Alan Partridge (Blu-ray Review)
I have made it clear in other reviews that I am a big fan of Steve Coogan. Between his great comedic work in England and America, his performances in Michael Winterbottom features such as 24 Hour Party People and The Trip, and his move to more dramatic work in films like Philomena, I think he is a genuine talent all around. Alan Partridge or Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (as it is titled outside the U.S.) is Coogan’s return to the character that gave him plenty of notoriety. This is a film version, based around the fictional news personality, putting him in the place of a radio DJ/former talk show host and an action plot that unfolds around him. It is hilarious and while this Blu-ray limits the great extras that should have come with it, this is a very funny movie for people to check out.
This past Thursday night I finally got the chance to sit down with George Dawe, a 51-year-old actor and stuntman (you can check out his IMDB page 
How does one approach reviewing a movie like Transformers: Age of Extinction? It ultimately does not matter too much, as this Michael “Boom Boom” Bay-directed franchise has no real problem turning a profit, even while critics and a certain percentage of audiences chuck nothing but garbage its way. This is the fourth installment of the series and while all of the human actors from the past three films have been tossed aside in favor of a new cast, Michael Bay has not moved away from what he has done in the previous installments. There is some directorial evolution, sure, but this is still an overlong exercise in big-budgeted spectacle. Really though, it comes down to what I expected to see and the film with a poster that features one robot riding on the back of a dinosaur-shaped robot gave me a pretty big clue of what I was in for.
For those of you itching to get a first look at Marvel’s upcoming Guardians Of The Galaxy, you’ll get your chance to see 17 minutes of it on July 7 at participating IMAX theaters. Keep reading on reading to find out all the details! Oooga Chacka!
The Saturn Awards sure knows how to pick ’em as we both agree the Halloween 35th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray from last year was one of the year’s best. It was among my personal #1 of 2013 (I picked all John Carpenter releases and tied them together). Saturn maybe should have waited a year for the box set, haha. Or maybe the Halloween franchise can rake in back to back wins. This 35th Anniversary Edition was most notable because they got Dean Cundey to come back and get the color timing right and approve the image to be near identical to its theatrical release. And my, it looked absolutely fantastic. Almost like seeing it for the first time. There was one scratch most had on the release, and that was the lack of the original mono track. Fear not, it WILL be reinserted on the upcoming box set. Below is Anchor Bay’s statement on this great feat. Congrats! 
Let it be known before we get started here that I wanted nothing to do with this fourth film in the Michael Bay Transformers franchise. The last two, minus seeing Megan Fox and her clubbed thumbs in the second film, were absolute crud. How many times can we see the same story repeated over and over again? Decepticons come down and want to destroy the Earth. Big effing deal! Yawn. I have seen it all before. And from the looks of the trailers that have aired, going into this one, I expected more of the same with just a different looking cast. However, the curator of toys in me really couldn’t pass this press screening opportunity up to see if Michael Bay got any better in the storytelling department or not. One thing for sure, Bay won’t let you down in the hot women department. With 19-year old Nicola Peltz taking center stage, Transformers: Age of Extinction had at least that much going for it before the lights even dimmed Tuesday evening. 
I really don’t understand the big studio distributors sometimes. I really don’t. It feels like they really hold back on some things that really doesn’t make sense or they flat our will release something without a care in the world given to it instead of letting an independent distributor actually make a release worth purchasing that will bring about praise and better sales. Universal Studios Home Entertainment had the chance this week to put a GIANT GIANT cherry on top of this incredible vintage horror fans’ September box set release cake and they instead smashed a giant pie in our faces. I am so disappointed about their two home video announcements in the last 24 hours that I’ve taken to my Why So Blu soapbox to sit and whine about it. So, click on or scroll down and let me give you the rundown and then we’ll discuss. 
I’m gonna go with comedy again this week to finish out the month of June. And I’m digging into that of the teen variety, picking one of my favorites of that subgenre from the 90s. Its a film I kind of have a nostalgia for and I think is a solid film that not many people probably got a chance to see in the 90s. It also made a whopping $309 at the box office (costing $15 million).
I’ll be the first to admit, when Scream Factory announced they were doing Lake Placid, I was kinda like “Hmm”. For one, it was a newer film (weird to call a 15 year old film that), but as we’ve seen they are starting to explore late 90s and early 2000s films. I remember watching it back when it came out on video and not really caring for it. I haven’t seen it since. It’s spawned some straight to SyFy Channel sequels over the years though. What’s great is that I get to revisit this film with fresh eyes and an older, wiser mind. I don’t think I fully grasped or appreciated films like this back when I was 17, so I feel I obviously went in realizing it was probably on me last time and I may have not been on the same wavelength as this film on my initial outing. 
Image Entertainment, an RLJ Entertainment (NASDAQ: RLJE) brand, brings you All Cheerleaders Die, available on Blu-ray and DVD on July 22, 2014. Co-Directed and Co-Written by Lucky McKee (May, The Woman) and Chris Sivertson (Brawler), the film stars Caitlin Stasey (CW’s “Reign”), Sianoa Smit-McPhee (Showtime’s “Hung”), Brooke Butler, Amanda Grace Cooper, Reanin Johannink and Tom Williamson. All Cheerleaders Die is available on Blu-ray.
As everyone knows, I’m a big fan of these VHS to Blu-ray releases. No DVD? No problem. I don’t like films to be lost, missing or unavailable in the physical formats. I also take pure joy in seeing what a film was originally intended to look like when all I’ve had to reference for years was a ratty VHS copy. The Final Terror is a double bonus because its also an early 80s slasher film and I take much joy in watching and collecting them. Scream Factory doesn’t give it a collector’s edition, but it does show this edition plenty of love. Heck, I almost think some of this “smaller” releases they do have enough bonus material on them that I think they could get away with calling them a “collector’s edition” and nobody would raise a finger. Just having it to the format with a trailer and a commentary might be special enough for some of these cult items alone. 
Wow, we’re almost nearing the end of getting all the Star Trek: The Next Generation seasons out on Blu-ray. Quite an incredible journey its been through the three seasons of the original crew and now six with TNG. Nine seasons of television with a tenth on the horizon. This sixth season faced a brief delay as it was originally scheduled to come out earlier in the month, but no bother, a couple weeks isn’t much to wait. As per usual, this season is accompanied by a separate, more “sampler”-esque or collector’s item Blu-ray that only contains the in-season two parter, Chain Of Command parts I and II. This penultimate season might be known a bit more for the guest appearance of original series cast member James Doohan reprising his role of Montgomery Scott for an episode. 
1982 is one of my favorite years in movie history. Not only was I born that year, but we got a lot of goodies that we look fondly back at and revere as “classics” now, even if some may not have been back then. The film we’re talking about today isn’t really one of those I’d be referring to, but like the rest, has achieved success as a cult classic since its rather uninspiring opening and lackluster critic and audience appreciation. Deadly Eyes (also known as Night Eyes according to the print of the film and also elsewhere simply as Rats) is definitely a fun little production that after a few years marinating and from its relevancy becomes a pretty enjoyable film of the midnight movie variety. With a group of the right friends and the right vibes, this one easily can please given the scenario. Dogs in rat suits. What’s not to love? 
Hot on the heels of The Protector 2 coming to Blu-ray, why don’t we just toss Tony Jaa’s other franchise in a box set and put that on Blu-ray too! Good? GOOD! I’m wondering with the timing of these movies and the month they are getting released, if they weren’t strategically placed a while back in order to cash in on Fast & Furious 7 which was supposed to come out in July and they just ended up saying “screw it, release them anyway”. Who knows? What I do know is that this is awesome news and those of you who have not checked out Tony Jaa’s work should start right here with this series. Below is a bit of information from the studio as well as the Amazon pre-order link. 
I was late to the Portlandia party, but once I began I couldn’t stop and rifled through the first 3 seasons as quick as I had the time for them. I didn’t manage to watch Season 4 as it aired, but alas, here it comes on DVD for me to check out. This show consists of some incredibly funny sketch comedy, rivaling that of the legendary Mr. Show series in its style and execution. There’s some really great guest spots and super fun recurring characters that populate this show’s depiction of Portland, Oregon. It’s coming to that former top format DVD on August 26. Pre-order now and read the details of this release from VSC when you scroll down. 
