DTS HD 5.1 MA (English)

War of the Worlds-Goliath (Blu-Ray 3D)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 4th, 2014

The H.G. Wells invasion story has been told numerous times from a radio show when it allegedly caused a panic when Orson Wells made his infamous broadcast to the more recent imaging brought to the screen by Steven Spielberg. It’s the alien invasion story that has captured our imagination and will continue doing so for decades to come. In the new 3D animated release of War of the Worlds: Goliath, the tale of science fiction is simply the jumping-off point to a new and bigger story about the war that was waged between man and those from outer space.
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Knights of Badassdom (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 2nd, 2014

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“…I’m packing an ounce of killer shrooms, and there be monsters in need of pummelin’.”

When I first think of how to explain Knights of Badassdom, what comes to mind is that it’s Evil Dead 2 meets LARPing. The only experience I’ve had with LARPing came in the form of watching Role Models and having to review the documentary Skull World. What director Joe Lynch (Wrong Turn 2 and actor in Holliston) has done is create a world that invites both fans of role-playing and horror and thrusts them together to create a blood-and-gore-soaked romp filled with laughs
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Delivery Man (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 31st, 2014

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What would you do if you found out that you fathered 533 kids? Better yet, how would you handle that news on top of the news that the children you fathered are petitioning the courts to have your identity revealed? Well, that is the dilemma that Vince Vaughn is faced with in his new comedy Delivery Man. As you can figure out from the funny premise, this is a comedy, but it is not just hapless jokes without any real substance; Delivery Man actually has another side to it, a side that tugs on the heartstrings a bit.
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Veep: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 27th, 2014

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“…I’m the f—ing Vice President of the United States, and I have something to say.”

If you’ve seen Veep, you know it’s almost impossible to quote the show without including an f-bomb or any of the show’s crassly creative put-downs. The sitcom’s central joke remains that the vice presidency might be the most high-profile unimportant job in the world. As a result, the second season of HBO’s caustic comedy sees VP Selina Meyer making moves to improve her political standing. Of course, she and her harried staff can’t avoid the humiliations and indignities that come with the job.
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The Wolf of Wall Street (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 25th, 2014

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Besides the fact that it stars Leonardo DiCaprio and that it’s essentially a white collar gloss on Goodfellas, you’d be forgiven for thinking somebody other than Martin Scorsese directed The Wolf of Wall Street. I don’t mean to suggest Scorsese has lost his masterful touch or his passion for filmmaking, both of which were on display as recently as two years ago in the wonderful Hugo. It’s more that after spending the better part of the 21st century making strong, serious dramas, I didn’t necessarily expect Scorsese to make his funniest, loosest and most audacious picture in decades.
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Kill Your Darlings (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 21st, 2014

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For some reason, I have themes that I keep reviewing time in and time again (regardless of whether I enjoy the subject matter or not). One of those themes or rather people is Allen Ginsberg, one of the most important poets of the 20th century and symbol of the Beat Generation. A few years ago, I reviewed Howl which was more about his 1957 obscenity trial. This film, Kill Your Darlings deals with the relationship between Allen Ginsberg and Lucien Carr. Let us see how well this one turns out.
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Reasonable Doubt (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 21st, 2014

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“The problem is you don’t know my pain or emptiness. But now you’re going to know how it feels to be me.”

Mitch Brockden (Cooper) is an ambitious up and comer in the Chicago prosecutor’s office. He has a reputation for being aggressive, and he doesn’t lose cases. He’s respected and liked by his colleagues. That’s the man we first meet. But after a night of some power drinking with his buds, we are introduced to another Mitch Brockden. This Mitch is selfish and a coward.
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Swerve (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 17th, 2014

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“If something was to come your way, I mean something so irresistible that you just had to have it, do you think you could sacrifice everything for it and not regret it?”

When it comes to down-on-their-luck men in movies, that “something” could be any number of things. Oh, who am I kidding? It’s pretty much always a woman or a large sum of money. In Swerve — a twisty Australian thriller that goes down a number of familiar roads — our hero is tempted by both.
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The Book Thief (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 14th, 2014

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“One small fact: you are going to die. Despite every effort, no one lives forever.”

The Book Thief is narrated by Death, who opens the film with these sobering words. It is also set in Germany during the years leading up to World War II. On paper, the best-case scenario for this film appears to be “well-executed, watchable downer”, while the worst-case scenario is “do we really need *another* movie about WWII?!” But fans of Aussie author Markus Zusak’s 2005 best-seller know better. The Book Thief uses the silky specter of death to tell a beautifully affecting story that celebrates life.
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The Outsider (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 12th, 2014

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British badass Craig Fairbrass looks more like the henchman in an action movie than the hero. (To be fair, Fairbrass looks like the lead henchman who always gives the hero a little more trouble than you’d expect, but he looks like a henchman nonetheless.) The actor has worked steadily in England and Hollywood, including a role in Cliffhanger where he played one of John Lithgow’s (you guessed it) henchmen. With The Outsider, Fairbrass earns a story credit and the right to play the hero in this junky, bruising, low-budget cross between Taken and The Limey.
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12 Years a Slave (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 10th, 2014

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Gone With The Wind is the most popular film of all time still to this day if you talk about adjusted dollars. The Birth of a Nation was the most popular film of all time for a considerable time prior to that. Both films could be said to have a benign view of slavery and white supremacy, although it would be easy to use much stronger language than that. In most circles, both films have been considerably discredited due to this myopic view. Both films almost completely ignore or disregard the incredible cruelty of using human beings as a commodity for commerce.
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Wicked Blood (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 5th, 2014

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There’s a pretty good, southern gothic tale buried somewhere in Wicked Blood. Unfortunately, writer/director Mark Young isn’t quite able to extract it. Instead, we get a somewhat overqualified cast acting out Young’s down-and-dirty story of meth, chess and bikers that is exactly as messy, baffling and oddly intriguing as that description makes it sound. The film opens with a literal bang: we see the explosion of a shabby trailer. We don’t know who is inside, but we see a young girl stoically watching the flames from the outside.
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Killing Kennedy (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 3rd, 2014

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“His name is Oswald, Lee Harvey Oswald.”

Before November 22, 1963, that name was an obscure one, known only to a few people in the intelligence community who had him under surveillance for his communist leanings. But by a little after noon on that date in Dallas, Lee Harvey Oswald was suddenly one of the most infamous names in American history. He would share the stage with the likes of John Wilkes Booth
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The Agony and the Ecstasy (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on March 3rd, 2014

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“The Sistine Chapel. The masterpiece of a sculptor who did not want to paint.”

Remember when Michael Jordan quit basketball, tried his hand at baseball, and then returned to the NBA less than two years later? Well, imagine if Jordan had actually made it to the majors with the Chicago White Sox and put up a .375/50 HR/50 SB mark on his way to winning the American League Rookie of the Year/MVP awards, along with a World Series ring. The artistic equivalent of that was Michelangelo — one of the most significant figures of the Italian Renaissance, but a sculptor by trade — painting the frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
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Gravity (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 26th, 2014

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“Let me tell you a story.”

Remember the tagline in Alien? “In space no one can hear you scream.” Gravity begins, appropriately enough, with complete silence. We’re treated to a rather spectacular view of the Earth from orbit. Eventually chatter begins to intrude upon our revelry. We soon meet the crew of a space shuttle mission to do repair work on the Hubble telescope. We quickly learn that this is the final mission for retiring astronaut Matt Kowalski, played by George Clooney, although I certainly consider it a bad sign when he’s told to enjoy his last walk.
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Hellbenders 3D (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 25th, 2014

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“Don’t mess with a man of God.”

It has been said that an old vaudevillian was on his deathbed and was asked how he was doing. He replied, “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard”. And no, it wasn’t Shia LaBeof. The fact is that comedy is easy. Horror comedy is hard…very hard. One needs only to look at the lame attempts each year to make us laugh at the carnage. For every Shaun Of The Dead there are 100 Vampire In Brooklyn‘s Let’s not even talk about the last Scream entry.
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Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on February 20th, 2014

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“If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.”

Even if Game of Thrones had inexplicably wrapped its run after two stellar seasons, the HBO series would’ve gone down as a landmark in television history because of its unprecedented scale and audacious storytelling. But then fans wouldn’t have gotten season 3, an adaptation of (roughly) the first half of “A Storm of Swords”, the third novel in George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. “A Storm of Swords” is considered the “Empire Strikes Back” of Martin’s novels, which is a terrifying prospect considering the “Empire” in the world of Thrones has been “striking back” since the very first episode.
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The Americans: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on February 17th, 2014

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“…Super secret spies living next door. They look like us. They speak better English than we do. I mean, come on. Someone’s been reading too many spy novels.”

And now someone has expertly taken the cloak-and-dagger intrigue of a great spy novel, transplanted it onto our television screens, and called it The Americans. While the show is very clearly set during the Reagan era, its complex, multi-layered portrayal of the human beings on both sides of the Cold War makes it feel thrillingly alive today.
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Baggage Claim (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on February 13th, 2014

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Paula Patton has managed to stand out on the big screen alongside Hollywood heavyweights like Denzel Washington (Déjà Vu, 2 Guns) and Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol), but she’s still probably best known for being married to Beetle-douche. That’s why I was hoping Baggage Claim, her first big solo starring vehicle, would be so much better than it turned out to be. It’s tempting to dismiss it as just another corny, clichéd romantic comedy, and forget about it until it pops up on TBS two years from now. But the film squanders too much appealing talent — and insults the audience’s intelligence too often — to let it off the hook quite so easily.
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Afternoon Delight (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on February 3rd, 2014

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“How did the stripper get in the maid’s room?”

That question sounds like the set up for some juvenile, profane joke, but it also tidily encapsulates the plot of Afternoon Delight. The film is about the plight of an affluent, quietly desperate housewife who takes it upon herself to “rescue” a young, down-on-her-luck stripper. What the quote doesn’t quite capture is how this funny and frank outing from first-time feature filmmaker Jill Soloway is really about the universal quest for intimacy.
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Collision (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on January 30th, 2014

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Collision is ostensibly about a honeymooning couple who gets stranded in the desert, and how the harsh, unforgiving terrain shines a light on their many secrets. But the coolest thing about this thriller — besides the spectacularly violent car crash that sets the plot in motion and gives the film its title — is how the story could’ve been told from any of the marooned characters’ perspectives. I just wish writer/director David Marconi hadn’t taken the most winding, contrived road possible to arrive at his destination.
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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Blu-ray 3D)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 29th, 2014

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“My name is Flint Lockwood. My whole life I always wanted to be a great inventor just like my hero. It was like Chester V. was speaking directly to me using the language of science.”

In 2009 Sony Pictures had finally learned to use the language of science when it comes to the world of animation. I’m talking the computer-animated feature film. Of course, they’ve been in the game for a while, but it was with the release of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs that this reviewer believes they delivered on the kinds of things that Pixar and Dreamworks have been delivering
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The Fifth Estate (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on January 29th, 2014

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Journalism today is in disarray. I say that not because there aren’t many, many passionate journalists who want to do the best job possible. I say it because there are just many, many, many more bloggers who don’t know how live up to those standards or why it’s even important. The internet changes everything in the music industry, the movie industry, and the media industry. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing. It just means that it’s chaotic, and it often seems like no one is in control
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The Prey (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on January 24th, 2014

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In the 1990s, the French action films of Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, Leon: The Professional) and Euro-centric offerings like John Frankenheimer’s Ronin provided a sleeker, more exotic alternative to the outsize, muscle-bound exploits of Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme. Besides movies with the words “Fast” or “Furious” in their title, American action flicks have mostly moved away from lo-fi, knucklehead thrills and turned to PG-13 heroes in CGI adventures. Meanwhile, European filmmakers have stayed in their stylish, car/foot-chase-loving lane. The result is entertaining yarns like The Prey/La Proie, which stands out thanks to its thuddingly simple action movie pleasures.
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Crossing Lines: Season One (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on January 22nd, 2014

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Location, location, location! The notion that a desirable geographic spot can make a huge difference isn’t exclusive to the world of real estate. Take, for instance, Crossing Lines. At first glance, the show fits comfortably alongside any number of American police procedurals that feature curiously attractive cops and a fresh set of dead bodies each week. It’s a formula that’s worked for decades, so it’s hard to argue for a complete overhaul. The best fans can hope for are clever tweaks to help new shows stand out from the crowded cop show lineup. Crossing Lines accomplishes this by taking all the fake corpses you’ve seen on New York and L.A. streets and scattering them across Europe.
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