Most Hated Movies: Scorned Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Annalynne McCord, Billy Zane, Viva Bianca

Format: Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Dubbed: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: ANCHOR BAY

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Run Time: 86 minutes

 

 

        I’ve watched a lot of bad films in my time, and I can usually predict them before the opening credits have even begun to roll. Knowing that Annalynne McCord (“90210”) was the star of this film initiated immediate warning signs in my head, but I never could have guessed how much she would dominate this film and how devastating that poor casting decision would be to Scorned. In all fairness, McCord is not the only one showing her shortcomings as an actor. Not a single actor looks good by the end of the film, and much of that is due to a remarkably asinine screenplay by Mark Jones & Sadie Katz, not to mention the inept direction provided by Jones. Few bad films have so little of worth in their content and production values in such equal proportion.

 

A Case of You Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, Vince Vaughn, Brendan Fraser, Sam Rockwell

Director: Kat Coiro

Format: Blu-ray, Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

Release Date: February 4, 2014

Run Time: 91 minutes

 

 

        Every aspect of A Case of You reads like a first draft screenplay which places all of its chips on a solitary clever idea, but the unwillingness to follow that premise through with believable character choices leaves us with a protagonist that comes off as creepy and insecure and a romantic interest who is either self-absorbed or just plain stupid. This is unfortunate, because a bit more work in the screenwriting phase or clearer direction from the three writers may have made for an engaging and socially relevant romantic comedy. Instead, we are given a half-baked idea and characters that seem intentionally oblivious as the only means to propel the story forward in the desired direction.

 

A Perfect Man DVD Review

     Actors: Liev Schreiber, Jeanne Tripplehorn

Director Kees Van Oostrum

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: January 28, 2014

Run Time: 94 minutes

 

 

        Using adultery as the launching point for a romantic comedy is a bold move, and one that A Perfect Man takes a majority of its running time recovering from. Skipping over the ‘boy-meets-girl’ portion of the storyline, all of A Perfect Man focuses on the losing and winning back of that girl. There is a clever rom-com scenario which allows out flawed male protagonist to “meet” the girl, unaware that it is the same one that he already lost.

 

Dark Touch DVD Review

     Actors: Missy Keating, Marcella Plunkett

Director: Marina de Van

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: January 28, 2014

Run Time: 91 minutes

 

 

        Although I commend the way in which Dark Touch fearlessly addresses real-life trauma within the context of a horror film, the subject matter is often too tragic to mix with elements of fantasy. As a result, the elements of spectacle are weighed down and all real-world tragedy that inspired the storyline seems trivialized by the supernatural aspects. As clever as Dark Touch may be on an intellectual level, it inevitably feels emotional manipulative with such a social abhorrent subplot.

 

Blue Caprice DVD Review

     Actors: Joey Lauren Adams, Isaiah Washington

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Ifc Independent Film

DVD Release Date: January 14, 2014

Run Time: 94 minutes

 

 

        Blue Caprice does a fantastic job of capturing insanity in a way which appears rational, while also doing absolutely nothing within the storyline to make the characters even remotely sympathetic. There is no doubt in my mind that this is directly tied into the fact that the plot was taken from the true events of the random Beltway sniper attacks, and cautious storytelling is a way of respecting the real-life tragedy which occurred. On the other hand, watching two unsympathetic antagonists at the center of this story makes for an emotionally attached viewing experience. It is difficult to feel sympathy for the victims we never get to know and impossible to enjoy the devastation of the antagonistic road trip taken by these killers. The result is a film which can only hope for stylistic admiration, leaving no room for audience to feel anything close to sympathy or empathy.

 

Concussion DVD Review

     Actors: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Jonathan Tchaikovsky, Ben Shenkman, Julie Fain Lawrence

Director: Stacie Passon

Producers: Anthony Cupo, Cliff Chenfeld, Rose Troche

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: ANCHOR BAY

DVD Release Date: January 28, 2014

Run Time: 96 minutes

 

        I did not get this movie. I understood the premise as described by the back cover and the implications made by the title, but in the larger scheme of the film’s narrative it seems entirely insignificant. We are led to believe that a suburban wife and mother’s accidental concussion ends in a new career as a high-end prostitute, but there are never any attempts to make a connection between the two events. It would almost seem entirely unrelated if it weren’t for that title and plot description.

 

Last Vegas Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline

Director: Jon Turteltaub

Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: PG-13)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: January 28, 2014

Run Time: 105 minutes

 

 

        Imagine The Hangover as a fantasy rather than a nightmare, replace the young cast with an impressive ensemble of actors with credits far too impressive to be sullied by this tripe, and you will have Last Vegas in a nutshell. This film may have been passable with a less impressive cast, but the expectations are raised too high with this ensemble and even the performances of their careers would not have been able to save Dan Fogelman’s predictable screenplay.

 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Will Forte, Neil Patrick Harris, James Caan

Directors: Cody Cameron, Kris Pearn

Writers: Christopher Miller, Erica Rivinoja, John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein, Judi Barrett

Format: AC-3, Animated, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French

Dubbed: French

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: January 28, 2014

Run Time: 95 minutes

 

 

        As was the case with the original, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is a silly film which works because of its slap-happy characters and groan-inducing puns. Realism and logic have no place in this wonderfully imaginative follow-up film to the children’s book adaptation. The characters in this film exist in a true cartoon world, where anything is possible, and this loopy approach gives the film a distinct style of humor.

 

The Prey Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Albert Dupontel, Alice Taglioni, Stéphane Debac

Director: Eric Valette

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

Language: French

Subtitles: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Cohen Media Group

Release Date: January 21, 2014

Run Time: 105 minutes

        Taking its cues from Hollywood blockbusters, this French thriller becomes increasingly unbelievable as the narrative progresses, though it is done with such energetic fervor that disbelief can be set aside for spectacle and suspense. What helps keep the story moving is the ability to shift directions and genre-infusion. A serial killer film is combined with a crime thriller, with the first quarter of the film playing out as a prison narrative. Though each individual aspect of the film may seem contrived and highly unlikely, the combined effect is a high octane thriller teetering on the line between intelligent and escapist entertainment.

 

In a World… Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Lake Bell, Jeff Garlin, Fred Melamed, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Ken Marino, Nick Offerman, Eva Longoria, Geena Davis, Corsica Wilson

Director: Lake Bell

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

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: January 21, 2014

Run Time: 93 minutes

 

        There are a few different ideas crammed into Lake Bell’s cleverly conceptual industry comedy, with some working better than others. Amidst the apparently competitive world of voiceover narration for trailers is an opportunity to speak the immortalized words “In a world” for a new blockbuster franchise of films similar to The Hunger Games. Although most expect the deep voice of a veteran voiceover actor (Fred Melamed) to be chosen, the world of voiceover is thrown into chaos when his daughter, Carol (Bell), is considered alongside him.

 

Blue Jasmine DVD Review

     Actors: Cate Blanchett, Alec Baldwin, Peter Sarsgaard

Director: Woody Allen

Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG-13

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: January 21, 2014

Run Time: 98 minutes

 

        There is an unmistakable style to Woody Allen’s filmmaking, from the very first frames of old-fashioned opening credits over jazzy music to the expected musical chairs approach to relationships filling the plot twists with adultery and the subsequent regret. Blue Jasmine is no different than the rest, containing all of the expected aspects of an Allen narrative, though the main character and the manner with which Cate Blanchett embodies the role manages to elevate the film above these expectations.

 

Argento’s Dracula 3-D Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Hutger Hauer, Asia Argento

Director: Dario Argento

Format: Color, 3D, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

Release Date: January 28, 2014

Run Time: 110 minutes

 

        I have mixed feelings about the choice to have Italian horror legend Dario Argento’s name attached to the title of this campy 3D revision of the classic vampire tale taken from Bram Stoker’s novel. On one hand, it was a kindness to not attach Stoker’s name to the title, while Dario Argento’s name is also too good to be sullied by such a sloppy bit of filmmaking. Though it is has long been clear that Argento’s golden era of filmmaking ended decades ago, this is a new low in his filmography. The only positive reason for having his name in the title would be to elevate the box office numbers, while simultaneously sinking Argento’s credibility as a filmmaker.

 

Exclusive Interview: Kimberly Peirce on Directing Carrie

        Last week the latest adaptation of Stephen King’s classic novel from the 1970s was released on Blu-ray and DVD, and director Kimberly Peirce sat down with me to answer a few questions. As if that weren’t enough, in honor of the classic climactic sequence of telekinetic prom destruction, Peirce dropped a bucket of faux blood on my head. Click here for a video of the interview and the here for my brief moment of glory as prom queen. Click here for the review of Carrie on Blu-ray and DVD.

 

Carrie Blu-ray Review

Actors: Chloë Grace Moretz, Judy Greer, Portia Doubleday, Alex Russell, Gabriella Wilde

Director: Kimberly Peirce

Writers: Lawrence D. Cohen, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

Producer: Kevin Misher

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

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Dubbed: English, French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: MGM

Release Date: January 14, 2014

Run Time: 100 minutes

        Stephen King’s novel about the outcast teen with telekinetic powers has been adapted previously; once in the 1976 theatrical release by Brian De Palma, and again as a TV movie a little over a decade ago. This was the first of King’s novels to be adapted into a film and was such a phenomenal success the first time around that it comes as no surprise that there have been skeptics of a new version. If anyone is equipped to handle this content in a new way, however, it is director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don’t Cry, Stop-Loss). For my exclusive interview with Peirce, click here.

 

        In some respects, this material needs a feminine perspective to guide the story, refraining from the type of exploitation which would ultimately damage the film’s message. There are actual teenagers cast in the roles of high school students, rather than the unnecessarily nubile twenty-year-olds from De Palma’s version. Rather than simply offering up the prerequisite skin and gore for a horror film, Peirce’s Carrie is an introspective look at the damaging effects of bullying built into a brutal revenge film.

 

New to Blu-ray: Rififi (1955)

     Format: Black & White, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: French

Subtitles: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Criterion Collection

Release Date: January 14, 2014

Run Time: 118 minutes

        Hollywood is a hungry monster, almost like the alien mass in the classic science-fiction horror film, The Blob, constantly absorbing all that comes into its path. This often includes an assortment of foreign directors, whose success in their home country and native language can provide the chance to become a part of this beast. This tradition has been a constant since World War sent foreign film industries into a tailspin and the seclusion of Hollywood made it an ideal point of escape. It is so common for Hollywood to integrate foreign talent that it is easy to forget the significant moments in history which have sent American talent overseas in search of opportunity.

 

        Jules Dassin may have an extremely French sounding name, but he was an American with a distinctly Hollywood style of crime films under his belt before making his first film in France. Rififi (1955) was the result of an unfortunate set of circumstances, and one of the few instances in cinema’s history where filmmaker’s had reason to escape from rather than to Hollywood. Dassin had established himself in the hardboiled crime genre with masterpieces such as Brute Force and The Naked City until accusations of Communist activity forced him to flee Hollywood in 1951.

 

Plus One DVD Review

     Actors: Rhys Wakefield, Ashley Hinshaw

Director: Dennis Iliadis

Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

DVD Release Date: January 14, 2014

Run Time: 97 minutes

 

        Plus One is almost a great film, but there are a few contradictory ideas within the film which destroyed the illusion for me. Comparisons have been made to Donnie Darko and Primer, combined with Project X for the trashier party elements of the storyline, but the difference between this film and those other two independent time-travel cult films is the way in which the hold up upon further inspection. Plus One seems to fall apart in terms of themes and character actions where Donnie Darko and Primer withstand excessive scrutiny that comes with cult status, but the fact that it had me thinking about it enough to find the tears in the fabric was impressive in itself.

 

        Set during an unrealistically over-the-top party held by a teenage college student, an unexplained phenomenon causes a strange rift in time. Suddenly the events from earlier in the evening begin to occur, with all new duplicates of everyone attending the party. This phenomenon remains a mystery for large portion of the film due to the shifting nature of the party’s events, so that everyone is outside when their doubles appear in the house. Only three friends who remained inside are aware of the duplicates, and must decide how to react without causing panic.

 

Terraferma Blu-ray Review

     Director: Emanuele Crialese

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

Language: Italian

Subtitles: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Cohen Media Group

Release Date: January 14, 2014

Run Time: 88 minutes

 

 

        Immigration is a topic clearly close to the heart of filmmaker Emanuele Crialese, first with his remarkable portrayal of Italian natives on their journey to Ellis Island in The Golden Door and now with an examination the same topic in modern Italian society. The message of Terraferma often feels heavy-handed and predictable in the melodrama of specific plot twists, mostly due to the fact that Crialese is able to convey his ideas more than adequately through the use of contrasting imagery.

 

        Like Respiro, Terraferma takes place on a remote island located near Sicily. This island is a remote vacation spot during the summer, and otherwise a difficult home to fishermen dwindling in numbers as quickly as the fish are in the sea. The film follows the struggle between an old code of the sea which the fishermen uphold and the conflict this has with modern immigration laws. Immigrants traveling from Africa by rafts are to be left in the sea, but one family finds their livelihood in danger after rescuing a mother and her child from the sea.

 

A Single Shot Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Ted Levine, Kelly Reilly, Jason Isaacs

Director: David M. Rosenthal

Format: Blu-ray, Dolby, NTSC, THX, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: January 14, 2014

Run Time: 116 minutes

 

 

        A Single Shot provides a moderately engaging viewing experience, mostly because of way that even the film’s narrative twists and turns seems comfortingly familiar. There are no real surprises in this film and little beyond the performances stands out in the memory after it has been watched. The rest almost seems to be there simply to service these wonderfully colorful characters that the actors play.

 

        Sam Rockwell gives a wholehearted performance as John Moon, a backwoods poacher who has seen bad luck that lost him his family farm and wife in a short period. This streak of bad luck continues when Moon accidentally shoots a woman while hunting for deer, and while stashing her body he discovers a box full of cash. This seems to be a stroke of luck until his newfound wealth brings all sorts of unwanted attention from some out-of-town visitors.

New to Blu-ray: Sunrise (1927)

   Format: Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Full Screen, Subtitled

Language: English (Mono)

Subtitles: French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: January 14, 2014

Run Time: 94 minutes

 

        The integration of sound into cinema came in a transitional period of stages, with an all-out dialogue-filled film being the end result. Before that were scenes of dialogue or music in an otherwise silent film, and even after the advent of sound there were silent films being made. Some of these utilized soundtracks before they did dialogue, because the sound effects could be added after the filming was already completed as a way of enhancing the silent film for audiences on the cutting edge.

 

        Sunrise utilized the groundbreaking Fox Movietone sound system to provide the audience with a soundtrack to match the magical visuals in F. W. Murnau’s melodrama masterpiece. This 1927 film was released only a month after The Jazz Singer, which contained cinema’s first spoken (and sung) words. Though Sunrise was a technical masterpiece with groundbreaking soundtrack work, it failed to impress audience because it had no spoken words.

 

New to Blu-ray: In the Heat of the Night (1967)

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

Language: English (DTS 5.1), French (Mono), Spanish (Mono)

Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Dubbed: English, French, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: MGM

Release Date: January 14, 2014

Run Time: 110 minutes

 

                Filled with stark and profound images of racism over the backdrop of a murder mystery and the winner of five Oscars, including Best Picture, In the Heat of the Night is more than deserving of an anniversary edition release on Blu-ray. As MGM celebrates their 90^th Anniversary, this classic from 1967 is transferred to high definition. The special features are simply transferred over from the 40th Anniversary DVD release.