All too many times Hollywood uses the phrase “Once in a Lifetime” to describe a film that we’ve encountered way too many times before, but finally, a director and film studio have come thru and brought us a film like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Boyhood is that film and it just might be the best movie you will see all year. Directed by industry legend Richard Linklater, the film is a true labor of love. The film, shot intermittently over a twelve-year period, follows a young boy named Mason through his childhood from first grade (age 6) thru his high school graduation (age 18). It’s a documented journey that will most likely never be duplicated in our lifetime and one that will resonate with each viewer for decades to come. Read More →
Category Archives: Bluray/DVD
Michael’s Review: ‘Black November’- No Price is Too High For Justice
What price would you pay to stand up for what you believe is right? That’s the question posed by director Jeta Amata in this politically charged drama set in Nigeria. The film, which is a fiction based on actual events, explores the rise of a movement for change after an oil spill tragedy leaves hundreds dead and the living left to pick up the pieces. The voices of the few willing to stand up for their rights echoed loud and act as a rallying cry for a region. This is their story. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Michael Radford’s ‘Elsa & Fred’ Is Uneven But Proves Shirley MacLaine & Christopher Plummer Still Have It
Films for adults are fewer and far between these days. No superheroes? Not based on a bestselling young adult novel? Too bad, so sad. There are a couple that squeak through the system, though, and Michael Radford‘s Elsa & Fred was among them. With an all-star cast including Oscar winners Shirley MacLaine, Christopher Plummer and Marcia Gay Harden along with George Segal, James Brolin, Scott Bakula and Chris Noth you have the making of a pretty good movie in names alone. Does the film live up to the cast, though? Read More →
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Michael’s Review: ‘After The Fall’- What Would You Do to Survive?
What would you do if your life was suddenly thrown into turmoil and you could no longer support your family? That’s the premise of the new film from first time director Saar Klein who explores the basic human needs and survival instincts of a man on the brink and the mental toll that the subject experiences throughout his change. Can you justify your actions when you know that what you are doing is wrong? After The Fall will leave you wondering what you would do. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Robert May’s ‘Kids for Cash’ is Heartbreaking, Infuriating and Incredibly Important
I’m going to put this bluntly – this film pissed me off, made me incredibly angry. I don’t know how it couldn’t. This isn’t a reaction to the technical merits of the film, which are quite well presented, nor is it the narrative focus itself. This is a story that needed to be told. The fact that what happened in this movie happened at all is what angers me. The abuse of power that is so prevalent in the world today – taking advantage of others so that a select group of already well-off people can get more – turns my stomach. Robert May‘s Kids for Cash details one of these scenarios and it is heartbreaking. Read More →
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Liz’s Review: The Blu-Ray and DVD release of ‘Alive Inside’- Proof that music is a magic medicine
Music is life’s breath. When you attend a concert, there a thousands of people from different backgrounds, races, religions, ages, what have you. Everyone has one thing in common; they are all connecting to the music. In the emotionally charged and viscerally compelling documentary ALIVE INSIDE, is finally coming to Blu-Ray and DVD. Minutes into this film you will realize why I say what I do. Just for an example, check out the clip from the movie that got the world talking. Rest of the world; May I introduce Henry and ALIVE INSIDE. Read More →
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Melissa’s Bluray Review: ‘Maleficent’ is Just as Impressive on the Small Screen
Even though I saw Maleficent in theaters, I was still captivated when watching at home. From the opening moment, the visuals are breathtaking and the music sweeps you into the world of Maleficent. Read More →
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Jeremy’s Review: Doc ‘The Hornet’s Nest’ Is an Incredibly Intimate Look at the Toll of Combat
I’m not a fan of war. I think I’m in the vast majority when I say that. Despite the best of intentions, war is ugly and far too often, innocent people die because of it. On top of that, we lose many of our best and brightest. Fighting in the military is a calling to which few answer and it affects those who do for the rest of their lives, some profoundly, others quite the opposite. So when we are allowed a look into this world as people who are so far removed from what is happening on the battlefield (if it’s really even called that any more), it is jarring, harrowing and overwhelming. There have been a glut of films released about US involvement in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since our incursions in both places dating back to 2001 and 2003 respectively. Some have been pro-military action, others not so much and some have taken no stance but simply told us of the human element involved in the operations. Poignant and incredibly respectful, The Hornet’s Nest is the latter.
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Melissa’s Bluray Review: James McAvoy Is Outrageously Intense In ‘Filth’
Look out, Filth is worth every bit of that R rating, in sight as well as sound. If you’re still up for it, what follows is a heartbreaking, devastatingly intimate and intense performance by James McAvoy.
Released last fall in Scotland, Ireland and England, Filth was dropped on American audiences only a few short months ago. Liz and I actually attended a special screening in May, where James McAvoy and Imogen Poots introduced the film. It was a star-studded event with Patrick Stewart and David Bowie amongst the crowd. Vanessa Redgrave inadvertently held the door for me. It was quite the moment. Oh, who’s that? Why it’s Parker Posey. Yeah, it was a good time.
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Michael’s Review: ‘The Damned’ Don’t You Leave Your Kid in the Basement..They’ll git cha!
Peter Facinelli (The Twilight Saga) stars in this supernatural horror film directed by genre veteran, Víctor García. Written by Richard D’Ovidio (The Call), the story follows David Reynold (Facinelli), a man widowed from his Colombia-born wife, whose teenage daughter Jill (Nathalia Ramos) decides to spend her summer in Bogota with her aunt Gina (Carolina Guerra). After finding new love and deciding on marrying again, David flies to Bogota with his new fiancée (Sophia Myles) to bring his daughter back to the states to attend his wedding.
After arriving and reuniting with his daughter, David finds that bringing his daughter home will be a little harder than he anticipated. Accompanied by Jill’s Colombian boyfriend Ramon (Sebastian Martínez), David and company travel to retrieve some of Jill’s belongings, but the group has a car accident in the mountains of Bogota which leaves them stranded. As the group search for shelter to ride out a torrential rain storm, they come across a rundown inn whose proprietor, Felipe (Gustavo Angarita), is a tad bit reluctant to take in the group of travelers. After Jill and Ramon discover the old innkeeper has locked a young girl in the basement, they make a decision to set her free. But what they unleash is more than they could have possibly imagined. Read More →
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Michael’s Review: ‘Aftermath’- How Would You Spend Your Final Days?
What would you do if the country, as you know it, was thrown into chaos after a nuclear attack and how would you live out your remaining days? That’s the questions posed to us in this apocalyptic drama by director Peter Engert. Aftermath explores the results of a government-less United States after detonation and how general population would react during and after the blast. It’s a film not entirely too original, but one albeit that attempts to offer a more human dynamic than many previous incarnations of this horror subgenre. Read More →
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