The Black Phone is a solid horror-thriller and box office wise another hit from Blumhouse, however I wasn’t quite as enamored compared to others as it got repetitive at times. That being said, I was entertained and Ethan Hawke’s performance was pretty scary.
Assault on Precinct 13 comes to Blu-ray courtesy via Mill Creek Entertainment. This bargain release version (sans bonus material) stars Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, Maria Bello and Drea De Matteo.
There’s no doubt Robert Eggers is a talented filmmaker and while I can appreciate some of the technical achievements with bringing a Viking lore to life, and the entire cast giving solid performances, I wasn’t entirely captured by the story and in the end, despite some wonderful visuals, found this to be fairly forgettable.
Tesla is a loose bio-drama about Nikola Tesla and is played here by Ethan Hawke and also features Eve Hewson, Jim Gaffigan and Kyle MacLachlan, and arrived on Blu-ray and DVD February 2nd.
All of these films in this Blumhouse of Horrors: 10-Movie Collection have been released before. This is a good set to receive as it is a space saver from owning these individually and the price per movie isn’t bad, however you do have a few stinkers.
Snow Falling on Cedars is a poignant, somber little drama-mystery, with great cinematography, that for one reason or another has kind of been forgotten.
Daybreakers is actually a pretty innovative vampire horror film giving viewers an interesting world run by vampires, running short on human blood to survive. The highlight, as he is in most films good and bad, is Willem Dafoe.
When I last saw Lord of War 13.5 years ago, I wasn’t completely enamored beyond the acting and… my opinion roughly remains the same, some solid performances though I guess I was more engrossed with the story this go around.
First Reformed might be a technically well made drama, and Ethan Hawke does turn in an amazing performance, but I never found the story all that enthralling and in fact some of the scenes were unintentionally funny.
Perhaps one of the best, and somewhat innovative, trilogies ever made (okay, a step below the original Star Wars trilogy), The Before Trilogy is absolutely wonderful featuring two amazing performances by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy as we get to see the advancement of each of their characters’ lives evolve.
In a Valley of Violence was somewhat of a surprise for a (basically) direct-to-video release mainly because, in spite of a familiar story and Western clichés, featured some solid performances by Ethan Hawke and Taissa Farmiga.
The Phenom is an OK sports drama but mainly because of the performances by Paul Giamatti and Ethan Hawke, otherwise it is on the forgettable side. The Blu-ray released through RLJ Entertainment offers OK video, so-so audio and throwaway features.
Although it could’ve been better, I was pleasantly surprised by Regression thanks to Amenábar’s writing and direction combined with yet another great performance by Ethan Hawke with honorable mention for Emma Watson and David Thewlis.
Not sure what the producers (last count, 16 of them) were thinking, but with a bad script, thin characters and choppy editing, Getaway was a car-wreck from the beginning and save for some cool stunt work and a cool one-shot sequence, there’s nothing redeemable about this action-thriller and should’ve been placed on shelves with the other forgettable flicks.
The Purge had an interesting concept but the closer you look, the dumber it was. But if you set the logical aside, and can handle an unlikeable and utterly stupid family, the suspense and thrills are effective and at 85-minutes it’s not a big time investment.