New Blu-ray Additions to The Toho Godzilla Collection

 

Godzilla 2000

 

 

 

        The Toho Godzilla films were meant to take a break back in 1998, when the first American installment was attempted. When Roland Emmerich’s film was a massive failure and insult to the franchise, Toho responded with Godzilla 2000, confusingly released in 1999. It was released theatrically in both Japan and in the United States, with a slightly altered edit. Both versions are available on the new Blu-ray release, along with a filmmaker and crew commentary track, a behind-the-scenes featurette and the original theatrical trailer.

 

God’s Pocket DVD Review

     Actors: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks

Director: John Slattery

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: September 9, 2014

Run Time: 89 minutes

 

 

        It is easy to imagine how this adaptation of Pete Dexter’s novel might have been made into a dark comedy under the guidance of more experienced filmmakers, such as the Coen brothers, but actor turned first-time director John Slattery (“Mad Men”) presents the story in a way that hits the same bleak notes from start to finish. Regardless of how captivating the veteran cast may be, it becomes difficult to imagine the reasons for forcing the characters to endure such hardship, or the meaning that the audience is meant to take away from the experience. As enjoyable as individual sequences may be, the overall result of God’s Pocket feels more trouble than its worth.

Borgman Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Jan Bijvoet, Hadewych Minis, Jeroen Perceval

Director: Alex van Warmerdam

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: NEW VIDEO GROUP

Release Date: September 9, 2014

Run Time: 113 minutes

 

        Dutch Filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam is no stranger to dark fables, having made his own bizarre twist on “Hansel & Gretel” with 2003’s Grimm. From the opening sequence which has a priest arming himself with a shotgun and large spear to hunt a group of men dwelling in underground structures, it is clear that Warmerdam’s Borgman exists in a similarly fantastical world. It is more horror film than fable, but the whimsical presentation inspires terror and dread more than providing scares or gore.

         

Friend 2: The Legacy DVD Review

     Actors: Oh-Seong Yu, Jang Young-nam, Joo Jin-mo, Kim Woo-bin

Director: Kwak Gyeong-taek

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: Korean

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: CJ Entertainment

DVD Release Date: September 16, 2014

Run Time: 121 minutes

 

 

        Despite only a few of the characters remaining from the previous installment in this gangster-drama franchise, Friend II: The Legacy manages to maintain the atmosphere from the original. It is with the narrative that this sequel gets a bit tripped up, attempting to do too much in a result that feels more convoluted than a sequel should. Rather than simply worrying about the progression of the characters in the story following the first film’s events, Friend II simultaneously adds unnecessary prequel segments from one of the film’s minor characters. Despite action which exceeds the first film in excitement, this follow-up feature is missing strength in characters and relationships which made the original one the most successful films in South Korean history.

 

Victim Blu-ray Review

    Actors: Jason Maza, Ashley Madekwe, Frank Harper, Ashley Chin, Adam Deacon

Director: Alex Pillai

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: September 9, 2014

Run Time: 86 minutes

 

        Although the acting and directing are adequate enough, Victim quickly becomes absolutely rubbish due to a screenplay that feels written by a fifteen-year-old thug with a false sense of righteous indignation and a penchant for unbelievable melodrama. It isn’t enough for the narrative to suggest that crime is the only option for some, but it actually attempts to make the claim that criminals are just as much victims as the people they brutalize and steal from. While the victims of these attacks are rarely completely innocent, that hardly justifies the theft and abuse carried out so that the film’s protagonists can get drunk and high in style.

 

Willow Creek Blu-ray Review

   Actors: Bryce Johnson, Alexie Gilmore

Director: Bobcat Goldthwait

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Dark Sky Films

Release Date: September 9, 2014

Run Time: 80 minutes

 

 

        Willow Creek is a step back for found-footage horror films, choosing realism in characters, plot and dialogue over spectacle. While recently released found-footage horror movies utilize the medium to display impressive special effects through the grounded camera work of home footage, Willow Creek doesn’t even feel the need to show the horror at the center of the film’s narrative. In this way, among many other similarities, Willow Creek feels like a direct descendant to the original found-footage horror film; The Blair Witch Project. While this simplicity/subtlety is often more effective in terms of the film’s eerie build up, the climax simply feels disappointing without a reveal. Even The Jungle at least gave us a glimpse of the creature in question.

 

The Goldbergs: The Complete First Season DVD Review

     Actors: George Segal, Jeff Garlin, Troy Gentile, Sean Giambrone

Format: Multiple Formats, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Number of discs: 3

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

DVD Release Date: September 9, 2014

Run Time: 495 minutes

 

        Although one of television’s earliest sitcoms was also named “The Goldbergs,” this new series feels far more like a remake (or re-imagining) of “The Wonder Years.” The series is actually based on the childhood of creator Adam Goldberg, though elements were clearly changed in ways that make it more similar to “The Wonder Years,” including the replacement of the older brother character with an older sister instead. It is more than that, however. When I was a child in the late 1980s, I watched a show about a family living in the 1960s. Twenty-some years later I am watching a series about a family in the 1980s, and can finally relate to what “The Wonder Years” must have felt like to my parents.