Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on June 1st, 2021
When I was in grade school, I remember reading High King, the fifth book in the Prydain Chronicles, as part of a reading assignment (since it was a Newbery Award winner). I also at some point watched Black Cauldron in my youth, but I'm pretty sure it was on a crummy VHS tape. Anyhow, many years later, with an old friend, I was gifted a treasured copy of Prydain Chronicles (all five books in a hardback format). Being much older, I took the time to read the entire hardback collection, and ever since then I've been tracking down related items including the Black Cauldron movie from Disney to revisit. It might not be the wonderful series of books, but it's still an excellent movie on its own accord. Let's explore the recent release from the Disney Movie Club.
In the mystic land of Prydain, there was once a king so evil and cruel that even the gods feared him. He was imprisoned in a crucible of molten iron since no prison could hold him. His demonic spirit was harnessed in the form of a great black cauldron. That Black Cauldron lay hidden while evil men tried to find it. The one man who did would be able to harness a power to resurrect an evil army which would then rule the world.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 1st, 2021
"I can see it now... Supernatural: The End. And the cover is just a grave stone that says 'Winchester'. Fans are gonna love it. Welcome to the end"
The brothers made an emotional announcement during the airing of the previous season that the 15th year would be the final season of the show. It's hard to believe that we'll soon know a television landscape without the Winchester brothers. It's the last show that goes back to the original WB Network that eventually lead to the current CW Network that has become more and more the home of the Warner Brothers-owned DC Comics television universe. But in the middle of speedsters, archers, aliens, and time travelers, there was always room for the Winchesters. It'll be a bit of a culture shock to have them gone. Hard to imagine, but if you were a young 15-year-old kid when you started to watch the show, you're now 30, likely with kids of your own. You live in an entirely different world than you did when you first came aboard. How will you feel without it? We'll always have over 300 hours and 15 seasons to watch whenever we want thanks to these wonderful releases on Blu-ray from Warner Home Entertainment. So let's give the boys one hell of a sendoff. If you have no idea who these guys are, you are in for one sweet treat, I can tell you that much. But you can't start here. You'll never understand what's going on, and it will taint your experience. You have a lot of watching to do to be ready for this release. Check out our long list of reviews here and start binge-watching fast. Once you're caught up, continue on. Caught up? Excellent. On to the final season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 28th, 2021
On December 15th, 1967 the Silver Bridge which connected Point Pleasant, West Virginia to Gallipolis, Ohio collapsed under the stress of rush hour traffic and killed forty six people. Later on, it was determined that the collapse was due to a small defect only .1 inches in a single eyebar in one of the suspension chains along with poor maintenance. However, sightings of the Mothman during that time period had citizens attribute this disaster to a far more sinister cause. That led to a book in 1975 by John Keel. Twenty seven years later, the film The Mothman Prophecies would be released based on these events. Let's take a look at the Imprint #39 release arriving on blu-ray.
John Klein (played by Richard Gere) is a reporter for the Washington Post. Despite urging from his office, he won't be attending the Christmas party. Instead he has a date with his wife, Mary (played by Debra Messing). He makes the call to his wife who is busy taking a shower and leaves a message. It appears that the happy couple is on their way to buying a house together.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 25th, 2021
By John Ceballos
“She’s quite a common girl, very common indeed.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 18th, 2021
It started in 2013 with Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. DC decided to follow the Marvel MCU model and release a series of DC property films in a 16-film phase that ended last year with Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. After 16 films with a couple of branch-offs, that phase/story has come to a close, and a new phase begins with Justice Society: World War II. The stories were pretty much based on the New 52 reboot of the DC comics universe. There have been some exceptional films in the series and a couple of duds. The animation styles varied and conformed to the type of story being told. With the release of Justice Society: World War II we enter a new phase, and so far the theme or source of the new films hasn't been revealed. We know the next two films will be based on the Batman: The Long Halloween comic. After that it appears the DC folks' lips are sealed. While that two-part adventure looks quite enticing, the new series of films opens with a very average entry.
The film begins with President Franklin D. Roosevelt being briefed on a secret Nazi project. This is going to tempt you to fetch your Indiana Jones fedora and whip. You see, this secret Nazi project has Hitler sending teams out to look for "magical" or supernatural objects to help him win World War II. The film presentation gives us an idea of the kinds of artifacts the project is seeking, including... wait for it ... the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail. No sign of Harrison Ford. FDR is also briefed on a special project the Allies are running. It's a group of superheroes who have been gathered to fight for the Allies. The group is led by Wonder Woman, voiced by Law & Order: SVU's Stana Katic with a rather humorous Russian accent. The team also includes Hawkman, voiced by Omid Abtahi, Hourman, voiced by Matthew Mercer, Jay Garrick's Flash, voiced by Armen Taylor, Black Canary, voiced by Elysia Rotaru, and Wonder Woman's main squeeze, Steve Trevor, voiced by Chris Diamantopoulos. We get to see them kick a little Nazi behind before we jump to the present where Barry Allan's Flash, voiced by Matt Bomer is helping Superman, voiced by Darren Criss, beat up on Brainiac, voiced by Darin De Paul. This is all pre-Justice League, and they go out of their way to let you know that this team-up is really something new. Barry tries to protect Superman from a Kryptonite projectile when he is suddenly thrown back in time and ends up on a World War II battlefield.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 13th, 2021
After filming Cold Pursuit in 2019, Liam Neeson announced he was done with his flirtation with action films. They had opened a new genre to the actor starting with Taken and created a nice boost to his career as an unlikely action star. He said he had some reservations about the genre. It didn't help that he revealed at the same time that he once roamed the streets looking for a black man to kill over the rape of a friend. It looked like it wasn't just action films that were over for the actor. I honestly expected there to be more trouble than there was, given the current climate. Somehow he kind of got a pass after apologizing for the remark. But he wasn't being offered the kind of high drama roles he was expected. So in less than a year he was back as an action figure, and that appears to be something he won't really be quitting in a long time. I get it. I was about to attend my fourth Elton John farewell concert since the first one back in the early 70's. There's something about getting the bug deep in your bones that makes it hard to let go. And let's be candid here, shall we? The pay ain't to bad either.
Liam Neeson plays Jim. He's a recent widower who lives on a ranch in Arizona at the Mexican border. His wife died about a year ago from cancer, and her medical bills have left him pretty much wiped out. He's on the cusp of losing his ranch. He spends his free time patrolling the area for illegals. He's got a walkie talkie that puts him in contact with the local border patrol where his stepdaughter Sarah (Winnick) is in a command position. On one of these patrols he happens upon a woman, Rosa (Ruiz) ands her son Miguel (Perez) slipping through a hole in the fence. He stops them but ends up in a gun battle with cartel warriors who are trying to get to the woman and her child. Her brother got himself in deep trouble with them, and now they plan on killing his family. The gunfight leaves Rosa dead after securing a promise from Jim to get her son to the safety of family in Chicago. He instead turns them in.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 7th, 2021
"Welcome to the future. Life is good! But it can be better. And why shouldn't it be? All you need is to want it. Think about finally having everything you always wanted."
In 1917 Patty Jenkins teamed up with Israeli actress Gal Gadot to create one of the best comic book movies of all time. Wonder Woman had everything. It sported a really good lead actress surrounded by a really good supporting cast. It had a grand scope but still gave us characters at the core with wonderful chemistry and heart. We got plenty of action and huge set pieces without giving up anything in the trenches. It was easily the best superhero film of the decade and the best DC/Warner hero film since the 1978 Donner Superman movie. But the trouble here is that Jenkins already had an incredible formula going here but couldn't resist the temptation to want everything. There was a tremendously high level of expectations here, and as I've frequently opined: expectations kill. There are still a lot of the elements that made Wonder Woman so great here, but the film strays in ways that end up taking away from those great elements, and we end up with a very mediocre follow-up to a truly great film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 2nd, 2021
"The theme of this picture is whether man ought to be ruled by God's law, or whether they are to be ruled by the whims of a dictator, like Rameses. Are men the property of the state, or are they free souls under God? This same battle continues throughout the world today. Our intention was not to create a story, but to be worthy of a divinely inspired story, created 3,000 years ago, the five books of Moses. The story takes three hours and 39 minutes to unfold. There will be an intermission. Thank you for your attention."
A sure sign that Easter is just around the corner is yet another home video release of perennial seasonal favorite The Ten Commandments. In years past, we got the multi-disc edition, complete with original silent version of the film. This particular version is rather more stripped down, as far as features go, but it does mark the film’s debut release on UHD Blu-ray and in 4K. Unlike previous editions, this one takes full advantage of the superior source material. The film was shot on 70 mm film, and that gives us an equivalent of 8K in today's resolution terms. And while this recent remaster doesn't take full advantage of that fact, it does amount to a 6K restoration that goes above and beyond the current specs of this release. No new extras are provided, and this version does not include the earlier silent film, but it's a must-have for completely technical reasons. You'll enjoy the improvement here, and you'll get to enjoy the film in a format that is the best resolution at which anyone has seen this film since the 1950's, and it was likely a very rare theater that actually projected the film at 70mm, if any actually did. It's the best this thing will ever look. Well ... at least until the eventual 8K release, and that's going to be ... never mind; don't want to break any of those commandments reviewing the film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 31st, 2021
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, and I'm here tonight to bring y'all the news from across this great world of ours. Now, I know how life is in these parts, working a trade sunup to sundown. No time for reading newspapers. Am I correct?"
How about reading a review for Universal's News Of The World? If you spare a few minutes, I'll tell you a little something about the film, and you might just end up with a copy of the film on UHD Blu-ray in 4K on your home video shelves. I'm certainly glad there's a copy on mine. The film is based on the novel by Paulette Jiles with a screenplay by Luke Davies and director Paul Greengrass.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on March 29th, 2021
A year and a half ago, I had the opportunity to review a limited edition of Spirited Away, which was one of the pinnacles of Studio Ghibli animation, a film where the animation, story, and music were so well done that it warranted repeat viewings in appreciation. So, when I received today's movie for reviewing and it boasted the same production house as Spirited Away, well, then my curiosity is certainly awakened. But if I learned anything from other famous franchises, production is nothing without a good story and direction. Let's see how Earwig and the Witch turns out.
A red-haired woman (voiced by Sherina Munaf/Kacey Musgraves) is riding a motorcycle on a busy highway. All of a sudden, a car speeds up behind her. She proceeds to go faster; the other car keeps up as well. They are weaving in and out of traffic, and then suddenly the car behind her comes alive with a full set of teeth. The woman takes a couple of locks of red hair and transforms them magically into worms as she throws it at the car and is able to find her way out of the situation.
