This Week: A return – sorta – to Cloverfield, Mulder & Scully are back in the saddle, and a sorry batch of Jaws sequels come to blu-ray.
► It may have been sold under dubious circumstances, but 10 CLOVERFIELD LANE was a solid enough thriller on its own. Adding ‘Cloverfield’ to the name certainly swayed people into thinking it was a sequel to the classic monster flick. Instead, as producer J.J. Abrams explained, it’s more of a “blood relative.” Mary Elizabeth Winstead is an accident victim who wakes up to find herself in the bunker of a survivalist (John Goodman), who tells her the world is under attack from…something. After awhile, she and the other resident of the bunker (John Gallagher, Jr.) plot their escape. The fine-tuned claustrophobia adds to the atmosphere, and Goodman is the best he’s been in awhile. Extras include commentary from director Dan Trachtenberg, but not much on the decision to make this a ‘Cloverfield’ spin-off.
► It was amusing to watch The X-Files pick up pretty much where it left off 14 years ago – fans complaining. And they wasted little time, ripping the first episode of THE X-FILES: THE EVENT SERIES as empty nostalgia. Then a weird thing happened: Episodes 2 through 5 were good. Vintage X-Files good, actually. And then the bottom fell out with the sixth and final episode and its cliffhanger ending. You end up with a season that couldn’t possibly match the build-up fans brought to it, but they were still jazzed to see Mulder and Scully together again. A nice batch of blu-ray extras include some Chris Carter commentaries, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson commentary on the ‘Were-Monster’ episode, and an in-depth look at bringing the show back.
► The most inspired thing about LONDON HAS FALLEN might have been its tagline: “Prepare for bloody hell.” The sequel to ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ brings James Bo…er, Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) to the UK for the prime minister’s funeral, where world leaders are being picked off by terrorists who have the U.S. president in their sights next. Morgan Freeman, Robert Forster and Angela Bassett return, director Antoine Fuqua does not. The drop-off is steep.
► HBO’s BALLERS may be a shameless ‘Entourage 2.0,’ but it’s just funny and topical enough to rise above its bro culture roots. Dwayne Johnson is a retired NFL star now working as a financial manager to current players. Problem is, most of the current players are ungrateful, mega-rich douchebags. Rob Corddry brings huge laughs as his partner, and Omar Miller is the former NFL star miserable with his new gig selling cars. It helps having ‘Friday Night Lights’ developer Peter Berg as co-producer.
► Calling JAWS 2 the best sequel of the franchise is kind of like saying your last kick to the groin wasn’t as bad as the others – it still sucks. Oh, most kids of the ‘70s recall it fondly, but it hasn’t aged well, and Roy Scheider’s reluctance to make it is obvious in every scene. The lack of Spielberg is the biggest loss, however, as the subtle terror and small character moments that make the first film so perfect are buried. And the moment the shark sinks a helicopter, the franchise is doomed. Blu-ray includes a making-of doc. Deleted scenes and look at John Williams’ score. Of course, this looked like the ‘Citizen Kane’ of shark movies compared to the ridiculous JAWS 3 five years later. Turning the series into an absurd cartoon, it has another Great White chowing down at a Florida theme park, turning Dennis Quaid into the new Brody. The original 3-D effects looked awful in 1983, and can be seen among the blu-ray special features. Bad as this was, four years later – you guessed it – the fourth movie of the franchise shattered the ceiling for terrible sequels. One of the absolute worst movies ever made, JAWS: THE REVENGE is like a student film abortion of the original, bringing back Lorraine Gray as Brody’s wife to take on a Great White which is targeting her family. It not only has a shark that roars, it not only has the tagline ‘This time it’s personal,” but this is the movie Michael Caine was filming during the 1987 Oscars, preventing him from accepting his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for ‘Hannah and Her Sisters.’ This one is so bad you’ll have to watch it twice, at which point you’ll realize it’s even worse than you thought. Blu-ray includes the alternate ending. If you watch all these back-to-back-to-back, please go back to the original to save your sanity.
► The engaging EDDIE THE EAGLE is based on the true story of British skier Eddie Edwards, who despite less than world class skill became the first Brit to compete in Olympic ski jumping during the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Taron Egerton is Eddie, Hugh Jackman is his drunk trainer Bronson. Funny stuff, but the real Eddie wasn’t so inspiring – after the ’88 Olympics, entry requirements changed to make it impossible for someone with his limited skills to compete.
Also out this week:
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SO WHAT DVD/BLU-RAYS ARE YOU GUYS STOKED ABOUT THIS WEEK?!