Sword of Vengeance Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Ed Skrein, Karel Roden, Stanley Weber, Dave Legeno

Director: Jim Weedon

Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: May 26, 2015

Run Time: 87 minutes

 

 

          The director has changed, but it is still very clear that Sword of Vengeance was made by the same people who created Hammer of the Gods (2013), though this is not necessarily a good thing. The films share producers and writer Matthew Read, but more important, both have an emphasis on visual style over character or plot. Sword of Vengeance has plot and character beyond Hammer of the Gods, but in order to get to these sequences it forces the audience to endure endless over-stylized cinematography (from metal music video cinematographer, August Jakobsson), and senseless slow motion shots that drag out insignificant moments even longer. I can understand fight scenes being slow motion, however derivative of 300 that now seems, but what need is there to drag out a shot of a character riding a horse from one end of the frame to the other?

 

Two Men in Town Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Harvey Keitel, Forest Whitaker

Director: Rachid Bouchareb

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Closed-captioned, Dolby, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Cohen Media

Release Date: May 12, 2015

 

 

          French filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb established himself as an international success with his films about historical violence, including 2006’s WWII drama, Days of Glory, and Outside the Law, a drama from 2010 based on the Algerian struggle for independence following that war. He also made a film in London in 2009 about the aftermath of a series of terrorist attacks in 2005. The blending of fiction with real-life events served Bouchareb well, but he has discarded this successful method of filmmaking in his American films, to their overall detriment. Though Two Men in Town is light years ahead of his American film debut, Just Like a Woman (2012), there is simply not enough relevance within the story of these characters and their suffering. It lacks the same ability to integrate relevance with personal drama that Bouchareb had with his European films, despite strong performances by the cast in the underdeveloped roles and their narrative.

 

1776 Blu-ray Review

     Actors: William Daniels, Howard Da Silva, Ken Howard

Director: Peter H. Hunt

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

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: G (General Audience)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: June 2, 2015

Run Time: 142 minutes

 

 

          History buffs and Broadway enthusiasts alike will find much to be admired in Blu-ray release of 1776, the 1972 film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical. You kind of have to wonder though; did anyone suggest waiting another 4 years for the production, just to maximize relevance. And fans of “Boy Meets World” will enjoy seeing Mr. Feeny (William Daniels) act out the history instead of teaching it.

 

The Vatican Exorcisms DVD Review

     Actors: Joe Marino, Piero Maggio

Director: Joe Marino

Format: Multiple Formats, Anamorphic, NTSC

Language: English (Dolby Surround)

Subtitles: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: ANCHOR BAY

DVD Release Date: May 19, 2015

Run Time: 76 minutes

 

          Some bad films are actually quite fun to write reviews for, if only because they provide the opportunity for creative insults. Sometimes the filmmakers even fight back (see my recent review for Muck). The Vatican Exorcisms is another film entirely, so poorly conceived and created that there is no joy in writing this review, and even less in enduring the painful attempt at entertainment. Nothing about this film is worthwhile, from painfully bad acting to cheap special effects, all done under the moronic pretense of being a “real” found footage film.

 

Before I Disappear DVD Review

     Actors: Shawn Christensen, Fatima Ptacek, Emmy Rossum

Director: Shawn Christensen

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: May 19, 2015

Run Time: 98 minutes

 

 

          Watching Before I Disappear, I was reminded of the ideology at the center of Whiplash, which says that sometimes the worst thing for an artist is praise and success. Filmmaker Shawn Christensen won an Academy Award for his short film, Curfew, and lazily returned to the same material in feature-length form for Before I Disappear. What started as a clever short has now become a bloated exercise in ego and over-indulgent stylization attempting to make up for the shortage of actual content. I don’t doubt that Christensen has talent, but success may have been the worst possible thing for the quality of his art. 

 

The Blue Room DVD Review

     Actors: Mathieu Amalric, Serge Bozon, Laurent Poitrenaux

Director: Mathieu Amalric

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC

Language: French

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: May 19, 2015

Run Time: 75 minutes

 

 

          There is little to The Blue Room, at least in terms of plot, which is probably why the film is a concise 75-minute length. Based on the novel by Georges Simenon, I can’t imagine what the approach he used to make this material work as a novel, especially since I am left remembering the images of Mathieu Amalric’s adaptation. These striking shots matched by the non-linear storytelling make The Blue Room far more compelling than I would have expected from the material. I suppose this a testament to the fact that Amalric is as talented a director as he is an actor, perhaps even better with the right project.  

 

Still Alice Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, Hunter Parrish

Directors: Richard Glatzer, Wash Westmoreland

Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG-13

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: May 12, 2015

Run Time: 101 minutes

 

 

          There is an irritating trend occurring at the Academy Awards each year; the films that earn Best Actor/Actress nominations and wins have the tendency to walk away with no other awards. One less cynical than I am may assume that this is the Academy’s way of spreading out the accolades, but I see it as the film industry’s way of pandering to the award season with films that are singularly performance pieces. These tend to be indulgent roles which focus on little other than showcasing the star’s acting abilities, particularly if they gain/lose weight, drastically change their appearance in another way, or play some type of mental/physical disability. As spectacular as Julianne Moore’s performance in Still Alice may be, not to mention deserving of the Best Actress Oscar she received, the film surrounding her feels incomplete. Other characters get lost in the shuffle and the male characters are as horribly underwritten as is typically the case of female ones in Hollywood. Does the feminist backlash in cinema have to come at the cost of properly developed male roles? Can’t we have both in one film?

Leviathan Blu-ray Review

     Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, AC-3, Dolby, Widescreen

Language: Russian

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures

Release Date: May 19, 2015

 

 

          Leviathan is not a simple film. The plot is easily described and the approach is fairly direct, but there are layers upon layers of meaning and significance to be garnered from Andrey Zvyagintsev’s film. This is a movie that begs to be analyzed rather than reviewed, leaving me struggling to find the appropriate words for those who have not yet experienced it. While wholly Russian in tone and style, Leviathan is also universally accessible in dealing with issues of pain and suffering. Though there is plenty of political injustice spearheading this struggle, the movie is more interested in the human reaction to the unfairness of life, essentially playing out a modern-day parable from the Book of Job.

 

Jamaica Inn Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

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

Language: English

Region: All Regions

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Cohen Media Group

Release Date: May 12, 2015

Run Time: 98 minutes

 

 

          Jamaica Inn is one of those films remembered for all of the wrong reason, famous for giving Alfred Hitchcock such an unpleasant experience that it was his last film directed in England before beginning his illustrious career in Hollywood. The casting of Charles Laughton meant that Hitchcock lost much of his beloved freedom, and the film lacks his signature style. He does not even offer himself a cameo. And yet, even at his unhappiest there is still talent to be seen in some of Hitchcock’s climactic moments of suspense. He was the master, indeed. This paired with a typically theatrical performance from Laughton makes Jamaica Inn worth remembering, and occasionally revisiting.