Super 8 is yet another well made film by J.J. Abrams, a solid follow-up to the sci-fi reboot/re-imagining of Star Trek. The movie is certainly a nostalgic trip back to the 80s but Abrams puts his own stamp on it, albeit still with plenty of Spielberg’s influence.
The Great: Season One is a comedy-drama from Tony McNamara and stars Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult. The DVD arrives on October 20th and comes with two featurettes and a gag reel.
Trapped is an adequate enough thriller but nothing terribly notable outside of a nice cast headlined by Charlize Theron and Kevin Bacon. This is the third time, at least those in my collection, released by Mill Creek.
As a fan of Sofia Coppola, I was disappointed with The Beguiled, a film with paper-thin characters and a rather dull and trite plot that leads to an ineffectual finale. That said, I will give it some points for Farrell and Kidman’s performances and what production design I could see was well done.
3 Generations is a drama that on the surface is seemingly socially important but the final result is half-baked in its story although the performances are at least heartfelt, primarily Elle Fanning.
20th Century Women is a fine ensemble drama with some great performances, namely by Annette Bening and Greta Gerwig with a compelling enough story. The Blu-ray released by Lionsgate offers up good video and audio transfers and some so-so bonus material.
Live by Night was Ben Affleck’s passion project that, ironically, lacked a whole lot of passion on screen mixed in with a hodgepodge of a plot, far too many side characters and performances that didn’t quite connect on screen despite the talent assembled.
The Neon Demon, for some, might be a unique experience but for me it told an age old story and when you strip away the bizarre scenes and over-stylezed sequences (which I generally liked in terms of the look), there’s nothing new here.
Trumbo is a well made movie that probably will be more remembered for its performances, specifically by Bryan Cranston who received an Academy Award nomination for his great performance as Dalton Trumbo. Outside of the acting, though, I don’t think this was an especially memorable flick but well worth checking out.
Maleficent actually isn’t a bad movie per se, but one that never quite hit its potential especially when you get a great performance out of Angelina Jolie who seemed to be the only one giving it her all with such a flashy character. But the issue at hand is a script with little conflict and a movie on the whole that doesn’t even try to challenge its audience.