Ip Man 4: The Finale (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
April 9th, 2020 by Gerard Iribe
Donnie Yen reprises his role as the legendary Wing Chun master in the grand finale of the revolutionary martial arts series. Following the death of his wife, Ip Man travels to San Francisco to ease tensions between the local kung fu masters and his star student, Bruce Lee, while searching for a better future for his son. From the action visionary behind Kill Bill and The Matrix, witness the heroic sendoff to the saga that inspired a new wave of martial arts movie fans. Continue reading ‘Ip Man 4: The Finale (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
Will Smith and Tom Holland team up in Spies in Disguise. The film was the first non-Disney/Pixar animated film since the big acquisition. This particular cartoon journey is centered in a super-cool spy situation. Will Smith’s super spy has a doppelganger on his hands… How does he clear his name and still stay hidden… Duh… Disguise! But… Does the film go for the gold, or does it come in dead last? Read in depth below, and check for a paid purchase link afterwards to grab a copy for yourself!
Robert Downey Jr. returns after his epic demise in Endgame with a little family movie reimagining Dr. Doolittle. Rex Harrison’s first incarnation remains the one to beat, despite being dated. Eddie Murphy had a nice retread that worked for me in the 90’s but which wore off considerably as an adult. Does RDJ save the storied history of the doc who can talk to the animals? Or is it just as bad as you read it was?
Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker gave us the finale of the Skywalker saga of the Star Wars Universe. Though ultimately that’s primarily been the crux of the whole thing, we’ll likely be seeing spin-offs and new efforts finding themselves even more separate from it as time wages onward for the Disney Lucasfilm investment. Perhaps a lot of streaming television programming is the majority of it, with The Mandalorian going over very well as a Cassian Andor and Obi-Wan Kenobi pair of series set to arrive in the future. As far as feature films, the allure of a Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, or Kylo Ren focused films are pretty much now in the rearview. And your collections will all find themselves complete one the ninth and “final” episode of the saga finds its way to your shelves on March 31st. It will be available in many different standalone versions and also as a part of the Skywalker Saga box set that includes all nine Star Wars episodes.
When it comes to modern filmmakers, Rian Johnson is an instant ticket purchased no matter what he’s doing. He’s proven over and over a knowledgeable student of film and a clever, thoughtful filmmaker with a fantastic ideology in the world of story craft and character work. The fact that this guy went and tackled an Agatha Christie style murder mystery is even more delicious and exciting. Just hearing of Knives Out, you knew this would be special and then the trailer made it one of the most exciting releases of the year. And it proved to be that old school star-led programmer people had been clamoring for as it continued to make a leggy run at the box office (Even, funny enough, surpassing The Rise of Skywalker in regular daily grosses late into its run). It found itself nominated for an Oscar, but could have easily been worthy of many more. The film is now available on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray (Apologies, review copies were sent out late for it), and you can order from the Amazon Associates link following the review.
When it comes to end of the year “Best” (or as I like to say, “Favorite”) lists, many of us looked toward Sam Mendes 1917 as a glaring omission as it had not opened in theaters near our residency. And I’ll be damned if the first time I watch something like this is on an overly compressed, watermarked behind on the times format DVD screener. To the luck of some of the other films that DID get included on my Top Films of 2019 list, they were grateful for my snobbery as some of them were included where they may have been given an unfortunate bump. 1917 would easily have moved into my top ten and shaken the list up had it been able to open wide before I wrote my list (I believe it came out just a week after mine published). It is one of the great theatrical experiences of this millennium and I hope people truly find themselves immersed at home (At least watch it on a damn TV folks, please don’t do this on your phone, tablet or laptop). You’ll be able to watch it in the comfort of said home when it arrives on March 24th.
In 2003, DC Comics did a total 180 with the world’s most popular superhero. The mega publisher released a three-issue mini-series titled Superman: Red Son. The Mark Millar-written tale (also known for his work on Kick-ass) could be construed as a “what if” in the sense that instead of Kal-El landing in Kansas after the destruction of Krypton, his escape pod crashed in the Soviet Union. Clark Kent is a name you won’t see in this story. Superman, however, is a name you’ll hear as he serves under USSR communist leader Josef Stalin in DC’s latest animated feature, Superman: Red Son directed by Sam Liu.
As a kid, Charlie’s Angels was always a staple in my after-school viewing. Between soaps and the courtroom drama of Judge Judy, the angels always made an appearance. In my teen years, I was given the modern retread of the show in the movie from 2000 with Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu and Drew Barrymore. The first movie was fun, funny and well made. While not critically well received, audiences loved it and it spawned a terrible sequel that still managed to win over audiences. Now, here we are 20 years later and here is the home release of Charlie’s Angels. All joking aside, this film didn’t do well with critics or audiences. I can’t say I disagree with the gripes, but I was also pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up enjoying the film. More on that below! Be sure to click on the paid Amazon link below to order your copy of Charlie’s Angels that will be released March 10th!
I have been living in Austin, TX now for over seven years and I have yet to attend the infamous SXSW film/music festival. Is that wrong of me? I just don’t want to contend with all the mad traffic that event brings to the area, which in my opinion can’t appropriately accommodate an event of this size anyway. However, I mention this event only because that’s where A Quiet Place first premiered two years ago. A month later it opened theatrically wide to rave reviews from critics, moviegoers and even Hollywood actors themselves praising the film for its smart moves and breathtaking scares. I remember one famous actor even said he saw it three times and was on the radio encouraging all moviegoers to go see it. Needless to say I was pumped to see this one theatrically. I mean how could all these people be wrong about it, right? So without further ado let’s talk some A Quiet Place down below. What say you? It’s getting a Mondo X Steelbook release on the 4K UltraHD Blu-ray format on March 10th and surprise…surprise…a 
The film debut of director Melina Matsoukas, Queen & Slim, is the kind of film you swear you’ve seen before. You think that way at first. But as you delve deeper into the story and are sucked into the visuals, the music, the style and the wonderful acting, you are given the gift of something new entirely. Queen & Slim has turned out to be quite a surprise. Read more in depth below, and click the (Paid) link below to preorder your copy. Queen & Slim releases on March 3rd.
Midway is a movie that director Roland Emmerich has been trying to make since the days of Godzilla. Back then, the powers that be weren’t so keen on seeing a remake of a forgettable 70’s film about a huge battle in World War II. Coming back to now, and we have the long-imagined film. The question is, was it worth the wait? Check out the fine details all about Midway below. Click the link at the end to grab yourself a copy. We use those links to keep these reviews coming!
Jojo Rabbit is one of those films that I unfortunately missed out on seeing last year in the theater. However, if I would have, this one would have definitely found a home in my Top 10 Films of 2019 
In 2013, Frozen launched itself into quite the phenomenon that Disney hadn’t seen from a Princess movie in decades. Elsa climbed atop a pedestal with Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, Snow White, Aurora and others. And she did so in a very new and exciting way. Everyone felt the fever of “Let It Go” and the other tunes that masterfully built up one of the best collection of showtunes for a musical in eons (“Do You Want To Build A Snowman” is my personal favorite, though “Love Is An Open Door” offers a lot!). Hell, I am an avid lover of Frozen, despite my children doing their best to try and tire me of it. Unlike those other princesses, have a huge hit movie mean Elsa was getting a sequel instead of just moving on to the next princess (Which they did as well with Moana). Six years later, Frozen II was unveiled to the world and became an even bigger hit than its predecessor. You be able to venture “Into The Unknown” with Anna, Else, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven when it arrives on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, standard Blu-ray and DVD February 25th.
Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood was one of 2019’s best reviewed and praised films while also being a box office success story. The film warmed and won over both critics and audiences alike, and when you think of who the subject of the film is, its just kind of fitting that this would be a film where everyone gets along in times when there seem to be many anti-critic enthusiasts out there. A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood only found itself nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers) at the recent Academy Awards ceremony, the award ultimately going to Brad Pitt for his role as Cliff Booth in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood. Sony will be putting the film onto 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray (With the overblown “IMAX Enhanced!” tag; it just means it has a DTS:X audio track). The film is available now, having been release on February 18th. The Amazon purchase link in this review is a paid Associate’s Account.
There was a time when the old Brian would have found such a movie like Ford v Ferrari to be an absolute wet dream. Up until about two years ago my world literally revolved around my 2006 Mustang GT. She, affectionately named Dark Angel after Jessica Alba’s failed TV show back in the day, was everything to me. And I mean everything.
