Baby Driver (Blu-ray Review)
This past summer saw writer/director Edgar Wright land a huge hit with his film Baby Driver. That was great news to keep track of, as Wright speaks a cinematic language that I quickly picked up back with Spaced and Shaun of the Dead and have enjoyed ever since. Like his other films, Baby Driver takes a central concept, strips other movies for parts, and builds a Frankenstein monster of a finished product that is so wonderful to watch it’s scary. In this case, we have a car chase/heist movie that also happens to be a musical. However, Baby Driver is not a musical in a traditional sense. Music informs the film in a way that allows for a great sense of rhythm to play throughout this fun ride. Now the sleeper hit has arrived on a Blu-ray packed with extras.
Ah, you sat yourself through a half of a Monday Night Football game that you could’ve cared less about, but were ultimately rewarded when Lucasfilm dropped our first full on trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson’s follow-up to JJ Abrams’ insanely successful The Force Awakens will continue the saga of Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren and promises more Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. Joining up on this new film will also be characters like Rose, DJ and Vice Admiral Holdo (Played by Kelly Marie Tran, Benecio del Toro and Laura Dern, respectively). Also at this time, the tickets go on sale and hopefully aren’t crashing every theater and ticket buying’s respective websites as they usually do (You’d think they’d have enough time to perfect and prepare for this, but alas). The film opens December 15th, but you know you’ll be there December 14th at 7pm. 
Inmate #61727054. Surely that’s a number that proves irrelevant to most of us. We live in a land where prisoners are more than abundant. However, some are more famous than others and few more so than inmate #61727054, better known as Bernard L. Madoff. Bernie Madoff lived up to his last name and ‘made off’ with a disgustingly enormous sum of $65 billion of other peoples’ money. Director Barry Levinson (Good Morning, Vietnam) brought this tale of financial deceit to HBO earlier this year in the form of the bio pic The Wizard of Lies starring Robert De Niro as Bernie Madoff and Michelle Pfeiffer as his wife, Ruth Madoff. The film now makes its way to Blu-ray and we’ve got all the details on this disc from start to finish.
Sorry about the lateness of this weeks cinematic skinny dissections, but I wanted to fit in all the glorious flicks I possibly could for maximum movie watching wattage. So below are a whopping ten film reviews from good to bad to keep you up to movie date. Tough guys on a manly mission of mayhem, sci-fi stories, docs on dancers and haunted houses, strange estranged siblings, Christmas carnage, scientists gone psycho, surfing sabbaticals, wayward girls kidnapped for profit and malevolent lighthouses all make up the subjects of the films in this weeks Encapsulated Movie Reviews. Check out the reviews of the films Brawl In Cell Block 99, The Osiris Child: Science Fiction Volume One, Bobbi Jene, Haunters: The Art of the Scare, Barracuda, Better Watch Out, They Remain, Rip Tide, Trafficked and The Forlorned below!
With new house moving, movies and mountains of life it’s been a few weeks since the last past picture dissection. (Sorry folks!) But it’s also a few weeks since the passing of one of my favorite actors the late, great Harry Dean Stanton. A classic character actor who added so much to his roles, Stanton shined playing the wisecracking Brett in Alien, the headstrong Brain in Escape From New York, the cunning cop in Christine, the vengeful father in Red Dawn (“avenge me!”) and soothing dad in Pretty In Pink and of course excelled in the myriad of memorable collaborations between himself and auteur David Lynch. (Plus my movie Dad states that Paris, Texas is Stanton’s finest film!) So in tribute to the passing of one fantastic actor I’m pairing up my Forgotten Friday Flick this week with a smaller cinematic Harry Dean Stanton nugget that some of you might have missed. A quirky and clever outing that mixes the everyday business of taking from those who don’t pay their bills with the outlandish idea of aliens from another planet for maximum odd egg memorable movie results. It’s 4am, do you know where your car is? More than likely its been jacked by a…Repo Man!
To say that I was not looking forward to the original April 16th theatrical release date of Kick-Ass would be like saying that I would rather watch a SD DVD of my favorite film over its superior HD counterpart. It’s just not going to happen. My obsession with this film happened way back on the magical date of July 24, 2009. It was on that very day, within Hall H at Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego, that I was introduced to the world of Kick-Ass. I never wore a grin so large in life as compared to when we, the captive audience within Hall H, were treated to not only the film’s Red Band trailer, but also exclusive clips highlighting the mayhem and action of the eccentric cast. Weird thing is, the film had no distribution deal as of yet. It was shown first at Comic-Con to gauge the public’s interest. And if memory serves me correct, the panel even got a standing ovation by the end of its time slot. Not long after, Lionsgate, one of my favorite movie studios sealed the deal to distribute Kick-Ass nationwide. And that was a great day indeed. Sadly, Nicolas Cage was absent from the 2009 Comic-Con panel, but this girl (see below), Chloe Moretz (aka Hit-Girl), won the audience over with not only her youth and innocence, but also her, for lack of a better term, “kick-ass” action sequences. I’m a firm believer that Kick-Ass would not be half the film it is without Hit-Girl.
Illumination and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment present Despicable Me 3 on Digital and Digital 3D November 21, 2017 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand December 5, 2017. The characters beloved by everyone – Gru, his wife Lucy, their three adorable daughters—Margo, Edith and Agnes—and the Minions provide hours of family fun in this heartwarmingly subversive comedy from Academy Award®-nominated producer Chris Meledandri (Despicable Me Franchise) and directors Pierre Coffin (Despicable Me Franchise) and Kyle Balda (Minions 1 & 2, The Lorax). Hailed as “the best Despicable Me movie yet,” by Ali Plumb of BBC Radio 1, with over $949 million in global ticket sales, Despicable Me 3 is the ultimate holiday gift, with almost an entire hour of exclusive bonus features including an all-new mini-movie, a never-before-released deleted scene, and much more! 
Celebrate the holiday season with the inspirational and uplifting family film Leap!, arriving on Digital HD November 7 and Blu-ray™ (plus DVD and Digital HD), DVD, and On Demand November 21 from Lionsgate. Featuring all-star voice talent led by Elle Fanning (Maleficent), alongside Nat Wolff (The Fault in Our Stars) and Maddie Ziegler (The Book of Henry), with Mel Brooks (Spaceballs), featuring Carly Rae Jepsen (singer-songwriter of the hit song “Call Me Maybe”) and Kate McKinnon (“Saturday Night Live”), Leap! is a colorful and imaginative story about an orphan girl who is determined to follow her dream of becoming a ballerina. Filled with irresistible original music, Leap!features the hit track “Cut to the Feeling.” 
There is an infectiously sweet, sad solitude that runs through the very well shot, directed, acted, and scored A Ghost Story, which comes out today on blu-ray, that is guaranteed to captivate and transfix anyone who views it. Despite its title, A Ghost Story could never really be mistaken for a horror or thriller, as it is much more akin to a dramatic fantasy romance. Excellent, nuanced performances by Casey Affleck (Manchester by the Sea) and Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) make this small film with a small cast and a small budget feel like a spectacle not to be missed. You can read further on for all the details about why, but if you are into strange, quiet, slow films just go pick this one up already.
Get yer dice ready! On December 5, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment brings the beloved family classic JUMANJI back to Blu-ray™ and on 4K Ultra HD™ for the first time, so fans can re-experience this classic adventure before diving into the all-new theatrical feature, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. When two kids find and play a magical board game, they release a man trapped for decades in it and a host of dangers that can only be stopped by finishing the game. Directed by Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger), JUMANJI stars Academy Award® winner Robin Williams (Best Supporting Actor, Good Will Hunting, 1997), Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man trilogy), Bradley Pierce (The Borrowers) and David Alan Grier (Stuart Little). In addition to hours of legacy special features, all-new bonus materials include a sneak peek at Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, plus never-before-seen deleted scenes and a hilarious gag reel featuring Robin Williams and the cast.
From Academy Award-winning® director Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Ocean’s trilogy) comes a combustible caper comedy with a twist. Logan Lucky races to Digital on November 14, 2017, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand on November 28, 2017, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Logan Lucky stars Channing Tatum (Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street ), Emmy® nominee Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Paterson), Seth MacFarlane (“Family Guy,” Ted), Riley Keough (“The Girlfriend Experience,” It Comes at Night), Katie Holmes (All We Had, Batman Begins), Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice, Alien: Covenant), Dwight Yoakam (Sling Blade, Panic Room), Sebastian Stan (Captain America: Civil War, The Martian), Brian Gleeson (Mother!, Snow White and the Huntsman), and Jack Quaid (“Vinyl,” The Hunger Games), with Academy Award winner Hilary Swank (The Homesman, Million Dollar Baby) and Daniel Craig (Road to Perdition, James Bond franchise). 
Curious about the Close Encounters of the Third Kind 40th Anniversary Edition 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray “Light and Sound” gift set? You are almost sure you want to buy it, you’d just like to see what it looks like inside before you finalize your decision to purchase it? Well, you can rest safely, we’ve made an unboxing video of said release just for you. This gift set edition of the release contains the standard 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release with it that you can find our review for right 
Leave it to Scream Factory to finally unearth upon everyone a long unseen, but well heard about horror movie. Its been 10 years since The Poughkeepsie Tapes had its first trailer come out for the planned release in 20o8. And then…well…it had two screenings and disappeared. Sure, those who have wanted to see the film have found the way or means to be able to scratch the itch, but its never been available on home video via a physical format or legit legal stream. Scream Factory now is finally making it the real deal here with the Blu-ray release of this notorious unseen found footage film that’s infamy has had people curious to see it. You’ll be able to add it to your horror film marathon viewing in October by pre-ordering using the Amazon link below. 
Your favorite creepy doll is back when “Annabelle: Creation” arrives onto Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital. From New Line Cinema comes “Annabelle: Creation,” with David F. Sandberg (“Lights Out”) helming the follow up to 2014’s hugely successful “Annabelle,” which scared up nearly $257 million at the worldwide box office during its run in theaters. The new film is once again being produced by Peter Safran and James Wan, who previously partnered on “The Conjuring” hit movies.
