Blu Tuesday is a weekly column where we review the newest Blu-ray and 4K releases, along with a brief rundown of the included bonus material, to determine whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping.
Pick of the Week: “Project Hail Mary”
Ridley Scott’s “The Martian” was my favorite film of 2015, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that “Project Hail Mary” (also based on a novel by Andy Weir and adapted for the screen by Drew Goddard) has captured my heart in much the same way. Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who prove that they can make a great sci-fi blockbuster if just given the space to do their thing (Lucasfilm, take note), “Project Hail Mary” has pretty much everything you could want in a moviegoing experience. It’s got laughs, thrills and genuine moments of emotion all wrapped up in a visually stunning cinematic space adventure led by the best onscreen duo in recent memory. Ryan Gosling is perfectly cast as the witty, reluctant science teacher thrust into a seemingly impossible mission to save humanity from extinction, while his alien companion Rocky (brought to life by puppeteer James Ortiz) steals the show with his lovable personality and charm. Though the movie feels a little too long at 156 minutes, it’s a minor inconvenience for what is ultimately one of the most entertaining crowd-pleasers in years.
Extras include an audio commentary by Lord and Miller, some deleted scenes and a behind-the-scenes featurette on creating Rocky. FINAL VERDICT: BUY
Also Out This Week:
“EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” — Despite having already made an entire biopic about Elvis Presley, director Baz Luhrmann clearly still had more to say, as evidenced by this documentary centered on Elvis’ Las Vegas residency. “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert” isn’t some hard-hitting exposé, however, but rather a celebration of one of the most illustrious performers in music history. Featuring long-lost footage and audio recordings that were unearthed from storage inside a Kansas salt mine, “EPiC” offers an intimate, up-close look at the King of Rock and Roll through interviews, rehearsal sessions and concert footage that explore the dichotomy between the man and the legend. This isn’t the first time that Elvis’ live performances have been brought to the screen, but this newly restored footage is truly something to behold. Scanned from the original 35mm film negatives, the visuals are so crisp and vibrant that it looks like it was just filmed yesterday. Though “EPiC” can’t compare to a more in-depth, long-form project like Peter Jackson’s “Get Back,” it’s nevertheless a remarkable cinematic achievement that delivers on sheer spectacle. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
“Hokum” — The gap between expectation and execution can often be a make-or-break issue for a movie, and that’s especially true of writer/director Damian McCarthy’s “Hokum,” as the film doesn’t quite seem to know what kind of movie it wants to be. Though it builds some nice atmospheric tension throughout, built around an antiquated Irish inn that is rumored to be haunted by a vengeful witch, the film fails to deliver on its supernatural elements in any satisfying way, teasing without ever fully committing until it’s far too late. Adam Scott turns in a solid performance as the protagonist, an unrepentant jerk who slowly buys into the centuries-old ghost story, but the movie’s aimless and indecisive storytelling prevents it from being as effective as it could have been. Extras include an audio commentary by McCarthy, a making-of featurette and more. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
“Seven Snipers” — This low-budget Australian production from director Sandra Sciberras is one of the dullest action thrillers that I’ve seen in quite some time. Though the premise is intriguing, it’s quickly derailed by the movie’s complete lack of suspense or logic, losing all credibility within the first 15 minutes when it becomes clear that the supposedly elite snipers at the center of the story are terrible at their jobs. The characters approach teen-slasher levels of stupidity over the course of the film’s 88-minute runtime, including several who get picked off by Tim Roth’s villainous sharpshooter because they’re standing directly in front of a window. It’s amateur hour of the highest order, and though screen veterans like Roth, Radha Mitchell and Ioan Gruffudd do their best to shape this turd of a movie into something somewhat watchable, it’s a hopeless endeavor. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.
