Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 18th, 2024
Sequels are a funny thing. Most of the time in modern Hollywood, they come within a breath of the first film, usually after a large box office in order to capitalize on its earnings. Sometimes, they can take years, even decades to make. Blade Runner: 2049 came out in 2017, 35 years after the original film. In addition, many times when a sequel takes so long to materialize, the intended audience has flown the coop, and it has dismal results. See Basic Instinct 2 or The Two Jakes. Other times, it inspires new waves of fans to flock to the theaters, such as Tron: Legacy or The Incredibles 2. Today, we are taking a look at Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia, a sequel to the original Ernest & Celestine movie which was nominated for an Academy Award and took home many other film awards. It's been a decade since the original film; can the sequel keep the spirit of the original and produce a quality film? I'm happy to say, yes, it certainly did. Let's take a look.
Since the film does not provide a quick recap from the original, I'll go ahead and provide this. Ernest and Celestine had each won their freedom from their respective imprisonment. Their only wish was to live together as best friends and have exciting adventures ... after Ernest gets some sleep.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on January 18th, 2024
Sequels are a funny thing. Most of the time in modern Hollywood, they come within a breath of the first film, usually after a large box office in order to capitalize on its earnings. Sometimes, they can take years, even decades to make. Blade Runner: 2049 came out in 2017, 35 years after the original film. In addition, many times when a sequel takes so long to materialize, the intended audience has flown the coop, and it has dismal results. See Basic Instinct 2 or The Two Jakes. Other times, it inspires new waves of fans to flock to the theaters, such as Tron: Legacy or The Incredibles 2. Today, we are taking a look at Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia, a sequel to the original Ernest & Celestine movie which was nominated for an Academy Award and took home many other film awards. It's been a decade since the original film; can the sequel keep the spirit of the original and produce a quality film? I'm happy to say, yes, it certainly did. Let's take a look.
Since the film does not provide a quick recap from the original, I'll go ahead and provide this. Ernest and Celestine had each won their freedom from their respective imprisonment. Their only wish was to live together as best friends and have exciting adventures ... after Ernest gets some sleep.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 17th, 2023
"Oh, what are people afraid of? That AI is gonna replace real writers? That Hollywood is gonna become just a bland recycling of old ideas? It already is!"
I suspect that when we are all dead and gone there will be two things we can count on continuing beyond the end of human civilization. The cockroaches will inherit the world, and they will all be watching South Park, the only television show still running. It's already been 22 years, and doesn't it feel like 50? I don't mean that in a mean way. I love South Park, but I'm starting to find it hard to remember what life was like without it. I'm convinced it will survive us all, and AI versions of Parker and Stone will be producing it until the planet is finally vaporized ... and I'm not sure even that will stop this show.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on November 14th, 2023
"Streaming services make everything suck."
South Park still hasn't completely recovered from the COVID-era issues. There still has not been a complete 10-episode season, and the slack is still being taken up by specials. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but at least it's kept us in Cartman and the gang even as other shows have closed down. The longer form also gives Parker and Stone a chance to really let an idea play out. I think they have tended to run out of gas somewhere in the back half of the second part. When you think about it, you're really looking at four episodes in length, and Parker and Stone have a pretty spotty record when they've tried to run an idea for that long. The Streaming Wars Specials suffer from just that affliction, but that doesn't mean there's not a ton of clever South Park to be had here.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on October 19th, 2023
“Where the hell did you come from?”
When you consider just how many films have been made about Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, I’m surprised it has taken this long to get a film like The Last Voyage of the Demeter. I’m not a huge fan of the novel, but the chapter that centers around Dracula’s voyage from Carpathia to London is a section that I always enjoyed. It’s a chapter told through journal entries from the captain of the ship and how the crew is killed one by one by a mysterious menace aboard the ship. In the movies that have come before, this moment of the film is usually mentioned as an afterthought or simply gets a couple of minutes of screen time. So is this the fresh take on the beloved horror icon that cinema goers have been waiting for, or is this just a lame attempt to revive the vampire genre?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 16th, 2023
It's a genuinely rewarding experience when you find a new director that you find intriguing. Mostly because as the consumer, it's then a research project to find everything that person has ever done and then dissect which films you can go find to watch immediately. When I watched Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, I had that experience instantly. I wanted to see more of Rysuke Hamaguchi's films. So I bought a Criterion Blu-ray copy of Drive My Car back in July. Shortly after that, I saw that his student film, Passion, was going to be released by Film Movement on Blu-ray, and I was eager to get a copy. Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long, because the opportunity to review presented itself even before the release date. Let's dive into this film and see the early workings of a true master of the conversation.
Note: I apologize in advance that I'm unable to identify several of the actresses (the roles of Sanae, Marie, and Hana) in this film. Usually I'm spot-on about these things (but there is no information on the internet as to who these women are real-name-wise). If someone knows, please contact me or leave a comment.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on October 11th, 2023
"Jack, we have done our jobs and done them well. This fight was passed down to us and will continue with or without us. But we will always be better than the institutions we serve, and that is what matters when it matters most. There are no heroes in our profession. But occasionally there are good men. Men who act on what is right, not simply doing what they are told to do. I have not always lived my life with honor. But perhaps I have done enough to die with it. I hope the same for you."
Witness the birth of -- actually make that rebirth of --one of the most popular action heroes in literature. Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan has been a character of many jobs and many faces over the years. Baldwin, Ford, Pine, and Affleck have all stepped into the role of the man who has been a soldier, an analyst, an operative, and a president. What might appear as a clear advantage for this Amazon Prime streaming television show can be just as much a liability. When you throw in the Tom Clancy novels, comic books, and fan fiction, there is a ton of Jack Ryan history that pretty much gives us a story arc from his humble beginnings to extraordinary exploits, and wearing the faces of a few good performers. It's a tall order for the series and perhaps an even taller order for actor John Krasinski, who has created a nice little horror franchise with wife Emily Blunt on the side. I don't really have the time or energy to watch streaming shows and films. There's always a backlog here of discs that need to be watched and reviewed, and I've created a rather comfortable viewing experience with my home theatre I call The Reel World. Our motto: Here there be monsters. So a couple of years ago I had my first experience with this series when Paramount sent the first season on Blu-ray. It was far more of a captivating and compelling series than I expected. Then the second season reached the Blu-ray home platform format, and while I certainly detected a sophomore slump there, there's still enough interesting drama to keep a fan engaged for another year. And what a year it has been. You can find out for yourself with Paramount's release of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Season Three on Blu-ray.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 19th, 2023
“Space … the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Nearly 20 years after the original Star Trek left the network airwaves, Gene Roddenberry set out to discover whether he could catch lightning in a bottle once again. Some say he did an even better job with Star Trek: The Next Generation. There are times I tend to agree. The Star Trek sequel series had a lot more advantages from the moment it was conceived. Star Trek, a series that barely registered on the ratings during its three-year primetime voyage, became a huge sensation in syndication. By the time The Next Generation came on the scene, the original show had been syndicated in over 20 different languages all over the world. It had launched an animated series, and a fifth feature film was already in the early stages of consideration. So it isn’t quite fair to judge the success or quality of The Next Generation over the original series. One thing is inarguable. The second would never have existed if not for the first.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 2nd, 2023
I probably could be called a lot of things, some kind and some not so kind. But the one thing that probably most people would say about me is that I'm loyal. Loyal to my job, loyal to my wife, loyal to my son. However, in my life, I have certainly felt the pain of disloyalty, even to the point of infidelity. Despite what people might say or think, you never quite expect it, and furthermore one can't predict how you might feel or act given the situation. Today's movie Three into Two Won't Go explores the idea of what happens when a man cheats on his wife with another woman. However, this woman stays around long after the fact and continues to press into his everyday life until it becomes unbearable. Let's take a look.
Steve Howard (played by Rod Steiger) is driving down the road listening to some bumpy and festive music while the credits roll. He's finger-waving and whistling and generally having a good time. All of a sudden, he sees a 19-year-old girl named Ella Patterson (played by Judy Geeson) hitchhiking on the side of the road. He stops the car, and honks for her to walk to the car. She stands her ground, and eventually Steve backs up and lets her inside.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 29th, 2023
Typically, I avoid World War II period films like the plague. I literally see the word Nazi or German occupation and usually find a reason not to see the movie. I have nothing against the pictures; the problem is that so many of these films are surrounded in clichés that it feels like an old hat with nothing new to offer. However, when I saw The Day and the Hour in my review pile, I was intrigued by the notion of it being in France with a female lead and something of a romance. Far different from the usual pow pow, war is heck, or a film that's going to have buckets and buckets of tears and worrying about the human condition. Though from the looks of things, this one might have some waterworks too. Let's take a look.
1944, the Germans have occupied France. We open the film to a newspaper clipping. The German police have proof that three crew members on an enemy plane that was recently shot down are hiding in the Rethel commune region. Their names are Allen Morley, Pat Riley, and Norman Thompson. Anyone who is helping them is subject to punishment up to and including death.
