Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on January 2nd, 2018
Detroit is a period crime drama focusing primarily on the Algiers Motel incident during the 12th Street riots in obviously, the city of Detroit. The night of July 25, law enforcement, including the local department, Michigan State Police, and Michigan Army National Guard responded to the hotel to investigate reports of a sniper. During the confrontation, three men were killed and another nine, including two white females, were allegedly beaten and humiliated by the first responders. A trial was held for three of the officers involved and a private security guard, with the deaths being declared justifiable homicide.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 29th, 2017
“Have you ever heard the legend behind the legend of Ninjago?”
Even though I loved the first two Lego movies, I was completely unfamiliar with the toy company's Ninjago line before I sat down to watch this latest entry in the madcap cartoon franchise. (I wasn't even sure how to pronounce “Ninjago”...and the answer isn't as simple as it seems.) But my unfamiliarity with the source material isn't the reason why I feel The Lego Ninjago movie is the weakest entry in the series so far.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 28th, 2017
“Based on real events...mostly.”
Queen Victoria sure knew how to create a frenzy in court. The monarch's close relationship with Scottish servant John Brown following her husband's death caused an uproar in the royal household and inspired the 1997 film Mrs. Brown, starring Judi Dench. Turns out, Victoria and Dench were just getting warmed up! Twenty years later, the actress reprises her regal role in Victoria & Abdul, which chronicles another unique, unconventional, and even more scandalous relationship between royal and commoner.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on December 22nd, 2017
Most movies are just not very good. Lots of money goes into turning out boring, repetitive garbage. You watch it and then dispose of it and make room for the next thing. There are some who do more, but the more you do, the greater the risk. Most filmmakers are not given the freedom to take really big risks, but someone who has been given the opportunity to take the big risk is Christopher Nolan. Interstellar is $165,000,000 gamble shooting for the moon. Actually Nolan is shooting for something way past the moon. He wants to take us to another galaxy. There is so much speculative science in this film that it is mind-boggling. The cutting edge of real science is, frankly, getting crazier and crazier. The average person really has no idea how crazy, but Interstellar is going to try to show us just how crazy. The true nature of some of the elements of the theory of relativity and other related theories is that they defy all logic.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 21st, 2017
When Christopher Nolan has a new release, it’s an event to get excited about. There are few directors I can say this about. Sure, there are directors that I like, but still there are few who manage to capture what makes going to the cinema an experience. Dunkirk is his latest cinematic opus. Despite it being his shortest film, with the exception of The Following, this is the first time he has shot a film almost entirely in IMAX form. What’s the big deal? Well, aside from the picture being twice the size of the regular format, what he does with these cameras is deliver a beautifully striking picture of destruction and survival. There’s a lot of buzz going around with this film, and already it’s being looked at as the first real Oscar contender of the year. Is the film worth the hype? Is it really Nolan’s best picture?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 8th, 2017
"Art is a lie. Art gives the chaos of the world an order that doesn't exist."
The X-Files will soon return for a second revival season with 10 episodes that will likely finish the franchise. But if you're a Gillian Anderson fan, you won't have to wait until next year to get your Anderson fix. Acorn has a release that you really have to discover. Gillian Anderson has served three seasons (or series, as the Brits call them) in Belfast for the BBC series The Fall. With the broadcast of that third and final season, Acorn is releasing a nice complete set of all three seasons on both DVD and Blu-ray.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 7th, 2017
There is a sense of dread that unintentionally comes along with an independent science fiction film. Despite how far technology has come, it seems that for a science fiction film to really be impressive they need a reasonably decent VFX budget or suffer with a look that often times appears cartoonish by comparison of the larger-budget films. The Osiris Child somehow manages to not just create a grounded realistic futuristic world, but even manages to use practical effects to create some nasty-looking monsters and not pull its punches with the scope of its story. In a film that seems to be parts Elysium and parts Pitch Black; this might be the most ambitious effort I’ve seen in the genre that manages to succeed in many ways.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 7th, 2017
“Sounds like you don't have a lot of faith in faith.”
You know how sports teams retire the jerseys of their most beloved, outstanding players so that no one can ever wear their number again? Well, we are well past the point where movies about exorcisms need to be hanging from Hollywood's rafters. Simply put, no one has ever come close to doing it as well as William Friedkin did almost 45(!) years ago with his adaptation of The Exorcist. If anything, The Crucifixion is an even more egregious misfire than other head-spinning stabs at the genre because this movie is actually based on an intriguing, horific real-life case.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 4th, 2017
Coming along the heels of Straight Outta Compton, the new HBO documentary series The Defiant Ones takes a more in depth at the life and career of Dr. Dre as well as famed musical producer Jimmy Iovine. The 4-part series comes out to over four hours of interviews and stock footage that spans over the course of both of their careers, and as a result we get a comprehensive look at the music industry like we’ve never seen before.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 29th, 2017
Of the many films based on books by prolific writer Stephen King, Misery ranks near the top. Falling somewhere between the horror and thriller genres, this film about a twisted obsession is frightening because the premise seems very real. Directed by Rob Reiner (A Few Good Men), who first visited King territory with his 1986 film Stand By Me, Misery tells the story of romance writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan, Elf) and the fan who rescues him after a car accident.
