Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 13th, 2016
When you have a title like Satanic, it’s kind of hard to not start to build up expectations right out of the gate. I like a horror film that isn’t afraid to go dark and play with the subject matter of the occult, because honestly it’s the only topic that can manage to get under my skin. The Exorcist in my opinion is hands down the best horror film of all time and manages to haunt me after a viewing simply because the boy I once was who went to Catholic mass every Sunday knew that it could happen. That’s the thing about films like Satanic; you have a built-in audience that you already will have hooked from the start and have a reason to be afraid, simply because of faith. So when a movie has so much momentum going for them and it delivers such a lackluster result, it shows that certain people just shouldn’t be playing in the horror sandbox.
Chloe (Sarah Hyland) is on a road trip to a music festival with her boyfriend David (Stephen Krueger), but along the way they’ve decided to make some stops at the locations of some famous occult murder sites. The decision to make these stops comes at the suggestion of Elise (Clara Mamet), her cousin, along with Elise’s boyfriend Seth (Justin Chon). If not for the blood relation between Chloe and Elise, it would be difficult to imagine these couples ever being together, since Chloe and David seem to be more traditional college students, while Elise and Seth seem to be nothing more than Goth kids who are trying so desperately to be “dark”. This is a problem I had from the start; I never bought into this Goth couple. We’ve seen this story played out before in Kalifornia, where two odd couples go on a reluctant road trip to visit murder sites, but what worked is they cast the roles and made it more believable. By making Elise and Seth a joke from the start it simply pulls away any chance for attachment to these two despite blood relation. Even trying to imagine people on a road trip to the Coachella but deciding to detour for this murder tour is a hard leap for me.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 6th, 2016
“Are you food or are you sex?”
When it comes to director Nicholas Winding Refn, he’s a director from whom I’m never all too sure what to expect. For me Drive is one of my favorite films in the past ten years, while Only God Forgives simply bored me; despite the stunning imagery, it had nothing else going for it.. His films going even further back are just as much of a mixed bag, so coming into The Neon Demon I knew better than to get my hopes up, and that I should just go ahead and let the film stand on its own, as it should. Even reading about its debut at Cannes, it was met with a mix of boos as well as applause, which was all I really needed to get interested in this film after seeing the visually impressive trailer. At a glance it appears to be nothing more than the story of Black Swan (2010), only instead of following dancers, this is a film that thrusts the viewer into the world of modeling. Just where do I stand on this film? Well, it’s stuck with me since our screening days ago, and I’m still processing everything.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on October 5th, 2016
“Be the hero of your own story.”
Not the funniest addition to Kevin Hart’s reign as the king of comedy, but still a welcome sight. This time around, Hart teams with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for Central Intelligence. I’ve been anticipating this movie since behind-the-scenes footage leaked earlier this year, and the official trailer did nothing but fuel the flames of my excitement. After watching it, I can say that despite a few predictable plot twists, I still found the overall product to be extremely funny and worthwhile.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Dan Holland on September 26th, 2016
When it comes to titles from Blizzard Entertainment, I was always more into the Starcraft and Diablo franchises. I played World of Warcraft (WoW) for a small period of time when it became a popular MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), but my interest in the game quickly died. The aesthetics were a little too cartoony for my liking, plus, you paid for a subscription. Regardless, I am just one fan of Blizzard: WoW caught on like wildfire. I still know people who are playing the game to this day. The question, however, is whether or not this franchise would make a great cinematic adaptation. I will admit that I am not an expert on the Warcraft lore, by any means, but I know enough about popular culture and its many fandoms to look at this film objectively.
Sitting in a theater, you are always treated to interesting pre-screening conversations. More often than not, they are being led by fans of the source material. Here are samples of some of the conversations I overheard:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 22nd, 2016
Growing up I was obsessed with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series; it was the Saturday morning cartoon I just couldn’t get enough of. When I couldn’t watch the cartoon, I’d be playing with the toys and eventually the video game back in the original Nintendo console days. So when the movies came out, my parents had no choice but to take me to see them. Back in those days we had the turtles in rubber suits; as a kid the experience was fun but still just not as good as the cartoon. As I got older, well, those original films seem to hold up less and less, and when the news came that an updated version of the film would be coming out I got a little excited, that is till I saw the trailer for the 2014 film. Sure, it had elements from the cartoon, but it just didn’t look inspired; it just looked like a generic kids’ film with passable CGI. The result was simply a blunder, and I would have thought the days of seeing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie were numbered. But here we are in 2016 with the new film Out of the Shadows ready to hit the big screen, and, folks, it’s been nearly 30 years in the making, but FINALLY we get the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie we’ve been waiting for.
Stepping in to fill the shoes as director is Dave Green. He’s relatively a newcomer in Hollywood, but it’s his vision I believe is responsible for the success of the film. His previous film Earth to Echo is simply a wonderful kids’ adventure film that captures the energy of the 80’s Spielberg films, most notably ET. Well, he carries that love for the 80’s into this new installment of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise and injects so much life into it, my inner ten-year-old was cheering with glee over this film. This is just about the closest I’ve seen an animated series come to life on the big screen and manage to retain what made the animated series so much fun. This isn’t a film for grownups; instead this is a film that targets the ten-year-old in all of us, the one who doesn’t question the logistics of flying manhole covers, talking brains, or humans transforming into hulking beasts.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 22nd, 2016
“Does doing things the legal way really make it better?”
Since movies are at their core a form of escapism, they have a way of glamorizing anyone who violently slashes through the red tape of the criminal justice system. It helps explain the enduring appeal of vigilante/revenge movies and it's probably why we're meant to root for the charitable bank robbers in Marauders. While the movie contains some cool flashes of style and occasionally bumps up against some interesting ideas about justice, it ultimately gets way too bogged down in red herrings and pointless subplots.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on September 9th, 2016
“High Rise,” the novel written by the late English author J.G. Ballard, was published in 1975. The story follows a diverse group of characters who live in a luxurious skyscraper that features every amenity imaginable. Things are so convenient, in fact, that the tenants gradually become less interested in the outside world. The idea of people becoming increasingly uninterested in the outside world is obviously still relevant more than 40 years later, since many of us prefer to order everything online and only venture outdoors if there's a rare Pokemon to be caught. But while this movie adaptation has its moments of inspired lunacy, it's ultimately too slight and scattershot to leave a lasting impact.
“Living in a high-rise requires a special type of behavior.”
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 1st, 2016
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I have a fear of clowns, but more of the people beneath the paint. I’m not sure if anyone has recently seen in the news, but there are reports of people dressing up as clowns behind an apartment complex in South Carolina attempting to lure children into the woods. First off I immediately think this is a prank, but also there is the side of me that is curious as to there being something more sinister at play; after all, it seems like a good start to a horror film. Going back through my childhood, I can’t think of any one moment that caused me to despise clowns, but I do remember a trip to Circus World that left me convinced all the clowns there were bad. Yes, I know this fear/hatred is unwarranted if not an overdramatic response from my imagination; after all, I do have an extreme phobia of the Amish that I have trouble coming to terms with. So when Clown was up for grabs to review, I figured this could be a fun experience to sort of face my fear. Well, let me just say (gulp) it didn’t work out so well.
Kent (Andy Powers) is a dad who just wants to see his son have a happy birthday, so when the clown scheduled to appear at the party fails to show up, Kent decides to improvise. After finding an old clown suit that was hidden inside his new home, he does what any dad would do to save the day. He suits up and puts on a show for the kids. Just one tiny problem; after the show when he attempts to take off the suit, it won’t budge. At first family and friends just believe this is no more than a silly joke, that is until Kent asks his wife, Meg (Laura Allen) to help with removing the suit. Already Kent has accumulated a series of injuries while using several sharp instruments to remove the suit, but when Meg ends up ripping off the tip of his nose when attempting to remove the red ball at the end, well, things only grow more intense from here on.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on August 31st, 2016
Writer/Director Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) has a way of writing flawed characters who manage to leave more lasting impressions than the films they populate. But where he shines is when he can thrust these flawed individuals into the confines of a detective story. Most people grew their fondness for Black and his quick-witted dialog when he first penned Lethal Weapon, but for me it goes back to The Monster Squad and The Last Boy Scout, where I found myself becoming a fan even in my early years of film watching. So is the fanboy in me excited to see what Black brings to the table this time around? You betcha. In a summer popcorn season filled with comic book movies, sequels, and other films targeting the teenage demographic, it’s nice to have an action film that harkens back to the good old days (the 80’s and early 90’s) for a fun comedy/action romp that has a foul-mouthed edge.
It’s 1977 Los Angeles, where the headlines at the time were filled with the dangers of all the smog in the air. This is the backdrop to the story that kicks off with the mysterious death of a famous porn star, Misty Mountains (Murielle Telio). Despite all the headlines, her mother refuses to believe she’s dead, so she’s hired Holland March (Ryan Gosling) to find out what really happened to her precious little girl. Working on a case of his own, Jackson Healy (Russel Crowe) is a muscle for hire who is put on a job to help a young girl, Amelia (Margaret Qualley) get rid of some men who are after her. It doesn’t take long before both March and Healy find themselves working together, as their cases seem to be connected.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on August 30th, 2016
“You're about to witness a Helena duel...a most noble affair of character and honor.”
A “Helena duel” is also a brutal, bloody ritual where two combatants are joined at the wrist before engaging in a knife fight to the death. That combination of genteelness and barbarity is at the heart of The Duel, a Texas-set Western that reaches for grandiosity and doesn't quite get there, but is nevertheless thoroughly entertaining.
