DVD Reviews

Arriving for the first time on blu-ray, Alex Haley’s Roots is sure to capture the attention of those who originally watched the 8-episode narrative.  It’s hard for me to see that this release has much of a life outside of that circle.  It is quickly being replaced with The History  ...

Fascinating.  Truly fascinating.  The behind the scenes story of Tim Burton’s take on Superman is a thrilling and wondrous rollercoaster ride of emotional ups and downs.  It is as profound disappointment that all we have of the production are a handful of items, a couple  ...

I literally have tears in my eyes as I write this.  The new 4K scan with HDR grading of the director’s cut of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a thing of beauty.  The space battle sequences inside the Mutara Nebula in this transfer are an absolute delight as the color grading ...

It was only a matter of time before Dory got her own picture. Granted, no one could have imagined it would take Pixar 13 years, but we’re finally going back to Nemo’s reef to pay another visit to the forgetful blue tang and her finned, scaled, feathered, and tentacled ...

Written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud), Midnight Special is a richly dark treat that recalls some of the best moments from the slew of science fiction movies released during the 1980s.  It is ambitious and imaginative, refusing to provide answers while  ...

The Shallows just might be the sleeper hit of the summer.  Straightforward, intense, and with just a hint of symbolism, The Shallows gets the balance right for the summer season and delivers an engaging story of survival.  Of course, whether or not YOU like like the movie ...

Something strange happened on the evening of the 24th of January this year.  People were actually watching Fox again; a lot of people.  When all fast-tracked Nielsen figures were in, the network reported that 13.5 million people, on a Sunday night after extended NFC  ...

Director Steven Spielberg is no stranger to the fantastical realms that collide in his faithful adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1982 children’s classic book.  For many people like myself, Spielberg’s films were the main courses of our cinematic outings growing up. His filmography  ...

There are few other visual effects artists that I know of who continually inspire filmmakers as significant to the medium than that of special effects guru Ray Harryhausen.  His name alone conjures up images of giants, sword-fighting skeletons, monsters, and, hell, Medusa  ...

Kate McKinnon. Kate McKinnon.  Kate McKinnon.  There’s no denying that her comedic chops are on full display throughout the much-ballyhooed all-female reboot of 1984’s Ghostbusters.  IF everything else about Pail Feig’s effects-driven spectacle failed, the absolute magic   ...

Watching Everybody Wants Some!! is like putting on a pair of your favorite shoes.  Everything fits.  Every inch is perfect; every stitch broke in.  And, damn it, these Chuck Taylors keep you moving AND grooving.  Written and directed by Richard Linklater, his spin on the  ...

Star Trek Beyond is a bold move.  It is also a risky one, too.  Thankfully, it gives fans EXACTLY what they want.  We are finally in deep space and, finally, free of Earth-based adventures. With its strongest female character yet being introduced here, Beyond is the  ...

My mother was wrong. There WAS something hellish that lived in the pitch-black corners and darkened recesses of my childhood bedroom. And I always knew that the crawl space under my bed was the shadowy central hub of all that evil activity. I knew it to be, but I was ...

In David Mackenzie’s new film, Hell or High Water, the sprawling West Texas setting – as beautiful as it is rugged – conceals the crushing desolation of its sun-bleached towns whose futures have long since shriveled in the Texas heat. Hard-pressed ranchers, abandoned ...

The Mind’s Eye is something special.  Look right below the title of this review.  You’ll notice the pints-of-beer rating, meaning that the film automatically falls into the B-movie category – even though it’s hitting theaters now.  I’m not going to pretend with you about the film and  ...

One need look no further than The Wolf of Wall Street or The Big Short to see that making raucous entertainment out of ludicrous, behind-the-scenes political goings-on is alive and well in Hollywood. That trend continues with Todd Phillips’ War Dogs, a much less insightful  ...

Arthur Bishop is back.  He’s also pretty irritated.  You should NEVER mess with him while he is trying to eat.  And, as showcased by the always-charismatic Jason Statham, the specialist of accidental deaths at the center this violent tale of revenge proves the old adage  ...

If director Fede Alvarez’s revisit of Sam Raimi’s spooky old cabin in the deep, dark, twisted woods of rural America did something for you in 2013’s Evil Dead, then you need to know that Alvarez is finally back. This time with a creepy little home invasion thriller  ...

It is time, my friends, to go back to the woods. The reclusive Blair Witch has returned. It seems she never left the Black Hills Forest. While it may have taken 16 years to get a proper sequel to 1999’s phenomenon The Blair Witch Project (because I’m not counting the  ...

Before we get started, let’s get one thing out of the way. Get off your high horse about The Magnificent Seven being a remake. We mustn't forget that 1960’s The Magnificent Seven was itself a remake of an earlier – and better – film called The Seven Samurai. All three  ...

Writer, director, and editor Ti West (The Innkeepers) pays homage to the westerns of Sergio Leone with his latest film, In a Valley of Violence.  The results are expectantly explosive with sudden bursts of violence, yet not as exploitative as one might think considering the  ...

Armed with a healthy dose of much needed restraint, director Mike Flanagan (Oculus) and co-writer Jeff Howard collaborate to save Ouija: Origin of Evil from the haunting lows of its predecessor.  It’s incredible to see just how much better the prequel is when compared to the  ...

I’ve loved the young adult novel The Great Gilly Hopkins since childhood. So my reaction to the news of a Hollywood movie adaptation was, “They better not screw it up.” Well, I’m happy to say my fears were unfounded, and the filmmakers did an excellent job  ...

Monster movies – no matter how old-fashioned they appear – will never EVER go out of style.  There will always be a corner of the dark forest where terrifying things lurk about and, perhaps more importantly, there will always be people who want to watch these creatures spring  ...

2012 saw the wildly popular Lee Childs bestselling books come to life on the big screen with Jack Reacher, a film that caught most by surprise with its bad-ass vintage style and tone that harkened back to the he-man, classic car-chase films of the ‘70s like Bullitt and The French  ...

Science fiction alien invasion flicks. They are a dime-a-dozen. Mysterious ship arrives on Earth and blows the population to smithereens. Or the creatures are disposed of in short order by flag-waving, cigar-chomping patriots who “don’t take no $%#@ off anyone.” Then, in some, ...

Noted comic and filmmaker Jordan Peele, of Key and Peele fame, marks his directorial debut with Get Out, a brilliantly quirky little film that bills itself as a speculative thriller. While it is certainly that, it is also tinged with strong elements of horror, comedy, romance, and mystery ...

Ever complained about where you work? Ever wanted to kill a dumbass co-worker? Work sucks; it’s our god given right to bitch about it. At least, then, we don’t work for the sick company at the center of The Belko Experiment, who – proving just how fragile our society is ...

Passengers is a long and winding journey on a very familiar path through space. To say this imaginative sci-fi adventure shoots itself in the foot is an understatement – especially if you sit through all of its two hours. To say that the film is completely worthless – as so many are  ...

Well, Super Sentai it isn’t. As the bedrock of the kids’ television show, that’s not exactly a good thing for fans of the original series to hear. All is not yet lost, though. The rock quarry is back and so too is Bryan Cranston (who once voiced Snizzard from the popular television  ...