The Final Word on Physical Media
“Beware the Batman”: Season One, Part One is an interesting entry into the series with some fun CGI animation, good voice performances and some innovative inventions in the Dark Knight’s arsenal to the point I hope can be integrated into the new franchise. Still, it’s not perfect and of course doesn’t come close to “The Animated Series”, but if you can look past the big changes, it’s an entertaining ride.
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Sparks is certainly an unconventional comic book movie and considering the shoe-string budget and lightning speed schedule, it’s not a half-bad little flick with two solid performances from Chase Williamson and Ashley Bell. The DVD release offers adequate video and audio transfers while the bonus material is mostly forgettable.
Ice Soldiers is a cheap and quick release from Sony, a movie that somehow got financing. The story is terrible, the acting bad except maybe for Ironside who is woefully underutilized, and it’s just an all around boring-ass movie whereupon I found more entertaining looking up at my ceiling than paying any attention to the plot.
The 300 Spartans is a extravagantly made war-drama with impressive costume and set designs to go along with the hundreds of extras.
MGM once again goes the well with this now Rocky: Heavyweight Collection which only has a remaster of the first film while the other 4 (Balboa already looks great) are left with old transfers which are nice but nothing notable. Except for a throwaway game, all of the features on the 7th disc have been ported over and placed on the Rocky disc so you’re not going to be missing anything.
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Killing Kennedy isn’t the best history drama as even at only 90-minutes does tend to drag but thanks to two strong performances from Rob Lowe (who deserved an Emmy nomination) and Will Rothaar, with special acknowledgement to Michelle Trachtenberg, this is a movie that is worth one viewing especially if you’re interested in getting the perspective of Oswald and his motivations.
Battle of the Damned is yet another poorly made direct-to-video action vehicle for Dolph Lundgren. The story has a been-there vibe, the acting from the supporting players is questionable and the effects are poor, though expected for the kind of budget this movie must’ve had.
Gravity is certainly one of the better movies, though not the best, to come out of 2013 and between the technological achievements by Alfonso Cuarón and the VFX crew, a taut story and Sandra Bullock’s performance, it’s one heck of a journey that I thoroughly enjoyed. It’s not a movie for everybody and admittedly Cuarón utilization of symbolism is at times a bit laughable, I still recommend this movie.
The Front is a welcoming drama seeing Woody Allen playing it mostly straight and sans his quirky persona he’s relied on over the years, albeit most of the time with success.
All is Lost features a top-notch and award-worthy performance from Robert Redford in an ambitious film from writer/director Chandor making a solid follow-up to Margin Call. I can easily say this is well worth a rental.
The Blue Max is a well made, and very long, war-adventure-drama featuring fine performances from George Peppard and James Mason and has well done flight fight scenes to be put on film for the time.
Last Vegas is a movie that despite a weak script and some predictability succeeds thanks to its core cast. It delivers what the posters and trailers promote and that’s seeing four legendary actors on screen together having a grand old time together and there’s not much more one should expect from a movie like this.
Twilight Time’s release of Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, a long ignored title within the MGM catalogue line, is a fun flick featuring excellent performances from Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges set against the beautifully photographed backdrop of the Midwest.
Diana relies on innuendo and rumors to complete a romantic story the bulk of which takes place between Diana and Hasnat but even leaving that aside, it’s not a well told story even from a dramatic point of view as it’s hardly effective even at the end which was supposed to be something tragic and heartbreaking.
Scarecrow is yet another terrible Syfy Original Movie that features, outside of the two leads, a no-name cast whose characters only serve to be flesh food for the villain but worst of all it’s just not that scary. This DVD release has no bonus material and although the video is average, the audio track does have some oomph to it.