Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 27th, 2018
When it comes to Paul Schrader, I feel the argument can be made that he is the greatest American screenwriter. I know it’s a bold statement but when you look over his credits that include Taxi Driver, Rolling Thunder, Hardcore, Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ and so many others I feel there just isn’t anyone out there that can compete. Lately though he’s seemed to have had a difficult time recapturing that greatness, there has even been a part of me that has felt that perhaps I should give up on hoping he’ll crank out one more great film and simply appreciate the filmography he’s delivered us cinema fans over the years. Paul Schrader, despite having some classic titles to his name he’s still a writer and a director that isn’t for everyone. His films typically are dark in tone and typically shine a light onto the underbelly of society that most would prefer to not know about. It’s because of his fearlessness in tackling these subjects that has made me a fan of his for years so when the opportunity to see First Reformed came along I didn’t hesitate, this was a screening I couldn’t miss.
As the film opens we get a long shot that pushes in to an old church, we quickly find out the church is named First Reformed. Inside we meet Reverend Toller (Ethan Hawke) as he is delivering a sermon to a very sparse crowd of parishioners. It doesn’t take long to realize that Toller is a damaged man, both physically, emotionally and spiritually. We get insight into the reverends thoughts through his journal entries that he writes and are narrated for us. Things get moving when Mary (Amanda Seyfried) approaches Toller after a service and requests he speaks with her husband Michael (Philip Ettinger) who she fears wants her to have an abortion.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 24th, 2018
"So dark. You sure you're not from the DC universe?”
I've said many times in these pages that expectations can kill. That might have been more true for Deadpool 2 than any other film I've seen since the re-launch of Star Wars. The first movie didn't push boundaries. It obliterated the boundaries and kept on going. Fans had certainly been ripe for a raunchy R-rated superhero film, and the box office for Deadpool certainly proved that out by bringing in nearly a half a billion bucks. For a superhero film that might seem like small change, but for what was essentially a comedy, it was awesome money and demanded a sequel before the first run was over at the multiplexes. The problem is that raunchy comedies, like superhero films, share the deadly expectation curse. Rarely does a comedy film sequel live up to those expectations, and if you're anybody but Marvel, it doesn't happen often in the superhero genre either. If all of this sounds like it's leading up to a death knell for Deadpool 2, you're right. It does sound that way. Fortunately for us Deadpool 2 manages to escape its fated demise and not only work as well as the first film; Deadpool 2 is better.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 24th, 2018
“Who do you think you are, Jackie Chan?!”
I'm going to do my very best to describe how insane this movie is, but it still might not be enough. I want to try and be fair because there aren't many people who have worked harder to entertain audiences than Jackie Chan. The 64-year-old martial arts legend has more than 100 acting credits to his name in a career that has spanned well over 50 years. Naturally, there are bound to be some turkeys along the way. Unfortunately, Bleeding Steel — an obnoxiously incoherent sci-fi departure for the action star — firmly (and gloriously) falls into the turkey category.
Chan stars as Lin, a Hong Kong special agent with an ailing daughter who is in critical condition. Lin is rushing to the hospital to be by her side when he gets an urgent work call about a witness that needs to be protected. The witness is Dr. James, a geneticist who has been working on creating a mechanical heart(!) and bioengineered blood to create super soldiers. Lin chooses duty over his daughter and rushes to protect Dr. James just in time to be ambushed by a deranged, mech-enhanced villain named...Andre (Callan Mulvey), who looks like Darth Vader without his helmet on. Lin and his team face off against Andre's stormtrooper-sequel army, Dr. James gets caught in the crossfire, and half a dozen explosions later we finally get the Bleeding Edge title card. (Yes, everything I've just described happens in the first 15 minutes!)
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 23rd, 2018
"This is not just about Gotham. This is all about Bruce Wayne."
It really is about Gotham. And it's about Jim Gordon. It's also very much about Bruce Wayne. The third season ended with Bruce finally starting to embrace his vigilante role, but it was crude and very much only a shadow of the hero he will become. There's a reason why all of the episodes of this season are subtitled The Dark Knight. Bruce is becoming more and more like Batman. Bruce even confronts his future alter-ego in a vision state. He's being propelled to that future because of Gotham and because he's also being manipulated toward his destiny by none other than Ra's Al Ghul himself, played by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's awkward Doctor Alexander Siddig. He's taking center stage this season, and he knows Wayne's future and sees himself as the guiding force to make sure he gets there.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 23rd, 2018
For eight years Blue Bloods has been a staple on CBS, giving Tom Selleck a chance to completely redefine his television career. The once cocky and carefree Magnum P.I. now has established himself as the wise patriarch. It's a transition that a 1970's audience would never have bought. But now he's become a new kind of airwaves icon. The show has also managed to make it through eight years with very little change in the cast, and most of that coming from additions. This season is the first for the show to lose one of the major players and a rather beloved character on the show. Instead of making the season weaker, I think this might well be one of the strongest yet for the series.
Amy Carlson leaves the show, so the season begins with the Reagan family mourning the loss of her character, Linda. It turns into quite an emotional season for the cast. Of course, Danny (Wahlberg) is hit the hardest. Throughout the season he has to deal with a ton and anger over Linda's death. He also starts to question his life as a police detective. He starts to second guess his decisions and be a bit gun-shy about dangerous positions. He's dealing with having to be the single parent for his kids, both financially and for safety. He's going to need the help of his family, and that's what makes Blue Bloods the kind of show that it is. It's a cop show, but it is more a series about this family. There's always a lot of emotional stuff here, but this season goes above and beyond the call of duty.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 21st, 2018
"There's been a new development."
Actually there have been many. But first I have to credit Blindspot's creator Martin Gero with providing one of the more memorable moments on television with the opening minutes of the series in the first season. We see a police officer in Times Square approach a bag with a sign on it that asks the FBI be alerted. The cop approaches the bag a bit frightened it might be a bomb and blow up on him at any time. It could have been a nice iconic moment when he opens the bag to reveal a naked woman who is covered with tattoos. She is shivering as the camera pulls back to reveal the emptied Times Square.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 20th, 2018
“We take a look back at the films that helped shape, change, and innovate the world of documentary.”
Between the rise of streaming services like Netflix and the growing number of nonfiction films making noise at the box office, documentaries have never been hotter…or more accessible. At the very least, they certainly don’t feel like the cinematic equivalent of eating your vegetables anymore. As a result, this feels the perfect time for Mill Creek to release the first two seasons of IFC’s obsessively hilarious comedy series Documentary Now!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 19th, 2018
“Welcome to the future.”
This is how Josephine (Ellen Burstyn) introduces a church group that is touring her geodesic home, which also doubles as a museum dedicated to inventor R. Buckminster Fuller. Josephine and her grandson, Sebastian (Asa Butterfield) have their own way of living in their home, a place where it is assumed Sebastian has never left long enough to experience how the real world functions. His interactions with the public don’t stretch beyond the casual tourists who come by the home, and as a teenager he’s never experienced “junk food” of any kind. But Sebastian’s reality crumbles after his grandmother has a stroke in the middle of a tour and he meets Jared (Alex Wolff).
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on August 19th, 2018
This one proved to be too juvenile for my kiddo and was way too juvenile for me. However, I maintain that with the right demographic, it is guaranteed hit. Muppet Babies: Time to Play is a reimagining of the original series and airs on Disney Junior. It brings back everyone’s favorite muppets, including Kermit, Piggy, and of course Gonzo. Imagination is key for this disc, as the characters transport themselves out of their daycare class and into several fantastic scenarios, like flying a plane or imagining themselves as a knight to overcome a fear of the dark. As I said, not really my cup of tea, but it was done in a charming way that it is easy to see it appealing to a younger audience. Just not my kid, who immediately asked to watch something else.
The disc is broken down into six episodes, with each episode having two parts usually featuring one muppet as the central focus. In every part there is a specific lesson, such as in the first episode with Kermit imagining himself a knight as a way of overcoming a fear of the dark. I know I mentioned this plot already, but it was the one that I most identified with as I recall how difficult it was for me as a child, and I remember that my imagination is what got me through. That speaks to the relatability of the disc, as I am nowhere close to the desired age group, but I was still able to find something to identify with.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 17th, 2018
When it comes to films about man vs. nature, we typically see films where they are defending themselves in the wild where weather and predators are the biggest dangers they have to face. (The Grey and The Revenant are the titles that first come to mind.) In the new release Flora, writer/director Sasha Louis Vukovic is here to show us that there is more to fear than wolves and bears, but how deadly pollen can be. Somewhere I can imagine M. Night Shyamalan is happy to see that someone else has tackled this subject since his disastrous film The Happening made a whimper at the box office years ago. Fortunately for Vukovic, he didn’t make the same mistakes and instead has crafted a film that is perhaps one of the more realistic horror scenarios that has come out in some time.
The film takes us back to 1929 when a team of students head out into an uncharted forest to meet up with their professor on an expedition to study the local flora. Unfortunately, when they arrive their professor is nowhere to be found. To make matters more dire, the supplies they were expecting to be at camp for them to survive have been destroyed, and the only way out of the forest is by foot and more than a few weeks’ hike to civilization. While this is a nice setup with many horror elements in place, the film never quite commits to being a horror film.
