Forgotten Friday Flick – “Surveillance”
February 23rd, 2018 by Jason Coleman
Dark wondrous cinematic wares from women continue this week with a look at another movie helmed by a talented female filmmaker – welcome to Forgotten Friday Flick. This week’s selection proves that some filmmakers do indeed get better with age. Case in point is Boxing Helena filmmaker and daughter of wizard of weird Jennifer Lynch, who after making the half-decent film with an unfortunately atrocious ending over fifteen years earlier, went on to create one disturbing, thought provoking and totally lingering piece of celluloid. That’s the film we focus on this week – an unsettling story that can be dissected with just the right…Surveillance.
And the indie train just keep on trucking with another gaggle of nine new lesser-known outings that make up the smaller cinema scene featured here. Sex and romance from a female point of view, social media gone psychotic, life after being a zombie, a wordy battle of the sexes, creation turning obsessive, time traveling for justice, crisis in the cockpit, getting some payback and animal cruelty taken to a whole other level all make up the subjects in the crop of films dissected this week. Check out the Encapsulated Movie Reviews of Half Magic, Like Me, The Cured, Toss It, Chimera, Curvature, Beast Of Burden, Agenda: Payback and Days Of Power below.
Mega-action hero and Oscar® nominee Liam Neeson (Best Actor,Schindler’s List, 1993) proves that no one gets hurt on his watch in The Commuter, arriving on Digital April 3 and 4K Ultra HD™ Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital), Blu-ray™ Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, and On Demand April 17 from Lionsgate. Time is ticking as Michael (Neeson) gets entangled in a deadly conspiracy on his daily commute that forces him to work against the clock to protect the lives of his fellow train passengers. The edge-of-your-seat action thriller also stars Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring, The Departed, TV’s “Bates Motel”), Patrick Wilson (The Conjuring, Insidious), Jonathan Banks (TV’s “Breaking Bad,” “Better Call Saul”), with Elizabeth McGovern (TV’s Downton Abbey), and Sam Neill (Thor: Ragnarok, Daybreakers). 
Coming just in time for you to catch it at home, if you weren’t able to make it in the theater, in preparation for the upcoming Academy Awards is Darkest Hour. The film is mostly lauded for its performance from actor Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill (Nominated for Best Actor and already having collected awards during this “season”). Many have said this film makes a great companion to Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk (Also nominated for many awards this year). This Blu-ray comes with a couple bonus features and will be available for you to pick up on the extremely loaded new release day of February 27th. You can pre-order it, as well as the many other titles coming out that day, by finding the reviews or press releases on Why So Blu and clicking the Amazon link. 
This March, we are getting another crack taken at the Tomb Raider game franchise being adapted to the big screen with Alicia Vikander as the new Lara Croft. Let us not forget the early 2000s when much excitement came and the perfect bit of dream casting in that of Angela Jolie in the title role. While the film did solid box office, most found it to be a bit of a disappointment, though still led to a sequel The Cradle of Life. Many will tell you that was a much better and actually good film. However, people didn’t trust their dollars on it after the first and its box office failure effectively shut down the franchise. But, with a reboot comes the great think in that the home video editions of the originals usually see a nice upgrade. And here we are with both Tomb Raider films seeing a 4K Ultra-HD format jump. In this review, its time for the sequel, the lengthy titled Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. 
This March, we are getting another crack taken at the Tomb Raider game franchise being adapted to the big screen with Alicia Vikander as the new Lara Croft. Let us not forget the early 2000s when much excitement came and the perfect bit of dream casting in that of Angela Jolie in the title role. While the film did solid box office, most found it to be a bit of a disappointment, though still led to a sequel The Cradle of Life. Many will tell you that was a much better and actually good film. However, people didn’t trust their dollars on it after the first and its box office failure effectively shut down the franchise. But, with a reboot comes the great think in that the home video editions of the originals usually see a nice upgrade. And here we are with both Tomb Raider films seeing a 4K Ultra-HD format jump. In this review, we’ll be digging into the first film, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. 
While some have this illusion of some sort of fatigue (Black Panther is laughing HARD about that right now), 2017 was a pretty terrific year for the comic book super hero movies across the board. Marvel’s three offerings all ramped up the fun factor and were as successful with their comedic chops as they were the heroics and action bits. And they led up to the heaviest hitter of the bunch, Thor: Ragnarok. The film’s trailer was crazy loved and built up great hype which then delivered in pleasing critics, audiences and the almighty box office dollar. My kids were quoting “I know him, he’s a friend from work” from the day that trailer dropped all the way to having their butts in the seats on opening night. And We surely can’t wait to relive this one again, and you’ll be able to too on March 6th when it arrives on glorious 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray. 
Dubbed “the franchise’s best film since the original” (Kalyn Corrigan, Bloody-Disgusting) with the biggest worldwide box office in the saga with over $163M, INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY arrives on digital March 20 and Blu-ray and DVD April 3 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Acclaimed horror producers James Wan (The Conjuring, Annabelle) and Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity franchise) return for the fourth installment from Blumhouse of the Insidious-franchise, along with fan-favorites Lin Shaye in her iconic role as Elise Rainier, and Leigh Whannell and Angus Sampson as the ghost-hunting duo Specs and Tucker. In INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY , Elise must face her past to confront the most personal haunting of her career – in her childhood home. The film also stars Josh Stewart (Interstellar), Kirk Acevedo (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes), Caitlin Gerard (Magic Mike), Spencer Locke (Resident Evil franchise) and Academy Award nominee Bruce Davison (Best Supporting Actor, Longtime Companion, 1989). 
Everyone’s favorite female Super Heroes are left to deal with a new rival when a mysterious high school pops up in the all-new animated film, LEGO® DC Super Hero Girls: Super-Villain High. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment and The LEGO Group, the film – a continuation in the worldwide DC Super Hero Girls franchise phenomenon – will be distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE) May 1, 2018 on Digital, and on May 15, 2018 on DVD.
The next action-packed chapter of the Star Wars saga – Star Wars: The Last Jedi – welcomes the return of original characters as well as in-depth looks of the saga’s newest members. This release will include a feature-length documentary from Director Rian Johnson that takes fans on an intimate journey into the creation of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The release will also include two exclusive scenes featuring Andy Serkis as Snoke prior to his digital makeover, scene breakdowns, deleted scenes, audio commentary and more. Families can bring the next chapter of Star Wars home digitally in HD and 4K Ultra HD and via Movies Anywhere March 13 and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray disc March 27. This release will mark Disney’s first title available on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc in both Dolby Vision™ HDR and Dolby Atmos® immersive audio, delivering consumers a transformative viewing experience. 
The Justice League motion picture is finally getting its deserving shot to win over your living room on March 13th (available now via digital retailers such as 
Disney Pixar’s Coco may have kinda faded from conversation with a lot of the Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Jumanji and The Greatest Showman box office triumphs. But, just before those three films dominated, Coco was quite a phenomenon and powerhouse itself. Coco opened to fantastic reviews and almost made three quarters of a billion dollars in its worldwide run. Quite an achievement. This fresh, emotion and charming family drama is making its way to Disney’s slowly growing 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray collection. I’ll have to admit, when I saw it in theaters, throughout the thing I was getting giddy at the prospect of how the HDR was gonna look on the 4K UHD disc. Well, now we can see when it releases on February 27th. 
Daddy’s Home is one of those films I could easily live without. While I love Mark Wahlberg and most everything Will Ferrell does (there are exceptions) I’m just not warm on the PG rating. It was cool when I was a kid, but now I’m an old geezer and I need my F-bombs, gratuitous nudity and raunchy comedy moments. I’m kidding of course, but thankfully despite that family friendly PG rating I gave Daddy’s Home a tryout once it made its debut on the Blu-ray format. I’m glad I did because I still managed to laugh and even had a good time with it all. I must have too because I am devoting my personal time to covering this one. Yep! That’s right the family friendly comedy featuring two of Hollywood’s biggest men (sorry ladies) is getting a 4K Ultra HD upgrade to coincide with its sequel’s release on the format February 20th.
Outside of the Black Panther in Marvel’s Civil War my exposure to the character is null and zero. I have no understanding of what his powers are, how he can jump like a cat or even what his weaknesses are. I am assuming it’s all because of that sinister looking, fancy black feline costume he dons, but that’s why I am here today at the press screening of the Black Panther to hopefully find all this out. I want to know what makes me the man tick, the history, his lore, etc. Now say what you want about the Black Panther movie trailers, but so far the one thing I could not get past is Michael B. Jordan’s hairdo. That was the Achilles heel of the marketing push for me. I know I am petty, but hey I am giving this one a chance regardless to win me over despite my angst for the boring and depressing Civil War. So there’s that. However, what really makes me curious is the early reviews of this one. I am not going to lie. From what I read it seems like the Black Panther’s sh1t does not stink and he can do no wrong. That’s what I hope to clear up here down below. Will you join me? 
