Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 23rd, 2016
“There's a man comin', and he aims to bury you.”
That sort of threat — especially when it's made within the trigger-happy Western genre — usually refers to a wronged hero looking to rain vengeance upon some dastardly villain who wronged him in an extremely personal way. The only most interesting thing about Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story is that our presumed hero is the one being hunted...and the “bad guy” has a legitimate gripe.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 21st, 2016
Clint Eastwood is 86 years old. He is also one of the best film directors working today. His latest film shows no signs of a man winding down his life, let alone his career. I obviously hinted that most other actors (or directors) his age have long ago died or checked into a nursing home. Eastwood looks lean and mean and still directs that way. Eastwood is interesting, as well, because he tends to pick projects that are outside the Hollywood studio corporate thinking. In other words, Eastwood is his own man and does pretty much anything he wants. His films as an actor and director have courted controversy way back to the days of Dirty Harry and A Fistful of Dollars. His films as a director and his personal political views are always full of contradictions that suggest a vibrant, searching mind. Sully is Eastwood’s latest film, starring Tom Hanks, and it is deceptively complex as well. On one level, Sully is a textbook depiction of a famous true life event.
On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) piloted a US Airbus A320 from LaGuardia airport. Three minutes into the flight, both engines are unprecedentedly hit by a flock of Canada geese (which is the subject of a pretty good joke later in the film) and create 208 seconds of hell for Sullenberger and the other 154 human beings on the US Airways flight. The film starts with a bang, with Sullenberger struggling to control the plane under the worst possible circumstances. This is part of the nightmares that hound the rigorously professional pilot. The fact is that the world is full of people who do difficult and dangerous jobs, and piloting a giant passenger airliner is certainly one of them. But the film also pays tribute to hundreds of other first responders who have to rush to life-and-death emergencies every day.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on December 19th, 2016
The sci-fi horror thriller Morgan turns brutal when a scientific experiment goes awry, turning a lab into a blood-fest. Now on Blu-ray and DVD in a combo pack that includes an HD download, the film has all the trappings for a nighttime couples’ shocker. You will not want to see this one alone, especially if you want to get the best out of your video choice. So turn the lights down, get the popcorn ready, maybe your favorite beverage, and expect the unexpected. Lee Weathers (Kate Mara), the Risk Manager of SynSect, a genetics research company, arrives at a secluded lab surrounded by a forest following a reported incident of violence. She’s there to check out the company’s newest L-series modified human organism labeled Morgan (Anya Taylor-Joy) who attacked Dr. Kathy Grieff (Jennifer Jason Leigh).
Getting to the bottom of the problem that caused Morgan to crack, Weathers realizes that the employees at the lab are sympathetic to their humanoid project. They call her a member of their family and have looked after her since a baby. Not in agreement with the staff, Weathers is determined to take the case into her own hands.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 15th, 2016
In the days leading up to the release of Suicide Squad, over the internet there has been one of the most vicious attacks on a film before its release that I can remember. Sure, we had all the negative talk about Ghostbusters, but that was before anyone had ever seen the film, and as screenings came along, opinions seemed to sway. Now I was lucky enough to attend a screening Monday for Suicide Squad, and there were up to 150 people turned away at the door because the auditorium was filled to capacity. I mean, the buzz for this was high, and we DC fans were giddy, because this film was our hope that WB would be turning things around. I mention all this because now this has managed to become one of the worst-reviewed films of the year, and I’m just sitting here like WTF happened, did they see some other cut of the film? I’ve held off on writing this, because I’ve struggled with the direction I wished to take to write it. There’s the comic fan in me that has so much to say, then there is the more critical side, and usually I fall somewhere in between. Then I decided the hell with it, I’m just going to come at this full-film-geek. My reasoning: it seems 90% of critics out there have forgotten how to have fun at the movies, and it’s a shame, because I know at some point all of them were film lovers, but at some point they decided to turn their noses up at the trashy and the cool popcorn flicks. So strap yourself in, and let me give you the real rundown on the film.
After the events of Man of Steel and Dawn of Justice, a government official, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has a plan to get a team of the world’s most dangerous villains to fight the battles the government may find too dangerous to openly confront. Among these villains are “meta-humans” who have special gifts that can be used as weapons against the “Supermans” of the world. It’s a dangerous prospect, but as she is pitching this idea, you can’t help but agree with where she is coming from. This leads us to our roll call to our soon-to-be anti-heroes.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on December 15th, 2016
In 1959 when Ben-Hur came out, it was a massive undertaking that nearly closed the gates for MGM after nearly bankrupting the studio. It was a huge risk in producing such a large-scale epic that fortunately paid off and became one of the studio’s cornerstone successes. The story of Judah Ben-Hur and his fall from being a prince, to becoming a slave, to eventually becoming a hero to the people in the arena is such a familiar story that it’s hard to not feel you’ve seen this before without even entering the theater. In some parts I look at Gladiator and see somewhat the same film, only being set in a separate time and place. But really, the story of betrayal at the highest levels, and seeing great figures fall only to pull themselves up again is a theme Hollywood seems to relish, and it seems to attract many viewers in the process. Now it seems Hollywood is desperate for remakes, and I figure someone felt it was time to once again dust off the story of Ben-Hur, only this time throw in all the CGI gimmicks at the director’s disposal; after all, $100 million isn’t the investment it used to be for a film. But to paraphrase the great Ian Malcom from Jurassic Park, perhaps the producers were so preoccupied with thinking if they could remake the film they didn’t stop to think whether they should.
Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) is the newest star to tackle the role of the Jewish Prince Judah Ben-Hur. This is the kind of casting that has me a little excited, because right now he’s just an actor on the rise, and having him front in center on a grand epic is something that could help make Huston a breakout star. He’s a departure from previous incarnations, but in a good way; he gives more range than what we’ve seen before, yet sadly doesn’t have that commanding presence that Charlton Heston was able to bring to the role. But Huston manages to give his character charm as we see him in love with Esther (Nazanin Boniadi), a servant girl in the palace. But the crux of the story is around the friendship/brotherly bond between Judah and Messala (Toby Kebbell), a Roman soldier who grew up as an adopted child with Judah.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 8th, 2016
It was rumored from the very beginning that George Miller was considering a black & white format for the film. There are box office risks associated with such a brave choice. We're hearing some of the same thoughts coming out of the Logan shoot. The nice thing about the sophistication of home video today is that there is now an outlet for those kinds of artistic choices, and this is a pretty solid example of it. It's hoped more of these kinds of alternate ideas can make it to home video giving filmmakers the chance to unleash things that might just be too risky at the box office. You still get the original film as part of of this combo so you're not giving anything up.
It is one of the most anticipated movies of the summer and another subject in the category of “can Tom Hardy do no wrong?” Mad Max: Fury Road is the reimagining of the iconic film that helped launch Mel Gibson’s career decades earlier. This is not new territory in Hollywood by any stretch of the imagination; remakes have happened so often in recent years that they have practically become their own genre. However, I would like to point out something that will hopefully set this film apart in the eyes of the audience: how often do you see a remake that is overseen by the creator of the original film that you know and love?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 7th, 2016
Moviegoers tend to have better memories than amnesiac assassins, but I think it’s fair to say we’ve mostly put The Bourne Legacy out of our minds. Universal’s underwhelming, halfhearted attempt to spin off one of its more lucrative franchises all but guaranteed the eventual return of original star Matt Damon and two-time director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum). The duo has re-teamed for the entertaining yet inessential Jason Bourne, which — for better and worse — will feel extremely familiar for fans of the trilogy.
“I remember…I remember everything.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on December 1st, 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. Jeremy Butler takes us on the final part of that journey with The Hunger Games: The Mockingjay Part 2 (2015).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 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. Gino Sassani takes us on the next part of that journey with The Hunger Games The Mockingjay Part 1 (2014).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 30th, 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 next part of that journey with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013).
