Thomas Spurlin's DVD Talk DVD Reviews

Fringe: The Complete Fifth Season

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:28:19 PDT

Recommended

The (Final) Season:

Being a fan of Fringe hasn't been an easy affair over the past few years: drops in ratings, time-slot shifts, budgetary concerns, and threats of cancellation as it sat on Fox's notorious chopping block loomed like a storm cloud over the highly-serialized sci-fi show. As the climate got rougher, however, those loyal to the Fringe Division -- or Fringe Divisions, plural, as the series moved along -- proved to be a formidable-enough collective to sustain it across four robust, inventive, and exhilarating seasons. For the series to have the opportunity to craft a thirteen-episode run of fan-service as a farewell, Read the entire review

One Hour Photo (Blu-ray)

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:44:39 PDT

Recommended

The Film:

Mark Romanek's under-appreciated One Hour Photo came about during a transition period in the mainstream photography scene, a point addressed early on in the film. Before the age of digital cameras -- where people take thousands of shots nobody ever sees, duplicate them at home, and wipe them away with a few clicks -- snapshots either needed to be processed in a dark room or entrusted with a lab for developing. That meant a person doing the developing would see , and possible remember, every single candid shot and glimpse at one's private affairs. Romanek saw that suspicion as an opportunity, framed in a sterile department store and centered on the seeming trustworthy clerk whom you'd give those rolls of memories. Could that person ...Read the entire review

Escape (2012) (Blu-ray)

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:56:14 PDT

Rent It

The Film:

Roar Uthaug's Cold Prey proved himself as a director who can take familiar, straightforward ideas and apply shrewd filmmaking tactics and raw energy to create something fresh -- nothing particularly original, but effective nevertheless. His latest film, Escape (Flukt), redirects that inherent quality from the snowy modern-era slasher movies that kick-started his current reputation to Europe's bleak post-Black Plague landscape in the 1300s, for an intense survival story laced with the psychological pains of losing one's family. Again, there's nothing too complex about what Uthaug's concocted here: it depicts a teenage girl's escape from opportunistic marauders who kill...Read the entire review

At the Gate of the Ghost (Blu-ray)

Fri, 03 May 2013 17:25:57 PDT

Rent It

The Film:

Remakes can be tricky business: should they stay true to the source out of respect and diligence towards theme preservation, or should they attempt to adjust the story's context and visual tone to achieve something both similar and noticeably unique? It's even tougher to land on an answer to that with iconic cinema such as Akira Kurosawa's oeuvre; arguably the most successful reimaginings of his work break away from overt similarities to the source, such as The Magnificent Seven and Last Man Standing. At the Gate of the Ghost -- aptly titled The Outrage in its native Tha...Read the entire review

Sexy Evil Genius

Wed, 01 May 2013 15:07:32 PDT

Rent It

The Film:

At the beginning of Sexy Evil Genius, a trio of starkly-different strangers sit down over drinks in a largely-dead metropolitan bar, where they proceed to chat about good times and bad involving their mutual, mentally-unhinged ex-girlfriend, Nikki. They're not shy about it either, dishing out stories of obsession, love lost and how they were eventually shafted in one way or another. Steadily, and humorously, these characters take shape by revealing more about their failed relationships and life post-Nikki, all because their scheming ex covertly got them all together for ... some eventually-revealed purpose. That component works in Shawn Piller's crafty little comedy-mystery, a chatty never-leave-the-room lark that's more of a blend ...Read the entire review

Mama (Blu-ray)

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:23:28 PDT

Recommended

The Film:

Oftentimes, it seems as if films "presented by" directors take that approach solely to draw attention to emerging talents and generate theater turnout, but this isn't exactly the case for the works touted by Guillermo Del Toro, where he often serves as an active producer. Between The Orphanage and now Andres and Barbara Muschietti's Mama, his fingerprints -- entrancing visuals, robust characters, and eerie atmosphere -- can clearly be spotted and noticeably elevate the creations under his wing, while allowing the respective directors' viewpoints to shine through. The inspiration for this particular fable of absent parentage and looming secrets is a three-minute short by the Muschiettis, featuring a disturbing, gangly-armed "moth...Read the entire review

Punch: Two-Disc Special Edition

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 17:19:38 PDT

Rent It

The Film:

South Korea's Punch is a curiously dissimilar entry in its genre: it's a sports movie without much of a foreseeable "big game" to prepare for; it's a mentor-student drama with an unlikable, abrasive role model for the youth; and it's a coming-of-age story where the student exhibits very little observable change, outside of a newly-discovered outlet in a combat sport. These differences could potentially result in a courageous depiction of a teenager's metamorphosis amid impoverished living conditions, where the true effects of discipline and a physical hobby shape a lout into a winner; mostly, though, this film adaptation of Kim Ryeo-ryeong's popular novel plays it safe by sticking to the well-tread path taken by others of its type, on...Read the entire review

Cirque Du Soleil - Worlds Away (2D) (Blu-ray)

Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:58:39 PDT

Rent It

The Film:

Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing one of Cirque du Soleil's current productions, Totem, in Atlanta over the holidays, so I'm likely still a little spellbound while expressing these impressions on Worlds Away. The arresting experience of going to one of their big-top exhibitions -- the lighting, the artistic perspective, the inclusive sense of wonder -- is something that simply doesn't translate properly to the big (or small) screen in edited recordings; the physical marvels and colors are conveyed alongside the iconic music, but the essential atmosphere that so deftly transports the audience to another world gets lost in translation. Worlds Awa...Read the entire review

A Royal Affair (Blu-ray)

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:01:05 PDT

Highly Recommended

The Film:

Locked-door rendezvous, passionate discussions about the future, plans to break from the restraints of one situation and into a more liberated one ... it makes you wonder which "affair" the title of Nikolaj Arcel's historical drama refers to: the romance between a queen and her husband's physician, or the Age of Enlightenment's courtship with the Danish throne. In so many words, it's both. Arcel and Rasmus Heisterberg, the writers who brought Stieg Larsson's Dragon Tattoo books to the big (and little) screen in Sweden, prove their versatility by leaping from a maze of investigative technology and themes of sexual identity to (semi-)adapting Bod...Read the entire review

In Their Skin

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 13:29:08 PDT

Skip It

The Film:

So, let's assume you're staying in a secluded rural cottage as a getaway from metropolitan life, a necessity in the wake of a recent tragedy: the death of a child. It's an uncomfortable time for your significant other, who's especially grief-stricken by the passing; the event has made them cold, despondent, and unavailable for physical intimacy. Early one morning, where the night before a car had suspiciously cruised and stopped in front of the secluded forest house, loud noises wake everybody up in the home due to a trespassing family chopping wood in the front yard. These strangers -- a thin, aggressive father (James D'Arcy); a scatterbrained mother (Rachel Miner); and a big-for-his-age son (Alex Ferris) -- are oddly insistent and probing ...Read the entire review

The Sweeney (2012) (Blu-ray)

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 16:54:06 PDT

Rent It

The Film:

Furthering the trend of classic TV shows being remade for the big screen, British crime-drama director Nick Love reaches back to the '70s and pulls out a reinvention of The Sweeney: a program focused on a renegade branch of London's metro police who occasionally bend the rules of legality to get results. For these reboots to sustain a reason for existing, they've got to find a way to update the premise for the current climate, such as the modification of conspiracies in Edge of Darkness or State of Play and the technological shifts in Read the entire review

Woochi: The Demon Slayer (Blu-ray)

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 09:37:59 PDT

Rent It

The Film:

Last year, director Choi Dong-hoon created a take on the bank heist formula, The Thieves, which spryly and unashamedly apes Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven to some rather positive ends. Instead of reinventing the premise, it focused on the personalities of those rogues being assembled and the charismatic, humorous rapport which forms between their differences, concocting a film whose replete personality trumps an overlong, dime-a-dozen plot. Tracing back through the director's work will lead one first to 2009's Woochi: The Demon Slayer (aka Jeon Woochi: The Taoist Wizard), a Korean fantasy-epic that aims to do similar things by setting its ...Read the entire review

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 (Blu-ray)

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:32:33 PDT

Rent It

Both ruffling feathers and sending hearts aflutter for over five years, Twilight's contortion of vampire lore finally arrives at an end with a sprawling, teary-eyed two-part finale, Breaking Dawn. Ever a revolving door for directors, but constantly penned by Melissa Rosenberg with the watchful input from the books' author, Stephenie Meyer, the series' quality has rendered an inconsistent train of gratingly passable supernatural romance, overdrawn and dramatically limp when looked at under any kind of inspection. Finishing off the slate of filmmakers brave enough to handle the material is Dreamgirls and Gods and Monsters director Bill Condon, who, based on his experience, knows how to navigate a larger production and handle tricky thematic material...Read the entire review

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 (Extended Edition) (Blu-ray)

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 19:32:33 PDT

Rent It

Mulan / Mulan II: Two-Movie Collection (Blu-ray)

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 13:44:37 PDT

Highly Recommended

The Film(s):

Some might not realize how difficult it is to get themes of gender defiance and honor across to a younger audience through storytelling, where it's easy to lose interest while gaining a levelheaded impression on empowerment and capability. Disney took a confident step up in the late-'90s with Mulan by spearheading a rejuvenated outlook on this perspective, depicting a rebellious woman who, while confined to her role during the Han Dynasty in China, covertly disguises herself as a man so she might take up arms during wartime. While not without flaws that risk taking mature viewers out of the moment, from overzealous dragons to excessively zany action, the House of Mouse concocted an inspirational, enduring recipe that still c...Read the entire review

Hello I Must Be Going

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 20:09:21 PDT

Recommended

The Film:

The loud sounds of renovation refuse to allow recently-divorced Amy to sleep past noon, so she awakens with a depressed sigh and heads downstairs in her parents' airy, posh house, where she deflects comments about sleeping late and frowns at having to dress up for an important dinner party. It's hard not to feel aggravated with Amy while she's wallowing in these surroundings: she's fallen into a marvelous safety net after getting dumped by her husband, yet she's no closer to moving on than she was when the marriage ended. Hello I Must Be Going understands the way the audience might see Amy; in fact, the script makes a point to spotlight the 35-year-old divorc e's submissive stupor. That doesn't stop Todd Louiso's film from creating an...Read the entire review

Hollow (Blu-ray)

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 17:44:23 PST

Skip It

The Film:

"Found footage" has, for all intents and purposes, become its own genre following the release of The Blair Witch Project roughly fifteen years ago, but none of its entries so obstinately duplicate the one that started it all than Hollow, a British horror-thriller from director Michael Axelgaard. After all, it's not as if the idea of an assortment of friends investigating eerie rural folklore isn't believable, nor is the assumption that they'd come under odds when stranded in the middle of the woods and fleeing from a mysterious force driven by said folklore. This indie, however, embodies everything that knocks the wind out of the genre, a range of criticisms voiced over superior movies of its ilk: shallow and frust...Read the entire review

Chicken with Plums

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:58:11 PST

Recommended

The Film:

Graphic novelist Marjane Satrapi conjured quite a surprise when she adapted her Persepolis books to the big screen, infusing humor with a firm thematic current as she tells her story of life amid the Iranian Revolution through inky-black animation. Again, she pairs with artist and director Vincent Paronnaud to bring another of her books to life: Chicken With Plums (Poulet aux prunes), a live-action tale of a violinist whose will to live has reach a final barline. This isn't as directly personal of a story as Satrapi's first film, lacking the autobiographical notes and persistent hand-drawn artistry; however, melancholy expressions of faded passion repla...Read the entire review

The Thief of Bagdad (1924) (Blu-ray)

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 04:13:10 PST

Highly Recommended

The Film:

Everybody should watch at least one of Douglas Fairbanks' productions in their lives, whether they're into silent film or not. His performances transcend that line in ways similar to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, where his innate machismo is only trumped when he's required to deliver larger-than-life emotional beats. It's easy to steer those interested towards his more overt swashbuckling epics, like Robin Hood and Mark of Zorro, but there's something mesmerizing about The Thief of Bagdad, a whimsical look at A Thousand and One Nights directed by Raoul Walsh. Grand production desig...Read the entire review

Skyfall (Blu-ray)

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 17:45:55 PST

DVD Talk Collector Series

The Film:

Quantum of Solace left a bitter taste in many mouths, both casual and die-hard James Bond fans alike; the suave, storied spy had given into vengeance following the death of someone close to him, flinging him between exotic locations in a jerkily-edited blur of rage. Marc Forster's film felt organic in how it allowed a man like Bond to reach that mind-frame, sure, where his emotions cloud his judgment and detach him from personal connection, but this red-eyed loose cannon neglected to latch onto the stuff that distinguishes the character. When early details of the next film began to emerge, that perception didn't improve right away: Bond would swig beer instead of...Read the entire review

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (Blu-ray)

Fri, 15 Feb 2013 16:42:29 PST

Recommended

The Webseries/TV Movie:

Disappointingly, the reception for Caprica, the back-story spinoff to Battlestar Galactica, was not overly favorable; praise for the lower-key dramatic thrust was muted, often cited with lack of space warfare and methodical (read: slow) pacing as the reasons for the disinterest that led to its cancellation. Whether someone agrees with that or not is, of course, subjective -- some, like myself, enjoyed what Caprica set out to do -- but executive producers David Eick and Michael Taylor took this criticism to heart when conceptualizing yet another return to th...Read the entire review

Silent Hill: Revelation (Blu-ray)

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 04:14:39 PST

Rent It

The Film:

So close, within director Michael J. Bassett's grasp, did we come to seeing a substantial adaptation of one of Konami's more intriguing, psychologically twisted entries in the Silent Hill franchise. Memories of early set photos, coupled with a rough synopsis, fueled my interest going into Silent Hill: Revelation, triggering thoughts that they just might get this thing right -- or, at the very least, right enough. Decrepit carnival grounds and rusty corridors would play host to a familiar-named girl wearing an orange hood-shirt underneath a white jacket-vest, riding on the coattails of Christopher Gans' atmospheric and visually ensn...Read the entire review

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Blu-ray)

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 07:04:35 PST

Highly Recommended

The Film:

Since being published in 1999, Stephen Chbosky's "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" has frequently loomed near the top of the ALA's "most challenged books" chart for situations and themes centering on young outsiders, enough to make conservative foreheads sweat. Underneath a sincere exploration of sexuality, drug use, and the grief and depression that fuel suicide, this epistolary coming-of-age story is instead much closer to a comforting embrace than something to fret over; and, really, the "potentially banned" label only strengthens the resolve to seek out stories like this for their candor. The novel maintains a tricky balance while telling high-scho...Read the entire review

Here Comes the Boom (Blu-ray)

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 18:27:24 PST

Rent It

The Film:

Kevin James reteams with director Frank Coraci and the Happy Madison crew for Here Comes the Boom, an underdog comedy about a guy who throws himself into a sport he knows little about for a worthy cause. Before high-tailing it in the other direction due to thoughts of another Waterboy or Zookeeper, which wouldn't be a groundless or entirely invalid assumption, stay for a moment and consider the possibility that the Coraci-James combo might've cooked up something more assured and conscientious here. There's no denying that it's taken to the same worn-out template; screwball slapstick humor in trai...Read the entire review

The Thieves (Blu-ray)

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 12:00:30 PST

Recommended

The Film:

Sometimes, despite looking like it'll go one way within genre conventions, a movie surprises those watching with how it diverts from expectations; other times, it's shocking to see how tightly one might mirrors its influences. The Thieves garners both impressions: most of Choi Dong-hoon's film acts as if Stephen Soderbergh remade his remake of Ocean's Eleven through a proxy for the Korean market, then late in the game departs from its expected framework before it grows too familiar. No shortage of exhilarating, eye-grabbing filmmaking will be found in this by-the-numbers heist thriller; safe dials spinning, bodies rappelling down an apartment, and quick cuts between operation-prep scenes craft it into a modish display of what...Read the entire review

Mass Effect: Paragon Lost (Blu-ray)

Sat, 26 Jan 2013 10:06:42 PST

Rent It

The Film:

The opening scene of Mass Effect: Paragon Lost reveals its creative intentions out of the starting gate: in a swarm of energy rounds, snarky one-liners, and daring maneuvers, a brutish but admirably loyal Alliance marine, James Vega, earns his reputation as a capable leader willing to make tough choices and put lives in jeopardy for the greater good. In other words, this is fairly stock material for BioWare's popular science-fiction gaming franchise, extending the fundamental themes that the game's developers doggedly stress into the spectrum of anime. That "go big or go home" mentality perseveres throughout the course of this feature-length glimpse at the universe, a somewhat-detached diversion from the story proper that's bu...Read the entire review

The Awakening (Blu-ray)

Wed, 23 Jan 2013 10:50:20 PST

Rent It

The Film:

The paranormal mystery genre, whether it'd like to or not, trains moviegoers to recall those among its ranks that they've seen, and to decipher the mysteries lurking in the dusty, decrepit corners of eerie environments before they happen. Now, the only way the formula can work lies in the material's willingness to push boundaries beyond the foreseeable, or, perhaps, with execution so confident that those watching simply forget they've endured this nerve-testing experience before. In the midst of cracked, emotionless gray walls and ominous lighting in post-Victorian England, Nick Murphy's The Awakening aims for confident execution of familiar spook tactics and twists over innovation. Yet, it also shapes those on-edge characters navigati...Read the entire review

Tai Chi Zero (Blu-ray)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 13:41:07 PST

Rent It

The Film:

Overclocked and underperforming -- really, that's the best description I can think of for Tai Chi Zero, the recent martial-arts adventure from House of Fury director Stephen Fung. Branded as a "steampunk king-fu throwdown" in its most prominent trailer with twirling gears, violent mechs, and extensive brawls boasting a vigorous fantastical journey into a cross-bred environment, the film presented here instead hybridizes and juxtaposes with other, lesser ideas in mind, trying much too hard for its own good. Essentially, it's a representation of a creative brain infused with too much caffeine, where a clutter of outside-the-box ideas inspired to combine video games, anime, and cinema surrender to a dearth of substance powering the...Read the entire review

The Duellists (Blu-ray)

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 05:04:06 PST

Highly Recommended

The Film:

The Duellists' path to realization is an easy and logical one to follow: after thumbing through public-domain material to adapt and landing on a Joseph Conrad short story, Ridley Scott -- then an experienced commercial director -- took around a million dollars to emulate the tone and visual style of Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon but with his own, distinctive outlook. He made the most of every penny by relying on impressive on-location structures, hiring the right actors, and concentrating on the accuracy of costumes and fighting maneuvers for his Napoleonic-era depiction of two soldiers' duels across the French countryside, taking place over several decades. Surprisingly, what Scott ended up with in his first feature film rema...Read the entire review

House at the End of the Street (Blu-ray)

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 12:06:58 PST

Skip It

The Film:

The girl moves into a new house down the street; the boy, a dubious pariah with a secret about his past, earns her interest. She contemplates riding home in his car or whether to enter his house or not, then bickers with her protective parent as they grow closer -- and, eventually, it all unravels in a blur of tension, confusion, and danger. House at the End of the Street is a defiantly derivative horror-thriller burdened by those bulk-purchase tropes that even mildly-seasoned genre enthusiasts will find stale, a pastiche of ideas recontextualized by tweaked incentives and moral ambiguity in a warmed-over package. The only thing separating Mark Tonderai's film from direct-to-video fare is Jennifer Lawrence, in a year when she's expertl...Read the entire review

Tell No One

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 16:43:01 PST

Highly Recommended

The Film:

A testament to the enduring potency of a thriller lies, oddly enough, in the movie that's left after the thriller aspects have been stripped away -- the things it's able to do on a second viewing, knowing full-well what approaches. Elaborate twists and turns might hold attention for its duration, but does one care about the characters when they know what'll happen, and does the journey itself earn the audience's overarching investment? These are areas where French director Guillaume Canet excels with Tell No One: this isn't a perfunctory thriller built only to twist and turn for the sake of it, instead weaving together desperation and emotional open-wounds about the murder of a man's wife, and what happens when she reappears several...Read the entire review

Liberal Arts (Blu-ray)

Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:54:00 PST

Recommended

The Film:

While reviewing Josh Radnor's mouthful of a freshman feature, happythankyoumoreplease, I described it as a dramedy that "carries the best of intentions while showing courtesy to the anxiety that accompanies shifting between life's stages". This theme has clearly sunk its claws into the director, because his latest film, the much more manageably-titled Liberal Arts, touches on similar observations while taking a guy back to his college years after being "out there": a degree of anxiety over reluctant maturation; a desire to experience the joys of the past; confusion over which path(s) to take into the future; and, of course, what a relationship loo...Read the entire review

Wu Dang (Blu-ray)

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 15:54:08 PST

Skip It

The Film:

I get where Wu Dang wants to go. I really do. The film's ambition exists somewhere between a traditional tournament-style romp, an Indiana Jones-like adventure, and whimsical low-fantasy that's more focused on the impossible instead of the probable. Bolstered by a nostalgic glimpse at '70s and '80s martial arts films that's been spruced up by modernized polish by director Patrick Leung, this could've easily become a bracing rush of visuals and combat with an adoring sensibility towards the Shaw Brothers films of yesteryear. That, however, isn't what materializes on-screen in this utter mess of a throwback: the production elements reveal the creati...Read the entire review

Deathtrap: Warner Archive Collection (Blu-ray)

Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:36:17 PST

Recommended

The Film:

The decadently baroque Deathtrap falls into the class of mystery that isn't easy to discuss without blowing the lid off its twisted little secrets, and I certainly wouldn't want to do that. The urge is there to reveal exactly where certain performances excel and where this parlor thriller's elaborateness transforms into a clever little contraption, yet that wouldn't be fair to the cunning of Ira Levin's play -- or to Sidney Lumet's doting adaptation. Motives evolve, courses change, voices elevate, and the threat of death hangs in the air of a moody Long Island cottage, where stunted creative ambition and hubris loom over a once-successful playwright and his devious plotting. This is a pitch-black comedy, through and through, an ode ...Read the entire review

Premium Rush (Blu-ray)

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 08:02:55 PST

Recommended

The Film:

Sometimes you just need a simple adrenaline rush of a movie, where chases and sturdy characters types impulsively move through a blur of suspense. David Koepp's Premium Rush hit that spot when I was seeking this kind of diversion. Driven by creative but integral visual tricks that briskly glide through New York's maze of streets, shops, and cars, this is a production that understands its meager purpose -- get the audience wrapped up in the bike messenger scene for a straightforward action-suspense film -- and pours its attention into oiling up the mechanics that pedal it forward. The gravitas of competition, the thrill of pursuit, and the bare-knuckled rationale behind why the riders do what they do surround an unassuming hero in risin...Read the entire review