Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses Blu-ray Review

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

Language: English (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: English, Spanish

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Release Date: April 8, 2014

Run Time: 91 minutes

 

        Saying that Bad Ass 2: Bad Asses is better than Bad Ass offers little promise of quality; enduring the small-stature bravado of Danny Trejo’s persona is far less believable when forced to watch him attempt to act. Never before have I longed so desperately for Robert Rodriguez to swoop in and make light of bad filmmaking and horrendously contrived melodrama. Trejo really never belongs in a leading role, unless it is a film which is based entirely upon a joke premise that allows him to revel in bad acting. Bad Asses is nowhere close to the Machete franchise, but at least throws logic and common sense away in the climactic sequences. The absolute absurdity makes these moments unbelievable and campy, and this is almost bad enough to save Bad Asses from itself and its stars. 

 

Most Hated Movies: Frances Ha (2012)

 

        To my dismay, this film was met with an array of critical praise while I found it difficult not to throw items at the screen while enduring its minimal running-time. I suppose it should come as no surprise that the critics loved this film, as it is a house built upon nepotism and egos that most would rather not disturb. I could give a fuck. On that note, let's get started.

 

47 Ronin Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Keanu Reeves, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Rinko Kikuchi, Ko Shibasaki

Director: Carl Rinsch

Writers: Chris Morgan, Hossein Amini

Producers: Pamela Abdy, Eric McLeod, Scott Stuber, Chris Fenton, Walter Hamada

Format: Color, Widescreen

Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (DTS 5.1), Spanish (Dolby Digital 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)

Subtitles: French, Spanish, English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Rated: PG-13

Studio: Universal Studios

Release Date: April 1, 2014

Digital Copy Expiration Date: May 2, 2016

Run Time: 138 minutes

 

        Perhaps it is my developed love and understanding of samurai films which helped appreciate at least a portion of what 47 Ronin was attempting to do, because I can’t quite fathom why certain critics hated this film so much. Even Keanu Reeves does little to destroy this solemn story. While it is certainly not without faults, there are as many clear assets in the filmmaking and the well-told tale to be ignored. Along with classic cinematography and an age-old story from 18^th Century Japan, this film is a sincere attempt at a Hollywood samurai film. Like The Last Samurai, it falls short in the insistence of doing certain things the ‘Hollywood’ way.

 

Most Hated Movies: Cavemen (2013)

     Actors: Chad Michael Murray, Skylar Astin, Camilla Belle, Alexis Knapp, Chasty Ballesteros

Director: Herschel Faber

Format: Dolby, NTSC, Subtitled, THX, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: April 8, 2014

Run Time: 88 minutes

        Romantic comedies are built upon formulas, allowing the laziest of screenwriters to rely heavily upon the work of past filmmakers, adding very little of themselves into the artistic process. Writer/director Herschell Faber somehow left me wishing that he had inserted less of himself in this indulgent piece of shit film, while Cavemen simultaneously has a narrative so predictably emotionally manipulative that it left nothing to be unknown. I am angered at the fact that this film was ever made, and the only glimmer of a silver lining in my viewing experience would be this opportunity to steer anyone and everyone from watching this example of artistic ineptitude.

 

Knights of Badassdom Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Peter Dinklage, Steve Zahn, Ryan Kwanten, Summer Glau, Danny Pudi

Director: Joe Lynch

Format: Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: English

Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Entertainment One

Release Date: April 1, 2014

Run Time: 86 minutes

 

 

        I don’t know if this was a saving grace or fatal flaw, but Knights of Badassdom is such a brief film experience that I never had time to decide whether it was going anywhere before it was done. On one hand, the filmmakers removed the possibility of audiences growing tired of the single-joke premise, but the double-edged sword never allowed anything more than that gag in the 80-some minute running time. We are ultimately left with a film that seems as though it could have either been a lot funnier or a lot worse with fifteen minutes more, but instead feels like the shell of a film that doesn’t satisfy or offend.

 

Here’s Lucy: The Complete Series DVD Review

      Actors: Lucille Ball, Gale Gordon, Lucie Arnaz, Desi Arnaz Jr.

Format: Box set, Color, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 24

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

Release Date: March 25, 2014

Run Time: 4320 minutes

 

 

        Everybody with a television in the last sixty years is sure to know the television show “I Love Lucy,” because it has remained in syndication with very few series before color television. Despite being in full color and far more recent in production, only those who remember it when it originally aired are likely to be familiar with “Here’s Lucy,” although it was CBS’s number one show in the early 1970s. Lucille Ball had several shows that followed the success of “I Love Lucy,” and continued to utilize the slapstick humor she became known for. “Here’s Lucy” followed “The Lucy Show,” and in the 1980s there was “Life With Lucy.”