The Ocean’s Trilogy finally makes its debut on 4K Ultra HD and both the video and audio transfers are solid upgrades over the old 2007 Blu-ray release and although a new retrospective featurette would’ve been nice.
The Godfather Trilogy is another (almost) great set from Paramount with a plethora of bonus features and excellent video and audio transfers. My only qualm is, like the DVD set, they’ve gone back to the cardboard digi-pak which means you’re SOL if any of them get damaged.
House of Gucci is hardly a bad movie but it is unnecessarily long and I personally found the Italian accents from most of the cast to be a bit cartoonish, and I don’t believe that was Ridley Scott’s intention.
Does The Godfather Coda fix all of the issues from Part III? For the most part I’d say yes viewing this as an epilogue does help matters.
The Irishman was a little disappointing if only for the amount of praise the film received from both the professional and regular everyday movie-watchers, however it was great to see three veteran actors together.
Glengarry Glen Ross, after all these years still holds up so well, with sharp, pointed dialogue that only David Mamet can write without coming across as pretentious. Beyond that, top notch performances all around, especially Jack Lemmon.
Scarface might not rank up there with other classics in the crime-drama genre, but it’s a great film combining the talents of Oliver Stone’s scriptwriting and Brian De Palma’s direction, alongside the performances by Pacino, Pfeiffer and Mastrantonio.
Cruising is a pretty tough movie to sit through with some dark subject matter that I predict wouldn’t go over too well even today, even so, Al Pacino and Paul Sorvino both give strong performances.
Hangman is just another in a long line of forgettable thrillers you probably pass on by at your local Wal-Mart and while this one does at least star Al Pacino and Karl Urban, I’m not entirely sure it’s worthwhile, though I suppose there were worse movies out there to watch.
Scarecrow is a bit of a gem, one that I honestly never heard of though I guess it’s easy to get lost amongst the 1970s classics like The Godfather, Rocky, Taxi Driver and A Clockwork Orange just to name a few. Hopefully with this Blu-ray it will be re-discovered.
Bobby Deerfield is a slow paced drama that’s more character than sports (so don’t expect Grand Prix) but with Al Pacino’s usual piercing performances make the film well worth checking out.
The Panic in Needle Park is a grim, sometimes hard to watch drama that gives insight into drug addiction and the power it holds. The film features one heck of a performance by Al Pacino marking his first leading role and Kitty Winn keeps up with Pacino is a number of scenes.
I’d say I was vastly disappointed with Misconduct considering the cast the filmmaker managed to gather but I’ve been reviewing too long to give my hopes up and the studio of late hasn’t had a the best of track records but with the likes of Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins, even in the late stages of their careers, you’d think the script would’ve been better.
The Humbling is a quiet and oft dull drama but Al Pacino and Greta Gerwig both give solid performances so for fans of either, with a couple good scenes, it might be worth a rental but nothing more. The Blu-ray released by Millennium Entertainment provides for good video and audio transfers but a throwaway making-of featurette.
Any Given Sunday is an engaging movie that many sports, especially NFL, will enjoy and not only holds up today, but kind of predicts a few trends that have permeated college and pro football.