We start off this week with a little seen film that is one of my favorite films of the past year finally making its way to Blu-ray, The Girl with all the Gifts. In the near future, humanity has been ravaged by a mysterious fungal disease turning people into flesh eating monsters. But at an army base in Britain a group of scientists and soldiers are trying to find a cure. When the base is compromised and overrun by the infected, Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close), teacher Helen Justineau (Gemma Arterton) and Sgt. Eddie Parks (Paddy Considine) escape with one of the hybrid children test subjects, Melanie (Sennia Nanua) only to embark on a long journey to find new safety.
The Girl with All the Gifts is such a unique combination of the zombie genre, apocalyptic genre, and survivalist genre and features amazing performances, especially by Arterton and Nanua. The spectacle of the post apocalyptic world is stunning, the writing top notch and the action exciting. For those craving something different lately, The Girl with All the Gifts will do a fantastic job. Make is a great movie night with a few other fantastic indie horror flicks as of late like Train to Busan and The Autopsy of Jane Doe.
Next up this week is the film that won Best Picture at the Oscars, if only for a minute, La La Land. Damien Chazelle wrote and directed this return to movie musicals in a story of Sebastian (Ryan Gosling), a jazz pianist, and Mia (Emma Stone), an aspiring actress, and their mutual pursuits of their art and the effect their growing successes has on their relationship.
La La Land is indeed a love letter to the classic Hollywood musicals of yesteryear, but with a current updating that feels both fresh and nostalgic at the same time. Gosling and Stone have proven time and again how great their chemistry is and La La Land is no exception. And Chazelle gives the film an infusion of unique visuals, catchy musical numbers and songs, and wonderful choreography. For me it never quite reaches the lofty goals of being a classic and timeless musical as many audiences have claimed, but it is still an impressive and entertaining throwback and a much needed lighter touch that was obviously much needed by movie goers in the current state of the world. Well worth checking out.
Lastly this week is the fifth instalment in the Underworld franchise, Underworld: Blood Wars. Kate Beckinsale returns once again to the role of vampire death dealer Selene as she goes on the run from both the Lycan clan and her own vampire clan who has betrayed her. With the Lycan’s after the blood of Selene’s hybrid daughter Eve, Selene must find allies to battle her enemies and end the eternal war between the Lycans and vampires once and for all.
The Underworld franchise has been uneven at best, but the thing that keeps audiences coming back for more is the copious action sequences and Kate Beckinsale’s iconic character Selene. The action this time around is fast and exciting and the new director, Anne Foerster disposed of the previous films frenetic fight scenes and replaces them with a more fluid and enjoyable aesthetic. Underworld: Blood Wars won’t bring new fans into the fold but to provide another chapter in the series for the die hard fans clamouring for more, and in that regard, it succeeds well.
Also of note this week is the new horror film The Bye Bye Man, Sandra Oh and Anne Heche in Catfight and The Affair: Season Three.
Until next week movie lovers.
DVD and Blu-ray Releases for Tuesday April 25, 2017
Abandoned Dead
Anatahan
Animal Kingdom: The Complete First Season
Blanche*
Caltiki The Immortal Monster*
Catfight
Daredevils of the Red Circle*
Death in the Desert
Detour
Django Prepare a Coffin*
Double Exposure*
Exterminator 2*
Fuller House: The Complete First Season
Gekisou Sentai Carranger: The Complete Series
Goregasm
I Bury the Living*
Kaili Blues
La La Land
Man of La Mancha*
Mean Dreams
Microcosms*
One-Punch Man
Ophélia*
Peanuts by Schultz: Go Team Go!
Psycho Cop Returns*
Right Now, Wrong Then
Rumble Fish*
Tampopo*
The Affair: Season Three
The Bye Bye Man
The Girl with All the Gifts
The Hunt
The Marine 5: Battleground
The Portal
The Screaming Skull*
The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers*
Theatre of Mr. and Mrs. Kabal*
Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies*
Three Brothers*
True Crime Triple Feature
Underworld: Blood Wars
Walerian Borowczyk - Short Films Collection*
We Are X
Wolf Guy*
*Catalog Blu-ray debut