Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on August 7th, 2021
It doesn’t seem all that long ago that Disney/Marvel decided to fire James Gunn over a couple of tweets and Warner Brothers decided to scoop up the talented director to helm a reboot of The Suicide Squad. Personally, I feel this was the best move WB has done with their DC film projects since the Christopher Nolan Batman films. I’ll come out and say it: I haven’t been a fan of the DC cinematic universe. Wonder Woman and Shazam were decent, but they simply don’t hold up to what Marvel has been able to produce. While I’m fine with attempting to tell more mature storylines and appeal to an older audience, my biggest problem with the DC films is that they just weren’t fun (Shazam is perhaps the only exception to this). I’m not part of the “Release the Snyder cut” crowd; instead I just want to see a comic book film that can be entertaining and not take itself too seriously, and that brings me back to James Gunn. I’m a fan of Gunn. I absolutely adore what he’s done with The Guardians of the Galaxy, those are both in my top 5 of the Marvel films, because I love how he handles the group of misfit heroes.
Posted in: The Reel World by Brent Lorentson on July 30th, 2021
Going all the way back to 2003 when Disney released The Haunted Mansion and The Pirates of the Caribbean, it seemed like the natural progression would be to release a film based on the theme parks Jungle Cruise ride. With the success of the Johnny Depp-helmed films, Disney instead elected to crank out more Pirates of the Caribbean films. Sure, the original trilogy was fun, but the two that followed were forgettable messes. Now it’s 2021, and we’ve finally gotten a Jungle Cruise film helmed by one of the biggest stars in cinema, Dwayne (don’t call me The Rock) Johnson and Emily Blunt sharing top billing credit. The trailers teased a film that was in the vein of the Indiana Jones films, something I believe could be a good thing. What was somewhat expected was the added layer of a supernatural element put into the film. While I was excited about the supporting cast and even the director that came aboard to helm the film, the one thing that bothered me was how long it’s been since I’ve actually enjoyed a live-action Disney film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 30th, 2021
If it feels like you’ve been waiting a while for this film, well, you wouldn’t be wrong. Originally the plan was to release the film March 20, 2020, but this would be one of the first of many films that would be shelved due to the pandemic. There was talk about possibly releasing the film on one of the numerous streaming services out there, but thankfully it was decided to hold out till the lockdowns would end and movie theaters would open up wide across the US. It’s been a long wait for this highly anticipated sequel; was it worth it? I didn’t review the first film, but while I wasn’t exactly blown away by the film the first time around, as I’ve revisited the film I have to admit the film has grown on me, and I’d say it was my second favorite horror film released in 2018 (Sorry, Hereditary continues to knock my socks off to this day.)
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 28th, 2021
"Finn Wallace. He believed in people. He believed in giving opportunities to the disadvantaged. He gave. He supported. He did so much for all of us. All of you. My father was taken from us on the streets of London. And now London will deliver to us those who took him. Finn Wallace. He's still here. He's in me."
Except that Finn Wallace was a crime lord, and he ruled the other criminal gangs in London with an iron hand. He may indeed be dead, but with Gangs Of London created by Gareth Evans, that's really just the beginning of the story. It's a complex story with only 10 episodes to deliver for a first season. Just how well are those stories told? That's also a complicated question.
Posted in: No Huddle Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 28th, 2021
"In a very real sense, we are all aliens on a strange planet. We spend most of our lives reaching out and trying to communicate. If during our whole lifetime, we could reach out and really communicate with just two people. We are all indeed very fortunate."
- Gene Roddenberry
I should confess from the beginning that I am a very dedicated Star Trek fan.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 26th, 2021
Just when you thought the Saw franchise had finally claimed its final victim in Jigsaw, Lionsgate has decided to keep the gruesome franchise going with Spiral. I know it seemed like the character of Jigsaw had finally been milked (or bled) for all its worth; what more can they do with this franchise? Honestly, when I first heard about this film, I groaned. I love horror, and I love gore, but even I was feeling the franchise had gotten a bit stale. As it turns out, there does seem to be more story to be juiced from this franchise, and I’ll say it right now, this film was the game changer the franchise needed, and it helps pave the way for plenty of pain, revenge, and justice down the road. This is a film that was long overdue to the franchise, and I’ll go so far as to say it’s perhaps my favorite film of the series since the release of the first film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Brent Lorentson on July 25th, 2021
It continues to amaze me how well Warner Brothers does with their DC products in the television universe but manage to execute so poorly with their films. Despite being a bit formulaic, the CW DC shows are still a blast to watch but it’s the more adult oriented shows Titans, Doom Patrol and Swamp Thing that have left me most impressed. Now they have released Pennyworth for the Starz Network, despite the confidence I have in the other shows I went into this one with cautious optimism. The biggest question that bothered me was do we need another series that delves into the Batman universe? Gotham recently wrapped up, there’s a Batwoman series, Joker was only 2 years ago and a new Batman film coming next year, not to forget all the other incarnations of the Dark Knight. What had me interested though is the notion of finally getting to see Alfred Pennyworth as the former SAS officer in his prime and the chance to see how he became entangled with the Wayne family. Was the series a letdown or yet another success for the DC television universe?
Posted in: The Reel World by Jeremy Butler on July 24th, 2021
I guess you could say I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with M. Night Shyamalan movies. There are some that I really enjoy (i.e. The Sixth Sense, The Village, The Unbreakable Trilogy) and then there are those I’m just not fond of (i.e. The Last Airbender, After Earth, The Happening). When it comes to his new film, Old, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the film. There are several elements that I enjoyed, such as the premise, certain characters and their actors’ performances, but then in some instances the story felt underdeveloped, and certain actors were typecast. All in all, as the credits rolled I found myself with mixed feelings about what I’d just seen, and now with time to reflect, I’m still not a hundred percent sure how I feel about the film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 23rd, 2021
"Some people have a hard time explaining rock 'n' roll. I don't think anyone can really explain rock 'n' roll. Maybe Pete Townshend, but that's okay. Rock 'n' roll is a lifestyle and a way of thinking... and it's not about money and popularity. Although, some money would be nice ... And one of these people is gonna save the world. And that means that rock 'n' roll can save the world... all of us together. And the chicks are great. But what it all comes down to is that thing. The indefinable thing when people catch something in your music."
It doesn't take much more than that little piece of dialog to understand that Cameron Crowe really gets what rock 'n' roll was once all about. If you need more proof than that, then you're in luck, because Paramount is giving you 163 minutes of proof, and for the first time in UHD Blu-ray in all the glory of 4K. Almost Famous is one of the best rock movies ever made.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Jeremy Butler on July 21st, 2021
"Throughout history, different cultures all over the world reference a great tournament of champions. That dragon marking, I think it's an invitation to fight for something known as Mortal Kombat."
While I do rate this adaptation of the popular video game better than its incarnations that came before it in the 90s, I still wouldn’t categorize it as a great movie. It’s a bit too short on explanation to reach that level. It starts off promising with a showdown battle between the two most popular characters of the game, played by Joe Taslim (Sub-Zero) and Hiroyuki Sanada (Scorpion). The fight is everything that I expected it to be; well-orchestrated with the right amount of bloodshed. However, as the story goes on, the quality of the storytelling takes a hit as the film takes the position that the audience is already well-versed in the backstory of the film.
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