Office Christmas Party (Blu-ray Review)
While I didn’t make it to the theater to see it, Office Christmas Party had my interest and attention. You put Kate McKinnon in something and you’ve immediately got that from me, but the movie looked like a little bit of escapism lunacy that would probably be a fun time. It opened the weekend right before Rogue One: A Star Wars Story showed up to take all the moneys (Moana was taking the moneys at this time, about to tag another Disney fighter into the ring), but managed to do some pretty solid business despite rather middle of the road to negative reviews. And now, its coming home to Blu-ray where it will probably find even more of a life. You can grab the film to own beginning April 4th! Continue reading ‘Office Christmas Party (Blu-ray Review)’
The legend of Samara takes a chilling turn in the new chapter of the hit Ring franchise, RINGS,which comes calling on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and On Demand May 2, 2017 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. Dare to watch on Digital HD two weeks early on April 21.
A movie that is truly absolutely everything its title says it is; Monster Trucks. The film is literally about a truck that is pretty much controlled by a monster. Star Lucas Till says “Its everything the title says it is”. Its a trailer that was sort of groaned at and laughed at or people weirded out by a “What the heck is this?” reaction. So, yeah, it was pretty much dead on arrival. When it opened in January, its numbers underwhelmed. I couldn’t find the budget, but from the sounds of it, this thing cost too much and lost a lot of money. However, for the scoffy adults, this movie was obviously not made for them (or was it?). Now, we’ll see if a generation of kids picks up on this movie when it comes home on April 11th to Blu-ray (Digitally March 28th). 
Ben Wheatley’s name being attached to this latest collaborative distribution effort from Scream Factory and IFC Midnight, titled Tank 432, brings me a little bit of enthusiasm and expectation. I don’t know much about Wheatley’s cameraman turned director, Nick Gillispie, but he shot the movie Wheatley made that put him on my “list”. That would be Kill List from a few years ago, which turned heads with how awesome it was. If you haven’t seen that one, try and find it and give it a watch as soon as you can. Its a bit of a genre mish mash, with familiar thematics, but done in its own sort of way. Tank 432 is being sold as a military thriller that “unfolds like a delirious, pulse-pounding puzzle” and a “a mind-bending plunge into hallucinatory terror”. I’d not heard of it til now, but am eager to see how this one delivers. It will be available on both Blu-ray and DVD on April 4th, so get your pre-order in now. 
I’m going to start this one by giving you the same ramble I did last year. Working in the IT industry myself I can’t tell you what a breath of fresh air it is to see people going through the same stress, trials and tribulations as myself in the industry. I may not be involved directly in a tech startup company, but I know how things work in corporate America/Silicon Valley and sometimes HBO’s hit comedy series Silicon Valley hits oh so close to home for me. You can read all about my take on Season One in my 2014 Blu-ray review over 
In celebration of the 4K Ultra HD release Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the latest adventure and series starter in the wizarding world lived in by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, Warner Bros is format jumping the original films in the series. They’ll all get that higher resolution with High Dynamic Range applied to them, to look sharper, prettier and newer. In my opinion, Warner Bros has been one of the more impressive studios when it comes to upgrading their catalog titles to 4K. One would think they are going to a lot of attention to one of their biggest franchises ever. They are releasing them in waves, with the four David Yates films (The back half of the series) being the first to come out. No date is set yet for the first four, but they’ll be here soon enough. This review will focus on the final chapter of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 from 2011. It, and the others will be available March 28th. 
In celebration of the 4K Ultra HD release Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the latest adventure and series starter in the wizarding world lived in by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, Warner Bros is format jumping the original films in the series. They’ll all get that higher resolution with High Dynamic Range applied to them, to look sharper, prettier and newer. In my opinion, Warner Bros has been one of the more impressive studios when it comes to upgrading their catalog titles to 4K. One would think they are going to a lot of attention to one of their biggest franchises ever. They are releasing them in waves, with the four David Yates films (The back half of the series) being the first to come out. No date is set yet for the first four, but they’ll be here soon enough. This review will focus on the sixth film in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from 2009. It, and the others will be available March 28th. 
Winner of Best Horror Film at Fantastic Fest 2016, the ominous thriller The Autopsy of Jane Doe makes its Blu-ray and DVD debut as a Walmart exclusive on May 2nd, 2017, from Scream Factory, in conjunction with IFC Midnight. The Blu-ray + DVD Combo will be available everywhere June 27th, 2017. This taut, suspenseful film features strong performances from Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox, and has been a hit with critics and audiences alike.
While Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was sold as the first “spin off” of the galaxy far far away, its far from the first side stepping project. Most of it has been through television (Christmas! Ewoks!), books, comic books, video games and other mediums. But, its no stranger to the theatrical front, either. Star Wars: The Clone Wars, while really three episodes tied together, was launched as a feature film in 2008. What Rogue One really represents is an attempt at serious, hardcore canon, live-action films that have as much put into their production and development as that of the Skywalker saga. As much pressure as there was on The Force Awakens to help restore Star Wars and introduce it to a new generation, Rogue One had pressure to show George Lucas’ creation could branch out and do other things while also being a virtual unknown in terms of how something like this might look and feel. Sigh of relief, the movie turned out to be outstanding, was well reviewed and took to audiences globally to a tune of over a billion dollars worldwide and becoming one of the highest grossing films of all time. You’ll be able to own the tale of stealing the Death Star plans on Blu-ray starting April 4th. 
In celebration of the 4K Ultra HD release Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the latest adventure and series starter in the wizarding world lived in by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, Warner Bros is format jumping the original films in the series. They’ll all get that higher resolution with High Dynamic Range applied to them, to look sharper, prettier and newer. In my opinion, Warner Bros has been one of the more impressive studios when it comes to upgrading their catalog titles to 4K. One would think they are going to a lot of attention to one of their biggest franchises ever. They are releasing them in waves, with the four David Yates films (The back half of the series) being the first to come out. No date is set yet for the first four, but they’ll be here soon enough. This review will focus on the first part of the finale of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 from 2010. It, and the others will be available March 28th. 
In celebration of the 4K Ultra HD release Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the latest adventure and series starter in the wizarding world lived in by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, Warner Bros is format jumping the original films in the series. They’ll all get that higher resolution with High Dynamic Range applied to them, to look sharper, prettier and newer. In my opinion, Warner Bros has been one of the more impressive studios when it comes to upgrading their catalog titles to 4K. One would think they are going to a lot of attention to one of their biggest franchises ever. They are releasing them in waves, with the four David Yates films (The back half of the series) being the first to come out. No date is set yet for the first four, but they’ll be here soon enough. This review will focus on the fifth film in the series (Also the longest of the novels), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from 2007. It, and the others will be available March 28th. 
The wizarding world of Harry Potter led one of the most impressive runs in cinematic franchise history. Not only did all seven books in the series get adapted, but there were eight films. Aside from one major change due to a death, the films managed to keep its cast intact for the entire telling of J.K. Rowling’s story. Harry Potter started before brand IP became a major thing and it left us as it was becoming one. Being that its one of the most successful and popular cinematic IPs ever, it could only lay dormant for so long. What direction to go with it now that a major eight film story has taken place and the characters completed their important arcs? Well, the answer is backward. J.K. Rowling has returned to give us a new story based loosely off the adventures of a fictional author of a book in the wizarding world. And back in November, we began what is to be a five film journey on its own about events well before even Harry Potter’s parents were around. The magic was not gone, as Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them made almost a billion dollars worldwide. It now makes its way to 4K Ultra-HD and Blu-ray March 28th. 
The wizarding world of Harry Potter led one of the most impressive runs in cinematic franchise history. Not only did all seven books in the series get adapted, but there were eight films. Aside from one major change due to a death, the films managed to keep its cast intact for the entire telling of J.K. Rowling’s story. Harry Potter started before brand IP became a major thing and it left us as it was becoming one. Being that its one of the most successful and popular cinematic IPs ever, it could only lay dormant for so long. What direction to go with it now that a major eight film story has taken place and the characters completed their important arcs? Well, the answer is backward. J.K. Rowling has returned to give us a new story based loosely off the adventures of a fictional author of a book in the wizarding world. And back in November, we began what is to be a five film journey on its own about events well before even Harry Potter’s parents were around. The magic was not gone, as Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them made almost a billion dollars worldwide. It now makes its way to 4K Ultra-HD and Blu-ray March 28th. 
Illumination Entertainment, the animation studio most known for those darn Minions. Actually, I enjoy the Despicable Me films, its just the one that focused on the little side characters was a giant waste of time (Though, I’m sure those seven and under probably loved it). While that’s the flagship, they’ve actually carved quite a remarkable track record in six short years. All but two of their films have made over a half a billion dollars worldwide. Which, one of those two was The Lorax which did exceedingly well at 348 million worldwide. They hit big in summer and winter in 2016, showing they are much more than the Minion house. The Secret Life of Pets almost made a billion dollars in the summer and the film we are reviewing here, Sing, made over half a billion running up against Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. They appear to be a major force to be reckoned with, holding their own in a world usually owned by Disney and Pixar. Sing proved to be quite popular, not just with audiences, but seemingly winning over critics as well. It comes to 4K UHD Blu-ray on March 21st! 
