Live by Night was Ben Affleck’s passion project that, ironically, lacked a whole lot of passion on screen mixed in with a hodgepodge of a plot, far too many side characters and performances that didn’t quite connect on screen despite the talent assembled.
Although 3 out of the 4 movies in these are, well, utter crap, this Wishmaster Collection is a well done addition to the Vestron Collector’s Series and includes some excellent new bonus material for the first film
Passengers might’ve been slammed by critics, was a quasi bust at the box office given its budget and had a misleading marketing campaign, but I for one really enjoyed the lonely aspect of the story that tends to appeal to me and has an interesting premise.
Moana is a fantastic musical animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios and maybe one of the best by the studio since Beauty and the Beast, though in general Pixar is still king with pulling at the heartstrings.
Ghost in the Shell is a well done, beautifully animated anime that not only was the inspiration behind The Matrix but has garnered a large following as well as numerous incarnations both television series and a sequel.
Man Down does shine light on the important subject of PTSD for returning soldiers and as commendable as that is, it’s unfortunate the screenplay does it little justice but I will say Shia LaBeouf’s performance is amazing and it does feature a respectable supporting cast.
There’s no question When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth is not a very good movie but even as one trying to ride the coattails of One Million Years B.C., it fails on that level as well. The only plus I found was for the impressive special effects (for its time), only a shame the story and acting wasn’t good.
Solace was one of the better surprises of this young 2017 year (even though it was technically released on a limited level in late 2016). Even so, I found it to be a compelling suspense-thriller with some fine performances from Hopkins, Morgan and Farrell and well worth at least a rental.
While my opinion of RoboCop 2 dramatically changed, RoboCop 3 is still a crappy movie made by well intentioned filmmakers. The story itself is fine but the loss of Peter Weller was felt and like most movies that add kids into the mix (Alien 3), it’s rarely a good thing.
As Collector’s Editions go from Shout Factory, this might be the weaker of the bunch (only by comparison to the others), but this RoboCop 2 does contain a few actual features including a nice audio commentary and five solid featurettes delving into the origins and making of the sequel.
Trolls is one of those half-baked animated features that might feature nice animation, it’s something that’s probably geared more towards kids and has little to offer their parents; on the plus side, the voice acting wasn’t bad.
Shut In is the latest film I’ve seen that should’ve gone direct-to-video and one that if not for its star, Naomi Watts, might’ve been unwatchable as the script is filled with cliché after cliché and was predictable from beginning to end.
This Robert Zemeckis helmed WWII romance-drama doesn’t exactly live up to its potential. While the production and costume designs were impressive, I found the performances particularly that of Brad Pitt, to be stilted and a story that failed to connect emotionally.
Trespass Against Us was on the disappointing side story-wise as I didn’t quite find it compelling but due to the performances by Fassbender and Gleeson, it certainly makes it at least watchable if not also on the forgettable side on the whole.
Incarnate wasn’t terrible but was entirely forgettable and only bearable thanks to Aaron Eckhart who for some reason agreed to this turkey of a supernatural-horror flick that somehow made to the big screen albeit for a short time.