The Harvest is a nice, solidly directed thriller from esteemed – if reclusive – filmmaker John McNaughton (his first in almost 15 years), featuring superb performances by its central cast members Calis, Tahan, Shannon and especially Morton. It lulls the viewer into a false sense of security before leaping out to sever the jugular with ferocious tenacity, sending uncomforting shivers up and down the spine that last long after the film itself has come to an end.
Fans won’t care, and Frozen fanatics are almost certain to disagree, but gosh darn it if I didn’t feel like Season 4 of Once Upon a Time is running in rather obnoxious and tiresome circles while it’s dealing with the Elsa/Anna storyline. Same time, there’s still a lot of quality stuff going on here, and the writing involving both Regina and Emma is, more often than not, wonderful.
Overall, though, this is a wonderful season, and other than a couple of throwaway episodes that don’t add up to very much by and large this is a pretty solid narrative that grows in intensity and power as things progress…Person of Interest is on solid footing, make no mistake, and I can’t see fans of the show turning their backs on this program anytime soon.
The only reason I watched Ejecta for a second time was because Scream! Factory made the decision to release the film on Blu-ray. I admit I didn’t loathe the film near as much this time around as I did that initial viewing, not that this should be viewed as some sort of massive reversal in opinion.
The Salvation (2015) doesn’t do anything new, it just does what it wants to do very, very well, director Kristian Levring crafting a beautifully austere Western that builds to a suitably bullet-riddled conclusion overflowing in emotion. Fans of the genre owe it to themselves to lasso up this Blu-ray and give it a look as soon as they can.
But, in the end, it’s the way Dante keeps absolute control of all that’s happening that is most wondrous. So many tangents going at once, so many balls in the air, yet Innerspace rarely falters, never take a misstep, everything building to a rollicking, humorously joyous conclusion that’s as winning now as it ever was way back in 1987.
Showdown in Little Tokyo might not be any good, but that doesn’t make it a disaster, and while I’m still scratching my head wondering why Warner Archive bothered with this one for fans of the stars giving the Blu-ray a look isn’t remotely a bad idea.
Wyrmwood is a hoot. It’s also remarkably easy to re-watch. I had a blast revisiting this one, and I imagine genre fans who lap this sort of stuff up greedily will likely end up feeling much the same. Simply terrific.
I’m not sure I’d tell anyone to pay full price for this Scream! Factory release, the lack of extras are definite downer. But the moment Ghost Town went on sale I’d snatch directors Mac Ahlberg and Richard Governor’s underrated little 1988 gem up as fast as I could, this horror/western hybrid far more entertaining than it arguably has any right to be.