Conclave (Blu-ray Review)
Religion has been a great subject to mine for cinema this year. A great deal of the films centering on religion have in fact been in the horror and thriller genres, and interestingly, the films presented this year have also met with much acclaim from critics and audiences. Long since the days of The Omen and The Exorcist, the dark side of faith has been ripe for the screen. Now onto Conclave, a film that has much going on and happens to be not only respectful to its Catholic-centered subject, but also its audience. Led by a first-rate cast and excellent moody direction from Edward Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), Conclave comes out just in time to stuff a stocking of the film fan in your family!
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OK, so let’s just get it out of the way now – We know that Joker: Folie À Deux was a monumental failure this year. The enticing mixture of Phoenix and Gaga and some musical sequences seemed like a heady continuation of the original Joker, a film I still think about to this day as an incredible meditation of a man’s downfall in succumbing to the destruction of his own mental health. The 2020’s answer to Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, Joker was rife for an explosive continuation. Now, you ask me… is the sequel as awful as we’ve read about and been made to believe? Don your clown makeup and read on and see for yourself. You may want to tap dance after you’ve read my thoughts…
When I was a kiddo, I was one of those kids that watched Transformers a lot. In between my watching Muppet Babies, Heathcliff and Inspector Gadget, I made sure to catch up on the gang of autobots on their many adventures. Funny enough, I even had a baby blue Transformers lunchbox. I never had any of the toys, and I don’t remember much if any of the lore now, which is just a natural part of growing older. When I heard news and saw the trailer for Transformers One, I knew somehow I’d be able to reconnect with the characters better than I was able to for the other Transformers films. More on that later. Transformers Oneis unique based on it’s being an animated film. We haven’t seen that since the 80’s for this franchise. So how does the property translate into family-friendly animation you ask? Find out inside the review. While you read, try to remember – Which Transformer was your favorite?
Who doesn’t love a documentary? If done right, a documentary can be not only informative but wholly entertaining. Some of my favorite films have been documentaries, be it one like Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice that brings depth to stories we’ve heard before about a singing icon, to deep life dives like Marley, which covers the life of Bob Marley from birth to death. Piece By Piece does something completely different and turns the documentary on its ear. Read more about the Lego-ification of the life of Pharrell Williams below, and don’t fall to pieces while you do it.
Shaun of the Dead came out the same year I graduated high school. I was ready to leave school forever, ignoring that I was starting college in the fall, and I was listening to Yeah! by Usher way too much. I was also giving myself a film education at the time. I began to reach beyond typical commercial films and looked for things that were different. Among those different films was Shaun. Randomly falling on a DVD copy of the film with a good friend, I was a huge fan after the first few moments. 20 years later, does the film stand up? And how does the new 20th Anniversary 4K edition stand up to the one released in 2019? Find out more about my love for Shaun of the Dead as well as all the new add-ons to the home media package for the film! Don’t leave the front door open, and make sure you don’t have red on you either!
Willow exists in a time where a live-action fantasy film could appeal to not just children, but adults too. The film, once a revolutionary one for the advent of computer-generated special effects was a minor hit in 1988. Thanks to home video and repeated viewing from Gen X and Millennials, the film’s cult following came to a Blu-ray release in 2013, and a TV show sequel all the way in 2022. The show has since disappeared from Disney+, but Disney did think of the fans in bringing the film to a new format. This is why we now have a Willow 4K UHD Blu-ray, and it’s a steelbook edition too! Read more about the film and its shiny new transfer, or Madmartigan may come after you!
In case you readers didn’t know, I am a teacher. I have been a preschool teacher for nearly 14 years. My love of animated films often comes into play with my students. I always hear about the latest Disney princess and then I’m inundated with the soundtrack for months on end before I ever lay an eye on the film. Then there are the ones I become interested in, much like The Wild Robot, that I never hear these children mention. I have wondered why it works that way with films targeted at children. I can say before I even delve into my critical point of view that The Wild Robot is a very special film, and one that children and adults can find lovable and totally entertaining. Read more about the film and it’s exceptional 4K release below!
Have you ever heard of twin cinema? I don’t know if this is the proper term, but this is what I’m calling it. Twin cinema is where two movies come out and are similar enough that one does better than the other. It’s a phenomenon that happens only so often but it’s always the same way. Notable twin cinema films are Girls Trip and Rough Night or Dante’s Peak and Volcano. These films were both released in the same years, 1997 and 2017 respectively, and one always performed better than the other. In 1999, The Sixth Sense and Stir of Echoes debuted. Both took place in mid-west/east-coast settings in the fall. Both dealt with spirits who talk to young children. Both had a James Newton Howard score… But what ever happened to Stir of Echoes? It’s one of those films I heard about in 1999, but forgot about shortly after, while The Sixth Sense went on to become a huge cultural hit. Read more about Stir of Echoes here. You’ll be glad you did!
Pulp Fiction is one of the finest examples of pure cinema to come out of the US in the 90’s. The film was a cultural phenomenon, capturing the minds of younger generations, bewildering older ones and garnering universal acclaim for what has turned out to be a timeless crime caper. Told in many layers, the film never fails to be entertaining no matter how many watches you’ve given it. Now, the film comes home in the form of the Pulp Fiction: 30th Anniversary Collector’s Edition! Read more on my appreciation of Pulp Fiction, along with links to the original 4K review we published in 2022!
Loki began as a deliciously catty villain. A great foil for his brother Thor, Loki made for an interesting character in his own right. As we learned in the first season, Loki actually had more depth than we had imagined. The second season seemed to match the efforts of the original, adding so much more value to the character and fleshing him out as another someone you could feel for in the MCU. Read more about Loki: The Complete Second Season below and keep watch so you don’t fall into a time-slip!!
Confession Time: I was fearing a little bit of series fatigue after watching two Star Wars series back-to-back. Delving into Hawkeye: The Complete Miniseries, I was pleasantly surprised by the developments. Imperfect but charming and a whole lot of fun, I was happy to move from episode to episode. Read more about the team of Barton and Bishop and don’t forget, a paid link to get your own copy of Hawkeye is at the end of the review! 
Star Wars was always at the top of my list of film series as a kid. I loved the battles, the spaceships, the speeders and those characters were just so cool to me. After the original trilogy, the prequels were fine, and then as I was much older the next trilogy of films came along and initially felt like they were closer to the original trilogy. Between all the gaps in film trilogies, Animated series, novels, comics and more dropped out of everywhere to entice even bigger fans of Star Wars than I ever was. Ahsoka comes from an animated series, Star Wars Rebels to be exact, and then the character appeared in The Mandalorian capturing a villain and teaming with Din Djarin. Now, Ahsoka is her own character with her own show. Is it any good? And how’s the 4K disc?! Read more about Ahsoka: The Complete First Season, and may the force be with you!
I am ecstatic thinking of how this is the 3rd round of Disney+ Series to be released on UHD Blu-ray. What was once thought of as an impossible feat now gives us not one but all three seasons of The Mandalorian with gorgeous Steelbook packaging and full bodied Atmos sound and HDR picture quality. Cash grab you say. Take my money, house of Mouse I say. As we follow Din Djarin and Grogu on their next journey, how does The Mandalorian: The Complete Third Season hold up on disc? Find out inside the review. This is the way.
Just in time for the holidays, it seems I have been bombarded with horror films lately. Funny how that works, right? I have to admit, the films I’ve seen have been campy, tense and interesting. So now that I’m stumbling upon Never Let Go, Alexandre Aja’s newest entry into scary stuff, where does the film fit in my recent horror leanings. Halle Berry leads the film along with two talented kiddos. Read more about the film and DON’T LET GO OF THE ROPE!
2024 brought along a few interesting thrillers. For me, this is a genre that deserves more time in theaters. The 80’s and 90’s are rife with them, and depending on your mood there could be a thriller film for anyone who likes the genre. I was even discussing thrillers with my colleagues on the morning of this writing! These taut films are part of a genre most people seem to generally love. Speak No Evil, a Blumhouse produced remake of the 2022 Danish film of the same name. Does this iteration stand up to the heralded original? Find out in the review and keep it quiet while you read… or else…
