Movieman's Guide to the Movies
The Final Word on Physical Media
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a fantastic drama featuring Maggie Smith who shows why she received her Academy Award for Best Actress. It’s an amazing performance to go along with the supporting cast including Celia Johnson, Pamela Franklin and Robert Stephens.
Continue reading “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Blu-ray Review”
Inherit the Wind is one of Stanley Kramer’s best films amongst an already amazing filmography and features a fine performance by Spencer Tracy.
Dolphin Tale 2 is an unnecessary sequel but a harmless one with a wholesome message and something families will immensely enjoy especially young ones. The performances are pretty basic but having a couple respectable actors like Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman helps elevate a thin script and predictable story.
With The Night Porter, I might be in the minority, but despite a good premise and set-up, I found this to be utterly dull and boring to the point where I nearly dozed off a time or two. For sure the performances by Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling were fantastic but the pacing was slow and on the whole, I just didn’t find it very engaging.
While this season, and the series as a whole, had a few clunkers, the vast majority of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was a fun ride culminating with a satisfying quasi-series finale (Star Trek: Generations would be released 6 months later) thanks to a stellar cast who had wonderful chemistry with one another.
Continue reading “Star Trek: The Next Generation: Season Seven Blu-ray Review”
Heaven and Earth is another passion project for Oliver Stone and while it never quite gels together was a war-drama, the performances for the most part are good and the cinematography was utterly fantastic.
Kite had some potential but only as a competent copy of any number of Luc Besson produced and directed films in spite of an admirable performance by lead actress India Eisley.
I’m happy that Warner, through their Archive line, released “Young Justice”: Invasion as a companion to the first season. It’s a great show through and through with excellent action, engaging storylines and nice animation.
Continue reading “Young Justice: Invasion (Season 2) Blu-ray Review”
While Stonehearst Asylum never quite reaches its full potential, the film does succeed with an admirable cast and fine performances from Jim Sturgess, Kate Beckinsale and, especially, Ben Kingsley who alone is well worth the time investment.
Jingle All the Way 2 is another unfunny “comedic” vehicle for Larry the Cable Guy to do this schtick and I hated just about every minute of this movie. Simply put, it’s another pointless DTV movie that’s not in the least bit entertaining and I cannot stress enough to pass this one by, if only to save your soul.
Into the Woods is apparently a popular Broadway musical – and is getting a big screen Disney adaptation starring Anna Kendrick, Johnny Depp and Chris Pine – but having never seen it before, I found it enjoyable for a musical (not a fan, personally) yet the Blu-ray released by Image is downright terrible with no features and, especially, one of the worst video transfers I’ve come across.
Lord of Illusions is an uneven yet admirable little supernatural-thriller-horror that Barker himself described as a cross between Chinatown and The Exorcist, and although in the end I wasn’t that enthralled, the director’s cut is still well worth checking out.
Bird Man of Alcatraz is certainly a lengthy film clocking in damn near 3 hours, but the performance from Burt Lancaster is phenomenal and the subject matter in itself is interesting, that being said, not sure when I’d revisit it, but hopefully soon.
The Giver is a perfectly acceptable sci-fi suspense/thriller but outside of being passable, it doesn’t really offer much else, although Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep both help keep it afloat from a story that falls a bit short in terms of weight.
What If excels on its two leads in Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan as well as a great supporting cast, rather than sharp, witty dialogue or even the plot which has been done in the past, including 500 Days of Summer. Still, it’s well worth a watch.