Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 29th, 2016
"In penance for their uprising each district shall offer up a male and female between the ages of 12 and 18 at a public reaping. These tributes shall be delivered to the custody of the Capitol and then transferred to a public arena where they will fight to the death, until a lone victor remains. Henceforth and forevermore this pageant shall be known as The Hunger Games."
Now that all four films are out on UHD Blu-ray in glorious 4K, we have the opportunity to view them all again from the very beginning. It's easier to catch the subtle nuances that were planted in the earlier films that would pay off over the four-film run. It took us four years to do that originally. Now you can do it in a day. John Ceballos takes us on the first part of that journey with The Hunger Games (2012).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 29th, 2016
1n 1972 Charles Bronson played The Mechanic, Arthur Bishop. He was a hitman with a high level of skill. When he tries to pass on that skill, he's betrayed, and he has to get himself a heaping helping of revenge. In 2011 Bronson did indeed pass the character to Jason Statham when the film was remade. Unfortunately, Bronson had passed in 2003 and couldn't actually pass the torch on the screen. Statham turned the character into more of an action anti-hero, and the film really didn't perform at the box office. It never made back its budget in the domestic market and barely made money when the worldwide take was finally counted.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 29th, 2016
Fresh out of the vaults comes another cult classic. Vestron Video has decided to unleash Return of the Living Dead 3 for horror fans to snatch up this holiday season. Considering the titles that Vestron has already released, for some this might be a title that will leave fans scratching their heads about there being an urge to re-master this film, much less crank out a Blu-ray with so many features. Well, the simple answer is that the person in charge of acquiring and releasing these titles knows that there are fanboys like me out there who will shell out the money for a product that’s given this kind of attention. Return of the Living Dead is a cult classic and is mostly responsible for casual moviegoers making the connection with zombies and brain eating
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2016
"Stop me if you've heard this one before."
The first thing you need to know about The Secret Lives Of Pets is that it's not terribly original. Fans of the Pixar Toy Story Franchise will find pretty much every element of this script has been lifted from one of the three Toy Story films. Of course, if you're going to lift an idea, you might as well steal from the best. Of course, there are always formulaic ideas in films, particularly animated films geared mostly toward children. And while I really did enjoy almost everything about this film, I just can't escape the fact that I've seen it all before.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 24th, 2016
"Space...the final frontier. These are the continuing voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one man gone before!"
Of course, we never did get five years from that original show when it ended after just three years in 1969. The new film series has tried to fix that for us. The latest film picks up the five-year mission just after three years have gone by. It's a double homage to the original show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 23rd, 2016
It’s been a while since Nicolas Cage has been in a big studio-released film. It doesn’t mean he’s doing bad movies; it just means he’s not doing any tent-pole releases that flood the multiplex. Seeing Nicolas Cage in a film like Army of One is simply a snapshot of how modern cinema has to evolve for better or for worse. Really, I don’t mean to come off as though this is a bad film or inferior to any other films past or present, but ten years ago this is a film that would have had a much wider release and would easily have gotten more attention. After all, who could resist Nicolas Cage in a film helmed by the director of Borat?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 18th, 2016
“Does death only come for the wicked and leave the decent behind?”
Throughout its first five seasons, Game of Thrones has been relentlessly cruel to its viewers heroes in a way that shocked audiences and upended genre expectations. But as Thrones edges toward its conclusion — and as the TV adaptation becomes more unmoored than ever from the George R.R. Martin novels that inspired it — certain storytelling conventions seem to be inevitably taking over. I seriously doubt this saga will have a traditional “happy ending,” but season 6 is as close as the show has ever come to being a full-blown crowd-pleaser.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 14th, 2016
"What we do has consequences, intended and unintended. The decisions we make, the actions we bring have weight."
When upcoming heavyweight contenders like Brian Koppelman, David Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin get together, you have reason to expect big things. And Billions is very much about heavyweights. The entire show is one big metaphor for a heavyweight prizefight. In one corner you have U.S Attorney Chuck "The Scholar" Rhodes, played by Paul Giamatti. He's the reigning world champion with a record of 80+ to 0. In the other corner is Bobby "Axe" Axelrod, played by Damian Lewis; he could also be considered undefeated.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 10th, 2016
“No rules, no ref. Just your wit and skill to keep you alive.”
Last year, Creed became a critical and audience favorite by reviving a beloved dormant franchise and re-casting its brawny original star in a supporting role as a mentor. I'm not going to pretend that 1989's Kickboxer (starring Jean-Claude Van Damme) is anywhere near as beloved — or as good — as Rocky. But Kickboxer: Vengeance, a reboot/remake of Van Damme's campy action favorite, hits some of the same notes as Creed...except for the part where it's a critical and audience favorite.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 4th, 2016
"This train don't stop." That's what we're told in an Elton John ballad. But it doesn't matter if it's that Midnight Train to Georgia or a freight train, you can bet the farm that it's going to run out of track. That's for sure, and you can expect more than a little crying over it all. The saddest news, however, is the show's final year. You really should not even think about joining the series from this point. I suspect it will still be quite entertaining, but for the full experience you do have to start from the beginning. The evolution of the Cullen character from Civil War veteran out for vengeance to the man who we see in the fifth season is a rather nice journey to witness. So saddle up for the first four. You can find the reviews for other seasons here.
