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Showing posts with the label DVD review

BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE Featurette

Lucky Bastard Review. Believe Me, It's That Bad

Lucky Bastard Review By: MattInRC It goes without saying that we at SJF sometimes review films not meant for theatrical release. Sometimes referred to as 'Direct-to-DVD,' many of these feature poor scripts, worse acting, and a sense that film students were given free reign by someone who didn't know any better. Lucky Bastard is one of these, a tasteless and scattershot film utterly without value or even the sense to know it's dead on arrival. Slapped with an NC-17 rating for extreme nudity and imagined scenes of rape, the story follows a team of porno producers and actresses as they run into a fan who just won't take 'no' for an answer after a contest goes bad. It's a 'found footage' affair, complete with jittery pans and dizzying tennis-style back and forth as our actors pound each other before the bad guy arrives to have sex with the company's top dog. When he's mocked for prematurely shooting his wad, the young kid has

RUNNER, RUNNER Blu-ray Review

RUNNER, RUNNER Blu-ray Review By: MattInRC Here'e why the Ben Affleck thriller Runner, Runner should just keep running. In Runner Runner, Princeton grad student Richie ( Justin Timberlake ) has turned a profitable online gambling career into a disaster, losing his life savings during an online swindle. He flies to Costa Rica filled with data from his tech pals at the university to find the site's owner Ivan Block ( Ben Affleck ), who not only refunds his money, but offers him a job. Soon, Richie is living the high life, analyzing gambling data and wooing clients. But Block's business is a dangerous one, filled with payoffs to a creepy gambling and murder; Richie soon learns that he's part of an elaborate sting operation by the FBI, led by Pain and Gain's Anthony Mackie, who will break any rule to nab Block. As Richie learns that Block plans to pin him for the company's missing profits, he must decide if Block's assistant ( Gemma Arterton ) is dirt

The Family Blu-ray Review

The Family  Blu-ray Review By: MattInRC The Family is good mobster fun, so long as you don't take it too seriously. Mob movies are a favorite of American moviegoers. For some reason, we root for people which we normally despise as dark and dangerous folk, as greed or the law catches up with them. Comedic mob films somehow allow us to find a happier middle ground, putting a nicer dress on what is usually a dreary affair. The Family is just that sort of movie, a rip-roaringly hilarious film about a mob family under Witness Protection whose penchant for violence makes them more dangerous than the people who are hunting them. The Manzoni family have been on the run ever since second-generation Giovanni ( Robert De Niro ) snitched, enjoying life in Witness Protection by smashing and blowing up their way through Europe. If it's not Giovanni, it's his wife Maggie ( Michelle Pfeiffer ) or their two children ( Dianna Agron and John D'Leo ) who are caught in some sort of ul

Despicable Me 2 Blu-ray Review. Looks & Sounds Great

Despicable Me 2 Blu-ray Review By: MattInRC The sweet-natured Despicable Me 2 is fun family entertainment on Blu-ray, but nothing more. In 2010, a year dominated by the creepy Toy Story 3 and the predictable Shrek 3 , a little animated film called Despicable Me was missed by the Oscar nominating fools over at AMPAS. It wouldn't be long before their error was revealed: heart-warming and downright hilarious, the comedy about an evil madman and his Minions has seen its popularity almost eclipse that of all the animated Oscar candidates of the same year. Its sequel, the likeable but superficial Despicable Me 2 , looks and sounds amazing in its home release. The Movie - 3.5/5 When we left Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell ), he had renounced his evil path to raise three loveable adopted girls, but not before stealing the Moon and then returning it. Now, the former madman is busy with soccer games, grilling up meats during Agnes's birthday party, and fending off eli

Fast & Furious 6 Blu-ray Review. One Of The Best Of The Year

Fast & Furious 6  Blu-ray Review By: MattInRC Fast and Furious 6 is absolutely devilish entertainment on Blu-ray. And we're OK with that. Before I get into this review, let's get one thing straight: The Fast and The Furious films are not exactly The Italian Job, nor do they try to be. When you pay the big bucks to sit in a film like this, you know what you're going to get - implausible car chases that defy the laws of physics, bro-mance humor, and badass chicks driving fast cars while extras in skimpy clothes and knee-high boots dance behind them. And while it's not the smart, highly-detailed action/drama of a Skyfall , the franchise has matured over the years, settling in on fun action with enough story to keep things moving. As Fast and Furious 6 arrives on Blu-ray, the boys (and girls) are back with enough stunts and twists to satiate anyone's appetite, while every aspect of the Bu-ray release is nothing short of spectacular. The Movie

2 Guns Review

2 Guns Review By: MattInRC 2 Guns's shallow character development and flashbang action doom it to a rainy day matinee. I love me some double cross in film. Look back into history and you'll see Payback, Jackie Brown, and even Iron Man with elements of the double cross. While the buddy-copy 2 Guns is a punchy action film ripped from a comic book, the film also channels about every action subgenre imaginable, and is full of wise-crackin' mirth-filled moments, sexual advances, and enough cussing and the aforementioned double-cross to fill a tip jar. Unfortunately, it's not very inventive and actually overdoes the double-cross by adding a third- and even fourth layer to muck things up. Bobby ( Denzel Washington ) and Stig ( Mark Wahlberg ) are criminals for hire, except that they're not really criminals. Stig is an undercover Navy officer, while Bobby is an undercover DEA agent, neither of whom knows each other's true identity. Circumstances

Unhung Hero DVD Review. Does Size Matter?

Unhung Hero DVD Review By: MattInRC Does size really matter? Unhung Hero seeks answers to the eternal question. Did you see the embarrassing YouTube video of the guy who got his wedding proposal rejected at a UCLA basketball game? The poor dude is Patrick Moote , and the reason for the rejection was later painfully revealed: he suffered from a small penis. This soon spread across the Internet and to talk shows, making Moote a bit of a celebrity. Determined to find out whether he was in fact too small, the actor/comedian set out on a world-wide hunt for answers. He starts at his Pacific Northwest hometown, where he shares the bad news with his parents, moves to a urologist who prescribes a regiment of pills and a pump, and eventually finds himself in Papua New Guinea and Korea to entertain some very unconventional measures. Moote is pumped, pilled, drinks strange concoctions, and later considers injections and surgery to change his length. It's an uncomfortable su

2 Guns Blu-ray Review.It's Entertaining, But Nowhere Near Unique

2 Guns Blu-ray Review By: MattInRC Universal's home release of 2 Guns looks and sounds great, but will its shallow character development and flashbang action doom it to the bargain Blu-ray bin? I love me some double cross in film. Look back into history and you'll see Payback, Jackie Brown , and even Iron Man with elements of the double cross. While the buddy-copy 2 Guns is a punchy action film ripped from a comic book, the film also channels about every action subgenre imaginable, and is full of wise-crackin' mirth-filled moments, sexual advances, and enough cussing and the aforementioned double-cross to fill a tip jar. Unfortunately, it's not very inventive and actually overdoes the double-cross by adding a third- and even fourth layer to muck things up. Its arrival onto home video gives us a chance to break down a film with enormous potential, but one which ultimately is just merely watchable. The Movie - 3.5/5 Bobby ( Denzel Washington ) and S

Lovelace DVD Review. Too Short & Lacks The Impact Of An Oscar-Worthy Production

Lovelace DVD Review By: MattInRC Lovelace is too short and lacks the impact of an Oscar-worthy production. For a woman in Hollywood, bearing one's breasts seems to have various effects - for Gwyneth Paltrow , it won her an Oscar for Shakespeare in Love , and we all know the attention Sharon Stone received for her portrayal in Basic Instinct . But for many, showing off your 'attributes' usually leads to unintended consequences, especially if the final product is not well-received. For Actress Amanda Seyfried , it's unclear what her very public showing off in the flat and uneven Lovelace will do to enhance her career. Based on the biography of the woman who starred in the most famous porn film of all time - Deep Throat - Lovelace is actually Linda Boreman, a 21-year-old living at home with a controlling mother (the barely recognizable Sharon Stone ) and a father ( Robert Patrick ) who chooses to look the other way. Seeking her freedom, Linda meets the sex

Turbo Blu-ray Review. Leaves Us Wanting More.

Turbo Blu-ray Review By: MattInRC Turbo's fast moves and beautiful animation look and sound great in its home release, but it leaves us wanting more. DreamWorks' newest animated film Turbo is proof positive of a growing trend for the genre: the production of slick-looking yet mindless pap. Gone are the days when Disney ruled with its films filled with hope AND a well-crafted message. And while Turbo isn't terrible, there's too many characters who just aren't as funny or profound as they could have been. Its arrival onto Blu-ray comes with reference quality audio and video, but it doesn't change our malaise. The Movie - 3/5 Garden slug Theo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds ) lives with a community of snails who set out daily to collect fallen and spoiled tomatoes from the family garden, all while listening to safety announcements from his anxious brother Chet ( Paul Giamatti ). He's got reason to panic: the local crows regularly pick off the snails, and a

White House Down DVD Review. Missing Any Semblance Of Heart

White House Down DVD Review By: MattInRC The senseless action of White House Down arrives on home video, missing any semblance of heart. Hollywood is in the business of making entertainment that sometimes finds itself in bed with mirror images of itself. Think Tombstone and Wyatt Earp, both featuring the famous Texas lawman and released in 1993, or 1998's Deep Impact and Armaggedon, neither of which was worth the time. Apparently, Hollywood didn't think we had experienced enough White House invasion films in 2013 with the great Olympus Has Fallen , as another one in White House Down has now arrived onto home video The Movie - 3/5 Low-man on the Capitol Police totem pole John Cale ( Channing Tatum , GI Joe: Rise of Cobra) visits the White House to interview for a job as a Secret Service agent, only to be rebuffed by Agent Finnerty ( Maggie Gyllenhaal , The Dark Knight) for being too working class. With hat in hand, he's dragged through a White House tour by h

Approved For Adoption DVD Review. Is Somewhat Charming

Approved For Adoption DVD Review By: MattInRC The autopic Approved for Adoption is somewhat charming but its message arrives with mixed results. The somewhat charming Approved for Adoption by Laurent Boileau and Jung Henin is based on Henin's graphic novel about his adoption after the Korean War. Mixing animation and live action, Approved for Adoption is a autobio of Henin, who struggled to understand why his Belgian parents adopted him. The wave of Korean children adopted in Europe after the war was extraordinary, but the adjustment was difficult for many, including Henin who felt as foreign in his own skin as other children perceived him to be. It's being billed as an 'animated documentary' but the mix is too live-action heavy to be truly one or the other. This seems to be part and parcel of Approved for Adoption, as it also blurs the line between a boy's search for answers and the world he can't seem to understand. The animation, a mix of