The Pack (2015) [Blu-Ray]

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

Once again, “The Pack” is another in a long line of modern horror films that feel as if they were once written for the late seventies. Nick Robertson’s horror thriller is a very stripped down and simplistic survival thriller that packs in enough excitement and suspense to compensate for the lack of plot. “The Pack” is a combination of a home invasion thriller, and a nature run amok movie, where a seemingly normal family of four is attacked by a pack of large black wolves that arrive out of the wilderness of the Australian outback one night. The wolves are large and powerful as well as relentless, making the fight for survival absolutely intense.

The Wilson family are going through their troubles, as dad Adam finds out their farm is about to be foreclosed on. This creates familial tension, especially with daughter Sophie who wants to move to the city and be among actual people for once. Suddenly the pack of wild wolves burst from the woods and begin terrorizing the family, causing them to look for a way out of their farm and in to civilization. This proves to be more difficult than they could ever imagine, since they have no radio contact with the outside world, and any efforts from local authorities to rescue them results in the wolves literally tearing apart anyone that enters the threshold. A good amount of “The Pack” is built around the family spread apart and looking for a way to outwit and outmatch the wolves.

Their hunger is insatiable making them vicious and powerful in their pursuit. Robertson films some really tight and intense moments of evasion, as the characters hide in corners and small rooms trying to stay as quiet as possible while they devise a route out of the farm without being mauled. Though the budget obviously keeps us from seeing a full on attack by the wolves every minute, director Robertson works well with the limitations, making the wolves feel almost supernatural at times. Many of the best moments feature our characters making wise moves while the deck is stacked against them with these fierce clever monsters, and I was rooting for this family until the very end.

Though the final scene is a bit goofy for its blatant way of leaving the door open for a follow up, “The Pack” is a very good survival thriller and one I could definitely re-watch. The blu-ray from Scream Factory and IFC Midnight features an eight minute “Making Of” focusing on the dogs in the film, and how they worked with them, along with typical interviews about working with the director. There’s also the original theatrical trailer.

Bulldog (2016)

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

Sean is the definition of a self fulfilled prophecy. He’s a young man without a family, without a culture, and without much of an identity whose found that adapting other identities hasn’t worked for him nor has hating other identities, either. He doesn’t really find much to identify with his own culture, and can’t stand the current country he’s in. One especially poignant moment finds Sean being forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. This creates significant tension when he begins going to school and is mocked by some classmates for his Asian heritage.

This quickly becomes a point of anger since he can’t really relate to being Asian, thus some avenues are closed due to his race, already. Sean is a young man who has very little ambition and has become the result of the terrible death of his brother, which broke apart his family. Surely, they may not have been perfect before the movie began, but Sean at least had a foundation. Now with his mother committed to gambling, and his father drowning in his own company, Sean is consistently told he’s a punk and thug.

Without anyone to really guide him, and inviting all the wrong elements, Sean is at a point where he has no choice but to submit to his anger and frustration. Benjamin Tran’s drama is a compelling and unique take on the loss of culture and ambition and how lack of identity can cause confusion in someone in a foreign culture with its own ideas about growing up and earning respect. The cast give strong performances all around, including Vin Kridakorn who conveys the sense of confusion and frustration with his character well. “Bulldog” is a remarkable short drama and one I wouldn’t mind seeing turned in to a feature film someday soon.

The Shallows (2016)

Posted on June 29, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

Jaume Collet-Serra‘s survival thriller feels like a movie that was written in 1980 and just now saw the light of day as a vehicle for Blake Lively. It doesn’t have any of the beaming self importance of “Open Water” or “127 Hours,” which makes it a lot more fun than it has any right to be. Lively is gorgeous and charming as American tourist Nancy Adams, a medical student still reeling from the death of her mother after a long losing battle with cancer. Taking a hiatus from work and all of her responsibilities, she travels to Mexico to relax and surf on the beach. While waiting for some waves, she’s attacked by a massive shark that knocks her off of her board, and leaves her to plunge in to the tide where she cuts her leg open, hobbling any and all efforts to swim back to shore.

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A Home of Our Own (1993) [Blu-Ray]

Posted on June 28, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

Director Tony Bill’s “A Home of Our Own” is one of the more underrated dramas about the pursuit of the American Dream. While the 1993 family drama about poverty in the early twentieth century isn’t perfect, it does a damn fine job of portraying the consistent pit falls of poverty, and often times it’s tough to really charge forward when life is so relentlessly unfair. “A Home of Our Own” strives for inspiration and positivity despite falling occasionally in to painfully depressing material, and is a very good drama that places the brilliant Kathy Bates front and center.

Something of a second hand “Grapes of Wrath,” Bates plays the fierce widowed matriarch of the Lacey clan Frances, who has had enough of living in Los Angeles and slumming it in an apartment building. After getting fired from her factory job for reporting sexual harassment, Frances decides she wants to uproot her family and seek her fortune with her own property in the form of her dream house. The events aren’t as ideal as she pictures, as the narrator Shayne (played as a young man by Edward Furlong) chronicles how tough it was to trek across country and deal with having to become the man of the house. There’s the family squeezing in to a beat up car, sharing a big jug of Kool Aid, and Shayne’s declaration “For breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we ate nothing but egg salad sandwiches.

I never ate one again, and hadn’t since.” Frances, with a quick tongue and using her children as bartering tools, manages to talk her way in to buying a skeleton for a potential house, which she begins to build with her long suffering children. Along the way they befriend land owner Mr. Moon, a tough Asian man who begins slowly taking a shine toward the family, all the while Shayne struggles with poverty, and having to endure being handed responsibility he never asked for. Furlong is very good in the role as Shayne, a young man given major responsibility who has a tough time finding his place in the family. Too often he’s given the tasks of an adult by Frances who then punishes him like a child, and this creates an eventual rift and surefire tension between him and mom Frances.

Once Frances begins meeting a new man and begins dating, the tension is dialed up as Shayne begins to resent her, prompting a family feud. Frances is at once an idealist and a realist, who wants to pursue her idea of the American dream, but has no interest in accepting charity or pity. This results in a lot of interesting sub-plots, including her trip to a church second hand store, as well as a scene where the local reverend attempts to deliver presents to the children during Christmas Eve. While I’m not a huge fan of the pat happy ending, “A Home Of Our Own” is a compelling and entertaining drama about the lower class and trying to achieve the American dream in an unfair world, as well as the power of the bonds of family.

Despite the movie finally being on Blu-Ray, this is a bare bones release with not even the original trailer from the 1993 movie. All there is is a small catalogue from Olive Films.

Warcraft (2016)

Posted on June 23, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

Boy it’s been a bad year for fantasy cinema in America. Time and time again fantasy films have failed for the most part, and “Warcraft” is one of those casualties. I admittedly have no experience with “Warcraft,” but for those unaware, it’s based on a massive multiplayer role playing game that’s become so popular it’s almost a way of life for most people. It’s a game so terrifyingly addictive, that a cousin of mine even pulled me aside once warning me not to play lest I be sucked in. Now that their Orc world has died, the orc shaman Gul’dan has used dark magic to open up a portal to the human realm of Azeroth.

Once a peaceful land ruled by man, the Orc army known as The Horde, now plan to populate the world and rule over it as their new home led by the noble Orc warrior Durotan. Teamed with a female half Orc named Garona, the human army of Azeroth plan to go to war with them, led by fierce warrior Lothar, their King Llane, and two wizards. Events spiral out of control though when Durotan begins rethinking the invasion and their leader Gul’dan, while Garona is torn between her loyalties to the noble humans and her people. While I’m still convinced video games just won’t translate in to a good movie, “Warcraft” is still a very good time and a nice bit of escapism.

It’s a mess narrative wise, and is painfully convoluted, but often times I found myself very entertained and intrigued by the conflict of the Orc breed struggling to fight for a new world against a human race. There’s also the themes of religious corruption embedded within the giant walking statues and graphic war scenes, which probably also helped enhance the experience. I won’t argue “Warcraft” is a masterpiece, since it tries and often fails to reach “Game of Thrones” levels of drama and intrigue. In the attempts to be just as adult in its character dynamic and ideas about xenophobia, and warfare, it becomes tough to follow.

The first half hour has a lot of information to disperse to the general broader audience, and I literally had to sit at attention to hopefully absorb what exposition the writers were trying to relay to people that have never been in to the digital world of Azeroth. Much to my surprise I cared about the characters and conflicts. I wanted to see sword wielding hero Lothar stop the impending Orc invasion, all the while uncovering the rising evil tide of his kingdom’s powerful mage. Director Duncan Jones splits the time of the film between the Orcs and humans and turns Durotan in to a very complex hero with his own ideas about what can be gained by invading Azeroth.

All the while Jones stages some fun battle sequences, including a showdown between Lothar and a murderous general in the climax. While not everyone’s performances are top notch, Travis Fimmel is great as Lothar, while Toby Kebbell does a bang up job with his motion capture performance as Durotan. It’s up in the air at the moment if “Warcraft” will continue in to a second part of its epic tale; I’m not ashamed to admit I had a good time, and should we be granted a follow up, I just may return to see how the humans win back Azeroth.

Midnight Special (2016) [Blu-Ray]

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

“There’s a star man waiting in the sky, he’d like to come and meet us, but he thinks he’d blow our minds…”

Jeff Nichols’ science fiction thriller owes a lot to John Carpenter’s “Starman,” mainly because he aspires to achieve the same exploration of humanity with his own film that also speaks very heavily about our own society. Right down the truly excellent score by David Wingo, “Midnight Special” feels like new wave John Carpenter, as it’s an ode to the classic seventies and eighties science fiction films that teams family against impossible odds. This time, it’s a young boy named Alton who is imbued with amazing and enigmatic powers that has made him something of a martyr for a religious cult.

Born under mysterious circumstances, Alton became the figure of worship for a relentless cult, and is perceived as an omen of a higher power making its way to Earth. His dad Roy and best friend Lucas break him out and seek to re-unite him with his mother, all the while trying to figure out why Alton is on Earth and what his ultimate purpose is. Like “Starman” and “E.T.” Roy, Lucas, and Alton find themselves evading the government and local law enforcement, all the while trying to also side step their temptations to return to the comfort of their cult. With two of their members on the hunt for Alton to bring him back to their clutches, the quest to help Alton becomes more harrowing and deadlier by the hour.

“Midnight Special” is a beautiful ode to the science fiction of yesteryear that also obtains its own substance and complex ideas about our own world and reality. Michael Shannon and Joel Edgerton are rather superb as two men with their own goals to save Alton who aren’t always on the same page. Shannon as father Roy will do anything to save Alton, even if it means gunning down a highway ranger, while Edgerton as Paul is very strategic and much more rational. Alton is a very unusual and mysterious being who begins drawing just about everything to him, and becomes this walking magnet metaphorically and literally.

The idea of what Alton could represent becomes gradually more intriguing the more Roy and Paul fight to get him to safety. Once Kirsten Dunst is introduced as Alton’s mother and ex-cult member, there’s much more comprehension on what his presence means. Once Nichols has the opportunity to explain Alton to the audience, much of what “Midnight Special” is comes full circle to represent something so much more complex and insightful. Nichols doesn’t opt wholly for a cinematic tribute, as he also realizes that there’s some interpretation to be gained. “Midnight Special” is a surprisingly transcendent science fiction tale about humanity and our state of being. Jeff Nichols’ drama is a bonafide gem, and one that deserves to be appreciated and studied.

The Blu-Ray release for “Midnight Special” comes with a five minute segment called “Origins” about the inspiration for the film, and the central themes, along with interviews from the cast. Finally, there’s the twelve minute multi-chapter “The Unseen World” which focuses on the multiple characters and their arcs, including Roy, Lucas, mom Sarah, Alton, and NSA agent Sevier, as played by Adam Driver.

Finding Dory (2016)

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Felix Vasquez

I, like many other people, were wondering why there even needed to be a sequel to “Finding Nemo” that focused on Dory. Granted, Dory was a charming supporting character, and Ellen DeGeneres was great, but Dory always seemed like a character you could quickly get bored with. Surprisingly, director Andrew Stanton not only proves that Dory is worth focusing an entire film on, but that her story deserved to be told just as much as Marlin and Nemo’s did. Stanton and co. follow a very non–linear storyline for the sequel; “Finding Dory” goes back in time to follow the blue Tang we know as Dory, then cuts off as she meets Marlin, and begins a year later where she’s now living with Marlin and Nemo and acting as Nemo’s surrogate guardian alongside Marlin.

Dory, much like Nemo, was born with just as much of a disadvantage. While “Finding Nemo” conveyed the trials, tribulations, and worries of raising a child with a physical disability, “Finding Dory” uses Dory’s short term memory loss as a metaphor for the trials, tribulations, and worries that come with raising a child with a mental illness or mental disability. Raising Dory isn’t so much a burden for her parents Jenny and Charlie, as they approach her lack of memory with as much patience and consideration as possible. They’re well meaning and lovely parents that do everything in their power to help Dory channel her disability in to an advantage all while turning it in to a fun game.

But they can only do so much, since they don’t really seem to accept that Dory’s condition is permanent and may be a part of who she is for the rest of her life. Plus, as she ages, the world is looking more and more appealing to her, so it soon becomes a race for her parents to make her handicapable before their worst fears of the ocean swallowing her up come to fruition. Sadly, Dory does get lost, and her short term memory becomes a constant pitfall in her efforts to reunite with her parents. Before long, she’s forgotten that she’s even lost, and years have passed on. Thus she meets her fate with Marlin and Nemo, which gives her a newfound perspective and the confidence that she can find her parents once again. “Finding Dory” opens up the world we saw in “Finding Nemo” by adding a new slew of fun and lovable characters.

I especially loved Hank the Septopus, Destiny a near sighted Whale Shark, and a pair of Walrus’ comically protective of their perching rock. “Finding Dory” isn’t just a callback to the original film, but the narrative literally centers on Dory trying to find her memories and her family which ultimately represents herself. DeGeneres is even better here than in the first film as Dory, as she injects a lot of complexity and true emotions in the character and her journey to find her family which she is convinced will help improve her memory in the long run. “Finding Dory” is fantastic as director Andrew Stanton and co. give Dory brand new obstacles and dimensions, and comprise a funny, exciting, and incredibly heartbreaking tale of overcoming a handicap and leaning on family when the world is at its darkest.