Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 17th, 2023
"In northern California, the Santa Lucia Mountains, dark and brooding, stand like a wall between the peaceful agricultural town of Salinas and the rough-and-tumble fishing port of Monterey, fifteen miles away It's 1917 just outside of Monterey."
James Dean was somewhat of a brief candle. Very much like Marylin Monroe, he came upon Hollywood so bright and hot only to burn for a short time. And while Norma Jean had a few good years in which to shine, Dean would have less than a handful. In those few years he made three incredible films. His last was Giant, and before that was perhaps his best known, Rebel Without A Cause. East Of Eden was the first of this trilogy of films that would pretty much make up the career of James Dean. All three films were made in the years 1955-1956, and just as suddenly as Dean had come upon the scene, billed as the next Marlon Brando, he was gone. One car ride into eternity and it was all over just as it had begun: Explosive and brief. Through Warner Brothers 100 years of movies restoration and release celebration, we have already seen and reviewed Giant and Rebel Without A Cause. Now the trilogy is complete in the place where it began: Elia Kazan's masterpiece, East Of Eden.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on August 2nd, 2023
"Man gets shot that's got a gun, there's room for reasonable doubt. Man gets shot that hasn't got a gun, what would you call it? But, you knew that already; otherwise you wouldn't have set things up the way you did."
Rio Bravo (1959) stars John Wayne as John T. Chance, a small-town sheriff facing the fight of his life. His town is infected by a gang of 30-40 men, professional bad guys on the payroll of Nathan Burdette (John Russell), whose brother, Joe, Chance has locked up for murder. Burdette is dead-set on freeing Joe, and the only help Chance has got is his former deputy, Dude (Dean Martin), who’s been drunk for two years since he got involved with the wrong kind of woman, and Stumpy (Walter Brennan), an old, trigger-happy cripple. The trio has six days until the U.S. Marshall comes to collect Joe, but that’s a long time to wait when you’re surrounded by the enemy.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 21st, 2023
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits."
Charles Laughton is known primarily as an actor. He starred in several classics such as Spartacus, Witness For The Prosecution, and the title role in I, Claudius. He was the titular character in a remake of Lon Chaney, Sr's The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. He was the cruel Captain Bligh in Mutiny On The Bounty and the evolutionary mad scientist in Island Of Lost Souls with Bela Lugosi which was based on the H.G. Wells novel The island Of Dr. Moreau and happens to be my favorite of his films. He married the Bride of Frankenstein herself, Elsa Lanchester, in one of those rare Hollywood pairings that lasted from 1929 until death did they part in 1962. They were a kind of royal couple for a while, giving some of the era's most iconic parties. He was quite an accomplished man when he died too soon at 63. The unfortunate story about his life has to be the fact that he directed only one film. It was a truly remarkable turn in the director's chair, but sadly in an industry that seeks instant gratification in terms of box office numbers, it was a commercial failure. But that film has stood the test of time, and is taught in film classes across the world, an appreciation that came far too late for any chance to see what else he could have done. But thanks to KL Classics, that film has been restored and delivered to our homes in glorious 4K via the UHD Blu-ray release of The Night Of The Hunter.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 8th, 2023
For me it’s crazy to see that The Truman Show is turning 25 years old. I was graduating high school when this had come out, and television was just an entirely different landscape back then. In 1998 when this film came out, the only reality shows were pretty much COPS and then The Real World on MTV, I really don’t believe anyone could have expected just how big reality TV would become. The same year in competition for box office dollars was Ed TV. Oddly enough, Ed TV would be a little closer to the mark on what the reality TV landscape would look like, taking a regular guy and making him a star overnight because he was on TV. The Truman Show I always felt was the superior film in just about every aspect. In many ways it is what I had hoped reality TV could be, but unfortunately it seems what viewers wanted in their reality programming was something more scandalous and absurd, more akin to a Jerry Springer episode than someone living in an idyllic world that was out of an episode of Ozzie and Harriet or Leave It To Beaver.
Jim Carrey stars as Truman Burbank, an insurance salesman who lives in an idyllic white-picket-fence town and is just living his life. The only the problem is, the world he lives in is not real; it’s all manufactured, and he’s really living in the world’s largest television studio, and everyone around him is acting, all because the reality is Truman is unknowingly the star of the world’s biggest reality show. This was such a departure for Jim Carrey. At the time he was the biggest comedy star on the screen and was known for being over the top and playing larger-than-life characters, but the role of Truman required him to be toned and down and seem even boring. The result is perhaps his most enduring performance to date (or at least tied with his massively underappreciated film, The Majestic).
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on June 29th, 2023
Back in 2013 the remake for Evil Dead came out. I enjoyed the film, but it just didn’t feel right not having Bruce Campbell on the screen fighting off the deadites in that crazy cabin in the middle of the woods. But I could still appreciate the gore, and I felt the filmmakers did a decent job at capturing the tone of the franchise. The film has kind of grown on me over the years. Then fans got hit with the Ash Vs. The Evil Dead series, which was three seasons of bliss that really did a fantastic job honoring the trilogy that Sam Raimi had created. Now in 2023 we have a new film, Evil Dead Rise, a film that ignores pretty much everything fans of the franchise have known and loved for 40 years. It did great at the box office, but where does the film stand on its own and in relation to the legacy before it?
The film shifts its location from the middle of the woods to an apartment in the city. This was a nice, refreshing change in my opinion, kind of like how Scream decided to leave the small town of Woodsboro this year and move things to the Big Apple. The location shift simply opens up so many new possibilities, and when you consider the havoc that some deadites can bring to this new setting, it is something worth getting excited about. Instead of a group of friends, this time the film is centered on a family. There’s the newly single mom of three, Ellie (Alyssa Sutherland), her youngest daughter, Kassie (Nell Fisher), and then the other two siblings, Bridget (Gabrielle Echols) and Danny (Morgan Davies). As an unexpected surprise to the family, they get a visit from Ellie’s sister, Beth (Lily Sullivan), who has to stepped away from her rock-star life after discovering that she is pregnant. There are other people who share the same floor as Ellie, but the film’s focus is on this family, and for the most part just this floor, which is one of my problems with the film. It offers so much potential with a bigger location, but chooses to isolate itself, which defeats the whole purpose of leaving the cabin.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 29th, 2023
"All right, men, now here's the play we're gonna use. I don't think the guards know this formation. It's called 'incidental punishment after the ball is blown dead.' Remember, any man you tackle gets an elbow, knee, or kick in the mouth."
In 1972 Albert S. Ruddy made motion picture history. He went from the writer of a television sit-com to landing a producer job at Paramount with almost no credentials but his nerve. Once there, this inexperienced producer delivered one of the most iconic films in history. That film was The Godfather, and it would shatter records at the Oscars and is considered one of the best films ever made. In my opinion it is the best film ever made. When the film was finished, it was a no-brainer that there would be a sequel. Sequels weren't quite so common then, but there was a lot of material in the best-selling novel to continue the story. Ruddy was offered the job of producer once again. He turned it down. He had another movie, one in which he wrote the story, that he wanted to do instead. Paramount gave him the nod, and The Godfather Part II. without Ruddy or Marlon Brando would go on to shatter records for sequels at all of the awards shows. But what happened to that passion project that Ruddy decided to do instead? That film never came close to hauling in the awards and cash that The Godfather Part II would rake in, but we do still remember that film today. You recall it, don't you? Well, in case it slipped your mind, it was a little football/prison hybrid called The Longest Yard, and while it can't compare to The Godfather in all of those mentioned metrics, it did accomplish something The Godfather never did, and never should do. It was remade twice since then. More on that later, and Kino Lorber has released it on UHD Blu-ray in 4K just in case you need a little help in remembering.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on June 27th, 2023
“How everyone thinks we can solve any problem with magic. There are limits! This isn’t some bedtime story; this is the real world!”
Well not quite, but still very sound advice. Which is what our heroes find out in this adaptation of the popular tabletop game. I’m becoming convinced that there is no such thing as a truly great cinematic adaptation for a tabletop or role-playing games. Think about it? Warcraft, Battleship, the previous Dungeons and Dragons adaptation. All of them failed to hit the mark. When you think about it, it’s not surprising. These games are incredibly nuisance and detailed, it would be more surprising if their entirely was actually able to be encompassed in a matter of hours. In the case of the latest Dungeons and Dragons adaptation, Honor Amongst Thieves, I think it is a case of good movie/decent adaptation. Based on the Forgotten Realms settings, the film follows Chris Pine as Edgin Darvis, a former Harper turned thief. While I do claim to be an expert in the world of D&D, Darvis does appear to have some basis in the game itself. Backing Pine up, we have Michelle Rodriguez as barbarian Holga, Hugh Grant as conman Forge Fitzwilliam, Justice Smith as a fledgling elf sorcerer Simon Aumar, Sophia Lillis as druid Doric, and Rege-Jean Page as paladin Xenk Yendar. I was expecting Page to have a bigger role as he was featured prominently in the film’s promotional materials, but I will go into further detail about that down the road.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 2nd, 2023
When I was a young boy I loved playing with my toys. We didn't have Transformers in those days, but we did have Major Matt Mason, plastic dinosaurs, Hot Wheels, and Creepy Crawlers Thingmaker sets. Yeah, in those days a toy could cause third-degree burns and no one really worried about getting sued. Kind of takes the fun out of being a kid today. You know who else, I bet, loved to play with his toys? Michael Bay. I bet he had the coolest toys in his neighborhood. He probably wasn't the best guy to be friends with, however. He didn't invite the kids over to play with his toys. He likely charged you a nickel to watch him play with them. It's many decades later, and Michael still has the coolest toys on the block. Only now you have to cough up twenty bucks if you want to watch him playing with them. Sadly, that is what the Transformers film franchise has been reduced to. We're all watching the rich kid playing with really cool toys.
I had a decided advantage going into the Michael Bay extravagance that is the Transformers film franchise. Unlike the majority of the film franchise’s target audience, I have had almost no exposure to the other incarnations of Transformers. I was already too old for the toys when Hasbro launched them, and so it was true for the cartoon and comic versions that quickly followed. Like everyone else I had a passing familiarity with the things, but nothing more. How is that an advantage, you might very well ask. Like any film franchise that dares to attempt material often considered sacred by its followers, Transformers had to play the game of expectations. I don’t carry any of the baggage that often keeps an audience from enjoying a film because they already think they know what it should look like. Armed with just the most basic of knowledge, I was able to approach them each freshly and enjoy each as a standalone entity. With that said, I had a pretty rockin’ time of it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 24th, 2023
I know that we all know that the DC universe is going through a bit of a revamp right now. I’m sure we’ve all seen it, with the cancellation of the Batgirl movie and the getting our hopes up over the prospect of Henry Cavill’s return to the fold, only to be crushed when it was announced that the studio was going in a different direction. We all have our feelings about it. That said, if there was a franchise that I would recommend keeping around, it would be the Shazam films. I know, I know, I’m surprised by this revelation too, but the thing is, this franchise of them all was the one that took me by the most surprise. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it. Prior to the release of the first film, the character of Shazam (a.k.a. Captain Marvel) had been nothing more than a background character that I’d observed in the animated films and shows. I even questioned the wisdom of introducing a character like this when DC was behind the curve in comparison to Marvel. I thought they should focus on building up the main Justice League heroes so they could get back in the race. Then in 2019, I went and saw this, and it won me over. It gave the DC universe a dose of lightheartedness. Zachary Levi was a fantastic choice for the character, because all the quirks and awkwardness that made NBC’s Chuck a gem were on display in our plucky hero. And now with Shazam: Fury of the Gods, DC just keeps that train rolling. The addition of Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu as the antagonists, the Daughters of Atlas, was a bold and interesting gamble, given that they do not appear in the comics, and are actually original characters created for the film. Yes, I did a bit of research.
When we last left off, Billy Batson (Asher Angel) had finally become a member of a family after a lifetime running away from them in order to find his birth mother. Solidifying his bond with his new family, he elected to share his power with them and create the Shazam family. Picking up years later, Billy, who is on the verge of aging out of foster care, worries as everyone begins drifting apart due to them all growing older and developing their own personal interests. This drifting also affects their heroism, as despite having the best of intentions, they begin doing more harm than good, causing the public to view them negatively even though they save countless lives.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 24th, 2023
"He was here before Christ, before civilization. He was king here! Rawhead, that's what they called him! Rawhead!"
Rawhead Rex started life as one of many stories in a young Clive Barker’s published collection called The Books Of Blood. As a story it has been hailed by the likes of Stephen King as one of the best horror stories ever written. I'm not sure I would go anywhere near that far, but there's little doubt it's a well-crafted horror tale. I read it years ago and recall that I was quite impressed. The movie version of the story is something else entirely. It fails on really one important element, and that's the design of Rawhead himself. It's one of the worst-looking film monsters I've ever seen. It's a cross between an ape and a clown without the colorful make-up, and the young actor that brought him to life did anything but. Still, there's some atmosphere to be found here, and a few good performances. It's one of those films where it might be so bad that it will always find something of a cult following. That's exactly what Kino Lorber Studio Classics is counting on with a UHD Blu-ray release in 4K. You heard that correctly.
