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Electra Glide in Blue (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 12th, 2022

I am a big sucker for police procedural and detective shows. Once upon a time, I religiously watched CSI (and CSI: Miami), and these days I am watching various episodes of true crime series like Real Detective and Homicide Hunter on a weekly basis (the only other thing I tend to watch weekly is wrestling). It translates over to movies, naturally, as well. Well, today’s film takes me into the world of a motorcycle cop who wishes to be a detective and then falls upon a murder case. Sounds like a must-watch to me. Let’s take a look at Electra Glide in Blue.

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Superman & Lois: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 12th, 2022

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“There’s a bizarre version of Superman on the loose.”

They are the most famous couple in comic book history. Together they are Superman & Lois, and they’ve joined the ever-expanding Arrowverse for their second season now out on Blu-ray from Warner Home Entertainment. While this is still a young series, the characters and these actors portraying them are not new to the Arrowverse. Tyler Hoechlin as Superman and Elizabeth Tulloch as Lois Lane have been here for a few years. Both have shown up on Supergirl, and both appeared in a couple of the crossover events that have pulled together the various Arrowverse shows in the past. Now the focus is on them. They have their own show, and it’s quite a different approach to the characters and their story. There has also been a departure that puts the show no longer in the official Arrowverse. I suspect that move comes on the heels of The Flash now entering its final season and I suspect closing the Arrowverse going forward
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The Octagon (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 3rd, 2022

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In truth, I have never been a “Chuck Norris” type guy. I can get down with many martial artists as previously explained, from Van Damme to Seagal to Jeff Speakman and probably many others in between. Except when it came to the Texas Ranger. Sure, he was an amazing martial artist, but he never had the ability to draw me in, the charisma that could keep me interested when his punches and kicks could not. (But yet I liked Jeff Speakman; go figure.) Anyhow, I think after all this time I finally found the film that could change that. Enter The Octagon.

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Catch the Heat (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 28th, 2022

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Some of my favorite movies from the 80’s and 90’s consist of films where very little brain matter needs to be used to consume the action of what’s going on the screen. The type of films I’m talking about are films like Bloodsport, Above the Law, the Perfect Weapon, and Rapid Fire. Now, from reading those titles, it might sound like I’m a little “man” heavy so to speak but I also heavily enjoy films like La Femme Nikita or Moon Lee films (Princess Madam or Devil Hunters for example). Today’s film is Catch the Heat which stars Tiana Alexandra in a film where she cranks up the kick butt meter to ten. Let’s see how it performs.

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Elvis (2022) (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 28th, 2022

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“For those of you who are wondering who this fella here is, I am the legendary Colonel Tom Parker. I am the man who gave the world Elvis Presley. Without me, there would be no Elvis Presley. And yet, there are some who’d make me out to be the villain of this here story. No, no, I didn’t kill him. I made Elvis Presley. Nothing all those muckrakers said in their books was true. Me and Elvis, we was partners. It was Elvis the Showman and the Colonel the Snowman. I always knew I was destined for greatness. As an orphan, I ran away to the carnival, where I learned the art of the “snow job,” of emptying a rube’s wallet while leaving them with nothing but a smile on their face. But a carnival act that would get you the most money, the most snow, had great costumes and a unique trick, that gave the audience feelings they weren’t sure they should enjoy. But they do. And I knew if I could find such an act, I could create the greatest … show … on … Earth.”

Rock bio-pictures have been pretty hot as of late. It really started with the exceptionally done Bohemian Rapsody that chronicled the rise of the band Queen, and more its flamboyant front man, Freddie Mercury.
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Batman: The Long Halloween (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 28th, 2022

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“Bend, never break.”

Of the DC animated movies, I’d rate this one as quite possibly my favorite of them all. Now when you consider that there are around 47 films created with another five films planned, that is quite the accomplishment. When it comes to Batman: The Long Halloween, the element that I really enjoyed is the mystery portion of it. It felt more like a detective story than a superhero movie. This was also the element that I most enjoyed about the Matt Reeves helmed live action film, The Batman. Not surprising that I identified with this aspect, as the 13-issue limited series that this film was adapted from was also one of the inspirations for the Reeves film. This animated film, like the comic it is adapted from, is centered on Batman efforts to identify and stop a serial killer known as Holiday. Holiday appears to be engaged in a war against the Falcone and Maroni organized crime families.
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Vive L’Amour (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 13th, 2022

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The people of Taiwan have been searching for an identity for a long time. When martial law was lifted over the People’s Republic of China in the 1980’s and shifted to a more democratic form, the people have increasingly wanted their own identity and no longer to be known as a part of China. Sure, they might maintain the status quo and appear to work with China (which hasn’t been exactly the case lately), but they strive to be known as Taiwanese, separate from the mainland influence. Our film today, Vive L’Amour, takes place in the 1990’s Taiwan, where life was extremely hard for the average young adult. So hard that many of them didn’t even have a permanent residence.

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Final Set

Posted in No Huddle by Michael Durr on September 11th, 2022

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My fascination with tennis has come in spots throughout the early part of my life. In the 1980’s, I was fascinated by John McEnroe with his brilliant play and fiery emotion. In the 1990’s I was smitten with Jennifer Capriati, but also impressed by her tenacity at such a young age. I still remembering listening to the broadcast of Goran Ivanisevic finally winning at Wimbledon in the early 2000’s. And that’s where I stopped watching, really, still eager to see the amazing game play, but no longer finding the characters I so desperately wanted to look for. Today’s film is Final Set, which follows an aging tennis player who has one final shot at becoming the player he always learned to be.

Curiosa

Posted in No Huddle by Michael Durr on September 10th, 2022

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A good erotic movie is actually harder than it sounds. Sure, you have to have skin, word play, arousal, and yes, that other kind of play. But the good erotic films like Basic Instinct, 9 1/2 Weeks, and Embrace of the Vampire (You thought I was going to say Fatal Attraction, didn’t you?) are very entertaining and have a story that draws you in to keep you there even when the spicy bits aren’t on the screen. Today’s erotic film is Curiosa, which certainly hits all of the skin elements, but does it have a story that I would want to watch again and again? Let’s check it out.

1883: A Yellowstone Origin Story (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 9th, 2022

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“Nothing had prepared me, no books, no teachers, not even my parents. I heard a thousand stories, but none could describe this place, it must be witnessed, to be understood, and yet I’ve seen it and understand it even less than before I first cast eyes on this place. Some call it the American dessert, others The Great Plains, but those phrases were invented by professors at universities surrounded by the illusion of order and the fantasy of right and wrong. To know it you must walk it, Bleed into its dirt, drown in its rivers, then its name becomes clear, it is hell, and there are demons everywhere. But if this is hell and I’m in it, then I must be a Demon too and I’m already dead..”

We’re a visual people, and so most of you will recognize Taylor Sheridan from his role as a chief of police in Sons of Anarchy when the controlled puppet regime had finally left the scene. It’s not a remarkable role, and it’s not a complete surprise that Sheridan found his calling more recently behind the camera.
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South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fourth Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 26th, 2022

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“I’ve been acting like this because I can’t take these shutdowns anymore and I’m scared what it’s doing to me. I’m looking for who to blame, saying I’m trying to help people to make myself feel better, because the truth is I just want to have fun again. I wanted to see that I could go out into the world and do the things I used to do… I want my life back. I just want my life back.”

This has been a tough year for everyone. Productions all around the world have been uprooted because of the pandemic. I guess I thought there might have been one place on this planet that was safe. OK, I made that last part up. We always knew that South Park was going to have a field day with COVID. Let’s be honest; the amount of material for the irreverent show is simply off the scales. There’s nothing like a global catastrophe to bring out the sharp wit of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The pandemic meant we saw the long-running animated series limited just like everyone else. So instead of a 10-episode run, the 24th season of South Park is made up of two double-length “Pandemic Specials”, but just for whats and giggles, let’s call it South Park The Complete 24th Season and get a look at it in Blu-ray.
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Belle Collector’s Edition (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 25th, 2022

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Mamoru Hosoda‘s directing career basically started with the world of Digimon where he directed a few shorts, episodes and even the original Digimon movie. But where he really started to show off his directing chops was Samurai Champloo which has been often cited as one of the greatest anime shows right up there with Cowboy Bebop. It would then continue with the first film that he could truly call his own in the Girl Who Leapt Through Time. From there, Hosoda could have been content at that point but he would go on to direct more and more animated classics. Today, we take a look at Hosoda’s latest film, Belle and I don’t think any fan would be disappointed with this one.

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Jurassic World Dominion (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 23rd, 2022

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“Bigger. Why do they always have to go bigger?”

You don’t really need me to answer that one, do you? What started with Jurassic Park in 1993 and even earlier with the blockbuster book by the late great Michael Crichton has actually been 65 million years in the making. When an idea has been percolating for that long, you have to go bigger, or the audience will go home. Expectations take a bite out of your option,s and by a sixth film you really have to come up with a game stopper, so what do you do? You reinvent the franchise after two sequels failed to capture the magic and awe that was Jurassic Park. You let the idea sit for a decade or so, and then you bring it back with enough of the new and enough of the old to bring folks back into the theaters. And that’s just how they did it with the Jurassic World trilogy.
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Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy (Blu-Ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 19th, 2022

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When I am not writing reviews, playing games, having a family, oh, and also having a job (because writing reviews doesn’t exactly pay), I do try to dabble in the occasional short story. Perhaps it’s fantasy or science fiction, but I like spinning tales about a world that I want to be a part of even if its just for a few minutes. It’s relaxing, and that’s why when I saw the opportunity to review Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, a collection of three tales steeped in chance, culture, and some wonderful word banter, I knew I’d enjoy my time. Let’s take a look.

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Caged Birds

Posted in No Huddle by Michael Durr on August 13th, 2022

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Nelson Mandela once said, “It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” Most people, even in today’s society, think of prisoners as lower than the ground they walk upon. Prison abuse is as old as Greek and Roman times. Heck, true prison reform didn’t start in the United States until the 1960’s. But what about other countries? In Caged Birds, we explore the Switzerland of the 1980’s and how one lawyer named Barbara Hug tried to change that very system.

Jesus Kid

Posted in No Huddle by Michael Durr on August 8th, 2022

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Some of my favorite movies are ones where they use the “author” as the focal part of the story. Films like Secret Window, Misery, and The Ghost Writer are ones that immediately come to mind for me. However, Westerns tend to be somewhere down on the list of genres for me, and only ones like Tombstone or Unforgiven tend to spark any interest. So when I received Jesus Kid, which features a Brazilian author who likes to write Westerns, well, you can kinda understand my apprehension. However, my curiosity was also piqued at the same time for the very same set of reasons.

The Lost City (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 29th, 2022

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From the moment I saw the trailer for The Lost City, it immediately gave me vibes of Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile, the adventure-romance films that starred Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner back in the mid-eighties. The basic story for those films was simple: a romance writer who finds herself in an adventure to find a rare jewel alongside a handsome rogue with bad guys coming after them around every corner. I loved these films as a kid, and getting to see a modern twist on these stories is something I found welcome. What is even more welcome is getting to see Sandra Bullock back in a comedic role. I’ve been a fan of just about everything Bullock has done since she graced the screen in Demolition Man and then the following year in Speed. My only concern was seeing Channing Tatum as her co-star;
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DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Seventh and Final Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 29th, 2022

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“It all started when a man named Bishop created a team of robots. He sent them back in time with one goal: to destroy the 20th century. These machines were programmed to think that they were beyond human. That they were superheroes. They made their way across country murdering some of the greatest figures in history, famous lawmen and men of science. Finally they kidnapped the inventor of time travel itself, and with his help set their sights on destroying all of history. No one could stop these so-called Legends. Not until we came upon the real flesh-and-blood superheroes whose job it is to put history back on track. We’re the real Legends of Tomorrow.”

If none of that made any sense to you, don’t worry about a thing. It’ll all become clear over the final 13 episodes of DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow: The Complete 7th and Final Season. OK, I lied. No. It really is the 7th and final season, but it won’t really become all clear. You see, that’s the nature of the series. It’s the crazy uncle of the Arrowverse that says a lot of things no one understands. But we all kind of nod our heads and suspect it will all be OK.
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The Duke (2022)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 27th, 2022

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It is a shame that director Roger Michell (Notting Hill) passed away before this film had a proper release. He’s a director who while he may not have a filmography of blockbuster hits, he’s literally worked with many of the biggest stars of the industry. Notting Hill is easily my favorite film of his; easily I’d rank it as one of the best rom-coms of all time. Sadly he’d go most of his career not quite matching the success of the 1999 film, but with The Duke, he gives us a film that is so damn charming it shows how he’ll be missed in an industry that’s become so dependent on CGI and spectacle.
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Batwoman: The Third and Final Season (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 22nd, 2022

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“Sounds like the Mad Hatter is throwing a tea party.”

Of all of the Arrowverse shows, I think Batwoman has had the hardest road of it. Ruby Rose was far from the dynamic character the CW or DC could have hoped for, and she spent most of her first season complaining or on the outs in some way or another. In her single season she was constantly outshone by her villain and pretty much everyone around her. It’s bad when the one in the cape and cowl can’t seem to attract any attention. It was a surprise to no one that Ruby Rose left the show after that first year. What did surprise me was that the show was going to continue. Instead of recasting Kate Kane, the powers that be brought in a completely different person to play the title character. Enter Ryan Wilder, played by Jevicia Leslie. She took the rap for a friend and ended up serving 18 months in prison for drug possession.
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Downton Abbey: A New Era (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 22nd, 2022

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“The modern world comes to Downton.”

Downton Abbey spent six years on television and has amassed 52 episodes. In that relatively short run the series has also managed to collect over 200 award nominations and several Golden Globes along with other prestigious awards. Let’s not forget a rather loyal fan base that has watched each episode with anticipation of the next sharp barb or character revelation. The fans have been vocal and strong enough that a new film franchise has been anticipated to fill the void left by the series and the first film. In one of its years it was the number-one binged series in the world. That’s a lot of power, and it’s little wonder that all of these ingredients are expected to create a little box office gold. But film franchises from television shows rarely go on to such golden heights. There are some notable exceptions, to be sure. But even here, expectations and changing caretakers often lead to both high points and flops.
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Giant

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 12th, 2022

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“This rare Texas air will fix you right up.”

Until The Exorcist came along in 1973, Giant was Warner Brothers’ highest grossing film at the box office. It was also the last film made by James Dean, who killed himself in a car crash two weeks before production, requiring the services of Nick Adams to step in and provide some of the voice ADR work for Dean. The film earned an at-that-time record 10 Oscar nominations. You would think that a film of this kind of historical importance and success would have been well cared for over the years since 1956. You would have been badly mistaken if you had that belief. Instead the film was allowed to deteriorate to a point where the restoration experts originally thought it could not be salvaged. After great effort and searches for better elements, the film has been pieced back together and given an impressive 4K release, and the result is an image that appears to be something of a miracle, now available to the public with Warner Brothers release of Giant on UHD Blu-ray in its native and natural 4K.
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Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on July 8th, 2022

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This was a bit of a letdown, if I’m being honest. It just didn’t deliver the epic conclusion that I was expecting. Honestly, it felt more like Part 1 of a two-part conclusion. While it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that there is another upcoming installment in the franchise, at this moment I am unaware of any intentions to continue the series with this group of characters. Bearing that in mind, I must defer to my original statement: it was a bit of a letdown. In recent years, my fandom for the Wizarding World has been rekindled due my daughter’s discovery, and now obsession, for all things Harry Potter. I was especially glad when I learned that I would be able to bring her along for what I expected, at the time, to be an epic conclusion. And while the film got her stamp of approval, my approval is a little harder to receive.
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Offseason (Blu-ray)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 21st, 2022

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Offseason is the type of film we just don’t get a lot of anymore. It’s a film that heavily pays homage to HP Lovecraft and The Messiah of Evil and other films of the 70’s era, only there is little to no gore to show for it. There’s a strong Silent Hill vibe going on with the film, especially with the copious amounts of fog that seem to always be around. It would seem that this film has all the makings to be a hit, especially when it seems to be going for tropes that I like in a horror film, but unfortunately this one just missed its mark by making two big mistakes. One, it was too obvious, and two, it just totally screws up the ending. I’m not expecting every movie to be the next Wicker Man, but it seems that writer and director Mickey Keating is trying so hard to be on the same level as Ti West and Robert Eggers that the film just comes off looking like a good-looking snore-fest we’ve seen before. I really wanted to like this, and it had a lot going for it, but it seems when you pull inspiration from too many sources, it can get pretty messy.
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Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark – Limited-Edition Steelbook (UHD Blu-ray) (4K)

Posted in Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 14th, 2022

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“For nearly three thousand years, man has been searching for the lost ark. It’s not something to be taken lightly. No one knows its secrets. It’s like nothing you’ve ever gone after before.”

Just in time for the wrap of principal photography on the next and final Indiana Jones film, Paramount cashes in on the renewed interest with the long-awaited, at least from this reviewer, release of the first four films in the Indiana Jones franchise on UHD Blu-ray in full ultra-high-definition complete with HDR and Dolby Vision. OK, I lied about the long-awaited four films. Now you can own the first on its own in this special Steelbook release of Raiders Of The Lost Ark on UHD/4K. No, I’m not going to call it Indiana Jones And The Raiders Of The Lost Ark, and yes, Han shot first and those feds in ET were not carrying walkie talkies in those hands. So sue me.
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