Buster Keaton: 3 Films Volume 2 [Masters of Cinema] (Blu-ray Review)
Between 1920 and 1929, Buster Keaton created a peerless run of feature films that established him as “arguably the greatest actor-director in the history of the movies”. Collected here are three further films from that era; The Navigator, Seven Chances and Battling Butler. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present all three films from stunning 4K restorations in their UK debuts on Blu-ray. The Navigator (1924, dir. Buster Keaton & Donald Crisp) Wealthy Rollo Treadway (Keaton) suddenly decides to propose to his neighbor across the street, Betsy O’Brien (Kathryn McGuire. Keaton was unhappy with the audience response to Sherlock Jr. , and endeavored to make a follow-up that was both exciting and successful. The result was the biggest hit of Keaton’s career. Seven Chances (1925, dir. Buster Keaton) Jimmy Shannon (Keaton) learns he is to inherit seven million dollars, with a catch. He will only get the money if he is married by 7pm on his 27th birthday, which happens to be that same day! Battling Butler (1926, dir. Buster Keaton) A rich, spoiled dandy (Keaton) pretends to be a champion boxer, “Battling Butler”, to impress the family of the girl he loves. When the real Butler shows up, he decided to humiliate the imposter by having him fight the “Alabama Murderer” ! Continue reading ‘Buster Keaton: 3 Films Volume 2 [Masters of Cinema] (Blu-ray Review)’
For science fiction television buffs, one of the biggest events of all time was the 1983 NBC broadcast of the mini-series simply titled V. The show was high on production values, suspense, ideals and metaphors. It has gone on to see cult acclaim and a strong fandom resulting in a follow up mini-series, a full television season, books, comic books, video games, a rebooted series in 2009 and plenty more. Back in October, the Warner Archive Collection released the original 2-part mini-series on Blu-ray for the first time. Now, on April 14, they are following up and bringing the 3-part sequel mini-series V: The Final Battle to Blu-ray to complete the original story’s output. Starring the likes of genre familiars like Marc Singer, Michael Ironside, Robert Englund and Sarah Douglas, V continues to reflect, age well and impress even by today’s higher standards. Back when TV movies and mini-series meant something and had more backing behind it, V was one of the very best. Now you can own the action-packed conclusion, V: The Final Battle on Blu-ray.
Tiffany Haddish and Rose Byrne have both been steady contributors to comedy films over the last decade. Routinely we can count on them to make us laugh even if the films themselves aren’t great. They both bring something to the table as far as singular joy and consistently light up the screen when they’re on! Seeing ads for Like A Boss I knew a few things: One, even if no one had seen the film it would draw comparison to Bridemaids and Girls Trip, their best films respectively; Two, despite the comparison, the film would be ripped to shreds by critics; and Three, audiences wouldn’t go see it regardless. Right down to the comparisons to their other films, I was right. Read my thoughts on Like A Boss below and be sure to click the paid Amazon link below to grab a copy of the film which is available on 4/21!
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!
It saddens me to say, but quite possibly my largest blind spot in the Academy Award nominated films from 2019 was Greta Gerwig’s new adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. Gerwig’s Lady Bird was one of my absolute favorite films of 2017 and (Like her acting output) I’ll see anything she directs. Unfortunately, for personal reasons, the holiday season wasn’t the easiest time for me to get out and see a movie this past season. I am very excited to finally be seeing it via Blu-ray for this review. I don’t know why Sony has opted to shaft it on getting a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release, but here we are. They have supplied it with a nice chunk of featurettes (But no commentary) which is nifty. If you are really itching for the 4K Ultra-HD presentation, infuriatingly it IS available that way via streaming for purchase and on-demand rental. This standard Blu-ray edition of the film will be available on April 7th, though I don’t know delivery for it will be getting to people by then (Hopefully it does!). You can roll the dice on that using the Amazon Associates link below if you’re feeling lucky!
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?
One of 2017’s big surprises was Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle. It featured a fun concept, different from the original with humorous angle for its cast that absolutely nailed it. Even more surprising was hold well it was able to do so well alongside box office juggernaut Star Wars: The Last Jedi as well as the leggy The Greatest Showman. Holiday 2017 seasons was one prosperous time for the accountants at the studios as they counted all them big bucks for these movies. Obviously as sequel was an easy conclusion and it arrived just 2 years later with its victory lap in the form of Jumanji: The Next Level, also a substantial hit film at the box office. That film is on the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format, which you should definitely go and purchase. But for today, we’ll be talking about the standard Blu-ray version of the film and how it fares on the edition for the outdated format. Pre-order below if you’d like, and know that it is linked to an Amazon Associates account.
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.
The Munsters or The Addams Family? What kind of a household are you? How about you can love and enjoy both of them! Its crazy how we had multiple horror based sitcoms at the same time, but here we are. Both were pretty popular too and pop culture staples. Scream Factory is taking on the feature film from The Munsters, aptly titled Munster, Go Home! And I got to hand it to them, they created quite a bit of excitement for me when they unveiled the special features for this that included a commentary not just with Butch Patrick, but also dragging Rob Zombie along for the ride. That might be the most exciting thing I’m looking forward to on this release. They also have included the TV film The Munsters’ Revenge, so its pretty much a double feature disc. Quite a fun release that other studios might not have done so much with. You’ll be able to collect this one when it arrives…well…during these times I’d say its safer to say “online”…March 31st!
The Safdie Brothers made a nice jump onto the scene a couple years back with their rough and tumble thriller, GoodTime. Not only did they make someone what of a critical cult hit, the film also took note for its outstanding performance from Robert Pattinson (Adding such humor to the people who don’t seem to realize the Twilight movies ended almost 10 years ago, showcasing their lack of movie watching/knowledge). And in a nice turn of events, their follow up effort, Uncut Gems followed suit in upping their game and continuing to explore the magic they found with GoodTime. While the films are quite different, the descriptor of a rough and tumble thriller highlighted by a Goliath performance from the lead remains. And this time, even more people became aware of their talents, with people quite disappointed in the lack of any recognition from the Academy. And in another disappointment, it was stiffed on the 4K Ultra-HD treatment, landing on standard Blu-ray. Available now.
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.
