Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on May 10th, 2024
“In their time, humans were capable of many great things. They could fly, like eagles fly. They could speak across oceans. But now, it is our time ... and it is my kingdom. We will learn. Apes will learn. I will learn. And I ... will conquer.”
Just as you think that the Planet of the Apes franchise has run out of story to tell, especially following the death of the protagonist in the preceding film, they find a way to bring the story full circle with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, the first of a new trilogy of Planet of the Apes films. In the Andy Serkis-led Caesar, we observed apes’ ascendency to becoming the dominant species on the planet. However, with this new franchise, we will get to see if absolute power truly does corrupt absolutely. I have to take my hat off to this franchise, not only for its ten installments, but for its successful execution of long-term storytelling. When the series rebooted back in 2011, I assumed that we were just getting the origin story for the films that came before. Following that logic, I presumed that following apes ascending to the top of the food chain would be the end of the journey. However, that is not the case, as things have been brought full circle, and there is still much story to tell. Caesar’s journey was merely a chapter in a larger story that is still being written. King of the Planet of Apes marks the beginning of that new chapter, and I for one am happy to be along for the ride.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 9th, 2024
"People scare better when they're dyin.'"
Mention the name Sergio Leone and you immediately think of Clint Eastwood and their Man With No Name trilogy. The truth is that Leone was the master of the spaghetti western and largely responsible for making Clint what he is today. When the Italian director decided to try his hand at Hollywood, he was welcomed with open arms, except they weren't interested in anything but an American copy of a spaghetti western. Leone had something else in mind. He had a "been there, done that" attitude about the westerns and wanted to do an epic called Once Upon A Time In America. But Hollywood was hearing none of that. So they compromised. If Leone delivered a stylistic western, the studio would spring for the epic he wanted to make. The result of that parlay turned out to be Once Upon A Time In The West.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 7th, 2024
As many of you know, there isn't a type of media that I don't enjoy reviewing. Sure, my film reviews are most numerous, but I have also dabbled in books, video games, and music when it comes to critiquing. Music is really fun, because I'm one of the few people I know that will literally dissect every song whether it is a hit or a throwaway. Needless to say, I almost never hold back. So imagine my excitement when I come upon a new anime that blends an interesting story with the amazing style of jazz music. I honestly don't even listen to jazz, but the chance to expand my musical repertoire is something I crave to do. Let's take a look at Blue Giant.
A cold wind is blowing, and somewhere a saxophone is playing. A car whooshes by; Dai Miyamoto (voiced by Yuki Yamada) tries to play, but the weather is so frigid that he is having a lot of trouble. He keeps trying, because one day he will be a famous musician. A black cat slinks by and rests beside him. Dai gasps after playing a difficult note, and the pain is too much to bear, so he takes time out to have a chat with the feline. However, the cat soon leaves him, and he goes back to his playing.
Posted in: The Reel World by Gino Sassani on May 3rd, 2024
"This is the story of one of America's great unsung heroes. I mean, you've seen him, but you never knew who he was. You've cheered for him and cried for him, and women have wanted to die for him. But did he ever get any credit, or the girl? No! He's what we call the "Stuntman", and the reason I'm talking so fondly about him is, well because it's me, Colt Seavers. Anyway, picture work isn't wall-to-wall employment, so maybe you wonder how a guy keeps his head together? Well, one way is to wait by the phone ... and wait and wait. The other is to take an occasional job with the court system of the United States of America, where a man is considered innocent until proven guilty. Unfortunately, sometimes a lot of these people get out of jail on what we call bail and they'd run like hell! ... and that's where I come in. I sometimes pick up rent money trying to find them and bring them back to justice." - Television series open.
Lee Majors performed a pretty solid television hat trick in his television career. Over three decades he starred in three iconic television shows that defined him for three successive generations. In the 1960's he was Heath Barkley on the TV western The Big Valley. Like the Cartwrights in the more popular series Bonanza, the Barkleys faced all of the elements of the Wild West, and Lee Majors was there for it all. From 1965 to 1969 he was in 112 episodes of the hit show. Then the 1970's arrived, which was the decade in which I became acquainted with Majors as Steve Austin, "a man barely alive" until a secret government organization made him "better than he was" as The Six Million Dollar Man. He was "reassembled with a bionic arm, eye, and two legs. It made him "stronger ... faster ..." I spent many a summer afternoon running in slow motion and making that "chichichi" sound as a young boy. The Six Million Dollar Man ran from 1974 to 1978 and went 99 episodes, a couple of spinoffs, and several television movies. The show has been kicked around in Hollywood for decades with several attempts to make it a film franchise, often updated to The Six Billion Dollar Man. I guess a million bucks just doesn't go as far as it used to. Now it takes $126 million to put Majors' third series on the big screen. That happens to be the role of Hollywood stuntman-turned-action-hero Colt Seavers, and it ran from 1981 to 1986 and another 112 episodes. If you're keeping score at ,that's an amazing 323 + episodes of television over three decades. And now it's Colt who beats Steve and Heath to the big screen in The Fall Guy, directed by David Leitch and starring Ryan Gosling in Majors' Colt Seaver role and Emily Blunt as his co-star, playing Jody Moreno, originally played by Heather Thomas. But is this a movie that audiences are going to fall for?
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 3rd, 2024
“When you take on the responsibility, great power will come.”
In my opinion, Madame Web is a victim of its own marketing. Based on the trailers, the audience members, such as myself, geared up for an expansion of the spider-verse featuring several notable characters who donned the spider mantle. As such, I expected to see Sydney Sweeney, Isabela Merced, and Celeste O’Connor showcasing their skills as their respective characters. And while we are partially treated to this, it essentially amounts to an appetizer, as these scenes make up less than five minutes of the film's run time. For me, that made the film basically a 116-minute trailer for larger story that I am skeptical that we will ever get. While I applaud the attempt to build a larger universe, the foundation needs to be established first, and sadly I don’t think it was adequately done here in Madame Web. This is disappointing given the talent pool of the aforementioned up-and-coming stars, as well as established actors such Dakota Johnson, Adam Scott, and Emma Roberts.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 3rd, 2024
As is sometimes the case when you write a review, one does not have the fortune of doing everything in its exact order. I was extremely excited when I found out I was reviewing the second part of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earth. 4K steelbooks are pretty hard to come by for review copies, and I was quite elated. One little problem: I had not been able to watch the first part of this planned trilogy. As I racked my brain and started to flip through some streaming channels, I was very fortunate to come upon HBO Max, which had placed the first part on their service only a few days ago. Sometimes, it pays to be lucky more so than good. Let's take a look at the second part and see if it can start to answer the questions left behind from the first.
Note: Since I found myself in the predicament of scrounging around to watch the first part of this trilogy (due to the short time between releases), there is the off chance that a few people who have not watched the first part might want to read the review of the second. Therefore, I will focus solely on the second part. Some minor spoilers will probably find their way into the review, but they will be far less numerous than in typical multi-part stories.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by M. W. Phillips on May 3rd, 2024
"People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it, and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right."
OK, let me get this out of the way. The Crow was a vehicle for Brandon Lee, son of martial arts legend and movie star Bruce Lee. The elder Lee trained Brandon in martial arts from the day he could take his first steps. When Brandon was only eight years old, his father tragically died just before finishing production on Enter the Dragon, a movie which would go on to become an international blockbuster making Bruce Lee the greatest icon of martial arts cinema. Brandon followed in his father’s footsteps studying martial arts and drama.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on May 3rd, 2024
"The honeybee has always had a special relationship with humanity. A sacred relationship. Why? No bees, no agriculture. No agriculture, no civilization. Our nation is not unlike a beehive, with its complex systems of workers, caretakers, even royalty. If any of the beehive's complex mechanisms are compromised, the hive collapses. Someone, a long time ago, decided that a mechanism was needed to keep our nation safe -- a mechanism outside the chain of command, outside the system. It's one mission -- to keep the system safe. Beekeepers are given all resources, empowered to act on their own judgment. For decades, they have quietly worked to keep the hive safe. That is, until now. It appears that a retired Beekeeper has gone off program, and is acting in what he mistakenly believes is the hive's best interest."
On its surface, The Beekeeper seems to be another mindless action film featuring a retired assassin or skilled operator forced out of retirement to right an injustice. Granted, those themes are central to the overall story; however, in my opinion, the film embraces those themes and provides a measure of excitement and substance to a premise that could have easily become basic. For me, I’d put the film up there with another one of my favorite Jason Statham movies, Homefront. And yes, it is not lost on me that both films feature a retired character who is forced to come out of retirement and take action. For me, in both films Statham’s characters have intrigue. Specifically in The Beekeeper, Statham’s character background is merely hinted at. We know that he was an elite operative. We know his organization operated independently and with a measure of impunity. Beyond that, not much is known about the group. It is left open for interpretation. It also doesn’t hurt that the cast also includes the likes of Jeremy Irons, Josh Hutcherson, Emmy Raver-Lampman, and Phylicia Rashad.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 26th, 2024
"Good to be back. We knew all along that everyone back home from the President on down was behind us 100%. It was God and faith in our families that kept us going. Speaking for myself, I'd like to say that the whole experience has made a better man, a better officer, and a better American out of me. Thank you very much."
It started in the 1970's just as the long and costly war in Vietnam was finally coming to a close. The conscience of the American people shifted from trying to stop the war to the soldiers who were now coming home and mourning the ones who didn't. There was also this group that fell somewhere in between. It took a long time to get the North Vietnamese to even acknowledge the number of POW's still held in captivity and the push was to bring them home. Suddenly Hollywood was on the bandwagon, and there appeared the war sub-genre that focused on these returnees, particularly those held prisoner. Films Like Missing In Action brought the subject to the front of moviegoers' attention, and other films like The Deer Hunter gave us a look at the psychological damage many returned to be haunted by. One writer who had already reached into that dark place of the mind was Paul Schrader, who penned Taxi Driver. His followup, which was actually intended to link to Taxi Driver, was Rolling Thunder, and while not the same level of classic cinema, it's an important film that Shout Factory has allowed us a detailed look at with the release of Rolling Thunder on UHD Blu-ray in 4K.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 26th, 2024
"I once loved this island. This is where I found peace and quiet. The peace of waves forever breaking on the shore, the quiet of tranquil moonlight on the sea. When the night wind rises and the fingers of the fog steal i, they say you can hear voices. They say it's the dead growing restless and calling to the living. I never believed it, until that evening Vi came looking for me."
If you're a fan of some of the old almost-forgotten films, then you're a fan of Film Masters. For a few years now they've been digging up a lot of these old "classics" and spending the time and resources to give them the full 4K restoration treatment. It appears that lately they've had their sights on some of the early films from The Filmgroup, which of course is the moviemaking machine of Roger Corman. Corman became the king of making quality low-budget films that almost always made at least a little money. In the 1960's and 1970's you could watch these wonderful budget horror and science fiction films doubled up at your local drive-in theaters.
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