Star Trek Beyond (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Star Trek Beyond promises us one thing going in, a departure from J. J. Abrams’ direction. It of course delivers more, but my main concern was what kind of adventure are we in store for? For too long now I hear complaints from longtime Trekkies upset over the direction of the first two films. Most notably, many dismiss the second film as blasphemy. Rightfully so, but as a new fan to Star Trek I find myself quite fond of Into Darkness (review here). However, with Star Trek Beyond longtime Trekkies are singing songs of praise about this one. From what I hear, they love how closely it reminds them of the old television series (and after digesting the extras I really get that). Therein lies the problem for me, but more about that down below because I still manage to have a blast with this one…mostly. Continue reading ‘Star Trek Beyond (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
Following Sweeney Todd, I was very excited for Tim Burton to be taking on Alice In Wonderland. It looked like not only would it have the Burton stamp, but it would be sort of a follow up to the original tale. However, the film came out the same weekend in 2010 that I got married. The following week, my wife opened a business. The film just sort of got away from me. It was met with really poor reviews and disdain from peers that I trust, so I just never got around to seeing it. I avoided it for the last 6 years. Now, since this sequel was coming out, and I knew I’d be reviewing it, the time had finally come to see this 1 billion dollar box office success story. And, well, I have to say it was pretty bad, and easily one of Burton’s worst. However, while I didn’t want a sequel, it wouldn’t take much more to improve. And here we are. 
Independence Day: Resurgence is one of those sequels that never needed nor should have been made. So why was it? That’s a very good question. Considering they couldn’t even lure Will Smith back for it should have been the nail in the coffin. However, it wasn’t. Not even Jeff Goldblum nor Liam Hemsworth can keep this ship from crashing in this one. Sadly it’s all about greed here. Fox knew the uneducated would come out in droves to support the film that took the sic-fi community by storm 20 years ago. And what’s more patriotic than seeing a summer action movie circa the Fourth of July holiday? That’s a rhetorical question. So what follows is a review of a crappy sequel to the highly heralded sci-fi classic, Independence Day (see my 20th anniversary review of the 4K Ultra HD set 
Nerve was a film I kinda wrote off last summer. The trailer played with a quite a few films I went to see, but it looked like one that gave away everything and it seemed to skew younger than I’d be interested in. Not that an aspect like that would keep me from seeing something, just in terms of my immediate need to catch it. It did slightly catch my eye. However, upon release, the film actually managed to garner some surprisingly positive reviews, even managing to score fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. A budget doesn’t seem to be available, but Nerve couldn’t have cost too much money and looks to have made some decent bank if it indeed had a really low budget. I didn’t quite get out of the house to see it in the theater, but here it is on Blu-ray and I’m more than willing to check it out. Lionsgate has this one dropping on October 25th. 
Confession time. I’ve never seen any of the Ice Age films before. The saga began back in 2002 when I was still a wee lad in college. At that age, they looked too kiddie for my refined early 20s taste and certainly weren’t even looking the slightest Pixar-esque. Now, its 14 years since that first film and I have two children. I once tried to put the first film on for them and they seemingly didn’t care much for it (I was doing something else, no paying attention). They claim to have seen one at a cousin’s house and it was all right. So, what I’m trying to convey here going into the review for this fifth excursion into the Ray Romano/Dennis Leary franchise, is that my experience and knowledge on these films is very minimal. If I’m not getting a reference, or for some reason enjoy this too much, then there is my disclaimer as to why. 
After Bud Abbott and Lou Costello had a run in with the famous Count himself (In a return to the role by the seminal Bela Lugosi), Dracula pretty much laid dormant in the cinema landscape. Vampires would still be around, but the main antagonist of them all took about a ten year break. Then in 1958, he made an interesting set of returns. History has been stamped with the Hammer film Horror Of Dracula (or just “Dracula” for most territories), but that film wasn’t alone in resurrecting the Count. As a matter of fact, the appropriately titled The Return of Dracula was the other. And its interesting how completely opposite the two films are. One inspired a legacy and countless sequels, also spawning other monsters. Return pretty much came and went and has been forgotten. But not today, we’ll be taking a look at this film as Olive Films will be giving it a Blu-ray debut on October 18th. 
Another wishlist item granted! I specifically wanted a US release of Nighthawks on Blu-ray. Previously, this was only available in German. Now its coming via the Shout Select Collector’s Edition line from Shout! Factory. They’ve only been around since August, but they’ve been pretty much killing it as expected so far. They are basically taking what they’ve done with their highly praised and heralded Scream Factory line and branching it off to other genres or just everything else that isn’t horror. Today’s title actually fell into the horror category when featured in 1981’s compilation film Terror In The Aisles. Only fitting that Shout! Factory snuck this one into the October release slate. This highly underrated and forgotten film in the Sylvester Stallone canon makes its way to Blu-ray in the states on October 18th. 
Purple Rain is without a doubt one of those quintessentially 80’s movies. Whenever you think of musical films from this era, Purple Rain is ALWAYS at the top of the list! But what sets it apart from it’s neon-colored counterparts is the fact that it truly revels in all of it’s over-the-top absurdity. The characters are larger-than-life and the personalities stand right up there with them. Prince stars as “The Kid”, a musician and songwriter trying to make if big with his band “The Revolution”. Along the way he encounters Apollonia; an aspiring singer and dancer hoping that The Kid will consider adding her to his fledgling ensemble.
Vanity Fair called HBO’s limited series, The Night Of, “The best TV you’ll see this summer.” Who am I to argue with that claim? I learned about the show from all the buzz it was experiencing online before the series even premiered. Because of its early release online I made my girlfriend watch it with me on Apple TV. The rest is history. Like a meth addict, we were instantly hooked and waited with anticipation for the new episode each Sunday night. This is ironic too considering we were basically wishing our weekend away because the inevitable would ultimately see us back to the grind at work the very next morning. The drama in this show is just so damn gripping that much like my first experience with the film The Warrior (starring Tom Hardy) I never wanted it to end. Sad, but true things did come to a grueling end on the show here. However, it was a very realistic ending and I applaud it for that even though there’s no more of this to go around (even a second season would be executed much like HBO’s other anthology series True Detective). 
Larry Cohen is no stranger to B-movie cinema geeks like myself. He’s mostly known for all kinds of genre fare, like Q: The Winged Serpent, The Stuff, the It’s Alive movies and even a sequel to Salem’s Lot. But, the man really got his start in Blaxploitation cinema, crafting a couple of Fred “The Hammer” Williamson’s strongest efforts with Black Caesar and Hell Up In Harlem. Aside from his own stuff, he has written plenty of other films. He’s a New York filmmaker and has plenty of experience in “the biz”. After doing the monster film Q, in 1984 he opted to do two thrillers. One of those was a satirical look at Hollywood and filmmaking. It was a sort of different route for the director. That film is Special Effects. 
Last month saw the debut of Lionsgate’s Vestron Video Collector’s Series line. Finally digging into those vaults of not just Vestron Video, but Artisan and other studio catalogs that Lionsgate had acquired over the years. There are some major horror gems that have been getting sat on that people have been screaming for on Blu-ray. And now, they are making REAL good on that (You paying attention Warner Bros?). Vestron Video continues its resurgence with its third release, the Waxwork and Waxwork II: Lost In Time double feature. These are actually (Maybe moreso the first movie) some titles that people had been begging for that are now coming to fruition. This double feature also isn’t just one disc with two movies share, they’ve let them each have their own disc. Going even further, the cover art isn’t split, they’ve given each their own full presentation (You just have to pick a side you want on the outside display). 
It’s insane to come to the realization that Frank Capra’s timeless classic, Mr Deeds Goes Town is celebrating its 80th year of existence. A couple of years ago, I reviewed the Blu-ray for another Capra legend, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. That film and this one share a lot in common with one another. They also have very similar Blu-ray releases. It seems around this time of year, Sony drops one Frank Capra film that’s locked away in their vault in a nice 4K remastered digipack set like this. Last year saw the release of You Can’t Take It With You, which means we’ve also had three years of releases of terrific Jean Arthur films as well. You’ll be able to find this one on October 4th, which actually means you can pick it up at any time. 
The first kiss could be your last! Two fraternity pledges head to a seedy part of town to find some entertainment for their college friends, but are faced with bloodthirsty vampires in the comedy with bite – and of course Grace Jones – the 1986 camp classic 
IFC Midnight and Scream Factory are teaming to bring the Danish zombie thriller What We Become to Blu-ray in the US for the first time. The Bo Mikkelson film didn’t have much life theatrically, playing in just four theaters to open, but managed to find life through streaming services in Denmark and gradually moving around the globe to find viewers and appreciators. Unlike other zombie/infected films, this one’s promise is to be much more character based with its build, only to have to watch the characters work together, butt heads and struggle to survive a deadly outbreak. The film will be available on a Blu-ray and DVD combo pack from Scream Factory on October 18th, with plenty of time to have it to add some Danish flare to your October Halloween horror movie marathons leading up to the big day. 
The Exorcist II: The Heretic proved that even the worst of sequels cannot effectively kill a franchise. One of the most reviled follow ups of all time, the John Boorman film hardly sees a unironic form of praise anywhere across the criticism community. But, it always finds its place in bizarre or worst sequel lists. While it took some years to follow, a third film in the Exorcist lore came at the hands of its creator. William Peter Blatty adapted his book Legion, which he originally intended as an Exorcist follow up, to become this third film. Said film ran into some head butting and famous reshoots, covering up a different original intention of the film that fans have been clamoring to see for years since its release. Now, Scream Factory has put together a composite version from VHS dailies mixed with scenes from the theatrical version in this souped up collector’s edition of the Exorcist sequel that many are fond of. 
Jupiter Ascending, quite the despised film that I guess won’t go away thanks to a new home video format. My average film score on the Blu-ray and kind thoughts on the merits it did bring to the table were met with plenty of disdain when I posted the review and shared it to social media. The Wachowski film is returning to our visibility, as its dropping early on here in the 4K UHD format and its easy to see why beyond the film itself. First, they need to make as much money back on the bomb as they can, but also its a recent film that is by a pair of directors who shine in terms of visual spectacle. And this film delivers a lot in terms of action, science fiction and visual effects. Whether it succeeds or not is your own opinion, but it does offer that kinda stuff up. Its the kind of movie a home theater junkie may overlook the film quality itself just for the dose of Atmos sound and stunning picture quality. For me, its time to look back at the film again and see how I feel this time out. 
