family” being a bleak entity, as well as atmosphere, that we all must learn to love in our own ways. For some this might come easily, but for others, it can be a slippery slope to ascend. Love the Coopers foregrounds each character’s journey up this slope and provides a satisfying conclusion for each.
