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Hans Zimmer: Live in Prague

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 10th, 2017

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Hans Zimmer has composed the music for some of the most iconic films of the last 20 years. That list includes Gladiator, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Crimson Tide, Pirates Of The Caribbean, Dunkirk, and even some of The Lion King. He’s the go-to composer for directors like Ridley Scott and Christopher Nolan. His music is on par with household names like John Williams. I own a few scores that I’ve felt compelled enough to pick up over the years, and one of my favorites has been Gladiator for some time. When I heard that Eagle Rock Entertainment was going to release a Blu-ray containing a tour stop of this incredible music live, I was quick to sign up to review.
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The Limehouse Golem

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 10th, 2017

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When it comes to Victorian era serial killers, Jack the Ripper is pretty much a household name. Whether you know much about the terror he caused in White Chapel, all these years later you still know the name and what he did. With The Limehouse Golem, the filmmakers create a more sinister serial killer and deliver a Hammer-esque murder mystery. I’m all for a dark murder mystery, and when a film is channeling other successful films like Seven and From Hell, you’d imagine that you’d be witnessing a terrifying gory spectacle. The result, however, left me frustrated, as the film seems to pull from other films but never quite presents an engaging story to go along with the quirky mix of characters.
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Cars 3 (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 8th, 2017

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“I’m about to commit a moving violation.”

When I go to a Pixar film, I always find myself in a situation where I’m predisposed to love the movie. There have been so many greats like Toy Story and Monsters Inc and so few horrible examples like Ratatouille. So I never really expect a Pixar film to be bad, and Cars 3 certainly wasn’t bad. There are more than a few things to love about the latest collaboration between Disney and their Pixar division. The animation company also continues to push the boundaries of digital animation technology.
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Westworld: Season One — The Maze (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on November 8th, 2017

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“Have you ever questioned the nature of your reality.”

As things in our world become exponentially more chaotic and inexplicable by the day, the theory that we’re all living in a computer simulation becomes a little harder to completely dismiss. The idea that our reality is an illusion dates back to the 17th century but most recently gained traction thanks to a 2003 paper published by Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom. It’s also been a popular theme in classic sci-fi works like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and The Matrix. To that list, we can now add HBO’s Westworld, a slick and star-studded sci-fi/Western mash-up that features the requisite shoot-em-ups and pay cable sexcapades, but is actually most interested in exploring the nature of humanity.
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Vikings: Season 4 Vol 2

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 7th, 2017

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This is quite a step up for the History Channel folks. They’ve certainly produced a great number of historical dramatizations and documentaries, but nothing they’ve ever done before compares with this series. We used to review a ton of their stuff here for years, so you know I’ve liked a lot of the things they’ve done. But Vikings puts them in a totally new stratosphere. This is historical drama that you’ve only seen before in the likes of Rome or The Tudors. Of course, there’s a very good reason for that. Michael Hirst created the series and is the creative force behind it. He served the same positions on The Tudors. That puts expectations here very high, and the show has met or exceeded them all.
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Into the Night (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on November 6th, 2017

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One thing that you can probably surmise about me fairly quickly is that I am a product of the 80’s. I still wear Converse shoes when I’m not working. I watch a regular dose of Transformers (first generation, 1984) and my favorite movie is Escape from New York (1981). My wife was even born in the eighties. Probably not the same thing, huh? Anyway, I usually jump at the chance to review an 80’s movie and today is no different. The movie is called Into the Night with Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer from 1985. Never heard of it? Surprisingly, me neither. Let’s take a look.

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Firefly: 15th Anniversary Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on November 2nd, 2017

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“Here’s how it is: the Earth got used up, so we moved out and terraformed a whole new galaxy of Earths, some rich and flush with the new technologies…some not so much. The Central Planets, thems formed the Alliance…waged war to bring everyone under their rule. A few idiots tried to fight it, among them myself.”

Sound familiar? A crew of scrappy underdogs skirting the edge of the galaxy to avoid an oppressive interplanetary alliance. Exactly 40 years ago, Star Wars used that formula to capture moviegoers’ imaginations, and it is currently being replicated by the uber-popular Guardians of the Galaxy series. But in between those two behemoths there was a little show called Firefly.
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Bushwick (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 27th, 2017

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Ever since Birdman was released, it seems many filmmakers have been attempting to pull off the continuous take and outdo all the others. It was impressive when we all saw it the first time, but since then everything just seems like a bad knockoff. The newest film to follow this trend is Bushwick. While the camera work in the film does allow for an immersive experience, honestly it felt like I was in a first-person shooter video game, which was cool, but it seemed like the camera work was a distraction from the story. This is a frustrating film. On the technical side there is a lot to appreciate, but the moment you start looking at the story, the film seems to simply fall apart.
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War For The Planet Of The Apes (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 25th, 2017

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“All of human history has led to this moment. The irony is we created you. And nature has been punishing us ever since. This is our last stand. And if we lose… it will be a Planet of Apes.”

I was always a fan of the original Planet Of The Apes series of films. While they often flirted with a camp style, I was impressed with John Chambers’ makeup effects and the performances of Roddy McDowall as both Cornelius and Caesar. Then came the television show, and I was just as enchanted, and that was helped along by McDowall’s appearance as a third ape, Galen. The show didn’t last a season, and before long the Apes franchise was left in some kind of limbo.
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Pilgrimage (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on October 24th, 2017

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For a gritty historical epic to get the green light these days, it has to have some sort of easy-to-understand hook. (“Hey, it’s sexy King Arthur!”) And it seems like enough people complained about the prevalence of PG-13 action movies that it led to the current boom of R-rated sensations — like Deadpool and the John Wick flicks — that gleefully go to extremes. There is absolutely nothing gleeful about Pilgrimage, and the movie doesn’t seem all that interested in hooking the masses (significant portions of the film are in French, Irish, and Latin). In other words, the most striking and impressive thing about Pilgrimage is also what can make it feel like somewhat of a slog: this movie is dead serious.
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Loch Ness, Series 1

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 19th, 2017

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When it comes to hearing the name Loch Ness, just about everyone will think about the giant lake where “Nessie” the mythical monster inhabits. Whether you are a believer or not thousands converge to the Scottish Highlands location in hopes to be one of the lucky ones to catch a peak of the elusive beast. But the Loch Ness I am talking about is a beast of a whole other ilk. Thought the TV series does take place in a small tourist town that thrives on the legend that haunts the cold water, the series instead is about a serial killer that has been unleashed upon the town and given its residents something more to fear other than a giant monster that roams the lake.
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“31 Nights Of Terror” Buffy The Vampire Slayer (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 18th, 2017

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It’s hard to believe it was way back in 1992 when Buffy the Vampire Slayer was first introduced to audiences. It was a title I had missed in the theaters, but I remember picking it up at our local mom-and-pop video store. With the title being what it was, to go in expecting more than a cheesy horror comedy filled with stakes, fangs, and witty dialog would be on the viewer. I wasn’t a huge fan of the film when I first saw it. I sort of felt like it was a film that was trying to be Fright Night, but let’s face it, there are very few vampire films that are as cool. It’s been over two decades since I last visited the film; how does it hold up? Well, to be honest, it’s grown on me quite a bit.
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The House (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on October 18th, 2017

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– “You know what they say…the house always wins.”

– “What if we were the house?”

The House, a funny and oddly violent comedy starring Saturday Night Live alums Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler, has a great premise. Whereas most movies road trip their way to Sin City in order to cut loose, The House is about what happens when you import the glitz and glamor (and seediness) of Vegas into suburbia. The bad news is the filmmakers here don’t do much to develop their killer concept. The good news is The House is chock full of talented improvisers eager to pick up the slack.
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Baby Driver (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 16th, 2017

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For the most part it seems the summer blockbusters tend to be sequels, superhero films, or CGI bonanzas that are simply eye candy to get us to the dark auditoriums to escape the heat. It’s rare that something comes along that is so clever and fresh as Baby Driver. Personally I’ve been a fan of Edgar Wright from the moment I first saw Shaun of the Dead; he was a writer and director who I felt knew how to make films fun. When he was set to direct his dream project Ant-Man, I was excited to see him finally get a chance to do a giant tent-pole studio film, but weeks before filming was set to begin, he got pulled away and replaced.
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Peanuts Holiday Collection (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 13th, 2017

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At first glance you would not expect 50 year old cartoon television specials to be this high on the UHD 4K list. Honestly, I was a bit surprised myself. But when you really think about the staying power of these cartoons you realize they’ve made an emotional connection to generations of children of all ages. I grew up on the Peanuts creations of Charles M. Schulz. Most of us have, in some way or another. His newspaper comic strip is one of the longest running and most successful strips of all time. The work has been translated into every language currently spoken on the planet. The images of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, and the rest of the Peanuts gang have appeared on just about any kind of product imaginable.
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The Survivalist (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 13th, 2017

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When a film like The Survivalist comes along, you somewhat have an idea what to expect when it’s being marketed as a “dystopian thriller”. I like these kinds of films, but for the most part many of them are just not very good and are just a carbon copy of previous dystopian films that came out prior to it. For years I’ d say the Mad Max series was the gold standard on what you should want to be. Waterworld at least attempted to be Mad Max, but rather than a desert wasteland it went the direction of the high seas. The Survivalist goes another direction; rather than a barren wasteland, or the ocean, it instead plunges deep into the wilderness after society has apparently collapsed and food has become scarce.
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“31 Nights Of Terror” Open Water 3 Cage Dive (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 12th, 2017

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In 2003 Open Water hit the screen; it was a success since at the time the found-footage genre hadn’t yet saturated the market. I thought it was a fun little movie that was creative, and what impressed me most of all was the use of the sharks in the film. The danger always felt real, and to a point it was a convincing film. It was inevitable that a sequel would follow, though it came and went so fast, it’s not big surprise that many seem to have forgotten the film existed. Now it’s nearly a decade since the sequel came out that we now have a third installment, Open Water 3: Cage Dive.
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“31 Nights Of Terror” Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2017

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“C’mon, you apes, you wanna live forever? I have only one rule. Everybody fights, no one quits. The bugs have breached Mars, and the Federation’s fleet is too far to help. It’s up to us to save the planet. On the bounce, Troopers! The only good bug is a dead bug! Oorah!”

Robert Heinlein wrote the Starship Troopers novel in 1959. Since that time it has taken on many forms from pulp fiction to comic books.
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Once Upon A Time: The Complete Sixth Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2017

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Things are about to change in big ways for the Disney series Once Upon A Time. The sixth season is now out on Blu-ray, and the seventh season has just begun its run on ABC. If you try to go back and forth between these seasons, you might be puzzled more than usual. The show goes into a serious reboot this year. The economics of the show have been pulling it towards either cancellation or pulling in the purse strings. While the ratings aren’t exactly blockbuster, it’s been a clever way for the Mouse House to keep their properties buzzing as they continue to remake many of their fairy tales in live action these days.
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Churchill (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on October 11th, 2017

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“You know, there comes a time when even the greatest leader has gone as far as he can go.”

Winston Churchill was once voted the Greatest Briton Ever, beating out the likes of Princess Diana and William Shakespeare. Although Churchill had a staggering number of accomplishments throughout his long life, he is most closely associated with being Great Britain’s prime minister during World War II. That’s why the notion that Churchill vehemently opposed the D-Day invasion at Normandy in the days leading up to the pivotal battle is a provocative premise for this well-crafted, well-acted movie. The only problem is that it remains unclear whether that was actually true.
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Tommy Live at The Royal Albert Hall (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 10th, 2017

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I was first introduced to The Who through the original Tommy album. It was one of my mother’s favorites when I was young, and she had actually written out by hand her interpretation of the story the rock opera appeared to tell. I can’t remember those scribblings, and I’m not even sure if they’re still tucked away in that Decca album I have around here somewhere. But the music always stayed with me. Now, I didn’t ever become a huge fan of the band. I always liked them and collected a couple of their albums over the years. I did play a lot of pinball, however. I fell more in with the likes of Elton John. So you can imagine how excited I was in the summer of 1975 when my favorite musician was cast to play the Pinball Wizard
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The Wizard of Lies (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on October 6th, 2017

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“In our conversation, he seemed relaxed, unfailingly candid, earnest, and trustworthy. That is his talent and his curse.”

You probably know the name Bernie Madoff, the notorious fraudster who used a Ponzi scheme to steal almost $65 billion dollars from his victims. (Yes, that’s “billion” with a B!) But if you were hoping to gain some insight into the man and his methods, this HBO film isn’t really the place to look. The Wizard of Lies features a fantastic cast, some effective directorial touches, but is too often guilty of telling rather than showing.
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“31 Nights Of Terror” Warm Bodies (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on October 5th, 2017

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“This is a corpse infected with the plague. It is uncaring, unfeeling.”

When it comes to the overwhelming majority of zombie fiction, it’s all about brains (or rather, BRAAAINS!!!) It’s what the undead hunger for, and a well-placed headshot is usually the only way to kill them (again). And that doesn’t even cover the popular device of using the walking dead as an allegory for an increasingly mindless society. Warm Bodies stands out because it’s more concerned with an entirely different bodily organ. Based on Isaac Marion’s popular novel of the same name, the zombie romantic comedy deals directly with matters of the heart.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on October 4th, 2017

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“This may seem a peculiar request…but could someone explain why I’m here?”

That question is posed slurred by Jack Sparrow, Johnny Depp’s perpetually sloshed swashbuckler, during his very first appearance in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Given that this is the fifth film in a faded franchise — and that Depp probably needs the money — the answer for why any of this is happening appears to be painfully obvious. Which is why I was delighted (and frankly a little shocked) by how much fun I had watching this latest entry, which manages to entertain while openly plundering the original movie’s winning formula.
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Transformers: The Last Knight (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by J C on September 29th, 2017

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“These movies that I’ve done, they are massive movies. They take a lot out of you.”

That’s director Michael Bay talking about his decade-long work on the Transformers franchise on the eve of the fifth(!) film’s arrival. The movie also doubles as Bay’s swan song in the director’s chair, so when he says, “They take a lot out of you,” the filmmaker is presumably talking about the massive amount of energy and manpower (and horsepower) these big-budget bonanzas require. The problem is “They take a lot out of you” has also applied more and more to each subsequent movie in this series. Transfomers: The Last Knight isn’t just a bad movie…it is painful and exhausting to watch.
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