Archive for the 'Blu-ray Reviews' Category
May 4th, 2014 by Brandon Peters
Olive Films will release Home Of The Brave on Blu-ray May 13 in celebration of Memorial Day. No, this isn’t that terrible movie with 50 Cent, Jessica Biel and Samuel L Jackson from 2006. Woof, was that bad. No, this is the Home Of The Brave from 1949. As it stands, there are actually four feature films with the title Home Of The Brave. This one deals with some racial issues during that of World War II. The one bit of interesting that it had from me going in (I’d never seen the film before) was getting to see that of a young Lloyd Bridges. He’s an actor I’m sure our younger readers see the name and go “who”?
. Continue reading ‘Home Of The Brave (Blu-ray Review)’
May 3rd, 2014 by Brian White
Truth be told, had I been living among the stars and privileged in life last year in Los Angeles, Her would have been my #2 film of 2013 easily knocking down The Wolf of Wall Street here. Oh no! The cat’s out of the bag over how much I love this film! Now don’t fret! We’ll spend more time talking about the film in great detail below and why it’s so critically acclaimed, but for now just know this. It’s been quite some time since I have been witness to a movie that has been so deep and undeniably in-tune with the complexities and dynamics of “human” relationships. And don’t get me wrong. I know how absolutely absurd that sounds especially when the main plot of the film is about a brokenhearted sap who has a romantic relationship with his phone, but I think it’s that light sci-fi (my favorite genre) setting that really pushes the envelope and propels this feature into new realms and undertakings that’s really going to surprise first time viewers who were either reluctant to catch it in the theater due to its obscene premise or just weren’t fortunate enough to have it play near them (I know how that feels). Ladies and gentlemen, I present you Her. Continue reading ‘Her (Blu-ray Review)’
April 29th, 2014 by Brandon Peters
Love Happy marks the end of the Marx Brothers, kings of comedy in their hay day, as group on film. It was their 14th outing, which is incredibly impressive. Could you imagine trying to convince The Avengers to do 14 films together (I’m sure Marvel has, haha). The film is also noted for having Marilyn Monroe. Monroe is indeed in the film, but doesn’t show up til much later and has a little bit part, but man does she just exude star power. Unlike most Marx Brothers film affairs, the silent one-Harpo gets the lead role with Chico being the lead supporter. While it is their last film as starring players, the three never altogether share a frame (or scene) together once. Olive Films is bringing this final Marx Brothers film over to the Blu-ray format next new release Tuesday, May 6. Continue reading ‘Love Happy (Blu-ray Review)’
April 29th, 2014 by Brandon Peters
The DC animated universe follows up its Justice League: War film with Son Of Batman. This is of course based of the comic arc where Batman discovers he has a son named Damian with Ra’s al Ghul daughter Talia. The film has been available for digital download since last Tuesday. Last week, Why So Blu’s very own Aaron Neuwirth had the privilege and pleasure of getting to see a screening of the film at WonderCon. You can read his thoughts on the film by clicking right HERE. Its pretty cool that he gets to see the film that way since these are really straight-to-video affair. Son Of Batman will street this Tuesday May 6 and you can be sure to pre-order it at the end of this review of mine. Continue reading ‘Son Of Batman (Blu-ray Review)’
April 29th, 2014 by Brandon Peters
Ahhh, back to those golden age early 1980s slashers. On the same day Evilspeak releases, Scream Factory also produces another Code Red title on Blu-ray with Final Exam. And I must say my jaw dropped when this one was announce. Final Exam took forever to find a home on DVD, so much that it felt like it was flirting with being one of those VHS titles that never made it to DVD. So, I just chalked this one up to never going to be on Blu-ray. Low and behold, HERE IT IS! I never owned the DVD because I quit buying DVDs long ago, so this was really my first time to see it in its original aspect and not a cropped used up 4:3 pan & scan VHS tape. Scream Factory upgrades the previous DVD release by bringing over its extras as well. Continue reading ‘Final Exam (Blu-ray Review)’
April 28th, 2014 by Brandon Peters
It’s finally upon us. Scream Factory’s highly anticipated “Summer Of Fear”! We begin this wave of greatness with one of two joint ventures with Code Red DVD. We’re talking about the Clint Howard horror vehicle, Evilspeak which revolves around summoning satanists and demons via a computer. Said computer features Vecotr graphics. And as my friend Jim Dietz says “Vector Computer graphics will always be cool. Always.” And as always, Jim Dietz is right. This film is a rather grand horror effects spectacular surrounded by a rather noticeable and strong set of supporting actors. Scream Factory has ported over Code Red’s original supplemental material as well as added a bit of their own flare to go with Evilspeak’s Blu-ray review. Continue reading ‘Evilspeak (Blu-ray Review)’
April 28th, 2014 by Brandon Peters
Anchor Bay’s The Art Of The Steal is another one of those movies making the Video OnDemand market even more deserving of your attention. This one even boasts a pretty impressive cast. Nobody is a “wow how’d they get them!?” kinda deal, but as a collection of people its rather enough to peak your interests and sell the film. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and made its VOD debut earlier this year. The film comes from Canadian director Jonathan Sobol of whom I am completely in the dark regarding the other works he has written or directed. But after this one, he’s sure proven himself as someone to keep on your radar, as he shows some real potential with his sophomore directorial effort. Continue reading ‘The Art Of The Steal (Blu-ray Review)’
April 27th, 2014 by Gerard Iribe
In the high stakes world of espionage, one Russian FSB operative will do whatever it takes to crack an international money laundering operation and American banker, Alice, is the key. The only problem is that he isn’t the only one after Alice. Now he must find out who he can trust and use everything he knows in order to get to the truth and bring down a powerful Russian oligarch.
Continue reading ‘Möbius (Blu-ray Review)’
April 26th, 2014 by Gerard Iribe
2014 is the year of Hercules. We’ll have Hercules starring Dwayne Johnson in the titular role, which will be directed by Brett Ratner. For now we have The Legend of Hercules starring Kellan Lutz and directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, The Long Kiss Goodnight). You know, the more the merrier, I say, since I am a fan of Greek mythology, I do like when films depict the subject. Most of them do not get it right but one can’t say that they’re not at least sort of interesting. Let’s give The Legend of Hercules a spin and see if the film is at least a little bit interesting. Shall we begin? Continue reading ‘The Legend of Hercules (Blu-ray Review)’
April 25th, 2014 by Gerard Iribe
A series of brutal murders puts the lives of three men on a collision course: the father of the latest victim now out for revenge, a vigilante police detective operating outside the boundaries of law, and the main suspect in the killings – a religious studies teacher arrested and released due to a police blunder. Quentin Tarantino called Big Bad Wolves the best film of the year (2013) . Okay, I’m in!
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[ Continue reading ‘Big Bad Wolves (Blu-ray Review)’
April 25th, 2014 by Brandon Peters
Star Trek: Enterprise‘s fourth and final season not only was the end of the show itself’s run, but more importantly hailed the end of an era. From 1987 until 2005, there was always going to be a new episode of some form of Star Trek on the horizon. For 18 years, through The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise, the extended world and characters of Gene Roddenberry’s creation became a television staple like a Law & Order or CSI in its own right. From syndication to network Star Trek always had a spot on the airwaves. Sometimes even two shows were running at the same time. Enterprise ended up being the shortest of those ending on its fourth season while the others went on for seven each. UPN canned it after four seasons, making it the shortest series since the Original back in the 60s, to which many thought were premature and that the show was finally realizing its potential. Continue reading ‘Star Trek: Enterprise – Season Four (Blu-ray Review)’
April 24th, 2014 by Gerard Iribe
The cops can’t control him. The mob wants him dead. And time is running out. Donnie Yen is Detective Chen Zilong but the criminal underworld knows him as Dragon Chen, a dangerous but effective enforcer. When rivalries explode with the reappearance of an old enemy and a brutal murder, the Triads close ranks and unleash a series of executions with Chen at the top of the list. Undercover and under attack, he has no choice but to rely on a new partner (Jing Tian) and his knowledge of the streets to get out alive. It s the only chance he s got.
] Continue reading ‘Special ID (Blu-ray Review)’
April 24th, 2014 by Aaron Neuwirth
An assumption about The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is that it appears to be a light-hearted adventure comedy made for a trendy crowd, due to the use of various elements in its trailers. I would not necessarily agree, but that seems to have inspired a lot of ire in the film from some, for reasons that are beyond me. Having seen the film a couple times now, I was very happy to enjoy it for what it manages to accomplish. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a film about one man’s journey that may not have a whole lot of depth, compared to the scope of the film or others like it, but it worked for me in a very crowd-pleasing kind of way and I liked that. Now the Blu-ray is available for people to enjoy the journey at home.
Continue reading ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Blu-ray Review)’
April 24th, 2014 by Gerard Iribe
Danny Trejo (Machete) and Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon) deliver twice the Bad Ass action in this hard-hitting, butt-kicking sequel to the original cult favorite! Vietnam vet Frank Vega (Trejo) now runs an East L.A. community center where he trains young boxers to survive in and out of the ring. But when his prize student falls in with the wrong crowd and turns up dead, Frank teams up with his pal Bernie (Glover) to take matters into their own fists and prove that justice never gets old.
] Continue reading ‘Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses (Blu-ray Review)’
April 21st, 2014 by Gerard Iribe
When Baton Rouge police detective Bud Carter (Dafoe) busts contract killer Jesse Weiland (Dillon), he convinces Jesse to become an informant and rat out the South’s most powerful crime ring. So when the syndicate orders Carter’s death and Weiland’s ID’d as a snitch, the two team up to take down the mob and the crime boss (Berenger) who ordered the hit. Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe, Neal McDonough. Amy Smart, and Tom Berenger star in Bad Country, a gritty action thriller from director Chris Brinker, a producer of The Boondock Saints. Continue reading ‘Bad Country (Blu-ray Review)’
April 19th, 2014 by Gerard Iribe
Before the West entered World War II, a Japanese death cult called the Temple of Hades is ordered to aid in the spiritual destruction of China. Their method: abduct their enemies’ children and train them as killers for the Emperor. Young Vajra was especially gifted, but swears a secret oath of revenge when his brother dies. Now the greatest assassin in the temple, Vajra escapes to China and begins his quest to protect the innocent, and destroy the ones responsible for making him a living weapon. A former Shaolin monk, martial arts action star Xing Yu (aka Shi Yanneng) stars as Vajra in his first leading role. Continue reading ‘The Wrath of Vajra (Blu-ray Review)’
April 19th, 2014 by Gerard Iribe
LA playboy Dean (Skylar Astin) is fed up with one-night-stands and empty relationships – he wants more out of life than just a party. With a little inspiration from his nine-year-old nephew and his best friend Tess (Camilla Belle), Dean decides to try his hand at finding true love for the first time – which proves to be much more difficult than he thought in modern-day Los Angeles. Continue reading ‘Cavemen (Blu-ray Review)’
April 16th, 2014 by Brandon Peters
Just before he directed The Italian Job, Peter Collinson helmed Up The Junction. This tale of a rich woman deciding to leave that life behind and try and slide into the ranks of the working class was based upon true events. Nell Dunn wrote a book of the same name that chronicled herself sliding in and observing the culture and life of the people in the slums of Battersea and Clapham Junction. Before coming to the big screen, the story was adapted into a BBC miniseries 3 years prior as a part of an anthology series called The Wednesday Play. That version had a big audience and apparently plenty of complaints about its content. While the film didn’t do too well in the US, its soundtrack did. And this movie’s title may indeed be more known as a song than it is a film, but I think the film deserves a second look. Continue reading ‘Up The Junction (Blu-ray Review)’
