William Harrison's DVD Talk DVD Reviews https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/list/DVD Video DVD Talk DVD Review RSS Feed en-us Pulp Fiction (4K Ultra HD) (Steelbook) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75465 Wed, 18 Jan 2023 19:36:48 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

No way does Pulp Fiction need more glowing admiration. As I mentioned in my review of Jason Bailey's book on the subject, what other violent, profane, R-rated film has had such an impact on popular culture? Quentin Tarantino's second film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1994, earned a host of Oscar nominations, and sits high up on many "best of" lists. It is not my favorite film from the director - that would be Jackie Brown - but it is certainly a livewire good time. I watch this film every couple of years and always find something new to like; from character nuances to soundtrack beats to sly humor that lands just right. That Pulp Fiction is fast approaching its thirtieth anniversary seems unreal, and Paramount has given the...Read the entire review

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The Power of the Dog (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75464 Wed, 18 Jan 2023 19:36:03 UTC Rent It

THE FILM:

New Zealand filmmaker Jane Campion's latest, The Power of the Dog, earned a host of rave reviews upon its Netflix premiere in late 2021. It is certainly the kind of slow, pretentious, perfunctorily showy film critics wank over, but audiences were much less impressed, dogging it in online reviews. I land somewhere in the middle. Based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel of the same name, The Power of the Dog stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons as wealthy ranch-owning brothers Phil and George Burbank in 1920s Montana. Phil is cold and cruel to everyone except his men; while George is kind and friendly, earning the affections of Rose Gordon (Kirsten Dunst), who runs a restaurant with her son Peter (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Shot on location in New Zealand and sporting gorgeous cinematography by Ari Wegner, the film is certainly handsome. The acting and prod...Read the entire review

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Malcolm X (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75463 Wed, 18 Jan 2023 19:16:37 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

THE FILM:

In celebration of the film's 30th birthday, the Criterion Collection releases Spike Lee's seminal biographical drama Malcolm X in a definitive edition that collectors will certainly appreciate adding to their film libraries. With a screenplay written by Lee and Arnold Perl that is based on Malcolm X's 1965 autobiography, the film offers a career-best performance from Denzel Washington and a powerful exploration of the American activist's life and beliefs. Lee's epic tracks its subject's life from childhood through his assassination in 1965, diving deep into the events that formed Malcolm X and depicting these civil rights-era conflicts with grace and attention to detail. At 201 minutes, Malcolm X is a lengthy sit, but Lee and company created a film that not only offers important discourse but is consistently, dramatically entertaining.

Washington ...Read the entire review

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The Usual Suspects (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75454 Wed, 07 Dec 2022 17:29:35 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

There are some thrillers that remain effective even if viewers know many of their secrets. Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects is such a film. Even though I cannot recreate my first-viewing surprise when the film laid its cards on the table, the clever screenplay by Christopher McQuarrie; able direction by Singer in his second feature; and knockout performances from the diverse cast cement the film as one of the best thrillers of the 1990s. Who is Keyser Soze? The Los Angeles Police Department and FBI try to find out after they discover dozens of bodies on a ship in San Pedro Bay in what appears to be a drug heist gone wrong. Roger "Verbal" Kint (Kevin Spacey) is one of only two survivors and recounts the events leading up to the massacre. Several weeks earlier, Kint and fellow criminals Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Fred Fenster (Benicio del Toro) and T...Read the entire review

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The Score (2001) (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75430 Tue, 08 Nov 2022 20:08:19 UTC Recommended

THE MOVIE:

Please note that the following movie review was originally written in 2010 for the film's Blu-ray release. My comments still represent my take on the film but I have adjusted the replay value upward a half star.

If Marlon Brando had known the day he would die, he might have found the perfect film to embody his incredible career and serve as his final gift to the silver screen. This was not the case, and Brando appeared on film for the final time nearly a decade ago (now two decades ago) in The Score, director Frank Oz's slow-burn heist flick about the last job of a career thief. The film is not the eulogy Brando deserved, but it is commendable for its unique, if not altogether successful, take on the genre.

Professional thief and nightclub owner Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) is ready to settle down with his girlfriend (Angela Bassett) ...Read the entire review

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Orphan: First Kill (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75413 Sat, 22 Oct 2022 19:24:17 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

I always enjoyed Jaume Collet-Serra's Orphan; it is a fun thriller with a schlocky premise and committed performance from Isabelle Fuhrman as killer prostitute turned faux 12-year-old Russian orphan Esther. I was bummed to see I apparently sold off my Blu-ray copy of the original a few years back when I whittled down my collection, but such is life. Now that the secret is out about Esther, I was not sure whether this sequel, coming roughly 13 years later, had a story to tell. While there are certainly some issues with Orphan: First Kill, I also enjoyed this origin story, particularly its own schlocky twists and turns. Fuhrman is great, again, and she is joined by Julia Stiles, Rossif Sutherland and Matthew Finlan. William Brent Bell directs, and this is certainly a step up from his Read the entire review

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In Bruges (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75412 Thu, 20 Oct 2022 18:47:46 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

Martin McDonagh's In Bruges is certainly not the typical film about hitmen. This dark comedy/drama features some very hilarious, very un-PC dialogue, but under its rowdy exterior are some affecting, emotional scenes and themes of absolution and atonement. Hired guns Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are sent by their handler Harry (Ralph Fiennes) to Bruges, Belgium, after a botched job. Although Harry insists it is a "fairytale fucking place," Ray thinks it is a "shit hole" and cannot wait to return home. While awaiting marching orders, Ken attempts to keep Ray out of trouble and appease Harry. Ray takes a liking to a local drug dealer cum movie production assistant, Chloe (Clemence Poesy), and struggles with the guilt of his previous sins. The city is its own character, serving as both a charming background and active participant in the lives o...Read the entire review

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Indecent Proposal (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75407 Thu, 13 Oct 2022 20:04:38 UTC Skip It

THE FILM:

English director Adrian Lyne is no stranger to erotic thrillers, having directed Fatal Attraction and 9 1/2 Weeks. He took a detour into more straightforward material with Jacob's Ladder before returning to the genre with Indecent Proposal, which "won" the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture in 1993. Based on Jack Engelhard's 1988 novel and written for the screen by Amy Holden Jones, Indecent Proposal may have a lurid premise, but it never really lives up to its potential. Despite the buzzy tender at the heart of the film, Indecent Proposal is often dull, despite strong performances from Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore and Robert Redford. While it may hav...Read the entire review

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Dog Soldiers (Collector's Edition) (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75365 Fri, 09 Sep 2022 21:13:07 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

Neil Marshall has had a hard time replicating the acclaim he received over his directorial debut, Dog Soldiers and follow-up The Descent. Subsequent films like Centurion and Doomsday are not without merit, but they fail to capture the energy and excitement of Marshall's first two outings. A group of highly skilled soldiers participates in a training exercise in the Scottish Highlands, where they stumble upon the remains of a group of Special Air Service men. A survivor, Capt. Richard Ryan (Liam Cunningham), does not provide straight answers about the situation, and the new unit soon is attacked by unseen assailants. They discover their attackers are nine-foot-ta...Read the entire review

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The Black Phone (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75360 Mon, 29 Aug 2022 19:57:20 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

Director Scott Derrickson may not have a perfect filmography but I usually find something to like in his movies, with the 2012 horror hit Sinister being a highlight. Derrickson re-teams with Ethan Hawke for the psychological and supernatural horror film The Black Phone, which he also wrote and produced. Set in late 1970s suburbia, the film sees a serial abductor known as "The Grabber" picking up children from the streets outside Denver. Hawke plays the antagonist in a Japanese Oni mask, driving his balloon-filled van around to inflict dread and pain on others. Finney (Mason Thames) and Gwen Blake (Madeleine McGraw) live with their alcoholic father (Jeremy Davies), and Gwen shares the vivid, psychic dreams of her late mother. A friend of Finney's gets abducted after a baseball game and before h...Read the entire review

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Raging Bull (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75350 Tue, 23 Aug 2022 16:01:44 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

THE FILM:

Positively electrifying if occasionally exhausting, Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull is based on American boxer Jake LaMotta's memoir and features a career-defining performance from Robert De Niro as the deeply flawed athlete. There is plenty of drama surrounding "the Bronx Bull," and Paul Schrader was called on to revise Mardik Martin's original screenplay after United Artists balked. Scorsese was initially reluctant to make the film, but related to LaMotta's troubles after struggling with drug addiction and being encouraged by De Niro and others to kick his cocaine habit. Before shooting began, Scorsese and De Niro made further revisions to the script, but remain uncredited due to writer's guild guidelines. Then unknown actor Joe Pesci was cast as Jake's brother Joey LaMotta, and Pesci suggested Cathy Moriarty to play Jake's second wife Vickie. The film may b...Read the entire review

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The Bad Guys (2022) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75341 Thu, 18 Aug 2022 15:20:08 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

Based on the children's graphic-novel series by Aaron Blabey, Pierre Perifel's The Bad Guys is a high-energy animated film with a solid story, interesting visuals, and strong voice talent in Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina, and Marc Maron. In the opening sequence, which is an unexpected and hilarious nod to Pulp Fiction, it is revealed that humans and animals coexist in the film's world. Mr. Wolf (Rockwell) leads a group of animal criminals dubbed "the Bad Guys" by fox governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz) that includes safe-cracker Mr. Snake (Maron), hacker Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), muscle Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), and master of disguises Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson). The crew does not appreciate the outside hate from Foxington, who labels them monsters, so Mr. Wolf decides to steal a valuable artif...Read the entire review

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Shaft (1971) (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75340 Wed, 17 Aug 2022 15:05:34 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

THE FILM:

Gordon Parks' 1971 crime thriller Shaft really hooks you from its opening credits; as leather coat-clad Richard Roundtree struts to the sounds of Isaac Hayes, dodging traffic and shooting the shit with street vendors, you cannot help but smile. Who is this cool man? He is the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks; he is Shaft. After decades of treating black characters like caricatures, the movie industry began to change. Shaft began what film critics would label "Blaxploitation cinema;" a nod to the violent and sex-heavy films popular in 1960s midnight screenings. Some black organizations were critical of Shaft and the films it inspired, branding it exploitative in glorifying violence and gangsterism. Others celebrated the film for its minority characters who felt like actual people instead of sanitized, offensive stereoty...Read the entire review

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The First Wives Club (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75333 Fri, 12 Aug 2022 16:01:40 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

Until receiving this disc to review, I had not seen Hugh Wilson's The First Wives Club since being dragged to see it in theaters with my mom and grandmother back in 1996. Based on Olivia Goldsmith's bestselling novel and featuring committed performances from Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn and Better Midler, the film offers enough camaraderie and energy to entertain. What the film lacks, however, is edge. This PG-rated dramedy might have been more successful had it taken more risks, livened up the script and let these actresses really let loose. The concept of divorcees seeking revenge against the men who wronged them promises some venom and sass, but The First Wives Club feels awfully polite. Even so, it has earned a cult following among women of a certain age, and the trio of lead actresses is certainly in fine form.

On their final day of college, f...Read the entire review

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Out of Sight (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75332 Thu, 11 Aug 2022 18:53:08 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

Steven Soderbergh's adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel is my favorite collaboration between the director and George Clooney. This snappy crime comedy features excellent performances by Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Dennis Farina and Albert Brooks, and is one of the director's most accessible and entertaining movies. Adapted for the screen by Scott Frank, Out of Sight takes liberties with its source material, but Soderbergh's film is full of energy and interesting characters. Clooney is career bank robber Jack Foley, who winds up in federal prison when his getaway car fails to start. United States Marshal Karen Sisco (Lopez) happens to arrive at the prison as Foley escapes, with the help of friend Buddy Bragg (Rhames). She ends up in the trunk of a Ford Thunderbird with a chatty Foley but is ultimately released when the friends ride off...Read the entire review

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Flatliners (1990) (Limited Edition) (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75322 Tue, 02 Aug 2022 16:51:03 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

Joel Schumacher is an underrated director who, before his death in 2020, was unafraid to take chances on unique and risky projects. He got his start writing films like The Wiz and Sparkle before hopping into the director's chair on St. Elmo's Fire and The Lost Boys. Most of his films offer flawed, relatable characters and each has a style and personality that is all Schumacher. Even his worst films (I am looking at you Batman & Robin) offer unique visuals and plenty of scenery for the actors to chew. His 1990 thriller Flatliners is not t...Read the entire review

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True Romance (Limited Edition) (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75320 Mon, 01 Aug 2022 23:55:43 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

THE FILM:

Though it flopped at the box office, this unlikely pairing of kinetic director Tony Scott and novice screenwriter Quentin Tarantino absolutely works at every turn, even when it shouldn't. How many love stories offer pulpy violence, witty dialogue and an absolutely stacked cast of genre favorites like Dennis Hopper and Gary Oldman? True Romance may be the only such film. It is surprising that Scott and Tarantino made this film together at all. The late director came off a string of hits like Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop and Days of Thunder as the 1980s ran into a new decade, and Tarantino had just written and directed his breakthrough, Read the entire review

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The Contractor (2022) (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75293 Tue, 28 Jun 2022 22:54:59 UTC Rent It

THE FILM:

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The pandemic and related rise of streaming-video platforms and exclusive releases has been interesting. Suddenly, movies that would have crashed and burned at the box office are billed as big-ticket items on streaming services. The initial HBO Max premiere releases like Dune and The Matrix Resurrections are perhaps the exceptions, as they were planned theatrical releases, but production companies were willing to sell the distribution rights to many of these films for a reason: they're trash. Tarik Saleh's The Contractor falls somewhere in the middle. It is competently made and acted, relatively entertaining, and entirely generic and forgettable. The film wrapped production in late 2019, then STXfilms sold the distribution rights to P...Read the entire review

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Grease 2 (40th Anniversary Limited Edition SteelBook) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75295 Mon, 27 Jun 2022 22:15:00 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

What in the hell did I just watch?! Somehow I never caught Grease 2 before June 25, 2022, when I grabbed the disc from its nifty SteelBook packaging, slid it into my Xbox and hit play. I will proudly go on record and say I am a big fan of Grease, Randal Kleiser's 1978 film based on the 1971 musical and starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. I was introduced to the original as a child - well before I understood some of the raunchier jokes - and can still recite much of the dialogue and song lyrics from memory. That film has memorable characters, catchy songs, colorful set pieces and an overall sense of fun. Grease 2, well, it tries to both copy and outdo its predecessor to very mixed results. That it is considered a campy favorite at this point is not surprising; some of ...Read the entire review

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The Godfather Trilogy (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75257 Thu, 26 May 2022 17:09:36 UTC DVD Talk Collector Series

THE FILMS:

The impact and legacy of the The Godfather Trilogy cannot be overstated; these films are a permanent part of American culture and film history. Memorable quotes line the mouths of many, and the films - the first two at least - are synonymous with "best picture of all time" for film junkies and casual moviegoers alike. I cannot help but picture Marlon Brando, rising from the ashes of a near Hollywood blacklisting to the defining performance of his career as Mafia patriarch Don Vito Corleone, when I think about the trilogy. Adapted from the pages of Mario Puzo's crime saga by Director and Writer Francis Ford Coppola, the trilogy could have been an exploitative glorification of organized crime and violence but instead is a masterful rumination on family, ambition, and atonement. Not unlike the Friday the...Read the entire review

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Mary Shelleys Frankenstein (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75253 Wed, 25 May 2022 18:55:53 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

A friend and I recently discussed why I have lukewarm feelings about Kenneth Branagh's 1994 horror drama Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The British actor and filmmaker has adapted numerous written works for the screen, including Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet and Murder on the Orient Express, and Branagh tends to be slavishly loyal to the novels and plays he adapts. For a film adaptation to work, it has to use its source as inspiration to create cinematic magic. The best adaptations celebrate their sources while giving viewers a reason to see a visual depiction of the narrative. There are numerous examples of such adaptations, with Read the entire review

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Miller's Crossing (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75250 Tue, 24 May 2022 16:51:13 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

While I still call Blood Simple, Fargo and True Grit my favorite films by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, Miller's Crossing is nipping at their tails. This excellent noir features an A-list cast in Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, J.E. Freeman and Albert Finney, and feels like a tribute to both the classic Warner Brothers gangster films of the 1930s and noir fiction from writers like James Ellroy and Raymond Chandler. Set during Prohibition in the 1920s, Miller's Crossing sees Tom Reagan (Byrne) serving as the close confidant to Irish gangster Leo O'Bannon (Finney), who denies his rival, Italian mobster Johnny Caspar (Jon Polito), the right to...Read the entire review

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Eastern Promises (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75247 Mon, 23 May 2022 20:28:47 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

Two years after first collaborating in A History of Violence, Director David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen reteam for this gritty, slow-burn drama about second-generation Russian immigrants and organized crime. Before diving into these collaborations, Cronenberg was best known for body-horror films like Scanners and The Fly; films that explore themes of body transformation, the manifestation of trauma, and the intersection of technology and our personal lives. While no one is accusing Cronenberg of being a director for the masses, his films certainly are always thought provoking and occasionally grotesquely beautiful. Eastern Promises is more subtle than earlier ...Read the entire review

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Moonfall (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75256 Mon, 23 May 2022 20:27:27 UTC Skip It

THE FILM:

I love a good disaster movie. Deep Impact. Twister. Dante's Peak. I try to find the biggest screen, loudest sound bar and coldest beer in sight before sitting back and letting the action roll. Roland Emmerich has become a purveyor of disaster epics, starting with Independence Day, moving to The Day After Tomorrow, and destroying much of earth in 2012. His movies do not always land perfectly but, with the exception of 10,000 ...Read the entire review

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Scream (2022) (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75236 Wed, 11 May 2022 16:47:09 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

Reboots are tough. So are delayed sequels. It is also difficult to recapture the 1990s magic of a film like Scream, whose director Wes Craven and talented cast created something of a phenomenon; a film that is scary, funny and wholly entertaining. There is also the "meta" aspect of Scream and its countless imitators. Not every movie does a good job using self-referential humor and wink-wink dialogue. Craven and writer Kevin Williamson found the right balance for this amid some violent kills and teenage angst. More than a decade after Scream 4, which holds up pretty well, the franchise is resurrected by Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gil...Read the entire review

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Shooter (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75190 Wed, 23 Mar 2022 17:02:02 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

U.S. Marine Gunnery Sergeant Bob Lee Swagger (Mark Wahlberg) is the best sniper in the military, but is left to die behind enemy lines in Ethiopia when his handlers go rogue. Several years later, Swagger is living alone in rural Wyoming. Retired U.S. Army Colonel Isaac Johnson (Danny Glover) tells Swagger the government believes someone is planning to kill the President of the United States, and Swagger is needed to stop the assassination. He travels to several U.S. cities and determines the only likely site for the killing is Philadelphia, where the president is set to speak alongside Ethiopian Archbishop Desmond Mutumbo (Dean McKenzie). The research request turns out to be a setup, and Swagger watches from afar as someone kills the archbishop. Swagger is also wounded, labeled the culprit, and goes on the run, eventually enlisting the help of a sympathetic rookie ...Read the entire review

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The King's Man (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75166 Thu, 03 Mar 2022 16:54:37 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

Entertaining and well-cast, The King's Man is a prequel and soft reboot of Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman series. Kingsman: The Secret Service and its sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, are highly enjoyable homages to 1960s spy thrillers, complete with intricate gadgets, stylish leads, and over-the-top villains. Buoyed by leads Colin Firth and Taron Egerton, the first two films are certainly worth checking out, as is The King's Man, which jumps backward in time over 100 years to detail the roots of the films' spy agency. The pacing and tone are somewhat erratic here, by Vaughn again offers dazzling action, humor, and a stacked cast. The film also weaves in real historical events and figures, inclu...Read the entire review

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Sleep (Schlaf) (Limited Edition) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75151 Fri, 25 Feb 2022 17:14:02 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

This German psychological-horror import is directed by Michael Venus and stars Gro Swantje Kohlhof and Sandra Hüller. When flight attendant Marlene (Hüller) begins having disturbing visions of men committing suicide at a hotel, her daughter Mona (Kohlhof) worries she is having a psychological or emotional breakdown. But Marlene discovers an advertisement in a magazine confirming the mysterious hotel is a real place, so she travels to that town alone in an attempt to determine why the building keeps appearing in her dreams. At the hotel, Marlene has a psychotic episode that sends her to local hospital in a catatonic state. Mona decides to travel to the hotel, too, and gets to know the owner and his wife, Otto (August Schmölzer) and Lore (Marion Kracht), who have their own issues and unpleasant ties to Germany's past. As Mona dives deeper into the town's secrets, ...Read the entire review

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Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75150 Wed, 23 Feb 2022 17:39:26 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

Urban and social paranoia take center stage in Philip Kaufman's 1978 Neo-noir thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The second adaptation of Jack Finney's novel, Kaufman's film takes place in San Francisco and sports an incredible cast, including Donald Sutherland, Brooke Adams, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum and Veronica Cartwright. Film fans split on whether this version or Don Siegel's 1956 adaptation is best, and Finney's novel was also adapted into Body Snatchers by Abel Ferrara in 1993 and The Invasion, Oliver Hirschbiegel's troubled 2007 film that stars Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and that saw the Wachowskis and James McTeigue come in during the fourth quarter to salvag...Read the entire review

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Juice (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75133 Tue, 08 Feb 2022 17:09:43 UTC Recommended

THE FILM:

Ernest R. Dickerson graduated from Spike Lee's cinematographer to feature filmmaker with this 1992 drama, which spotlights four black teenagers living in Harlem. The film benefits from strong performances and solid cinematography but does not have quite the impact of contemporaries Boyz N the Hood or Menace II Society. Shot on location in Harlem, Juice marks the big-screen debut of enigmatic rapper Tupac Shakur, who portrays quasi-villain Roland Bishop, a man who becomes addicted to a fast, violent lifestyle. Before breaking bad, Bishop spends time with friends Quincy "Q" Powell (Omar Epps), Raheem Porter (Khalil Kain) and Eric "Steel" Thurman (Jermaine Hopkins) doing what boys do; cutting class, hitting on women and sp...Read the entire review

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The Wolf of Wall Street (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75111 Thu, 06 Jan 2022 18:26:34 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

I love Martin Scorsese and I love this bombastic, bacchanal, autobiographical film about Wall Street trader Jordan Belfort, who served two years in federal prison and was ordered to pay $110 million in restitution for defrauding hundreds of everyday Americans. The Wolf of Wall Street is told from Belfort's perspective, and our Quaalude-loving hero is played with great success by Leonardo DiCaprio. My buddies and I have watched the first half hour of this film dozens of times before hitting the bars. If you know the film, you know Jordan's introduction to Wall Street at the hands of coke-fueled trader Mark Hanna, represented by a hilarious Matthew McConaughey here, is cinema gold. And then there is gorgeous Margot Robbie as Jordan's wife Naomi, the Duchess of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, and a side-splitting Jonah Hill as Jordan's idiot friend and partner Donnie Azoff...Read the entire review

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Menace II Society (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75109 Tue, 04 Jan 2022 22:27:22 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

A damning, authentic portrayal of youth violence in 1980s and 1990s Los Angeles, Menace II Society receives an upgrade thanks to the Criterion Collection. If you are not familiar, the film follows Kaydee "Caine" Lawson (Tyrin Turner), who lives in the Watts, South Central Los Angeles. The son of drug dealer Tat Lawson (Samuel L. Jackson) and drug addict Karen (Khandi Alexander), Caine is influenced by trigger-happy friend Kevin "O-Dog" Anderson (Larenz Tate) and single-mother Ronnie (Jada Pinkett Smith) in his late teens. Our protagonist lives with his grandparents, and is unable to answer when grandfather Thomas Lawson (Arnold Johnson) asks him if he cares whether he lives or dies. That becomes a central theme in The Hughes Brothers' Menace II Society, which tackles its subject without sentimentality. The youth that surround Caine are quick to kill a...Read the entire review

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The Addams Family (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75108 Mon, 03 Jan 2022 17:36:36 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

It had been at least a decade since I watched Barry Sonnenfeld's spooky comedy The Addams Family, starring the late Raul Julia, Anjelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd and Christina Ricci. Based on Charles Addams' cartoons and the 1964 television series, the film involves the macabre, wealthy Addams family, who lives in a crumbling mansion and offends the townsfolk with their bizarre mannerisms. Gomez Addams (Julia) still mourns the decades-long absence of his brother Fester (Lloyd), who left after the pair fought over women. Gomez's doting wife Morticia (Huston) reminds him that they have much to be thankful for, including creepy kids Wednesday (Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman). The family is rounded out by Grandmama (Judith Malina), butler Lurch (Care Stricken), hairy Cousin Itt (John Franklin) and disembodied hand Thing (Christopher Hart). The family decides...Read the entire review

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Steel Dawn (Vestron Video Collector's Series) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75107 Thu, 30 Dec 2021 15:36:25 UTC Rent It

THE FILM:

Some of my favorite screenings of late have been discovering new (to me) titles released by studios like Shout! Factory, Arrow Video, Kino and Lionsgate as collector's editions designed to please genre fans. Lionsgate continues to add to its "Vestron Video Collector's Series" line, which seeks to honor the 1980s home-video distributor by, according to the studio's Facebook page, releasing "a line of classic films across all genres just the way you remember them, but better;" with an emphasis on original artwork, restored transfers and newly produced extras. One of the newer entries is Steel Dawn, a dystopian thriller from Lance Hool that stars Patrick Swayze. Released in 1987, the same year Dirty Dancing made him a star, Steel Dawn bombed at the box office and is certainly not a film most...Read the entire review

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Legend (1985) (Limited Edition) (Blu-ray) Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/75069 Tue, 30 Nov 2021 15:58:39 UTC Highly Recommended

THE FILM:

Director Ridley Scott followed up his legendary Alien and Blade Runner, which was considered a disappointment at the time of release, with this original, epic dark fantasy film starring Tom Cruise, Tim Curry and Mia Sara. Scott, now infamous for his extended and director's cuts of films, battled with the studio over final cut of Legend, and the film ultimately arrived in theaters in an 89-minute version with soundtrack by electronic band Tangerine Dream. There was a slightly longer European version of the film, and in 2000 the folks at Universal Studios found a pristine print of Scott's 113-minute preview cut with score by Jerry Goldsmith. That became the director's cut that was thought lost, and this new Arrow Video Limited Editio...Read the entire review

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