Exclusive: ‘Marrowbone’ Five-Star Review PLUS Bonus Director Sergio G. Sánchez Q&A!
While it’s still early in the year, it seems five-star film fare of 2018 is alive and well. The captivating new thriller Marrowbone (out April 13 In Theaters, On Demand, Amazon Video, and iTunes from Magnet Releasing) is the latest flick to exceed cinematic expectations (at least in this critic’s humble opinion!) and as such is the singular focus of this extra special article. Marrowbone is a well-woven ghost story via The Impossible and The Orphanage writer Sergio G. Sánchez here making his directorial debut about four young siblings who work hard to become recluse inside the family home after their mother dies to avoid being separated – but their haunted homestead has some equally harrowing surprises. The film features a myriad of tasty twists and turns, some wonderful visual style and a killer cast across the board including the likes of Mia Goth, George MacKay (so good in Captain Fantastic!), Charlie Heaton of Stranger Things fame and the always amazing Anya Taylor-Joy. (She’s also in my other five-star favorite from this year Thoroughbreds!) So to celebrate the upcoming release of one damn stellar piece of cinema below is my full dogs review of the film (I give movie credit where it’s due film fans!) plus for those eager for a little bit more insight I scored an exclusive interview with the maestro behind the movie writer/director Sergio G. Sánchez who chatted about everything from balancing the film’s dark and hopeful tone to his inspired casting of the members of the Marrowbone family foursome. Highlighting awesome outings that deserve to be seen, here’s the skinny on…Marrowbone!
Inspired by the 2008 cult classic The Strangers, The Strangers: Prey at Night is based on real events surrounding a family struggling to survive as they are attacked on their vacation by a trio of masked psychopaths that hunt their prey with seemingly no rhyme or reason. Director Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down) pays homage to The Strangers by bringing back the infamous masked villains — Dollface, Pin-Up Girl and Man in the Mask — and incorporates elements of the ‘80s slasher genre to create a perfect mix of old and new that is sure to satisfy and reignite fear in fans of the original while also bringing new devotees to the franchise. Arriving on Digital on May 22, 2018 and Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand on June 12, 2018 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, The Strangers: Prey at Night is packed with exclusive bonus content including a never before seen alternate ending and an unrated version that brings the chaos and horror of the film to a whole new level. 
“Arnold is back and better than ever” in this explosive new chapter of the blockbuster Terminator franchise. In the war of man against machine, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney, The Divergent Series) is sent back to 1984 by resistance leader John Connor (Jason Clarke, Everest) to protect his young mother, Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones). However, this time unexpected events have altered the past and threaten the future for all mankind. Now Reese must join forces with Sarah and her “Guardian” (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to save the world in “one of the best action movies of the year.”
Experience FORREST GUMP in stunning high definition, accompanied by over two hours of dynamic bonus features. Tom Hanks gives an astonishing performance as Forrest, an everyman whose simple innocence comes to embody a generation. Alongside his mamma (Sally Field), his best friend Bubba (Mykelti Williamson), and his favorite girl Jenny (Robin Wright), Forrest has a ringside seat for the most memorable events of the second half of the 20th century. Winner of six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Robert Zemeckis), and Best Actor (Tom Hanks), FORREST GUMP remains one of the great movie triumphs of all time.
Disney Channel’s newest original movie is filled with music, dances, and high school woes – plus zombies! Set fifty years after a zombie apocalypse, zombies are finally allowed to enroll in Seabrook High School. The charming zombie Zed, who is determined to play football, meets freshman Addison who dreams of being a cheerleader — the ultimate form of status in the community. Zed and Addison work together to show Seabrook what they can achieve when they embrace their differences and celebrate what makes them a community.
Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther,” is a global cultural phenomenon that has thrilled and inspired generations of moviegoers around the globe. “Black Panther” is the highly celebrated story of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), a young African prince who takes on the mantle of King and Super Hero. The film has dominated the box office charts emerging as the third biggest movie of all time domestically with over $665 million. Through the 4K Cinematic Universe Edition of “Black Panther,” fans will experience the exhilarating adventure in stunning 4K Ultra HD with next-generation high dynamic range (HDR) visuals and Dolby Atmos immersive audio. Disc extras include never-before-seen commentary from director Ryan Coogler; deleted scenes; outtakes; and several making-of featurettes, which detail the Black Panther’s evolution, the remarkable women of Wakanda, the history of T’Challa’s proud nation, and the cosmic origin and technological applications of vibranium. Also included are a roundtable discussion with “Black Panther” filmmakers and writers; a featurette tracing the countless connections between heroes, characters and storylines within the Marvel Cinematic Universe; and an exclusive sneak peek at “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” Fans can bring home the phenomenon, packed with light-hearted fun, pulse-pounding action and a powerful message, and watch it over and over again, Digitally in HD and 4K Ultra HD™ and Movies Anywhere on May 8 and on 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™, DVD and On-Demand on May 15. 
HBO’s Vice Principals was another in the lines of limited run series from HBO, like The Night Of or True Detective. Planned as a focused 18 episode story (Or a 9 hour movie as the creators would put it), the premium cable network ran the show in two halves and got two years out of it. A team-up of Danny McBride and Walton Goggins headlined what felt like a perfect matchup, and indeed it played out as one. While the first season of Vice Principals was given a Blu-ray release from HBO, they’ve taken a hard left with it and dramatically changed course. At this time, there is no release of season two by itself at all. As a matter of fact, no Blu-ray of it, even. They will be release a Complete Series set on DVD only. A very odd choice from a studio that tends to be on the up and up with performance quality and has even gotten into 4K Ultra-HD. Its very strange and probably pretty confusing or frustrating for many collectors, but this is the hand we’ve been dealt. Luckily, if you want to take two steps back in terms of quality, its rather inexpensive and also comes with a Digital HD version of the entire series when it streets April 10th. 
The end is near! The 
I don’t know what it is about me.
Grease is the word, and that word is about to go over the hill as the feature film celebrates its 40th birthday this year. And with how many darn rereleases this film has had since the inception of home video, you just know Paramount will not pass over the opportunity to throw us another. And here we are. But, they are doing it right, with a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray of the classic musical, with a brand new transfer and restoration overseen by director Randal Kleiser taking it back to what he felt it was originally supposed to look like. Toss in a couple new bonus features and this isn’t just some mere cover art change of a disc you may already own (Let alone a Blu-ray only steelbook edition that contains the Blu-ray debut of Grease 2). You’ll be able to relive these those summer niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiights when Grease – 40th Anniversary Edition releases on April 24th. 
Well hey now! Are you all prepare to root for the bad guys once again? That’s right! The Suicide Squad gang is back! Not so fast though. This isn’t the DCEU version of the Suicide Squad. Oh no! It’s the DCAU (DC Animated Universe) Suicide Squad. For the uninitiated the DCAU have both a pretty impressive resume and following. You can find reviews of past titles such as Batman and Harley 
When not mired in the corporate rat race, Wall Street executive Bart Hughes is king of his sleek Manhattan brownstone … until he finds his castle under siege by the most determined of home intruders. Forced to enter a rat race of an entirely different sort, Bart takes a stand, with his survival and sanity at stake. Making its Blu-ray debut May 22nd, 2018 from Scream Factory, Of Unknown Origin also includes a number of bonus features, including a new interview with executive producer Pierre David, a new interview with writer Brian Taggert, a new interview with actor Louis Del Grande and audio commentaries with director George P. Cosmatos and actor Peter Weller. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com. 
For your consideration seven Indie titles are dissected this week that run the gamut quality wise. (Even big budget stuff has ups and downs film fans!) Tales involving creepy cults and weird worm holes, docs about damage to the poor by big government, car crashes with a side of criminal activity, a down under yarn about race, truth and consequences, crazed chaos surrounding organ harvesting, a murder mystery with memory holes and a tale of otherworldly female revenge all make up the smaller film fare via this week’s edition of Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the skinny on The Endless, ACORN And The Firestorm, Accident, Sweet Country, Lowlife, Spinning Man and Killing Joan all dissected below!
I really hope this goes without saying, but you never know. The worst you can ever do is to assume. So here’s the million dollar question I feel I need to ask before we start legitimately talking about the new comedy film Blockers. You all know what the rooster in front of the word “Blockers” here refers to, right? That title while vulgar would have been so much more what do I want to say…sexy. Not that this movie needs anything else to sell it since the positive word of mouth from last month’s SXSW screening, but clever marketing never hurts. However, I completely understand the PC World (not the magazine title) we all live in and Universal’s primary goal is making sure this one is in as many theaters as possible and of course seats are filled. I think they have a winner on their hands here, but stick around below and I’ll fill y’all in on why I confidently believe so. 
