Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 14th, 2019
"I love a comedy. Is there cake?"
The Favourite is a somewhat awkward film. Director Yorgos Lanthimos took on a rather brave but dangerous task when he decided to create a farce. Most audience members don't understand the term. They use it rather synonymously with comedy or spoof, but it is truly something very different. A comedy is meant to deliver as many laughs as possible. You get pratfalls, one-liners, slapstick, and other over-the-top methods to bring about those laughs. Spoofs take a specific subject or genre and expose some of the more innate aspects of the material, all in good fun. Leslie Nielsen was a master of the spoof with his Airplane and Naked Gun films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 15th, 2019
Steve McQueen has established himself as a rather talented director. 12 Years A Slave was one of the better films of 2013 and one of the few times I happened to agree with the Oscars’ choice for Best Picture. When he tackled the heist format, I expected something unique, and I wasn't at all disappointed. McQueen managed to put a clever spin on a tired genre and provide us with a superior and inspired cast. It wasn't all completely his idea, of course. The film is based on a Canadian miniseries that goes back to the 1980's. That doesn't mean he hasn't found a way to imprint the material with his own style and bold choices. There's a lot to love about Widows, but I have pretty low expectations for this film at the box office. More on that later. Let's get down to it, shall we?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 12th, 2019
"Is this the real life or is this just fantasy?"
I think even Queen's biggest fans might have trouble distinguishing between the two in the Freddie Mercury/Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. And that's absolutely OK. If you look at the film's trailers, the movie looks less like a bio-film and more like a celebration, and that's exactly the kind of experience you're going to have from beginning to end. I'm sure that a lot of film and Queen fans shared more than a little skepticism over the project. I know that I certainly did. But all of that magically disappeared when the first trailer hit the internet and we all watched in amazement as actor Rami Malek appears to be channeling the manic spirit of Queen front man Freddie Mercury down to the smallest detail.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 8th, 2019
When Robert Redford first announced that The Old Man and the Gun was going to be the last film he was going to be acting in, it became a film that shot to the top of my must-see list. Since that announcement he’s backed off on his comment, but if this were his last film, this would be one heck of a way to close out an amazing career. What writer and director David Lowery has delivered here is sort of a love letter to all of Redford’s greatest hits, and by the time the credits end, well, you simply know you’ve watched something special. It’s a film from another era, when special FX didn’t come out of a camera and cinema just was different.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on January 24th, 2019
“You ready to stir some s--- up?”
In The Hate U Give, the fatal shooting of a young, unarmed black man by a police officer serves as the catalyst for a story about racial identity, police brutality, and much more. The film features some undeniably powerful performances and moments that, quite frankly, spoke to me on a personal level. The problem is that as the story’s level of outrage rises, the movie itself becomes more outrageous and harder to take seriously.
Although the fatal shooting is the movie’s inciting event, The Hate U Give is actually the story of Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg), a teenager torn between her home life in the poor, predominantly black Garden Heights neighborhood and her tony, predominantly white prep school. Her father Maverick (Russell Hornsby) is a former gang member who encourages Starr and her brothers to wear their blackness as a badge of honor while imploring them to be exceedingly careful during any interaction with police officers. So when Starr and her childhood friend Khalil (Algee Smith) get pulled over for a minor offense, she knows exactly what to do. Unfortunately, she can’t convince the brasher Khalil to follow suit, which leads to his tragic death.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on January 16th, 2019
These days when the studios are cutting together trailers to promote their upcoming films, I feel one of the number one complaints people have is that the trailer gives too much away, so why bother shelling out the cash to see it on the big screen? When it comes to the trailer for Bad times at the El Royale, it gives you a glimpse at what is to come, but the result is something clever and ambitious. Unfortunately, it feels a bit too familiar. This is the second feature film from writer and director Drew Goddard, who first made a splash onto the screen with his hit film Cabin in the Woods. While I enjoyed his first romp that played with many of horror’s stereotypes, I still felt the film fell a bit flat. Unfortunately, though I enjoyed this fun little noir film he’s put together, I feel it too falls a bit flat, but mostly this is due to its 140-minute runtime.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 22nd, 2018
"Predators don't just sit around making hats out of rib cages. They conquered space."
In 1987 Predator became somewhat of a milestone film for many reasons. The movie would anchor a franchise, thanks mostly to a wonderfully original Stan Winston creature design and the performance of Kevin Peter Hall under the suit. Both Winston and Hall have since passed, but the alien hunter that they created together is still going strong. The film also featured two stars who would later go on to become governors of their states. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jessie Ventura made their mark in politics. The film also featured Rocky's Carl Weathers. It also featured Shane Black in a small role that might not have contributed to the blossoming franchise then, but he has made his own impact by writing and directing the latest installment of that franchise The Predator.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 14th, 2018
“I'm sorry there is so much pain in this story. I'm sorry it's in fragments, like a body caught in crossfire, pulled apart by force, but there is nothing I can do to change it.”
To say there is pain in The Handmaid’s Tale might be the biggest understatement of 2018. The series is set in a dystopian near-future in which women — even the ones who are supposedly part of the ruling class — are enslaved and tortured in a variety of heinous ways. Handmaid’s Tale immediately became Hulu’s flagship show and picked up an Emmy for Best Drama Series last year. So expectations were high for this second season, which too often proves to be torturous for viewers as well.
“God send me an obedient woman.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on November 11th, 2018
When a disease begins targeting and killing children, you fear for the future of the generation. However, when the children whosurvive develop dangerous abilities, you fear for yourself. That is the situation that Ruby Daly finds herself in. To compound her issues, not only does she have powers that she can’t control, but among the powerful her abilities are among the rarest and strongest. Amandla Stenberg stars in this film based on a young adult novel series. Anyone else sensing a franchise in works. Unfortunately, despite the vacuum let behind by Twilight, Hunger Games (which our star was a part of), and the recently ended Maze Runner, I’m not so sure that The Darkest Minds will be the vehicle to fill the gap. Overall it was a solid opening, but I left the film with more than a few unanswered questions.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by J C on November 5th, 2018
“We had a job to do.”
When The Americans received a two-season renewal back in 2016, the news was met with unanimous enthusiasm. Fans of FX’s acclaimed (but low-rated) spy drama were guaranteed two more years’ worth of stories, while TV critics applauded the fact that creator Joe Weisberg and Co. could carefully plot out their show’s endgame. Sadly, the first half of that deal resulted in a penultimate fifth season that frustratingly punted a lot of the show’s more pressing plotlines. The sixth and final season of The Americans offers a thrilling and heartbreaking conclusion, even though it also kind of comes off as the brilliant kid who waited until the very end to cram before a big test.
