Archive for the 'Blu-ray Reviews' Category
January 24th, 2015 by Brandon Peters
Porco Rosso was a bit of step in a different direction for Hayao Miyazaki. This film would take a more adult tone and presence than his previous ventures. Its still very accessible for children and in the “all ages” arena for viewing, but if its going to skew to one side of the fence, the tilt is in the older direction. Its mainly in its classical war setting that will resonate with the parents. The film totally worked, becoming the number one film of 1992 in the Japanese market. In addition, it received awards and has had plenty of accolades over the years. That includes making some “best of all time” for animated films lists. Its report this production made 2.8 billion yen with all of its distribution taken into account, which would be $23.8 million in US dollars on a nine million dollar budget. Disney is bringing this Miyazaki classic to Blu-ray for the first time in the US. Continue reading ‘Porco Rosso (Blu-ray Review)’
January 22nd, 2015 by Aaron Neuwirth
Given the strength of the lead performance and some other aspects, at this point, I am pretty fine with saying Get On Up was one of the more underrated films from 2014. I am a big fan of James Brown and was happy to go in to this film pretty open-minded (as I generally do). If there is one way to express how much I ended up enjoying Get On Up, it would have to be by stating that no musician biopic has ever made me want to dance as much as Get On Up did. While the film only occasionally falls into some familiar trappings, Chadwick Boseman’s lead performance is terrific in a film that tries to be fair to its main subject (in a Hollywood sort of way), and add plenty of soul to the genre.
Continue reading ‘Get On Up (Blu-ray Review)’
January 22nd, 2015 by Brandon Peters
Academy Award® nominated* director Jason Reitman (Up In the Air, Juno) delivers the “powerful and provocative” (Scott Mantz, “Access Hollywood”) MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN. Adam Sandler (Grown Ups), Jennifer Garner (Dallas Buyers Club) and Ansel Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) lead “an amazing ensemble cast” (Mark S. Allen, CBS/CW TV) in this film about love and human connection in the modern world. Discover how little you know about the people you know in the film critics are calling “a movie that could change your life! Not to be missed!” (Scott Mantz, “Access Hollywood”). The MEN, WOMEN & CHILDREN Blu-ray includes the intriguing featurettes “Virtual Intimacy” and “Seamless Interface,” as well as deleted scenes, including a never-before-seen storyline. Continue reading ‘Men, Women & Children (Blu-ray Review)’
January 20th, 2015 by Gerard Iribe
Led by a stellar ensemble cast, the inspirational dramedy REACH ME tells interwoven stories from a diverse group of people who are united by one thing a powerful book from an anonymous and reclusive author (Tom Berenger). When the book’s positive message goes viral, a journalist (Kevin Connolly) and his editor (Sylvester Stallone), a former inmate (Kyra Sedgwick), a hip-hop mogul (Nelly), an actor (Cary Elwes) and an undercover cop (Thomas Jane) are inspired to change their lives by facing their fears. REACH ME also stars Kelsey Grammer, Lauren Cohan, Ryan Kwanten and Tom Sizemore. Continue reading ‘Reach Me (Blu-ray Review)’
January 20th, 2015 by Gerard Iribe
From executive producer Martin Scorsese and the director of Infernal Affairs comes a gritty crime thriller set in 1980’s New York City, based on real events. Two immigrant brothers (Justin Chon and Kevin Wu) join the Green Dragons gang. They quickly rise up the ranks and become notorious in the community, drawing the attention of the NYPD’s Detective Bloom (Ray Liotta). But when an ill-fated love affair pits one of the brothers against the gang’s leader (Harry Shum Jr.), he sets out for revenge on the group. Continue reading ‘Revenge of the Green Dragons (Blu-ray Review)’
January 20th, 2015 by Aaron Neuwirth
The Drop is a strange sort of film, as it is ostensibly a crime drama rooted in its characters, but not quite focused enough to claim to be about one thing in particular. Sure, Tom Hardy is the lead in this film and we are basically following his mysterious character, who seems like a simple enough guy that could blow at any minute; but the film, while fairly straightforward, puts a number of things in front of its characters in a way that makes it hard to describe simply. As it stands, The Drop is a well-acted feature about criminals, gangsters, abuse, sorted pasts, moving on in one’s life, just trying to get by, and a cute little dog. Now you can see that cute little dog on Blu-ray.
Continue reading ‘The Drop (Blu-ray Review)’
January 20th, 2015 by Brandon Peters
Terry Gilliam returned to his realm of unique science fiction last year (or 2013 for some) with The Zero Theorem. Many want to believe this is the third part in some sort of trilogy that include Gilliam’s earlier works of Brazil and 12 Monkeys. 12 Monkeys, by the way, is one of my most cherished and favorite films of all time (No-brainer Top 10). So, I’m down with Gilliam’s ideals and style that may not appeal or even turn off your common movie-goer. Gilliam has denied any sort of intentional connection between the three films. I can see where folks might connect dots or be trying to string them together, but I have to side with Gilliam. In all honesty, this is just him doing his thing more than it is crafting some sort of masterwork or trilogy in theme. But, its there if people want it to be, I suppose. This was a film I was really looking forward to last year in its small release, but it somehow got by me, but here I am with the Blu-ray and very excited to dig into this recent Terry Gilliam opus. Continue reading ‘The Zero Theorem (Blu-ray Review)’
January 20th, 2015 by Gerard Iribe
Nick Tortano (Ben Barnes) is a mafia criminal whose life spirals out of control once he becomes a made man. With the lives of his loved ones at risk, including his girlfriend (Leighton Meester), he must decide what’s truly important to him. BY THE GUN is directed by James Mottern and also stars Harvey Keitel, Toby Jones, Slaine, Kenny Wormald, Paul Ben-Victor, and Jay Giannone. Continue reading ‘By the Gun (Blu-ray Review)’
January 19th, 2015 by Gerard Iribe
Kat Connors (Shailene Woodley) is a young woman embracing her newfound sexuality when her glamorous but strange mother Eve (Eva Green) vanishes. At first Kat is excited by her new freedom, distracted by the boy next door (Shiloh Fernandez) and the cop working the case (Thomas Jane). But as disturbing facts about the disappearance surface, the mystery begins to haunt her. From acclaimed director Gregg Araki (Mysterious Skin, Smiley Face, Kaboom), based on the best-selling novel. Also starring Christopher Meloni, Gabourey Sidibe and Angela Bassett. Continue reading ‘White Bird in a Blizzard (Blu-ray Review)’
January 19th, 2015 by Sean Wright
Atlas Shrugged Part III, subtitled Who is John Galt?, continues the story of Dagny Taggart and John Galt (once again bizarrely recast with actors Laura Regan and Kristoffer Polaha). In this third and final film adapting Ayn Rand’s novel, Taggart has stumbled upon a self-created utopia of the world’s creative minds have escaped to after overbearing government regulation. The film saw a limited release of 242 screens when it was released in September 2014. Continue reading ‘Atlas Shrugged Part III: Who is John Galt? (Blu-ray Review)’
January 18th, 2015 by Gerard Iribe
Liam Neeson stars in A Walk Among the Tombstones, an action-thriller based on Lawrence Block’s bestselling series of mystery novels. Neeson plays Matt Scudder, an ex-cop turned unlicensed private investigator who reluctantly agrees to help a heroin trafficker (Dan Stevens, TV’s Downton Abbey) hunt down the men who brutally murdered his wife. When the PI learns that this is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that these men have committed this sort of twisted crime, he must blur the line between right and wrong as he races to track the deviants through the backstreets of New York City before they kill again. Continue reading ‘A Walk Among The Tombstones (Blu-ray Review)’
January 18th, 2015 by Gerard Iribe
A naïve man transporting lethal narcotics in his stomach is detained by the police. Alone and afraid, the mule makes a desperate choice — to defy his bodily functions and withhold the evidence…literally. By doing so becomes a human time-bomb, dragging cops, criminals. lawyers and his mother into his impossible escapade. Inspired by true events, THE MULE is a comic nightmare of stomach-churning suspense and belly laughs. Continue reading ‘The Mule (Blu-ray Review)’
January 18th, 2015 by Brian White
Truth be told, I had never seen Working Girl before. However, one look at the Blu-ray’s cover is all it took for me to get that warm and fuzzy feeling that I was about to watch something special simply because of the very young now everyday household names on it. And after coming off an Alien binge as of late, who am I to refute covering a Sigourney Weaver film? Ironically though, that wasn’t the main selling point to me. The Blu-ray cover also infused a sense of nostalgia in me over a film that I practically grew up on because of my parents love for it, the Dolly Parton star vehicle 9 to 5. So I guess you could call me Curious George, but I was determined to find out what Working Girl was really all about, hence this review. Continue reading ‘Working Girl (Blu-ray Review)’
January 13th, 2015 by Brandon Peters
From the mastermind producer behind Insidious and The Purge comes the ghostly tale of Jessabelle. The haunting, supernatural thriller, directed by Kevin Greutert (Saw VI, Saw 3D: The Final Chapter), written by Robert Ben Garant (Hell Baby, Night at the Museum) and starring Sarah Snook, Mark Webber and Joelle Carter, has arrived on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and Digital HD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Jessabelle gives us another haunted tale in the land of the Bayou. While Saw 3D was absolutely abysmal, I did like Saw VI a lot, so I wanted to see Kevin Greutert away from a Saw film he was sorta forced to make and onto a horror film maybe he was a bit more passionate about directing. Continue reading ‘Jessabelle (Blu-ray Review)’
January 13th, 2015 by Brandon Peters
Millennium Entertainment brings April Mullen’s action-packed thriller, 88. Mullen also co-stars in the film alongside Tim Doiron who wrote the script. Featuring Katharine Isabelle (American Mary, Ginger Snaps, NBC’s “Hannibal”), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Futuretrilogy, The Addams Family, Who Framed Roger Rabbit), Jesse McCartney (“All My Children,” Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise, Chernobyl Diaries) and Michael Ironside (Top Gun, Total Recall, The Machinist), the film came out last week, January 6, 2015. 88 is a unique ride showcasing a strong female lead as well as Christopher Lloyd with a deviating and captivating performance as our villain, we are excited to share it with US audiences” states Mullen. 88 is the fourth feature from Mullen and Doiron, founders of WANGO films. Continue reading ’88 (Blu-ray Review)’
January 13th, 2015 by Aaron Neuwirth
Part mystery-thriller, part sly commentary, Gone Girl finds director David Fincher working hard to bring Gillian Flynn’s bestselling novel to life. The result is a very entertaining feature that is able to straddle the line of darkness thanks to its many twists and turns, strong performances, a great amount of dark humor, and the sort of technical excellence expected from David Fincher and his crew. This is a modern film imbued with the spirit of pulpy crime novels, resulting in a fine example of what can come out of Hollywood, when a great amount of talent is involved and put to good use. Now one of 2014’s best films is available on Blu-ray.
Continue reading ‘Gone Girl (Blu-ray Review)’
January 12th, 2015 by Aaron Neuwirth
Sometimes you have to work with what you are given. As John Ridley was going through his award tour last year with 12 Years a Slave (he won an Oscar for the screenplay), he was also touring his film, Jimi: All Is By My Side, a biopic about Jimi Hendrix, through festivals. This film that he wrote and directed was a passion project of sorts, but also one met with some challenges, the key one being the lack of clearance to use any songs written by Hendrix. As a result, the film lacks some of the power that could have come from having a song like “Purple Haze” at one’s disposal. That said, the film still has its merits and it is now available on Blu-ray for all to see what else John Ridley had up his sleeves last year.
Continue reading ‘Jimi: All Is By My Side (Blu-ray Review)’
January 12th, 2015 by Brian White
This one is sort of an abnormal review. Not only is it a hybrid, a review coverage of both a Blu-ray and DVD, but also it’s a bit unorthodox the way in which I’m going about tackling this. There’s no grading system employed here. This one’s pure entertainment! And let’s face it, there’s nothing new you or I can say about Tom Holland’s Child’s Play. It’s quite simply one of the most iconic and classic horror films in the slasher genre. And what about A Christmas Treat? What about it?! For those in the know (more about that below), it’s an underground cult hit that not only fueled Tim Sullivan’s career, but also planted the seeds of his trademark humor and wit in his later flicks. So let’s do this. I’m going to spend several paragraphs going deeper into what TnT Presents is all about and then I’m going to tackle these two releases we’re gathered here to talk about today one-by-one, complete with exclusive unboxing photos of everything you’ll find inside. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some major typing to do down below. Continue reading ‘TnT Presents ‘Child’s Play’ & ‘A Christmas Treat’ (Blu-ray/DVD Review)’
