Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 12th, 2016
For the Gasparilla International Film Festival, to nab the latest film from writer/director Richard Linklater is kind of a big deal. GIFF was the second festival to show Everybody Wants Some after its debut at the acclaimed South by Southwest festival. With the film being lauded as a spiritual sequel to Linklater’s cult hit Dazed and Confused, I had to admit I was a bit skeptical about this film and its ability to even match up to its predecessor, after all it was the indie darling that helped launched the careers of Matthew McConaughey, Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, and many others. This ensemble of talented up-and-comers managed to capture this cinematic lightning in a bottle about high school, that for me is a film I manage to watch at least once a year when I come across someone who hasn’t yet seen the film. So how does the film hold up in the face of such expectations? For me this isn’t just a fun film, but I’m taking a stand and calling this the best party film to date (and yes, I’m daring to say it’s better than Animal House).
It’s time to take a trip back to 1980, a time before social media was ever a thing, and when cars came with tape decks filled with cassettes and people who had record collections were not hit with being called hipsters. The star of this film for me is the music that is beautifully strung through the film, whether we’re listening to Van Halen, Sugar Hill Gang, or The Knack, what we have is a great assortment of music to set the tone of the film, and we get a musical bag of ear candy to indulge.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 12th, 2016
"They once roamed the earth by the tens of thousands. Their whistles spoke of distant places, of adventure and romance."
No, we're not talking about dinosaurs or some other extinct animal. Of course, we're talking about the steam-engine train. I'm old enough to have ridden them myself. I had a grandfather who realized in the early 1970's that these steam trains were about to disappear. He made it a point to explain this to me and made sure I appreciated my rides from Reading, Pennsylvania (literally a train city) to Philadelphia, where my Mom was sure he was a bagman for the mob and was using me as a cover. My grandfather wasn't a bagman; we never visited any Don. We would explore the various wonders of America's birth city. We'd visit the zoo or some historic site. Often we'd take in a Phillies game or hang out at the Italian markets in South Philly. I may not remember the details of everything we did. But I never did forget riding those steam-engine trains. And my grandfather was right. They've disappeared except for amusement parks and tourist attractions. But if you want to take a ride just like I did with my grandfather, all you have to do is pick up your ticket from Shout Factory and hop aboard The Rocky Mountain Express on UHD and in the dynamic color of 4K.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 9th, 2016
When I was a kid in the 1970's there was a weekend sports show on ABC called The Wide World Of Sports. It was a catch-all for those sports that don't have the kind of national branding of football or baseball. It was the kind of show for boxing, gymnastics, or skiing. I don't remember a single episode that I saw. What I do remember along with anyone who has ever watched it is the opening sequence. We were promised the thrill of victory... and the agony of defeat. With that last line we saw the image of a ski jumper taking a horrible wreck as he comes off the jump. In the 40 years since I still often wonder about the guy whose legacy will always be the very definition of unmitigated failure, and painful failure at that. Who in their right mind would want to be a ski jumper, I would think. Who would want to be that guy? Apparently, his name was Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards, and now he has himself a "true story" film, and it's out in 4K. Of all the things I could have been thinking as I approached this film, I'm afraid to say it was: "Is Eddie "that guy"? Will I see it in 4K? Eddie isn't "that guy", and unfortunately, Eddie The Eagle isn't even close to being "that movie".
Kingsman: The Secret Service star Taron Egerton plays Eddie Edwards. Ever since he was a young child, he dreamed of being an Olympic athlete. During the games he would stage "runaway from home's" to get to the games wherever they might be. He was a sickly child with leg issues that kept him in the hospital for a year. Still the dream lived on. It didn't matter what event, he just wanted to get there. So he takes up skiing and amasses a few ribbons and trophies but falls short of his Olympic dream when the British selection committee doesn't find he represents the right "class" of competitor. He finds a loophole in the fact that Britain hasn't had a ski-jump entry in over 40 years. Britain isn't exactly the best place to polish your ski skills. If you're thinking Jamaican bobsled here, you're not far off the mark.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 7th, 2016
"Never underestimate the impact of dramatic entrance!"
It's hard to maintain the attention of the 21st-century child. Animated movies have to combine enough elements of charm and action to keep their attention for a little under two hours. If you want to keep a franchise going, you have to rip out your sequels in reasonably tight schedules. It's been over four years since Kung Fu Panda 2, and we waited nearly that long between the first and second entry. That's a long time in a culture where we move from fad to fad almost by the hour. But if the films are good enough and leave enough of an impact, you might be able to bridge those years successfully. In 3-4 years you're almost targeting a new generation of your target audience. Kung Fu Panda 3 appears to have found the secret of that kind of franchise longevity.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 7th, 2016
"That's me, Mike Hanover, and I just killed a man in a taco shop bathroom. Hey, he started it. I been hiding near the border looking for The Vigilante..."
You've found him. Anchor Bay's The Vigilante actually started life as a web series. The web episodes followed the exploits of The Vigilante, played by Paul Sloan and his sidekick The Kid, played by Kevin L. Walker. It was pretty much a hyper-superhero kind of series with ramped-up action on a limited budget. Now we have a feature film version that is quite the mixture of genre films. You get a little grindhouse mixed with some Leone Spaghetti Western with extra sauce. Throw in The Expendables with a side of Deadpool. Stir in some graphic novel clichés and season it all with a bit of exploitation film violence and characterizations. The result is a film that doesn't take itself very seriously and might be good for an entertaining ride. That is, if you don't overcook the whole thing. At about 108 minutes, let's just say it was bordering on overcooked.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 7th, 2016
“Oh...you were expecting Prince Charming?”
Shrek really did pick the absolute perfect time to emerge from his swamp. The 2001 computer animated sensation from Dreamworks arrived just as rival studio Disney was winding down its decade-long hot streak of hand-drawn new classics like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. In other words, it was the ideal moment for someone to come along and take shots at cartoon musicals and fairy tales that end with “Happily Ever After.” (Shrek's biggest target, however, was probably the Mouse House itself.) But how does the movie play 15 years later? Fortunately, Fox and Dreamworks have released a new Anniversary Edition to help us figure out the answer.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 6th, 2016
“Hello boys…I’m baaaaaack!”
You probably know that Independence Day — the spectacular, shameless sci-fi smash that introduced the world to “Will Smith, Global Superstar” — dropped a sequel last month. What you may not know is that the original film has been granted a 20th Anniversary Blu-ray and UHD release. I was 13 when ID4 came out in the summer of 1996, which means the movie’s deluxe destruction and alien shoot-em-up antics were right in my wheelhouse. So I was curious as to how an older and wiser, um, taller version of me would feel watching it with a critical eye.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 6th, 2016
"I don't know if it's a demon or a devil, or just some hungry thing from some dark place in time. I just know it's not going to stop coming after you or anyone else it wants to. 'Cos once it has the scent of something it likes, it can't be stopped."
Just days before the tragic events of 9/11 brought so much real-life horror into our lives, Victor Salva attempted to resurrect some old-school monster movie magic on the movie-going public. The low-budget thriller hit the box office with a bang. Its $13 million opening weekend was a record for Labor Day and is partly responsible for studios taking a closer look at the traditionally slow release weekend. It was the #1 film, beating out sequels to both Rush Hour and American Pie. Unfortunately for all of us, 9/11 fell upon us, and box office numbers tanked. We had other things on our minds. The last thing the American public wanted suddenly was to be scared... we already were. Still, that strong opening weekend was a signal that monster movies might be back, and Jeepers Creepers might be the film to lead the genre into the 21st century.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 5th, 2016
We’ve all heard and seen the story before; a family loses a loved one and consumed with grief they meddle with unknown forces to see their loved ones again. The Monkey’s Paw is one of my favorite stories that cover the topic. I’m sure everyone at some point had to read this short story in school. Having read the story and seen the numerous films that have covered the topic, you’d think by now people would have learned to not mess with forces they don’t understand. The Other Side of the Door is the new paranormal horror film to cover the subject, and it seems people still just haven’t learned. Is the film worth taking a look to see what lies beyond the door, or is this one better left alone?
After taking a trip to India, Maria (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Michael (Jeremy Sisto) love the country so much that they decide to move and raise a family there. The family seems to be doing well; they eventually have a son, Oliver (Logan Creran) and a daughter Lucy (Sofia Rosinsky). Everything seems to be great till there is a tragic car accident where Maria is faced with losing Oliver after being unable to free him from the car as it becomes submerged in a river. Of course grief and guilt overwhelm her, and with good intentions a maid at their home refers Maria to a temple where she can perform a ritual and say a proper goodbye to her son. Only there is a rule: don’t open the door no matter what you hear. Well, we wouldn’t have much of a movie if she’d followed the rules. Besides, in these films the characters do nothing but make terrible decisions while we look on from the comfort of our seat shaking our heads about their foolish choices.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 29th, 2016
After a tidy, 20-year gap between making 1978’s Days of Heaven and 1998’s The Thin Red Line, director Terrence Malick has morphed into a regular workaholic. Since 2005, the enigmatic filmmaker has cranked out a whopping (for him) four movies, including 2015’s Knight of Cups. Malick’s most recent effort strikes many of the same lyrical, dazzling, and confounding notes as Tree of Life, which is the best-received film from the director’s surprisingly prolific recent run. But while Knight of Cups undeniably has glimmers of grand beauty and ambition, it mostly plays as if someone made a spot-on parody of a Terrence Malick film.
“All these years…living the life of someone I didn’t even know.”
