Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 3rd, 2020
I do believe that this film was deserving of a theatrical release. I don’t think it would have been a box office hit, but it deserved to reach a wider audience. That is not to disparage home media, which I’ve been plenty thankful for the many hours of entertainment that it has provided me given the state of affairs lately. Jeffrey Dean Morgan stars in this film based off a book from crime writer, James Patterson and Swedish journalist/crime writer Liza Marklund. The background of this collaboration was a particular interest to me, as the two reportedly corresponding back and forth via email, with Marklund writing the first draft and Patterson doing the second draft. Both are established crime writers and their decision to co-author a book together is a clear example of their respect for one another’s contribution to the field. Thanks to this mutual, a book that served as the basis of this adaptation, got off to the right start. Joining Morgan is the Good Fight’s Cush Jumbo as well as Taken’s Famke Janssen. I swear I am not trying to give you a history lesson, but the origins of this film is very interesting in my opinion, as it spent several years in what is known as development hell (media jargon for a project that spends a long time in the development phase, usually resulting in changing of production crews, scripts and actors dropping in and out of the project), and was originally slated for Patrick Dempsey in the lead role and Dakota Fanning in the supporting, which then changed to Britt Robertson in the supporting role that eventually went to Jumbo. Truth be told, I think that this situation worked out for the best, as well I can’t imagine someone else doing the role of Jake Kanon the justice that Morgan did.
When his daughter and her husband are murdered on their honeymoon, NYPD Detective Jake Kanon travels across to Europe to find her killer and bring them to justice. In a foreign land with no authority, he finds that the investigating officers are not keen to share information with an American, who they believe is likely out for revenge. Unwavering, Kanon continues to investigate on his own, making headway despite being impeded at nearly every turn. With limited resources, he is able to determine that the killer’s modus operandi is not that of an amateur but a skilled and meticulous killer. Not only does this killer leave no forensic evidence, the manner in which he poses his victims, the killer has a daring way of announcing the message behind the murders: a postcard.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 2nd, 2020
"This is this. This ain't something else. This is this."
When it comes to picking “the greatest Vietnam War film” it’s one of those arguments that can get pretty heated with fans of cinema. Platoon, Apocalypse Now, and The Deer Hunter are typically the three I tend to hear named the most, as for me it has always been The Deer Hunter, not just because of its intense portrayal of the war but because of the journey it sets us on, a journey so profound I can easily say it’s one of the best films ever made. I don’t feel like I’m saying anything bold after all it did win Best Picture in 1978 as well as several other Oscars that year. It’s a film though that every time I sit down and watch it, the experience manages to impact me in a way I’m never quite ready for. I first saw it when I was a teenager, didn’t know anything other than it had Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken, I didn’t know what to expect and by the time it ended I was floored. Everything from the visual scope of the film, the intensity of the violence, the performances, I was maybe 14 and didn’t quite have a grasp for what epic cinema could be but after watching The Deer Hunter it became the film I’d hold others up to this standard. It is now decades later and Shout Factory has gone through the process of restoring the film and released it in 4K, how does it hold up after all this time?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 29th, 2020
Despite my tender age of 44, I didn't see Escape from New York until I was in my early twenties. My parents never talked about it, my college friends didn't seem to care, and the Internet wasn't nearly as prevalent as it is now. But it has become my favorite movie of all time. What's curious is that the sequel to the film, Escape from L.A., is what introduced me to Kurt Russell and the character of Snake Plissken (and became the foundation of everything I consider to be "cool"). It holds a giant chunk of my movie heart, and I'm glad today to bring you this review of the Collector's Edition Blu-Ray released by Shout Factory.
It is 1998, hostile forces inside the United States were growing strong. Los Angeles is ravaged by crime, and the US Police Force is formed to keep the peace. A political candidate (played by Cliff Robertson) emerges and predicts a millennium earthquake that will destroy Los Angeles in divine retribution. An earthquake measuring 9.6 on the Richter scale hits at 12:59pm on August 23rd in the year 2000.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 28th, 2020
"Surprise."
It wasn’t all that long ago that Universal was seriously attempting to develop a Dark Universe for their classic monsters. Things changed after the releases of Dracula Untold and The Mummy and their poor box office showings, but having seen those two films, I feel fans were spared in the long run from a disaster that could have been. Then in 2019 word got out that Blumhouse was going to be doing The Invisible Man, and this somewhat reignited the talks of a Dark Universe project. When I first heard Blumhouse was backing the film, I was cautiously optimistic about the project; where the company does have its hits like Happy Death Day and Get Out, there are plenty of duds as well. It’s when Leigh Whannell got attached that I had some hope for the film. For those unfamiliar with the name, Whannell is the writer responsible for the Saw franchise as well as the Insidious franchise. Now the wait is over and the film has been seen; how does it turn out? The film opens up with Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) attempting to escape from her home while her husband is asleep. This opening sets the tone masterfully, and as much as I hate the phrase “will leave you on the edge of your seat”, that is simply what this sequence is. So much is revealed in the visuals of the home and the performance that Moss delivers that the audience can appreciate that characters need for escape. If anything it’s in these opening moments of the film as Cecilia is wandering through the home that almost too much is revealed about the story that will follow.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 27th, 2020
"Control is an illusion, you infantile egomaniac. Nobody knows what's gonna happen next: not on a freeway, not in an airplane, not inside our own bodies, and certainly not on a racetrack with 40 other infantile egomaniacs."
Back in 1986 a young Tom Cruise teamed with director Tony Scott for Top Gun. The film ended up pulling in over $170 million. A sequel appeared out of the question, but that wasn’t going to stop this box office dynamic duo from figuring something out. They decided to just refilm Top Gun. So, if jets go fast, what else goes fast? Before long someone realized that racing cars go fast. So, before you know it Tom Cruise was once again teaming with Tony Scott as a cocky young upstart, this time in the race game. If you watch the two films back to back, the code really isn’t that hard to break. All of the same plot points and beats are exactly the same, just in a new environment. The public wasn’t fooled then; the film took in less than half what Top Gun brought. You shouldn’t be fooled now. Days Of Thunder is Top Gun redux.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 26th, 2020
Jane Austen is a novelist from the 18th century whose novels continue to stand the test of time; though she gained prominence during her lifetime, I would dare say that she has become very fashionable, with many of her novels being required learning for most schools or at the very least on the summer reading list. Her credits include Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Mansfield Park; however, the novel that serves as the basis for the film we are reviewing today may be her most famous work, Emma. This property is no stranger to adaptation, having been adapted in the form of a 1996 television film starring Kate Beckinsale, as well as that same year into a theatrical film starring Gwyneth Paltrow. This time around, the film stars Anya Taylor-Joy in the titular role. Though this is not the film I was hoping to see Taylor-Joy in this year (this is my subtle ploy to demand the release of The New Mutants), I must admit that she does a fine job of taking on the role that has already been tackled by top talent. Granted, this is not the type of movie that I am normally drawn to; it is my wife’s bread and butter, so naturally it was an experience that we shared. Basically a period piece romantic comedy, as anticipated it was a big hit with her, and fortunately there was some humor for me to appreciate as well.
Emma Woodhouse is an affluent young woman, who after her governess weds, believing she bears some responsibility for the union, imagines herself a matchmaker. Despite the objections of her father (Bill Nighy), she attempts to find a suitable match for her latest governess, Harriet Smith (Mia Goth). This proves to be quite an undertaking as her matches prove a number of times to be unsuccessful for a number of reasons, including a social mismatching, as well as them having eyes for another (i.e. Emma herself). During this period, she also encounters Mr. Knightly (Johnny Flynn), a kind and compassionate person for whom she begins developing feelings; however, her affections may have competition in the form of the very woman she is attempting to set up.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 23rd, 2020
"On March 3, 1969 the United States Navy established an elite school for the top one percent of its pilots. Its purpose was to teach the lost art of aerial combat and to insure that the handful of men who graduated were the best fighter pilots in the world. They succeeded. Today, the Navy calls it Fighter Weapons School. The flyers call it: TOP GUN."
Back around the time I was born, when Tom Cruise had an ounce of sanity, a little movie called Top Gun swept across the globe, raking in over $350,000,000 worldwide, as well as sparking an interest in the US Navy and everything Tomcat, Skyhawk, and MiG related. Ever since its original release, Top Gun has kept a hold on its audience, being played almost weekly, and now it makes its way into the world of ultra high definition with its release on UHD Blu-ray. The timing couldn't be any more obvious. The long-anticipated sequel has been in production, and while delayed by the global circumstances, the film will be arriving soon (at least in release terms). This is a pretty good way to get you up to speed, pun intended. The film isn't alone in cashing in on the Tom Cruise upcoming slate of both the Top Gun sequel and two Mission Impossible films being shot at the same time. This is one of three Cruise films getting the 4K release treatment along with Days Of Thunder and the Spielberg remake of the War Of The Worlds George Pal film. Once the box office returns you're going to be getting a lot of Tommy, so these films are intended to put you in the mood and get the party started a little early.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 20th, 2020
"No one would have believed in the early years of the 21st century that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own; that as men busied themselves about their various concerns, *they* observed and studied, the way a man with a microscope might scrutinize the creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. With infinite complacency, men went to and fro about the globe, confident of our empire over this world. Yet across the gulf of space, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our planet with envious eyes and slowly, and surely, drew their plans against us."
Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a middle-aged divorcee with a blue-collar job and a rundown home in the New Jersey suburbs. When his ex-wife unexpectedly drops his estranged kids—ten-year-old Rachel (Dakota Fanning) and sixteen-year-old Robbie (Justin Chatwin)—off for the weekend, Ray is less than pleased. He’s always struggled with his parental duties, but now finds it increasingly difficult to communicate with his children. However, events beyond his control are about to force Ray to come to terms with his responsibilities. Bizarre lighting storms herald the arrival of alien tripods, which explode from beneath the Earth’s surface and begin dispensing death and destruction on the surrounding countryside. Narrowly avoiding the first attack, Ray returns home, grabs his kids, and embarks on a frantic journey across country to find their mother in Boston.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 13th, 2020
"Soldiers, Sailors, and Airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you... I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty, and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory. Good Luck! And let us all beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking."
They've been called The Greatest Generation, and who are we to argue the point? Sitting here writing reviews from my comfortable seat in a state of the art home theater, I'm in no position to lay claim to the title. They fought in the bloodiest conflict in modern human history. Over 20 million were killed. That's a staggering number. If you're like me, it's not even real. I invite you to bear witness to one of the most important events in American history. World War II brought America out of the shadows of isolationism and onto the world stage as a leader and eventual superpower. D-Day was one of the momentous moments of both the war and America's transformation. There have been many documentaries and complete series events that have tried to chronicle this time in American and world history. We've all seen the grainy and haunting images, and Hollywood has done its best to bring that reality into our living rooms and local multiplexes. None of it can ever take you there. None of these efforts can truly give us the experience those brave soldiers really had. This film is a bit refreshing in the fact that it doesn't really try to bring you into the action. This is completely an educational experience. The men who were actually there are nearly gone, and within the next decade or so they will indeed all be gone. Perhaps it's less important to feel what they felt than to remember. This documentary helps us do exactly that.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 11th, 2020
So I had an interest in this film since I saw the preview for it; Blake Lively cast in her own revenge film. I know there is no shortage of this type of film. Luc Besson has actually made a career out of this type of film archetype, with each film being excellent in my opinion. Lively has never attempted anything of this nature, which I always find intriguing, to see an actress stretch her creative muscles. Sadly, I wasn’t able to convince my wife or my friends of the film’s potential, so on the rare occasion that I attend movies in a personal nature, I wasn’t able to steer anyone towards seeing this film with me. I mean, Blake Lively, Jude Law, and Sterling K. Brown -- you would have thought I wouldn’t have to do that much convincing, but sadly everyone I showed the trailer to felt that the film’s premise had been done before. I won’t dispute that there have been several films that are similar, but in my opinion, The Rhythm Section brings a unique grittiness to the genre. It took some type to see the film, and though I do feel that the film rushed its conclusion, I thoroughly found it enjoyable, and the mentor/mentee dynamic between Law and Lively was a huge selling point for the film.
Lively plays Stephanie Patrick. After her family is killed in a plane crash that she was meant to be in, she retreats into a life of drugs and prostitution. One day she is approached by reporter Keith Proctor (Raza Jaffrey, Homeland), who informs her that the plane crash, which was initially believed to be a tragic accident, was actually a terrorist attack that was covered up. Stephanie immediately is drawn into the world of covert intelligence as she attempts to unravel who was behind the crash. Aided by a former British intelligence agent (Jude Law), she trains to exact her revenge on the people who killed her family. However, in the world of espionage, everything isn’t always what it seems.
