Brandon’s Blu-ray Wishlist – October 24, 2014
The month-long horror wishlist continues with the Sawyers!
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The month-long horror wishlist continues with the Sawyers!
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. Continue reading ‘Brandon’s Blu-ray Wishlist – October 24, 2014′
The Giver centers on Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a young man who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Yet as he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), who is the sole keeper of all the community’s memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of his community’s secret past. With this newfound power of knowledge, he realizes that the stakes are higher than imagined – a matter of life and death for himself and those he loves most. At extreme odds, Jonas knows that he must escape their world to protect them all – a challenge that no one has ever succeeded at before. The Giver is based on Lois Lowry’s beloved young adult novel of the same name, which was the winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal. Continue reading ‘‘The Giver’ on Blu-ray & DVD November 25th!’
When their father passes away, four grown siblings, bruised and banged up by their respective adult lives, are forced to return to their childhood home and live under the same roof together for a week, along with their over-sharing mother and an assortment of spouses, exes and might-have-beens. Confronting their history and the frayed states of their relationships among the people who know and love them best, they ultimately reconnect in hysterical and emotionally affecting ways amid the chaos, humor, heartache and redemption that only families can provide—driving us insane even as they remind us of our truest, and often best, selves.
Continue reading ‘‘This is Where I Leave You’ on Blu-ray & DVD December 16th!’
Akkad is a name that’s been so very familiar to me for many moons. My very favorite film of all time begins with the words “Moustapha Akkad Presents”. That name is forever the keeper of The Shape of our nightmares, Michael Myers. Many know and remember the last Moustapha, but the keys are now in his son, Malek Akkad’s hands now. Malek began following in his father’s footsteps being a production assistant on Halloween 4: The Return Of Michael Myers. Beginning with Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers, he was a producer from then out and now the main man when it comes to all things Haddonfield. The series now begins with “Malek Akkad Presents”. Why all the Halloween talk? Because he’s now taken to the director’s chair (First time since 2002) for Free Fall. Free Fall isn’t his first directorial work, but its his first feature film. I was immediately drawn to the prospect of seeing what he could do here. Continue reading ‘Free Fall (Blu-ray Review)’
This is just great. In a time where we get a lot of action movies designed to build into some sort of franchise, here comes John Wick, a film most likely designed to be a one-off attempt at showing an older Keanu Reeves kick ass in some very brutal ways. The film is bound to become an American cult action favorite, but the unexpected, yet the best thing that could happen is to see this film become a breakout success and lead to at least a reteaming of Reeves, writer Derek Kolstad, and directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. While John Wick is straight to the point with its story, there is enough in the way of character and world building (not to mention terrific action) that would make me happy to see these guys continue to make slick action flicks such as this.
So Ouija is a total bust. Not that I expected much from a horror film based on the spooky toy, once mass-marketed by Parker Brothers, but it amounts to nothing all that special or entertaining, just laughably dull. Something interesting to note is how so many old slasher films and even the recent Saw franchise, among other horror franchises, end up receiving similar bad review scores, but will go on to be remembered by cult audiences. No one will remember Ouija. That is the kind of movie it is. This is a thing that will come and go. It may have allowed work for some young actors and a decent job for the filmmakers involved, but that’s about it. Good on them for getting the film done, but yeah, it’s just a silly horror movie.
I normally don’t do this, nor have I ever done this before, but I can’t help it. I need to start this John Wick movie review off by quickly discussing the plot of the film from a very high level because it’s actually the very reason why I wanted to see this film. Keanu Reeves plays a former hitman that comes out of retirement to avenge the death of his dog. Yes, I said his dog! Now tell me, how awesome is that? I sound like a little girl here, but I dare to utter the words awesome sauce! I love animals so much, much more than most people in life, so when I learned of the premise of this film I just screamed YES! It’s exactly the kind of film I would go pay to see and given the right circumstance I too would totally extract revenge on someone if they purposely harmed one of my dogs. Let that be a warning to everyone. Haha. So what say you? Y’all ready to talk some John Wick? I am! Continue reading ‘‘John Wick’ Serves Revenge With Heated Attachment (Movie Review)’
When most people think of Mel Brooks, they always turn to the funny. Whether it be television with Get Smart or most notably his incredible directorial run of movies like The Producers, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and History Of The World: Part 1, that’s what he’s pretty much made his bread and butter on. However, he was also an active producer as well, and not limited to just comedy. Did you know Mel Brook produced David Lynch’s The Elephant Man? He indeed did. Scream Factory is releasing another film you wouldn’t think of being attached to Mel Brooks, but it is, called The Doctor And The Devils from 1985. It stars James Bond, Jean Luc Picard and Elliot Carver. Or Timothy Dalton, Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Pryce. Continue reading ‘The Doctor And The Devils (Blu-ray Review)’
After falling in love with the remake of I Spit on Your Grave a few years back I have subsequently fallen for Sarah Butler as a direct result too so while Brandon Peters works on the Blu-ray review of this within the week I look forward to checking this and her out one fine day. My initial thought is that this movie can either go one of two ways, suck or be decent, but I’m willing to gamble a couple hours of my life on it. How about you? Come on horror fans! It has Sarah Butler AND Malcolm McDowell in it! That’s like a two for one deal! So here’s the basics. They both star in Free Fall and the elevator terror flick will be unleashed on Blu-ray October 28th! But best of all…we have 2 FREE Blu-ray copies to give away! Check out the full press release below from Anchor Bay and find out how you can win yourself a copy! Continue reading ‘‘Free Fall’ Your Way Down While Winning A Blu-ray In Our Giveaway’
Well, the plan to release this teaser during ABC’s Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did not pan out the way it was intended, but regardless, here it is, the first full length teaser trailer for the upcoming Marvel epic, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Those who attended Comic Con will recognize some similarities to the footage presented there, but the biggest change is the increase in visual effects and the lack of any humor. This is a trailer that wants to show the darker tone that will come from the presence of Ultron and it is pretty exciting to see. The film hits theaters May 2015 and is easily one of the most anticipated films of next year. Continue on to check out the trailer and the new poster for the film.
Continue reading ‘No Strings Hold Down This Trailer For Marvel’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron’
I don’t think there is any real way around me saying that I am of mixed-race and have certain views towards humor that delves into race. Obviously I could just not mention this at all, but that seems like more of a disservice, when it comes to a review that focuses on a film satirizing racial politics on a college campus. While my experiences do not reflect the events that take place in Dear White People, I did have a level of understanding of the circumstances and walked away both very satisfied and somewhat angered, given how the film works in its provocation. The best way to look at Dear White People though, is as an examination of identity. It leans on certain points for the sake of a particular story, but this is a film about understanding one’s self versus what the masses understand. It also happens to feature some very fine filmmaking on display for a directorial debut.
Continue reading ‘‘Dear White People,’ You Cut Deep (Movie Review)’
I cannot say this is a film that has me super excited, but at the same time, I am sure it is probably pretty good. I reviewed the first Dolphin Tale on Blu-ray and found it to be fine. Everything I have heard about this sequel suggests the same, plus I still get Morgan Freeman, so it seems like a win. Dolphin Tale 2 is coming to Blu-ray and DVD on December 9th and it has a bunch of special features coming with it. This is another chapter in a story surrounding the true story of a dolphin who was rescued thanks to the work by people who care and some technological ingenuity. I have seen the trailer for this sequel and it certainly gives me some interesting thoughts on how it will turn out, but I will find out soon enough what is going on, when this Blu-ray becomes available, as will everyone that missed out on this top family film in theaters. Continue on to learn more about this upcoming release.
Continue reading ‘Dolphin Tale 2 Comes To Blu-ray This December!’
The provocative political documentary from the creators of 2016: Obama’s America,America: Imagine the World Without Her steps onto the world stage on Blu-ray from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The sixth-highest-grossing political documentary of all time, the film has been referred to as “important, inspiring, informative”. During its theatrical release, America: Imagine the World Without Her joined the ranks of critically acclaimed films like Schindler’s List, The Godfather, Forrest Gump and Dances with Wolves by earning one of only 52 A+ Cinema Score ratings in the last 29 years, the benchmark for audience reactions. That’s some pretty high praise given. Though if you wander on over to Rotten Tomatoes, you’ll see it has an 8% critic score and an 88% audience score. Okay, so the film’s not unscathed, but my what a difference in opinion. Continue reading ‘America: Imagine The World Without Her (Blu-ray Review)’
A Letter To Momo marks director Hiroyuki Okiura’s first film in eleven years. It was a passion project for the man, spending seven years in its production with scripting, storyboards, directing and all sorts of planning. The film made its debut in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival, and it wasn’t shown in the United States until March 2012 at the New York International Children’s Film Festival. The film seemed to resonate with most critics and audiences alike globally. A Letter To Momo was also spun off into its own series of manga comics shortly after it started showing in theaters and festivals back in 2011. Oddly enough, its now 2014 and the film is finally coming here to Blu-ray. So, I guess the wait is over for those who have been eager to see it. Continue reading ‘A Letter To Momo (Blu-ray Review)’
So the end is coming. Mad Men has been a huge success in its many years on the air, but the show is finally coming to a close via a seventh season that has been split into halves. At this point, I can only imagine that people are either with this series or not, regardless of the massive acclaim it has received over the years. I say that, because Mad Men has a unique style and handle on how it proceeds, so I personally continue to be happy with how the series plays out, especially given how much enjoyment I get from seeing the journey of these characters. With that in mind, series creator Matthew Weiner has certainly gotten enough in order to provide a very satisfying half of a season, with some terrific episodes and enough movement of the pieces to bring us to true closure, once the series comes to an end next year. For now, we can enjoy the Blu-ray for part one of the final season.
Continue reading ‘Mad Men: The Final Season Part 1 (Blu-ray Review)’
SNL alumni Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader reunite in the acclaimed comedy The Skeleton Twins, arriving on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and On Demand on December 16th from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. The movie will also be available on Digital HD starting December 2nd. The winner of Best Screenplay at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival and described by Rolling Stone as “hilarious and heart-crushingly real,” the film also stars Luke Wilson (Old School) and Ty Burrell (TV’s “Modern Family”), is written by Craig Johnson (True Adolescents) & Mark Heyman (Black Swan) and is directed by Craig Johnson. As one who was a big fan of the film (Review HERE), I am excited for more to see this little treasure, when it arrives on Blu-ray. Continue on to read more about this upcoming release.
2014 is just flying by as we are already in my favorite coveted month of October. The leaves have started to turn red and yellow and the ghosts and goblins are out there creeping about. This short list is made up of my favorite horror films that I like to watch during the Halloween holiday season. A slice of pumpkin pie and nice pumpkin craft ale and a nice horror movie hits the spot perfectly. This obviously isn’t a comprehensive but just a tasty sampler of films that are relatively short in running time but hit you right in your fear spot. In any event sit back and enjoy my Top-3 Halloween Horror Treats!
Squirm is a film that I had never truly seen in its entirety before. I had caught scenes of it on television at different times (Maybe not even knowing what the movie was). It was a popular late night cable movie in the 80s and early 90s. Also, as a big fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, I know this film as one of the final episodes of the entire series (And the films are heavily edited for that as well). The director Jeff Lieberman also directed one of my all time favorite slashers a few years after Squirm called Just Before Dawn (Which I reviewed last year). Don Scardino is mostly known now for what he’s directed, but I’ll always remember him from another slasher film called He Knows You’re Alone (Also the feature film debut of none other than Hollywood legend, the one the only Tom Hanks). Thanks to Scream Factory, I’m finally getting to see Squirm in its slimy entirety thanks to this new collector’s edition. Continue reading ‘Squirm – Collector’s Edition (Blu-ray Review)’