Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movies. Show all posts

Saturday, June 11, 2022

[Blu-ray Review]—Belfast (2021)


Sometime this year, the critically appraised coming-age film Belfast came out on Blu-ray from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, and somewhere along the line, I received a copy for review purposes. I recall watching it immediately but never wrote down my thoughts on it until now. And yes, I did rewatch the movie before writing this post.

Monday, May 9, 2022

[Blu-ray Review]—Last Looks (2022)


Thanks to the now-saturated streaming services, theatrical releases are becoming a thing of the past unless the film is Marvel or connected to another big IP. Everything else goes straight to VOD, followed by a Digital, DVD, or Blu-ray release, such as the thriller Last Looks, which landed on physical media last month from RLJE Films. Ever heard it? If you said no, join the club, as I never heard of the title until I received a press release for the Blu-ray - and that was near the release date. 

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

{Easter Movies on Pure Flix}—Risen (2016)



“Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him. Mark 15:29-32 (NIV) 


Easter is just around the corner, and there's no time like the present to teach your kids about the holiday's true meaning. No, I'm referring to chocolate bunnies, egg hunts, and the Easter Bunny. I'm referring to the death and resurrection of Jesus - the hallmarks of the Christian faith. Easter is the time of rejoicing and remembering the sacrifice Jesus made for all of us.  

Thursday, March 10, 2022

[Review]—Tyson's Run (2022)


Arriving in movie theaters on March 11th is the inspirational drama Tyson's Run (Rated PG; 102 minutes). Kim Bass wrote, produced, and directed the film. Planet 9 Productions produced the film with Collide Distribution distributing it. Four-time Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Yolanda Adams recorded If You Believe, an original song for the film.

Tyson's Run centers on an autistic fifteen-year-old named Tyson Hollerman (Major Dodson), who has been homeschooled by his mother, Eloise (Amy Smart), for his entire life. Tyson wants to learn more about algebra. He convinces his mother to enroll him as a student at Head High School, the very same school where his father, Bobby (Rory Cochrane), coaches football.

While helping his father clean up the football team, Tyson befriends champion marathon runner Aklilu (Barkhad Abdi), who owns a local shoe store. With Aklilu's guidance, Tyson is determined to be a runner and enter the town's upcoming marathon. He hopes he will win his father's approval by winning the race.  

Buy your tickets TODAY to see TYSON’S RUN in theaters! Tickets can be purchased at https://tysonsrun.com/tickets/.




Giveaway


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Final Thoughts

Tyson's Run is a blend of a coming-of-age tale and a sports drama that at times resembles an afterschool school special from the 1980s. (Remember those?) It's a family-friendly movie that touches on autism, school bullying, parental acceptance. The movie's main themes are faith, courage, and believing in yourself.

Overall, I enjoyed watching Tyson's Run. It's a well-directed movie with good performances from the cast. 

Learn more about Tyson's Run at https://tysonsrun.com/.

Disclosure: Many thanks to Collide Distribution for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own.

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

[Review]—Redeeming Love (2021)


Universal Pictures' big-screen adaptation of author Francine Rivers's historical romance Redeeming Love (PG-13; 134 minutes) will be in theaters tonight with select Thursday Night screenings and receive a nationwide release on Friday. 


Francine Rivers had authored several historical romances before becoming a born-again Christian in 1986. After taking a three-year break from writing, she read the Book of Hosea from the Old Testament, which inspired her to pen Redeeming Love, first published in 1991 by Bantam Books. Since its publication, the book has sold over three million copies and translated into 30 languages.


Redeeming Love is co-written by Francine Rivers and D. J. Caruso, who also directs the film. Abigail Cowen (Fate: The Winx Saga) stars as Angel, a troubled woman working as a prostitute in the gold mining town of Pair-A-Dice. Angel was sold into prostitution at an early age after her mother's death. She expects nothing but pain and heartache from everyone and everything around her. Well, until she meets Michael Hosea (Tom Lewis), a Christian farmer that comes knocking at her door. Unlike all other men that buy thirty minutes of her time, Michael wants nothing from her.


Michael proposes marriage to Angel but not for one second does she believe this man wants to marry her. Only after Michael rescues her from a dire situation does she agree to marry him. Michael brings Angel to his farm. Angel tries to mend her wounds, both physical and emotional. She is ashamed of her past and feels unworthy of Michael's love. 


Co-starring are Logan Marshall-Green, Famke Janssen, Nina Dobrev, and Eric Dane.  




Final Thoughts

Redeeming Love isn't your by-the-book Hollywood love story. It deals with dark themes of prostitution and abuse. The film must have barely gotten a PG-13 because of those dark themes; it could've easily received an R rating.


Abigail Cowen and Tom Lewis both give good performances. Rogier Stofffer's cinematography is both beautiful and dreadful at the same time. By dreadful, I'm referring to a few well-shot violent scenes that are difficult to watch due to the subject matter. The musical score by Brian Tyler and Breton Vivian was excellent.


Overall, Redeeming Love is an emotional tale about forgiveness and redemption. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the film. It's not a scene-by-scene adaptation. There were a few changes from the book, but nothing dramatic. Whether you've read the book or not, I highly recommend seeing Redeeming Love.



Many thanks to Universal for providing a sample of the product for this review. Opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. Please

Friday, December 24, 2021

[Blu-ray Review] - The Colony (2021)


It feels like science fiction is starting to make a comeback in Hollywood. There's the new adaptation of Dune, a sequel in the works, and a spinoff television series coming soon to HBO Max. Then there's the Foundation series on Apple+ that I keep hearing good things about but haven't seen yet. Then there are the direct-to-VOD and Blu-ray flicks that aren't half bad. So, all in all, the future of onscreen science fiction looks promising. 

[Blu-ray Review] - Twist (2021)


Why do movie studios keep modernizing classic novels? Seriously, I'm getting sick and tired of it. Then, again, at least it isn't another straight-up remake. Despite my dislike for this trend, I put aside my bias and watched Twist on Blu-ray a few nights ago. As you might have guessed by the title, it's a modern reimagining of Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist

Thursday, December 23, 2021

[Blu-ray Review] - Occupation: Rainfall (2021)


There are way too many getting VOD and direct-to- Blu-ray releases and about 95% of them go under my radar. Occupation: Rainfall (R; 128 minutes) happens to be one of these films. It's an Australian science fiction sequel to 2018's Occupation, with Luke Sparke returning as writer and director.

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

{Digital Review} - Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)


Let me be honest I had never heard of the superhero Shang-Chi before Marvel Studio's Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (PG-13; 132 minutes) was released this year. I was assuming he was a new comic book character. Oh, boy, I was wrong. Shang-Chi made his debut in Special Marvel Edition #15 (December 1973), and his appearance looked like legendary Bruce Lee.  

Monday, December 20, 2021

{4K Ultra HD Review} - The Green Knight (2021)


I wouldn't have even known about The Green Knight (R; 129 minutes) if it wasn't for a YouTube recommendation for the trailer. A24 distributed it to USA theaters on July 30th, 2021. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the UK theatrical debut moved from August 6th to September 24th. Lionsgate Home Entertainment released the film on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital on October 12th.

Friday, December 17, 2021

[4K Ultra HD Review] - Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)



If you haven't heard of the Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (R; 99 minutes), there's a reason why. It came out in the summer of 2021 when hardly anyone was going to theaters in fear of the pandemic. The film came and went as fast as it could, grossing only $70.3 million against a $70 million budget. 

Thursday, December 9, 2021

[Blu-ray Review] - The Forever Purge (2021)


Never say never when it comes to horror sequels, especially when Blumhouse is involved. The Purge franchise should have ended with the third film, Election Year, in 2016. There's a rule in Hollywood that if a sequel makes money, then another cash grab sequel is almost always guaranteed. The prequel The First Purge, which nobody wanted, made over $137 million against a $13 million budget. It was supposed to be the final film of the series. That was back in 2018, the same year the horrible The Purge television series debuted on USA. It wasn't popular with the fans and got canceled after season two. Did the franchise end there? The answer is hell no! 

Tuesday, November 30, 2021

[Blu-ray Review] - Candyman (2021)



Let's make a Candyman (1992) sequel, and we'll call it Candyman! Hollywood has definitely run out of ideas - or at least titles. LOL!

Thursday, November 4, 2021

{4K Ultra HD Review) - Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins (2021)


I knew Hasbro and Paramount Pictures were working on a G.I. Joe prequel reboot, but I must be living under the rock because I didn't realize the film got a theatrical release this year. From what I've read, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins didn't go over well with the critics and moviegoers. Depending on the source, the budget is between $88 - 110 million and only brought in $37 at the worldwide box office. In other words - it was a major flop.

Thursday, August 26, 2021

[DVD Review] - V.C. Andrews' Landry Family


I'm getting to where I dislike almost every book-to-film adaptation that Hollywood cranks out for us poor souls to devour. Instead of going by the book, studios like to water down the story, revamp characters, dumbify the dialogue, and ignore plot points. Why do they do this? Budgetary issues and runtime restraints have something to do with it. Sometimes there are too many cooks in the kitchen - aka too many studio-heads inferring with production. Made-for-television movies and miniseries tend to be the worse (with the expectation of a few Stephen King adaptations and the North and South miniseries from the 1980s).  

Thursday, August 19, 2021

[4K Ultra HD Review] - A Quiet Place Part II (2020)


Did anyone else besides me forget about A Quite Place Part II even existed? 2018's A Quiet Place was a slick and suspenseful science fiction horror hybrid that I thoroughly enjoyed, except for the sudden cliffhanger ending. At one point in time, I was excited about John Krasinski's follow-up. Then the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and the sequel's theatrical release date got tossed around from March 2020 to September 2020. Then it got postponed to April 2021, pushed back to September 2021, and bumped up to May 28, 2021. Considering the world we currently live in, the sequel did alright at the box office, taking in over $290 million worldwide.

Friday, August 13, 2021

{The Midnight Horror} - SEANCE is 'The Craft' Meets 'The House on Sorority Row'



Let's start things off with a quote from COMINGSOON.NET about the new horror flick SEANCE - "Scream Meets Black Christmas." The first thought that pops into my mind is, "Which Black Christmas are they talking about?" Is it the classic 1974 film that everyone seems to love? Or is it the underrated 2006 gorefest remake? (Yes, I said underrated!) Or is it the in-name-only, godawful 2019 remake? As for Scream, are they referring to the 1995 film or its lackluster sequels? Even after viewing the film, I'm still not sure what they meant. It's more like a magicless version of The Craft meets The House on Sorority Row.

Thursday, August 5, 2021

[Review & Giveaway] - When We Last Spoke (2019)


The 2019 family-friendly drama, When We Last Spoke, scored big ICVM wins at the Crown Awards at the National Religious Broadcasters 2021 Christian Media Convention, held on June 23rd in Grapevine, Texas. Inspired by the novel of the same name by Marci Henna, the heartwarming film received awards in each of the five categories, including Best Narrative and Best Picture. The late Cloris Leachman won Best Supporting Actress, Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie) won the Silver Award for Best Actress, and Corbin Bernsen won the Bronze Award for Best Actor.  

Friday, July 30, 2021

{The Midnight Horror} - Jakob's Wife (2021)


Why do I waste my time reading reviews written by the mainstream media? I rarely read other reviews before writing my own, but tonight I found myself reading a few for the vampire-flick Jakob's Wife. I usually don't care what a critic thinks of a horror film, but a specific Variety review from March ticked me off. The critic, who I won't name, stated Jakob's Wife is nothing more but "a cheap and cheerless vampire movie knock-off." Why does a vampire movie have to be cheerful? I take it this so-called critic has never watched a vampire movie? And, no, the Twilight Saga doesn't count. Cheap? It's a low-budget, B-grade horror film, enough said. A knock-off? Of what? Sure, the vampire looks a hell of a lot like Count Orlok from Nosferatu and Kurt Barlow from Salem's Lot, but I would never call it a knock-off. Good grief! Ever heard of a homage?!

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

[Blu-ray Review] - Spiral: From the Book of Saw (2021)


Yesterday, Lionsgate Home Entertainment released Spiral: From the Book of Saw (R; 93 minutes) on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, and DVD. It's also available on Digital and Demand.


The Saw film series is one of the slickest and sickest horror franchises in recent years. I've been a fan of these films ever since I rented Saw on VHS in early 2005. (Yes, I know I'm old.) While there have been a few half-ass sequels (Saw V and Saw 3D), I've continued to watch each new film, even 2007's reboot sequel Jigsaw. I was skeptical when I first heard that Chris Rock would produce and star in the spinoff Spiral: From the Book of Saw. Sure, he's good at comedy, but I had my doubts he could carry a horror film.