Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on March 25th, 2020
It’s hard to believe as a cinephile that Terrence Malick isn’t a more celebrated director. Sure, he has his fans, but his films virtually never translate to box office success, which is a bit of a shame. His past few films have managed to sneak into movie houses and disappear with little to no fanfare. Honestly, I was a bit surprised to realize how many films Malick has managed to release since the release of The Tree of Life. I understand how most will look at his films and say they are “pretentious” or even “boring”. To be fair, his films are not for everyone, but the one thing I think anyone can take away from his films is that they are each visually stunning. Malick doesn’t simply make your typical tent pole adventure film. Instead they all have a tendency to be contemplative and have a more spiritual or philosophical message. When it comes to A Hidden Life, he delivers just that, and while I’d consider labeling this one of his better films, its nearly-three-hour running time has this film feeling as though it’s overstayed its welcome.
A Hidden Life follows Franz Jagerstatter (August Diehl), an Austrian farmer who is called upon to fight with the Nazis in World War 2. We get to go along with Franz as he goes into training to be a soldier, but quickly we see how he wants to be no part of it; he’d rather be back at home on his farm with his wife and three kids. It doesn’t take long at all to get that Franz is a good guy who holds firmly to his beliefs, but is he willing to make the sacrifice of remaining true to himself and his nature by continuing to refuse to fight and not pledge loyalty to Hitler? Franz understands the consequences of his actions, and the film follows Franz and his family as it stretches over four years till he is finally faced with the ultimate decision of life or death. The plot is so simple, but Malick isn’t trying to tell a compelling story but rather film the experience of making such a difficult decision. We see the pain and turmoil that Franz and his family endures over the years, from Franz and his physical and emotional confrontations with Nazi officers at the prison, to the struggles Fani (Valerie Pachner) encounters at the farmhouse.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 19th, 2020
"There's a bomb in Centennial Park. You have thirty minutes."
Clint Eastwood is about to hit 90, and there are no signs that it's slowing him down. Last year he even returned to the front of the camera for The Mule. Now he's back as just the director, and it appears that Eastwood has found two of his favorite subjects in one film. He's always been attracted to the isolated man. If you look back at the men he himself has portrayed over the years, they were misunderstood loners. In recent years he has taken a bit of a shine to telling true stories that usually deal with unlikely heroes who are thrust into a dangerous situation and must act. Heroes like Chris Kyle in American Sniper, airline captain Chesley Sullenberger, the WWII heroes who raised the iconic flag at Iwo Jima in Flags Of Our Fathers, and the brave ordinary tourist who stopped a terrorist attack on a passenger train in The 15:17 To Paris. These heroes always pay a price for their actions, and often they are even persecuted for what they've done, as in the case of Sully. Eastwood has combined that true story and unlikely hero for his latest work, Richard Jewell. It's a cautionary tale that is worth watching, particularly in an age where we are constantly told that if we see something, we must say something. After watching Richard Jewell, you might just experience a potentially catastrophic hesitation. And who could blame you?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 13th, 2020
“You are in the presence of angels.”
After recently reviewing Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, it only seems fitting that I am returning to you in order to give you the scoop about the most recent installment of the franchise. It is in fact an installment into the franchise, as it exists in the same universe as the television series, as well as the two films that starred Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu. However, in this installment, the Townsend Agency has gone global with agents (called Angels) operating in several international cities, each with their own Bosley (a title that serves as a rank in the organization). For the purposes of this film, we are focused on Sabina Wilson, played by Kristen Stewart (Twilight), Jane Kano, played by Ella Balinska (Midsomer Murders), and Elena Houghlin, played by Naomi Scott (live-action Aladdin). Rounding out the cast are Patrick Stewart, Djimon Hounsou, and Elizabeth Banks, who also serves as the film’s director.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 13th, 2020
"That's the bravest damn thing I think I've ever seen."
Director Roland Emmerich is no stranger to big-screen battles. The difference is that up until this year those battles have been against aliens, huge climactic changes, or giant lizards named Godzilla. There's no question that he understands how to shoot epic confrontation. The question I had going in to Midway was, can he deliver a battle that wasn't fiction? After nearly tow and a half hours, the answer came back somewhat mixed. This isn't the first time that the Battle of Midway has been brought to the big screen. In the 1970's Charlton Heston gave us a film that was more renowned for the trendy Sensurround gimmick than it was for the drama that unfolded on the screen. Sensurround was a fancy name for huge subs that would shake the theater, and if you were lucky enough to be seeing the film at a theater with enough money to go all the way, you might have found yourself in a seat that was wired to shake, rattle, and roll. Today the chains call that Dolby. This Midway didn't lend itself to some William Castle hustle. It's all up on the screen. The film bears no relation to that earlier effort except for the legendary battle in the Pacific that turned the tide of the Pacific theater of World War II toward the Allies. The film actually shares more in common with the classic Tora Tora Tora in that we spend a good deal of screen time with the Japanese players in the battle. Not at all like the earlier gimmick film, this movie is intended to place you squarely in the middle of the action. If that's what you came to see, you are certainly in for an immersive experience, only without the hot-wired seat.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on March 6th, 2020
"The system is rigged. They want us to believe that it'll protect us, but that's a lie. We protect us. We do. Nobody else. Not the companies, not the scientists, not the government. Us."
Dark Waters is an alarming, based-on-true-events thriller that will have you more than little worried about your cookware. Mark Ruffalo plays Robert Bilott, an attorney who is drawn into a conspiracy involving a chemical conglomerate that resulted in hundreds of unexplained deaths. Anne Hathaway is his wife, who has to endure her husband’s over-twenty-year obsession with bringing down this company, all while trying to hold their family together. As I said, this was truly illuminating movie based on the 2016 New York Times article, The lawyer who became Dupont’s worst nightmare. The idea that something like this could happen for so long without any real consequences makes this story worth telling.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 29th, 2020
It's been six years since Frozen became somewhat of a surprise hit out of Walt Disney Studios in 2013. No one was surprised it made a good haul at the box office, but I suspect that even the masterminds at Disney never saw this billion-dollar baby when it was first being born. It's become the biggest original hit out of Disney since the original Lion King set animated feature records in the 90's. I'll give the studio credit. They didn't rush out and try to cash in on the momentum as quickly as other studios would have. They took their time and assembled the same team of directors and songwriters and allowed the process to follow a six-year process with the intent of doing it right rather than doing it fast. For the most part I think that strategy paid off, and while this film will never be the classic the original has become, it will fit rather snugly into the franchise and will delight children, while possibly cursing the adults who are fated to watch the film over and over again. This is absolutely one of those kinds of movies.
It all starts in the past where we spy young Elsa and Anna playfully getting ready for bed. The King puts them to bed with a story out of the kingdom's past. He regales them with how their grandfather met the people of an enchanted forest who had magical powers over the four elements of land, fire, air and water. They are told of the great gift of peace their grandfather gave these people in the form of a huge dam. It all turns nasty when the story continues to tell of a peaceful gathering where the people of the enchanted forest suddenly attack the people of Arendelle. The elements were so angered by the act of betrayal that they separated the kingdoms and enshrouded the enchanted forest with an impenetrable fog that has isolated the forest ever since.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on February 26th, 2020
by John Delia, Jr.
"There's a point at 7,000 RPM... where everything fades. The machine becomes weightless. Just disappears. And all that's left is a body moving through space and time. 7,000 RPM. That's where you meet it. You feel it coming. It creeps up on you, close in your ear. Asks you a question. The only question that matters. Who are you?"
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on February 25th, 2020
You can argue that the teen slasher genre is mostly a cautionary tale about premarital sex and using drugs and alcohol. After all, a majority of the time the “final” girl was typically the “good girl”. In a lot of ways, the horror genre is basically a cautionary tale for the viewers, though many of us fans of the genre seem to take delight in seeing the bad decisions people make and the consequences that follow. Teeth and It Follows are a pair of my favorite cautionary-tale horror films that deal with sex and the consequences in a fun and unique way. Snatchers I was hoping would follow and be a welcome addition to these modern cult favorites, but for me, it didn’t quite stick the landing. Sara (Mary Nepi) is doing what she can to keep up with her popular friends in high school, which means she’s willing to do what she can to hold onto her jock boyfriend, Skyler (Austin Fryberger), even if it means losing her virginity with him. Unfortunately the consequences arrive swiftly as she discovers she is pregnant. Things only get worse when two days later Sara wakes up with a bulging pregnant belly and no one to turn to. Feeling as though she has no other option and no one to talk to, she reaches out to her former best friend, Haley (Gabrielle Elyse). The chemistry between Nepi and Elyse is a big factor as to why this film works, and this chemistry is what will keep many viewers engaged when normally they would have given up on the film.
I like campy, and I enjoy a bit of gore in my horror, so it’s no surprise that Snatchers was able to hold my interest. When Sara goes to have her pregnancy terminated and what follows is one of the more over-the-top alien reveals, I found myself hooked into this film. This subtle injection of social/moral commentary, whether intentional or not, does give the film a little more depth than expected, but unfortunately for me this is where the film peaks. Where it becomes more frustrating is when it makes the attempt to make sense of all that is happening. Is Skyler an alien? What happened on his trip to Mexico? These are questions that are certainly warranted, but rather than give us a detailed account, it simply would have sufficed that less of an answer would have been more. By the time the girls attempt to get answers, we’ve already seen the alien cause havoc in two locations, and when they do finally get answers, if anything it stalls the momentum the film has had building.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on February 20th, 2020
“We got twenty-one bridges in and out of Manhattan. Shut them down. Three rivers. Close them. Four tunnels. Block them. Stop every train and loop the subways. Then, we flood the island with blue.”
Chadwick Boseman looks to be trying to bring back the days of Dirty Harry in this film as a cop known to kill cop killers. 21 Bridges is an action-packed film where nothing is really what it seems. Also featuring Sienna Miller, Taylor Kitsch, J.K. Simmons, and Keith David, I have to admit that some of these cast members’ appearances were more like cameos, as the action primarily focused on Boseman as he attempted to hunt down his target by any means necessary. Sorry, I just always wanted to say that, but for the context of this movie it rings true, as from the quote above, you can see the extent he was willing to go to.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2020
This is the film that literally started a trend. Within a decade, submarine films would make a huge comeback in the big-budget film industry. Titles like Crimson Tide, U-571, and K-19: The Widowmaker all took a little from Red October. Maybe the Cold War is over, but our fascination with that modern version of cowboys and Indians doesn’t seem to have waned much in the last nearly 20 years. While our relationship with Russia might be up and down over the last two decades, there is still a part of our culture that can’t seem to let go of that classic game of good guys and bad guys. It’s not unique to the former Soviet Union by any means. World War II has been over for more than 60 years, but the occasional Nazi bad guys still make their presence known from time to time. Maybe it’s those accents. Whatever the reason, the seemingly dated subject matter of Red October is never a liability to the film. When Red October came out, the Soviet Union had just fallen a mere two years earlier, and there were some who suggested the film was an inappropriate reminder of those recent bygone days and might even be considered a slap in the face to the new regime in Russia. Fortunately this was not one of those instances where Hollywood let its often hypocritical sense of political correctness get in the way of a great film.
Jack Ryan (Baldwin) is a CIA analyst. When he comes across a spy photograph of a new Russian submarine, the Red October, he becomes concerned about a new feature. It appears two very large doors, too big for torpedoes, have been added to the standard Typhoon class vessel. He travels to Langley and meets with his boss (Jones) to have the pictures studied. When it’s discovered that the pictures could be a “caterpillar drive”, a silent running technology, Ryan finds himself advising the President’s National Security Advisors. The ship is now out to sea, and the Russians appear to have gotten suddenly very nervous. Is the ship run by a rogue commander with glorious visions of nuking the US? Ryan thinks he wants to defect, and now he must convince an entire chain of command to give Ramius the chance to do just that. Ramius must avoid the entire Russian fleet and convince the Americans of his intentions.
