Happy National Boss’s Day with ‘The Internship’ on Blu-ray!
October 16th, 2013 by Blu-ray Brian
Happy National Boss’s Day! That’s right, today is the day you get to tell your boss how thrilled you are to work on Saturdays or on your sick day OR your vacation day or child’s birthday. LOL. You get the picture! To celebrate the special person in your life who signs your checks, as well as the Blu-ray and DVD release of The Internship, Fox has created the below fabulous ecards featuring Dylan O’Brien, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson! The Internship is available now on Digital HD and will be in stores nationwide on October 22 courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.Continue reading ‘Happy National Boss’s Day with ‘The Internship’ on Blu-ray!’
It is almost funny how long I put off actually writing a review for The Fifth Estate, the Bill Condon-directed film, which adapts two different books that focus on the news-leaking website WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. The delay is not because I had a lot to consider, after seeing the film. It is actually quite the opposite. The Fifth Estate left me feeling with almost nothing, as the film is all over the place in presentation, one-sided in its overall viewpoint, and stands more as a shell containing a great performance from stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Bruhl, which would break apart quite easily without them. It is unfortunate, as I believe there could have been a way to make this story more interesting, especially given the talent involved.
Horror icon Vincent Price has finally had the arrow of the magical Blu-ray wheel land on his name this year. Just recently his classics House of Wax and The Fly have been brought to the format. Now, masters of horror Blu-ray, Scream Factory have gotten their mits on 6 of his classic works. Four of them come from the famous Edgar Allan Poe/Roger Corman years. Scream Factory brings all new transfers of the films loaded with Commentaries, interviews and other goodies in this set. The highlight being these intros and outros filmed for an airing of his movies on PBS decades ago. For someone of my generation, stuff like this is how we were introduced to Vincent Price, so high marks for including these little gems. This set was a pretty big undertaking. So, let’s get started to see if this set is the perfect accompaniment for your Halloween season celebrations. 
I’m going to be completely honest with everyone here. The Conjuring flat out looked like a movie I would want to see upon first viewing of the film’s trailer earlier in the year. If I didn’t get into an early press screening of the film, then you’d better believe I would have laid down my hard earned cash to cover the price of admission. Before I even saw the flick, I believed The Conjuring had four main things going for it right out of the gate. First, word of mouth…it had received rave reviews from critics who were treated to special advanced showings of it. Second…James Wan! The man did Saw and Insidious, people! And now’s he graduating onto much larger things like the seventh Fast and Furious sequel. How grand is that? He’s a big boy with Universal now. Kudos! Third…Vera Farmiga. I love her in everything she does! She just brings it. 
I have a lot to say about Machete Kills, the latest Mexploitation film from director Robert Rodriguez. A lot of it may be negative, as the film, overall, tries too hard, despite having plenty of ideas and a wonderful ensemble cast, consisting of anyone who apparently had a free weekend at some point to come film with Rodriguez and his crew down at his studio. With that said, for whatever reason, I still know right now that I will easily see Machete Kills Again, when it eventually hits theaters. It is a strange thought to know that I am in the bag for the next installment of a series that seems to be getting worse, but I guess that just must be the power that Danny Trejo has over me.
There are many great moments in Captain Phillips, the drama that recreates the true story of a hijacking of a container vessel by Somali pirates that took place in 2009, based on the memoir of Captain Richard Phillips. One moment that comes to mind is a look that Tom Hanks gives during an early part of the film. It is a simple acknowledgment of something pivotal that is happening to his ship, but he finds exactly the right way to do this with just an expression on his face. This is an actor who has been working for over 30 years and still finds new ways to impress me. It could come down to the familiarity with ‘Tom Hanks the actor’, but he is able to say so much with a glance that it truly makes it all worthwhile when a film as good as Captain Phillips is manages to be anchored by very fine performance.
Machete Kills represents everything that’s wrong with Hollywood, sexploitation, extreme gore, bad dialogue, ridiculous plot and action sequences…you name it. But why do I love it so much?! Because it’s so much God d@mn fun! That’s why! If you can’t let go and have a fun time with a Machete flick, then you’re a robot! Loosen up. Let go of everything that makes sense in life. It’s perfectly acceptable to rip someone’s intestines out, jump out the window with them in tow and swing from them to the below building floor. Totally realistic! Right? Wrong! But who the hell cares?! This is Machete and this is the Austin’s prodigal son, Señor Robert Rodriguez. If you can’t respect that harmonious blend, then I have no reason to deal with you anymore. Move along. I’m sure there’s a Muppets review or two here on the site for you to look at. However, for everyone that’s serious in having a “grindhouse” of a good time, stick around…this one’s going to be fun, nonsensical and everything irrational as we discuss the second film in the planned trilogy, Machete Kills. Hold onto you inners, here we go! 
All The Boys Love Mandy Lane can now be finally seen by all. The first thing to really say is ‘Mandy Lane’ is an effective horror feature that trades in true originality for solid horror craftsmanship. There is a lot one can unpack in explaining the history behind how this film made back in 2006 is just now being released, but I see no need to really do so. The best I can do in this regard is stating how great a double feature of All The Boys Love Mandy Lane and You’re Next would be, as far as ‘good horror movies with troubled distribution history’ go. There may have been a delay, but the film certainly stands on its own as far as being a solid entry in the genre.
When vampire horror aficionados talk about cult classics in the genre that were released in the early days of the DVD platform, one title that’s often on the tip of thier salacious tongues is Alyssa Milano’s Embrace of the Vampire. No, it’s not written or directed or even produced by the former Who’s The Boss? star, but that’s not the point. This movie is the embodiment of Alyssa Milano in every which way. You see, this film was very taboo back in the day, and while it may be tame compared to today’s standards back in 1995 the MPAA wore even tighter panties as they swore up and down and reluctantly agreed to a rated R-rating for strong sexuality, violence and language. There was also a more graphic version of the film, which is only 1 minute longer than the previously mentioned rated-R cut, and it’s billed as unrated. And I’ll be the first to admit, that when the DVD platform launched back in the 90’s and Amazon was the buzz of the world, this title was among the first DVD’s I purchased and proudly owned in my collection (it contained both the rated and unrated versions). 
I remember when our Paramount PR peson first sent me the trailer to this film, I checked it out instantly and my curiosity was elevated immediately. It had such a twisted and convoluting plot line that I thought this just has to be interesting. I resisted reading any reviews or checking it out On Demand in hopes that in time it would receive a proper Blu-ray release and as I found out today it will this December…the 10th to be exact. Yea! So for anyone that’s interested in this provocative drama starring Naomi Watts and Robin Wright, make sure you check out the full press release below for more information and heck oh why not…
