‘Moonlight’ Transcends Darkness Of A Troubled Life (Movie Review)
October 19th, 2016 by Aaron Neuwirth
For all the struggles we watch the main character face in Moonlight, the film presents a story that is incredibly compelling to watch. Thanks to several confident performances and a cinematic presentation that ably works to invite the viewer in, here is a film that uses a triptych storytelling device to great depict how one develops an identity. Various circumstances, locations and identifiers provide a setup. However, despite witnessing a truly personal story being told, it manages to feel incredibly rounded. It makes the setup practically beside the point, as Moonlight finds a way to say a lot with a little.
a Continue reading ‘‘Moonlight’ Transcends Darkness Of A Troubled Life (Movie Review)’
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. 
Ready for a little LA premiere action – 
From director Fede Alvarez and the twisted minds behind Evil Dead comes the terrifying, critically acclaimed film, Don’t Breathe, debuting on digital November 8 and Blu-ray and DVD November 29 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Hailed as “the best American horror film in twenty years” (Jim Hemphill, FILMMAKER MAGAZINE) and Certified Fresh (87%) on Rotten Tomatoes, the film debuted at #1 at the box office and remained in the top spot for two weekends in a row. Starring Jane Levy (Evil Dead), Dylan Minnette (Goosebumps), Daniel Zovatto (It Follows) and Stephen Lang (Avatar), the film follows a group of thieves who break into a blind man’s home thinking they’ll get away with the perfect crime. When the blind man reveals a dark side, the trio quickly discovers they were dead wrong. 
I’m very excited about this news today! Just as new installments in two iconic film franchises are hitting theaters, earlier films in their series are getting a 4K Ultra HD with High Dynamic Range (HDR) upgrade when Sony Pictures Home Entertainment debuts the original UNDERWORLD on December 27 and RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE on January 17. Each 4K Ultra HD release will also include all the bonus materials from the earlier Blu-ray releases. 
You know right after that trailer dropped last week for ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, your next thought immediately was “When will we get character posters and how many?” Well, you only had to wait for the weekend to end to be satisfied. They’re here and they’re definitely character posters for ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY. Interestingly, Darth Vader was not given his own poster. I don’t know how the dark lord of the Sith feels about that, but I dig it. He snuck onto the main poster for the film, and really, we already know the guy. While the movies of his era didn’t get character posters, he’s certainly had his fill of them compared to his other colleagues in the universe. Anyway, click on to check these beauties out. And, if you’re needing the reminder, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY hits theaters December 16th! 
If you, like I, are a lover of great cinema, but sometimes look at those price tags on Criterion Collection releases and think “well, maybe someday,” then today is that day! Until 9:00 AM (PDT) tomorrow, the Criterion Collection is having a 50% off sale on their own website. If you are still reading this instead of following the link below, you are already missing out on great deals. 
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). 
With the category of found footage on their podcast docket, my WhySoBlu buddies examined a very popular facet of the horror genre this week and so shall I…welcome to Forgotten Friday Flick! Today I’m dissecting one of the few films that actually disturbed me by giving me full panic pause. It’s a controversial film that has yet to officially be released in theaters, DVD/Blu-ray or even VOD, but was seen early on by yours truly. The product of wide speculation in terms of quality (the reaction at Butt-Numb-A-Thon 9 was so negative the filmmakers bailed on the Q&A!), realism (the finished film was pitched as being authentic like Blair Witch!) and overall creepiness (the eerie music rings in my head!), it’s nevertheless a nasty nugget that lingers long – and then some. Grab a cassette, pop it in the player and get ready to view my pick…The Poughkeepsie Tapes!
Pete’s Dragon, a reimagining of Disney’s cherished family film centered on an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliot, who just so happens to be a dragon. Families will be captivated by this magical movie followed by never-before-seen bonus features, including a revealing look at director David Lowery’s personal diary kept during the filming of “Pete’s Dragon,” the design process behind the lovable dragon Elliot, deleted scenes, a tour of the film’s breathtaking production location of New Zealand, audio commentary by filmmakers and actors and hilarious bloopers. Today’s announcement also ushers in tomorrow’s World Dragon Day and the heartwarming adventure arrives on Digital HD, Blu-ray™, Disney Movies Anywhere, DVD and On-Demand on Nov. 29; just in time to entertain the entire family this holiday season. 
