Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 12th, 2015
"It's the guy next door, guy who sits too close in the theater, maybe even at church. Plain, ordinary, the everyday man. That's the guy they should be afraid of. 'Cause they never see him coming."
Or maybe the friendly neighborhood barber. Max Enscoe's screenplay for The Barber appears to touch on those fears. We've all seen those interviews with neighbors and friends after a particularly heinous killer is finally caught. He was quiet. Always went to church.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 12th, 2015
There are certain things that are obvious to some of us, and nobody wants to talk about them. All people are full of weaknesses that they then try to deny exist. People are people, but some people think they are better than other people. It seems obvious that we should all try to get over our hatred and be more accepting of all our differences and see how much alike we all are. Black or White is an important movie that comes in the form of a fun and heartwarming melodrama. The movie navigates through very murky and unexplored waters and comes out the other side triumphantly. There is no reason that these waters are unexplored except for the fact that everyone thinks everyone else is racist but never looks at themselves. There is lots of very ugly and violent racism, and then there is subconscious racism. The subconscious racism is harder to deal with.
Most people are guilty of this, because we all tend to put ourselves in smaller and smaller categories.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 11th, 2015
“It’s like being kids again. The streets are our playground.”
The above quote refers to parkour, the art and discipline of moving through urban spaces that was popularized in France. French practitioners of parkour are called “traceurs,” which gives this totally clichéd, consistently ridiculous, but occasionally breathtaking action flick its title. You’ve seen the plot before (many times), but Tracers still vaults itself above the straight-to-DVD pack thanks to its freewheeling free-running sequences.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 30th, 2015
“I need to know what you are worth when I leave you nothing.”
These are the parting words that Jim Bennett (Mark Wahlberg) is left with from his dying grandfather. At first these words may seem a bit harsh, but the more time we spend with Bennett we start to understand the grandfather’s intentions. The Gambler, a remake of the 1974 film with same title, follows Bennett along his downward spiral as his gambling addiction drags him down to the point where death is imminent, yet death seems to be the escape Bennett so desperately craves. In other words, this is not exactly the film you watch to get into the holly jolly spirit of the holidays.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 29th, 2015
"You do know the combination, don't you?"
It's a Taken film, and the third one in the series. You should have the ingredients down by now. Let's run through the checklist, shall we? You've got your daring escapes, check. You have some awesome car chases with a lot of mashed-up metal, check. You've got some torture, of course. Waterboarding is in these days. You have the standard carnage level, check. And check. It's all there, but credit the folks behind the franchise for finding ways to deliver every last drop of the expected stuff and still turn the third part of a trilogy on its head enough to make it more interesting than the previous two films. Or were you expecting pretty much more of the same?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 29th, 2015
Inherent Vice is the kind of movie I personally love to watch over and over again, partly because it is always tantalizing you with content that you can't quite get your head wrapped around. Almost anyone would want to see this more than once, even if only to make sure they weren't stupid for not connecting all the dots. The film has a classy, fun pedigree combing the talents of Paul Thomas Anderson and Thomas Pynchon. Paul is the beloved director of modern classics like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and There Will Be Blood. Thomas is the novelist of unfathomable masterpieces like Gravity's Rainbow and V. Both are titans in the cultural zeitgeist of the academic and the bohemian. They both are supremely confident to put together a plot that flies high above our heads. It is also a detective story, but the gumshoe or private dick in this case is a hippie. The story takes place in 1970 and is immersed in the smoke of the period. It is also immersed in a period authentic string of 70's tunes and wild psychedelic set decoration and groovy duds. It would be pointless to start to outline the plot, partly because the plot is beside the point. The point is to feel the vibe. To settle back, take a deep breath, and hold it in. Hippies are not likely candidates to be private eyes, but it is the perfect way to get a cross section of a time and place. This time and place is as foreign to us today as is Moses in the desert.
If I won't give you a plot, I will give you a cast of characters. Larry “Doc” Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) gets a visit from his ex, Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterson). She wants his help with a problem. Shasta is the mistress of Michael Z. Wolfmann (Eric Roberts) and he seems to be the target of a plot to get his money. Tariq Khahlil (Michael Kenneth Williams) stops by the dentist’s office where Doc works to give him a job, that also ties to Wolfmann. Our unreliable narrator, Sortelege (Joanna Newsome) seems to float through the story as character as much as a ghost. Jade (Hong Chau) is a sweet Asian hooker who helps out when she can, especially when trying to warn him about “The Golden Fang”. Lieutenant detective Christian F. “Bigfoot” Bjornsen (Josh Brolin) has a bit of a man crush on Doc when he isn't slapping him around and kicking his door in. Sauncho Smilex, Esq. (Benicio Del Toro) shows up to “help” Doc (but sometimes you're not so sure). Hope Harlingen (Jena Malone) hires Doc to find her dead husband, Coy (Owen Wilson). They are all mutual acquaintances of Shasta, who has also gone missing, as has Wolfmann. Deputy D.A. Penny Kimball (Reese Witherspoon) is involved because the F.B.I. is involved, but she is also Doc's current squeeze. A little later, we meet Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd, D.D.S. (Martin Short). He is a dentist but also the probable head of a heroine syndicate ensconced in a high rise that looks like a golden fang. Don't think anything I have told you is in any way a summary.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 28th, 2015
Despite being one of the most successful actresses in Hollywood for the better part of 20 years — Friends premiered in 1994 — it’s been all too easy to dismiss Jennifer Aniston’s big screen resume. Until recent sexpot roles in broad comedies (We’re The Millers, the Horrible Bosses two-logy), most of her hits (Bruce Almighty, Along Came Polly, The Break-Up, Marley and Me) were girlfriend/wife roles that didn’t stray too far from the Rachel Green mold. Cake made less than $2 million at the box office, but it’s also the first movie that made me excited about Aniston’s movie career.
“Are you always such a f---ing shrew?”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 10th, 2015
"There's something I need to tell you. We're building a weapon. It's not like any weapon the world's ever seen. It draws its energy from a fast-neutron chain reaction. It releases the power of an ancient star. If it works, and it's going to work, it will be the more destructive than all the bombs dropped in all the wars in history put together. It'll bring armies to their knees. Cities will disappear in the blink of an eye. The world will be united in peace by the most just and noble country in the history of mankind or it will burn to the ground. Whoever builds it first, there's the endgame. So it has to be us, whatever it costs."
It's one of those dramatic stories where mankind is altered forever. If it weren't absolutely true, someone would have had to make it up. Every child in schools around the world knows about the atomic bombs that ended World War II. We've all seen the terrible destruction that exceeded even the expectations of the scientists and engineers who designed and built these bombs. We all live in the aftermath of these events. Yet little is known about the people who devoted their lives to making it a reality, not only those directly involved, but their families and the support network necessary to bring them all together. Enter WGN America, and the tale is finally told. Now the first season of Manhattan, spelled as Manh(a)ttan, is available on Blu-ray from Lionsgate.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 10th, 2015
“Finish that sentence…why do I have to walk a thousand miles?”
The answer to that question probably won’t satisfy everyone who watches Wild, which is based on Cheryl Strayed’s first-person chronicle of her 1,100-mile hike from the Mojave Desert to Oregon. To some, there simply isn’t a compelling enough excuse to ditch your responsibilities and go on an extended journey of self-discovery. The reason Wild works — besides career-best work from its Oscar-nominated star — is because the ultimate explanation is something simple that most people can relate to: Strayed walked more than 1,000 miles to prove she could do it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 9th, 2015
This is a movie that snuck up on me. I had seen the trailers, and it looked like goofy fun, but I really wasn’t prepared for how this film would linger in my mind and follow me around. First let me just say this film is not for everyone; this is one of the darkest comedies I’ve seen in quite some time, but on top of that this is one of the most tragic films as well. At first glance the trailer for The Voices has you thinking this is going to be American Psycho meets Dr. Dolittle (only one character can hear the animals talking), and for the most part that is this film. But as the final act kicked in, I realized this was really so much more.
The film starts off with a very surreal feeling as we meet Jerry (Ryan Reynolds), who works in the shipping area of a local business. He’s charming and just seems like a swell guy who finds himself in love with Fiona (Gemma Arterton), who is the office hottie from England. When he finally gets the courage to ask her out on a date, well, it unfortunately doesn’t go as planned.
