Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 24th, 2018
"Do you remember the first time you saw a dinosaur? The first time you see them, it's like a miracle. You read about them in books, you see the bones in museums, but you don't really believe it. They're like myths. And then you see the first one alive."
By the time you get to the fourth sequel of a film, the results are usually not very good. Even a groundbreaking film like Jurassic Park has been followed by at least one terrible sequel. The problem with these kinds of things is pretty easy to figure out. You can't please all of any film's diehard fans, and it's hard to continue to deliver on the formula's expectations, all the while breaking new ground without the result feeling more contrived than original. That's certainly all been true of this franchise. When Jurassic World set all kinds of box office records three years ago, it appeared that those entrusted with this franchise had found a way to turn it around. Now the expectations have jumped even higher. There appears no place to go but down, and for the first hour of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, that's exactly what appears was going to happen. But then somewhere around the third act, the film took a turn that suddenly sent the franchise into an entirely new genre. The last third of Fallen Kingdom accomplishes something that should have always been where this whole ride headed. Fallen Kingdom is a rehash of the previous films in many ways. There are the iconic poses and the regurgitated scenes. But before the credits start to roll on this one, it becomes something terribly wonderful. It is genuinely scary. Now, certainly, the previous films had some scary moments. There was some of it in the first film's kitchen chase. But for all of its scares, it was really just more dinosaurs chasing people. Now don't get me wrong. I'm really cool with that, but been there, seen that. You see, Fallen Kingdom takes that fright to an entirely new level. Science fiction and horror haven't combined this well since Alien.
Posted in: The Reel World by John Delia on September 23rd, 2018
by John M. Delia, Jr.
Our life experiences influence what we do in our future, and what our parents experience could also influence how we are as well. And in tragedy and death, we experience large amounts of loss that could also transfer to our unborn offspring. Lastly, we experience many ups and downs throughout our lifetime, and how we react to those good or bad experiences make up who we are and how strong our will is to survive. Keep moving along knowing that there will be good life experiences, even though you will always have many hurdles to overcome, as we see in Life Itself.
Posted in: The Reel World by John Delia on September 23rd, 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 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 September 23rd, 2018
"My name is Kara Zor-El. I'm from Krypton. I'm a refugee on this planet. I was sent to Earth to protect my cousin. But my pod got knocked off course, and by the time I got here, my cousin had already grown up and become... Superman. I hid who I really was until one day when an accident forced me to reveal myself to the world. To most people, I'm a reporter at CatCo Worldwide Media. But in secret, I work with my adoptive sister for the D.E.O. to protect my city from alien life and anyone else that means to cause it harm. I am Supergirl."
So, you're asking yourself, who the heck is Kara Zor-El, and what is this D.E.O.? I get it. You're just not caught up on the CW series Supergirl. It's not such a good idea to start here, however. You can check out our reviews for the first two seasons here. Catch up on the episodes, and then join the rest of us for Supergirl: The Complete Third Season.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2018
"It's not just for profit. It's for revenge. It's a twofer."
Hollywood has been making a greater effort these days to add some diversity to their film casts. From minorities to women, this has been a year of unprecedented changes in the makeup of so many films. One of the new trends in this effort is to remake/re-imagine/reboot an already established franchise with a gender-switched cast. The results have been somewhat mixed. The female Ghostbusters film was a complete disappointment. And while it might be easy to blame the female cast, the issues go much deeper than that. Now the Ocean's franchise has decided to play in that territory, with better results. Ocean's 8 delivers the familiar formula of the Steven Soderbergh remake trilogy of the original Rat-Pack film, but with an all-girl heist crew. The film is still a bit of a disappointment in some ways, but it's a much better ride than Ghostbusters by a long mile, and again the flaws have little to do with the cast or the gender-swapped model.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on September 21st, 2018
"In the exciting days of live television, there was one show that won major awards in all categories. It was a live show in a live theater, and what you will hear is live laughter - a genuine reaction of a live audience."
That was Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows. Sid Caesar is arguably the world's first major television star. His show was a monster hit that eventually earned him $25,000 an episode back in the early 1950's. He was something of a comic chameleon. He portrayed many iconic characters where Sid himself appeared to completely disappear into the role. His skits were often like small films that ran 20 minutes or more. Many of them spoofed films of the day and were rather large productions for a comic skit. Most skits on television are running out of steam after two to three minutes, but Sid Caesar had the uncanny ability to grab your attention and hold it for a considerable time.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 21st, 2018
It’s okay to groan. I get it. Just when you thought the found-footage genre was dead, another film manages to get released. I think at this point we all simply have to accept that this is a genre that will never completely die on us, but we can always hope that it will eventually produce a hit every once and a while. When it comes to Found Footage 3D, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me, and since the Blu-ray came with both a 3D and 2D version, I did in all fairness watch both versions, and there is definitely a version that won out, and if the time comes that I check this out again, I know how I plan on doing so. In case you were wondering, the disc does come with two individual 3D glasses, not the ones you can pick up at your local theater, but instead the throwback red and blue kind.
The clever twist that Found Footage 3D has going for it is that it is found-footage film about a film crew that is setting out to make a horror film in 3D. It doesn’t take long before we realize how the film is very self aware understanding the numerous typical tropes that are in the genre and knows there are two key rules they need to follow. Rule #1: give a reason for why the people are videotaping every moment, and Rule #2: when the third act comes along, have a good reason to explain why they are still filming and not tossing the camera aside. Derek (Carter Roy) is the over-the-top filmmaker with a vision to make the first found-footage horror film in 3D and is overly ambitious by also having the making of the film shot in 3D as well.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 21st, 2018
Just about everyone has heard of Rolling Stone magazine. For me it was circa 1995 when I bought my first Rolling Stone magazine that had the band Green Day on the cover. While I never had a subscription, I still remember hitting up the Barnes and Noble and getting the new magazines when I could. It was the magazine I went to to read up on my favorite bands and random pop culture influences. The magazine is now celebrating 50 years of journalism on music, politics, and just about everything else in between. In the 4 ½ hour documentary, it is a combination of interviews and archival footage that tells the story from when the magazine was birthed in San Francisco to becoming one of the most popular publications of our time.
Though the Blu-ray says that it is told in two parts, the reality is that the two-disc set is broken up into six episodes that run just over 40 minutes each. Jeff Daniels handles the duties as the narrator, who starts off by explaining to us to where the magazine’s name came from as well as introducing us to the magazine’s creator and editor, Jann Wenner. The first episode really helps set the tone by telling the story of how the magazine and its staff came together as well as revealing how some of the magazine’s breakout articles first came together. From a story about Ike and Tina Turner before they were household names to John Lennon and Yoko Ono and their Bed In for Peace. It’s kind of amazing seeing how the magazine wasn’t so popular yet but was a part of something as historic on pop culture. Personally I really enjoyed getting to see Annie Leibovitz discuss some of her first shoots, and it’s easy to understand why she has become a legend in the photography world since.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on September 19th, 2018
Lahinch is a coastal town in County Clare, Ireland. It has a population of around 642 people and is known for the Dough Castle tower ruins and the Lahinch Golf Club, where the South of Ireland Championship is played. However, it is mostly notable, especially for the purpose of this documentary, for being one of the foremost surfing locations in Ireland. That is the key component of the documentary, Between Land and Sea, which is set against the backdrop of Ireland’s west coast and captures the beauty of the landscape as well as the waves that even someone like me, who has never stepped on a surfboard, is tempted to ride.
Between Land and Sea is told in an observational documentary format, meaning that there is no narration, and the audience is treated as being a part of the conversation, which was fairly immersive in my opinion. It made me feel like I was actually there engaging in the conversation with the individual being interviewed. First we are introduced to a local, who works predominantly through the year as a miner, but his true passion appears to be for making surfboards. The film goes on to interview his family, as well as other members of the community including former professional surfer Fergal Smith and a cameo for surfing legend Shane Dorian. The most captivating portion for me was the landscape, which was captured beautifully. I’ve always known that Ireland had a rugged beauty to it, but here it was full-frontal. Granted the focus was on this one coastal town, but still there was no denying the allure of Lahinch.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Brent Lorentson on September 17th, 2018
When it comes to shows that simply sneak up on you and manage to suck you in, This Is Us would be a show I never saw coming nor expected to simply fall in love with. As a show that is on network television, it stands toe to toe with the best that cable has to offer. But what is most surprising is that what sets this show apart from the rest of the pack isn’t a complex antihero or dragons; instead it is as simple as being a show that feels as real as anything I’ve seen on television in some time. As the title would suggest This Is Us is simply about a family and the struggles and successes that come day to day, though as many of you can understand and relate, there is nothing simple about life and the constant hurdles that are thrown at us on a day to day basis. I was hesitant last year when I watched the first season, but I was quickly moved by its characters and their stories. I was so impressed with that first season I wondered if it could maintain at that level for the second season. Well, after 18 episodes and plenty of tears, I’m here to say it didn’t maintain; instead, it exceeded what it did the first season.
Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love) has created a show about the Pearsons, Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore), as they go about their journey raising their three kids, who all happen to share the same birthday with their father. This season we start off with the siblings turning 37. There is Kate (Chrissy Metz), who is continuing to follow her interest in singing as well as being with her fiancée Toby (Chris Sullivan), Kevin (Justin Hartley), who is working his way to becoming a serious actor in film, and then we have Randall (Sterling K. Brown), who this season is working on bringing in a new member of the family.
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