Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 22nd, 2023
I’ll admit it; when it comes to Netflix, I’m a fan of the shows that they put out, but their movies rarely impress me. I kind of look at Netflix films as the modern version of direct-to-video releases. They have big stars, but the quality just isn’t up to par with the big releases you’ll see in the theater. Even big name stuff like The Irishman -- it was good, but not the masterpiece I was expecting. Honestly, my favorite films on Netflix are The Babysitter films with Samara Weaving, just a fun little film, that is basically the kind of expectations I have for a Netflix film, and even the more recent release of We Have a Ghost I thought was charming and may have done well on the big screen. As for Knives Out 2, fun but forgettable. So when I see films from the streaming service get Oscar nominations and even win, I can’t but feel the need to pull the wax out of my ears and make sure I heard that right.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 12th, 2023
"We watched as the bombs shattered the second comet into a million pieces of ice and rock that burned harmlessly in our atmosphere and lit up the sky for an hour. Still, we were left with the devastation of the first. The waters reached as far inland as the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys. It washed away farms and towns, forests and skyscrapers. But the waters receded. The wave hit Europe and Africa too. Millions were lost, and countless more left homeless. But the waters receded. Cities fall, but they are rebuilt. And heroes die, but they are remembered. We honor them with every brick we lay, with every field we sow, with every child we comfort, and then teach to rejoice in what we have been re-given. Our planet. Our home. So now, let us begin."
It all started when Steven King wanted to remake the sci-fi cult classic When Worlds Collide. These films must have been favorites to him, as he would indeed go on to remake George Pal's better known film War Of The Worlds and the Robert Wise classic The Day The Earth Stood Still. But it just never really happened for When Worlds Collide, at least not directly.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 11th, 2023
"All my life I wanted to be a cop, you know. It's like I can remember nothing else. I remember this one time somethin' happened. A domestic argument or somethin'. Somebody stabbed somebody or somethin'. And -- there was this crowd around this tenement. I must have been nine, ten years old. I was this big. I went over to see what was going on. I noticed the red light -- goin' around and around, all these people, and I couldn't see. And I kept saying, ‘Do you know what's goin' on? Do you know?’ Nobody knew. It was like a big mystery behind that -- that crowd there. All of a sudden, the crowd just parted. Like the Red Sea, you see? And there were these guys in blue, and I said, ‘They know.’ What do they know? What do they know?”
Frank Serpico was a New York City cop in the 1960's and early 1970's.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on May 10th, 2023
One of my favorite movies of all time is Se7en. Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, and Kevin Spacey star in this amazing film about a senior and rookie pair of cops on the hunt for a serial killer who is murdering victims depicting the seven deadly sins. It's so breathtaking, and so long overdue for a 4K release, it's ridiculous. It has also led me when I receive packages to blurt out, "What's in the box?" in the deadpan tone that Brad Pitt uses in the movie. So naturally, whenever I hear of a film that draws comparisons to this fine film, my head certainly does a double take. Enter Hinterland. In this film, Peter Perg who just came home after World War I, is searching for a serial killer who is taking out former soldiers in a very ritualistic pattern. Let's check it out.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on May 9th, 2023
I remember when The Golden Compass came to theaters. I know I saw it because I was a projectionist and had to screen the print, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember anything about the film. Perhaps that’s why that when I first heard about HBO doing a TV series adaption of the beloved book series His Dark Materials I wasn’t all that thrilled. I’d never read the -adult series, and considering the amount of awful YA film and TV adaptations that have bombarded us for nearly two decades, it played a role in squashing any excitement I may have had in different circumstances. I was definitely pessimistic about watching the show, but when I finished Season 1, I was excited about where the next season would take us. I loved the characters, the daemons and the worlds that the show took us to. Not since Stranger Things had I been more excited about a new series.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Michael Durr on May 8th, 2023
Films about World War II and Nazism are hard for me to watch. No matter how well-intentioned they may be, I can barely make it through Schindler's List or Dunkirk or even something like Inglorious Bastards (I do, however, find The Producers to be hilarious). Most of the time, it hits a little too close to home. For you see, my Polish grandfather (may he rest in peace), his parents were taken away to a concentration camp. So anytime I watch a film set in that time period, I think, well, what if he had been taken away. It's not like those horrible people showed any sort of restraint on children, and then where would my grandfather be? Or my mother? Or myself? Anyway, I got lured into Chess Story by the promise of a thriller with the game of chess as the backdrop. Unfortunately, by the end I was reminded of the horror, but also that there is still great modern moviemaking even with Nazis. Let's take a look.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 1st, 2023
Most people who know me know that I adore Scooby Doo. Some of my favorite episodes of Scooby Doo are those where they have famous guest stars solving mysteries. Addams Family, Harlem Globetrotters, Batman, etc. Classic Scooby goodness with characters that I enjoy and always wondered how they would work in another universe. Today, I have the benefit of seeing how Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other Justice League members will look and react in the RWBY world of Remnant. Let's take a look.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 1st, 2023
Most people who know me know that I adore Scooby Doo. Some of my favorite episodes of Scooby Doo are those where they have famous guest stars solving mysteries. Addams Family, Harlem Globetrotters, Batman, etc. Classic Scooby goodness with characters that I enjoy and always wondered how they would work in another universe. Today, I have the benefit of seeing how Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and other Justice League members will look and react in the RWBY world of Remnant. Let's take a look.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 27th, 2023
"Superman's journal, final entry. My cells are breaking down at an alarming rate. I'm running out of time. I have few regrets. My life has been a wonder. I've traveled across space and time, seen and done things beyond imagination. I had parents who loved me. Good friends like Pete, Lana, and Jimmy. I got to help people while living an incredible adventure. I loved a good woman, and she loved me back. I'm tired, but I still have one more job to do ..."
We all know the story and its many incarnations. All-Star Superman is one of the more unique stories to be told through Warner Brothers Animation's DC feature films. It's not the latest. It was released in 2011 before Warner Brothers started to release their films on UHD. Of course, there was no UHD Blu-ray in 2011. In addition to the recent and upcoming animated features, Warner Brothers is going back to those earlier films, and All-Star Superman is as good a place as any to start.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on April 25th, 2023
If someone were to read my biography below, one would probably learn one of two things, I have an unhealthy obsession with Alyssa Milano movies, and I deeply appreciate Basil Rathbone, the man who popularized Sherlock Holmes films. While many would argue who the best Holmes would be (Downey, Brett, Cumberbatch, etc), my heart will always go to Basil. So naturally, when I saw the movie Rio with him in the starring role had come to Blu-ray, I jumped at the opportunity to review it. Let's take a look.
