The Salvation Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Mads Mikkelsen, Eva Green, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Mikael Persbrandt

Director: Kristian Levring

Format: Blu-ray, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R

Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO

Release Date: August 4, 2015

Run Time: 92 minutes

 

 

        The Salvation has the traditional plot of an American western, from setting to storyline, except that it was made with the sensibility and tone of its Danish filmmakers. There is a weightiness to the revenge narrative that feels distinctly Scandinavian, despite the classic Wild West setting, allowing for unrelenting bleak content to overpower some of the crowd-pleasing spectacle. Nothing about the actual story may be altogether original, but the approach is a wonderful blend of distinct cultural cinemas.

 

Black & White: The Dawn of Assault Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Mark Chao, Ken Lin

Director: Yueh-Hsun Tsai

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, NTSC, Widescreen

Language: Cantonese

Subtitles: Cantonese

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Shout! Factory

Release Date: August 4, 2015

Run Time: 142 minutes

 

 

        The Taiwanese buddy cop TV series “Black & White” ran for a successful season in 2009, followed by this 2012 prequel film and a subsequent sequel. Although Black & White: Dawn of Assault is the first to be made available in the States, no previous knowledge of the franchise is entirely necessary for its enjoyment. At its core, this is simply a blockbuster popcorn film that doesn’t require a great deal of thought, but is heavily rewarding in terms of spectacle. The only reason the previously established television series is significant has to do with the amount of chemistry that the cast already has with each other.

Into the Grizzly Maze DVD Review

     Actors: James Marsden, Billy Bob Thorton, Thomas Jane

Format: Multiple Formats, Closed-captioned, Color, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Subtitles: English, French

Dubbed: French

Region: Region 1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R (Restricted)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: August 4, 2015

Run Time: 90 minutes

 

 

         Throw in a few additional scenes of unnecessary objectification of women with cheaper CGI bear attacks and this is exactly the type of low budget fare you might expect to find on the same shelf as many Asylum productions or Syfy Channel releases. The screenplay lacks any originality and an over-use of stock footage makes it clear that the actors were never anywhere near live bears, and yet Into the Grizzly Maze still manages to stand above the rest thanks to a surprisingly stacked cast. Despite the limited material, this cast keeps a silly plot and amateur filmmaking far more entertaining than it deserves, proving why a professional actor is an invaluable commodity. This is true even in the films that are typically more interested in the carnage of its characters than their believability. I’m not exactly certain how it happened that this movie got such an undeservingly seasoned cast, but it ends up being the only saving grace in the filmmaking process.

Lake Placid Vs Anaconda DVD Review

     Actors: Robert Englund, Yancy Butler, Nigel Barber

Director: A.B. Stone

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

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Region: Region 1

Number of discs: 1

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

DVD Release Date: August 4, 2015

Run Time: 92 minutes

 

When there have already been far too many sequels in a franchise, the next logical step is to combine it with another overdone film series. Even in larger budget films, this has been attempted over enough time, which is how we ended up with Alien vs. Predator and Freddy vs. Jason. But despite Robert Englund in a supporting role, the Syfy Channel original film, Lake Placid vs. Anaconda, comes nowhere close to the quality of these theatrical releases. Instead, this just looks like every other TV movie from this station, cheaply made in another country for the lowest possible budget.

 

3 Hearts Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Benoit Poelvoorde, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Gainsbourg

Director: Benoit Jacquot

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen

Language: French

Subtitles: English

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG-13 

Studio: Cohen Media Group

Release Date: July 28, 2015

Run Time: 108 minutes

         3 Hearts is a tragic romance that is approached stylistically as more of a thriller by filmmaker Benoit Jacquot (Farewell My Queen), with highly charged performances and an ominous score by Bruno Coulais. There is no real danger to the health or safety of these characters, yet we feel that their very lives are at stake with the gravity of their romantic passions looming over each decision. Melodrama takes the main stage for much of this narrative, though it is a film which ultimately depends upon the moments of romance as the glue that holds together the series of unlikely coincidences that follow.

 

Love Unto Death/Life is a Bed of Roses Blu-ray Review

    Actors: Fanny Ardant, Ruggero Raimondi, Sabine Azema

Director: Alain Resnais

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, NTSC, Surround Sound, Widescreen

Language: French

Subtitles: English

Region: Region A/1

Number of discs: 2

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Cohen Media Group

Release Date: July 21, 2015

Run Time: 192 minutes

         This double-feature contains a comedy and a drama that couldn’t be more different in terms of plot and tone, but both are tinged with a similar fantastical style from French filmmaker Alain Resnais. While neither reaches the frustrating ambiguity of a film like Last Year at Marienbad or the weightiness of his wartime films, both have the uncanny sense of experimentation running through them, stylistically as well as within the narrative structure. One never knows where Resnais is headed, however familiar his films feel in their approach.

 

Kung Fu Killer Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Donnie Yen, Charlie Yeung, Baoqiang Wang

Director: Teddy Chen

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: Cantonese

Subtitles: English

Region: Region A/1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: Unrated

Studio: Well Go USA

Release Date: July 21, 2015

Run Time: 100 minutes

 

         Blending martial arts with a serial killer narrative, Kung Fu Killer offers brief genre-bending originality in its premise before settling into predictable entertainment. There are some thrills to be found in the execution of the fight scenes, but the narrative offers too few surprises to keep the moments in-between entertaining enough to weave together a satisfying story. Preposterously unrealistic and blandly predictable, Kung Fu Killer features decent action scenes that aren’t quite memorable enough to outweigh the rest of the film’s shortcomings.

 

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Kevin James

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Ultraviolet, Closed-captioned, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: French

Dubbed: French

Region: All Regions

Number of discs: 2

Rated: PG

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: July 14, 2015

Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2018

 

        I liked Paul Blart: Mall Cop and I’m not ashamed to admit it. It was silly but managed to be sweet, comedically taking a Die Hard plot by inserting a rent-a-cop as the heroic protagonist. With this in mind, I don’t want to say that I had high hopes for the sequel, but certainly didn’t anticipate the quality to drop so significantly from the first film. From the beginning sequence that destroys every aspect of the happy ending we were left with at the close of the last film, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 is illogical and overly silly in its desperate grab for quick laughs.

 

My Beautiful Laundrette Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Daniel Day-Lewis, Gordon Warnecke, Saeed Jaffrey

Director: Stephen Frears

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Subtitled, Widescreen

Language: English

Subtitles: English

Region: Region A/1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: R

Studio: Criterion Collection (Direct)

Release Date: July 21, 2015

Run Time: 97 minutes

        My Beautiful Laundrette is a classic kitchen sink 1980s slice-of-life drama from Stephen Frears (Philomena), though the film’s lasting success owes a great deal to the breakout performance given by a young Daniel Day-Lewis. Having made A Room with a View (1985) the same year, critics raved at the actor’s range, though it is clearly his performance in this film which leaves the most lasting impression. It is a bold performance in a movie that is about the acting and the characters far more than the plot, which often meanders without clear direction.

 

Powers: Season 1 Blu-ray Review

     Actors: Sharlto Copley

Format: Multiple Formats, Blu-ray, Closed-captioned, Widescreen

Language: English

Number of discs: 3

Rated: NR (Not Rated)

Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Date: July 14, 2015

Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2018

 

        The battle of superheroes at the box office occurs each summer, and occasionally in-between, but this overly-popular genre has recently bled into the world of television as well. Much of this is a way for the largest two comic book franchises to continue their narratives on the small screen, with more and more Marvel and DC shows popping up each year. Simultaneously there has been an increase in original entertainment from some unlikely places. Earlier this year we saw the success of a Netflix comic book series with “Daredevil,” but even the unlikely format of the PlayStation has entered the game with a series based on a graphic novel not belonging to either of the two powerhouse comic contributors.