Movieman's Guide to the Movies
The Final Word on Physical Media
Henry V is yet another fine Kenneth Branagh Shakespearian drama with great performances all around including future Dame Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and Emma Thompson while Christian Bale makes an appearance in one of his early roles. The Blu-ray released by Shout Factory has good audio, merely acceptable video but sadly no features.
7 Assassins is not the best martial arts film but the acting I guess isn’t bad and it does have admirable set designs, but the story doesn’t quite gel. That being said, it might be worth a rental if one can find it. The DVD released by Lionsgate is pretty basic with good video/audio transfers but unfortunately no bonus materials were included.
This revival of the “Dallas” wasn’t great but it offered solid entertainment in the form of primetime soap opera storylines and characters. The acting also was fine headed by Patrick Duffy and Josh Henderson with the rest holding their own.
Continue reading “Review: “Dallas”: The Complete Third Season”
While well intentioned, The Color of Time is basically a student film, by Franco’s pupils, with high level actors filling the roles. The story isn’t that well written and all in all just not that interesting. The DVD released by Anchor Bay is very basic with no features and so-so video and audio transfers.
Gone Girl is hardly David Fincher’s strongest film and arguably might not be in his top 5, but there’s much to admire in spite of a momentum killing third act from the performances by Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, the suspension early on and the atmosphere Fincher and company establish.
Lost Legion might have admirable costumes and props but otherwise this is community theater-level of quality when it comes to the performances with more than a few were over-the-top and utterly laughable, though not helped by terrible dialogue. The DVD released by Lionsgate is yet more filler for the studio destined for the $5 dump bin at your local Wal-Mart but even that price is far too much…
The Longest Week has a great cast and an interesting story, but the execution was off and seemed to draw from other, often better, movies and filmmakers like P.T. Anderson and Woody Allen, the latter especially. If you can get over the pretentious nature of the two male leads then it might be worth a rental, otherwise skip this misfire of a drama-comedy.
By the Gun is a well intentioned but ultimately lifeless and clichéd crime-drama. Ben Barnes turns in a fine performance and anytime we see Harvey Keitel is a treat but otherwise the writing isn’t up to snuff and the direction is relatively standard.
Jimi: All is By My Side might’ve had the best of intentions and despite an admirable performance from Andre Benjamin, who was clearly 10 years too old to play Hendrix, this was a misfire that began when the Hendrix estate wouldn’t allow the use of his music which right there should’ve cancelled the project.
A Walk Among the Tombstones is an uneven crime-drama but its saving grace is with Liam Neeson who continues his success after his career resurgence following Taken. The story itself doesn’t quite work and the third act is a bit on the clichéd side, however, this might be worth a rental especially if you don’t mind a throwback thriller to the 1970s and 80s (think Charles Bronson).
Continue reading “A Walk Among the Tombstones Blu-ray Review”
One knows what they’re getting with a movie called Gnome Alone: a lot of bad puns, hamfest acting and so-so (at best) make-up effects. While I didn’t care very much for the movie, it does deserve the “MST3K” treatment and the lead actress Kerry Knuppe wasn’t bad considering the material she was given.
Jessabelle is plain and simply an unintentionally funny flick propped up primarily thanks to its star, Sarah Snoot who hopefully can find some better material as she wasn’t that bad making the film at least tolerable.
Supernova is somewhat of a controversial sci-fi thriller, some who stand by it while others trash it; for myself, there is some good to the film yet it never quite hits its stride and kind of loses its way by the final act. That said, it’s worth a watch if only for curiosity’s sake (plus Tunney looks mighty good).
88 is a different breed of the revenge plot with a lead actress who is great in a dual role, one squeaky clean, the other bad ass criminal, while it’s fun seeing Christopher Lloyd getting work again making a quasi resurgence appearing in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and a variety of DTV flicks. Outside of the acting, though, this is one of the more insane, and inane (with much love), films I’ve seen in some time and its one hell of a way to start 2015.
The Two Faces of January has its moments between the performances by its three leads (highlighted by Oscar Isaac), beautiful cinematography taking full advantage of its on-location shoot and a genuine Hitchcock-esque vibe. However, the pacing is a bit off and the story could’ve used some more work, but all in all, I found it to be an enjoyable little film worth a rental fee.