Colors – Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray Review)
Late, celebrated actor Dennis Hopper found himself in some memorable, icon roles in legendary films over his careers. He found himself working with his fair share of the greats, whether they be directors, writers or fellow cast mates. Even in such low budget, b-horror fare as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, he’s fantastic and unforgettable. Hopper also directed 7 films during his lifetime (1 as an Alan Smithee). Of course he launched his directing career with the game-changing Easy Rider. In 1988, he helmed his fourth film which took a relentless, gritty look at the world of the police and gangs in Los Angeles. It paired together a young, up and coming star in Sean Penn with season, veteran Robert DuVall. Shout! Factory is adding it, in the film’s Unrated/International form, to its Shout Select Collector’s Edition line on March 7th. Continue reading ‘Colors – Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray Review)’
Everyone’s favorite past his prime, lazy, slow-footed, washed up, overweight action hero is back! And make no mistake, I say this with great admiration and appreciation. Steven Seagal is back to his old antics in Contract To Kill. While no, his films could be considered bottom of the barrel (And they are), sometimes these things can hit the money in terms of schlock, unintentional hilarity or just straight up easy to watch action junk. Contract To Kill is currently playing OnDemand. On February 28th, you’ll be able to own the adventure on Blu-ray (With a digital copy of it to boot) which includes a Making Of Featurette. Get your Amazon pre-order (Link at the bottom) in to keep your Steven Seagal collection up to date and complete. 
Seven Suicides – and they roared back as The Living Dead! The United States gave motorcycle-mad cinemagoers Easy Rider, The Wild One and The Wild Angels. The United Kingdom gave them 
I’m a big fan of the spy/espionage subgenre of dramas, thrillers and action films. Whether it be James Bond, The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Jason Bourne or Bridge of Spies, I’m down for some those deceitful antics. While 2015 was the year of the spy film (Or return, there were a lot), 2016 was of course rather light. It had me looking forward to this Marion Cotillard (love her) and Brad Pitt team up, Allied. I didn’t make it to the theater, and medicore reviews led me to feel I had no rush to get there. However, I’m still excited to check it out on the new 4K UHD Blu-ray that will be available February 28th. 
Ahhh, the treasure trolls. They’ve been around forever. Everyone grew up with one, knows what they are, sold a lot of items based on different colors of hair. Popular damn things. Are they still? Not sure. However, wow, it has taken a REALLY long time for them to get a movie off the ground, right? You would have thought this movie would have been attempted or come out in the 1990s, on the second wave of their big fad (Originally made in 1959, they became popular in the 1970s first). It could have been regular 2D hand drawn or a CG movie. But, nope. Here we are in 2017 (Well, the film was released last year so 2016) and its finally here. If it would have came out then, though, they wouldn’t have likely instantly hit gold with a big pop song for the movie. Yes, they’ve got Justin Timberlake who (when it comes to music) is just instant success. The film is available for purchase on 4K UHD Blu-ray and regular Blu-ray on February 7th. 
Inspired by a custody case brought before the Irish courts in 1955, that of Desmond Doyle and his fight in the Irish courts to be reunited with his children. The film was directed by Bruce Deresford (Driving Miss Daisy) and starred Pierce Brosnan (GoldenEye, Die Another Day, TV’s Remington Steele), Julianna Marguiles (Ghost Ship, TV’s The Good Wife, TV’s ER), Alan Bates (Women in Love, An Unmarried Woman, Nijinsky), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game, Interview with the Vampire, V for Vendetta), Aidan Quinn (Legends of the Fall, The Mission, TV’s Elementary). Rounding out the cast of talented actors is Sophie Vavasseur (Becoming Jane) as Evelyn, the little girl who won the hearts of a nation. Evelyn is directed by Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy) from a screenplay written by Paul Pender (The Bogie Man). The film saw a limited release in the US. Its debuting on Blu-ray from Olive Films on February 21. 
Doctor Strange is a Marvel comics character I was fully aware of, knew what he looked like, kinda understood his powers and the like, but knew not much of and backreading or the details of him. Couldn’t tell you his villains or allies or big arcs he went through. I believe I did see that 1970s TV movie they made for him back in the day which didn’t really stick with my brain much. So, this is one of those that is exciting because I have no fandom attachments going in and can just enjoy what they give me and really question nothing at all. What really appealed to me was their choice of director as well as the insane visuals on display when the trailers began to drop on us. It was a movie that screamed “I MUST SEE THIS IN 3-D!!!”. And when I went to the theater I did. But, here today I’m going to talk about the 2D Blu-ray release of the film. A film you can pre-order and have for yourself on release day, February 28th! 
Bad Santa has been a Christmas tradition in my family since 2004. You see we don’t have any kids of my own and nor do I want any. We have three dogs and they are enough work, bills and responsibility. The best kind of kids in my opinion are other peoples’ kids, but I digress. My reason for telling you all of this is because of my next statement. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m some kind of horrible person or parent for that matter. Every year and every Christmas morning Bad Santa is on repeat in my household. It’s my own Christmas tradition and last year was no exception. The only odd thing about last year, well last Thanksgiving, was the fact that they came out with a sequel brilliantly called Bad Santa 2. Much to my surprise I did not get around to checking it out, mostly because of all the negative reviews. How’s that to sell you on reading the rest of this 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray review? Ha!
People may not remember this, but Indiana Jones was once pretty popular. Haha, okay so maybe he still is. But, Raiders of the Lost Ark was a phenomenon. And back in the day when there was a phenomenon, as a rival studio or an upstart, you did your best to keep up and rip off the hot properties. Its sort of a lost art that has been lost in an age of remakes, reboots, soft reboots, reimagings and overall trying to keep a brand’s name on the marquee rather than asking audiences to try something “different”. For Cannon Films, their hand went into the Jones’ well with bringing literary adventure hero Allan Quatermain back to the big screen with King Solomon’s Mines. The film was on the heels of the second Indiana Jones film, The Temple of Doom in 1985. It proved to be a solid hit, riding on the same wave that something like Romancing The Stone also was. Cannon shot a sequel back to back and was ready to cash in on it in 1987 with Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (Also available from Olive Films). King Solomon’s Mines will be making its US Blu-ray debut from Olive Films this week on Tuesday, February 21st. 
In the history of cinema, we’ve been through many teachers with challenging students or schools altogether. It usually winds up in a happy renaissance for both the teacher and the students, overcoming their lifestyles and whatnot to unlock a knowledge based key to a world they never imagined they could be a part of. Hell, you know what Coolio sang about. Now, when it comes to horror, I’m not sure there are many scary teachers that put the spin on this, but here’s a new one for you in The Lesson. First-time feature helmer Ruth Platt “comes out swinging as an intelligent directorial force with this debut” (DreadCentral.com) that “ramps up the tension dramatically and results in a solid horror coming-of-age film that features one of the scariest teachers ever put on screen” (Bloody-Disgusting.com)! The Lesson makes its debut on Blu-ray on March 7th.
During horror’s heyday of the 1980s, one particular genre seems to flourish more than it ever has since. The horror anthology became popular mainly after Creepshow burst onto the scene. Doing multiple shorts in one film has been a sort of lost art that fans have been clamoring for and in recent years its made a bit of a comeback in the indie/VOD scene. Deadtime Stories is one such anthology from the 1980s, bombing at the box office then later likely finding an audience on home video. And for you, that audience, Scream Factory, as they’ve done many times before, has rescued it to Blu-ray. 
Nocturnal Animals is a flick I knew nothing about prior to seeing theatrically last year. I had never heard of it before so when the press screening invite arrived in my inbox it was very much a surprise to me. I saw that Amy Adams was in it and decided to give the trailer a spin. She has been in everything else last year (
Ang Lee is one of modern cinemas most celebrated and colorful directors when it comes to his filmography. He has constantly challenged himself, pushed boundaries and always seems ahead of the curve. Things he does that seems odd, taboo or weird now end up becoming somewhat a bit of normalcy later on. Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk is his latest foray down that road. And yes, there’s a movie here, a plot, actors and all the like, but its not been the buzz and discussion for the film at all. Lee has instilled the highest framerate ever used on a film; 120fps. The talk of this movie was all about that technological movement and nothing to do with the film. For its 4K UHD Blu-ray debut, the frame rate is being cut in half to 60fps; a home video landmark (Still a big deal considering, in some theaters The Hobbit films were 48fps). People will get a chance to see this for themselves when the film releases on Valentine’s Day, February 14th. 
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