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The Last Stop in Yuma County Blu-ray Review

 

  • Director ‏ : ‎ Francis Galluppi
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Richard Brake, Barbara Crampton
  • Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, French Canadian
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English (Stereo), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ Well Go Usa
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
  • Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 31 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ July 16, 2024



        On one hand, I am glad that independent films like The Last Stop in Yuma County can still get made, since the industry has been so drastically altered by the shifting landscape of the Sundance Film Festival, not to mention the industry changes brought by the age of streaming. On the other hand, even for someone who loves edgy narratives and is a lifelong fan of the Coen brothers and their darkly comedic take on film noir narratives similar to this, I could not defend some of the choices made within The Last Stop in Yuma County. Maybe some lines should never be crossed, but I think the larger issue here is the manner in which they are crossed. What begins as an enjoyable little single-location crime film turns into an exercise in despair and grief, though the filmmaker doesn’t seem entirely aware of the impact of every decision.

 

Founders Day Blu-ray Review

 

  • Director: Erik Bloomquist
  • Actors ‏ : ‎ Devin Druid, Emilia McCarthy, Naomi Grace, Olivia Nikkanen, William Russ
  • Studio ‏ : ‎ MPI Home Video
  • Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
  • Media Format ‏ : ‎ Blu-ray
  • Run time ‏ : ‎ 106 minutes
  • Release date ‏ : ‎ June 4, 2024


 

        Horror and satire have often been an effective pair in the hands of skilled filmmakers, but the efforts to behind Founders Day feel as sincere as the politicians depicted in the storyline. Perhaps I have just seen too many slashers, but the twists all seemed easily predicted and the execution of the genre’s simplest pleasures are rote and uninventive. While I can’t say for sure whether the filmmaking was inept or lazy, I can say that it was often bad enough to be distracting. Or maybe the problem is that there was nothing in Founders Day good enough to distract from the bad.