THE FILM:
A fool only treads where a genius once failed. In this case, why take on the stellar stink of Irwin Allen's abysmal attempt to glom onto the killer bee craze of the 1970s, The Swarm, with another murderous insect romp? Oh sure, sure, said horror subgenre has been inundated with dopey bug butt from the moment filmmakers learned that close-up images of ants look really menacing against a postcard miniature backdrop (right, Bert I. Gordon?), but modern technology should be capable of making most eight legged freaks frightening, right? Well, not when they are rendered as nothing but deadly dots by an F/X team armed with what appears like a Commodore 64. If The Asylum had made Deadly Swarm, we may have gotten something akin to the glorified goofiness of their most recent mockbusters Atlantic Rim or Sharknado. Instead, this is just another example of low budge...Read the entire review

Click onan image to view the Blu-rayscreenshot with 1080p resolution

Read the entire review

i

The Movie:

Written and directed by David Cronenberg in 1999, eXistenZ may not hold the same level of critical acclaim as some of the director's other films - Videodrome and The Fly remake both come to mind. It is, however, a very original and well made mix of science fiction and horror delivered with Cronenberg's skewed stamp all over it.

The film follows one of the most influential game designers in the world, Allegra Geller (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who is in the beta testing phase of her latest project, a revolutionary new virtual reality game called eXistenZ. This is no ordinary game, however, as it requires the use of a 'ports' to be inserted into the player through a hole in their own body along the lower spinal cord in order to work. The only working copy of the game exists in Allegra's own Metaflesh Game Pod, a throbbing and seemingly very alive device ...Read the entire review

The new Blu-ray of Godzilla vs. Biollante is a knockout -- not only is it a great encoding of what is perhaps the most artfully conceived Godzilla picture since the 1954 original, the disc contains a terrific 50-minute making-of extra featuring reels of fascinating behind-the-scenes video, the kind of footage that Toho has been unnecessarily stingy with on releases licensed for American video.

In the late 1980s Godzilla had persisted as a cult hero-monster, even if his movies were only available on bad quality VHS tapes of the often terribly dubbed English language versions. Video collectors were just beginning to get a look at the original Japanese language versions courtesy of pricey import laserdiscs that had no English subtitles. After a hiatus of several years, Toho had begun a new series of "Big G" films with what became kno...Read the entire review

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there was a newborn baby girl named Ella. Usually in these sorts of stories, the fairy godmother doesn't show up for a few chapters, but Lucinda (Vivica A. Fox)...? Ooooohhhh, she's too excited to wait. She has the perfect fairy-dust-sprinkled gift for lil' baby Ella too: obedience! Anytime anyone tells Ella to do something -- no matter how

Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/57512 Thu, 18 Oct 2012 19:43:53 UTC Rent It The Film: Everybody's Fine is a melodrama that tries really, really hard not to be one, hoping the performances from seasoned, recognizable actors will embolden its story of parental catharsis and the consequences of good-intention dishonesty among family. In ways, it almost works: writer/director Kirk Jones' remake of a '90s Italian film grasps the understated strengths of its actors, especially Robert DeNiro, pulling back on the budding emotion present in scenes where a widower father confronts the difference between the expectations he has of his children and the reality about where they've arrived. At its core, however, the story's proclivity towards deceit goes beyond the realm of sensibility and into that of emotional manipulation, the s...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/56420 Mon, 27 Aug 2012 01:02:02 UTC Highly Recommended The Film: By now, you've probably heard Good Will Hunting's story: two upstart actors, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, penned a script about a reckless, orphaned South Boston genius living a directionless life between remedial jobs and roughneck friends. Originally, the idea was to build the script around their acting talents as a showcase of sorts, and because of that, it became a labor of love that took them several years, a handful of directors, and a few production companies to actually get it made. What's born of their determination is a concoction of talents and ideas that rallies into a genuinely evocative character examination; it's a sincere patchwork of drama and wit that, under the helm of Gus Van Sant, succeeds in anchoring this potenti...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/56365 Mon, 13 Aug 2012 15:36:22 UTC Recommended Like most actor-themed boxed sets, Miramax's new Stallone Collection rounds up a few studio owned scraps and presents them as a discounted package deal. This time around, we're treated to one classic action film (First Blood, the first and best of the Rambo franchise), one enjoyable slice of 1980s cheese (Lock Up) and one underrated gem (the director's cut of Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/56282 Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:06:19 UTC Recommended BlueLike Jazzisn't what Iwas expecting it to be. Though, to be frank, I really wasn't sure whatit was Iwas even expecting. I had heard a few good things about the DonaldMiller bookby the same name. I wondered if the film would be appealing to someonelike me.Blue Like Jazz was so surprising tome because it was real. It wasflawed, to be sure, but so is everything else too. Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/54561 Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:28:09 UTC Highly Recommended Madonna is one of the most well lovedmusic acts in the history of pop music. Her albums continue to top thebillboardsales charts with each release. As an artist, she's been doing her ownuniquething since the 1980's and she doesn't show any signs of slowing down.Icontinue to find her amazing as a musician, performer, and all aroundfascinating person. Madonna: Truth orDare is an intimate, eye-opening, and fascinating inside look intotheperson behind the mass music phenomenon that co...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/53815 Sat, 03 Mar 2012 23:28:08 UTC Rent It Much like its protagonist, 54 is a film with big dreams, hurtling toward an encounter with cold, harsh reality. The film was rushed to theaters in fall 1998 in order to beat Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco, but 54 is closer kin to Paul Thomas Anderson's Boogie Nights. Both films center themselves around naive, wide-eyed kids who are taken under their wing and thrust into an adult world, but in every place where Anderson was free to show the seedy underbelly of his 1970s film, director/writer Mark Christopher was forced to compromise his. 54's focus is Shane (Ryan Phillippe), whose only initial interests in Studio 54 are the promise of some unfamiliar faces, and the possibility that he'll catch a glimpse of his celebrity crush, soap star Julie Black (Neve Campbell). Upon arriving, however, he discovers there's more on the other side of the river than just some...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/53241 Sun, 12 Feb 2012 02:42:26 UTC Recommended THE MOVIE: Please Note: The screen captures used here are taken from an earlier standard-definition DVD, not the Blu-ray edition under review. I'm starting to feel a surge of '90s nostalgia lately, which is something I thought I'd never say. Though, to be fair, it's really only for the cinema of the decade, and mainly due to the recent spate of Miramax films making their way to Blu-Ray. In recent weeks, I have reviewed both The Piano and The English Patient, two of their most notable "prestige" pictures. Say what you will about the Weinsteins and their business practices, but back in the day, th...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/53232 Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:18:19 UTC Highly Recommended