Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on April 6th, 2016
“Welcome to the 21st century!”
Welcome to the world of 4K UHD Blu-ray. This is our first 4k review. It won't be the last.
Sylvester Stallone has dedicated the better part of the last decade to giving moviegoers what they wanted 20 years ago. It started with 2006's Rocky Balboa, which closed out Stallone's signature franchise in the satisfying manner fans have been craving since 1990's Rocky V debacle. We’ve also gotten another Rambo sequel, as well as long-awaited team ups with icons both real (Schwarzenegger in Escape Plan) and cinematic (Grudge Match was “Rocky vs. Raging Bull”). But Stallone's biggest recent success is the veritable fantasy team of action stars he's assembled for the Expendables films.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 3rd, 2016
Keanu Reeves is a guy who I don’t think anyone would be crazy enough to say is a “great actor”, but instead he’s a guy who has been in some pretty great films. For me he’s an actor I grew up with from his days doing the Bill and Ted movies and Point Break. (Seriously, how dare they attempt to remake that gem?) Between Speed and The Matrix, those are the two movies I’ve held onto for so long as his career took a more interesting turn; that is until John Wick came along and blew my mind with all the insane coolness that was up on the screen. Finally it seemed I was on track to getting the Keanu Reeves that I grew up watching. I know, so what’s the point of all this? Well, until now, none of the Reeves films that I’ve liked could I really say it was because of his performance, and Exposed is finally the film he’s needed where he can show he’s more than just a brooding action star.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 23rd, 2016
It’s the one that fans have been waiting for. The conclusion of the only adaptation series to rival the star power of Twilight in my opinion (Divergent comes close, but the popularity is clearly with this Jennifer Lawrence-led series). Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 is the culmination of all the action set up in the first film. It’s time to finally take the fight to President Snow, and this film delivers in every aspect. Action sequences are tier-one as well as being character-driven, all the while staying faithful to the source material. Accomplishing all these tasks is always difficult; however, this film appears to do it with ease.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 17th, 2016
“When I was small, I only knew small things. But now I'm five, I know everything!”
Room opens on the day that Jack, the movie's relentlessly curious young protagonist, turns five. Jack is our entry point and guide through this story, but there's at least one important thing he doesn't know. In Room, we see how a mother and her son cope with one of the most harrowing circumstances imaginable. It should make for a grim experience, but this wonderfully-crafted film winds up being a moving story about resilience and how parents and their children can draw strength from one another.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 14th, 2016
"There’s always some variable you didn’t account for."
Manhattan is one of those variables. It's one of those dramatic stories where mankind is altered forever. If it weren't absolutely true, someone would have had to make it up. Every child in schools around the world knows about the atomic bombs that ended World War II. We've all seen the terrible destruction that exceeded even the expectations of the scientists and engineers who designed and built these bombs. We all live in the aftermath of these events.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 25th, 2016
“Don’t ever threaten my family again.”
In Extraction, a government analyst embarks on an unsanctioned rescue mission after his father — an over-the-hill CIA field operative — is kidnapped by a shadowy group of bad guys. In a related story, I think I got my dad a CD for Father’s Day last year. But while the hero of Extraction might edge me out in the Son of the Year race, the rest of this crummy actioner is basically a harmless debacle.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 17th, 2016
On the surface MI-5 looks to be a mundane direct-to-video film attempting to cash in on a couple of things. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is the fifth in the series and often referred to as MI:5. The new James Bond film has a plot involving the head of MI-5 attempting to take down the MI-6 department and our beloved 007. None of these would contribute to the fortuitous name. Rather it’s the difference in racial sensitivity between Britain and the United States. MI-5 is actually a feature-film version of the long-running British series Spooks. The film’s original title happens to be Spooks: The Greater Good.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 9th, 2016
The story is the star in Freeheld, which chronicles a same-sex couple's fight for equality. The film is based on the Oscar-winning documentary short of the same name and follows Laurel Hester, a New Jersey cop with terminal lung cancer, as she attempts to pass her pension benefits to domestic partner Stacie Andree. Despite being a modest production, Freeheld was able to enlist some top-drawer acting talent. Unfortunately, it also attracted a risk-averse team of filmmakers who tell Laurel and Stacie's story in a thoroughly rote and uninspired manner.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 8th, 2016
“Witches live among us. Their magic passed from an ancient race, diluted, half-forgotten but dangerously powerful. After centuries of conflict, a truce was forged. Witches would be allowed to live and govern themselves if they followed one strict rule: that magic never be used against humans. But a truce is a fragile thing…”
Vin Diesel has made the Fast and Furious franchise into a massive global behemoth, but Diesel is not a global behemoth on his own. He has had successes and failures. He is someone who seems to be an unlikely star. He tried to make Riddick (Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick, Riddick) into a multi-film franchise and accomplished it through sheer force of will, but his stardom largely rests on Fast and Furious. Diesel bristles at being typecast, so he has always tried to find new vehicles that will demonstrate his range
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 31st, 2016
"Stealing from the Pope is suicide."
We're not talking about that pope. We're talking about Robert DeNiro in his latest direct-to-video feature film Heist. It's true that DeNiro hasn't exactly been picky lately with his parts. He commands a big paycheck, often for just showing up on the credits. It's common among actors particularly those like DeNiro who have made quite a name for themselves and find themselves in the back nine of their career.
