Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on January 16th, 2019
These days when the studios are cutting together trailers to promote their upcoming films, I feel one of the number one complaints people have is that the trailer gives too much away, so why bother shelling out the cash to see it on the big screen? When it comes to the trailer for Bad times at the El Royale, it gives you a glimpse at what is to come, but the result is something clever and ambitious. Unfortunately, it feels a bit too familiar. This is the second feature film from writer and director Drew Goddard, who first made a splash onto the screen with his hit film Cabin in the Woods. While I enjoyed his first romp that played with many of horror’s stereotypes, I still felt the film fell a bit flat. Unfortunately, though I enjoyed this fun little noir film he’s put together, I feel it too falls a bit flat, but mostly this is due to its 140-minute runtime.
The film opens up with a great sequence, where we get to watch as a man comes into a motel room and goes through the process of burying a bag beneath the floorboards. It’s a long static shot that nicely sets the tone for the film we’re about to watch, and with the nice little twist at the end of the scene, we’re ready to jump into this film. Sadly, as we are introduced to visitors at the El Royale motel, things get a bit long-winded, as it seems the sequence of just having the characters checking into their rooms will never end. It works as setting a tone and introducing us to characters, but the problem is we spent all this time with character development just to discover no one seems to be who they claim to be. I’m all for having twists, but this sequence just goes on for too long, and unfortunately that’s pretty much how each sequence plays out, each clever one stretching on for a bit too long. This is where I understand where people draw their comparisons to Quentin Tarantino, only Tarantino can make long talky sequences crackle with humor, dread, and cool all at once, and Goddard just can’t pull it off.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 10th, 2019
"The list is an absolute good. The list is life."
It had been nearly 20 years since I had seen Schindler's List. I believe this was only the second time I've watched it since seeing it in the theaters back in 1993. It's one of those films that doesn't lend itself to repeated viewings. It clocks in at over three hours, and the material is emotionally draining. That doesn't mean the film shouldn't be on everyone's shelf. It should. It should, because it tells a brutal story that civilization must never forget. It's clear that while the event remains in our collective memories, the reality of the Holocaust has been lost on too many people. Watch this film, and you will be completely amazed that anyone could throw words like Hitler or Nazi to describe anything that could be happening in American politics today. I'm convinced that the people who use those descriptions need to sit down for three hours and watch Schindler's List, maybe for the first time. It belittles this horrific moment in history to throw it about as a political hit or hate speech. There is nothing in our current American landscape that comes close to the reality of what happened to the Jews in World War II. Saying that there is shows amazing ignorance, an ignorance that this film goes a long way in dispelling.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on January 3rd, 2019
“You kind of loud.”
It made all the sense in the world on paper. Pairing Tiffany Haddish (coming off her outrageously profane, scene-stealing breakout in Girls Trip) with Kevin Hart (one of the shrillest most successful comedians in the world) seemed like a match made in loudmouth heaven. Instead, it turns out that almost all the creativity that went into Night School — which actually has a pretty decent premise — was limited to envisioning its two stars on a poster.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 3rd, 2019
IMAX films are the perfect source material to show off the capabilities of the UHD Blu-ray/4K format. Most of the films we watch in theaters today have been shot around 2.8 K and mastered at just 2K. A 35mm film actually shot on film has a native resolution of 4K. The IMAX film format uses 65mm and 70mm film that increases its native resolution well beyond our 4K televisions and players. They are relatively short and have a ton of bandwidth to deliver the best possible image and audio. Shout Factory discovered this as soon as the format was launched, and Upcomingdiscs was there to check them out. Now there's a new player in the IMAX UHD business, and it's Mill Creek Entertainment. They get it, and so now you can expect a few of those gems coming your way from Mill Creek. The first one that I've had a chance to see is Journey To The South Pacific, and it's sweet.
The film takes us to a local village in West Papua. We get some wonderful shots of the residents living their lives that depend so much on the sea. It's the only real resource they have left. Because of overfishing and other obstacles, the big fish the natives so rely on are disappearing, and the health of the reef has been getting critical.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 22nd, 2018
"Predators don't just sit around making hats out of rib cages. They conquered space."
In 1987 Predator became somewhat of a milestone film for many reasons. The movie would anchor a franchise, thanks mostly to a wonderfully original Stan Winston creature design and the performance of Kevin Peter Hall under the suit. Both Winston and Hall have since passed, but the alien hunter that they created together is still going strong. The film also featured two stars who would later go on to become governors of their states. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jessie Ventura made their mark in politics. The film also featured Rocky's Carl Weathers. It also featured Shane Black in a small role that might not have contributed to the blossoming franchise then, but he has made his own impact by writing and directing the latest installment of that franchise The Predator.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on December 20th, 2018
Children’s fairy tales have taken a new drift with the film The House with a Clock in Its Walls. Packed with exciting action adventure, the movie, based on the book by John Bellairs, envisions the story with an incredible amount of CGI. You could almost call the film animated, but that’s a good thing here as things go bump in the night, magic forms the basis, and solving the mystery becomes the prominent focus for older youngsters. Orphaned due to a car crash that took his parents, young Lewis Barnavelt (Owen Vaccaro) gets invited to live at his Uncle Jonathan’s (Jack Black) magical mansion. He’s a bit fearful of the old house with its grand stairway and many mysterious rooms, but Lewis sort of likes the flamboyance of the magician-turned-warlock. There he’s introduced to Jonathan’s neighbor and best friend, Florence Zimmerman (Cate Blanchett), who assures Jonathan that he will enjoy living with his uncle.
Uncle Jonathan has only one rule for Lewis: he mustn’t open a special cupboard, ever. Things go well for Lewis until it’s time he attend the local middle school. There he’s the odd man out, as cliques have formed between the boys long before he came there. Surprises abound in his new life, and when he helps Tarby (Sunny Suljic), one of the school kids running for class president, he feels he’s finally made a friend. But things are not what they seem to be, and it leads to Lewis breaking the one rule he had promised he wouldn’t.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 19th, 2018
"These young men and women are going on a long journey. One that goes around the globe and back to the foundations of our nation. Once you're in the Corps, you're in the Corps all your days on Earth."
Gene Hackman narrates an IMAX look into what it means to be a United States Marine. He's the perfect choice, and not because he has such a distinctive and authoritarian voice, but because he was also once a Marine. There's an element of pride in the narration that just can't be faked.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on December 7th, 2018
“They destroyed the man I was, but then I was reborn. And this time I came out breathing fire.”
Season 1 of Westworld — HBO’s mega-budget adaptation of Michael Crichton’s 1973 film of the same name — spent a lot of time exploring the nature of reality and humanity through a high-tech theme park’s robotic hosts. And while the show still has plenty of time for those themes, the second season can be tidily summed up with a phrase that nods to another Part II of an iconic sci-fi franchise: The Hosts Strike Back.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on November 23rd, 2018
“Not all heroes wear capes.”
To put things mildly, Warner Bros. still has a bit of ways to go before its stable of DC Comics superheroes catches up to Disney’s dominant Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, Warner and DC have long had the upper hand on both the small screen (The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow) and with their animated, direct-to-video offerings. One of those small-screen flicks — 2015’s Justice League: Throne of Atlantis — has just been granted a nifty “Commemorative Edition” 4K release before Aquaman splashes onto the big screen next month.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on November 15th, 2018
Ever since Jaws splashed onto the screen back in 1975, Hollywood has been attempting to follow its success, and though some films have been valiant efforts, nothing seems to come close to the Spielberg classic. Sure effects have come a long way over the years, and through the Hollywood magic of special effects they can create a more realistic-looking shark, but to be fair many of the film’s more memorable moments don’t even have the shark on screen. When I first heard about The Meg, it was going to be in the hands of Eli Roth of Cabin Fever and Hostel fame. This seemed to be like a good pairing that would result in a blood-fest filled with shark carnage that would leave shark fans pleased, but eventually the studio decided to pass, and the project seemed almost dead in the water. I had known about the film’s struggles to get made for years but hadn’t known that it went back to the 90’s when the rights to the book by Steve Alten had been first purchased. When the studio signed Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure), it was clear they were aiming to produce a summer tent-pole film, and as my excitement grew, I caved and started reading The Meg series that Alten had published, and I was hooked. I’ve been looking forward to this film for a while. Could it possibly live up to my expectations? Well, it came close.
The film opens up with Jonas Taylor (Jason Statham) as he is on a deep-sea rescue mission. While he and the few members of his crew are searching for survivors on a wrecked sub, there seems to be something in the water with them that is attacking the sub. All we know is that it is something massive, and it forces Taylor to have to make a quick decision that results in several casualties. It’s years later when a scientific research team is exploring the Mariana trench and is planning to dive deeper than ever before, past a layer that was believed to be frozen. It’s when the dive team passes beyond this cold layer that we see some beautiful effects as this underwater world we are getting to explore with the team is filled with numerous deep-sea dwellers, though it doesn’t take long before the team is attacked. Apparently Jonas is the only one available who can possibly save the deep-sea crew; as it just so happens one the crew members turns out to be Taylor’s ex-wife Lori (Jessica McNamee). This is also the point where it’s discovered Taylor’s claim that the prehistoric megalodon is haunting the deep sea turns out to be true. Why Taylor would make this jump in reasoning from what we saw in the opening scene is beyond me, but I’ve accepted this is a popcorn ride, not something we’re meant to dwell on.
