Father Goose (Blu-ray Review)
Olive Films is proud to present this unusual Cary Grant film. Set in 1941 as the Japanese advance and the Australians withdraw from the South Pacific islands. Cary Grant plays Walter Eckland, an American ex-professor who fled to the islands before the war to escape civilization. He is not well mannered in the least and would much rather have a crate of whiskey than anything else. Eckland is persuaded to volunteer, although that term seems to be used quite loosely as he doesn’t seem to have any choice, as a lookout, and is posted on a South Pacific island alone. He attempts to rescue a watcher from another island, but turns up too late and finds him dead. Instead, he discovers Catherine Freneau, Leslie Caron, the daughter of the French Consul in possession of seven little girls who were students at the consulate. He takes them back to his lookout in a boat more suitable for one where they take over his home and attempt to improve his habits. Because it’s too dangerous to arrange to airlift them off the island, they’re stuck living with alcoholic slob that is Eckland for many weeks. The comedy between this battle of the sexes is quite fun as Freneau tries to make a proper home for the girls and Eckland refuses to cooperate.
Continue reading ‘Father Goose (Blu-ray Review)’
Now, we’ve come to a close on our Thanksgiving marathon session of the Transformers films. Maybe if I feel the need, I’ll write some thoughts on The Last Knight so that this site will have an archive of all my thoughts on every Transformers film. Seriously, I’ve done all but that one including the animated one from the 80s that I covered a year ago. Anyway, we are onto the staying in continuity soft reboot of the series with Mark Wahlberg taking the lead. My memory is super hazy on it (I may have fallen asleep when I first watched it), but I think I liked it more than most people maybe (Which isn’t some sort of high endorsement). But, lets see how I feel now, eh? It arrives on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray to complete your set on December 5th (Possibly earlier according to some Amazon users). 
We continue this Thanksgiving weekend journey through autobot Earth history with Transformers: Dark of the Moon. This third film completes the Sam Witwicky trilogy Shia exits after this one. When the film came out it was noted as being a noticeable improvement over the first film. And oddly, its one of the first films I can remember where the marketing involved a lot of people involved bashing and degrading the previous film in the series to sell this new one. Stick by your guns folks, your project didn’t work with audiences, but you can still believe in it! I remember personally thinking Dark of the Moon was just as bad as Revenge of the Fallen, but now I get to revisit and see if I still think that way. You can find this one on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with the others on December 5th (Or I’m hearing they may ship earlier now). 
When last we left, it was the wonderful Minions-centric prequel to Despicable Me that was torturing my soul. As someone who is indifferent but doesn’t mind this series, that movie was flat out awful. No defending there. But, they’re back, but in more proper form with the third film in the Despicable Me franchise. A funny fact, this was the only film to cross 1 billion dollars globally at the box office this past summer. Crazy, right? It did well in the United States but REALLY blew up overseas. Now its coming home for you, let me try that again, for your kids to own. You could grab it for them now or make it a stocking stuffer. Only the finest in video and audio quality for your child, right? Anywho, you can get ahead and pre-order it now by using the Amazon link below. 
Its pretty exciting that my Holiday slasher/horror selection seems to be growing with some more modern movies being added or made in the last few years. Krampus is a recent favorite of mine that has become tradition to go along with Silent Night, Deadly Night, Christmas Evil and To All A Goodnight. Now, in 2017, we have the home invasion thriller/dark comedy Better Watch Out to make viewing space for. I’ve already seen this once this year, when it came to digital rental and I’m very excited to see it again already here for this Blu-ray review. Well Go USA will be putting this out in a Blu-ray and DVD combo pack. The likes of which will give you ample time to watch during the holiday season as it comes out on December 5th! 
We continue on, going just a swift two years later, with the sequel, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Like the other four films not called The Last Knight in this series, it will be available on December 5th. This second film in the franchise was one that many fans and moviegoers thought was quite subpar during the summer of 2009. But, its not without its dedicated fans. Why So Blu writer and contributor Gregg Senko took a lot of flack for putting this as his top film of the year while most writers had it in their ten worst. While I didn’t agree with Gregg then (or now), its nice to see hist honesty and ability to stand tall with something he loved so much. Maybe with expectations lifted and a polarizing viewing out of the way, I might begin to see more worth in it. Anywho, we continue this journey through Transformers with Revenge of the Fallen. 
Paravmount is completing their 4K Ultra-HD releases of Michael Bay’s Transformers series by releasing the first four to compliment last month’s release of The Last Knight. The four films are going to be available on December 5th (Though there is word that these might be shipping early). While I wasn’t the biggest fan of these films, I’ve not seen them much and am actually pretty excited to go back and revisit them for this set of reviews. It feels like some sort of fun challenge. If anything, hopefully these look stellar and rock my surround system. Plus, my son has only seen the animated film (That I reviewed last year) and has been wanting to see these since he saw a trailer for The Last Knight. Just shy of The Last Knight, my Naptown Nerd faithful will pretty much have a full retrospective from me by the end of this. Let’s begin now, with 2008’s first live action Transformer movie, a film that our own Brian White has called “iconic” and a “religious experience” and the film that got him to upgrade to HD-DVD. 
For the longest time, director Steven Soderbergh has claimed to us that he’s retiring and walking away from filmmaking, only to come back and give us just one more. Or that after this one he’s got this, this and this and then he’ll be done. Well, as someone who’s very much enjoyed the catalog he’s built over the years after breaking out with Sex, Lies and Videotape, I hope he never makes good on his retirement promise. Case in point, his latest film from this past summer, Logan Lucky; a sort of return to his caper films that got explored thoroughly with his wildly popular and iconic Ocean’s Eleven trilogy from the previous decade. You’ll be able to check this one out when it comes to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on November 28th. 
Bloody revenge is at the heart of the stylish kinetic South Korean action-thriller The Villainess hitting Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD November 21 from Well Go USA Entertainment. Certified “Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, this welcome shot of adrenaline to the classic femme fatale story follows a ruthless female assassin who leaves a trail of bodies behind her as she seeks her blood-spattered revenge. Honed from childhood into a merciless killing machine by a criminal organization, assassin Sook-hee is recruited as a sleeper agent with the promise of freedom after ten years of service – and she jumps at the chance for a normal life. But soon enough, secrets from her past destroy everything she’s worked for, and now nobody can stand in her way as she embarks on a roaring rampage of revenge. Directed by Jung Byung-gil (Confession of Murder), The Villainess stars Kim Ok-bin (Thirst, The Front Line), Shin Ha-kyun (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance) and Bang Sung-jun (Horror Stories 2, Pluto). The Villainess Blu-ray also contains bonus materials that include a Making-of featurette that highlights the action choreography and the characters as well as Teaser and Theatrical Trailers. 
Get ready to put the other hand up as the zany classic comedy A Fish Called Wanda hits Blu-ray from Arrow Films. In 1988, John Cleese, former Python and the mastermind behind Fawlty Towers, teamed up with the veteran Ealing Comedy director Charles Crichton (The Lavender Hill Mob) to produce another classic of British comedy – A Fish Called Wanda. Cleese plays Archie Leach, a weak-willed barrister who finds himself embroiled with a quartet of ill-matched jewel thieves – two American con artists played by Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline, Michael Palin’s animal-loving hitman and London gangster Tom Georgeson – when Georgeson is arrested. Only he and Palin know the whereabouts of the diamonds, prompting plenty of farce and in-fighting as well as some embarrassing nudity and the unfortunate demise of some innocent pooches. Nominated for three Academy Awards and winning one for Kline’s outstanding supporting turn as the psychopathic Otto, A Fish Called Wanda has stood the test of time, earning its rightful place among its creators’ remarkable comedy pedigree. Features on this Arrow release include a full-length Commentary by Cleese, a slew of Making of docs and more! 
Coming in as a surprise hit at the end of a pretty disappointing August this past summer was Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson buddy comedy, The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It was kind of a surprise, with many thinking Logan Lucky (Review for that 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release coming soon) would probably do better. But, this fun little throwback wound up taking in over 75 million box office dollars on a mere 30 million dollar budget. And in this day and age, it had the rarity of holding on to the top spot at the box office for 3 straight weeks until the IT phenomenon launch and made more in one weekend than this movie did in its entire run. Anywho, you’ll be able to check this one out on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray when it hits stores/online/the grocery November 21st. Just in time for some turkey. 
You’ll remember back in March that Warner Brothers began the format jump on its acclaimed and super popular Harry Potter series. That batch of films, you’ll remember, started with the back four films, to coincide with the 4K Ultra-HD release of the first film in the prequel series in in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They promised the rest of the films in the hugely successful franchise later in the year and here we are with almost two months to spare. The remaining four films, the first four years at Hogwarts, will be out on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on November 7th. This review will focus on a film serving as a big turning point in the series, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 
You’ll remember back in March that Warner Brothers began the format jump on its acclaimed and super popular Harry Potter series. That batch of films, you’ll remember, started with the back four films, to coincide with the 4K Ultra-HD release of the first film in the prequel series in in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They promised the rest of the films in the hugely successful franchise later in the year and here we are with almost two months to spare. The remaining four films, the first four years at Hogwarts, will be out on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on November 7th. This review will focus on probably the one that people were most eager for, Aflonso Cuaron’s adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. 
You’ll remember back in March that Warner Brothers began the format jump on its acclaimed and super popular Harry Potter series. That batch of films, you’ll remember, started with the back four films, to coincide with the 4K Ultra-HD release of the first film in the prequel series in in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They promised the rest of the films in the hugely successful franchise later in the year and here we are with almost two months to spare. The remaining four films, the first four years at Hogwarts, will be out on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on November 7th. This review will focus on 2002’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the second film in the series. 
You’ll remember back in March that Warner Brothers began the format jump on its acclaimed and super popular Harry Potter series. That batch of films, you’ll remember, started with the back four films, to coincide with the 4K Ultra-HD release of the first film in the prequel series in in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They promised the rest of the films in the hugely successful franchise later in the year and here we are with almost two months to spare. The remaining four films, the first four years at Hogwarts, will be out on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on November 7th. This review will focus on the first film, the one that started it all, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. 
One dark night 12 years ago, madman Raymond Garth butchered his wife and children in their mansion before killing himself. Legend has it that one child survived the slaughter and remains hidden in the house as a deformed monster. Years later on pledge night, a group of new fraternity and sorority pledges must spend an evening in this creepy mansion on the anniversary of the killings. But what starts off as a night of innocent pranks and rowdiness soon turns deadly…
