Category 20th Century Studios

Alien Romulus is the latest in the Alien franchise, this time returning to the survival horror roots that launched it!

20th Century Studios has returned to the roots of the Alien franchise with Alien Romulus, featuring the likeness of Ian Holm, who played Ash in the original film. With the exception of the original film, I have always felt that the franchise was less horror and more sci-fi action film. I have literally seen every seen every Alien film in the franchise. I’ve virtually enjoyed them all, even the Aliens Vs Predator films. Romulus truly is the return to its roots.

Taking place about twenty years after the original, Weyland-Yutani is up to their usual shenanigans and have been searching for the organism that was responsible for nearly killing the entire crew of the Nostromo. As they usually are, they were successful and began experimenting on the creature, but not before it woke up and killed a bunch of the crew. On the nearby mining planet, a group of teens learn about the space station and believe it has been decommissioned. They decide to raid it for supplies to allow them to travel to a planet that is not under the control of the company. As expected this is when things go awry.

The cast was beyond fantastic, especially the two leads that played Andy and Rain, Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson. Set designs, costumes and effects were perfect but were outshined by the brilliant use of lighting and ambient sounds to REALLY set the tone for the film. Overall this is the second best film in the franchise and that’s because you just can’t beat the original, especially on that first watch.

Sideways is a film about friendship, lost love and wine tasting from Searchlight Pictures.

In the world of wine tasting, Sideways does a great job of explaining the reasons behind the behaviors of the wine tasting crowds. They still seem absolutely nuts hearing them talk about wines but some of the things they’re saying actually make a little sense. For the 20th anniversary the film has been rereleased by Searchlight Pictures to 4k. When the folks at Searchlight had send us the film, I had never heard of it. I honestly thought it was a newer film that I just never saw a trailer for.

The film follows Miles who is still reeling from his divorce, two years prior, but also the failure of his novel he is trying to publish. He is accompanied by his closest friend Jack, an actor that is on the verge of getting married. They take a road trip to taste a lot of wine and try to live a little before returning home. Jack spends most of the time trying to cheat on his future bride and to help Miles find himself a woman to spend an evening with.

Despite the education about wine tasting, I found the film to be slow and overall to be quite dull. That’s even with the talented cast delivering great performances through the entire film.

Today we take a look at Kinds of Kindness from the same director behind of Poor Things and much of the same cast, including Emma Stone.

Some films come and completely change how you viewed the genre or create a new bar to hold all cinema to. Kinds of Kindness is one of those films for me. From Searchlight Pictures and Director Yorgos Lanthimos, the film is broken up into three short films, each more deranged than the last. This film was one of the most difficult I have ever reviewed. I literally spent more than a week just staring at the screen, trying to figure out how to voice my thoughts on the film. For me it was beyond difficult. I even called friends to voice my feelings on the film but even they couldn’t help me voice my thoughts in a constructive manner.

In short, this was probably the worst film I have seen all year, BUT it’s clear, I am not the target audience for the film. The cast, editing, literally everything in the production was done with expert skill, beyond what most films do these days. It just wasn’t a film FOR ME. Now, I have no idea who the target audience really is but they’ve managed to do something great with the film, despite my lack of enjoyment. They proved that a film unlike any other out there, using truly original ideas and stories could not only be well received but also be brilliantly executed. It proves that not all films have to be for everyone. I used to believe that if someone watching it can’t enjoy it even a little then they screwed up. After seeing the film I can respect what they’ve done and what they’ve tried to do and still not enjoy it. If you’re someone that watches a film for the directing, the acting or some other technical aspect then you will love this film. If you focus on the uniqueness of the story then this is the film for you, but if you’re looking for a great story at the same time this one may just fall short.

The Team at 20th Century Studios have rereleased three of M. Night Shyamalan’s most famous films including Signs, the Sixth Sense and Unbreakable but we’re only looking at two of them.

The folks at 20th Century Studios sent us copies of both Signs and The Sixth Sense, both of which were written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The Sixth Sense was the first film I had ever seen by Shyamalan and was the first film with a major twist I had seen. I remember just seeing the faces in the crowd with me freaking out at the huge reveal. It was brilliantly executed and STILL holds up. Ironically, about a week before we received our review copies I was telling my oldest I would love to watch this film with her and now we have that chance. The Signs was released about three years later and followed a similar story progression but the subject of the story was centered around aliens and not the badass xenomorphs from Alien.

When Signs was first released, I had seen it in theaters and was disappointed. Having watched it again in 4k I have a couple notes. The first is that the visuals were clean and much more crisp than some footage I’d see online recently of the original release (same for The Sixth Sense). The second is that the story was much better told than I had remembered but the overall story still left me wanting more. The Sixth Sense though still holds up as a fantastic film and thoroughly enjoyed getting to share it once again with my family.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the third installment in the Planet of the Apes reboot franchise and the first we’ve seen.

The folks at 20th Century Studios were kind enough to send us a copy of Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes for the purpose of this review. Humans are nearly extinct from a virus of their creation leading to the start of the film. The film truly starts with three apes searching nests for eggs to collect, ensuring to leave at least one behind in each nest. this is for a bonding ceremony. After losing his egg, one of the apes ventures out that night to try for another, accidentally leading a group to his village, condemning them to death and giving our protagonist a reason to venture beyond his village.

The imagery of the world and the film is a more organic version of a dystopian landscape where everything that had fallen to disrepair has now been covered over or removed removed entirely by green. Reminds us that nature is just waiting for the chance to replace us and return what we’ve built to the land it could have been and it is beautiful. The dialogue is a bit disjointed through most of the film but I suspect that is intentional due to the still evolving nature of the apes and the de-evolving nature of the humans or echoes as they are referred to in the film. The story itself was well told but the voice acting and dialogue seemed to detract from the film as a whole. It felt incomplete like there were scenes cut that would have made the story much better. Now this could be because I hadn’t seen the previous films since the reboot and barely remember the classic versions but it just felt like it was missing some big pieces that would have helped made the story much stronger if they had been there.

Between King Kong teaming up with Godzilla and the latest Planet of the Apes film, 2024 may just be the year of the ape but let’s hope it would be more of the former than latter.

Check out the trailer for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes:

The First Omen is the latest installment in the Omen franchise from 20th Century Studios and takes a stap at the origins of the tale.

The First Omen is a prequel to the Omen franchise from 20th Century Studios focusing on a branch of the church completing unspeakable acts to maintain control. The story centers on Margaret, a young woman with a history of hallucinations, on her path to taking her vows and assisting with work at an orphanage. There she meets a young girl named Carlita who seems to be troubled. Noticing similarities in their experiences she feels a bond with her and works to guide her to help her work through her troubles in a more productive way. Soon after a man by the name of Father Brennan approaches her to voice concerns about who Carlita really is and sets her on a path where she begins to question everything.

Having never seen The Omen or it’s many spinoffs I was still away of the general concept, the church raising the Antichrist and the evil surrounding him. Going into the film mostly blind I was unaware of the intentions the church may or may not have had and as it is explained in the first few minutes it became apparent that we were in for one hell of a ride. More often than not when a prequel is made of a horror film from the 70s or 80s it comes out a bit on the cheesy side and that’s exactly what I was expecting. I was quite impressed with the quality of the acting and more importantly the storytelling. It was surprisingly good and makes me curious to see the other films in the series.

Emma Stone leads in Poor Things from Searchlight Pictures alongside Willem Dafoe in a twisted tale of self discovery and learning.

Poor Things from Searchlight Pictures features Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, The film begins with Emma Stone jumping from a bridge to kill herself without any explanation. Just as suddenly we see her through a black and white lens and she walks like a toddler, her mind clearly underdeveloped. Again, no explanation, at least not at first. We soon learn that the woman is mostly the same as the one that jumped but that she had died on the operating table and the deceased brain was swapped with that of the brain of the unborn baby she carried. Through the entire film she gradually grows and develops her skills and abilities at a rapid rate. This is similar to an infant growing to adulthood, just in a much more accelerated rate.

Emma’s portrayal of Bella is absolutely brilliant, overshadowing the other cast members who take the spotlight less often. I would be shocked if she isn’t nominated for an Oscar for this role, along with the film itself and the makeup department. I don’t know if the makeup departments get nominated but for Willem’s many scars. The story itself is dark and twisted but done in a way that makes light of the mad science with a focus more on Bella’s personal development and growth. The film as a whole was brilliantly directed, acted and filmed but left me respecting the work and efforts of the whole cast but failed to provide a story I personally enjoyed. The film is now available through digital retailers.

Searchlight Pictures bring us a film about finding ways to overcome grief with their latest film, All of Us Strangers.

All of Us Strangers is a film that focuses on finding ways to deal with your own grief while also allowing yourself to find love along the way. The film begins with a chance meeting between Alan and an inebriated neighbor that ends as quickly as it begins, transitioning to Adam writing a new screenplay for a film or show. Another chance encounter and the neighbor is invited in for drinks. As they navigate their own feelings and sexuality, Alan begins to think more about his deceased parents. With a trip into the country, or possibly suburbs, where he takes a walk by what has become of his childhood home. Seeing a boy in the window they stare at each other for a moment before continuing the walk.

This is where things get a little weird and I apologize for the slight spoilers to come. Seeing a man watching him, he follows to find it is his own father but oddly younger than himself. They return to the former home and find Alan’s mother there, also younger. Is this a dream? Is this some weird wormhole through space and time? Is any of this even happening? Watching the film you will have these questions answered but I won’t be spoiling them.

The cast and directing were fantastic as different parts of the past and modern day were blended together. The film will leave even some of the hardest hearts feeling for Alan and those around them, including my own. The story telling was absolutely brilliant and edited together perfectly. If you are looking for a film that stuns you on almost every level this film is it.

Next Goal Wins is based on a true story about the American-Samoa football team and their attempts at a comeback.

Next Goal Wins in the latest biopic in theaters, this time centered around the American-Samoa team. The team is most known for their game that they lost with a devastating 31-0. With the World Cup Qualifiers approaching they hire a coach with the intention of bringing them a victory. The premise, while true sounds exactly like that of one of my childhood favorites- Cool Runnings. Searchlight Studios and Director Taika Waititi spearheaded the project with top billing going to Michael Fassbender who plays Coach Rongen. To clarify, this is a film about a football team and not the NFL kind.

Sports movies or shows typically fall flat for me, that is unless they are full of humor. Cool Runnings and Shoresy being two of my favorites, for very different reasons and styles of course. I also am typically a fan of every film Waititi has been tied to so my hopes were higher than normal for this one. I found the film fall a little short in terms of hilarity but it was still quite enjoyable. The story was well told and I felt you got a better understanding of the characters than most other directors would have managed with the same story. If you are looking for a film to watch as a family about an underdog you want to root for then this will be a great choice for you.

James Cameron and his films are known for their eyepopping scenes and massive stories. Five of them just released with updated versions in 4k!

James Cameron has been one of the biggest names in the film industry for as long as I can remember and one of my favorites. He has been responsible for some of the greatest films. For the month of December five of his best films have updated releases. The Abyss, Aliens and True Lies will be available in 4K Ultra UHD for the first time ever on December 12 at digital retailers and on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray disc March 12, 2024. Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water Collector’s Editions will also be available at digital retailers December 12 and on Blu-ray December 19.

True Lies

This was one of my first R rated films I saw and became a staple in our household for a solid decade at least. Still holds and just as fun but now it looks exponentially better on my tv.

Avatar Collector’s Edition

Avatar remains Cameron’s greatest achievement. The story, message, visuals, everything. Just absolutely perfect but now with two more versions of the film and nearly a dozen hours of bonus content. Let’s just say, it’s a massive amount of content that may rival the Lord of the Rings trilogy one day.

Avatar The Way of Water Collector’s Edition

Seems too soon to release a Collector’s Edition but the film remains a fantastic cinematic experience with 8 additional hours of material.

Aliens

One of the best Alien films to date, expanding more on the lore and probably any other film did aside from the original. Fantastic film made even better with the improved graphics.

The Abyss

The first time I saw this film it already looked a bit dated or the quality of our VHS tape was not great. This was the first film that really showed us how alien our own world could be and seeing it again in 4k really improved the experience.