Tomb Raider (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
I feel like I have been waiting forever for this reincarnation of the Tomb Raider movie franchise. While we just covered the Angelina Jolie films in 4K over here and here recently I never truly identified with them. I found Angelina Jolie likable in the looks department, but was not able to fully marry myself with the goofiness of her role. Oh well. It mattered not as the franchise ended prematurely with only two adventures. It’s all water under the bridge now. I guess the same could be said for the Tomb Raider/Lara Croft video game series because in 2013 they were also rebooted too. However, that was very much a good thing, a step in the right direction, and ultimately the reason why we’re all here today. So let’s get started.
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It’s the one-time trilogy starter as Brandon Peters declares. To say the Terminator franchise has been a troubled one these past two entries would be like saying there’s a distinctive taste difference between vanilla and chocolate ice cream. It’s simply that apparent. Just when you thought Terminator Salvation was going to reinvigorate the franchise, production of a fifth film went right down the toilet slapped with bankruptcy forcing the property to once again go up for sale. The question was who’s going to buy it? You? Me? Why not Annapurna Pictures with distribution help from Paramount? And then there’s that spelling of “Genisys” in this film’s title to deal with. Oh well! You can’t win them all. I suppose in the end we should all be thanking the Gods for even letting a fifth film in this troubled Terminator franchise to exist, right? Absolutely! 
There was something a bit subliminal that originally drew me into eventually reviewing Dirty Grandpa on Blu-ray last May (see 
Despite never being the biggest fan of the Jurassic Park movie franchise, there’s no denying the legacy of these suckers, especially that of the first one (hence the 25th anniversary moniker of it all). There’s also no denying the fact that many Hi-Def/4K UHD enthusiasts have been salivating over the eventual release of these monstrous titles on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format. I can respect all of that. Heck! Even I found myself a little giddy the lower and lower they minimized the retail price on this 4K 8-disc set. With its current price tag 
Seems like forever ago, but director David Ayer actually stocked himself up some well reviewed movies before the back-to-back nosedive of Suicide Squad and Bright. While critical praise isn’t there, Suicide Squad did made oodles of money and Bright was a pretty sizeable success for Netflix. Fury was the film prior to those, that had some buzz and anticipation going for it leading in. The film did okay in America but wound up pulling in over 200 million dollars on the worldwide market. Sony has decided its high time to bring this one to the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format already. Pairing it along with the Mel Gibson led film, The Patriot, it will be coming out May 22nd. If you’re a fan, feel free to order yourself a copy from the link at the end of the review. 
Not too long after the historic release of Braveheart (see my 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray review of it all 
Alex Garland really made a sweeping debut Ex Machina. A smaller scale science fiction film that was welcoming both to the hardcore and general moviegoer. That film even snuck up on us and won an Academy Award. For his follow up, Annihilation, Garland dug even deeper in the the hard science fiction elements. The film was noted for getting a wide release domestically, but Paramount let this become a Netflix movie for all the other countries in the world. Controversial, yes, but this may have been a good move as this isn’t the most accessible or general friendly audience film many of the people upset about the Netflix deal might think. Lucky enough, it IS coming to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray after just initially announcing standard Blu-ray only. The trick was that the 4K was coming as a Best Buy exclusive. This exclusive also is set for a May 29th release. 
Let’s face it. Escape Plan is the tag team hardcore action moviegoers of my generation have been dying to see happen on the big screen ever since the big guns of the 80’s. With the exception of Arnold’s brief scenes in The Expendables series, Escape Plan truly marks the first time Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger have starred together in the same film. I don’t know how you feel about it, but that’s one massive production in my opinion with both of those hulking names thrown together in the same ring. With the upcoming sequel, Escape Plan 2: Hades, hitting theaters everywhere June 14th Lionsgate decided to step the game up here with the first film on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray June 5th. So until we can discuss the sequel in more detail we are gathered here today to everything about 2013’s Escape Plan.
The Matrix is almost synonymous with the term science fiction in the late 90’s. If you look the term up in the dictionary, you’ll find a reference to the film The Matrix. I’m just kidding, but universal law should work that way. When The Matrix came out it was pretty much instantly adopted and heralded as a sci-fi classic. It was even pioneering in the way special effects were done in movie making. Do you remember how pretty much every film that came out within a few years of The Matrix’s release adopted the slow motion action sequences seen within? I do and they still use this gimmick. Look at last year’s Justice League. Some of the film’s action sequences took pages out of The Matrix’s playbook. Not that it was ever dead, but it certainly lit a fire under the career of Keanu Reeves not to mention pave the careers of The Wachowski Brothers. So let’s talk all about this down below. What say you? The red pill or blue?
Its slightly odd to be here writing a Blu-ray review for a movie that is not only still playing in theaters on its first run, but was STILL in the top 10 last weekend at the box office. A film that is going to cross 700 million dollars in the United States and has made over 1.3 billion dollars worldwide. But, here we are, in the middle of a phenomenon and at the home video demands and scheduling of modern times. Black Panther was a massive phenomenon and quite an unstoppable force in theaters pretty much all 2018 so far (Once February hit). Of course, there’s a new Avengers movie out right now, too, so you have to get Black Panther out on all formats so that the 5 people who didn’t see it can catch up for the big Thanos expedition. This 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray comes courtesy of Disney and comes piled with some really nice bonus features. Its available now, so grab yourself a copy and hopefully the Amazon link works, so you can grab yourself a copy and say Why So Blu sent ya! 
For thirty years now there are people who still endlessly debate and call the action movie Die Hard a Christmas film.
Braveheart is one of those Top 10 films of mine that I will continue to re-purchase without any thought or hesitation every time its available on a newer/better home media format.
When it comes to the catalog title 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray game, Paramount seems to have a better handle on what to pick early on to upgrade. They seem to either go for something that’s pretty popular to being with in terms of something that always gets picked up no matter the format or they release something prestigious that there’s no question why they would put it out. And often, they do a rock solid job of their new transfers and audio. With Gladiator, they are kind hitting on the best of both options; a super popular film in DVD/Blu-ray found in collections as well as being a Best Picture winner from a very notable director. No new bonus features, but this one has already been loaded with them in the past and they all port over here. You can pre-order to have it ready to put on the shelf for its release on May 15. 
Just as summer is about to hit, let us look back and recognize that Peter Rabbit is currently one of the Top 5 films at the box office for 2018 (Top 10 worldwide). Assuredly, it won’t even be Top 10 by years end if even by the end of summer. But, it managed to be a popular family/kids film to check out where #Justice4Paddington didn’t seem to catch fire no matter how much the raves came in for the sequel. Something stuck though, with it making solid bank through competition like Black Panther, the continued dominance of Jumanji, A Wrinkle In Time and Sherlock Gnomes coming out. You’ll be able catch the film again or for the first when you’re able to own the film on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on May 1st. You can order a copy using the Amazon link below. 
Not only has telling stories of World War II brought director Steven Spielberg Academy Award attention in the form of Best Director nominations and his two Oscar wins, the historical subject has brought forth some of his best and most passionate work. His second Oscar win for director is actually his sixth exploration of the second great war in some way, shape or form. Twenty years have come since this film that began the Spielberg-Tom Hanks relationship that also likely paved the way for the phenomenal HBO mini-series Band of Brothers. In celebration, Paramount is debuting the film on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on May 8th. This year (As well as last) is seeing plenty of Spielberg jumping to the format and they can keep on rolling. Hopefully Jaws and Munich aren’t too far away either! 
They may have different years of released attached to them, but Steven Spielberg had two big releases in three months. He’s no stranger to multiple films in a calendar year, as a quick peruse of his filmography will show many double features. Three months before Ready Player One, Spielberg had an Oscar caliber film in The Post (Which wide released in 2018, so you could argue its the same year for most people). Starring Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, the political thriller based on the attempt of the Washington Post to publish The Pentagon Papers may have been on of the most overlooked and taken for granted candidates for Best Picture. Scoring only a Best Actress nomination for Streep, in a crowded year of great films, Spielberg’s period piece could have easily argued for a lot more consideration. Heck, on another given year, it might’ve been a shue in for more gold. The film is already available on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, so if you haven’t already, you can pick yourself up a copy and see for yourself. 
Duncan Jones launched onto the directorial scene with the heavily praised science fiction film, Moon. One that you really could call a modern cult classic. Moon was exciting a debut as one could have, landing on everyone’s radar, excited to see where Jones would end up next. Currently, Jones has contributed the Warcraft movie that has its fans but was a rather notable failure in the US and the Netflix film Mute that didn’t receive much positive response. Coming off Moon, he did Source Code, a thriller featuring the Groundhog’s Day-like storytelling device about having a short window over and over again to stop a bomb on a train. It received rave reviews and was a solid box office hit. So Jones is on the bad side of batting 50/50 (Even John Boorman had Zardoz and Exorcist II back to back). On the good side, Source Code is coming to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on May 8th! 
