Upcoming DvD Movie Releases for October 2015 (plus expert analysis)

October 2nd

The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron – The box office smash sequel pits the Avengers against a one-dimensional villain. This has moments of awesome but mostly settles as a bloated super hero movie. Full review here.

October 6th

Magic Mike XXL – Channing Tatum and pals bare it all…again. McConaughey decided to focus on better movies and does not appear in this oversized sequel. Elizabeth Banks, Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Jada Pinkett Smith co-star.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl – This is a movie about two aspiring, young filmmaker friends that end up making a film for a girl that has leukemia. They learn more about their friendship and the fragility of life. The cast includes Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman (Parks & Recreation), Molly Shannon (SNL alum) and Jon Bernthal (The Walking Dead, upcoming 2nd season of Daredevil).

Manglehorn – A dramedy about a locksmith (Al Pacino) that has trouble living in the present. Can we just get a The Devil’s Advocate sequel already?! Pacino seems to be wasting time on these cutesy movies that have a limited audience. Anyways, the movie focuses on how this locksmith mopes through life in a small Texas town and lives in his tragic, lovelorn past when he desperately needs to change his present. The movie is directed by David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Your Highness) and co-stars Holly Hunter.

Insidious: Chapter 3 – In this prequel, a girl tries to contact her late mother so she recruits a reluctant psychic with grave results. For some reason Dermot Mulroney is in this. Why? Rotten Tomatoes: 53%.

Road Hard – This comedy follows a character named Bruce Madsen, a successful actor/comedian, who decides to change things up and go back to his roots and perform in the comedy club circuit. Things don’t turn out as expected which forces Bruce (played by Adam Carolla) to reevaluate his career. This sounds like an auto-biographical snooze fest! Anyways, the movie co-stars David Koechner (Anchorman, Waiting).

Batkid Begins – This follows a five year-old boy, suffering from leukemia that gets a chance to be Batman for a day via the Make a Wish foundation.

10,000 Saints – A group of smugglers learn the hard price of growing up and the value of family in the backdrop of 1980s New York City. The cast includes Ethan Hawke (Boyhood, Gattaca) , Asa Butterfield (Ender’s Game, Hugo) , Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit), Emile Hirsch (The Girl Next Door), and Emily Mortimer. There may be a reason this was released direct to video.

Dark Places – From the author of Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn) comes a story about a woman (Libby) trying to run away from her tragic past and her brother, who she blames for murdering the rest of her family. She is then contacted by a group that specializes in unsolved cases. Libby (played by Charlize Theron) must decide if she wants to accept the past or truly find the killer responsible. This movie came and went in theaters. The movie co-stars Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass), Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road), and Christina Hendricks (Mad Men). It holds a 39% on Rotten Tomatoes. Proceed with caution!

Escobar: Paradise Lost – Nick and his brother move from Canada to Colombia during the 1980s to set up a surf shop. There, Nick falls for Maria, who happens to be the niece of Pablo Escobar. Things get worse from there as Nick is recruited to stash away Escobar’s assets before he serves a jail sentence. I’m slightly interested in this but I have to say that Narcos on Netflix deals primarily with Escobar’s rise/fall and that seems a lot more interesting. This film features Benicio Del Toro (Traffic, upcoming Sicario) as Escobar and co-stars Josh Hutcherson (The Hunger Games).

Final Girl – Veronica is new in town and becomes a target for a group of boys who hunt and kill women in the woods for sport. The tables are turned when Veronica is actually a trained assassin. Abigail Breslin (Ender’s Game, Maggie) stars alongside Wes Bentley (that creepy video recorder dude from American Beauty, bearded weirdo in The Hunger Games).

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief – This is a riveting documentary that chronicles the rise of the Church of Scientology and the followers and defectors that provide insight into the often shocking inner workings of the fastest growing church. Archival footage and interviews with current and former members (that include many Hollywood stars – Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Paul Haggis, etc.) make this a documentary worth catching. My full review is here.

People Places Things – Flight of the Concords alum, Jermaine Clement, stars in this comedy about a happily married professor with two kids that deals with the affair between his friend and his wife. He finds out that the single life with kids isn’t what he was expecting. I happen to enjoy Clement’s sense of humor and may give this a go.

Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! – Talk about beating a dead horse. That wasn’t a request. Ian Ziering (Beverly Hills 90210) and Tara Reid (American Pie) try to hold onto their careers in the popular, purposefully bad SyFy original movie. The outlandish, most once famous cast includes: Frankie Muniz, Bo Derek, David Hassehoff and Mark Cuban (as the President). You know what’s better than a purposefully bad movie? An unintentionally bad movie. See: The Room, Birdemic: Shock and Terror.

What We Did On Our Holiday – As Gordy nears his 75th Birthday, his son and his family decide to visit him in Scotland. Things go awry when his son’s kids are brutally honest and are unable to keep any secrets, which makes an already awkward family trip more awkward. The film stars David Tennant (Doctor Who), Billy Connolly, and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl).

October 13th

San Andreas – Hey, what’s shakin’?! Well, the Rock of course! This is an epic destruction movie for people that enjoy flashy special effects and a sub-par story or…..they just go for the Rock. I don’t blame them. Believe it or not, the movie co-stars Carla Gugino (Watchmen) and Paul Giamatti (Sideways).

Tommorowland – This film probably had the most promise this summer but was an utter disappointment. The marketing was interesting and the director, Brad Bird, has had nothing but success with his earlier films: The Incredibles, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Iron Giant. Check out a full review here.

The Gallows – A group of high school students try to put on a play that failed twenty years earlier and resulted in the death of a student, Charlie. The event is meant to be cathartic for the town on the anniversary of Charlie’s death, but a group of students sabotage the production to help the lead actor avoid stage fright. The group’s actions have grave consequences as Charlie’s story isn’t finished. This story is actually more elaborate than more horror films but still sounds boring.

Dope – We follow a high school student named Butler (Blake Anderson) who tries to stay on the straight and narrow amongst a town (Inglewood, CA) that would rather get by on dealing drugs and making easy money. Butler has aspirations of going to Harvard and leaving the city behind but is tested one night at a party. Lenny Kravitz’s daughter, Zoe Kravitz, costars.

October 20th

Jurassic World – Doctor John Hammond’s future dinosaur world is realized twenty two years later in Jurassic World. Just as any company would do if public interest were waning, they need to innovate new ways to attract people across the world. Of course, if your company happens to be a giant dinosaur zoo, innovation can spell doom in the form of a genetically modified dinosaur, the Indominus Rex. The movie is a lot of fun if you don’t think too much about the story. Check out my full review here. The movie stars Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation, Guardians of the Galaxy), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village), and Jake Johnson (New Girl, Let’s Be Cops).

Paper Towns – A high school student, Quentin, has always pined for Margo his entire life and when she breaks into his house asking for his help in a revenge plot, he agrees. After their adventure, Margo has disappeared from their school but not without leaving clues for Quentin to follow that will end up changing how he really feels for her. This is based off the book of the same name by author John Green (who also wrote The Fault in Our Stars). The film stars up and comer, Cara Delevingne (upcoming Suicide Squad) and Nat Wolff. You’d have to drag me to see a movie like this. Quirky, romantic movies irritate me because they are highly unrealistic yet pretend they aren’t.

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection ‘F’ – I don’t usually cover Japanese anime movies but I guess I’m always a little fond of the Dragon Ball Z tv show (when it aired on Cartoon Network back in the day). This details how big baddie, Frieza, is back after falling to Goku’s Super Saiyan years ago. Frieza is hell bent on revenge, even without an actual body. It’s up to Goku and Vegeta to work together. I’d probably save this for hung over Sunday mornings (before football of course).

The Vatican Tapes – Two Vatican priests are out to exorcise a woman believed to be possessed by the Anti-Christ. They must work to save her soul and for humanity…blah..blah…This uninspired movie stars Dougray Scott (MI: 2), Djimon Hounsou (Amistad) , and Michael Pena (Ant-Man). Rotten Tomatoes score: 13%.

Testament of Youth – Alicia Vikander (Ex-Machina) and Kit Harrington (Game of Thrones) star in this World War I drama. Vera Brittain (Vikander) postpones her studies to become a nurse as her loved ones, including Harrington head to war. Brittain later becomes a writer, feminist, and pacifist. The film doesn’t sound that interesting but is getting decent reviews. Rotten Tomatoes: 81%.

Z for Zachariah – This tale centers on a lone female survivor (Margot Robbie) of the apocalypse and the last two known men alive (Chiwetel Ejiofor and Chris Pine) who try to court for her affections. The three must find a way to work together in order to survive. So, it seems that this is about how two dudes wanna do it with Robbie. I don’t blame them. What if the movie casted Amy Schumer instead of Margot Robbie? I believe both men would rather roam the Earth looking for another lady.

I Spit on Your Grave 3: Vengeance is Mine – Jennifer is a girl that is just trying to overcome the torture she’s experienced and live a normal life. When one of Jennifer’s friends is murdered and those responsible escapes, she turns on revenge mode while the rest of the city erupts with rapists and serial killers. Pass!

The Wolfpack – This is a documentary that follows six brothers that live the majority of their lives in a New York apartment. They rely on movies in order to understand the real world. They all reenact scenes of their favorite movies. As the brothers get older, they desire interactions with the real world and everything begins to change when one of them runs away. Sounds like this may be worth checking out.

October 27th

Pixels – Adam Sandler is trying to fart on the box office again with this sad attempt at appealing to the thirty something group that relishes arcade games. The story involves how aliens receive golden age transmissions of video games being played, interpret the message as the real thing and declare war on Earth in the form of well-known classic games that include Donkey Kong and Pac Man. The President enlists his childhood friend, Sandler, to beat the aliens at their own game. He also enlists a rag tag group that includes Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad, and Kevin James. The film is directed by Chris Columbus (the 1st two Harry Potter movies).

Southpaw – Jake Gyllenhaal gains a ton of muscle to play a left handed boxer who must overcome the death of his wife. After much inner turmoil and with the fate of his relationship with his daughter at stake, he must climb out and be the best boxer he can be so he can be the best father he can be. The movie received mixed reviews but I wouldn’t mind renting this. I mean, it’s Gyllenhaal and after his performance in Nightcrawler, I expect a solid performance.

The Gift – A husband and wife (Simon and Robin) move into a new home and run into an old acquaintance, Gordo, of Simon’s from high school. The couple accepts a gift of wine and invites him to their house for dinner. Gordo begins to leave more gifts and starts to stalk Robin while she’s home alone. Simon tries to tell Gordo that he is not welcome only then to be threatened by a 25 year old secret about Simon. The movie stars Jason Bateman (Arrested Development), Rebecca Hall (The Town) and Joel Edgerton (The Great Gatsby, Exodus: Gods and Kings). The film is also the directorial debut of Joel Edgerton. I really wanted to see this film but had scheduling conflicts. The film has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’ll be sure to rent this.

Max – This is supposed to be an uplifting family drama/adventure that centers around a military dog named Max. After Max’s handler, Kyle, is killed, he is then returned to Kyle’s family and ends up helping them heal from their loss. Thomas Haden Church (Sideways), Lauren Graham (Bad Santa), and Robbie Amell (Flash) star.

The Human Centipede III: The Final Sequence – The outrageous idea of a singular digestive system through multiple people is expanded upon in this latest installment from the Dutch filmmaker, Tom Six. This time, they are attempting to utilize 500 people (which are being sewn together a$$ to mouth) to create the largest, singular digestive system the world has ever known. The creepy actor from the original film, Dieter Laser, reprises his role as the crazed doctor. The movie even co-stars Eric Roberts (Best of the Best, The Dark Knight). Not for the easily grossed out.

June Movie DvD/Blu-Ray Releases!!!

June 2^nd, 2015

Focus – More like out of focus! Ok, that was lame. I’m not really a huge fan of Will Smith but you can sign me up for Margot Robbie anytime! The film opened to mixed reviews. It’s about conning people and the like. The story reminds me of the brilliant Grifters with Faye Dunaway and John Cusack. I’ll likely rent this.

Jupiter Ascending –Imagine someone taking a dump while staring directly into your eyes the entire time. This movie is exactly that. This has the hammiest of acting and a silly story. The special effects are excellent though. It’s this year’s shiniest of turds. Directed by the Wachowski siblings and starred by Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis.

McFarland USA – A sports drama about a track team. Kevin Costner stars as a coach that whips a bunch of Latinos into shape!

SpongeBob Squarepants 2: Sponge Out of Water – This movie made a good amount of change at the box office. I wouldn’t be surprised if another was released.

Monsters: Dark Continent – The sequel to acclaimed Gareth Edwards movie, Monsters. In this story, it follows a group of soldiers fighting the continued alien dominance on Earth.

June 9^th, 2015

Kingsman: The Secret Service – In this fun spy thriller, a young man (Taron Egerton) must rise to the occasion of being a Kingsman, a super spy. Colin Firth shines as the mentor and a lisp-y Samuel L. Jackson rounds out the cast as the villain.

The DUFF – This is about a girl(Mae Whitman) that hopes her last year in high school is more promising until she finds out that she’s ….wait for it……………the Designated, Ugly, Fat, Friend. She’s determined to change the social structure of her high school with the help of the dude that plays Firestorm on The Flash, Robbie Amell.

Project Almanac – It’s a time travel movie but with teenagers that have to go back and make things right. Meh…

Serena – Yet another movie with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence! They’ve got to be the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan pairing of modern times. This time the movie examines a couple’s marriage problems in Depression Era North Carolina.

June 16^th, 2015

Chappie – Neill Blomkamp attempts to make a movie in the same vein as his debut, District 9. Reviews were not kind to this film. Well, it’s mostly mixed. Hugh Jackman and Dev Patel co-star in the once anticipated film. Many are looking forward to Blomkamp’s upcoming Alien movie.

Run All Night – In trying to replicate his Taken success, Liam Neeson continues to make action-y revenge-ish movies. If you look at the box office numbers, people are finally beginning to get tired of this ‘Liam Neeson’ genre movie. I will say that somehow this film has a great cast that includes the super talented Joel Kinnaman and bad a$$, Ed Harris.

The Lazarus Effect – A scientific experiment leaves Olivia Wilde dead. Mark Duplass and company manage to bring her back but with terrifying results. This wasn’t the best reviewed movie. I’d likely catch this as a late night renter or if it comes to Netflix instant.

Unfinished Business – I hope that once the 2^nd season of True Detective begins that we’ll all forget about this Vince Vaughan led movie. Somehow Tom Wilkinson and Dave Franco co-star in this.

Beyond the Reach – This thriller is about a rich dude and a poacher who set out on a hunting trip. The poacher ends up killing another dude and sets up a wild goose chase in the Mojave Desert. Michael Douglas and Jeremy Irvine star.

Playing it Cool – A romantic comedy with Chris Evans and Michelle Monaghan! I believe this was in a very limited theatrical release (for a good reason). Evans stars as a dude who doesn’t believe in love that tries to win over an engaged girl (Monaghan).

June 23, 2015

Pound of Flesh – Van Damme stars in a movie doing martial arts!! This time around, some idiots steal one of his kidneys and he goes on revenge mode to retrieve it so he can donate it to his niece.

Survivor – In a film by James McTeigue (Ninja and V for Vendetta), the film follows an agent from the US State Department who must prevent a massive terrorist attack. The film stars Milla Jovovich and Pierce Brosnan.

The Forger – John Travolta does a Boston accent! I only want to see the movie because of this. He plays a forger who must commit one last heist, while trying to be there for his sick son.

June 30^th, 2015

Get Hard – Will Ferrell is sentenced to hard time for a crime he didn’t commit but he must ‘get hard’ with the help from Kevin Hart. If you like recognizable comedians in a formulaic comedy, then this one’s for you!

The Gunman – What happens when you ask Sean Penn to do his best Liam Neeson impression? This movie, which tanked at the box office. It does feature a great cast though – Javier “Call it” Bardem, Ray Winstone and was directed by Taken’s Pierre Morel.

While We’re Young – Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts get their lives turned upside when they become friends with a much younger couple played by Adam Driver and Amanda “Butter Face” Seyfried.

Danny Collins – Al Pacino plays an aging musician (like he could play a young musician!) that upon realizing a letter written by John Lennon to him, decides to turn his life around. The movie also features Jennifer “Affleck” Garner and Michael “you’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off” Caine.

The Last Knights – What happened to Clive Owen?! Ever since Children of Men, he’s been kind of off the radar. He recently had Blood Ties in 2013 but that had a short theatrical release. Anyways, he stars in this revenge film alongside Morgan “God” Freeman.

Planet Comicon – Midwest’s Largest Comic Book Convention

I went to Comic Con! Okay, so it wasn’t the one in San Diego, CA but the one in Kansas City, MO called Planet Comicon. What I thought might be a few thousand people attending this annual event ended up with more like 30,000 people each day over the course of the weekend celebration.

Those unaware of what people actually do at comic cons, well, it involves anything comic book related. As these events grew over the years, TV and movie studios realized that these were the same nerds attending these events that enjoyed their media. So now comic book conventions are known for their artists and writers but also their celebrities, TV and movie exclusives, and large amounts of vendors selling anything from comics, figurines, posters, art, light sabers, etc.

Back to the event, Planet Con. The very large event had probably a 1 in 4 ratio of those in costume as their favorite characters, which of course made it pretty damn awesome for picture taking. Just look at the variety of costumes that I’ve included in this article!

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Aside from the great people watching and vendor stalls that would likely preoccupy any avid fan for hours, there were also panels or events either informing the audience on particular subjects or celebrities discussing their plans and experiences while filming particular movies. In this events case, there was panels like: How to draw your favorite superheroes that were held by the likes of rock star artist, Kenneth Rocafort; How to be a nerd for a living; A fans journey in designing his own Delorean time machine a la “Back to the Future”; “Guardians of the Galaxy” panel with co-stars Sean Gunn and Michael Rooker; a magic show featuring Korso the Curious and Cary Elwes’ panel discussion about his filmography and new book, “As You Wish”.

There was much to do but the thing that sucked was the waiting! There were long lines, especially for popular events that included celebrities or even just to get a picture/autograph with them. On Friday we waited 25 minutes to meet Cary Elwes, which isn’t ‘that bad’ compared to what it would’ve been on Saturday – likely double that. I must say that Mr. Elwes seemed like a very kind individual and apologized profusely for us to even having to wait. Then there was the fact that my girlfriend is the biggest fan of the movie, “Princess Bride”, because when he hugged her she basically melted and that really made her day.

I wanted to meet other celebrities like Sam Whitwer (Being Human, Battlestar Galactica), Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Walking Dead), Stephen Amell (Arrow), Robbie Amell (Flash) and Karen Gillan (Doctor Who, Guardians of the Galaxy) but didn’t want to wait in a stupid line when I could be checking out other peoples’ costumes, checking art work, etc.

What I found to be really cool was that the artists and writers that attended were very approachable, engaging and really wanted to connect with their fans. I literally spoke to a really cool artist, Jim Ferguson, for about ten minutes and we exchanged stories and talked ‘shop’ about our favorite movies. You just can’t really get an experience like that outside of a comic book convention.

The Kansas City comic book convention was a much bigger event than I anticipated and I am very glad that I went. If you are a fan of comic books, etc. then I highly suggest attending one of these events. I’m actually looking into the San Diego, CA comic convention more so because of my experience.