Black Sails: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray Review)
In the wake of the burning of Charles Town, all the New World lives in fear of Captain Flint. But when his campaign of terror crosses over into madness, and new threats emerge to challenge his supremacy, it falls to John Silver to locate the man within the monster, before Flint’s war against the world consumes them all. Meanwhile, on the pirate island of Nassau, it’s a new day. With Eleanor Guthrie facing judgment in London, Jack Rackham sits atop a fortune in Spanish gold, hoping to secure his legacy as a king among thieves. To do so, he’ll have to compete with the return of one of history’s most notorious captains, who holds a different vision for their home, as well as a complicated past with Rackham’s chief ally, Captain Charles Vane. All will be tested when a new opponent arrives to claim Nassau, one the pirates could never have anticipated. It knows them. It understands them. And in the blink of an eye, it will do the one thing they never thought possible… turn them against each other. Continue reading ‘Black Sails: The Complete Third Season (Blu-ray Review)’
All good things must come to an end and all Mockingjays must have their part 2. And it all felt like it came and went so quickly. Just a mere 3 and a half years following the first film, here we were with a fourth (extra film to be honest) and final chapter. It was quite an enlightening and engaging journey through some terrific science fiction, action and thrilling politics. The series also gave us a iconic actor/character in Katniss Everdeen that will forever remain one of cinema’s best. The Hunger Games series raised the bar and went beyond the level of just simply something for the young adult enthusiasts. While Twilight never went beyond the Twi-hards (And there are a TON of them) and Harry Potter really didn’t pick up the all-ages crowds til around the fourth one, The Hunger Games had it from the start. And here’s its climactic finish. You can own it and the rest of the films on 4K UHD Blu-ray when Lionsgate drops them November 8th. 
Following in the footsteps of its contemporaries, Harry Potter and Edward Cullen, Katniss Everdeen had the final book in her series split into to. For the fans of the novel, it brought some head scratching, that of the three books, Mockingjay would get split and not one that could have been more detailed in Catching Fire. When it comes to the splits of these novels, you get the impression the studio is trying to milk the cow dry, but in Harry Potter’s case, it actually worked out very well. Either way with Hunger Games: Mockingjay, you can just look through a purely financial standpoint and see that Lionsgate made the correct choice from that angle. This penultimate film in the Hunger Games series isn’t splitting any differences when it makes its debut on the 4K UHD Blu-ray format on November 8th. 
Following on the heels of Harry Potter and the Twilight films, The Hunger Games was the next in line to carry the torch of big time young adult novel adaptations turned blockbuster films. This first film was expected to do well, but wound up taking in a massive box office haul, which not only was a record for when it was released, but also for something that wasn’t a sequel or based off of anything prior. This first film catapulted Jennifer Lawrence into superstardom and made her the total “it girl” that still seems to be running. Starting in 2012 and ending in 2015, the series came and went in a flash. But fear not, the complete series is now hitting 4K UHD, the first to have its entire run on the format (Unless you count the nu-Trek as its own series, but technically, its part of the longer 13 film ouvre in the lore). 
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman is one of the most popular works of theatre of all time. People may not know what the play or script is about completely, but many get the gyst or recognize the title when its dropped (A lot throughout film and television history). Previously made into a feature film in 1951, 1985 brought a televised version of the play featuring Dustin Hoffman brining his gravitas to television. This iteration proved a pretty big success, garnering a whopping ten Emmy nominations that year. It took home three of them, including statues for both actors Dustin Hoffman (Leading in a movie or mini series) and John Malcovich (Supporting). The film is being released under the Shout Select banner and isn’t the first television movie under the label. If you’ll remember, their first was John Carpenter’s Elvis, starring Kurt Russell. This Blu-ray rendition of the 1985 movie will be available on November 15th. 
The marketing for Imperium was completely misleading! They presented it as just another film about Neo-Nazi America that just HAPPENS to star Daniel Radcliffe. This totally bums me out because I TOTALLY would’ve seen this in the theater! Honest to god, I freaking LOVE movies about Neo-Nazis! But more on that later. The biggest thing that the trailers left out about this movie was the way the Government, or more specifically the FBI, perpetuates the idea that Arab extremists are the primary threat when it comes to domestic terrorism in America. When in reality the majority of the terrorist activity that takes place in the states is actually perpetrated by white extremists.
A romp through childhood full of heart and humor, the new animated feature Snowtime!is a captivating cinematic adventure about the kids in a small village who decide to have a massive snowball fight to amuse themselves during the winter school break. An official selection of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, this tale of hope and friendship makes its home entertainment debut on November 8th, 2016. Available as a 3D Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Combo pack and on DVD, Snowtime! also comes loaded with bonus features, including interviews with stars Sandra Oh, Ross Lynch and producer Marie-Claude Beauchamp, as well as interviews with 
Bubba Ho-Tep was a movie that found itself being a good movie among my friends and I back in college. At the time, anything new with Bruce Campbell in a lead role that we could get our hands on was something to behold. And this one sounded so damn weird, but we were all surprised at how good it was and how we weren’t the only ones that happened to think so. We were obviously all right as its getting the highly coveted Collector’s Edition treatment from the horror home video kings Scream Factory. It carries over the loads of material from the previous release while adding new meaty interviews with Bruce Campbell, Don Coscarelli and Robert Kurtzman. You’ll be able to pick up this heartbreak senior hotel of a jailhouse mummy rock on November 8th.
Lights Out is the directorial debut of Davd S. Sandberg, based off his short film. Produced by James Wan, its almost as if he’s giving back as his first film was based off of a short he made (Saw). Turning a horror short into a feature length film can be a tricky business. These ideas are killer in their short form and sometimes there’s nothing more to tell than what was in that quick time frame. James Wan managed to do it well with the first Saw film. One that didn’t work was When A Stranger Calls; a film with an epic and legendary opening fails to prove it has reason to exist beyond that. Fortunately for Sandberg, he found a way to make this work, and he thrilled audiences all the way to the bank with one of the summer’s most profitable films. And it looks like we’ll be keeps the switch off again in the near future with a sequel, too. 
The continued pairing/relationship of IFC Midnight and Scream Factory of bringing some independent, lesser seen modern horror films continues with the film Carnage Park. This one stars horror genre vets Pat Healy (Starry Eyes, Cheap Thrills, The Innkeepers) and Ashley Bell (The Last Exorcism). Directing and also writing the film is up and coming genre player Mickey Keating. He’s been making his presence known lately with films like Pod and Darling. Carnage Park is the latest and its made its way through big time festivals like South By Southwest and that little one known as the Sundance Film Festival. The throwback film makes its way to the Blu-ray format on November 1st! 
Its hard to believe that its been sixteen years since director Ang Lee announced himself as a powerhouse director with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The film burst onto the scene to great acclaim in the United States, even moreso than in its native land. Critical acclaim and audience enjoyment followed with an incredible amount of awards love for a foreign film. Lee’s film garnered ten Academy Award nominations that year, including Best Picture and Best Director. While it didn’t take the big prizes, it wouldn’t go home empty handed, winning for Best Foreign Film, Art Direction, Cinematography and Original Score. This also launched a bit of a craze for this sort of martial arts film in the United States with the likes of House of Flying Daggers and Hero following in its wake, as well as launching the career of Zhang Ziyi. 
Man, now THIS is the kinda of live show that is sorely missing from this generation of artists! Folks today think they can get away with throwing up a bunch of flashy lights and random explosions and still call it a live show! Peter Gabriel is here to tell you that that concept just isn’t up to snuff! The man actually attempts to visually recreate his songs while onstage. Each and every song gets it’s own unique visual interpretation. Whether it’s something as simple as synchronizing himself with a few musicians as they twirl to the beat of the music. Or it’s something as grand as climbing inside a giant inflatable plastic bubble and rolling it around while the stage itself rotates at the same time! Growing Up Live is simply a JOY to watch!
From the macabre mind of Rob Zombie (
Olive Films is continuing its march toward newfound greatness with the release of another classic Western, The Night Of The Grizzly featuring Clint Walker. Its not the last western that they’ll be dropping in this signature series, a Raquel Welch classic is coming next month. That seems to be where their focus is right now with the Signature series. If you’re reading, Olive Films, I want to put my request in for The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers as soon as you can get to it. The original one, that you’ve already put a release out for. Yeah, you knew that. Shut up, Brandon and talk about The Night of the Grizzly? Oh okay okay. This new edition features a carry over interview and some neat archival videos. Alongside John Ford’s The Quiet Man, The Night of The Grizzly Olive Signature Edition will be available 10/25/2016. 
John Ford is probably a name that the kids today aren’t familiar with and may be long forgotten for some, but he’s truly one of the finest directors of all time. He’s one that all those awesome filmmakers that rocked the industry in the 1970s pulled from. While an artist, he was also in that era where films were just sort of a working thing where you moved from whatever one the studio put you on to another. However, The Quiet Man was one of his personal projects that he kept on trying to get off of the ground for years before he was able to get the the ability to get the film made. Turns out the film and Ford knew what the heck they were doing, because he wound up taking another Oscar for Best Director for it. And as the years wore on, it because historically and culturally significant to be preserved by the Library of Congress. Now, its getting some super special treatment by Olive Films in their Signature Edition series that debuted to raves last month. 
