Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 pandemic thriller, Contagion, is making its arrival on 4K Ultra HD a few years after renewed interest in the film. Nobody would have thought in 2011 that people would be taking a renewed interest in 2020. But sure enough, the Covid-19 pandemic happened and people made the film a streaming hit. I was not one of those people because of my headspace at the time. It was tempting, don’t get me wrong.…
"Contagion: Pandemic Thriller Arrives on 4K Ultra HD"Tag: Kate Winslet
Nearly 26 years following its theatrical release, Titanic is making its arrival on 4K Ultra HD with two different sets for purchase. Had I known that the film would be arriving this year on 4K Ultra HD, I wouldn’t have reviewed it earlier this summer. In any event, this is a 4K UHD release that is stacked with bonus features (scroll down to see what they are). As far as I can tell, the new…
"Titanic Sets Sail on 4K Ultra HD" Titanic takes a Romeo and Juliet approach while James Cameron and the crew go to painstaking efforts in recreating the ship and sinking. “It’s been 84 years…” There’s something about the RMS Titanic that has a staying power in the public consciousness. Maybe its because this supposedly unsinkable ship became just that: sinkable. The reported want of White Star Line managing director J. Bruce Ismay (Jonathan Hyde) to have Titanic to make the news in…
"Titanic Is An Epic Achievement In Filmmaking Over 25 Years Later"
After years of talking about the film, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is finally arriving on the big screen in theaters. Here’s the thing about Avatar: you’re either a fan or you’re not. How one feels about the first movie will more or less be the way one feels about the second. I would have been fine just watching the 2D version of the film. Maybe it’s because of where I was sitting…
"Avatar: The Way of Water: You’ll Love It Or You Won’t"
Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 2, a limited edition set, brings six films home for the first time on 4K Ultra HD. This limited edition set features Anatomy of a Murder, Oliver!, Taxi Driver, Stripes, Sense and Sensibility, and The Social Network. The set comes with an 80-page hardbound book in the history and impact of the films. In addition, there are over 30 new hours of new and archival special features. A…
"Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 2"
The new live-action adaptation of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty arrives on Disney+ over fifty years after the studio released a LP adaptation. Disney finally did it. Until this year, the studio was never successful in making either an animated or live-action film. From what I can tell, this is the sixth adaption–the first since Alan Cumming voiced the horse in 1994. Unlike previous adaptations, Ashley Avis puts a contemporary twist on her take. Her take…
"Black Beauty: Disney Finally Makes Their Film"
Ammonite seeks to tell the story of paleontologist Mary Anning but there’s more here than meets the eye when it comes to actual truth. When we first meet Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) in the 1840s, the paleontologist already has her best days behind her. The Lyme Regis resident now resorts to hunting fossils and hoping that wealthy tourists will buy them. This is really the only way that she can support both herself and her…
"NewFest 2020: Ammonite"
A family spends one final weekend together at their Connecticut beach house in Blackbird before saying goodbye to a loved one. It’s never easy to say goodbye to family members when you know they are dying. You don’t know if the next time you’ll see them is going to be the last. This isn’t the case in Blackbird because everyone knows this will be the last time they see Lily (Susan Sarandon). Paul (Sam Neill)…
"Blackbird Mixes Drama With Humor"
The last few years have not been kind to Will Smith and Collateral Beauty proves to be no exception. To be honest, this movie kept putting me to sleep repeatedly while I viewed it last night. If you want to see a movie that deals with loss and grief, please go watch Manchester by the Sea instead. David Frankel directs from a screenplay by Allan Loeb. The star-studded cast includes Smith, Edward Norton, Keira Knightley,…
"Collateral Beauty: It’s a Yawner"