Movieman's Guide to the Movies
The Final Word on Physical Media
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.
1987’s Dolls is an incredibly fun, if not somewhat cheesy, horror flick that is one to watch with friends to have an even better time. The cast is great working together especially Carrie Lorraine who’s not bad for a child actor.
This “Garfield”: Holiday Collection is perfect for the fans as these aren’t the easiest to find and to have five of them on one disc, to go along with a fun interview with Jim Davis, makes for a nice set and well worth the price especially at or below the $15 SRP.
The “Robot Chicken”: Christmas Specials collection is geared more toward casual fans as, from what I can tell, everything on this disc was previously released in some fashion in the season sets, features included. The DVD itself has OK audio and video while the commentaries are at least entertaining.
Continue reading “Review: Robot Chicken: Christmas Specials DVD”
This classic film from perennial filmmaker Otto Preminger is a haunting tale filled with amazing performances from its core cast headed by the great Laurence Olivier while Carol Lynley is mesmerizing in the starring role.
Judgment at Nuremberg is an engrossing, engaging and thought provoking court room drama featuring incredible performances from Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark.
Flaming Star is a different sort of film from Elvis Presley who gives a nice performance in an otherwise OK western (which admittedly is not my favorite genre)
The Twilight Samurai released by Twilight Time is a well made film headlined by a great performance by Hidoyuki Sanada and a strong core story and characters.
Going on 11 seasons, “Two and a Half Men” has shown its age although it never was my brand of humor, though Chuck Lorre-created series rarely are, but when Charlie Sheen was canned and with the departure of Angus T. Jones, even the inclusion of Amber Tamblyn couldn’t help liven up dried up jokes and half-assed plotlines.
Continue reading “Review: Two and a Half Men: The Complete Eleventh Season DVD”
Squirm is gleefully cheesy and although it is pretty bad, it’s one of those so bad, it’s good films which got ribbed on “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” although I would suggest watching this version first as the “MST3K” one edited out the gory parts.
Continue reading “Squirm: Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Review”
Jersey Boys is clearly a passion project for producer/director Clint Eastwood and although the cast perform admirably enough, I never quite found the feature that engrossing but admittedly, I also don’t have much of a connection with the music or the group, so those who do (older crowd) might get more out of the movie than others.
A Most Wanted Man isn’t as great of a movie that I’m sure the filmmakers felt it was but, however, it does excel mostly on the shoulders of the late (and great) Phillip Seymour Hoffman along with an commendable supporting cast including Rachel McAdams and Robin Wright, the latter who was underutilized.
It’s clear that Deepsea Challenge is a passion project for James Cameron and being one of the richest filmmakers, he can afford to, at least partially, finance an expedition of this magnitude, creating new devices to reach further depths than every explored before.