Site News August 2024
This column is a cross between some somber feelings and hopeful ones. I don’t need to tell you, but most people jumping onto this site will notice that nothing has been written on here for about a month and a half. There are obvious reasons for that and I will go into them shortly. But the major thing here is I’m not giving up on this site, things might change and until events especially in my work life settle down, you might not hear from me for a while. Trust me, I much rather be writing than pretty much anything on the planet (except for time with my wife and son). Everything else and everyone can seriously screw off. However, in order to have money, some of those activities must continue. Maybe someday my writing will actually produce money (for me) instead of just taking it. This will all become hopefully clear in the next few paragraphs.
The Perfect Weapon (Blu-Ray) Review
For those of us who love movies, we tend to have films that have a deep place in our heart that many other people do not. Pictures that many movie goers (especially those under a certain age) have even heard of, never mind enjoy. We explored one of those movies earlier this year in Red Corner which holds a special place solely for the fact that I was able to bond with my then college roommate who was something of a stranger up to that point. Another such film is the one we are looking at today, The Perfect Weapon. I first saw this movie during my teenage years and probably have watched it about a dozen times by this point. It came down to something as simple as I was looking for a martial arts film (at that point I was mostly unaware of foreign films) that wasn’t Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme that I could sink my teeth into. Enter Jeff Speakman. Let’s take a look.
Lenny Kravitz – Blue Electric Light CD Review
Rating – 3 3/4 stars out of 5
As I have mentioned before, my music renaissance started about a decade ago where I turned away from being strictly glam rock with some eighties thrown in to artists and bands that funk and soul were more on the plate than a hard hitting headbanging tune were. There are two artists in particular that have become a gateway for that transformation. One was of course, the icon and legend known as Prince. The other is an artist who has often been compared to him, Lenny Kravitz. Ever since I read his biography back in May of last year, I have been craving some new music. Looks like I finally got my wish in Blue Electric Light. Let’s take a listen.
Continue reading “Lenny Kravitz – Blue Electric Light CD Review”
Garfield (2024) Film Review
My favorite food has always been lasagna. All those special noodles, layers of cheese and ricotta, beef, sausage, sauce, and more cheese into an absolutely perfect dish. Furthermore, if you let the dish sit overnight in the refrigerator, it was somehow even better than the day before. Unfortunately, lack of true gluten free options for lasagna noodles (Barilla makes one but they are hard to find) and nobody to really make it for beside myself (my wife and son are lactose intolerant) have created a situation where I haven’t had a true lasagna in years. But perhaps with today’s film review of Garfield, I can find the inspiration to recreate my favorite dish. Let’s take a look at the movie.
Continue reading “Garfield (2024) Film Review”
Red Corner (Blu-Ray) (Umbrella) Review
Late October, 1997. My Chinese roommate has handed me a movie ticket for a new film called Red Corner with Richard Gere. Himself along with his friends and classmates are attending an advance screening of the picture and wanted to invite me to share the experience with them. The film would last two hours but the moment would last in my memories forever as one of my best film experiences ever. I learned a lot about China (since most of the group were born there) and truly saw the film through eyes other than my own. While the DVD did get a pretty quick release, it has been twenty plus years to get a blu-ray copy, this one from Australian distributor, Umbrella Entertainment. Let’s take a look.
Blue Giant (Blu-Ray) Review
As many of you know, there isn’t a type of media that I don’t enjoy reviewing. Sure, my film reviews are most numerous but I have also dabbled in books, video games and music when it comes to critiquing. Music is really fun because I’m one of the few people I know that will literally dissect every song whether it is a hit or a throwaway. Needless to say, I almost never hold back. So imagine my excitement when I come upon a new anime that blends an interesting story with the amazing style of jazz music. I honestly don’t even listen to jazz, but the chance to expand my musical repertoire is something I crave to do. Let’s take a look at Blue Giant.
The original version of this review can be found at:
Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two (4k UHD) Review
As is sometimes the case when you write a review, one does not have the fortune of doing everything in it’s exact order. I was extremely excited when I found out I was reviewing the second part of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earth. 4k steelbooks are pretty hard to come by for review copies, and I was quite elated. One little problem, I had not been able to watch the first part of this planned trilogy. As I racked my brain and started to flip through some streaming channels, I was very fortunate to come upon HBO Max which had placed the first part on their service only a few days ago. Sometimes, it pays to be lucky more so than good. Let’s take a look at the second part and see if it can start to answer the questions left behind from the first.
The original review for this disc can be found at:
Continue reading “Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two (4k UHD) Review”
Upcoming Reviews for May 2024
April was not the month writing wise I was hoping for. While I did put forth three reviews, two were music releases and I didn’t progress my “Kurt Russell” project any further despite my intentions. I can’t say that project will have any progress in May either because I have at least four reviews coming up. However, those four releases are pretty exciting and only one will be music related. Let’s talk about it.
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.
Continue reading “St. Vincent – All Born Screaming CD Review”
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.
