LOGAN | Final Trailer Released!

 In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hideout on the Mexican border. But Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces. Check out the brand new trailer below.

            LOGAN hits theaters everywhere on March 3, 2017!

 

The Girl on the Train 4K Ultra HD Review

• Actors: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux
• Director: Tate Taylor
• Disc Format: 4K
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), Portuguese (DTS 5.1), French (DTS 5.1), Spanish (DTS 5.1)
• Subtitles: Portuguese, French, Spanish, English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Rated: R
• Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
• Release Date: January 17, 2017
• Digital Copy Expiration Date: May 2, 2018
• Run Time: 112 minutes

        Considering the Paula Hawkins’ book that inspired this film was such a success, debuting at the top of the New York Times best sellers list and remaining there for fifteen weeks, I must assume that a great deal was lost in translation with this film adaptation. Much of the film feels entirely too derivative to inspire any real suspense, borrowing liberally from Gone Girl narratively while copying a number of cinematic elements from Alfred Hitchcock’s classic films. And even with a series of red herrings and a convoluted timeline, jumping back and forth while switching character perspective more than necessary, the final answer to the mystery is fairly obvious. Worse yet, the characters are never sympathetic enough for the audience to truly care about the resolution, regardless of how clever the film tries to be.

xXx: 15th Anniversary Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Samuel Jackson, Vin Diesel, Asia Argento, Marton Csokas
• Director: Rob Cohen
• Film Format: AC-3, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Subtitles: French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Czech, Croatian, Polish, Arabic, Italian, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, Slovene, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Romanian, Icelandic, Thai, English, Spanish, Turkish, Greek, Serbian
• Dubbed: Russian, Portuguese, Czech, French, German, Italian, Hungarian, Thai, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Rated:
  PG-13
• Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• Release Date: January 10, 2017
• Digital Copy Expiration Date: December 31, 2019
• Run Time: 124 minutes

            When I first reviewed xXx upon its theatrical release just under fifteen years ago, I viewed the film as a cheap attempt to cash in on Vin Diesel’s limited fame from The Fast and the Furious. I pointed out that the extreme sports spy film was “the perfect example of a summer film: it's got tons of non-stop action, bad one-liners, and about as much sex and violence as can be crammed into a PG-13 film.” I also remarked that it was the kind of film that made me glad summer was almost over. At the time this subversive James Bond rip-off felt mindless and derivative, which is a feeling that has only been enhanced by numerous other entries into this field since its release, including the sophomoric Kingsman: The Secret Service and an even worse xXx sequel starring Ice Cube as Diesel’s replacement.

The Free World DVD Review

• Actors: Boyd Holbrook, Elisabeth Moss, Octavia Spencer
• Director: Jason Lew
• Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: January 17, 2017
• Run Time: 102 minutes

        It would be easy to dismiss the faults in The Free World as a result of it being Jason Lew’s directorial debut, but this is his sophomore film as a screenwriter and that is also where the largest problems are in the film. And to blame the direction would mean ignoring the strongest element of the film, which is the acting. Certainly much of the credit goes to the lead performers, though Lew must have done something right, even if that was simply getting out of the way to let these veteran actors thrive. Unfortunately, these strengths are overshadowed by the fact that The Free World is embarrassingly similar to another performance-based crime film from only a couple years ago.

Death Race 2050 Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Manu Bennett, Malcolm McDowell, Marci Miller
• Director: G.J. Echternkamp
• Writers: G.J. Echternkamp, Max Yamashita
• Producer: Roger Corman
• Film Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: 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
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Rated: R
• Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
• Release Date: January 17, 2017
• Digital Copy Expiration Date: May 2, 2018

        Despite being made in 2008, Paul W.S. Anderson’s reboot of Roger Corman’s Death Race 2000 was more prequel than remake or sequel, setting the vulgar racing action inside the world of a prison. In Death Race and its two straight-to-video sequels, the racing was a way for convicts to earn a pardon and release from their prison sentence, but the latest entry into the franchise jumps forward in time, while simultaneously returning back to the original premise of Corman’s Death Race 2000. In Roger Corman’s Death Race 2050, the drivers are no longer made up of convicts, and once again there is an emphasis on the murdering of pedestrians rather than winning the race or killing each other.

Dancer DVD Review

• Actors: Sergei Polunin
• Director: Steven Cantor
• Film Format: Color, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: English, Russian
• Subtitles: English, Spanish
• Region: Region 1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Not Rated
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: January 17, 2017
• Run Time: 85 minutes

        Some documentaries are driven by a message at the center of the narrative, meant to convince the audience of a certain view. Other documentaries are more biographically focused, concerned with information rather than opinion. Watching Dancer, up to the very end of the documentary about Ukrainian ballet dancer Sergei Polunin, I was unclear what the purpose of the film was. At times it seems to be a straightforward biographical documentary, albeit one without much resolution beyond the release of a popular YouTube video, and then there are moments when the film seems to investigating the sacrifice a dancer must make in order to succeed, but filmmaker Steve Cantor’s message ultimately feels noncommittal. Those who enjoy the dancer’s work already may find the film enjoyable for the onstage footage alone, but the documentary offers little for those not already a fan.

The Whole Truth Blu-ray Review

• Actors: Renée Zellweger, Keanu Reeves, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Kenneth Choi, Sean Bridgers
• Director: Courtney Hunt
• Film Format: NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region A/1
• Rated:
  R
• Studio: Lionsgate
• Release Date: January 17, 2017
• Run Time: 93 minutes

        The Whole Truth is the sophomore feature for director Courtney Hunt, whose first film (Frozen River) was made eight years ago, as well as featuring Renée Zellweger’s first screen performance in six years. Despite the long break for both director and co-star, The Whole Truth feels like a minor entry into a courtroom procedural television show with new stories every week. No amount of star power can save the film from a lackluster screenplay whose revelations don’t feel worth the time commitment of the film’s running time.