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Disc Audio

Beast (2022) (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 21st, 2022

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“We’re in his territory now.”

Given the film’s premise, this strikes me as the perfect tagline for the film. A family on safari finds themselves trapped and stalked by a lion with a bloodlust. It definitely evokes memories of the Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas-led 1996 film, The Ghost and the Darkness. In this instance, of course, they rely on the acting chops of Idris Elba to keep the film from descending into cliché. And while there are some situations that seem avoidable and unrealistic, the film did a great job of maintaining my interest for the duration. Joining Elba is Sharlto Copley, another talent with an extensive resume. My only gripe about Copley is that he felt underutilized, and I felt there were intriguing developments with his character that if fleshed out would have added a greater degree of depth to his character. However, this of course was out of Copley’s control and in no way negatively impacts his given performance
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The Lost Boys (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 19th, 2022

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“You think we just work at a comic book store for our folks? This is just a cover. We’re dedicated to a higher purpose. We’re fighters for truth, justice, and the American way.”

In the 1980’s The Two Corey’s became somewhat of a Hollywood fad and worked well to bring the teens out to the movies. They did eight films together, and it all started with The Lost Boys. The guys’ paths had crossed several times, with both being up for some of the same parts. But it wasn’t until this film that they actually met, became friends, and started a trend. Unfortunately, times would not go well for either Corey. The life would take its toll, and Corey Haim died at a too-young 38 in 2010. Corey Feldman would not do much better. His own experience with sexual abuse in the industry bought him a hard time getting roles for a while, as the industry wasn’t too happy that he was opening up these Hollywood closets.
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Star Trek: Picard – Season Two (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 18th, 2022

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“Space … the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.”

Nearly 20 years after the original Star Trek left the network airwaves, Gene Roddenberry set out to discover whether he could catch lightning in a bottle once again. Some say he did an even better job with Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are times I tend to agree. The Star Trek sequel series had a lot more advantages from the moment it was conceived. Star Trek, a series that barely registered on the ratings during its three-year primetime voyage, became a huge sensation in syndication. By the time The Next Generation came on the scene, the original show had been syndicated in over 20 different languages all over the world.
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Poltergeist (UHD Blu-Ray) (4k)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 17th, 2022

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1982. I was seven years old, and my mother, who loved horror movies, wanted to take me to see Poltergeist. Unfortunately, around this time, my dad was usually on the road, and so there was no one really there to say maybe we shouldn’t. Honestly, even if my father was there and did say no, I doubt my mom would have listened. It was PG; how bad could it be? In the next two hours, I was treated to something that resonates with me to this very day. From the moment I heard “They’re Here”, I knew I would never see static on televisions the same way.
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Scream 2 (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 13th, 2022

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“There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie.”

No one knew those rules better than Wes Craven. He helped to create them, after all. Starting in 1972 with the cult favorite The Last House On The Left, he followed that just two years later with The Hills Have Eyes, which led to a sequel. But it wasn’t until a decade later that he would deliver his masterpiece and most successful franchise, Nightmare On Elm Street. Wes Craven introduced the world to Freddy Krueger, and our dreams have never been quite the same since. While others attempted to reproduce the same results with many sequels, it was Craven himself who put Freddy to bed with New Nightmare exactly 10 years after his birth. A remake never got much traction, and Wes Craven’s place in horror history was assured. In 1996 he decided to take one more stab at the slasher genre and delivered one of the best films to look directly back at the audience and celebrate the genre. Scream was another hit and another franchise staple.
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Electra Glide in Blue (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 12th, 2022

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I am a big sucker for police procedural and detective shows. Once upon a time, I religiously watched CSI (and CSI: Miami), and these days I am watching various episodes of true crime series like Real Detective and Homicide Hunter on a weekly basis (the only other thing I tend to watch weekly is wrestling). It translates over to movies, naturally, as well. Well, today’s film takes me into the world of a motorcycle cop who wishes to be a detective and then falls upon a murder case. Sounds like a must-watch to me. Let’s take a look at Electra Glide in Blue.

Superman & Lois: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 12th, 2022

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“There’s a bizarre version of Superman on the loose.”

They are the most famous couple in comic book history. Together they are Superman & Lois, and they’ve joined the ever-expanding Arrowverse for their second season now out on Blu-ray from Warner Home Entertainment. While this is still a young series, the characters and these actors portraying them are not new to the Arrowverse. Tyler Hoechlin as Superman and Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane have been here for a few years. Both have shown up on Supergirl, and both appeared in a couple of the crossover events that have pulled together the various Arrowverse shows in the past. Now the focus is on them. They have their own show, and it’s quite a different approach to the characters and their story. There has also been a departure that puts the show no longer in the official Arrowverse. I suspect that move comes on the heels of The Flash now entering its final season and I suspect closing the Arrowverse going forward
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Paramount Presents: War of the Worlds (1953) and When Worlds Collide (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 7th, 2022

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“No one would have believed in the middle of the 20th century that human affairs were being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s. Yet, across the gulf of space on the planet Mars, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our Earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely joined their plans against us. Mars is more than 140 million miles from the sun, and for centuries has been in the last status of exhaustion. At night, temperatures drop far below zero even at its equator. Inhabitants of this dying planet looked across space with instruments and intelligences that which we have scarcely dreamed, searching for another world to which they could migrate.”

War Of The Worlds is perhaps one of the most iconic and often infamous science fiction works in literature history.
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The Octagon (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 3rd, 2022

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In truth, I have never been a “Chuck Norris” type guy. I can get down with many martial artists as previously explained, from Van Damme to Seagal to Jeff Speakman and probably many others in between. Except when it came to the Texas Ranger. Sure, he was an amazing martial artist, but he never had the ability to draw me in, the charisma that could keep me interested when his punches and kicks could not. (But yet I liked Jeff Speakman; go figure.) Anyhow, I think after all this time I finally found the film that could change that. Enter The Octagon.

Catch the Heat (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 28th, 2022

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Some of my favorite movies from the 80’s and 90’s consist of films where very little brain matter needs to be used to consume the action of what’s going on the screen. The type of films I’m talking about are films like Bloodsport, Above the Law, the Perfect Weapon, and Rapid Fire. Now, from reading those titles, it might sound like I’m a little “man” heavy so to speak but I also heavily enjoy films like La Femme Nikita or Moon Lee films (Princess Madam or Devil Hunters for example). Today’s film is Catch the Heat which stars Tiana Alexandra in a film where she cranks up the kick butt meter to ten. Let’s see how it performs.

Elvis (2022) (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 28th, 2022

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“For those of you who are wondering who this fella here is, I am the legendary Colonel Tom Parker. I am the man who gave the world Elvis Presley. Without me, there would be no Elvis Presley. And yet, there are some who’d make me out to be the villain of this here story. No, no, I didn’t kill him. I made Elvis Presley. Nothing all those muckrakers said in their books was true. Me and Elvis, we was partners. It was Elvis the Showman and the Colonel the Snowman. I always knew I was destined for greatness. As an orphan, I ran away to the carnival, where I learned the art of the “snow job,” of emptying a rube’s wallet while leaving them with nothing but a smile on their face. But a carnival act that would get you the most money, the most snow, had great costumes and a unique trick, that gave the audience feelings they weren’t sure they should enjoy. But they do. And I knew if I could find such an act, I could create the greatest … show … on … Earth.”

Rock bio-pictures have been pretty hot as of late. It really started with the exceptionally done Bohemian Rapsody that chronicled the rise of the band Queen, and more its flamboyant front man, Freddie Mercury.
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Batman: The Long Halloween (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 28th, 2022

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“Bend, never break.”

Of the DC animated movies, I’d rate this one as quite possibly my favorite of them all. Now when you consider that there are around 47 films created with another five films planned, that is quite the accomplishment. When it comes to Batman: The Long Halloween, the element that I really enjoyed is the mystery portion of it. It felt more like a detective story than a superhero movie. This was also the element that I most enjoyed about the Matt Reeves helmed live action film, The Batman. Not surprising that I identified with this aspect, as the 13-issue limited series that this film was adapted from was also one of the inspirations for the Reeves film. This animated film, like the comic it is adapted from, is centered on Batman efforts to identify and stop a serial killer known as Holiday. Holiday appears to be engaged in a war against the Falcone and Maroni organized crime families.
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Vive L’Amour (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 13th, 2022

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The people of Taiwan have been searching for an identity for a long time. When martial law was lifted over the People’s Republic of China in the 1980’s and shifted to a more democratic form, the people have increasingly wanted their own identity and no longer to be known as a part of China. Sure, they might maintain the status quo and appear to work with China (which hasn’t been exactly the case lately), but they strive to be known as Taiwanese, separate from the mainland influence. Our film today, Vive L’Amour, takes place in the 1990’s Taiwan, where life was extremely hard for the average young adult. So hard that many of them didn’t even have a permanent residence.

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Final Set

Posted in No Huddle by Michael Durr on September 11th, 2022

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My fascination with tennis has come in spots throughout the early part of my life. In the 1980’s, I was fascinated by John McEnroe with his brilliant play and fiery emotion. In the 1990’s I was smitten with Jennifer Capriati, but also impressed by her tenacity at such a young age. I still remembering listening to the broadcast of Goran Ivanisevic finally winning at Wimbledon in the early 2000’s. And that’s where I stopped watching, really, still eager to see the amazing game play, but no longer finding the characters I so desperately wanted to look for. Today’s film is Final Set, which follows an aging tennis player who has one final shot at becoming the player he always learned to be.

Curiosa

Posted in No Huddle by Michael Durr on September 10th, 2022

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A good erotic movie is actually harder than it sounds. Sure, you have to have skin, word play, arousal, and yes, that other kind of play. But the good erotic films like Basic Instinct, 9 1/2 Weeks, and Embrace of the Vampire (You thought I was going to say Fatal Attraction, didn’t you?) are very entertaining and have a story that draws you in to keep you there even when the spicy bits aren’t on the screen. Today’s erotic film is Curiosa, which certainly hits all of the skin elements, but does it have a story that I would want to watch again and again? Let’s check it out.

1883: A Yellowstone Origin Story (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2022

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“Nothing had prepared me, no books, no teachers, not even my parents. I heard a thousand stories, but none could describe this place, it must be witnessed, to be understood, and yet I’ve seen it and understand it even less than before I first cast eyes on this place. Some call it the American dessert, others The Great Plains, but those phrases were invented by professors at universities surrounded by the illusion of order and the fantasy of right and wrong. To know it you must walk it, Bleed into its dirt, drown in its rivers, then its name becomes clear, it is hell, and there are demons everywhere. But if this is hell and I’m in it, then I must be a Demon too and I’m already dead..”

We’re a visual people, and so most of you will recognize Taylor Sheridan from his role as a chief of police in Sons of Anarchy when the controlled puppet regime had finally left the scene. It’s not a remarkable role, and it’s not a complete surprise that Sheridan found his calling more recently behind the camera.
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South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fourth Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 26th, 2022

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“I’ve been acting like this because I can’t take these shutdowns anymore and I’m scared what it’s doing to me. I’m looking for who to blame, saying I’m trying to help people to make myself feel better, because the truth is I just want to have fun again. I wanted to see that I could go out into the world and do the things I used to do… I want my life back. I just want my life back.”

This has been a tough year for everyone. Productions all around the world have been uprooted because of the pandemic. I guess I thought there might have been one place on this planet that was safe. OK, I made that last part up. We always knew that South Park was going to have a field day with COVID. Let’s be honest; the amount of material for the irreverent show is simply off the scales. There’s nothing like a global catastrophe to bring out the sharp wit of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The pandemic meant we saw the long-running animated series limited just like everyone else. So instead of a 10-episode run, the 24th season of South Park is made up of two double-length “Pandemic Specials”, but just for whats and giggles, let’s call it South Park The Complete 24th Season and get a look at it in Blu-ray.
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Belle Collector’s Edition (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 25th, 2022

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Mamoru Hosoda‘s directing career basically started with the world of Digimon where he directed a few shorts, episodes and even the original Digimon movie. But where he really started to show off his directing chops was Samurai Champloo which has been often cited as one of the greatest anime shows right up there with Cowboy Bebop. It would then continue with the first film that he could truly call his own in the Girl Who Leapt Through Time. From there, Hosoda could have been content at that point but he would go on to direct more and more animated classics. Today, we take a look at Hosoda’s latest film, Belle and I don’t think any fan would be disappointed with this one.

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Jurassic World Dominion (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 23rd, 2022

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“Bigger. Why do they always have to go bigger?”

You don’t really need me to answer that one, do you? What started with Jurassic Park in 1993 and even earlier with the blockbuster book by the late great Michael Crichton has actually been 65 million years in the making. When an idea has been percolating for that long, you have to go bigger, or the audience will go home. Expectations take a bite out of your option,s and by a sixth film you really have to come up with a game stopper, so what do you do? You reinvent the franchise after two sequels failed to capture the magic and awe that was Jurassic Park. You let the idea sit for a decade or so, and then you bring it back with enough of the new and enough of the old to bring folks back into the theaters. And that’s just how they did it with the Jurassic World trilogy.
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Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 19th, 2022

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When I am not writing reviews, playing games, having a family, oh, and also having a job (because writing reviews doesn’t exactly pay), I do try to dabble in the occasional short story. Perhaps it’s fantasy or science fiction, but I like spinning tales about a world that I want to be a part of even if its just for a few minutes. It’s relaxing, and that’s why when I saw the opportunity to review Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, a collection of three tales steeped in chance, culture, and some wonderful word banter, I knew I’d enjoy my time. Let’s take a look.

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Caged Birds

Posted in No Huddle by Michael Durr on August 13th, 2022

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Nelson Mandela once said, “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” Most people, even in today’s society, think of prisoners as lower than the ground they walk upon. Prison abuse is as old as Greek and Roman times. Heck, true prison reform didn’t start in the United States until the 1960’s. But what about other countries? In Caged Birds, we explore the Switzerland of the 1980’s and how one lawyer named Barbara Hug tried to change that very system.

Jesus Kid

Posted in No Huddle by Michael Durr on August 8th, 2022

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Some of my favorite movies are ones where they use the “author” as the focal part of the story. Films like Secret Window, Misery, and The Ghost Writer are ones that immediately come to mind for me. However, Westerns tend to be somewhere down on the list of genres for me, and only ones like Tombstone or Unforgiven tend to spark any interest. So when I received Jesus Kid, which features a Brazilian author who likes to write Westerns, well, you can kinda understand my apprehension. However, my curiosity was also piqued at the same time for the very same set of reasons.

The Lost City (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 29th, 2022

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From the moment I saw the trailer for The Lost City, it immediately gave me vibes of Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile, the adventure-romance films that starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner back in the mid-eighties. The basic story for those films was simple: a romance writer who finds herself in an adventure to find a rare jewel alongside a handsome rogue with bad guys coming after them around every corner. I loved these films as a kid, and getting to see a modern twist on these stories is something I found welcome. What is even more welcome is getting to see Sandra Bullock back in a comedic role. I’ve been a fan of just about everything Bullock has done since she graced the screen in Demolition Man and then the following year in Speed. My only concern was seeing Channing Tatum as her co-star;
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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Seventh and Final Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 29th, 2022

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“It all started when a man named Bishop created a team of robots. He sent them back in time with one goal: to destroy the 20th century. These machines were programmed to think that they were beyond human. That they were superheroes. They made their way across country murdering some of the greatest figures in history, famous lawmen and men of science. Finally they kidnapped the inventor of time travel itself, and with his help set their sights on destroying all of history. No one could stop these so-called Legends. Not until we came upon the real flesh-and-blood superheroes whose job it is to put history back on track. We’re the real Legends of Tomorrow.”

If none of that made any sense to you, don’t worry about a thing. It’ll all become clear over the final 13 episodes of DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow: The Complete 7th and Final Season. OK, I lied. No. It really is the 7th and final season, but it won’t really become all clear. You see, that’s the nature of the series. It’s the crazy uncle of the Arrowverse that says a lot of things no one understands. But we all kind of nod our heads and suspect it will all be OK.
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The Duke (2022)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 27th, 2022

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It is a shame that director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) passed away before this film had a proper release. He’s a director who while he may not have a filmography of blockbuster hits, he’s literally worked with many of the biggest stars of the industry. Notting Hill is easily my favorite film of his; easily I’d rank it as one of the best rom-coms of all time. Sadly he’d go most of his career not quite matching the success of the 1999 film, but with The Duke, he gives us a film that is so damn charming it shows how he’ll be missed in an industry that’s become so dependent on CGI and spectacle.
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