Category: Film & Television Reviews
St. Vincent – All Born Screaming CD Review
Rating – 3 3/4 stars out of 5
I have talked about St Vincent before when I reviewed her film, The Nowhere Inn. At that point, we were still relatively fresh from her sixth album, Daddy’s Home and I honestly did not expect a new album for several more years. As it turns out, it took about three years for a new album even though Annie Clark was writing from the moment her prior album was released. Her new album, All Born Screaming is entirely self-produced which can either be the harbinger of death as we saw with Jennifer Lopez‘s latest album or it can be a masterpiece, see Some Girls by The Rolling Stones or pretty much every Prince album in existence. So as excited as I was for new St Vincent music, I was also a little concerned that it might not have the same polish I have come to expect from some of her most celebrated releases. Let’s take a look.
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Monster (Blu-Ray) Review
My early life was spent growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina. Even though that childhood did have its own challenges, there were very few episodes of the bullying kind when it came to school. Those thirteen years were composed of silly antics and even sillier scuffles. Unfortunately, when it came to high school, my dad decided to move to Texas in search of a future. Later, as I lay down in the dirt with repeated violent kicks to my stomach and face with threats of gun violence if I tried to get up, I often wondered what kind of future my dad was actually trying to find. Today’s movie is Monster, a Japanese movie about bullying at a local school, but the true story lies in unraveling multiple viewpoints. Let’s take a look.
Shakira – Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran CD Review
Rating – 3 3/4 stars out of 5
I always want to stretch my limits when I am reviewing. I want to put myself in the chair so to speak and listen, watch or play all sorts of different pieces of media. Heck, if I thought I could appropriately write a vacuum cleaner review, I probably would (If I say it sucked, does that mean it’s a positive review?). Point is that nothing is off the table even if it is in a different language. I review foreign films all the time, I will be reviewing Monster, a Japanese movie in the near future. But what if I was to say that one of my favorite musical artists is the amazing Shakira? Well, I’m probably like a lot of red blooded guys then, but in this case I am doubling down on the situation and reviewing her latest album, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran which is entirely in Spanish. No subs, no filters, just my ears and my half Mexican wife staring at me wide-eyed in the car. It’s a good time, let’s go.
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Polar Rescue (Blu-Ray) Review
We are all unfortunately mortal, despite most of us wishing to be otherwise. This is extremely true when it comes to action stars. While we might enjoy them performing death defying stunts, drag-out fights, and hair raising escapes, eventually time catches up with those performances. The great action stars have to develop, expand their craft and find a way to continue to produce entertaining films without alienating their original fan base. One such person who has been able to do this is Donnie Yen. Donnie is well known for his Ip Man films, and he was wonderful in John Wick 4 as well as other high intensity films. However, as of late, he’s dived into some comedy as well as some thrillers. By thrillers, I am referring to films where Donnie is not performing high flying martial arts, but rather ones where he is acting more as “the common man”. Today’s film is Polar Rescue (also known as Come Back Home) where he plays a dad trying to find his lost son in the frozen wilderness. Let’s see how it turns out.
Unlawful Entry (Blu-Ray) Review
Most of you that have read my reviews know that Kurt Russell is my favorite actor. However, I would like to think that most people when speaking about their favorite movie with Kurt Russell would probably say Escape from New York or The Thing. Maybe Tombstone or more recent films like The Hateful Eight. There is probably even that one person that absolutely loves Kurt Russell as Santa Claus or Coach Herb Books from Miracle. While my favorite film with Kurt Russell probably does bounce from Escape from New York to Breakdown to Big Trouble in Little China to The Thing again, I cannot deny that one of my favorite guilty pleasures is in the form of Unlawful Entry, a 1992 thriller with Ray Liotta and Madeleine Stowe that explores the themes of home invasion and misplaced trust. I sat down with my wife recently to take a look at the new Shout blu-ray release (my 4th or 5th time with the film, my wife’s first) and see how it fared.
Mille Milliards de Dollars (Blu-Ray) Review
While times may have changed a bit, many countries especially in the 1970’s up until the turn of the century looked down in disgust at those from the United States. From the way they looked to way they acted right down to the language they spoke. However, one of the things they most feared was that the US was going to take over their companies and do things the “American” way. Today, we take a look at a film called Mille Milliards de Dollars. In this film, we are introduced to the GTI, the Garson Texas International company who are secretly taking over France Electronics, one of the biggest companies in Paris. It’s quite the scandal and should be a very interesting film. Let’s take a look.
The original version of this review can be found at:
https://upcomingdiscs.com/2024/01/31/mille-milliards-de-dollars-blu-ray/
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I…For Icarus (Blu-Ray) Review
On November 22nd, 1963; President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Tx at approximately 12:30pm. Quite possibly everything else about the event can be disputed in such a manner and I won’t even attempt to confirm one theory or disapprove another. We have had movie after movie about this assassination taking it in about every angle imaginable. Those movies are not regulated to the United States either as other countries have also dabbled in the storytelling of this infamous event. Many times these foreign productions treat it as a fictionalized event set in their own country but the similarities are often so obvious that it cannot be disputed. Today’s film is I…For Icarus, a French film that explores the controversy behind the assassination of President Marc Jarry who was killed by Karl Eric Daslow. Attorney General Henri Volney disputes the lone gunman theory and this is the story of that investigation. That sounds awfully familiar, let’s take a look.
The original version of this review can be found at:
Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia (Blu-Ray) Review
Sequels are a funny thing. Most of the time in modern Hollywood, they come within a breath of the first film usually after a large box office in order to capitalize on its earnings. Sometimes, they can take years, even decades to make. Blade Runner: 2049 came out in 2017, thirty five years after the original film. In addition, many times when a sequel takes so long to materialize, the intended audience has flown the coup and it has dismal results. See Basic Instinct 2 or The Two Jakes. Other times, it inspires new waves of fans to flock to the theaters such as Tron: Legacy or The Incredibles 2. Today, we are taking a look at Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia, a sequel to the original Ernest & Celestine movie which was nominated for an Academy Award and took home many other film awards. It’s been a decade since the original film, can the sequel keep the spirit of the original and produce a quality film? I’m happy to say, yes it certainly did. Let’s take a look.
The original version of this review can be found at:
https://upcomingdiscs.com/2024/01/18/ernest-celestine-a-trip-to-gibberitia-blu-ray/
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Migration Film Review
I had meant to write this review when I saw the film on December 22nd, but the holidays are often not the kindest thing when it comes to looking for time. In addition, my feelings on the film weren’t strongly negative or positive as is the case when I often watch Illumination Films. By this point, we know exactly what we are getting. Truth be told, something kept eating at me about the film and that it did have a touch of charm that went beyond it’s Secret Life/Super Mario/Grinch and of course Despicable Me type writing. Push came to shove, and I found that little nugget of time to produce this review. Besides, the film is having a rather mild box office at the moment and if I can convince a few random people to go see it, then it’s worth a few words. Let’s take a look.
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The Wailing (4k UHD) Review
As I have mentioned numerous times, I am not a fan of horror movies. In particular, my number one pet peeve is jump scares. Now, for certain scary movies, I’ll allow one good jump scare, it almost goes with the territory. But if the director has to use one every fifteen minutes, my heart does not need that much of a workout and I am going to avoid it very quickly. This is mostly reserved for American movies, quite often on their fifth sequel. However, Korean horror flics know how not to use the jump scare and instead focus on making things as gruesome and disturbing as humanly possible. Or inhumanly perhaps. Today, we take on a modern horror classic in the 2016 film, The Wailing as it makes its way on 4k UHD disc. Let’s take a look and see if the ole ticker can handle this one.
The original copy of this review can be found at: https://upcomingdiscs.com/2023/12/11/the-wailing-uhd-blu-ray-4k/
