Category: Movie Reviews

Celebrating Despicable Me 4 Home Video Release and Benny’s Birthday Surprise!

Long time fans of this franchise can now binge watch all four of the Despicable Me films, or just enjoy more Minion Mayhem stitched together, assuming they’re willing to get off the couch to change discs.

Despicable Me 4 Blu-ray
Available to purchase on Amazon USA

Illumination Studios

The Despicable Me franchise has some amazing staying power, and I’m always interested in what new wacky adventures Gru’s family can have. I reviewed this movie when it was at theatres, and as always, am interested in what’ll get offered in the home video release. They never fail to deliver some hilarious short. That’s why I keep on buying them over streaming (I’m in the camp that should a film get pulled, I can’t revisit the movie when I want to) or asking for review copies. I must thank Universal Studios as the Despicable Me 4 package arrived before my birthday. I celebrated my day with Benny’s Birthday short.

Here, this Minion is afraid of what the others planned. That’s because he’s stuck in a temporal loop, and he can’t figure out how to escape. By the time the cake arrives, he gets hurt, and the day starts all over again! How he breaks free is not too unexpected. It’s tough to find fault with these shorts because the works of Mack Sennett inspired most of them. He’s the Silent Film King of Comedy, and in his vast catalogue of works, there’s plenty to borrow from.

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Do We Really Need Two Orders of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice? The Heartbreaking Implications of a Delayed Continuation

The ideas presented in Beetlejuice Beetlejuice are familiar, and to see half the Deetz family suffering from PTSD seems right for all the wrong reasons.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Movie PosterThe ghost with the most is back, and I feel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice isn’t as raunchy as the original. The music is also very different. In the original, Adam Maitland (Alec Baldwin) loved Harry Belafonte‘s calypso music and therein lies the problem: roughly thirty years have elapsed and we’re in the disco age! While I don’t mind the tunes from this era to indicate a passage of time, the new tone feels out of place.

Although he and his wife died, and were supposed to be stuck in their forever home, they’ve moved on instead of continue living in harmony with Lydia Deetz (Winona Ryder). The thought they reincarnated would’ve been an okay plot for a reunion movie, but the story is about dealing with PTSD. This continuation is very fitting, and now it’s up to her daughter Astrid (Jenna Ortega) to not die herself. It makes me wonder if writers Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Seth Grahame-Smith intentionally stole from the new Ghostbusters movies or not. The tropes are all the same.

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The Film Masters Isn’t Finished With Roger Corman’s Catalogue of Films Yet

Just when we thought The Film Masters was finished with releasing under-rated films from Roger Corman’s vast catalogue of works, this remastered treat will be sure to entertain!

Night of the Blood Beast BOX ART (Blu-ray) The Film Masters Restoration
Available to preorder on Amazon USA

The Film Masters isn’t finished with remastering films from Roger Corman’s vast catalogue of works. Coming November 12 is a double creature feature where this producer has partnered with Bernard Kowalski (Mission Impossible TV Series, Hot Car Girl) to make Night of the Blood Beast and Attack of the Night Leeches! Technically, Gene Corman has the principal credit with the latter, and although this post-Halloween treat is just that, any day is good to mark when aliens have come to town!

From the Press Release:

Night of the Blood Beast (1958)—with an extensive restoration, a new 4K scan from original 35mm archival elements—and Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)—newly restored in HD—will be available on Blu-ray and DVD in a special collector’s two-disc edition from Film Masters.

Plot Synopsis:

Astronaut John Corcoran (Michael Emmet) dies upon returning to Earth following a space mission, but mysteriously comes back to life! As the scientists at a remote space research station investigate Corcoran’s revival, they discover that a parasitic, alien lifeform is utilising his body as a host to incubate its offspring. Starring Angela Greene, John Baer and Ed Nelson, the disc includes the highly entertaining Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode as well.

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Not Every eVil Sublet is Safe! With this Horror Comedy, The Best Bet is to….

….make sure that tenents get to know who their landlords are, and if the house has a not home to another Lizzie Borden! When it’s billed as an evil sublet, maybe it’s best to look elsewhere!

eViL Sublet Movie Poster IMDBAvailable to stream on Amazon Prime

Allan Piper is not your average filmmaker (landlord). In his horror comedy, EVil Sublet, he’s not only producing, filming and editing but also is the director/writer who wants to make sure anyone viewing the insanity he’s made visible in this fun house enjoy themselves rather than run away in sheer terror. That’s because in this story, a loving couple is trying to find some place cheap to live within New York City’s East Village. But when Alex (Jennifer Leigh Houston) and Ben (Charley Tucker) come across the deal of the century with a fully furnished apartment, hopefully those grey hairs won’t manifest soon!

They are told the abode is haunted. All those past murders left an imprint, and what’s presented suggests not everyone moved on. They have a need for vengeance. They are all after Reena (Sally Struthers) and she’s run away and is in hiding. As for what the current tenants can do is to hire an exorcist. Just who they find are kind of like Ghostbusters, but are only worse. These wannabe (and gay) paranormal investigators are hilariously played up for laughs by Stephen Mosherr and Pat Dwyer.

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To Die Alone is a Fear Much Worse Then Facing an Unknown Future

When the future of humanity is uncertain, to Die Alone is much worse since that thought must have crossed the minds of many during the COVID-19 pandemic. When humans are social animals, we can’t just simply isolate ourselves from the world at large.

Die Alone Movie PosterLowell Dean is really knocking it out of the park with two releases this year. His latest, Die Alone, concerns how to go on with life when that soulmate goes missing. In what Dark Match (movie review) offered was a look at trust amongst teammates in a literal fight against one another to the death in order to summon a demon. Both movies play on what’s most important, relationships, and add in the terror later.

Ultimately, it’s more of a survival drama seen through Ethan (Douglas Smith)’s eyes. He doesn’t know what’s going on because, during part of the narrative, he’s questioning why he can’t leave the farm. As a person who has moments of memory loss, that can be dangerous. He wants to be reunited with his wife, Emma (Kimberly-Sue Murray), but Mae (Carrie-Anne Moss) is keeping him close, and he’s not comfortable with that.

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Anyone Not Watching Angela’s Shadow at the Vancouver Film Festival Are Missing Out!

Angela’s Shadow is a mixed-genre piece that’ll satisfy not only people wondering what went on in Canada’s Colonial past, but also horror film enthusiasts.

Angela's Shadow Movie Poster
Playing at the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival

Remaining Screenings:
Oct 05 International Village 8

By saying Angela’s Shadow is the perfect ghost story, I hope the expectations generated are not too much. That’s because this tale looking at aboriginal life effectively portrays spirits as only vengeful when they must. Although that was not Jules Koostachin’s intent when she wrote the screenplay with Steve Neufeld, the way her direction brought out the supernatural is just beautifully executed. These entities are not inherently evil but matter-of-fact entities who sometimes want to be noticed. But what this story is concerned about is the living, and how this character (Sera-Lys McArthur) wants to return to her roots. She was stolen by white men who believed indoctrinating indigenous youths to their society was important.

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