Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 22nd, 2017
"You wanted me back. I'm back."
Keanu Reeves has enjoyed somewhat of a career renaissance thanks in no small part to the success of John Wick in 2014. There he teamed up with some stunt friends of his going back to The Matrix, and together they brought a new action hero to the screen that was as much graphic novel as it was action film. It would become the directing debut of the stunt team of Stahelski and David Leitch. Along with their action star, everyone stuck to what they knew and refused to overcomplicate the whole thing. That led to a box office haul of $86 million worldwide and a respectful enough budget to make a sequel seem like a good possibility. It took three years, but that possibility has turned into John Wick: Chapter 2.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 21st, 2017
“We should not be fighting for segregation, we should be fighting for equality.”
That’s the sort of rousing statement any random politician on the campaign trail might use to rile up a crowd of supporters at a pep rally. And even though those words are spoken here by a man in the midst of heavy political turmoil, the beauty of A United Kingdom — a straightforward but nevertheless impactful fact-based drama about forbidden love — is that they are actually born out of an intensely personal conflict.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 16th, 2017
It used to be when you had a straight-to-DVD release, you knew better than to set the bar too high. From time to time you would find that occasional gem that slipped through the cracks and turned out to be something awesome, but this was a rare occurrence. With the way films are released now, the talent you are seeing in straight-to-DVD releases has improved, as have the budgets, since getting a film on the big screen has become a greater financial challenge. I mention this only because I look at a title like Kill’em All and wonder if they even cared. The actors are here and doing their job, but it’s the figures behind the scenes that I’m calling out here. Is this simply a cash grab to exploit the fans of Van Damme, or did they believe they had something special on their hands? I’m a fan of Van Damme, and seeing that this is a film directed by Peter Malota a stuntman from Van Damme’s heyday (Double Impact and Universal Soldier), you just kind of hope for better action, but sadly this all seemed so lazy.
Suzanne (Autumn Reeser) is a nurse who has managed to survive a massive shootout that occurred at her hospital. She’s the only witness that the FBI has to what went down. Peter Stormare and Maria Conchita Alonso play the pair of agents who are interrogating Suzanne in a very over-the-top good cop/bad cop sort of manner. If the interviewing skills by the agents aren’t enough to make you groan, the tough-guy banter Suzanne gives the agents is beyond frustrating, since every answer she gives is heavy with the sarcasm. Stormare is better than this; he can be menacing and be a threat on screen, but here his character is so over-the-top it’s hard to believe he would pass a character profile check to be an agent.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 14th, 2017
“Black…all important movies start with a black screen…”
I completely understand if you’re Batman-ed out by now. The Caped Crusader barely had a chance to catch his breath since the end of Christopher Nolan’s landmark superhero trilogy in 2012 and being pressed back into duty to help kickstart Warner Bros.’ budding superhero universe last year. But between those two iterations, we got a glimpse at a fresh, knowingly funny version of a hero that takes himself entirely too seriously. Batman was a scene-stealing supporting player in 2014’s blockbuster The Lego Movie, and now he once again takes center stage in a sharp, hilarious, irreverent adventure that celebrates practically every version of the beloved character.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on June 8th, 2017
“Who could ever learn to love a beast?”
Although it’s not quite a tale as old as time, people around the world have been enchanted by the story of “Beauty and the Beast” for centuries. The French fairytale was first published in 1740 and has subsequently spawned everything from a classic 1946 big-screen romance to Ron Perlman. Still, the most popular iteration of this story is Disney’s beloved 1991 animated musical, which helped solidify the Mouse House’s cartoon revival and serves as the most direct inspiration for this dazzling live-action adaptation. Then again, the fact that this new version is essentially a pretty close copy of a copy takes some of the bloom off this particular rose.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on May 18th, 2017
“Sometimes...if there's too many white people, I get nervous.”
Some of the very best horror films/psychological thrillers succeed by taking a relatable source of anxiety and cranking it to 11. For example, The Exorcist can be viewed as the worst-case scenario for anyone suffering a crisis of faith, while The Shining taps into the madness of being cooped up with your family for too long. Get Out works because it uses the nerve-wracking experience of meeting your significant other's parents for the first time as a jumping-off point to tell a subversive, insightful, and entertaining story that mashes together Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and The Stepford Wives.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 11th, 2017
From the suggestion of the title, you would think that we would be diving deeper into the world of BDSM, but after watching, the only thing that I can say about Fifty Shades Darker is that it’s a love story. Yes, I know that it was always a love story, but the first film possessed an edge and intensity which no longer exist in the sequel. Disappointing is too pale a word for the film. From its failure to properly capture the essence of the source material, less than engaging performance of the leads, and the vanilla nature of the sex scenes, the movie does not live up to the hype. If 50 Shades of Grey pushed the envelope with its sexuality, 50 Shades Darker embraces the commercialism of a sequel for profit rather than effect.
When last we saw Christian Grey (Jaime Dornan) and Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) they had just learned that Ana may not be compatible for the kind of relationship that Christian needs, and they broke up. Their separation is temporary as both parties notice the absence of the other quickly, resulting in Christian seeking Ana out and attempting to renegotiate the terms of their relationship. Ana is all but willing to reconcile, but as soon as it seems that they are about to embrace their happily ever after, complications in the form of an ex-sub Leila and the reemergence of Christian’s original temptress, Elena Lincoln (Kim Basinger) threaten to tear the couple apart.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on May 2nd, 2017
When’s the last time you saw a good dog movie with love, devotion, and heroism? Not the animated type, but one that stars dogs doing some awesome stunts, creating the love for animals and even inspiration. Well, you can find all that and more in the movie A Dog’s Purpose, a fun, adventure of a dog’s life that runs full circle. It’s fun for the whole family, but don’t be surprised when your youngster starts begging for a new furry friend. After escaping from a cage, a starving young pup gets saved by Elizabeth (Juliet Rylance). Her son Ethan (Bryce Gheisar) wants to keep the dog, and after an intervention with his father, Elizabeth wins out. Young Ethan names his new-found friend Bailey (narrated by Josh Gad), and they get along famously. As time goes by, Ethan (KJ Apa), now a popular high school football player, finds his true love with the help of Bailey.
The film goes on from there as Ethan finds himself losing a chance at a college scholarship when he gets hurt in a fire-related accident. Director Lasse Hallstrom does a very good job of changing from one breed of dog to another, showing all the quirks of the new pup’s personality. He provides a lot of comedy with the different dogs, touching scenes that warm the heart and some very dramatic situations that lead to heroic deeds. Mixed in with the passage of time the audience does get exposed to very strong scenes showing abuse, so please be cautioned when taking the immature youngsters to see A Dog’s Purpose.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on April 20th, 2017
When it comes to writer/ director M. Night Shyamalan, it’s hard to find a more polarizing director between film critics and film geeks. I was a fan up until he did The Village. It’s not as though I “hated” the film; I just was getting sick of the gimmick plot twists that seemed to go hand in hand with his work. As he continued to release films, I just would shrug at the trailers, and my enthusiasm for his films quickly declined. For me Unbreakable has grown to be my favorite work of his, which is funny to me because the first time I saw it I had a hard time deciding how I felt about the film. It was a comic/ superhero film that showed us perhaps what it would be like in the real world if some regular Joe realized he was perhaps meant for something greater. It’s been 16 years, but Shyamalan has finally released a film in my opinion that can stand toe to toe with Unbreakable, and it’s with his new film Split.
Split is a return to form. Gone are the big budgets and special effects. What Shyamalan delivers is what got us to appreciate him in the first place: great real-world characters caught up in an extreme circumstance. Kevin (James McAvoy) is not your average guy, at first glance he may seem normal, but trapped inside are 22 other personalities who have their own agendas and are wanting to take control of his mind and body. Why he isn’t locked away in some padded cell is a question that is never answered to my satisfaction in the film, but if he were locked away, there wouldn’t be much of a film, so I suppose I’ll have to let this slide. For Kevin and his numerous personalities there is something frightening about to occur: the rise of a new personality, one which has been deeply suppressed and is possibly the most dangerous of them all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on March 30th, 2017
“The price for your glory is their suffering!”
For most of us, hearing the name “Martin Scorsese” leads to iconic wiseguys, rock and roll, and Robert De Niro/Leonardo DiCaprio movies dancing into our mind’s eye. Further down the list of Marty-related things — probably even below Scorsese’s real-life film preservation work — but no less crucial to appreciating the director’s filmography is the role that faith has played in his personal and professional lives. The most obvious manifestations are the three religious epics Scorsese has directed, including his latest film Silence.
