Star Trek Into Darkness (Blu-ray Review)
Being a huge Star Wars fan all my life, who has more times than I care to admit called Star Trek boring, dull and lifeless with the exception of The Next Generation episodes Ashley Judd breathes life and beauty into, I was astonished by how much fun I had with J.J. Abrams fresh take on the franchise back in 2009. In my opinion, he resuscitated the franchise, actually made it enjoyable even to loyal Star Wars fans and brought much needed life and energy back into it, not to mention some really humorous moments too. And for that, I appreciated J.J. Abrams even more as a filmmaker and didn’t even bat an eye when this sequel was announced back in 2011. I was so thrilled and taken aback by the first one, 2009’s Star Trek, that I had actually been genuinely pumped, geeked and uber excited for this next chapter in what I would presume to be a trilogy, Star Trek Into Darkness. Continue reading ‘Star Trek Into Darkness (Blu-ray Review)’
From the mind of David S. Goyer (Dark Knight Trilogy, Blade Trilogy) comes the Starz original series Da Vinci’s Demons. I knew nothing of the show other than seeing the show’s title when scrolling on my tv channel guide between AMC and Showtime and thinking that was an interesting title. I don’t watch any shows on Starz as I was turned off by their production of Torchwood: Miracle Day and the other shows have kinda looked very “wannabe” to me (I have heard good things about Spartacus though, just never got to it). So when tasked with reviewing Da Vinci’s Demons, my expectations were set a bit lower. Little did I know, I had nothing really to worry about here. The show is a surprisingly engaging historical fantasy telling a fictionalized tale of Leonardo da Vinci during what is considered the “lost” years of his life (records and journals from this time in his life apparently have not survived). 
For ten years, the world was asking for a sequel to David Cronenberg’s Scanners. And in 1991, Malofilm and Triton Pictures responded (twice). Okay, maybe not so much. Ten years following the original film a back to back set of sequels were released. This was during a period in the late 80s/early 90s when straight to video movies were becoming a hot trend. A lot of older movies (especially in the horror genre) were suddenly getting, a lot of the times, unintended sequels down this route (Silent Night Deadly Night and the Puppet Master sequels come to mind). Scanners somehow wound up a likely target and produced back to back ones. And a few years later, two more would spawn. For fans of the series or those nostalgic for their old video store days, Scream Factory has gotten a hold of and put to Blu-ray the first two sequels to Scanners for a double feature disc, before the original has even found a proper US release (it is available in other territories). 
Oh the world of computer-animated films. It’s no secret that somewhere along the line I almost stopped enjoying them. I can’t put my finger on why, but it just happened. Still, I intend to give such films the time of day if they managed to catch my eye. Not every animated film can be as amazing as How To Train Your Dragon, but there is always the possibility of entertainment value to be had. So when a story of forest-dwelling creatures caught my attention back in the spring, I made it a point to eventually check it out. Blue Sky Studios’ Epic is now on Blu-ray, but did it fall short like so many other computer-animated films I’ve watched, or did it prove to reach my expectations?
I’m not going to lie, the zombie craze and obsession we live in today makes me happy. Yes, we’re flooded with tons of bad repetitive low budget productions, but there are plenty of good zombie movies that have entered the vault. The zombie film can take many shapes and forms. One that works particularly well is the zombie comedy. Up with the likes of Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, comes the very competent, funny and gory Cockneys Vs Zombies. This one is an import from England and only had a short limited run here in the states earlier this month. Don’t be fooled by the title (its reminiscent of straight to video dreck), I assure you, this one is quality. You’re not getting a SyFy movie or something shot in a 20 year old’s parents’ backyard. This is one I’m hoping people have the courage to check out, because it is quite funny and has some nice gore effects. 
Well it’s that time of the year again! No, it’s not quite fall or the official start of the NFL season yet, but it’s getting pretty damn close. But let’s not be coy about it. You know what time it is! It’s the time of the year I love most…the month of August…because it’s my birthday! Haha. But no, seriously…this is the time of year when Anchor Bay Entertainment fills our company mailbox with AMC Walking Dead goodies…most notably the coveted Blu-ray release. And the month of August also means one more certain thing for the lovers of all things zombie. It signifies that the month of October and the beginning of a new season of The Walking Dead is less than 60 days away. Hooray! Premature celebration is in the air! However, in the meantime, let’s not put the carrot in front of the carriage just yet. Let’s take our time…maybe the next ten minutes or so and talk in depth about one of the hottest shows on television currently and one hell of a tension filled season. Of course I’m talking about the August 27th Blu-ray release of The Walking Dead: The Complete Third Season. 
Before visiting The Great Gatsby theatrically this spring, I strongly held the opinion that this was either going to be one of those films you’d love or you’d hate with uncompromising passion, no middle ground in the equation. I know I found myself seriously conflicted in how I felt about it for months before I saw it. The first trailer did nothing to persuade me that this was a film I must-see. Other than my infinite love for Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge masterpiece, I had not one ounce of desire to partake in a viewing. And then came the second theatrical trailer and it totally erased all the negativity I had surrounding the picture. Despite not being the biggest fan of Carey Mulligan, I found myself longing to see this spectacular unfold on screen. And then boom! A third trailer was released and I felt a little uneasy again until I saw a preview for the film on the Cloud Atlas Blu-ray I was reviewing at the time. Talk about indecisiveness, eh? All I know is that after seeing this twice now I continuously melt over the heart wrenching love story, but I do know this…if you are not a fan of Moulin Rouge, this is not a movie for you. Be warned and move on below with caution. 
I can’t say growing up that I was a Dolph Lundgren fan. Even if I wasn’t big on him then, looking back there’s some sort of nostalgia with him though. I never watched his ‘solo’ movies due to my childhood bias as he was the bad guy from Rocky IV and killed Apollo Creed. The only adventures I went on with Dolph were Masters Of The Universe (not even he could stop my boyhood He-Man fandom) and Universal Soldier. So, coming into Dark Angel (known in the US as I Come In Peace), I am quite the noob. And, boy, Scream Factory’s release has me itching to dig further into the Lundgren back catalog with this release. Oddly, I never knew of this movie’s existence until now. I don’t remember anything from it, be it box art at the video store or catching a few minutes on TV. This was a completely fresh viewing. 
Scream Factory brings us its first giant monster movie in Q: The Winged Serpent. This one is a little seen (nowadays) monster film starring some popular veteran character actors in David Carradine, Richard Roundtree and Michael Moriarty (and the feature film debut of John Capodice). The film was well received upon release by critics. Maybe this new release will help to find itself some newer fans. I can see it as a film that some may easily turn their nose nose up at quickly due to its “dated” fx. But I assure you the book is much better than its cover here. Its definitely a good rendition of some fun Saturday afternoon matinee kind of fun. 
Pain & Gain is another one of those films in 2013 where try as I might, I just never made it to in the theater and therefore I have been waiting ever since its April theatrical release to check it out on the Blu-ray format. Obviously, that day has finally come! Hooray! Thank you Paramount! After hearing some encouraging things about the film and really digging the ultra-hyper, exaggeratively stylish and humorous vibe of the movie’s trailer, I’ve been dying to finally check this one out. So before I pop this one into my trusty Sony Playstation 3 Blu-ray player, I wanted to take a brief moment to reflect on things here because after all, first and foremost, this is a Michael Bay film and it could go either way. Thankfully I’m a devoted follower of the man, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t make stinkers either (most notably the last two Transformers movies). And this one is also based on a novel and coincidentally is Bay’s smallest budget project in awhile so I guess you can say there’s a lot riding on the success of this one. Now I don’t know what to expect, but if it’s anything like the film’s trailer, I’m exceptionally optimistic about things. 
Coming from the library of films originally created for viewing in IMAX theaters, Ocean Men: Extreme Dive is the latest such film to arrive on Blu-ray. The lineage of IMAX films are always educating in their brief, but entertaining delivery. How does Ocean Men stack up against the rest? This film will take you to unfathomable depths on a single breath, while introducing you to the men who set the benchmark in free diving.
Seriously, how many people out there can rattle off many good third entries in a feature film franchise or at least halfway decent attempts? Any takers? They say that by the third time around a movie franchise usually wears out its welcome. Third time’s not always the charm when it comes to films. A strong concept is harder to conjecture and any fresh breath of air you once had you now must rejuvenate and excite the crowd all over again for or else you risk quickly boring the bejesus out of your viewers. However, lessoned learned, you must not stray too far from that original formula or suffer the curse of The Hangover Part III you will. How about playing it safe? Does that ever work? Very rarely it does in my opinion. But what about if you give the people what they want? You know they aren’t coming for mind blowing plots or Oscar worthy performances so why even try to venture down that road? If you know what people will desire and exactly who will be showing up, then just give it to them. 
