Cold Comes the Night Blu-ray Review

    Actors: Alice Eve, Bryan Cranston, Logan Marshall-Green

Directors: Tze Chun

Format: AC-3, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: Danish, English, Greek, Norwegian, Swedish

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Run Time: 90 minutes

 

        Fresh off of his success with “Breaking Bad,” Bryan Cranston is going to have to work hard to break away from the crime genre. This is somewhat ironic considering the monumental role of Walter White broke the comedic persona gained from years on the sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle.” Cold Comes the Night is not a groundbreaking film, nor is it a career-defining role from Cranston, though the seemingly unnecessary choice to make his character speak with a thick Russian accent at least gives the actor a chance to escape type casting. If only the editors had done a better job of cutting out the lines or takes in which Cranston’s accent slips away, this performance may have helped the otherwise standard thriller narrative.   

 

Oldboy Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Josh Brolin

Format: AC-3, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: March 4, 2014

Run Time: 104 minutes

 

       

        There was absolutely no reason to adapt Chan-wook Park’s Oldboy, and even less reason for Spike Lee to be the chosen director for this project. Over the ten years since the groundbreaking South Korean film was released, there were many possible directors attached the adaptation. At one point it was thought that Steven Spielberg would adapt it with Will Smith in the leading role. In my mind, the only possible director who could have done justice to the original would have been David Fincher, so perhaps I was biased in my viewing of the 2013 adaptation by Lee. This film comes nowhere close to the original. With that being said, there are a few moments within this unnecessary film which are at least compelling enough to be entertaining. This film may not come close to being needed for anyone willing to read subtitles, but at least it isn’t boring.

 

The Counselor Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Michael Fassbender, Penelope Cruz, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Cameron Diaz

Director: Ridley Scott

Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English (DTS 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Dubbed: English, French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: Unrated

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: February 11, 2014

Run Time: 118 minutes

       

        I wanted to like The Counselor. I’ve read quite a bit of acclaimed author Cormac McCarthy’s work, and was amazed at how brilliantly the Coen brothers were able to capture the poetry in the violence with their adaptation of No Country for Old Men. The Counselor only further proves what a delicate balance was needed for the material in No Country for Old Men, showing how difficult making a film out of McCarthy’s material truly is. Sadly, Ridley Scott’s film proves this by being a complete and utter failure.        

 

Breathless Blu-ray Review

     Format: Black & White, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: French

Subtitles: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 3

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Criterion Collection

Release Date: February 25, 2014

Run Time: 90 minutes

 

       

        I could spend an entire review merely discussion the significance that Breathless had on cinema, internationally. Cinema as we know it today is still carrying waves of the initial impact of films like Breathless, radical pioneers in an ever-changing (and growing) art form. Even if you don’t care for French New Wave or Jean-Luc Godard’s ironic and cold homage to film noir narratives, there is no denying its ultimate significance and influence that Breathless had on modern cinema.

               

Killing Kennedy Blu-ray Review

      Format: AC-3, Blu-ray, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Dubbed: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: February 11, 2014

Run Time: 88 minutes

 

 

        Despite the widespread criticism of Killing Lincoln, a recreation style adaptation of the best selling book by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard from producers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, this was apparently seen as reason to try again. Killing Kennedy, also adapted from a book by O’Reilly and Dugard, at the very least benefits from the disposing of recreation elements, instead approach the narrative in a more straightforward manner. The unfortunate thing about this final film is how much it resembles the superior Parkland feature film. The simple truth is that this material is over-used and we have had enough films about Kennedy’s assassination to last several decades.