It’s a lofty, ambitious, attention-grabbing title: James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction. But in reality, it’s best to approach this six-part documentary series (which originally aired on AMC in 2018, but is now receiving a home video release July 28, 2020) with reasonably low expectations. Ken Burns territory this ain’t. Story of Science Fiction plays...
The new Lionsgate horror release Room 9 opens with an elaborate, multi-format introduction. Flashing between seemingly random, bizarre imagery, the image frantically switches between all manner of film/video stock—it’s as if writer-director Thomas Walton had deliberately set out to out-do Oliver Stone at his Natural Born Killers extreme. The following story—muddled and unfocused—unfortunately doesn’t match...
To coincide with the release of the all-new Space Jam: A New Legacy, starring LeBron James, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has dusted off the original 1996 megahit Space Jam. They’ve spruced it up with an outstanding new 4K UltraHD edition that looks great, even if it exposes the limitations of the era’s live-action/animation combo. The...
Oh, to be a kid in the ’90s again. Well, I wasn’t—not quite—but a younger sibling and cousins were. And Rugrats was all the rage. I don’t know what today’s youth will make of this hand-drawn animated show, if they even bother with it. But for anyone looking to revel in a little bit of...
Arriving right around the mid-point of Paul McCartney’s third completely DIY album, McCartney III, is an extended song called “Deep Deep Feeling.” An elemental drumbeat kicks it off, followed by McCartney’s otherwise unaccompanied vocal. He’s singing about the duality of love and devotion (“The deep, deep pain of feeling”). Slowly other elements are layered in....
The newly-issued Flaming Pie: Archive Collection makes it a baker’s dozen entries for the slow-but-steady series. Since 2010, McCartney has taken his time curating the Collection. Universally acknowledged solo career high points like Band on the Run (1973) and RAM (1971) sit right next to extravagant re-packaging of far less-loved albums like Wild Life (1971)...
New from Shout Factory’s imprint Shout Select comes City Slickers, a collector’s edition Blu-ray that presents a brand new 4K HD scan of the smash hit comedy. For viewers of a certain age (i.e. those who were barely adults in 1991), it may be a shock to contemplate that City Slickers is now 27 years...
Following what was billed as a “Final Season,” the ten-episode Legacy (as it was called in the U.K.), British Sky One has kept Strike Back going with this all-new season. In keeping with the tradition of Strike Back having one of the more confusing roll-outs of any contemporary show, the ten-episodes serve as the sixth...
Much of the most interesting work of Paul McCartney’s career has been issued over the course of the last 20 years or so. Albums such as Flaming Pie (1997), Chaos and Creation in the Backyard (2005), Memory Almost Full (2007), and New (2013) have contained some of the more varied, introspective, and downright creative songs...
Epic. Engrossing. Thrilling. Funny. Tragic. What else do you want from a blockbuster spectacle? Avengers: Infinity War is all these things, ably proving that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is far from exhausted. In fact, however improbable it might be, it just seems to keep getting better. The 19th film in the now-20-strong franchise, Infinity War...