Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 10th, 2015
“Sometimes the truth isn't believable. That doesn't mean that it's not true.”
Talk about truth being stranger than fiction! That proverb absolutely applies to the real-life story of Mike Finkel and Christian Longo, two men from seemingly disparate backgrounds who were thrust together by extraordinary circumstances. Their relationship is the basis for True Story, a drama about duality and deception. But while the truth is often stranger than fiction, that doesn't necessarily mean it's more entertaining.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 7th, 2015
"There can be no murder in paradise."
That was the stand of the Soviet Union's ruling party during the Cold War. They believed that murder was a capitalist crime. So what happens when a serial killer is killing young boys up and down the railway? That's the premise of Lionsgate's Child 44. It's based on the Tom Rob Smith novel which is part of a trilogy based on the character Leo Demidov. The story itself was based on an actual Soviet Union serial killer named Andrei Chikatilo, who is suspected of killing over 50 children in the 1970's. To set the story apart from other "true crime" entries, the facts were fictionalized and moved deeper into the Cold War era of the 1950's and a post-war Soviet Union at the peak of its power and world influence. It was their own "great experiment", and it was considered fatal to admit to the world that such base crimes and instincts existed in such a utopia.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 5th, 2015
"This ain't no place for a hero."
Strike Back follows the exploits of an elite and secret British military team called Section 20. On paper they do not exist, but they've got all the best new high-tech toys, and they're going to need every one of them. They're going after the top terrorist threats. They combine the intelligence-gathering network of a CIA-type organization with the precision strike force impact of a top Navy Seals team.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 4th, 2015
I Love Lucy changed the fledgling television industry in the 1950’s. This was a time when network television was less than a decade old. Most folks had never heard of television just 15 years earlier. I Love Lucy defined the concept of a sitcom. The show was driven by the very strong personalities of the cast. Desi Arnaz was considered a charismatic Latin lover by American women. Lucy played the perfect foil and found a mountain of gold to mine in strong physical comedy. So many modern shows owe their roots to this classic that it would be impossible to mention them all here. Now CBS and Paramount are bringing the show back in brand-new high-definition restored image that will delight even the pickiest fans of the show. We've now reached the second season of these efforts, and it is absolutely worth a look.
Even if you are not a particular fan of the show, it would be a mistake to dismiss the impact the series had both on the situation comedy and the television industry itself. The show's pioneering use of the three-camera format and shooting on film allows the material to be in a position to be restored at all. That setup has remained a staple of the television comedy since that time. Desi was also a marketing genius who was the first to take advantage of the promotional value of putting the show's name on everything from lunch boxes to sleepwear. It's an innovation that is exaggerated in a Red Skelton skit provided in the extras here. Desi changed the way television crew did their jobs and created the modern production methods still used today.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 4th, 2015
“Who would ever suspect a kid?”
When I glanced at the Blu-ray cover for Barely Lethal — with its groan-worthy pun of a title, girl power, and generous splashes of hot pink — I didn’t really expect it to be my thing. (Ok, fine…groan-worthy puns are *totally* my thing.) So while I may not be the intended audience for this independent action/comedy, I have to admit its charms snuck up on me the same way one of the film’s disarming young killers might catch a target by surprise.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 4th, 2015
Feel like your girlfriend can be a little clingy? You've got nothing on Max, the slacker at the center of Burying the Ex. The movie operates in a genre — mixing broad comedy and horror — that has been largely (and sadly) missing from the big screen for the better part of two decades. That's why I was delighted to see that the man at the helm here is none other than Joe Dante (1978's Piranha, Gremlins 1 and 2), who has made some of the best horror comedies of all time. Burying the Ex isn't near that level, but it's still a fun and welcome diversion.
Max (Anton Yelchin) is a 20-something underachiever who works as a clerk in a horror-themed shop. His big goal in life is...to open up *his own* horror-themed shop! Max's live-in girlfriend is Evelyn (Ashley Greene), a hardcore environmentalist with a type-A personality. Everyone's in Max's life — especially his boorish half brother Travis (Oliver Cooper) — can see Evelyn isn't the girl for him. The only person who can't see this is Evelyn herself, who seizes on Max's promise that they'll be together forever. The good news for Max is that he doesn't have to go through the awkwardness of a breakup. The bad news is Max dodges that bullet because Evelyn is killed in a freak accident right before he can dump her. The worst news is his promise that they would be together forever was made shortly after a satanic genie arrived in the shop where Max works.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 3rd, 2015
How do you follow up the biggest publishing phenomenon of the last 20 years? Well, if you're J.K. Rowling, you excise all talk of horcruxes and Hogwarts and supplant it with warring parish council members and the idyllic village of Pagford. That's the setting for The Casual Vacancy, Rowling's 2012 follow-up to the Harry Potter series. The book has been adapted by BBC and HBO into a three-part miniseries. With its small-town setting and 23(!) main characters, the series simultaneously feels quaint and sprawling. It also made me wish I was able to spend more than three hours with these people.
“Everyone's got skeletons rattling in their cupboard.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 30th, 2015
Shout Factory has brought yet another 1980's Empire Pictures horror film to high definition on Blu-ray. This is another one of those Schlock-O-Rama films that are best viewed with a group of friends. While it's certainly a step ahead of some recent entries on this list, there's plenty of fun to be had in a gathering. This release also has the advantage of just one film on the disc. Of course, I'm talking about Ghost Town, directed by Richard Governor, but did you know that Mac Ahlberg of Ghoulies and Re-Animator fame was an uncredited assistant director on the film? The man's a pretty good cinematographer, and his eye lends itself to a better-looking shoot with more atmosphere than you might ordinarily find on these things.
Kate (Hickland) is driving through the desert in her red Mercedes Benz convertible, having the time of her life. A veil discarded to the winds tells us she's just left some poor sap waiting at the altar, and she's making her escape. Her flight of freedom is short-lived, as she finds herself in the middle of a terrible sandstorm that carries her away. Her car's found by the local sheriff with terrible damage.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 27th, 2015
At this risk of going all 30 for 30 on you, what if I told you one of the most layered, soulful performances I've seen all year comes courtesy of a canine? White God is a hypnotic, Hungarian parable about a girl and her dog. Sounds simple enough, but director Kornel Mundruczo places an unprecedented amount of storytelling responsibility on non-CGI, four-legged performers. The results are occasionally uneven, but frequently spellbinding.
“Nobody wants a stinking mutt. That's what shelters are for.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 23rd, 2015
"You wanna see something cool?"
If you're old enough to remember audio tape, you might be old enough to remember Memorex. If you remember Memorex, you should recall their popular slogan: "Is it live or is it Memorex?". Of course, the idea was that the tape quality was so good you couldn't distinguish it from the real thing. What if robotics and artificial intelligence reached that same plateau? The point where you could not tell the difference between an actual human being and an artificial one. The threshold is determined by something called a Turing test. And that's exactly what writer/director Alex Garland presents you the audience with in Ex Machina. The question is, did it pass?
