Nothing Will Prepare You For ‘Mother!’ (Movie Review)
It is amazing that a gonzo film like Mother! exists. That doesn’t take away from the many weird movies that are out there, some heralded as masterpieces, but Mother! is not some indie debut or the product of a decade continually spewing out originality. Here is a film full of A-list talent, produced by a major studio and opening on over 2,000 screens for audiences to experience. I have no doubt the film will serve as an endurance test for many, but that does not take away from the achievement of this movie. Writer/director Darren Aronofsky has made an incredible piece of work that is somehow being pushed as a mainstream horror movie. Audiences may not be ready for what they get, but Mother! is here to mess with everyone’s head.
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It’s time for my September ritual! The Big Bang Theory returns to the Blu-ray format. Truth be told I’m excited to be covering the release for the fourth year in a row now. You can find Gregg Senko’s Blu-ray review coverage of Season 3 
The record-breaking phenomenon is back with a season that proved to be well worth the wait! Action-packed from start to finish with the series’ most epic battles yet, the HBO® drama series Game of Thrones: The Complete Seventh Season will be available for Digital Download September 25th and on Blu-Ray™ and DVD December 12th. The latest season of Game of Thrones featured the most-watched premiere and finale episodes in HBO history, and the series remains the most-awarded drama series in Emmy® history, with 109 nominations to date and winning the 2015 and 2016 trophy for Best Drama Series. 
This is why I adore about indie outings – no matter if there are any studio movies being released or not there are always a slew of smaller flicks on a regular basis a film fan can count on to keep the cinematic good times rolling. No exception this week either as docs, features and genre movies alike hit hard and here all get their lesser known film fare dissection due. From tales of man vs. machine in a closed space and the dangers of spending time in abandoned dark spaces to docs on everything from surviving World War II, tragic big game hunting and rats, we’re checking out what the indie scene has to offer this week via Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the short opinions on Infinity Chamber, Red Trees, Trophy, Against The Night and Rat Film below!
I’m all over this one! Double-crossed while sent to collect stolen intelligence in East Germany, elusive secret agent Charlize Theron (Mad Max: Fury Road, The Fate of the Furious) unleashes a deadly arsenal of skills in ATOMIC BLONDE, the adrenaline pumping, stylish spy-thriller, coming to Digital on October 24, 2017 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on November 14, 2017, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Adapted from Antony Johnson’s graphic novel, The Coldest City, the explosive film set in the late eighties takes viewers on a high-stakes chase as Theron attempts to escape Berlin. The 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital versions include commentary from the cast, filmmakers, stunt performers and fight coordinators, plus behind-the-scenes features that take viewers inside the making of the film’s intense stunt choreography. 
Packed with out-of-this-world action unlike anything you’ve ever seen, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets heads to 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital HD), Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital HD), and DVD November 21 from Lionsgate; and on Digital HD November 7 and On Demand November 21. Based on the best-selling French comic series “Valérian and Laureline” by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières, published by Dargaud – visionary writer/director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Lucy) advances this iconic source material into a contemporary, unique and epic science fiction saga produced by Virginie Besson-Silla. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets stars Dane DeHaan (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Cara Delevingne (Suicide Squad), Golden Globe® nominee Clive Owen (Children of Men), Academy Award® nominee Ethan Hawke (Best Supporting Actor, Boyhood, 2014), Golden Globe® & Emmy® winner John Goodman (voice) (“Rosanne”) with 7-time GRAMMY Award® winner Rihanna, and Golden Globe® winner Rutger Hauer (Bladerunner). The film features a soundtrack by Oscar® winner Alexandre Desplat (Best Original Score, The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014). 
Be the movie night hero and bring home the film that kids give two thumbs up to for the ultimate kid’s movie night! It’s time to express yourself when Sony Pictures Animation’s THE EMOJI MOVIE arrives for the first time on Digital on October 10 and on 4K Ultra-HD, Blu-ray + Digital and DVD on October 24 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. The animated comedy unlocks the never-before-seen secret world inside your smartphone. Hidden within the messaging app is Textopolis, a bustling city where all your favorite emojis live, hoping to be selected by the phone’s user. In this world, each emoji has only one facial expression – except for Gene (T.J. Miller), an exuberant emoji who was born without a filter and is bursting with multiple expressions. Determined to become “normal” like the other emojis, Gene enlists the help of his handy best friend Hi-5 (James Corden) and the notorious code breaker emoji Jailbreak (Anna Faris). Together, they embark on an epic “app-venture” through the apps on the phone, each its own wild and fun world, to find the code that will fix Gene. But when a greater danger threatens the phone, the fate of all emojis depends on these three unlikely friends who must save their world before it’s deleted forever.
Unoriginality is the star of the show. “The Hatred” is a film with a hilariously insane premise but no idea where to go once the story is established. The prologue introduces us to Samuel Sears (Andrew Divoff), a former Nazi who escaped to the United States. With him is an amulet he stole from the French, which is apparently evil (of course) and feeds off fear and hate (of course). Through a series of events, he murders his daughter (of course) which results in his wife killing him (of course). Left in the house are evil spirits waiting for their next victim (OF COURSE!).
Artsploitation has delivered the ultimate stocking stuffer with the home video release of the Australian horror film Red Christmas. Veteran television director and actor Craig Anderson makes his feature debut with Red Christmas, combining the banal horror of family gatherings with the issues of abortion, feminism, ethics, religion and privacy, with a blood-splattered twist on what happens when secrets refuse to stay dead. Following a theatrical rollout across the United States, Red Christmas will be available nationwide 
The one that started it all is the last in line for release this DC Arrow-verse Blu-ray season. Oliver Queen and company had been through a rather middling couple of years and now they attempted to reload and bounce back in this fifth season. The season is notable too because it hit the milestone of the highly coveted 100th episode. An episode that they did have plenty of fun with. The show also featured many returns as well as having its own bit of fun crossing over (Where the 100th episode took place, actually). This set is pretty uniform to the others both in the DC Arrow-verse line of Blu-ray releases and the previous releases from the show itself. You’ll be able to pick this one up in plenty of time run back through it, or catch up from having missed the previous season when it hits the shelves of the stores or your favorite online retailer September 19th. Below, after the full review you’ll find a convenient Amazon link that you can pre-order from to have by release day (If you’re a Prime member) and it also helps out our site. 
Dan O’Bannon’s 1990 film, The Resurrected is getting the Scream Factory Blu-ray treatment come September 12th. While not dubbed a “Collector’s Edition”, the release is quite stacked with interviews and bonus material. The John Terry/Chris Sarandon horror/thriller was a part of the budding straight-to-video boom in the late 1980s/early 1990s. However, it did play for some festival circuits, so there was theatrical life for the film. You can insure that you have yourself a copy of this Lovecraftian tale from the guy who conjured up classics like Alien and Return of the Living Dead starring the man who played Prince Humperdink, Jerry Dandridge, Detective Mike Norris and that guy who was Jack’s Dad on Lost (Also a one-time Felix Leiter) by clicking on the Amazon pre-order link below. 
Its apparently medieval, sword and sandal adventures month in September for Lionsgate’s 4K Utra-HD slate. Previously we reviewed that Hercules movie and now here comes the other September 19th release, the Jason Momoa led 2011 Conan The Barbarian relaunch. A question was asked on the 4K Ultra-HD Facebook group, “Who was asking for these?” and its a really good question. A lot of Lionsgate’s catalog 4K Ultra-HD releases seem to be that way. Dredd, Cabin in the Woods, that’s stuff people want. The only tie-in or logic I can presume here for Hercules and Conan is that they are coming out the same day as Wonder Woman and maybe fit that Amazonian vibe. Anyway, here is our review for Conan The Barbarian on the 4K Ultra-HD format. 
Two Star Wars standouts got their own comic books this month and they were none other than Jedi Master Mace Windu and metallic marine Captain Phasma. To begin with, last week the (sort of) vice president of Jedi during the Clone Wars saw his own mini-series debut from Marvel. The five-issue series is written by Matt Owens and pencilled by Denys Cowan and features a story of Mace leading a small party of Jedi to the planet Hissrich to monitor the Separatists.
Coming this November and December, South Park will be releasing its first 11 full seasons in HD on blu-ray. Remember when children were abducted by aliens, killed by falling space stations and befriended by talking feces? Ah, the good old days. Now you can relive every supernatural, extraordinary and downright insane adventure of Cartman, Kyle, Stan and Kenny when “South Park” Seasons 1-11 arrive for the first time ever on Blu-ray.
