Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 13th, 2018
The things we do for our children. That was all I could think of while watching Fancy Nancy, another Disney Junior series. Nancy is a girly girl with a love of all things glittery and French. Funny, I can think of another little girl who fits that description. It goes without saying that Nalyce was immediately on board for this disc, going as far as to remind me every day that we need to review this show. When we finally set down to watch it, she was all business, turning off all the lights and basically becoming a zombie staring at the screen. I mean, I've never seen her so dedicated to anything. I have to admit a certain level of pride. Sadly, I was not as enamored with the show as she was.
The series is laid out in the typical format for a Disney series: two episodes per thirty-minute format. Each episode imparts an important lesson that every child should screen to function as a productive member of society, such as the importance of sharing and accepting people for who they are. After every episode I made sure Nalyce told me what the lesson she learned from the episode. It was only slightly less painful than pulling teeth for both of us, as I found myself having to use the privilege of watching another episode as an incentive for her. For her, it was more about the entertainment than the embedded lesson. Nevertheless, I’m a parent first.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 7th, 2018
“They destroyed the man I was, but then I was reborn. And this time I came out breathing fire.”
Season 1 of Westworld — HBO’s mega-budget adaptation of Michael Crichton’s 1973 film of the same name — spent a lot of time exploring the nature of reality and humanity through a high-tech theme park’s robotic hosts. And while the show still has plenty of time for those themes, the second season can be tidily summed up with a phrase that nods to another Part II of an iconic sci-fi franchise: The Hosts Strike Back.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 6th, 2018
As a fan of The Conjuring films, I keep hoping that these spinoff films will manage to step up and be on par with The Conjuring, but instead they just keep letting me down. But that doesn’t stop the hordes of fans from still seeing these films; after all, the pair of Annabelle films were box office hits, and The Nun had a nice theatrical run as well, earning over $110 million. The Nun is a bit of a departure, as it takes us back to 1952 and is set in Romania to deliver a gothic horror story that seems as though it’s a bit of a nod to the old Hammer films from the 1950’s on into the 1970’s. Does the film deserve its box office success? Well, thankfully I didn’t have to take a vow of silence, and I can tell you all about it.
The film wastes no time in setting the tone and delivering the terror as we see a pair of nuns walk through the bowels of an abbey in Romania as they open a big, scary door that has the inscription “God Ends Here”. Obviously whatever is beyond this door is bad, but why these nuns are so gung ho about opening this door and going inside isn’t explained (at least until much later on into the film). It’s no surprise that the result of opening this door causes bad things to occur, one of which is a nun killing herself as she sees The Nun coming towards her. This sparks an investigation by the Vatican to be led by Father Burke (Demian Bichir) and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 6th, 2018
“Sometimes when you trust your impulses, incredible things can happen.”
I doubt this is what Jesse Usher’s character had in mind when he used it as a pickup line for Bella Thorne’s character. However, Ride does feature what turns out to be an extraordinary night for these two characters as they find themselves at the mercy of a demented individual with a .44 Magnum. This movie has been on my radar for a while, and it was a movie that I jumped at the chance to review. I’m fortunate to say that I was not disappointed, although I did find the ending to be a bit anticlimactic. When I saw the runtime for this film, a mere 77 minutes, I anticipated that the thrills would be over fairly quickly, but the story managed to pack quite a bit into this brief period.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on December 3rd, 2018
This year, I have gravitated more towards watching movie courtroom dramas. I watched Anatomy of a Murder for the first time. The same could be said for the Verdict with Paul Newman. I re-visited A Few Good Men in glorious 4k with pleasing results. Then I got an opportunity to review The Third Murder, a courtroom drama that takes a look at the Japanese court system when one lawyer decides to seek the truth. Even though I was about to go on review hiatus for the holiday season, I eagerly wanted to take a look, and I am glad I did.
In the dead of the night, Misumi (played by Koji Yakusho), a fired factory worker hits the back of his former boss's head repeatedly with a hammer. After this continues for a few brief minutes, Misumi then douses him with gasoline and then sets him on fire to watch him burn. Misumi stares into the night with death on his cheek. We fade to black.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 3rd, 2018
So this was not one of Nalyce’s favorite films to watch, but she was a trooper and watched it till the end. Benji Off the Leash is a digitally remastered telling of the 2004 film. To its credit, the story surprising holds up. Even more to its credit, my daughter was actually able to follow the story. I mean, I had to explain certain parts, like who was Benji? And explain the profession of dog breeding, a profession she automatically decided was a bad job given that to her eyes it broke up puppy families. However, once we cleared that hurdle, we were able to continue the movie. Full disclosure, my knowledge of Benji beforehand was nonexistent. I mean, I knew the name, but not the significance. Fortunately for me, there is a decent opener so that I could catch up.
The story opens up with a news announcement that makers of the Benji films are going across the U.S. looking for the next dog to play the character. We then settle into a Mississippi town and into the lives of a family of dog breeders, headed by Hatchett, who is abusive to both his family as well as the animals under his care as he continues to breed new puppies in order to gain more money, not allowing adequate time between pregnancies.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 29th, 2018
“I get it. You’re taking me back in time to show me my mother and father, and I’m supposed to get all goosey and blubbery. Well, forget it, pal…you got the wrong guy!”
Bill Murray was the absolute best at being a jerk on screen during the 1980s, which made him the right guy to step into the role of a modern-day Scrooge. Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” had been adapted countless times before Scrooged and there have been dozens of versions since the movie’s 1988 release. But while this sarcastic, intentionally gaudy update isn’t exactly the most faithful version of Dickens’ classic tale, it remains a personal childhood favorite.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on November 29th, 2018
“It’s handled, baby.”
Scandal, which followed the exploits of elite Washington D.C. fixer Olivia Pope and her torrid on-again/off-again relationship with the president of the United States, was never the Best Drama on television. But if the Emmys handed out a prize for “Most Drama,” this Shonda Rhimes-created soap opera would’ve been a shoo-in each of its seven seasons. So the fact that ABC released the final two seasons of Scandal in a handy bundle means there are almost too many twists and turns to count.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 28th, 2018
“…I’ll show you how to be rich.”
HBO’s fantastic and fiercely funny Succession is about a group of people who are great at being rich…and not much else. The show’s fictional Roy family controls the powerful conglomerate Waystar Royco, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the late Rupert Murdoch’s media and entertainment empire. The show would be entertaining enough if it merely lampooned the spoiled brats who stumble into becoming masters of the universe. But Succession goes to another level by wringing legitimately powerful family drama out of an objectively absurd and despicable cast of characters.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 23rd, 2018
After the first season of The Good Fight, I was a fan. I never saw an episode of The Good Wife, but the first season of this series stood up very well on its own, and season two continues that good fight as it were. Last season ended on a cliffhanger with Maia’s (Rose Leslie, Game of Thrones) future seeming very grim after her father fled the country and basically left her holding the bag. Season 2 addresses those concerns right off and ups the stakes as a new violent movement sweeps Chicago, putting a target on the back of every lawyer in the firm. However, let me get to the person you are all probably most interested in: Diane Lockhart. Her character has come a long way from the disarray she was in during the previous season, becoming a name partner at the law firm and attempting to find a balance in her life as well as figure out the state of her marriage. Needless to say, The Good Fight Season 2 continues with the momentum of the previous year and has me anxiously awaiting Season 3, which has been confirmed for 2019.
At the beginning of the season, several lawyers have fallen victim to fatal attacks from former clients, inciting a violent movement against law practitioners for the crime of overbilling. Further complicating matters, the founder of the law firm has recently passed, sending the firm in to a state of limbo as his daughter wants his name removed the firm as well as the loss of former partner Barbara Kolstad (Erica Tazel, Justified). Not to mention Maia’s pending trial following her father fleeing the country. It is perilous times for the newly named Reddick, Bosman, and Lockhart.
