The Island Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Qi Shu, Huang Bo, Wang Baoqiang
• Directors: Huang Bo
• Format: Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen
• Region: Region A/1 (Read more about DVD/Blu-ray formats.)
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: 
   NR 
   Not Rated
• Studio: Well Go Usa
• DVD Release Date: July 30, 2019
• Run Time: 134 minutes

        The Island has a premise that cleverly blends the apocalypse-paranoia themes common recently with a narrative that filters “Lord of the Flies” through an office hierarchy. It is an entertaining modern parable about a group of flawed individuals who could easily stand in as representatives for the variety of people existing in society together today. Each have their roles in civilized society, but once the office workers think that the world has been destroyed by an apocalyptic event, it alters their inherent civility.

The Swindlers Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Hyun Bin, Yoo Ji-tae, Bae Seong-woo
• Director: Jang Chang-Won
• Disc Format: Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen
• Language: Korean
• Region: Region A/1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: 
   NR 
   Not Rated
• Studio: Well Go Usa
• Release Date: July 30, 2019
• Run Time: 117 minutes

        I almost feel bad for modern South Korean filmmakers. This generation is following one of the most innovative and prolific in the nation’s entire cinematic history, and many of the latest endeavors simply pale in comparison. The Swindlers is a perfect example of how South Korean cinema has learned from the successes of Hollywood, while also retaining very distinct national themes (revenge narratives are common across multiple genres). There is no difference between the way that Chang-Won Jang adopts the Ocean’s 11/Now You See Me/The Italian Job formula for Korean audiences and how Chan-Wook Park did the same with 90s thrillers (specifically Fincher films, The Game and Se7en) for his iconic ‘Vengeance Trilogy’ (Oldboy being the most influential in the West), other than the familiarity with this structure and the quality of the films imitated. The reason I feel bad for Jang is the same that I felt bad for every Tarantino-hack in the late 90s, but it isn’t enough to make The Swindlers a more memorable film.

Buster Keaton Collection: Volume 2 Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Buster Keaton, Kathryn McGuire, Ward Crane, Frederick Vroom, Joseph Keaton
• Directors: Buster Keaton, Donald Crisp
• Writers: Jean C. Havez, Joseph A. Mitchell, Clyde Bruckman
• Producers: Buster Keaton, Joseph M. Schenck
• Disc Format: NTSC
• Language: English (DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
• Region: Region A/1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: 
   NR 
   Not Rated
• DVD Release Date: July 9, 2019
• Run Time: 111 minutes

        Buster Keaton’s most remembered and technically accomplished feature films is, without a doubt, The General (featured in Volume 1 of the Buster Keaton Collection). If we are talking about innovation within the medium, however, few films have contributed quite so much as the accomplished Sherlock Jr., which is featured in Volume 2 alongside The Navigator, which displays Keaton’s endless creativity with slapstick and comedic timing. Sherlock Jr. is not only a great early slapstick film, it is one of the first films to really expand on the potential discovered in Georges Méliès’ ‘magic show’ shorts.