Disc Type

It’s been about 10 years since Richard Linklater gave us Boyhood, which for me may not be my personal favorite of his films, but it is the one that certainly got the attention of the Academy Awards. Linklater is a director I’ve always been a fan of. It’s hard to really describe his filmography other than to say it is diverse, but at the heart of all his films they are about the characters. It’s no surprise that his new film Hit Man is once again a film about the characters and definitely has more heart than violence, even if the central character is supposed to be a contract killer. The film is loosely based on a true story and was written by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell, who also stars in the film, and my first reaction is this is immediately shooting to the top of my list of my favorite films I’ve seen this year. Though this film has some familiar tropes, I have to say it is a breath of fresh air. A film without CGI, it isn’t an established IP; it’s just a good story that is carried by great performances and was fun start to finish. The first impression I got from the film as the credits rolled is that it reminded me of the fun and cool crime films of the 90s.
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It’s summertime, and that means people will of course be flooding the beaches to soak up some rays and enjoy frolicking in the ocean. Because of pop culture and the legacy of Jaws, I’m sure plenty of those beachgoers will have that terrifying thought about what could be lurking beneath the surface, potentially stalking them and ready to strike. The reality is sharks want nothing to do with us; they’d rather feast on a tasty harbor seal or a giant tuna, but that doesn’t change how so many people are afraid of sharks, and Hollywood has happily cashed in on those fears, churning out numerous shark-attack films year after year. Jaws is of course the pinnacle of the genre; then I’d consider The Shallows and Deep Blue Sea to follow behind it. Personally I’m a fan of this sub-genre of creature feature films. No matter how absurd these films may get, if it has a shark turning swimmers into its own little buffet, I have to check it out. To be fair, there have been some duds in the genre, but the only one I wish I could take back and erase from my memory would be last years Black Demon. Yikes, that was a bad one. Right now, though, I’m going to be talking about the new French film that Netflix has released, Under Paris. Is it worth taking the plunge, or does it follow in the footsteps of many previous films from the streaming giant and turn out to be a dud?
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It was October 8, 1989 at the USF Sun Dome where I first saw The Beach Boys live with Chicago as their opening act. It was my first concert experience, and in my household The Beach Boys were pretty much royalty. Any time the band was on the radio the volume was cranked up and my mom and I would sing along, causing those in neighboring cars to quickly roll up their windows in an attempt to tune out our terrible voices. My parents collected the albums on vinyl, and later I’d get them on cassette and bop my head listening to the surf tunes fantasizing about the beach or staring out at the pool thinking about bikini-clad girls. The Beach Boys will forever have a nostalgic place in my heart. Even as my taste in music has evolved, I still will listen to their albums time to time. Their feel-good music is perfect for a summer afternoon; they’re timeless, and that’s why I’m not surprised that Disney has put out a new documentary about the band that got its start in the early 60s, and you can still see them touring still (at least with some of the surviving members).
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“A Haunting is a lonely thing. No one else can see what you see. Even the people you love would call you crazy.”

We all have our fears, and that’s a good thing for the folks in the movie-making business. Fright sells, and we all like to be afraid … at least a little bit. From rollercoasters to movies, fear is a business, and going by box office receipts and streaming numbers, business has been good. The nice thing about movies that deal with fears is that they make excellent independent film fodder, because it’s something everyone relates to, and you can do it on a pretty modest budget. But the writing has to be good, and the performances must be compelling, particularly when you don’t have the cash to dazzle them with computer-generated delight. You might not get that box office jackpot, but with streaming and home video, a good movie does indeed have an afterlife. Writers/directors Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton have just that with the Lightyear Entertainment release of their 2015 horror film We Go On. It’s a barebones release that just might be worth a spin after all.
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The story for The Jester got its start through a trio of short films that were put on YouTube. The shorts had found success, and fans were rewarded with a feature length film. Shudder grabbed the streaming rights for the film, and now here we are …When it comes to Shudder, I have no shame in admitting it is my favorite of all the streaming services. Not only does it have a solid selection of horror films, but it also has The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs, and that alone makes it worth the monthly fee. Now, as a horror service, it is no surprise that they buy a bunch of titles to release over the course of the year, and in the past they’ve put out greats like The Innocents, The Sadness, and Deadstream to name a few. But of course they are going to have some misses, and The Jester is one of those confident purchases that I feel ended up a big miss.
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“When you take on the responsibility, great power will come.”

In my opinion, Madame Web is a victim of its own marketing. Based on the trailers, the audience members, such as myself, geared up for an expansion of the spider-verse featuring several notable characters who donned the spider mantle. As such, I expected to see Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor showcasing their skills as their respective characters. And while we are partially treated to this, it essentially amounts to an appetizer, as these scenes make up less than five minutes of the film’s run time. For me, that made the film basically a 116-minute trailer for larger story that I am skeptical that we will ever get. While I applaud the attempt to build a larger universe, the foundation needs to be established first, and sadly I don’t think it was adequately done here in Madame Web. This is disappointing given the talent pool of the aforementioned up-and-coming stars, as well as established actors such Dakota Johnson, Adam Scott, and Emma Roberts.
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“I once loved this island. This is where I found peace and quiet. The peace of waves forever breaking on the shore, the quiet of tranquil moonlight on the sea. When the night wind rises and the fingers of the fog steal i, they say you can hear voices. They say it’s the dead growing restless and calling to the living. I never believed it, until that evening Vi came looking for me.”

If you’re a fan of some of the old almost-forgotten films, then you’re a fan of Film Masters. For a few years now they’ve been digging up a lot of these old “classics” and spending the time and resources to give them the full 4K restoration treatment. It appears that lately they’ve had their sights on some of the early films from The Filmgroup, which of course is the moviemaking machine of Roger Corman. Corman became the king of making quality low-budget films that almost always made at least a little money. In the 1960’s and 1970’s you could watch these wonderful budget horror and science fiction films doubled up at your local drive-in theaters.
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“Space… the funniest frontier?”

Star Trek: The Animated Series first aired in September of 1973, four years after the three seasons of what is now referred to Star Trek: The Original Series. It was a straight sequel that continued the five-year mission of the starship Enterprise. All of the original cast lent their voices to the characters they played in the live-action series with the notable exception of Walter Koenig. Chekov was replaced with an alien that had three arms and legs named Arex, who was voiced by James Doohan, as were many of the other guest characters throughout the two years the series ran. There were episodes that served as direct sequels, and so we were treated to the likes of Harry Mudd, tribbles, and the Guardian of Forever once again.  Now Paramount and CBS have brought us a second animated series, and the first season of 10 episodes arrives on DVD straight from its running on the network’s streaming service.
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“They say time heals all wounds. But that’s a lie, time is the wound. Takes you further and further away from that place when you were happy. Makes those good smells go away.”

Zelda Williams has been busy in the industry working on short independent projects. The daughter of the late comedian Robin Williams has some good stuff in those genes, and she’s finally been given a feature project to play a little with those genes. So she teams up with the quirky Diablo Cody for a romp that feels a little too much at times like the cutting room floor for a Tim Burton film.
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For horror fans, this title is one to be cautiously excited over, because it is the beginning of a partnership between Jason Blum and James Wan. The pair have united to release several horror projects in the near future. Night Swim was initially picked up as a feature after the success of the short film with the same title which was released back in 2014 from directors Rod Blackhurst and Bryce McGuire. Now ten years later Bryce McGuire dives back in to create a feature-length project about a haunted pool in the suburbs in an attempt to scare the floaties off its audience, but does he succeed? You know the rules, folks; no viewing after eating unless you’ve waited thirty minutes, and absolutely no viewing without supervision unless there is a lifeguard on duty. Now, with that said, grab your swim trunks and settle in; we are taking the plunge into Night Swim.
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One of the best things about cinema in the 80s was the buddy cop films. Sure, they existed before the 80s, and they still exist now, but the 80s was their “golden era”. Sure, they all followed the same formula: a pair of misfits who seem to always get on their captain’s nerves, and they come across some big case, and the only two knucklehead cops who seem to be able to solve it are our loveable pair. Personally, Lethal Weapon is my favorite of this subgenre, with 48 Hours coming in a close second, but really during the 80s there really isn’t a bad buddy cop film. They are just over-the-top action with a few laughs, but most important is the chemistry between the pair as they chase down and shoot bad guys along the way. One of these classic films is Running Scared. It paired Billy Crystal with Gregory Hines in a film filled with laughs and action and utilizing a Chicago cityscape as the background.
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