Encapsulated Movie Reviews – Four New Indie Titles
August 18th, 2016 by Jason Coleman
While big movies seem to be scraping the bottom of the low expectations barrel this week, there’s no shortage of surprising smaller film fare. (How about that?!) In any case we’re braving lawmen after SS officers, bodyguards with mental issues, disenchanted Jewish moms and even Harry Potter as an undercover skinhead to bring you the skinny on all things indie. Check out the Encapsulated Movie Reviews of The People vs. Fritz Bauer, Imperium, Disorder and A Tale of Love and Darkness below!
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Bring the party home when the hit animated comedy, THE ANGRY BIRDS MOVIE, debuts onto digital July 29 and Blu-ray™/DVD Combo Pack, 4K Ultra HD™/Blu-ray 3D combo pack and DVD Aug. 16 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Based on the most downloaded app of all time (nearly 3.5 billion downloads), the film that catapulted to #1 at the box office in the U.S. and more than 50 others countries takes us to an island populated entirely by happy, flightless birds – or almost entirely. In this paradise, hot-headed Red, speedy Chuck, and the volatile Bomb have always been outsiders. But when the island is visited by mysterious green piggies, it’s up to these unlikely outcasts to figure out what the pigs are up in order to save their home. Boasting an “A” CinemaScore (viewers under age 25) and featuring even more of the breakout, fan-favorite Hatchlings, don’t miss the film that quickly became one of the highest-grossing video game based films of all time. 
“Ash vs Evil Dead,” the 10-episode half-hour STARZ Original series, is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film The Evil Dead. The series is executive produced by Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead, The Grudge), Rob Tapert (The Evil Dead, The Grudge), and Bruce Campbell (“Burn Notice,” Oz the Great and Powerful, The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness), the original filmmakers, and Craig DiGregorio who serves as executive producer and showrunner. The cast also includes Lucy Lawless as Ruby (“Parks and Recreation,” “Spartacus” franchise, “Battlestar Galactica,” “Xena: Warrior Princess”), a mysterious figure who believes Ash is the cause of the Evil outbreaks, Ray Santiago as Pablo Simon Bolivar (In Time, “Raising Hope,” “Dexter,” Meet the Fockers), an idealistic immigrant who becomes Ash’s loyal sidekick, Dana DeLorenzo as Kelly Maxwell (“Impress Me,” A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas), a moody wild child trying to outrun her past and Jill Marie Jones as Amanda Fisher (“Sleepy Hollow,” “Girlfriends”), a disgraced Michigan State Trooper set to find our anti-hero Ash and prove his responsibility in the grisly murder of her partner. 
Coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on October 11th from Lions Gate Entertainment, Blood Father is directed by award-winning director Jean-François Richet (Assault on Precinct 13) and written for the screen by Peter Craig (The Town) and Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton) from Peter Craig’s novel. The high-paced action film premiered at the 2016 Cannes International Film Festival. Mel Gibson is accompanied by Erin Moriarty, Diego Luna, Michael Parks, and Oscar® nominee William H. Macy (Best Supporting Actor, Fargo, 1996) in the nonstop thrill ride. The Blood Father Blu-ray and DVD include a behind-the-scenes featurette. 
From Drafthouse Films and MVD Entertainment comes the release of Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on August 16th. After Steven Spielberg’s classic Raiders of the Lost Ark was released 35 years ago, three 11-year-old boys from Mississippi set out on what would become a 7-year-long labor of love and tribute to their favorite film: a faithful, shot-for-shot adaptation of the action adventure film. They finished every scene…except one; the film’s explosive airplane set piece. Over two decades later, the trio reunited with the original cast members from their childhood in order to complete their masterpiece in what IGN has dubbed “the Boyhood of fan movies.” Featuring interviews with John Rhys-Davies, Eli Roth and more, Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made is a critically acclaimed documentary from filmmakers Tim Skousen & Jeremy Coon. Special features include more than four hours of bonus content such as dual audio commentary tracks (with Skousen & Coon, as well as film subjects Chris Strompolos & Eric Zala), deleted scenes from the documentary, outtakes from the Adaptation, Q&A footage from the Adaptation’s 2003 premiere at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX, a photo booklet featuring storyboard art from the Adaptation and a free HD digital copy of the film.
Sometimes it takes a little help from the living for the dead to rest. Scream Factory™ proudly presents 
While visiting his favorite diner Jake Epping (James Franco), a recently divorced English teacher, discovers a dimensional rift that allows him to travel back to 1960. James’ longtime friend and owner of the diner, Al Templeton (Chris Cooper), convinces him to use this portal to prevent the assassination of JFK. The problem being is that the portal will only take you to the year 1960, and JFK is killed on 11.22.63. So Jake will spend 4 years of his life in the past collecting evidence to prove Lee Harvey Oswald’s’ guilt, while in our time only a few minutes will have passed.
In 1982 legendary genre filmmaker John Carpenter (Halloween, They Live) unleashed THE THING–a chilling sci-fi thriller that raised the bar on shocking special effects and terrified movie audiences worldwide. On September 20, 2016, the SCREAM FACTORY™ home entertainment brand is proud to present this landmark horror film in a 2-disc Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release which includes a brand new 2K scan of the film (supervised by Director of Photography Dean Cundey) and over 5 hours of extras. Directed by Carpenter, THE THING stars Kurt Russell (Escape from New York, Big Trouble in Little China) and features special visual effects by Albert Whitlock (Dune) and special makeup effects by Rob Bottin (The Howling, Fight Club). 
Amazon Studio’s The Neon Demon directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, is a sumptuous horror-thriller, set in the highly competitive and often vicious world of fashion modeling, where the term “eat their own” takes on a decidedly new meaning. When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will use any means necessary to get what she has. The film is co-written by Refn (Bronson, Drive, Only God Forgives, Valhalla Rising), Mary Laws (”Preacher”) and Polly Stenham; and stars Elle Fanning (Maleficent, Super 8), Karl Glusman (Love, Stonewall), Jena Malone (Inherent Vice, The Hunger Games series), Bella Heathcote (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Dark Shadows), Abbey Lee (Gods of Egypt, Max Max: Fury Road), with Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men,” Drive), and Keanu Reeves (John Wick, The Matrix series). 
It’s high noon at the end of the universe. 
Get ready to settle in this November with Criterion’s exciting lineup of releases. Paul Thomas Anderson makes his long-awaited debut in the collection with a director-approved edition of his delightfully eccentric and endearing Punch-Drunk Love, the Cannes-award-winning romantic comedy starring Adam Sandler in his first, and extraordinary, dramatic role. Speaking of firsts, Marlon Brando’s singular directorial effort, One-Eyed Jacks, his unique take on the western and the Billy the Kid legend in which he also gives a memorably tender performance, arrives in a marvelous 4K restoration supervised by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Then prepare yourself for all six 1970s manga-based Lone Wolf and Cub films, action-packed and overflowing with blood and endlessly creative carnage, available in a box set featuring new 2K restorations of the films. All this plus Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams, an enchanting late film by the master director in which he brings to life a series of his own nocturnal visions, and Noah Baumbach’s bitterly comic, Oscar-nominated The Squid and the Whale, a coming-of-age drama set in 1980s Park Slope, Brooklyn, and featuring stellar performances by Jeff Daniels, Laura Linney, Owen Kline, and Jesse Eisenberg.
Twilight Zone: The Complete Series includes 156 episodes of Rod Serling’s classic television series in one special box set. This episodes-only collection includes all 5 seasons of the groundbreaking TV series. Guest stars include Art Carney, Burgess Meredith, Cliff Robertson, Dennis Hopper, Bill Bixby, Leonard Nimoy, Burt Reynolds, Don Rickles, Jack Klugman, Robert Redford, Lee Marvin, Martin Landau, Telly Savalas, William Shatner and many more.
Who out there was a fan of Snow White and the Huntsman? I have to admit, I initially was going into the theatrical screening. It looked dark and broody and I was looking forward to seeing Charlize Theron as the evil queen of the famous fairy tale “Snow White.” However, I just don’t know. In the end, I just could not embrace Kristen Stewart in the role of Snow White, but I digress. There were more issues in that film than just Kristen. So when word broke that there would be a second film, which serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the aforementioned title, and best of all not involve Stewart, I thought win-win. However, my rejoice was short-lived when the reviews for The Huntsman: Winter’s War starting pouring in like this one from our Aaron Neuwirth 
What makes for a memorable movie lone wolf – what are the defining cinematic characteristics? Are they quiet, bitter, emotionless, focused or perhaps just plain mean? The one thing they do all have in common is a lone wolf likes to work alone, embodies a sense of isolation and stays firmly in control by doing things their own way. So while some favorites may not have made the list for one reason or another including the article namesake (Lone Wolf McQuade is cool but not top ten!), iconic turns (Charles Bronson’s Paul Kersey did have hope with each new film!) and characters fed up with the status quo (Falling Down’s mayhem minded D-Fens was trying to get home to his estranged family!), the below represents the essence the hard men – or women – who just love the idea of all things alone. Anti-heroes, fed-up folks, burnt out warriors, revenge seeking psychos and strong women who outmuscle their male counterparts – love them or hate them, agree or disagree these are my….Top 10 Lone Wolf Movie Characters! (In no particular order!)
