Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on July 28th, 2018
"Your mission should you decide to accept it. Isn't that the thing?"
And that has been the thing. Since 1966 Mission Impossible has plotted out nine seasons of television and six movies, thrusting Tom Cruise into an action hero icon. Cruise and company have taken their time with these films. It's been over 20 years, and we're only on the sixth entry. For the first five films, each of the Missions have been directed by a different director, from John Woo, who directed the second and worst of the films, through J.J. Abrams, who turned the ship around with the third, which was also his first feature film, to Christopher McQuarrie, who becomes the first director to repeat in the series of films. In fact, McQuarrie has become quite the Tom Cruise collaborator these days, also directing his Jack Reacher film and writing his version of The Mummy. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation and now Fallout offer a nice apology for the train wreck ... or was that a plane wreck ... that was The Mummy. The fact remains that this is the one rare franchise that appears to be getting better with each outing.
Posted in: The Reel World by John Delia on July 28th, 2018
A cool little film with a lot of mixed messages, Eighth Grade tells the story of a young girl entering her teenage years. Nicely acted and directed, the movie works on the heartstrings and leaves you with a feel-good sentiment. If you can remember the years when your next step would be high school, you may be surprised by the film that very little has changed. There’s one more week of eighth grade, and Kayla Day (Elise Fisher) finds herself full of angst mixed with hope as she deals with what she leaves behind and looks forward. A lot is taking place including her last band practice, Kennedy’s birthday swim party, and upcoming High School Shadowing Day. It’s also the announcement of class superlatives that precedes graduation day.
But all that means less to her because she’s totally immersed in her YouTube blog and hoping that her viewers are listening. Her topics are solid recommendations and include the most important of them all, “Being Yourself.” While she preaches as if she does things her blogs advise, she’s often too shy to live them herself, like “Putting yourself out there” and “How to be confident”. What does affect her are a want to be noticed for who she is, getting a boyfriend, and having a perfect person to shadow with at the upcoming High School Shadowing Day.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on July 27th, 2018
As the summer winds down from the season's requisite anchor film blockbusters, there will be increasing room for a few independent films that will make their way from the festival circuit to fill the newly vacated screens at your local multiplex. For some it will be to attain eligibility for the year-end award season. For others it will be a short window to turn a profit from what was conceived more as a work of art. For others it's a chance to become a sleeper hit. And for others yet, it's an opportunity to deliver a social message on the larger soapbox of the big screens. Blindspotting appears to be on the cusp of all of these things. But perhaps it comes a little early for any awards consideration and at a time where it is still competing with the mega-films of the summer. There's no doubt that the film attempts to hit us with a message, but it falls just short of that accomplishment. Blindspotting works best as a character study, and it's in that mode that the film almost approaches compelling.
As the film begins we meet Collin, played by Daveed Digs. He's been in prison for severely beating a man at a club, and now he's just days away from probation. His probation will last a year, where he'll stay at a halfway house, work a job, and attempt to follow some simple rules that he doesn't quite make. We jump forward, and he's on his last three days of probation. But his biggest problem getting through them will be his relationship with long-time friend Miles, played by Rafael Casal. Miles hasn't had the sobering experience of prison and is still too wild to keep Collin out of trouble. But Collin is torn between his loyalty to his close friend and wanting to turn his own life around. It doesn't help that in the short time he was in prison his neighborhood has begun to fall to gentrification, and he's starting to feel alienated from his own life. Of course, he spends too much time with Miles. They work as partners for a moving company and spend most of their off hours together. Collin is starting to realize the harm the relationship is doing, but he might not be able to pull himself away before it ruins his second chance.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 27th, 2018
"Wildlife and its habitat cannot speak, so we must, and we will" - Teddy Roosevelt.
Actually they do speak for themselves, and Shout Factory's UHD/4K release of National Parks Adventure gives that wildlife plenty of grand opportunities to speak to us through the grandeur of the American National Park system. Last year Shout Factory showed us what the UHD/4K format could really deliver by releasing a series of IMAX films in the new format. It was a bold move that has really paid off. IMAX cameras utilize 65 and 70mm film, which offers source material that is actually much higher resolution than 4K. Unlike many recent digitally shot films which tend to be done in the neighborhood of 2K, these films have a film element as high as 8K. There's been a gap in the Shout Factory IMAX releases, but I'm happy to report that they're back with two new films.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on July 27th, 2018
It goes without saying this film is not suitable for children. Swung is a film in the vein of the 50 Shades of Grey franchise; however, where those films focused on BDSM, this film is centralized along swinging, or engaging with multiple partners. Brace yourself, because you will definitely see more than you think you will in this unrated movie. Granted, it is not just all about sex. The primary focus is the relationship between our two lead characters and the strain and struggles that they are encountering. In this regard, Swung was relatable, as it addresses intimacy, custody matters, and the difficulties of unemployment. Starring Elena Anaya and Owen McDaniel as the couple, they serve as our eyes into this dark world that will possibly change their relationship forever.
Alice and David are very much in love and committed to one another, but the spark has gone out in their sex life. Being without employment and unable to meet his child support requirements, coupled with only being able to see his child on rare occasions have diminished David’s ability to satisfy Alice. Alice does her best to be supportive, but after discovering a particular kind of voyeuristic content on David’s laptop, begins to wonder if the issue is her. Determined to make the relationship work, Alice attempts to take part in this activity with David. After a chance encounter with another couple, things suddenly change, and the spark is instantly relit.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 26th, 2018
Like so many others, when I read the book Ready Player One by Ernest Cline I simply fell in love with the nostalgic ride through the 80’s, all thanks to a virtual reality world called The Oasis. From start to finish it was a book filled with pop culture references that would make film and video game geeks squeal with delight, and it was no surprise that the book was a hit and would be turned into a film. There were only two names I could think of that could ever come close to making this film a reality: Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg. With Spielberg involved, he was the only person I could imagine who had the clout to get all the licensing rights needed to pull this adaption, but still the biggest question I had was, does Spielberg still have it in him? I’m not questioning the man’s talent, but instead it’s the magic and wonder he would bring to his films, from Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET, to Jurassic Park, where he could get us to believe the fantastic and impossible was real while we sat in a dark auditorium watching his film.
The Oasis is an open virtual reality world like nothing we have ever seen before, but with how our technology is developing it is quickly becoming a possibility for things to come. There are worlds and planets within The Oasis where you can be in constant battles to win coins, or go to exotic places for a vacation. It’s a world where you can be whatever you want and experience just about anything you want. Basically think about Westworld, but on steroids. The creator of this world is Halliday (Mark Rylance) who before dying announced to all of The Oasis that he created an Easter Egg hidden somewhere in The Oasis, and whoever was to find it would gain sole control of The Oasis and all of Halliday’s fortune.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on July 25th, 2018
“The charm of this little escapade is rapidly wearing thin.”
Who doesn’t love a good heist comedy? The genre comes ready-made with stylish characters trading clever quips while trying to out-smart one another (and the audience). And with its surprisingly starry cast, The Con is On looked to be an especially promising entry into the heist comedy canon. So how did it go so wrong? Well for starters, the con artists here are just as (if not more) unlikable than the screwy suckers they are targeting.
Posted in: Tuesday Round Up by J C on July 24th, 2018
What do the Iron Giant, King Kong, Chucky, and about a thousand other pop culture icons have in common? Well, they can all be found in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One (4K), which is getting a splashy and flashy UHD release this week courtesy of Warner Bros. Elsewhere in 4K Land, Shout! Factory dares to Dream Big (IMAX)(4K) and embarks on a National Parks Adventure (IMAX)(4K). Finally, Lionsgate gives us the gift of grift with heist comedy The Con is On.
Later on this week, we’ll also have reviews for a pair of big screen releases: Lionsgate’s Blindspotting and (should you choose to accept it) Mission: Impossible — Fallout. Before you run off until next week, here's your customary reminder: if you’re shopping for anything on Amazon and you do it through one of our links, it’ll help keep the lights on here at UpcomingDiscs. See ya next week!
Posted in: Disc Reviews by John Delia on July 23rd, 2018
"At the end of the bloody dog wars the vanquished mongrels became powerless house pets: tamed, mastered, scorned. But they survived and multiplied..."
Offbeat, heavy-handed characters, bleak outcast situations, and moody; it’s a marvelous adventure for those who like Wes Anderson movies. This one, however, shows his range with an animated film that’s worthy of most Japanese greats. From the opening drum introduction of Isle of Dogs to the heartfelt finale, Anderson captures a cold, disturbing environment from which his characters can rise up. If you like offbeat stories produced in stop-motion animation in the vein of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride and Frankenweenie, then this film should not be missed.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on July 21st, 2018
“There are two kinds of pain in this world. Pain that hurts and pain that alters. Today you get to choose.”
Denzel is back as Robert McCall, offering the bad guys a chance to do the right thing. Well, he offers that opportunity to a select few of them, I should say. When a group of highly trained operatives kill his friend, he’s out for blood. Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer 2 keeps all of the themes that made the first one great in this sequel. Though it is a sequel, I would say that it follows a very different path than the original. Where the first film is the setup, in this one McCall is accepted his role as a champion for the little guy and without hesitation acts to protect those who can’t protect themselves. However, the enemy is much different this time, as he will be forced to confront demons from his past, the kind that caused him to fake his death in the first. In order to put things right, he may have to come out of the shadows.
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