• Sat, May 10, 25
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review

02 Jul

The Twilight Zone Season 2 Episode 7 Review: A Human Face

New DVD release, , , ,
This TWILIGHT ZONE review contains spoilers. The Twilight Zone Season 2 Episode 7 It may be the fact that 2020 is a better episode of The Twilight Zone than any writer could ever conceive of, or that we’re living in an actual dystopian nightmare, or that we’ve seen enough real-life monsters to be desensitized to them when we see them on our screens, that makes “A Human Face” feel so aggressively meh. Sure, we haven’t had a cosmic event and alien visitors chewing on our furniture —yet— but certainly, if it were to occur, it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing…
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02 Jul

Warrior Nun Review (Spoiler-Free): Sisters Doing it for Themselves

New DVD release, , , , ,
This Warrior Nun review contains no spoilers. Netflix’s Warrior Nun is a loose adaptation of the American manga Warrior Nun Areala. The comic follows the titular Warrior Nun, Sister Shannon Masters, and her friends in The Order of the Cruciform Sword, as they fight the forces of evil. The show is something of a spiritual successor to the comic, which was first published in 1994. It takes the broad premise, a religious sect of nuns and priests that fight evil under the leadership of a superpowered Warrior Nun, and reimagines it for the modern audience. Some characters transition directly from…
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02 Jul

Agents of SHIELD Season 7 Episode 6 Review: Adapt or Die

New DVD release, , , , ,
This review contains spoilers for Agents of SHIELD. Agents of SHIELD Season 7 Episode 6 Failure is such a powerful narrative tool, mostly because viewers don’t expect things to go so spectacularly wrong even when the heroes are technically winning. Such is the case with this week’s Agents of SHIELD which has Daisy barely escaping with her life and Coulson sacrificing himself, achieving measures of success indirectly despite heavy losses. Even Mack foiling the Chronicom’s infiltration by jettisoning his fake parents is a victory of sorts even though the supposed rescue mission itself was an obvious bust. Such stories make…
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02 Jul

The 100 Season 7 Episode 7 Review: The Queen’s Gambit

New DVD release, , , ,
This THE 100 review contains spoilers The 100 Season 7 Episode 7 Lindsey Morgan (who plays Raven Rayes) directed a crackling episode of The 100 that treats us to a heaping pile of wonderful character moments and more mysteries than you can shake a stick at. Sheidheda continues to prove why he had a reputation as a master strategist and Emori comes into her own as a leader on Sanctum while Murphy struggles with the opposite impulse. Meanwhile, some of the most formidable women on the show found themselves imprisoned on Bardo, and Jackson helped Madi lay down her burden as Commander…
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01 Jul

Unsolved Mysteries Review (Spoiler-Free): True Crime With More Questions Than Answers

New DVD release, , , , , ,
This Unsolved Mysteries review contains no spoilers. Unsolved Mysteries Season 1 The Netflix rebooted series Unsolved Mysteries could really use someone like Robert Stack to lead audiences through these mysterious cold cases. He may not have been the biggest named crime-fighting icon, but he brought his Elliot Ness from the original The Untouchables to the scene. He also brought his trench coat. True crime shows are coming from all directions, and most of them follow a similar pattern which was laid out by Unsolved Mysteries. What set it apart were that voice and that trench coat. Stack hosted the groundbreaking…
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26 Jun

Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga Review: An Over-Long Pastiche That Misses the Mark

New DVD release, , , , ,
Before delving into the good and bad of Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, the new Netflix comedy from writers Will Ferrell and Andrew Steele, it’s probably important to note that Ferrell became a massive fan of the bonkers singing competition after learning about its existence from his Swedish wife. No matter the results, Eurovision has seemingly been put together with a large amount of love. It sings from the heart, to paraphrase the film’s own barometer. Oh if only that was enough. The film follows Iceland’s Lars (Ferrell) and Sigrit (Rachel McAdams) who, after becoming entranced by…
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23 Jun

Irresistible Review: Jon Stewart Political Comedy Lacks Punchline

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Irresistible takes place in Rural America, Heartland USA. Seriously, that’s the insert title placed over a small Wisconsin town where farmer Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper) becomes a viral sensation after criticizing his local government’s voter ID law. It’s also the kind of generic Americana imagery sold to us every two years by an endless barrage of political campaign ads, a fact writer-director Jon Stewart aims to deconstruct in this  parable about red states and blue states, and Cooper’s country mouse meeting a particularly desperate city one—elite Democrat strategist Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell). As Stewart’s second film after Rosewater, which was…
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19 Jun

Wasp Network Review

New DVD release,
It’s always difficult to watch a director end a streak of excellent, or at least interesting, movies with one that is just flat out disappointing. After a run of more than a decade that included acclaimed, awarded, and frequently discussed films like Summer Hours, Clouds of Sils Maria, Carlos, and Personal Shopper, French writer-director Olivier Assayas has come up way short with his new film, Wasp Network. And it’s a damn shame too, because Assayas has assembled a fine cast led by Penelope Cruz, Gael Garcia Bernal, Edgar Ramirez and Ana de Armas, and there are flashes of greatness and…
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18 Jun

You Should Have Left Review

New DVD release,
Kevin Bacon deserves better. I write this knowing full well that the actor is considered a star, one whose output in the 1980s and ‘90s made him a generational touchstone for Gen-X and older Millennials. He even became a meme before that was a thing. With a slightly different career, the Footloose leading man who always enjoyed a side of ham with his bacon might’ve become a renowned scenery-chewer. Think of the latter day love you see for Nicolas Cage in Mandy or Jeff Goldblum in a Disney+ TV show simply about him “Goldblum-ing” around the world. Yet Bacon never…
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17 Jun

Wira Review: Meet the Next Martial Arts Movie Star

Netflix, New DVD release, ,
The hottest fight scenes are coming out of Southeast Asia right now. And fresh off the boat is the Malaysian actioner Wira, now available on Netflix and starring a bright young martial star named Hairul Azreen. The Southeastern charge into martial arts movies began in 2011 with the Indonesian breakout film, The Raid: Redemption. The sequel, The Raid 2, picked up the action right where the first film left off and a new vision for ultraviolence was born. Fight choregraphy turned visceral, merciless, and totally awesome. The Raid films introduced the world to fight scene game-changers Iko Uwais and Yayan…
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16 Jun

7500 Review: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Takes on Hijackers in Amazon Prime’s Latest Thriller

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A pilot must defend the cockpit when terrorists attack during a flight from Berlin to Paris in 7500, the feature debut from German director Patrick Vollrath, which arrives on Amazon Prime this week. It’s a German, Austrian, and American co-production starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, with parts in English and others in Arabic, Turkish, and German. That makes this a bit of a strange beast to begin with but add in that it’s told in real time, mostly shot on handheld and almost entirely in one location with no score and you’ve got a film that at its best is a tense…
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11 Jun

Artemis Fowl Review: Kenneth Branagh Brings Teen Criminal Mastermind to Disney+

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Originally destined to be a tentpole theatrical release in May, Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of the much loved Eoin Colfer books instead premieres as a Disney+ exclusive. It’s a shame in a way, since Branagh’s movie is colorful, kinetic, and highly cinematic with several rollicking set pieces and some Harry Potter-level world building.  On the other hand, the streaming release does at least save fans of the books feeling cheated out of the price of a cinema ticket and a bucket of popcorn as well as a morally ambiguous and frequently ruthless main character. As many predicted, the least interesting thing…
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10 Jun

Da 5 Bloods Review

Netflix, New DVD release,
Spike Lee has history on his mind in Da 5 Bloods. That almost should go without saying for the kinetic, unambiguous filmmaker whose ambition is always to find the bigger picture. But as it turns out, even the framing device of the Vietnam War is not large enough for his latest effort. Rather Da 5 Bloods grapples with the ugly history of all American wars, and the Black bodies that lay in their foundations. This reality is present from the opening moments when Muhammad Ali’s refusal to fight in the jungles of Southeast Asia is juxtaposed with Apollo 11 landing…
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08 Jun

The King of Staten Island Review

New DVD release, ,
There is something instantly familiar about The King of Staten Island, the new film from director Judd Apatow. Like earlier Apatow efforts such as Knocked Up, This is 40, and Funny People, it’s about a stunted man-child’s journey through several life situations and the emotional growth (or lack thereof) that results. But in this case, the movie is based on the life of its star, Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson, who wrote the script with his longtime friend Dave Sirus. It’s also far removed from the typical Los Angeles environs of many of his movies and is set…
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03 Jun

The Vast Of Night Review – a Retro Sci-Fi Gem

New DVD release, ,
An indie sci-fi, reportedly rejected by 18 film festivals before it landed the audience award at Slamdance in 2019, The Vast of Night is the latest buzzy release to be picked up by Amazon Prime. The buzz is justified. Set in a small town in New Mexico and taking place over a single night, The Vast of Night is ‘50s set sci-fi in the spirit of cold war classics like The Blob and Invasion of The Body Snatchers, with a modern twist and an extra meta-layer.  A film within a film, The Vast of Night is framed as an episode…
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22 May

The Lovebirds Review

New DVD release,
Every couple, like the one in The Lovebirds, wants to believe that they have it figured out; that they’ve somehow tapped into the secret to a functional relationship; and that theirs is the perfect partnership which thrives on nonverbal communication and shared goals. Every couple also wants to believe that, when dropped into an impossible situation, their bond is strong enough to find the way out. For even if they’re two ordinary people when apart, they can be extraordinary together—whether it’s saving a struggling relationship or singlehandedly solving a murder-mystery-inside-a-cult-conspiracy. You laugh, but your next thought was likely “…huh.” And…
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15 May

Scoob! Review: New Scooby-Doo Movie is Goofy and Charming

New DVD release, , , , ,
“Scooby-Dooby-Doo, where are you?” It’s not only the refrain from the classic cartoon theme song of what is arguably Hanna-Barbera’s crown jewel, but it’s also a question many movie fans have been asking for years. Though the franchise has had plenty of hilarious and inventive modern reinterpretations along with loads of home video movie releases, it has been 16 years since the dog detective headlined a big budget Hollywood movie. So that’s why the announcement of a new animated feature, Scoob!, was so exciting. Like pretty much every movie this year, the COVID-19 crisis derailed this film’s hopes for a…
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11 May

Capone Review: Tom Hardy Misfires

New DVD release, , ,
There’s a cathedral on Chicago’s North Side that I liked visiting as a kid. In its cornerstone, a bullet hole still lingers nearly a century after it shattered the rock: a leaden forget-me-not of the day Al Capone’s gunmen executed Earl “Hymie” Weiss on the church steps. Growing up, it was like communing with a mythological past. But then the less you know about wiseguys and gangsters, the grander they can appear. The real Al Capone was obviously not a mythic figure or a comic book supervillain; he was a thug with a gun and a big mouth who died…
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06 May

Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind Review

New DVD release, , ,
Natasha Gregson Wagner says a poignant thing about her movie star mother, and her all-too tragic death, at the beginning of Laurent Bouzereau’s Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind. “Since then there’s been so much speculation on how she died that it’s overshadowed her life’s work and who she was as a person.” It’s a brief but sudden flash into the perspective of living with a lifelong media whirlwind of speculation and insinuation. It also is clearly Gregson Wagner’s pained personal truth. Yet what’s both interesting and ultimately frustrating about Bouzereau’s new documentary, which just premiered on HBO, is that it…
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01 May

All Day and a Night Review: Netflix Movie Aims Too High

New DVD release, , ,
In All Day and a Night, the new Netflix crime film from writer/director Joe Robert Cole, Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) plays Jahkor Abraham Lincoln, a young Oakland man whose life in one of that city’s most underserved communities has come to an all-too-familiar crossroads: does he follow in the path of his currently jailed father J.D. (Jeffrey Wright) and plunge full-on into a life of crime and gang culture, or does he pursue a different path — he wants to be a rapper and has started making his own mixtapes — and try to break the cycle for the sake of…
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DVD Guide reviews current dvd releases of movies and TV shows. The reviews of these dvd releases are my thoughts and understandings of the movie, dvd releases or TV show and not be taken as fact.

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