Ryan Keefer's DVD Talk DVD Reviews https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/list/DVD Video DVD Talk DVD Review RSS Feed en-us Nobody's Fool (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75461 Sat, 14 Jan 2023 18:17:36 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

2022 saw a small resurgence of things Paul Newman, in the sense that Ethan Hawke's superb documentary The Last Movie Stars appeared on HBO Max. The documentary was inspired by a large volume of documents that Newman started and then destroyed a large chunk of as part of work for an autobiography, and Hawke used his friends to voice the notes that led to the abandoned book (George Clooney voiced Newman, Laura Linney voiced Joanne Woodward, etc.). Then as it turned out a memoir was released, titled "The Extraordinary Life of An Ordinary Man," later in 2022. There is of course the gradual release and re-release of his movies to UHD, such as this one.

Nobody's Fool was based on the Richard Russo novel that Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer) adapted into a screenplay which he also directed. Newman plays S...Read the entire review

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Planes, Trains and Automobiles - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75452 Mon, 05 Dec 2022 18:54:35 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

A few months ago, I took a bus trip to Boston with some friends to catch a weekend sporting event. The first bus had broken down, the second bus (and its driver) had missed picking up some additional passengers three different times, and we spent approximately nine hours on the road for what should have been a five hour trip. We got to the hotel to find we were overbooked and our group was split into two hotels. After a short night, en route to the stadium the next day, we were sideswiped by an ambulance that took our side view mirror off with them. Fortunately, we were able to get back home safely. It may be easy to look at how crappy the trip was, but the experience of the trip itself has left us with a shared, slightly unique experience that was more memorable than the event we were going to see.

It's the journey and the experience that helps make Planes, Trains &a...Read the entire review

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Army of Darkness - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray [SteelBook] (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75421 Fri, 28 Oct 2022 17:19:48 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

The Movie:

There's a reason why there are five reviews of variants of Army of Darkness, the final film in the Evil Dead trilogy, just in the same way there was an outcry to have a final film for the Evil Dead trilogy. People enjoy the way the lead character is equal parts larger than life in his braggadocio and sometimes lacking in his pragmatism. It scares the heck out of you one moment and makes you laugh the next. And it found the right mix of elements in each of the films to launch some careers in the process.

Anyway, Army was co-written by Sam and Ivan Raimi (Drag Me to Hell) co-wrote the film, with the former directing. Compared to the previous two films, Ash (Bruce Campbell, Read the entire review

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Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75411 Thu, 20 Oct 2022 18:17:55 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I had known coming into the film one of the gimmicks behind Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, but wanted to experience it for myself to see what it is and sure enough, it's fun, but hadn't the animated family film with martial arts been done before, several times in fact? Kung Fu Panda had it done and buried awhile back, but here we are doing old things with new wrinkles I guess.

Rob Minkoff (The Lion King) is lead director from a screenplay written by Ed Stone and Nate Hopper, with additional credits to Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor and Alan Uger. And if that quintet sounds familiar to you, it's because they wrote Blazing Saddles, so yes, this is a loose tribute to the 1974 classic, with nods to the 1990s Se...Read the entire review

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Tropic Thunder - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75410 Wed, 19 Oct 2022 19:43:03 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

The Movie:

At the time of the trailers hyping its release, I could honestly say that when it came to Tropic Thunder, I can't remember being so enthusiastic to see a Ben Stiller-directed film. I mean look, the guy's modestly funny, but anything I had seen him helm at that point was ok at best. The elevator pitch of the movie checked a few boxes for me; making of a war movie? Includes a couple of actors from fake films looking at this like a springboard? To say nothing of one of the co-stars' back story for his character? Count me in. I was planning to see it, then I went to Comic-Con, which was hitting the crest of the Twilight publicity, and a few days before release, I got to see it in a crowded theater, laughed the whole time. Good times, those days.

Anyway, Stiller (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty) co-wrote...Read the entire review

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Sound of Metal (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75390 Tue, 04 Oct 2022 15:29:01 UTC Highly Recommended

The Movie:

When word of Sound of Metal first came out I was a little skeptical of the film, not for what it was about but it was in that vein of films designed to win a bunch of awards, led by its charismatic, capable star from Rogue One in Riz Ahmed. But the old guy who likes heavy metal was more inclined to give Sound of Metal a try and brother, I'm glad I did.

Darius Marder had previously written The Place Beyond the Pines but Sound was his directing debut, co-writing the script with Pines director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine). Sound gives us Ahmed as Ruben, a drummer in a heavy metal band who travels with singer Lou (Olivia Cooke, Read the entire review

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Facing Nolan (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75381 Tue, 27 Sep 2022 20:16:52 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

The art to throwing a baseball fast has been romanticized in ways serious and funny, perhaps most notably in Ron Shelton's Bull Durham. But where it all seems to originate from is the athletic feats of Lynn Nolan Ryan Jr., a baseball pitcher whose career spanned four decades, lasting until Ryan retired months before his 48th birthday. A generally stoic, unassuming character, Ryan was soft-spoken in his years in baseball, and in Facing Nolan, opens up about his playing days and a variety of other subjects.

Facing Nolan appears to be the feature documentary debut of Bradley Jackson, following several shorts and producing credits on a variety of other projects. Using interviews with Ryan, his family, friends and teammates, Ryan discusses his initial time with the New York Mets, his feelings of doubt ear...Read the entire review

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The Lost City [4K UHD] Ultra HD https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75347 Fri, 19 Aug 2022 15:49:52 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I recently became a member of a new club, one that sends you member updates, a magazine, has a powerful voting bloc and mentions other members' ages as if they were part of a school graduating class. It's not SAG, it's the AARP, though Sandra Bullock (58) is apparently a member of both, and good on her for doing so! That she still has the capability to act in the romantic action/comedy genre is a testament to her talents, even as she co-stars with someone more than 15 years her junior in The Lost City.

Aaron and Adam Nee co-wrote and co-directed the film, which has Bullock cast as romance writer Loretta Sage. She is successful but the tragic death of her husband as left her creativity sputtering, and finishing a novel focused on Dash, a charming, Fabio-type (Tatum, Magic Mike XXL). She does publicity ...Read the entire review

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Men (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75337 Tue, 16 Aug 2022 20:01:41 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

With everything that's gone on in Hollywood and America over the last few years, taking a film and titling it Men could go in a lot of different directions for a movie watcher. Even making it a horror film could give it a few different options for telling a story! When one of the more gifted artist voices is at the helm of such a story that he wrote, then it makes things all the more interesting.

Written and directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina), Men follows Harper (Jesse Buckley, Beast) as she seeks solace in a small country cottage following the death of her husband. Once she gets to the town of Cotson, she encounters Geoffrey (Rory Kinnear, Read the entire review

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Good Burger Limited-Edition Steelbook (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75323 Tue, 02 Aug 2022 17:05:50 UTC Skip It

The Movie:

Holy cow it's been 25 years since Good Burger was released! In related news, holy cow it's been 25 years since Good Burger was released! A film that appears to be based on little more than one single television sketch on the Nickelodeon show All That had enough momentum behind it to be a fully formed feature film. And it did fine as far as Nickelodeon films of the time went, but apparently there's been a cult following of the film? Like, are people thinking there's some stoner underpinnings to it? Because it's not inherently silly that I could tell. I say this as someone fully out of the demographic when the film came out, and am even further from it since then.

Brian Robbins of Head of the Class lore directed the film that stars Ed (Kel Mitchell, Read the entire review

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The Northman [4K UHD] Ultra HD https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75297 Wed, 29 Jun 2022 17:46:23 UTC Highly Recommended

The Movie:

Thanks (or damn) the pandemic for hampering it, but Robert Eggers has made three films in seven years, with The Northman being the third following The Witch and The Lighthouse. Each have been full of sometimes stark, captivating imagery, and The Northman takes that rep and builds onto it.

Eggers co-wrote The Northman with Icelandic author Sjon (Dancer in the Dark), and the story is kind of simple in retrospect. Amleth is a son to King Aurvandil (Ethan Hawke, Boyhood) and Queen Gudrun (Nicole Kidman, The Killing of a Sacred Deer). Amleth witnesses his father's murder at the hands of his bastard Uncle...Read the entire review

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The Worst Person in the World (The Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75290 Fri, 24 Jun 2022 15:57:15 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

One could see The Worst Person in the World be something that American comedienne Jenny Slate headline (and for a minute, that's what I thought it was!), because it's a film that seems to reach broadly in some of the things in it that it's lead does. And as a continuing part of Criterion's pivot to contemporary films, having a chance to see this Norwegian gem proved to be an interesting proposition.

Joachim Trier co-wrote and directed the film, the final part of his "Oslo Trilogy" which included Reprise and Oslo, August 31. The worst person in this world is Julie (Renate Reinsve), a young Oslo woman whose careers and relationships are shown through the years. Whether it's the writer Axsel (Anders Danielsen Lie, 22 July) or the modest Eivind (...Read the entire review

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Double Indemnity (The Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75267 Tue, 07 Jun 2022 19:27:03 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

The Movie:

Having never consciously entered watching noir films before, this seemed like a good time as any to get into the one that so many deem the one that started the genre, the one that showed the way for scores of films since. And with Double Indemnity, Raymond Chandler's (Strangers on a Train) adaptation of James Cain's novel, directed by Billy Wilder (The Apartment), it's an interesting film to consume.

Walter (Fred MacMurray, Caine Mutiny) is an insurance salesman who meets Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck, Ball of Fire), who he becomes enamored with. Phyllis gets a life insurance policy for her husband and convinces him to sign it, and eve...Read the entire review

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The Untouchables [4K UHD] (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75261 Tue, 31 May 2022 16:10:48 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

I can add The Untouchables to the list of films that I'd seen when it first came out, and seen in the movie theater with my Dad. I'm not sure what interest I'd had in seeing it, but my Dad was a fan of a lot of people in the film and given its backdrop he was a sucker for films like that. So maybe seeing this and To Live and Die in L.A. when I was impressionable screwed me up more than whatever treatment Dad gave me, I don't know.

David Mamet (Heist) adapted the book of the same name into a screenplay that Brian De Palma (Mission: Impossible) would direct. Set in 1930 Chicago, the focus is on Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner, Bull Durham), and his quest to arrest Al Capone (Robert De Niro...Read the entire review

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Wild Things (Limited Edition 4K) Ultra HD https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75258 Fri, 27 May 2022 23:14:56 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

I guess I either never understood or got behind the long-term sustaining fascination with Wild Things. It made a modest amount of money theatrically, spawned several straight to video sequels, most everyone involved seemed to be strangely entertained by the schlock involved, and when I saw it back in the day, I guess I didn't really get it? It was one thing to be sensationalist, and the film sure was that, but past being a garden variety soap opera running 110 minutes, I remain unsure what all the fuss was about.

Stephen Peters wrote the film that John McNaughton (Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer) directed. Set in the fictitious Blue Bay, Florida, Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon, Crash) is a popular figure at the local high school, a mix of passio...Read the entire review

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Jackass Forever (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75223 Tue, 03 May 2022 19:50:01 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I'm the same general age as Johnny Knoxville and remember Jackass from its modest beginnings on MTV to its numerous movie versions, and I get the understanding of making these movies; they don't cost much to make and then generate a bunch of money several times over budget. . They're also funny to a degree, which we'll get into in a second. I also get the need for Knoxville, Chris Pontius and friends to know that the bumps they take require longer and longer to recover from, so Jackass Forever attempts to bridge those two gaps.

Jeff Tremaine and Spike Jonze direct the film, put the cameramen in position for the stunts and in T...Read the entire review

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The Last Waltz (The Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75194 Wed, 30 Mar 2022 23:30:41 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

When it comes to ranking concert films, the best always seem to have The Last Waltz at or near the top of a very short list. For those unfamiliar with the production, the film centers around the farewell concert of The Band, the Canadian group who helped Bob Dylan transform and expand creatively in the ‘60s, and Dylan's assistance in their album "Music from Big Pink" was retribution for this. The album continues to be widely regarded as a very influential piece of music decades after its release. The group continued to release albums and tour at a frenetic pace, until Robertson had finally grown weary of the pace in 1976. Rather than hold a simple farewell concert, which would have been the easy choice, The Band decided to make the event a celebration of their careers in a very pure sense. They decided to hold it on Thanksgiving at San Francisco's Winterland Ballroom, ...Read the entire review

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Dick Johnson is Dead (The Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75184 Fri, 18 Mar 2022 15:47:53 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

The Movie:

It was a couple of years ago when I found myself part of an exponentially growing group of people who have parents struck by dementia or its affiliated illnesses, and having to reconcile the inevitability of losing the parent, while caregiving for them in the process. You probably are the same way; every trip to see them becomes an adventure, I know for my Dad one time, he cried when he saw me, because he was glad I returned home from war (I was out of the Army for 20 years) and that his wife/my mother would be happy to see me (she had passed about 6 months before he did to an unrelated cancer). It was new, frightening ground for me to be on to watch his slide over the previous months before that, and a few months after he passed, Dick Johnson is Dead was brought to my attention.

The documentary was done by Kirsten Johnson (Read the entire review

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Clifford the Big Red Dog (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75168 Wed, 09 Mar 2022 17:46:40 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I remember reading the "Clifford the Big Red Dog" series of films when I was a wee lad many moons ago, having never thought about whether they would be adapted to another medium than Norman Bridwell's books. Sure enough they were made into television material and the call to turn the dog into a movie character was inevitable. I guess doing a CG dog next to live action people wasn't something I saw coming?

Adapted by Jay Scherick, David Ronn and Blaise Hemingway and directed by Walt Becker (Wild Hogs), Emily (Darby Camp, Big Little Lies) is staying with her Uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall, Jungle Cruise) when she encounters an older man named Mr. Bridwell (John Cleese, Read the entire review

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Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75173 Tue, 08 Mar 2022 22:03:47 UTC Skip It

The Movie:

Hey kids, let me tell you a story about a movie studio that really liked a source material to the point where they thought they could create an American James Bond, but more of a lunch pail type who did secret missions to thwart hostile forces from potentially overthrowing the government> Sounds good, right? What if I also told you they cast a guy who was older than Daniel Craig when he did Casino Royale, or older than Sean Connery when he did Thunderball, and as his Asian mentor is a very American guy? Well, that really happened! Bless the 1980s and their craziness.

The "Destroyer" books from by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir were adapted into a screenplay by Christopher Wood (Moonraker) and directed by Guy Hamilton, (Live and Let Die) w...Read the entire review

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F/X | F/X 2 Double Feature (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75157 Tue, 01 Mar 2022 20:29:45 UTC Recommended

The Movies:

Man oh man, if there was a pair of films that are at the peak of the wave before techbology came crashing down and rendered most of the work obsolete, I can't remember them. This is no indictment of the F/X movies, but radio transmitted bullet hits, plaster cast molds of people and other tricks of the practically shot visual effects trade, just that it's amazing to see things like this not used so much anymore, to say nothing of ample use of pay phones, audio cassette recorders for phone calls and other things. But the thing about these films (yes there are two so yes, there was a sequel) is that they don't think about those things, they look at special effects at that point with wide-eyed enthusiasm that still resonates decades later.

The stories for both films are similar, where special effects man Rollie (Bryan Brown, Read the entire review

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The Addams Family 2 (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75139 Mon, 14 Feb 2022 16:05:56 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

Apparently at some point in our house I had shown the trailer of the 2019 Addams Family movie, which is either a remake of the live action movies or an extension of the original live action show (I don't know which) to my son, we'd watched it and I thought it was OK, nothing special, but as his cinematic tastes broaden and he develops bonds with some of these folks on screen, a new fresh helping doesn't hurt, so Addams Family 2 graced our doorstep.

Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon, Laura Brousseau and Kevin Pavlovic direct the film that Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen and Susanna Fogel developed a screenplay for. Gomez (Oscar Isaac, A Most Violent Year guy) and Morticia (Charlize Theron, Gringo) see their kids Wednesday (Chloe Moretz, Read the entire review

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2021 World Series:Collectors Edition (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75122 Tue, 18 Jan 2022 16:58:56 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I've been out of some kind of loop when it comes to baseball and with life getting in the way of things in 2021 all the more so, but imagine my surprise when it was the Atlanta Braves back in the saddle when it came to some form of success. I do remember them stinking the joint up for a few years but more than that, I remember their usual act of close but no cigar in the early 1990s. With the demon slain and a World Series ring earned, Shout! and Major League Baseball put together their annual Collector's Edition for the champions.

And for good reason too; Ozzie Albies, Austin Riley, and Freddie Freeman each had 30 home runs, with the first two having driven in more than 100 runs each. Charlie Morton and Max Fried logged 14 wins each from the pitcher's mound, and Will Smith (not the (Men in Black guy) logged 37 ...Read the entire review

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Uncut Gems The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75099 Mon, 20 Dec 2021 16:37:12 UTC Highly Recommended

The Movie:

Given our current condition and how and when we mark things, it could be easy to overlook the buzz surrounding Uncut Gems given that most of it occurred in the final months before we could all walk around without masks and such. Moreover, a lot of us probably blocked out things we did during most of 2020 and into 2021 in order to avoid such personally bleak moments, and in the wash of that, other things may have been forgotten too. For example, I do remember the Gems talk, and recognition of its star on the awards circuit. Actually, seeing the movie? Nope, but in consulting my wife I apparently did, with her, so I guess this gives me a chance to revisit this one!

Ronald Bronstein wrote the film with Benny and Josh Safdie in a follow-up from the trio's 2017 film (Good Time), but this one stars Adam S...Read the entire review

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Bird on a Wire (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75067 Tue, 23 Nov 2021 17:27:56 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

For as grumpy an old man I get about Marvel films coming out once a year seemingly in perpetuity, it's dawning on me more and more that when I was a kid the behavior was just as rampant in films, albeit it a different genre. Take a look from (roughly) 1985 to 1994. The pitch for a film was similar in varying degrees (buddy cop, road movie, etc.), but switched to leads of opposite genders, reluctant to get together or reunite for the trouble it would bring. Maybe Mr. Mister or Simply Red would contribute a song of the times to further date the feature. But casting at that point was a venerable Mad Libs; get recognizable name next to other recognizable name, maybe make them a man and woman, and people will flock to it!

Which brings us to Bird on a Wire. The 1990 film directed by John Badham (Stakeout) stars ...Read the entire review

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L.A. Story (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75056 Thu, 18 Nov 2021 18:22:18 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I remember the context of L.A. Story more than I did the events in it, which may be more of a testament to the filmography of its star more than anything. Steve Martin was a couple of years past Roxanne (which by the way still holds up a bunch of years later) and I guess the fates had lined up to where he could do another film with his wife Victoria Tennant after they'd done All of Me (which also holds up a bunch of years later) and I guess L.A. Story came of it. Or so I'll convince myself I guess.

Martin wrote the film that Mick Jackson (Temple Grandin), and stars as Harris, a TV weatherman looking for a little more meaning in life. At lunch he encounters Sara (Tennant), a journalist looking to write something about Los Angeles for a...Read the entire review

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Little Vampire (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75034 Tue, 02 Nov 2021 16:49:57 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

So apparently this 2020 animated version of Little Vampire is not, in fact, some Euro reboot of 2000's The Little Vampire starring Jonathan Lipnicki, but is actually a comic series in France that this film was based on. It's not necessarily that I was hoping for a Blu-ray of this film I either didn't know or forgot about when it first came out, but this is animated, and has things that resemble Halloween (and I watched it with my family on Halloween), so perhaps I was looking for something new, who knows?

Joann Sfar wrote the comics, co-wrote the screenplay for the film with Sandrina Jardel and directed the animated feature, telling the story of the Vampire, who has desires to be part of the human world. The vampire meets Michel, a boy living with his grandparents (following the death of his parents), and t...Read the entire review

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The Boss Baby: Family Business - Blu-ray + DVD + Digital (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74990 Mon, 27 Sep 2021 21:58:48 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

Apparently the Dreamworks film Boss Baby has become quite the little industry for the studio. What started as a couple of picture books when into that 2017 release that made half a billion dollars worldwide, followed by a Netflix show that recently finished its fourth season, and so 2021's Family Business is the first theatrical follow-up, with the gang appearing to be all here for it?

Writer Michael McCullers and director Tom McGrath reunite to helm this project, with all the familiar voices back in this animated joint. Tim (James Marsden, Sonic the Hedgehog), a baby in the first film, is now a stay at home Dad raising Tabitha (Arianna Greenblatt) and baby Tina (Amy Sedaris, Strangers with Can...Read the entire review

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Pixie (DVD + Digital) DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74989 Mon, 27 Sep 2021 21:58:29 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

With the resurgence of British gangster films in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s thanks to folks like Guy Ritchie and Michael Vaughn, has come a subsequent exploration of similar films set in Ireland. Now that things have evolved from looking at IRA films for the most part folks like Brendan Gleeson have helped lift Irish cinema to a level of respectability to where other projects can be explored, and that's where Pixie comes into the mix.

Preston Thompson wrote the screenplay that his father Barnaby directed. While few may know Preston's work, Barnaby helped release several films from Saturday Night Live talents, including Dan Aykroyd (Coneheads) and Chris Farley (Tommy Boy). The eponymous Pixie (Olivia Cooke, Read the entire review

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Dreambuilders - Blu-ray + Digital (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74968 Mon, 13 Sep 2021 18:28:24 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

I've been slowly trying to broaden my kid's cinematic horizons lately, but the window between something that looks silly against something that may be a little too ‘mature' (in the non-romantic context) for his tastes, with the most recent attempt being Dreambuilders, a 2020 animated film from Denmark that could be viewed as a lesser family member to either Monsters, Inc. or Inside Out, two gems within the Pixar stable.

From a screenplay by Soren Hansen and directed by Kim Jensen and Torri Zinck, the film looks at Minna, the only child to her father John. When John meets someone, Minna becomes stepsister to Jenny, a caustic, superficial teen preoccupied with popularity and status. When Minna realizes that she has the ability to control the d...Read the entire review

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Rugrats: The Complete Series DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74937 Fri, 20 Aug 2021 19:33:56 UTC Recommended

The Show:

I've found myself diving more into being an active viewer of children's programming, largely because my first child who is four is transitioning from things like Paw Patrol to the Transformers, Power Rangers and in a stray instance or two, World's Deadliest Bug Fights. And with another child on the way I've meekly tried to find ways to transition the older one to more gentler content (particularly as he'll be a big brother soon), so I've slowly introduced him to Rugrats, a show that I was aged out of, but I'm told isn't bad?

The show started in 1991, when I was going into the Army but still watching Ren and Stimpy, because I was overly eccentric I guess, but Rugrats tells the animated stories of several toddlers as they go through varying adventures over the course of twenty-ish minute episodes. Tommy is the closest thing to a pure toddler, barely being able...Read the entire review

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The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74920 Thu, 12 Aug 2021 16:30:12 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

Whether I like it or not, having kids allows me to get exposed to other material I wouldn't have seen otherwise, and I'm aware of Spongebob Squarepants (the sponge who lives under the sea and is on Nickolodeon) and I know who the voice is for same, and it looks like it throws itself headlong into fun, silliness and Krabby Patties. And I figure Spongebob was going to be an allure for my kid, so may as well check out Sponge on the Run, whose fate was in limbo a bit during the pandemic lockdowns, when it was going to be released theatrically, then it was eventually moved to Paramount Plus, their streaming option, because everyone has one of those at the moment.

Tim Hill (Alvin and the Chipmunks) co-wrote the screenplay and directed it. The eponymous Spongebob (Tom Kenny, Read the entire review

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Your Honor DVD Video https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74902 Fri, 30 Jul 2021 15:30:10 UTC Rent It

The Show:

I assume the opinion on Bryan Cranston is strongly consensus are better at this point; the actor who started as a comic Dad then moved to a much more serious one on (Breaking Bad) that earned voluminous praise and awards has slowly continued elevating his talents, mostly acting in movies with television show work scattered throughout, with the latest one being Your Honor, an adaptation of an Israeli miniseries.

Cranston plays Michael Desiato, a New Orleans judge whose law interpretation is matched only by his compassion on the bench. Near the anniversary of his wife's death, his son Adam (Hunter Doohan) is involved in a hit and run, resulting in the death of a young boy. But the boy is the son of Jimmy Butler (Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man), a...Read the entire review

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Mission: Impossible 25th Anniversary Limited Edition (Blu-ray + Digital) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74832 Thu, 17 Jun 2021 15:28:49 UTC Recommended

The Movie:

Regardless of one's personal feelings of Tom Cruise, there can be little doubt that when it comes to the Mission Impossible series of films, Cruise tries to put as much adrenaline-charged action into each installment as possible, and is willing to do whatever possible to one-up the previous film in terms of jaw-dropping, "Why the hell would anyone do that?" stunt sequences. So with the first film celebrating its 25th anniversary and a seventh(!) about to plop, I guess it is natural that we take a look to see who doesn't have this on Blu-ray, right?

The long-awaited adaptation of the film based on the television show of the '60s and '70s was written by David Koepp (Angels & Demons) and Robert Towne (Without Limits), with Bri...Read the entire review

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Body Slam (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74825 Tue, 15 Jun 2021 15:47:11 UTC Rent It

The Movie:

In 1986 the pro wrestling marriage of pop music was something that was red meat for this kid. I loved Hulk Hogan, hated Captain Lou Albano and Roddy Piper (whom folks would recognize from the John Carpenter film They Live), and wanted Hogan to rule the day. Little did I know! But "rock and wrestling" was a flashpoint that elevated pro wrestling to a ground higher than it had seen before, and Body Slam was an attempt to capitalize on that.

Steve Burkow wrote the screenplay that Hal Needham (Cannonball Run) directed, and stars Dirk Benedict (Battlestar Galactica) as Harry Smilac, a struggling music promoter who stumbles into trying to promote "Quick" Rick Roberts (Piper), thinking tha...Read the entire review

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