Boyz N the Hood (4K Ultra HD) (Blu-ray) by William Harrison THE FILM: Director John Singleton passed away last April at the age of 51. Nearly three decades earlier, he released the excellent Boyz N the Hood, just months after graduating from the USC School of Cinematic Arts. The film went on to gross $57.5 million at the American box office and brought worldwide attention to the lives and struggles of Los Angeles' young, inner-city residents. Singleton's film spotlighted a group of people rarely featured in the era's coming-of-age stories, and it also provided the perspective of the residents effected by a type of violence usually only discussed by outsiders. Featuring career-defining performances from Cuba Gooding Jr., Laurence Fishburne and Ice Cube, Boyz N the Hood is Singleton's best film, and one whose themes and message resonate loudly nearly thirty years later. The narrative, also written by Singleton, conce...Read the entire review »

A Hidden Life (Blu-ray) by Ryan Keefer The Movie: One of the difficulties these days about trying to watch films at home while everyone is sitting home and trying to avoid airborne pandemics is that when you have a young child, the task of watching one more geared to the grown-ups is a difficult task. Even for a film like Frozen II, it took a couple of days to get through, because there's the balance to strike of entertaining your child so you can do things, but not so much so that drool puddles form around him when he's watching a movie ro television. And I don't think he's ready for three-hour art films yet, so the challenge is even harder! A Hidden Life is the latest film from Terrence Malick (The New World). The film is inspired by the life of Franz Jagerstatter (August...Read the entire review »

The Grudge (2020) (Blu-ray) by William Harrison THE FILM: Boy, oh, boy, this film is a piece of shit. I hate to be a hater, because director Nicolas Pesce obviously is a fan of the Japanese horror series upon which 2004's The Grudge and his 2020 reboot are based, but very little in this convoluted horror film works despite Pesce's attempts to incorporate elements from previous, more successful franchise films. Sony slaps front and center on the poster that this film is produced by Sam Raimi (The Evil Dead), but I question whether he had much involvement past cashing the paycheck he got for that nod. The cast is surprisingly good, and includes John Cho, Lin Shaye, Jacki Weaver and Andrea Riseborough, but these poor thespians are tasked with acting out Pesce's lousy, convoluted scree...Read the entire review »