Blu-Ray Review: THE FINAL GIRLS

Starring Taissa Farmiga, Malin Akerman, Alexander Ludwig, Nina Dobrev, Alia Shawkat, Thomas Middleditch, Adam Devine, Angela Trimbur. Directed by Todd Strauss-Schulson. (2015, 91 min).
SONY

In case you’re unfamiliar with horror tropes, the term ‘final girl’ refers to the last surviving character in a slasher film (especially those made in the 1980s) who battles the killer during the climax. She’s almost always a teenager and usually a virgin. Everyone else has already suffered a nasty demise after partying, getting naked and having sex.

Slasher movies have been a pretty easy target for satire over the years, to the point where pointing out the cliches has itself become somewhat cliched. Wes Craven’s Scream probably did it best, but there’s been some other good ones, such as the underappreciated mockmentary, Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon. Then there’s the garbage parodies like Scary Movie or ’self-aware’ films like Hatchet and Muck, which purport to pay homage to the genre, when in reality they’re just hackneyed horror flicks themselves.

However, like The Cabin in the Woods, The Final Girls lets the viewer know right away it isn’t a flat-out parody nor a full-blown horror flick. Its brand of meta-horror acknowledges the tropes of 80s-era slasher films from a modern perspective, but still has its own tale to tell.

Taissa Farmiga plays Max, a teenager whose mother, former 80’s scream queen Amanda (Malin Akerman), recently died in a tragic accident. Max reluctantly attends a revival screening of her mom’s most famous film, Camp Bloodbath, with some of her friends. When a fire breaks out in the theater, they escape death but end up at the summer camp in the very film they’ve been watching. How they deal with characters created from a different era provides a lot of the humor, especially those whose purpose is to have sex before dying at the hands of the killer. Equally amusing are how these intentionally-shallow Camp Bloodbath characters react to the strangers who’ve popped up in their movie, intent on altering the plot in an attempt to return to their own time.

"A flaming bag of poo? Not cool, dude!"

All the usual tropes are exploited, but with a level of affection & sophistication seldom seen in most modern parodies. Despite the Camp Bloodbath characters presented as walking cliches, we kind-of like them, especially when they learn they aren’t actually real people. Watching Max and her friends try and adapt to this archaic movie is amusing as well. They know the killer is near whenever they hear his theme music, and in the most ingenious scene, they are suddenly rendered in black-and-white during a flashback and forced to physically step around an onscreen title card.

But what ultimately makes The Final Girls unique is its surprising moments of poignancy. Despite all the clever scenes, slapstick humor and knowing dialogue, we have Max, who’s lonely and spends a great deal of time developing a loving, protective bond with her late mother’s Camp Bloodbath character. This sets up a surprisingly bittersweet final act which is totally unexpected. You might even get a bit teary-eyed near the end.

But even if you’re too cynical to become emotionally invested in its two main characters, The Final Girls has the potential to become a minor cult classic because of how well it plays around with slasher movie conventions. As meta-horror, it's not quite in the same league as Scream or The Cabin in the Woods, but for viewers well-versed in all things good-and-bad related to the slasher genre, The Final Girls is a must-see.

BONUS FEATURES:

• Alternate Endings
• Deleted/Extended Scenes
• Cast/Crew Commentary
• Writers’ Commentary
• Production Notes
• 2 Special Effects Featurettes 

KITTY CONSENSUS:

PURR...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS

Blu-Ray Review: BLACK SAILS: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON

Starring Toby Stephens, Luke Arnold, Hannah New, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Zach McGowan, Toby Schmitz, Clara Paget, Tom Hopper. Various Directors. (2015, 555 min).
ANCHOR BAY

It has taken me a bit longer than usual to get through the second season of Black Sails. Not because it isn't any good, but my wife has insisted I wait until after she and the kids have gone to bed before indulging in what she's declared "Pirate Porn." And I get that...Season Two continues to revel in sex, violence and other forms of immorality for the sake of entertainment...definitely not family viewing.

Season Two picks up where Season One left off, with little more than a brief synopsis of previous events that won’t do newcomers any good whatsoever. If you haven’t been keeping up, you’ll be completely lost. Not only that, the quest for Urca gold (the main story of Season One) remains the ongoing plot of this season, further complicated by new characters & conflicts, as well as more double-crosses, betrayals and political ramifications. Despite the increasingly labyrinthine story with almost too many characters to keep track of, much of the focus remains on Captain Flint (Toby Stephens), arguably the show’s most dynamic character. Going the Godfather II route, most early episodes include revealing flashbacks of the incidents which ultimately led to Flint becoming the most feared pirate of the era.

As punishment, John Silver & Captain Flint are forced to watch all the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels back-to-back.

The overall production values of Black Sails remain not-notch, from the elaborate set-design to the visual effects to the seedy dirt & grime permeating its characters and their environment. This arguably remains one of the better looking shows on television. Whether or not this is an authentic depiction of pirate life doesn’t really matter...as viewers, we’re mostly convinced.

But, like Season One, Season Two takes a loooong time to gain momentum. Despite a few scattered moments of violent conflict and decidedly non-erotic sex, the first several episodes are almost maddeningly meandering (especially for viewers thinking the Urca gold plotline should have been wrapped up by now). It isn’t until the fifth episode that we see any real action, the same point where the overall plot truly begins to engage the viewer. As with the first season, patience is a virtue, which is more-or-less rewarded.

BONUS FEATURES:
Featurettes: "Inside the World of 'Black Sails'"; "Man O' War"; "Expanding Worlds"; "High Seas Action"; "History's Influence"

KITTY CONSENSUS:

NOT BAD...PERHAPS A LITTLE TOO COMPLICATED FOR ITS OWN GOOD.

Blu-Ray Review: A LEGO BRICKUMENTARY

Narrated by Jason Bateman. Directed by Daniel Junge & Kief Davidson. (2015, 93 min).
ANCHOR BAY

Along with my Hot Wheels, Lego was my favorite childhood toy. I had a massive box of bricks, a collection which grew to the point where I could damn near construct an entire town.

I don't have either anymore, much to my regret. I blew up all my Hot Wheels with firecrackers once I hit puberty, but I'll be damned if I know whatever happened to my Legos (maybe they're still in my parents' attic). Decades later, I still miss them both. Perhaps I long for my Legos just a little more because, even at my advanced age, the idea of dumping all those multi-colored bricks onto the floor and building a starship still sounds like a hell of a lot of fun.

Much of A Lego Brickumentary is dedicated to that...the adult who still finds great joy in building with Lego. Narrated by Jason Bateman (animated as a Lego character himself), this is a charming little documentary doesn't spend as much time on the toy's history as I'd like, but does a great job showing its worldwide impact, not only on the toy business, but science, entertainment and modern culture.

"Great...now I gotta put all this back in the box."

For some folks, it's a pleasant hobby, while others belong to a sub-culture who take it seriously enough to attend conventions, create Lego-related films, enter high-stakes building contests or actually end up working for Lego itself. We meet people who've turned Lego building into an art form (one lady's version of Tolkien's Rivendell is jaw dropping), a team who built a full scale Star Wars X-wing fighter and one guy whose robotic rover was impressive enough for Lego to turn it into one of their products.

This is all pretty fascinating stuff, presented in a light-hearted, entertaining manor which, unlike similar films depicting a so-called 'geek culture', never devolves into thinly-veiled contempt for its obsessive subjects. In fact, it made me want to venture to Toys 'R Us and grab myself a few sets to reclaim a bit of my childhood. And if Lego was even a small part of your own youth, chances are you'll enjoy this film as well.

BONUS FEATURES:

• 4 Deleted Scenes
• A Legoland Promo video

KITTY CONSENSUS:

PURR...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS

THE HOME OF DR. BATTY: SPOOKY NIGHTS EPISODE 1

Just in time for Halloween...a fun little animated short from Nick Lyons, a friend of FREE KITTENS. Enjoy!

INSIDE OUT - Deleted Scene Clip!

In high anticipation of Disney•Pixar’s Inside Out arriving on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray Combo Pack and On-Demand next Tuesday, November 3rd (now available on Digital HD & Disney Movies Anywhere) we have this hilarious deleted scene from the bonus features. 

Blu-Ray Review: LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL and THE FIFTH ELEMENT

LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL
Starring Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman, Danny Aiello. Directed by Luc Besson. (1994, 109/133 min).
THE FIFTH ELEMENT
Starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker. Directed by Luc Besson. (1997, 126 min).
SONY

Luc Besson was always an interesting action director, but I personally wish we was a little more prolific these days. Sure, he’s kept busy writing and producing such stuff as the Taken and Transporter franchises, but most of them are missing that off-center quirkiness which make his own classic movies of the 90s so unique. Two of those films, Leon: The Professional and The Fifth Element, have been resurrected yet-again for brand new Blu-Ray editions, this time mastered in 4K and Dolby Atmos audio.

From a story standpoint, Leon is remains Besson’s most accomplished film. The story of an efficient-yet-uneducated hitman (Jean Reno) who becomes the reluctant guardian and mentor to an orphaned pre-teen (Natalie Portman) is not only filled with kinetic action and gunplay, it's also funny, touching and morally complex, with superlative performances and dynamic characters.

"Admit it...this is more fun than playing with Barbies."

While Leon may be Besson’s best and darkest (though a strong argument could be made for La Femme Nikita), The Fifth Element is by-far his most imaginative and fun. Visually dazzling and featuring the most bizarre production design ever committed to a sci-fi film, it’s like Blade Runner on LSD. Like if Roger Corman were given a $100 million budget, there’s nary a moment when it takes itself seriously, from the visuals to the film score to its depiction of aliens...right down to a cast of characters so over-the-top that star Bruce Willis mostly plays straight man to their antics. It’s no surprise that The Fifth Element has developed a massive cult following over the years, and is arguably Besson’s most beloved mainstream film.

Ruby Rhod...the most obnoxious man of any century.

Of course, if you’re reading this, there’s a chance you already have one or both of these titles in your collection. So are these upgraded editions worth it? From technical standpoint, they’ve never looked or sounded better, and if you’re a home theater buff, the answer might be yes. However, the previous editions sported pretty damn good transfers too, so unless you’re truly discerning, what’s left are the bonus features. The ones included with Leon are the exact same as the previous edition, while those on The Fifth Element (save for the ‘Fact Track’) appear to be new to Blu-Ray (though not necessarily recently-made).

Regardless, these films feature the imaginative work of a uniquely gifted writer-director at the peak of his powers, and both are worth owning to revisit again and again.

NOTE: Both films are also being released as part of Sony's Supreme Cinema Series, with Clear-Case packaging and comprehensive booklets.

BONUS FEATURES:

LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL (With the exception of a digital copy, all bonuses are the same as the 2009 Blu-Ray edition)

• Extended Version (with optional accompanying ‘Fact Track’)
• Featurettes: “Jean Reno: The Road to Leon”; “Natalie Portman: Starting Young”; “Cast & Crew Look Back”
• Original Trailer
• Digital HD Copy

THE FIFTH ELEMENT

• Making-Of Featurettes: “The Visual Element”; “The Digital Element”; “The Fashion Element”; “Imagining The Fifth Element”; “The Elements of Style”
• Cast Featurettes: “The Star Element” (individual shorts featuring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich & Chris Tucker); “The Diva” (a profile of Maiwenn and how she came to play the role)
• ‘Fact Track’ Option
• Digital HD Copy

KITTY CONSENSUS:

PURR...UNLESS YOU ALREADY OWN LEON ON BLU-RAY

Blu-Ray Review: SOMETIMES THEY COME BACK

Starring Tim Matheson, Brooke Adams, Robert Rusler, Chris Demetral, Robert Hy Gorman, William Sanderson. Directed by Tom McLoughlin. (1991, 98 min).
OLIVE FILMS

Once upon a time, there was a Hollywood feeding frenzy when damn near every studio and producer greedily snapped-up the rights to virtually everything that belched from Stephen King’s typewriter (you know, those things we used before computers). Even a lot of his short stories, no matter how slight, were being bloated into feature length films by anyone eager to cash in on King‘s name. Most of the short story adaptations were terrible (like The Lawnmower Man, which tossed aside everything from King’s story but the title). A few, however, weren’t too bad, such as Sometimes They Come Back.

Granted, this made-to-TV film is just as guilty of padding the original material to justify its length, but at least the story remains more-or-less intact, in which Tim Matheson plays a troubled teacher who returns to his hometown and is tormented by the same undead punks responsible for his brother’s death years earlier. While this adaptation isn’t particularly scary and never escapes its small screen origins, it’s competently made and features serviceable performances all around. Sure, the same story could have been told a fraction of the time, yet still it manages to maintain viewer interest (no small feat).

Sometimes They Come Back may be a relatively minor entry among the plethora of Stephen King movies we’ve been inundated with over the years, but it’s far from the worst. While ultimately forgettable in the long run, it’s an undemanding and fairly entertaining way to spend a dull evening.

BONUS FEATURES:
Original Trailer

KITTY CONSENSUS:

NOT BAD...LIKE CAT CHOW

Blu-Ray Review: THE DEADLY BEES

Starring Suzanna Leigh, Frank Finlay, Guy Doleman, Catherine Finn, John Harvey. Directed by Freddie Francis. (1966, 84 min).
OLIVE FILMS

Pity the poor bees. One would think that an insect responsible for more human deaths than every shark to ever stalk the seas would be foolproof horror fodder. But despite decades of trying, we still haven't done them justice onscreen. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a killer bee-related title which isn't laughably bad.

Some of this might be the bees' fault. I'm no filmmaker, but I imagine their incorrigible nature makes them as difficult to work with as Marlon Brando. Still, a gifted director can work around a star’s diva-like behavior, like Francis Ford Coppola when Brando showed up on the set of Apocalypse Now a hundred pounds overweight without even bothering to read the script.

Irwin Allen, definitely no Coppola, couldn’t do it though, which is partially why The Swarm remains one of the daffiest disaster movies of all time. Neither could Freddie Francis, who managed to crank out a few cult classics for Amicus and Hammer studios during their 60s & 70s heyday. His 1966 horror film, The Deadly Bees, is arguably the first to depict our pollinating pals as monsters, but hampered by an obvious low budget, a truly WTF screenplay and ludicrous special effects (probably because, like Brando, bees don’t like to do what directors tell them).

An obvious miscommunication between the make-up department and anyone who's ever actually seen a real bee.

Suzanna Leigh plays an exhausted pop star who goes to a remote English village to relax. Two dedicated bee-keepers live there as well, one of which is inexplicably obsessed with using bees to kill his enemies, having developed a liquid concoction which makes them attack anyone wearing the stuff. A few folks die after reacting in horror to repeated footage of swarming bees badly superimposed on the screen. The special effects are hilariously bad, as are the performances and totally out-of-place musical numbers at the beginning of the film (featuring a pre-Rolling Stones Ron Wood!), which is probably why The Deadly Bees was once featured in an old Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode.

In fact, its unintentional camp value is the main reason to watch this film today, which might tickle the funny-bone if you’re in the right frame of mind. It isn’t a mega-budget train-wreck like The Swarm, but The Deadly Bees is still a gloriously goofy experience just begging for verbal abuse while watching. In that context, this is great fun.

BONUS FEATURES: None

KITTY CONSENSUS:

NOT BAD...IF BAD IS WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR

Rest in Peace, Maureen O'Hara

Maureen O'Hara (1920-2015)

Blu-Ray Review: BACK TO THE FUTURE 30TH ANNIVERSARY TRILOGY

Starring Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, Mary Steenburgen, Claudia Wells, Elizabeth Shue, James Tolkan. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. (1985-1990, 342 total min).
UNIVERSAL

Aside from the original Star Wars trilogy, you'd be hard-pressed to name a film franchise as universally loved as Back to the Future. Seriously...have you ever come across anyone who ever declared, "Wow, Back to the Future really sucked"? If so, you really need to find new friends.

And no one ever speaks of them as three individual films anymore. Today, whenever someone brings up Back to the Future, they're almost always referring to the entire trilogy, a single epic saga with a definite beginning, middle and end. Because of this, we tend to forget the first film was a surprise hit with no initial aspirations of going any further. We also tend to forget Back to the Future Part II was not as warmly received by critics or fans at the time, the common complaint being that it was too dark, too FX-driven and too in-love with its own labyrinthine storyline. And few seem to remember the simultaneously-filmed Part III, while still successful and well-recieved, actually underperformed at the box-office compared to the previous two.

But perhaps even more-so than the original Star Wars trilogy, each Back to the Future film is now universally loved because they click togther perfectly as three acts in a single, sweeping story. Almost nobody looks at them otherwise, which is obviously why these films are hardly ever available individually these days. Even cable channels usually show them all back-to-back...

...which also means if you've a fan (and who isn't?), you probably already own the previously-released DVD set or the 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray edition.

Doc Brown's hat may not be able to read minds, but it's a chick magnet.

So now we have the inevitable 30th Anniversary set...not just the anniversary of the original film, but also the year Marty McFly travels to the future of 2015 (October 21, to be exact, the same day this was released). So yeah, it's an important date worth commemorating with this nicely packaged four-disc collection.

However, it should be noted that the films and bonus features on the first three discs are almost exactly the same as the 25th Anniversary edition. Only the fourth supplementary disc contains any additional material (outlined below). These extras vary in quality, from promotional fluff to some truly great new documentaries. If you already own the previous Blu-Ray set, you have to decide if this fourth disc of bonus features (roughly 2 hours) is worth the upgrade. But if you still haven't included Back to the Future in your collection, this set is definitely a must-own. The picture & sound quality is outstanding. As for the films themselves...the special effects still hold up, the characters are still endearing and the story, considering it's definitely rooted in the 80s, remains timeless.

BONUS FEATURES:
As stated before, the bonus features accompanying the films on their individual discs are nearly identical to the 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray set. While they are substantial, informative and very entertaining, there's no point in rehashing them all here, especially if you already own it. 

This new set features a fourth disc of all new extras to celebrate the first film's 30th:

• "2015 Message from Doc Brown": A brief hello from Christopher Lloyd in-character.
• "Doc Brown Saves the World": A ten minute promo film, again with Lloyd, in which Doc Brown features various gadgets from the trilogy that supposedly will destroy the world in 2045. Shot on a stark white set, it's kind of silly, redundant and dumb.
• "OUTATIME: Restoring the DeLorean": This is a wonderful twenty-minute film about the restoration of one of cinema's most iconic cars
• "Looking Back to the Future": A nine-part retrospective featuring new interviews with Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd and a slew of others involved in making the original film. Also included is a lot of vintage behind-the-scenes footage. This is easily the best of the new bonus features.
• Back to the Future: The Animated Series: One episode from each of its two seasons are included. While interesting from a historical perspective, like most Saturday morning cartoons based on hit films, the show itself was never that good (and looks downright archaic today). 
• "2015 Commercials": Two brand new fake commercials for Max Spielberg's "Jaws 19" and the now-iconic Hoverboard. "Jaws 19" is absolutely hilarious and worth watching over and over, managing to provide the perfect skewering of Hollywood's current trend of rebooting, re-imagining, sequeling & prequeling. 

KITTY CONSENSUS:

MEE-OW! ESPECIALLY IF YOU DON'T YET OWN THIS COLLECTION