Back To Black (Blu-ray Review)
We are seeing more films than ever based on the lives of iconic artists. As we know, some of them are very successful in laying out a streamlined story of an actor, singer or public figure’s life. But some is not all, and we’ve seen quite a few films take sharp left turns into something more mediocre. It was surprising to learn that Amy Winehouse was also getting a biopic treatment. News of the film being made and approaching release came back very quickly and then for US audiences the film came and went from the theater faster than we could head out to see it. Were audiences scared away by the previews? Was the film an unnecessary exercise in dramatizing Amy’s life? Or was it another one of those greatest hits type of biopics which retreads a story we already know. Find out more about Back To Black inside the review, and if you are wanting to add this new musical film to your collection, don’t forget to click the cover art at the end to order your copy!
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A long, long time ago I would watch The Fall Guy TV show each week with my dad. I secretly had a crush on Heather Thomas at a very young age. That bikini she wore in the opening credit sequence each week…ooh la la. The Fall Guy is also special to me because it’s the very first TV show I ever recorded on a VHS tape. We were poor growing up so one day my grandfather gave my dad a brand new VHS deck. I was over the moon. I couldn’t believe it. We went home later that evening and I recorded that night’s episode of The Fall Guy. I was so in awe of the fact that I could record something and watch it back any time that I think I viewed that episode three more times that very same evening. Therefore, one can kind of come to the conclusion that The Fall Guy was responsible for my love of home media products and technology. That sounds good to me! 
We have seen some interesting new horror films this year. From the queer representation of I Saw the TV Glow to reboots of The Omen to the refresh of vampire horror in Abigail, horror fans have had something to savor. Tarot came and went quickly but made a few bucks in theaters. Now we have it on Blu-ray and Digital to check out at home. How are the scares within Tarot? The fortune couldn’t be clearer! Look on below for more in-depth on Tarot, and as always, don’t forget to click the cover art at the end to purchase a copy of Tarot!
Horror films are like preschoolers. They’re likely to test your limits and may even make you scream. The analogy is my own and it hits home for me. In my day job as an early childhood educator, I find myself in this predicament especially at the beginning of a new school year. When I approached Abigail for the first time, I wondered if the story of a captive child in danger would test my patience or test my jump-scare readiness. Did I hide my face in horror or balk at the silliness of it all. Read more on Radio Silence’s newest scare show below, and don’t forget to click the cover art at the end to order yourself a copy of Abigail on Blu-ray! Ballerinas be damned!
Chances are that if you’re at whysoblu.com, you know we are likely similar. I bet you have some sort of home theater setup and no doubt, you, like me, have been waiting for a 4K UHD Blu-ray release of Twister. That day has come and rejoice, because it’s a doozy. A real F5 if you will. Join Jo, Bill, Melissa and the gang for this still wild ride which finally gets the treatment it deserves! Be sure to order yourself a copy by clicking the cover art at the end of the review! Gale force winds can’t stop you!
Taxi Driver is a benchmark of 1970s cinema. The film is dark, gritty, grimy and shocking. Travis Bickle is the man we witness descending into the bowels of his mental health. Desperate for some clean normalcy, but dragging himself into other more torrid directions, we travel the darkness of 1970s New York with him and we begin to feel his paranoia. And now, nearly 50 years later, we are given this film in a 4K UHD Blu-ray package that was once only available in Columbia Classics Vol. 2’s set of 6 films. Are there any improvements to the transfer included there? Anything new? Read on below and if you don’t have it already, be sure to click the cover art at the end to get yourself the new Steelbook!
Over the years, Alex Gardner has pushed the visual boundaries of whatever genre he is playing in. If we were fearing AI in Ex-Machina, or extraterrestrials in Annihilation or zombies in 28 Days Later, Garland was delivering. The next real threat? The government is now authoritarian, and regions of the US are now grouping together to rebel. In, Civil War, we are seeing something almost too real. I also could not look away. Find out more about Civil War below. Does it live up to the hype or does it fizzle under the over-expectation of good reviews? Be sure to click the cover art at the end if you feel so inclined to order a copy for yourself!
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy celebrates it’s 20th anniversary this year. It’s quite hard to believe considering how fresh and ever-referenced it is now. We even have a sequel that somehow managed to continue the good times almost ten years after the original. Now, realistically, today, this movie could not be made the same. For that, I’m grateful it came out in 2004. We live in a time where comedies like this just don’t exist anymore, and now, we have these 2000s classics to revel in, just before the film industry seemingly lost its sense of humor. Read on about Anchorman below, including a link to my colleague Brian White’s 2013 review, and my retrospective thoughts, along with the usual tech review! As always, you can get your copy of Anchorman by clicking the cover art at the end of the review!
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire marks the 6th installment in the Ghostbusters franchise. The first film also celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Not to be outdone, this newest entry in the series sees some callbacks to the original and may satisfy fans of the old and the newcomers too! But what do I think? Discover the ghostly details below and see if this newest film about bustin’ made me feel good… OK, even that was too cheesy for me… but, I digress. Read on in depth and as always, feel free to click the cover art below to order yourself a copy of Ghostbuster: Frozen Empire.
Purple Rain remains one of the most iconic moments in 80’s history. Maybe even music history at this point. 1984 was a huge year for music and for films and to put the two together in such an excellent way was unheard of at the time unless you had a popular musical. Prince was already an established musical multi-hyphenate, with talent unmatched until his untimely death. 40 years later, how does Purple Rain stand up to other films like it? Go down memory lane with me about Purple Rain below and be on the lookout for the 4K UHD Blu-ray on June 25th! You can get a copy by clicking the cover art at the end of the review, too!
I love when a movie just feels different from the pack. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, watching and then reviewing films, I find great pleasure in being refreshed by new ones. It’s very clear that movie fans and especially collectors take a big stake in watching films because they are a comfort to us. So, what happens when a film is able to warm your heart, then break it, and then make you laugh and feel so warm? American Fiction is just such a film. Read more about American Fiction below and be sure to click the cover art at the end to order yourself a copy!
Do you ever see an anniversary of a film or album you have seen a lot and think of how old you are now that those films are celebrating that milestone? It came with some utter shock when I learned that South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut was celebrating it’s 25th year. The show came out a mere 2 years before the film, and like wildfire had taken TV audiences by storm. Sophomoric, gross and totally inappropriate for kids, the controversary and the praise has kept South Park going ever since. But now, 25 years after my first viewing, how does the film hold up? Read more about the 25th Anniversary 4K Blu-ray edition of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut below and be sure to order yourself a copy by clicking the cover art at the end!
Guy Ritchie is a director we see a lot of films from, but at least for me, I don’t see a lot of people mentioning the variety of his work. From crime capers like Snatch, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, or The Gentlemen to historical (using the term loosely) fare like King Arthur (something I liked despite it getting 0 praise…) to war films like The Covenant (an underseen excellent film), Ritchie excels at making medium scale films. Even when hes given bigger budgets for films like Sherlock Holmes or The Man from U.N.C.L.E., you can tell Ritchie is making movies he’d probably love to watch too. They are crowd pleasing, fun and never boring. So how does The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (or TMOUW) stack up to the rest of his films? Find out below and order yourself a copy by clicking the cover art at the end!
Dev Patel came seemingly out of nowhere with his directorial debut Monkey Man. Based off of the Hindu tale of Hanuman, the film shows us a darker side of India than we have been shown before. This side features exploitation, violence, drugs and horrible human beings. All of this makes for a very interesting ride for movie fans. Read more on Monkey Man below and click the cover art at the end to order a copy of this action-filled romp!
