Category: Review

Mother’s Day – Blu-ray Review

Mom

Director Garry Marshall is an icon of classic American TV. For decades, his creations entertained and provided laughter to millions with the 50s-based sitcom, Happy Days and it’s multitude of spin-offs that included Laverne & Shirley, Joanie Loves Chachi, and Mork & Mindy. He also helped develop the Neil Simon play The Odd Couple into a what would become another classic TV series of the 70s.

Along with this impressive list of shows, Marshall also directed the Julia Roberts/Richard Gere hit Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries and its sequel, Runaway Bride, and most recently the holiday-themed flicks Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, and his final film, Mother’s Day.

Sadly, Marshall passed away in July of 2016, but his body of work will live on in his memory. His final directing endeavor, Mother’s Day, reunited him once again with long-time collaborator Julia Roberts along with an impressive list of comedic actors including Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Jason Sudeikis, and Margo Martindale.

The film centers around a chaotic week for all involved leading up to the mom-centric day that was proclaimed an official holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. What follow is a series of interwoven narratives – each one with a connection to the others – that eventually collide in a heartwarming finale that is befitting of a film with motherly love as its driving force.

While I’m not generally a fan of these types of movies, there are some genuinely funny moments that had me laughing out loud, and with such a talented cast it’s hard not to enjoy Mother’s Day for its ability to bring great actors together.

Chief among them are Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis who have appeared together in Horrible Bosses, Horrible Bosses 2, and We’re the Millers. They have fantastic on-screen chemistry, and I wish they would do a rom-com together along the same lines as a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan film like Sleepless in Seattle or You’ve Got Mail (something original, please. No need to remake either film, and besides You’ve Got Mail is already a remake of the film The Shop Around the Corner).

Also of note is the storyline involving Kate Hudson and Margo Martindale who plays her hardcore right-wing mama from Texas. Martindale is a hoot in the role, and the entire situation involving Hudson’s character, her sister (played by Sarah Chalke), and their families is pretty amusing.

Mother’s Day has something for everyone and if you’re looking for a film that’s safe to watch with your mom, this one is pretty tame and won’t leave you scrambling for the remote or the mute button.

Special features include Deleted Scenes and a Gag Reel.

For some mom-friendly entertainment, check out Mother’s Day on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital Download now!

Rushlights: New Unrated Director’s Cut – Movie Review

-1

Small towns are full of big secrets. Sometimes those secrets are known but not talked about. Other times they are known by a few who are willing to lie, cheat, and kill to keep them under wraps. But what happens when new elements begin enter the picture and those secrets are on the verge of causing chaos where it once lay dormant?

Rushlights begins innocently enough as a love story and quickly evolves into a noir-style thriller with plenty of twists, turns, and double-crosses to keep the audience on their toes. Our two heroes – Sarah and Billy (Haley Webb and Josh Henderson) – are two damaged souls who find solace in each other’s company. When the tragic end befalls a close acquaintance, they work together to take advantage of the situation.

couple

Both soon find themselves snagged in a web of small town secrets, greed, and corruption that they never saw coming. Will they do the right thing or do whatever they can do survive?

The moral ambiguity of all the characters in Rushlights reminded me of the characters on AMC’s Breaking Bad. While a lot of their actions and behaviors are reprehensible, you can’t help but root for them to achieve their goals no matter the cost. Will they get away with it? Will they be found out? Will double-crosses ensue? There’s plenty of that going on throughout the film that makes the story all the more intriguing.

Beau

Along with Webb and Henderson, Rushlights stars acting heavyweights Beau Bridges as the overzealous sheriff and Aidan Quinn as his lawyer brother. Both bring a level of gravitas to the film and help give it that dark, small-town-full-of-secrets feel.

Aidan

Rushlights is an intriguing crime-drama/murder-mystery/noir-thriller that keeps you guessing to the very last frame. I highly recommend it.

Rushlights: New Unrated Director’s Cut is streaming on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Sony X-Box and more!

I Am Wrath – Blu-ray Review

I Am Wrath

John Travolta has been an iconic part of American film and TV for over four decades. From his early days on TV – his most notable roles on the series Welcome Back, Kotter and in the TV movie, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble – to his myriad roles in films ranging from high-octane actioners to song and dance spectacles, Travolta has forever cemented himself into the zeitgeist of American pop culture.

In his latest action flick, I Am Wrath, Travolta once again shows off his keen ability to be a bad-ass and take down the scum of the world one bloody battle at a time. When his wife (Rebecca De Mornay) is murdered in front of him, Stanley Hill (Travolta) quickly discovers that the city’s criminal justice system may not be entirely on his side. When it’s clear that the cops have no interest in helping Stanley find justice and closure for his wife’s murder, he takes it upon himself to rid the world of the thugs who killed his wife.

John Travolta

Travolta is fantastic in this role and it’s great to see him in another action flick shooting, stabbing, and blowing up the bad guys. But he’s not alone. In fact, his buddy is a familiar face, especially to fans of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Christopher Meloni – who played Detective Elliot Stabler for over a decade on SVU – is Stanley’s best friend and former associate Dennis who assists him in his quest for vengeance. It’s a great role for Meloni, and he gets to let the rage and violence flow that we all knew was just bubbling under the surface of his Stabler role season after season. It’s a great character and he and Travolta have solid chemistry together.

John Travolta and Christopher Meloni

With plenty of action and a couple surprise twists, I Am Wrath is a solid revenge flick from start to finish. Let’s hope a sequel is in the works.

Special features include an Audio Commentary by Director Chuck Russell and Writer/Actor Paul Sloan.

I highly recommend I Am Wrath!

I Am Wrath is available NOW on DVD and Blu-ray!

What’s your favorite John Travolta movie? Leave a comment and let us know!

Code of Honor – Blu-ray Review

Code of Honor

Ah, the revenge story. From Greek mythology to a Shakespearean tragedy, from Charles Bronson in Death Wish (1974) to Marvel’s The Punisher, stories depicting individuals enacting vengeance on those who have wronged them or their loved ones have been a staple of storytelling for generations. Audiences love the thrill of living vicariously through characters who take matters into their own hands and seek justice when no one else will make things right. Such is the case in the latest Steven Seagal flick, Code of Honor.

Seagal has been an action movie icon for nearly three decades. And while most know him from films like Under Siege (1992), he has been in dozens and dozens of action flicks since his first film, Above the Law in 1988. In Code of Honor, Seagal once again takes on the corrupt, the unjust, and the unlawful with his own brand of kick-ass action complete with gunfire, explosions, and plenty of martial arts action.

Mr. Seagal plays Colonel Robert Sikes, a retired Special Ops operative who has taken it upon himself to rid his city of the dregs of criminal society. No scumbag or thug is off limits as Sikes enacts his own brand of justice on the evildoers that plague his world. His vigilante actions make him a target of law enforcement that are on a mission to stop him while he does his best to stop the criminals he has vows to eradicate. Will Sikes avoid the law and complete his mission, or will his vengeful action be thwarted before he reaches his goal?

With plenty of action and thrills, Code of Honor is an enjoyable revenge flick. Seagal is at his stoic best, and the solid supporting cast is a nice balance to his character’s larger-than-life presence. If you like big action, gunfights, and explosions, Code of Honor will not disappoint.

I do wish there was a behind-the-scenes featurette, but we only get the film’s trailer and other trailers for upcoming films in the Special Features section.

I recommend Code of Honor to Seagal fans and action movie fans alike. It’s action-packed entertainment!

Code of Honor is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.

What’s your favorite Seagal movie? Leave a comment and let us know!

Cohen Media Group: Going Away – DVD Review

Going Away

Sometimes love can find you even when you’re not looking for it. It can be an awesome force that drives two people together, that merges their hearts, souls, and minds; love can endure despite the odds stacked against it. The journey of Baptiste and Sandra in Going Away, an enjoyable French romantic drama, is one fraught with many roadblocks and barriers that they traverse despite the odds.

When Baptiste (Pierre Rochefort), a young teacher suddenly finds himself having to take care of one of his students, Mathias (Mathias Brezot), over a holiday weekend, he and the Mathias end up traveling to a beach resort where Mathias’s mother, Sandra (Louise Bourgoin) works. But all is not well with Sandra’s or Baptiste’s pasts, and Baptiste and Sandra soon discover that in order for them to have a future together they must find closure in pasts they’ve struggled so long to forget.

I really got drawn into Going Away rather quickly. I liked the three primary characters – Baptiste, Sandra, and Mathias – and I was intrigued by their journey as a makeshift family unit. While it may seem like a by-the-numbers romantic film at first, there are plenty of twists that I did not see coming that made the film all the more compelling as a dramatic narrative.

Director and co-screenwriter Nicole Garcia has created a multi-faceted environment in which her characters and their problems seem real and their journey together is realistic and evokes empathy from viewers.

I highly recommend Going Away, which is available now on DVD.