movie reviews

The LEGO Batman Movie is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray on June 13th!

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Bring home the year’s funniest family adventure when “The LEGO® Batman Movie,” arrives onto Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD. The film features Will Arnett who reprises his starring role from “The LEGO Movie,” as the voice of LEGO Batman, aka Bruce Wayne.

The film also features Zach Galifianakis (the “Hangover” films, “Muppets Most Wanted”) starring as The Joker; Michael Cera (TV’s “Arrested Development”) as the orphan Dick Grayson; Rosario Dawson (TV’s “Daredevil”) as Barbara Gordon; and Ralph Fiennes (the “Harry Potter” films) as Alfred. “The LEGO Batman Movie” is directed by Chris McKay, and produced by Dan Lin, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Roy Lee, who worked together on “The LEGO Movie.” Jill Wilfert, Matthew Ashton, Will Allegra and Brad Lewis serve as executive producers. The story by Seth Grahame-Smith is based on LEGO Construction Toys characters from DC and the screenplay is written by Seth Grahame-Smith, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jared Stern and John Whittington.

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Chiller Films Releases ‘CAMERA OBSCURA’…

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Chiller Films is pleased to announce the release of the anticipated horror thriller ‘CAMERA OBSCURA,’ in theaters on June 9 and on VOD and Digital HD on June 13.  The film is written by Aaron B. Koontz and Cameron Burns and marks the theatrical directing debut of Koontz. The cast includes Christopher Denham (“Billions,” “Argo”), Nadja Bobyleva (“Bridge of Spies”), Catherine Curtin (“Stranger Things,” “Orange is the New Black”), Chase Williamson (SIREN, “Beyond the Gates”) and Noah Segan (“The Mind’s Eye,” “Tales of Halloween”).

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Review – Raw (2016)

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by Old King Clancy

I’ve mentioned before – several times in fact – that I love modern French horror, ‘Martyrs’ is an all-time favorite of mine and ‘Inside’ had messed me up more times than I care to think of. So when news of ‘Raw’ came out with people fainting in the theater, I knew I had to see it. Those fainting rumors turned out to be exaggerated, but I still had high hopes for this to deliver and it more than did so. This is easily the best French cannibal sex movie I’ve seen all year and a near definite for my ‘Top 10’ of 2017.

The film opens with protagonist Justine (Garance Marillier) starting her first year at Veterinary school, the same school her sister Alexia  (Ella Rumpf) is currently studying. Justine is a quiet, shy bookworm, and firm vegetarian who struggles with the school heavy use of hard music and harder partying. During the intense hazing rituals Justine is forced to eat raw rabbit kidney and almost immediately has a violent allergic reaction to it with a bad rash breaking out onto her body. However, something changes inside Justine and she soon finds herself with a hunger for meat.

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You’ll Float with IT in September!

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by Kevin Muller

The road for Pennywise to have his day in the sun, or lurking around in the sewers, hasn’t been an easy one.   For years, the project had “floated” around with no hope of every gracing the silver screen.   After his success of the incredible 2014 “True Detective,” Cary Fukanaga soon boarded the project that he aimed for a 2016 release.   Cary and the studio constantly clashed over the tone of the Stephen King novel.   Cary wanted to do more of a slow burn film, while the studio wanted to, as Cary put it, make a typical jump scare horror film.   In a later article, I will review the screenplay that he originally wrote with Chase Palmer that was a dated 2014 script.   Soon after his departure, Andres (Andy) Muschetti, stepped into the director’s chair.   His 2013 film “Mama” wasn’t my favorite film but he seemed serious on bringing something good to this material.

Our first glimpse of Pennywise came back last summer with a facial shot of the character.  Then a few months later an official full body pose came out.  The one thing that stuck out about this interpretation of the murderous clown is that the wardrobe looked like it was from another century.  In actuality that is true of the novel’s presentation of him.   He has been here for hundreds of years and became a clown during the Victorian age.   Muschetti had already nailed the look of the character. Some people were and are still iffy about how the costume will look in motion.    Well, the poster and trailer have been released and I think we are in for one hell of a ride

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Review – Free Fire (2016)

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by Old King Clancy

I’ve been a fan of Ben Wheatley ever since ‘A Field In England’ blew my mind to such a degree that I still can’t properly define the experience. To that end I think it’s safe to say that Free Fire is his most commercial film to date. Actually that sounds way too pretentious, basically this is the first Wheatley film I’ve seen that doesn’t feel like a Wheatley film, but that doesn’t make it a bad film. Free Fire takes the Reservoir Dogs formula of greedy idiots with guns stuck in a warehouse and rolls with it, ending up with a fun and energetic little piece that brings out a great ensemble piece.

Set in 1970s Boston, the film finds two IRA members, Chris (Cillian Murphy) and Frank (Michael Smiley), teaming up with Frank’s junkie brother-in-law Steve-O (Sam Riley)and his friend Bernie (Enzo Cilenti)to help buy guns from South African arms dealer Vernon (Shalto Copley) and his partners; ex-black panther Martin (Babou Ceesay)and dope-smoking middle-man Ord (Armie Hammer) with third-party Justine (Brie Larson) acting as intermediary. To Frank’s anger, Steve-O got into a fight earlier that day and has been left with a black eye.

The deal goes down but not without its problems, Frank is openly hostile to Ord, Vernon’s ego gets in the way and Chris claims that the guns being sold to him aren’t what he ordered. Despite the hostilities a deal is made and money switches hands, that is until Steve-O realises that Vernon’s driver Harry (Jack Reynor) is the man who beat him up earlier that day for bottling Harry’s cousin after she wouldn’t put out. The already on-edge deal gets put under even more pressure when Steve-O brags to Harry about what he did, forcing Harry to fire the first bullet.

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is released on Blu-Ray Today!

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From Lucasfilm comes the first of the Star Wars standalone films, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new epic adventure. In a time of conflict, a group of unlikely heroes band together on a mission to steal the plans to the Death Star, the Empire’s ultimate weapon of destruction. This key event in the Star Wars timeline brings together ordinary people who choose to do extraordinary things, and in doing so, become part of something greater than themselves.

The home video release includes never-before-seen Rogue One bonus material that aims to take fans behind the scenes with the cast and filmmakers and includes an intimate collection of stories reveals how the film came to life, as well as hidden Easter Eggs and film facts that audiences may have missed in the theater.

Behind-the-scenes interviews and footage are cut together into a series of ten short featurettes:

  • A Rogue Idea – Hear how ILM’s John Knoll came up with the movie’s concept – and why it’s the right film to launch the Star Wars stand-alone films.
  • Jyn: The Rebel – Get to know Rogue One’s defiant, resourceful survivor, and hear what it was like for Felicity Jones to bring her to life onscreen.
  • Cassian: The Spy – Diego Luna shares insights into his complex, driven character, who becomes a hero through selflessness, perseverance and passion.
  • K-2SO: The Droid – Explore the development of this reprogrammed Imperial droid, from initial pitch and character design through Alan Tudyk’s performance.
  • Baze & Chirrut: Guardians of the Whills – Go deeper into the relationship between these two very different characters, with Chinese superstars Jiang Wen and Donnie Yen.
  • Bodhi & Saw: The Pilot & The Revolutionary – Forest Whitaker and Riz Ahmed reflect on Saw Gerrera, the broken Rebel leader, and Bodhi Rook, the Imperial pilot who defects.
  • The Empire – Meet a dangerous new Imperial adversary…and cross paths once more with the most iconic villain of all time.
  • Visions of Hope: The Look of “Rogue One” – The filmmakers describe the challenges and thrills of developing a bold new look for the movie that can fit within the world of the original trilogy.
  • The Princess & The Governor – See what it took to bring the vibrant young princess of “Star Wars: A New Hope” – as well as one of her most memorable foes – back to the screen.
  • Epilogue: The Story Continues – Filmmakers and cast celebrate Rogue One’s premiere and look forward into the future, to the Star Wars stories yet to be told.
  • Rogue Connections – Uncover Easter eggs and film facts hidden throughout the movie that connect “Rogue One” to the Star Wars universe.

Review – Life (2017)

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by Nile Fortner

Is This Sci-fi Film Recycling Other Sci-fi Films?

‘Life’ is science fiction thriller, starring Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler, Southpaw), Ryan Reynolds (Safe House, Deadpool), and Rebecca Ferguson (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, The Girl on the Train). No, this movie isn’t a remake or re-imagining of the 1999 Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence movie of the same name. So don’t expect to see Murphy fighting over some cornbread in space or anything like that.But you can expect to see six astronauts that aboard a space station, and they discover something we’ve all been wondering since the dawn of human history. They discover new life, they discover life in a galaxy far far away, they discover extraterrestrial life on Mars.

These members of the space station name this new life force, Calvin. As these astronauts conduct research on Calvin, gather data, and all that science mumbo jumbo. They realize Calvin is evolving rapidly, gaining strength, and learning at a very alarming rate. It turns out Calvin’s life may be more intelligent and terrifying than anyone could have ever imagined.  If this movie feels familiar, it just might be. Many people saw this trailer, and said to themselves, “Why are you reenacting the script of ‘Aliens’?” While watching this movie, just from the trailer alone, you feel a vibe of other science fiction films you’ve seen before.

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