Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Black Sails: The Complete Series

 

Black Sails is an action-adventure series that aired on Starz for four seasons from 2014 to 2017. It starred Toby Stephens, Hannah New, Luke Arnold, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Tom Hopper, Zach McGowan, Toby Schmitz, Clara Paget, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Louise Barnes, Luke Roberts, and Ray Stevenson. The series is set in the Bahamas during the early 18th century. It was written as a prequel to the 1883 novel Treasure Island, providing backstories for characters who were either in or referred to in the book, such as Captain Flint, Long John Silver, and Billy Bones. It blended fictional characters from the book with depictions of real-life historical figures and fictionalized accounts of historical events. 

The series is essentially one long story about the quest for control of New Providence Island, which involves a war between the English royal navy and the pirates who control the island and threaten trade in the region, and the search for (and control of) gold from a Spanish shipwreck that becomes the basis for the buried treasure in the novel.

The blu-ray set is a 12-disc set included in two keep cases, which are held in a cardboard sleeve. Each of the keep cases holds six discs, with the discs for seasons 1 and 2 in one keep case, and the discs for seasons 3 and 4 in the other. The A/V quality is outstanding, with the episodes looking and sounding wonderful in the HD format. The episodes for each season can be played in a "play all" mode that allows you to pick up where you leave off and remembers your audio and closed caption preferences. The bonus features are on the third disc for each respective season. Those include the "Inside Black Sails" recaps that played after the episodes aired, as well as several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes corresponding to events that occurred in each season, cast interviews, and more. 

The series is well-written and very well-acted. It is absolutely not family-friendly, as it is very violent, has a lot of sexual content and nudity, and swearing. The sexual content and nudity are most prolific in the first two seasons, but every season is very violent. The writers do a good job of balancing the storylines for the large ensemble cast and providing all the cast members with good material to work with. Additionally, the backstories of the characters discussed in the book Treasure Island make the novel even more interesting to read. Ultimately, it is an excellent series that is absolutely worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Black Sails: Season 4

 

The 10-episode fourth and final season of Black Sails aired during the winter and spring of 2017. All of the main cast members, aside from Zach McGowan, whose character was killed off at the end of Season 3, return for the final season. The plotline this season is centered around the battle for control of New Providence Island between various groups of pirates and the English, with Spain getting involved (to recapture the stolen cache). The writers also tie events in the series to the book Treasure Island, for example, explaining why Long John Silver is the only one that Flint fears, the island's mysteriousness, and the idea that people are always searching for Flint's treasure. 

The blu-ray set is a three-disc set. The A/V quality is excellent, and episodes look and sound fantastic in the HD format. As with the prior seasons, the episodes can be played in a "play all" format that allows you to pick up where you leave off and will keep your audio and caption selections, even when switching discs. Also, as with the prior seasons, all the bonus features (totaling around half an hour) are on the third disc. The longest bonus feature is the set of ten episode-by-episode recaps titled "Inside the World of Black Sails," which aired after each episode. That runs about 18 minutes, then there is a short featurette on the production design, and then three different roundtable discussions with members of the cast. 

The series remains excellent in its final season. While there is not as much sexual content or nudity in this season, there is a lot of violence and adult language, so it is still not a family-friendly show. It remains well-written and very well-acted, and the writers do a great job of tying up the storylines for the various characters (and, as you can imagine, not every character makes it out unscathed or receives a "happy ending"), while also tying the events of the series to the book. Ultimately, if you liked the prior seasons, this one is absolutely worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Black Sails Season 3

 

The 10-episode third season of Black Sails aired in the winter and spring of 2016. All the main cast members return for season three, and there are two notable additions to the main cast. First, Luke Roberts, the newly appointed Royal Governor of the Bahamas, named Woodes Rogers, who travels to Nassau to take control of the colony from the pirates, with Eleanor Guthrie serving as an advisor, who has agreed to help him in exchange for a pardon. The other is Ray Stevenson, who plays Edward Teach, also known as Blackbeard. Much of the season involves various groups aligning in the bid to control Nassau.

The blu-ray set is a three-disc set. All the bonus content is on the third disc. There is about 50 minutes, give or take, of bonus content, including a season 2 recap, several behind-the-scenes featurettes, and featurettes on the new characters, Woodes Rodgers and Blackbeard. The A/V quality is again excellent this season, with the episodes looking and sounding wonderful in HD.

The show continues to be excellent. While there is less violence and nudity/sexual content on the whole this season, there is still some of each, so it is definitely not family-friendly. A couple of major characters are killed off this season, which will have reverberations into season 4. I will not spoil who they are, but if you have read the book Treasure Island, you know who it cannot be. Ultimately, if you enjoyed the first two seasons of the show, you will like this one. It remains well-written and very well acted, and is absolutely worth watching.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Black Sails: Season 2

 

The ten-episode second season of Black Sails aired in the winter and spring of 2015. Most of the main cast members from the first season, including Toby Stephens, Hannah New, Luke Arnold, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Tom Hopper, Zach McGowan, Toby Schmitz, Clara Paget, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, and Louise Barnes, return for the second season. Additions to the cast this season include Rupert Penry-Jones, Tadhg Murphy, and Nick Boraine.

There are several intertwined storylines this season, but the main story arc involves Flint's plan to retrieve the Urca Gold. His plan gets sidetracked several times throughout the season, once in a major battle with Captain Vane, who has taken the fort on Nassau. The second involves the other major storyline that extends throughout the season, including via the use of flashbacks that reveal both Flint and Miranda's backstories, and culminates in a very explosive finale. Other storylines include Eleanor trying to keep control of the island, Max scheming and playing everyone against each other, and Jack angling for respect. We also learn more about Bonny's backstory. 

The blu-ray set is a three-disc set. All the extras are included on the third disc. Those include a making-of featurette that runs about 20 minutes. Four shorter featurettes focus on aspects of the season, such as building the Man 'O War ship set, the new characters introduced this season, the training regimen the actors went through, and a discussion of the real-life history of piracy in the region. The A/V quality is outstanding, and the episodes look and sound excellent in the HD format.

The season starts out a bit slow and intertwines a lot of drama with the action. When the action picks up, especially late in the season, it is jam-packed. The show is still not family-friendly as there is a lot of violence, sexual content, nudity, and swearing. Ultimately, however, if you enjoyed the first season, you will likely enjoy the second season. 

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Black Sails: Season 1

 

Black Sails was an action-adventure series that blended a fictional pirate story with real-life historical figures. It was written as a prequel to the novel Treasure Island. It aired on Starz for four seasons, from 2014 to 2017. The eight-episode first season aired in the winter and spring of 2017. It starred Toby Stephens, Hannah New, Luke Arnold, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Tom Hopper, Zach McGowan, Toby Schmitz, Clara Paget, Mark Ryan, Hakeem Kae-Kazim, Sean Cameron Michael, and Louise Barnes. The story is set in the 1700s on New Providence Island, in what is now the Bahamas, where pirates threaten trade in the region. The plot of the first season involves several pirates hunting for the treasure from the shipwreck of the Spanish ship Urca de Lima, which was a part of the Spanish treasure galleon. 

The blu-ray set is a three-disc set. The A/V quality is terrific, with the episodes looking and sounding great in the HD format. All the bonus features, which consist of several making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes. The longest is a nine-minute inside look at the series. The rest are shorter (ranging from a minute and a half to about three minutes). All totaled, the bonus content runs a little less than half an hour.

The series has an excellent mix of action and drama. There are a lot of characters and several storylines going on, and it can be hard to keep everything straight, especially if you have it on in the background. It is absolutely not a family-friendly show, as it has a lot of violence, sexual content, nudity, and adult language. The series does not have wall-to-wall action; indeed, in many episodes, there is minimal action and almost all political maneuvering. However, when it does include action, the action sequences are exceptionally well done. Ultimately, if you are a fan of pirate stories and/or the real-life history of the region, it is worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Babygirl

 

Babygirl is a 2024 drama written and directed by Helina Rejin. It stars Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, and Antonio Banderas in the leading roles and Esther Rose McGregor, Sophie Wilde, and Izabel Mar in the supporting roles. Kidman plays a high-powered CEO of a robotics company named Romy Mathis. Romy has an unfulfilled personal life and uses a prim and proper facade, an air of control, and an attitude of not being bothered by anything to mask many insecurities. She begins having an affair with a young intern at the company, Samuel (played by Dickinson), as she explores her submissive side. 

The 4k release is a single-disc UHD release. The movie looks and sounds fantastic in the UHD format. The extras include a commentary track on the film by Rejin, which provides a lot of insight into the story and the filming process, some behind-the-scenes material, and deleted scenes. The movie is good, but it will definitely not appeal to everyone. It has a lot of sexual content, some nudity (much of the sex is covered up, but there are some nude scenes including topless and butt shots of Kidman), and a lot of swearing. Kidman does a great job playing a character who is not very emotive, which packs a punch the few times she expresses emotion. Despite having some star power, the film feels more like an indie movie than a big-budget blockbuster. Ultimately, it is a good film, so it is worth watching if those things do not dissuade you. 

DVD/Movie Review: Ammonite

 

Ammonite is a romantic drama from 2020 starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. It was written and directed by Francis Lee and loosely based on the life of a British paleontologist named Mary Anning. The supporting cast includes Fiona Shaw, Gemma Jones, James McArdle, and Alec Secareanu. In the film, Mary (played by Winslet) runs a shop in Lyme Regis in Dorset, England with her mother. An archeologist named Roderick Murchison (McArdle) visits the shop with his wife Charlotte (Ronan) who has been sent to Lyme Regis to convalesce after losing a baby, with the sea air being prescribed for her depression. Roderick initially pays Mary to teach him about fossil collecting and leaves Charlotte in Mary's care (much to both of their chagrin) for six weeks while he visits mainland Europe. When Charlotte gets sick, Mary cares for her, and the two fall in love and begin a sexual relationship. 

The DVD is a single-disc release. The only bonus feature is a short making-of featurette featuring interviews with Winslet, Ronan, and Lee. The film is a well-written and acted romantic drama. It definitely has the feel of an independent movie with a slower plot. About two-thirds of the way into the movie, there is some sexual content, including a nude sex scene between Winslet and Ronan. So, it is not exactly family-friendly, but it is not full of gratuitous sex and nudity. Ultimately, if you like independent dramas and are not triggered by same-sex relationships, it is worth watching.    

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: City of Angels

 

City of Angels is a 1998 romantic drama directed by Brad Silberling starring Nicholas Cage, Meg Ryan, Dennis Franz, Andre Braugher, and Colm Feore.  The film is based on, and partially a remake of, the German Film titled Wings of Desire. The movie's premise is that angels walk among us, mostly unseen, guiding and watching over humans. The angels can allow humans to see them when they desire, but humans mostly see the angels when they are sick or dying (in which case, an angel acts as a messenger to walk the humans toward the afterlife). The angels are immortal beings who can become human if they fall from a great height with the will to become human. Nicholas Cage plays an Angel named Seth, who allows Meg Ryan's character, a heart surgeon named Maggie Rice, to see him after she loses a patient on the operating table. He initially keeps his true identity a secret, but as the two fall in love, he contemplates "falling" to turn himself human to be with her.

The Blu-Ray is a single-disc release. The movie looks and sounds good in the HD format, although the film did not get an extensive restoration for the Blu-Ray release, and, as such, the A/V quality is not as good as what a newer movie released on Blu-Ray has. The bonus features include two different commentary tracks on the film, one by the director and one by the Screenwriter, Dana Stevens, and Producer Charles Roven. Both commentary tracks are a bit dry but provide insight into the movie's writing, casting, and production processes. The rest of the extras include deleted scenes (which can be played with or without commentary), a couple of different scene-specific commentaries, one by the director of photography and one by the production designer, a half-hour-long making-of featurette, a featurette on the visual effects, the trailers, and two music videos, one for the song If God Will Send His Angels by U2, and one for the song Iris by the Goo Goo Dolls. Unfortunately, Alanis Morisette's video for Uninvited was not included. Apparently, not all of the bonus content included in the original DVD release was transferred to the Blu-Ray release, which knocks the Blu-Ray release down a star for me. 

The movie is a good romantic drama. Cage and Ryan were at the pinnacle of their careers when the film was made, and both are excellent in their respective roles. The supporting cast does an outstanding job, and Dennis Franz absolutely steals a couple of the scenes he is in. It does feel a bit dated watching it now (2025 as of this writing), but the movie generally holds up well. It can be sappy in parts, and the ending may be predictable for some. Ultimately, however, it is a good movie that is worth watching.

DVD/TV Series Review: Bull: Season 6

 

The 22-episode sixth season of Bull aired during the 2021/2022 TV season. It ended up being the show's final season when Michael Weatherly announced early on that he would not return after the sixth season, and the show was canceled. The season started with a huge cast shakeup as Freddy Rodriguez was written out of the series, with the excuse that Benny left NY to marry a woman he had been dating for a month and moved to Italy. It was later revealed that he and the series' showrunner, Glenn Caron, had been let go after some internal investigation. Yara Martinez (who plays Isabella) was promoted to a series regular and was involved in many of the season's storylines. The series does get a few notable guest stars, including Eric Stoltz (who also directed several episodes), and Jill Flint returned to reprise her role as Diana Lindsay in one of the episodes. There was also an episode that included flashbacks from prior seasons of the show, one of which included Cable (Annabelle Attanasio), who was killed off-screen in the first episode of season three.

The DVD set is a five-disc MOD set. The episodes are not captioned, and the only bonus feature is a short gag reel on the fifth disc. There are no deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes material, or series retrospective to wrap up the show. Given all the controversy the show has faced over its run, it is not all that surprising that there was not much in the way of behind-the-scenes material, but usually, when a show that has lasted for six seasons ends, some making-of content is included in the physical media releases. The season was good, but not as good as the first couple of seasons. The writers continued to mix procedural case-of-the-week storylines with serial arcs. Some of the serial arcs were short (just a couple of episodes), while others stretched throughout the season. The final two episodes had a storyline that allowed an excuse for Bull to leave TAC. Ultimately, the writers did a decent job wrapping up the series. Still, because they could not incorporate Benny into the storylines, it never felt that the show had a proper conclusion, given how large a role he played in seasons 1-5. If you stuck with the show up to this point, the final season is still worth watching, but I cannot say that everyone will find it satisfying.  

DVD/TV Series Review: The Good Doctor Season 2

 

++++Warning, this will contain season-one spoilers, but no major season-two giveaways++++

The 18-episode second season aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. It picks up shortly after the events of the first season, with Glassman having resigned as president of the hospital because of his brain cancer diagnosis and Dr. Andrews taking over. Shaun is obsessively "helping" Glassman through his treatment and continues his struggle to fit in as a surgeon and as a member of the surgical team.

There are some cast shake-ups this season, with some characters leaving and others getting a more expanded role or upped to series regulars. Most of the main cast members, including Freddie Highmore, Antonia Brown, Paige Spara, Richard Schiff, Hill Harper, and Nicholas Gonzalez, all return. Chuku Modu's character is written out, and Fiona Gubelmann, Chistina Chang, and Will Yun Lee all have expanded roles.  Daniel Dae Kim, who is an executive producer of the show, has a guest-starring arc about 2/3 of the way through the season, which shakes up things for everyone at the hospital. The show does a good job of providing the large ensemble cast with good material to work with and providing depth and development to the characters. We learn more about the backstories of Dr. Park, Dr. Lim, and, to a lesser extent, Dr. Reznick and Dr. Melendez. The season ends not so much on any cliffhangers for the characters but more as a set-up for big season-three storylines.

The DVD set is a five-disc set. The extras include deleted or extended scenes for most episodes, which are included as special features on each disc. Then, there is a gag reel and a handful of short behind-the-scenes features on the final disc. Excluding the deleted scenes, there are about 20 minutes of material and 45 minutes, give or take, if you include the deleted scenes. So, it has a decent amount of extras compared to what is being put out with the ever-fewer series that get physical media releases. One thing to keep in mind if you are in the United States is that only seasons 1-3 received a Region 1 release on DVD. The remaining seasons are available in Region 2 releases, so you need a Region 2 or Region-free DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch those (and likely pay a higher price for the DVD sets). 

DVD/TV Series Review: Bull Season 4

 

The 20-episode fourth season of Bull aired during the 2019/2020 TV season. It picks up months down the line from the events of the third season finale with Bull and Benny's big blowout over the revelation that Bull slept with Benny's sister. Benny is out of TAC taking any case that will come his way, and Bull is trying to find a replacement lawyer without much success. As you can expect, they eventually work things out, and things mostly return to normal at TAC.

The show continues to use a mostly procedural case-of-the-week format. The writers juggle the storylines for the large cast well, giving every character either a storyline or at least an episode centered on them. There is much less focus on TAC's jury selection process this season. In fact, it is skipped in some episodes, which generally makes the episodes flow better. The writers also tackle some real-world topics like the college admissions scandal and the myriad of high-profile sexual abuse/harassment cases, which is kind of ironic given the allegations made by Eliza Dushku against Weatherly after her recurring role in prior seasons.

The DVD set is a four-disc set. The extras include commentary tracks on the first episode and the episode that Weatherly directed. Then, there is a 15-minute behind-the-scenes featurette featuring interviews with the cast and crew, mainly focused on having to end the season early because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not a ton of bonus material, but more than is included for the handful of shows that still get physical media releases. The AV quality is definitely not as good as Blu-Ray sets, but a lot better than most MOD DVD sets.

Ultimately, the season is good. The show continues to be well-written and acted. You will probably like this one if you have been a fan of the show's prior seasons. On the other hand, if the show has not done much for you up to this point, nothing about this season is likely to change your mind.

DVD/TV Series Review: Bull Season 3

 

The 22-episode third season of Bull aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. It picks up months after the end of season two, which ended with Bull having a heart attack on the courthouse steps. Of course, he survives, but it is revealed he has been down in Arizona, getting in shape and stopping drinking. If you watch the bonus material, you will know it was planned out because Michael Weatherly expressed his plan to the showrunners to get back in shape, so they wrote the heart attack storyline. When he returns to NY, he finds some changes, some big, some small, have occurred in his absence at TAC. From there, the show mainly follows the "case of the week" format that it used in seasons one and two, but with less focus on jury selection and the mirror jurors as in the first two seasons and just get into the cases.

As most are aware, there is a major plotline at the beginning of the season, which was necessitated by one of the main cast members leaving to take a directing job. I will not give away who the person is and how the person is written off, but the storyline is wrapped up pretty early on. As the season goes on, all the characters get a chance to shine in their own stories, even if for just an episode. The show continues to do a good job juggling a large ensemble cast. There are some soap opera-like moments, mainly involving Bull's personal life, that get mixed into the weekly storylines, but the show's focus is still on the cases. The season does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, but different than last year's.

The DVD set is a five-disc set. The episodes can be played either in a "play all" mode or individually. The extras include deleted and extended scenes for select episodes, but the only way to see them is to play the episodes one at a time. They are not listed as separate special features, and if you do the play-all mode, it just kicks you to the main menu at the end of the last episode on the disc, and you will never see which episodes have deleted scenes. The remaining bonus content includes about 30 minutes of making-of, and behind-the-scenes material is included on the last disc. Not surprisingly, there was no mention of the allegations of Eliza Dushku against Michael Weatherly stemming from her short arc at the end of season one, despite it causing at least some controversy during season three.

Overall, if you have enjoyed the prior seasons, chances are you will enjoy this one unless you really liked the jury selection process that was a huge focus of the first two seasons. As I said above, that gets cuts way back this season. The show still does take some of the shortcuts that all legal dramas take, and while it does get some of the legal stuff correct, it is not perfect. That will probably only bug the lawyers out there, however. The acting and writing remain good, and I think the writers keep the show interesting. So, ultimately, if you liked the first couple of seasons this one is worth watching.

DVD/TV Series Review: The Finder: The Complete Series

 

The Finder was a procedural drama that was a midseason replacement during the 2011/2012 TV season. It was a quasi-spinoff of the series Bones (and was developed by the series creator of Bones, Hart Hanson) and aired during Bones' timeslot when Bones was on hiatus. It was not a direct spinoff of Bones as none of the major characters from Bones joined the show as a series regular; however, John Francis Daley and T.J. Thyne each made guest appearances as their characters from Bones, and the series actually received a backdoor pilot during the sixth season of Bones. It only received a 13-episode initial pickup and was canceled without any additional episodes being ordered. The series suffered low ratings, likely due in part to the lack of star power in the cast and the fact that FOX, much like it did with the series Firefly, aired the episodes out of their intended order, so the story did not flow as well. 

The series starred Geoff Stults, Mercedes Mason, Maddie Hasson, and Michael Clarke Duncan in the leading roles. Stults played Walter Sherman, an Iraq war vet who retired after suffering a traumatic brain injury in a roadside blast that killed all the members of his unit and that allowed him to see connections and a compulsive desire to find things (as well as turning him into an eccentric recluse). Duncan plays Leo Knox, a former attorney who manages a bar and acts as Walter's manager, bodyguard, and legal advisor. Mason plays a US Marshal named Isabel Zambada, who has a friends-with-benefits relationship with Walter and helps with his cases. She is also putting herself through law school with the goal of becoming Attorney General of the United States. Maddie Hasson plays Willa Monday, a juvenile delinquent Romani gypsy who is part of a Romani crime family and betrothed to another member who she does not want to marry. She lives in a trailer on Leo's property and works in the bar while on probation. The show had a strong guest cast and recurring cast, including Eric Roberts, Amy Aquino, Jodi Lynn O'Keefe, Annette O'Toole, John Ashton, John Fogerty (who was also the music supervisor for the show), Nestor Serrano, Patrick Fabian, and Kelly Carlson.

The DVD set is a four-disc Region 2 set, meaning you need either a region-free or a Region 2 (European) DVD or Blu-Ray player to watch and play the discs. The episodes can be played with English captions, and there are about 20 minutes of bonus material on the fourth disc. The bonus features include a making-of featurette with interviews with the showrunners and cast members and a featurette on the Hodgins-centric episode featuring an interview with T.J. Thyne. 

The series is well-written, has a nice blend of humor and drama, and is very well-acted. It blends procedural case-of-the-week stories with serial arcs that span throughout the season. The writers did a good job developing the characters in the short run of episodes it received before it was canceled. Because it was canceled after 13 episodes, the mid-season finale became the series finale and ended on multiple cliffhangers, leaving several characters in limbo. So, just be aware that if you like the show, it does not end satisfyingly. Of course, even if the show had finished the first season and been picked up for a second season, Michael Clarke Duncan (who was the most recognizable cast member when the series premiered) passed away in September of 2012, and the series would have had a hard time continuing without him. Even though the series does not get a proper conclusion (it would have been nice if it could have received a proper wrap-up by featuring the cast members on Bones after it was canceled), it is still an entertaining series worth watching.       

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Bohemian Rhapsody

 

Bohemian Rhapsody is a 2018 biopic of the popular 70s and 80s rock band Queen, focusing on the band's lead singer, Freddy Mercury. It was directed by Bryan Singer and stars Rami Malek, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Lucy Boynton, Joseph Mazzello, Aidan Gillen, Allen Leech, Tom Hollander, and Aaron McCusker. The movie starts and ends at the 1985 Live Aid concert. The film begins with Mercury (played by Malek) walking to the Live Aid stage, and then it flashes back to 1970 to show the band's formation and chronicles their rise to fame, breakup, and reunion. The show ends with a recreation of the Live Aid performance, which is regarded by many as the band's best performance. 

The 4K set is a two-disc set with a UHD disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The UHD disc contains the movie and one of the bonus features, the full recreation of the 21-minute live-aid performance (which was cut down for the film's theatrical release). The rest of the bonus features are on the regular Blu-Ray disc, which includes several featurettes (that each last approximately 20 minutes) with behind-the-scenes footage, interviews with the cast and crew as well as a couple of the surviving band members, including Brian May who was also a producer on the film, and three different trailers for the movie.  So, if you are a fan of bonus content, this has over an hour's worth of material. Interstingly, Singer is not featured in any of the bonus material. He had a notorious reputation for being a difficult director (pretty much being an asshole to people on set). After the allegations of sexual assault against him in 2017, Singer became persona non grata. He was replaced late in the movie's production but still received the directing credit. This was (at least for now) his final directing job.

The movie is well-written and very well-acted. Malek is fantastic as Mercury and almost perfectly nailed his look, voice, and mannerisms. Mercury was a flamboyant and weird dude, and Malek channeled that well. Malek seems a bit odd, so it was a good fit. The movie did not sugarcoat Mercury's problems with drugs, relationships, his issues dealing with his sexuality, and the promiscuous lifestyle that led to him contracting AIDS. The writers also did a great job showing the complicated dynamics between the band members. While Mercury wanted to constantly party, the others had families and were increasingly irritated at Mercury always being late for rehearsal and recording sessions. While the movie is just over two hours long, there was not enough time to focus on the lives of the other band members, so they are primarily seen in scenes together as a group, while we see much more of Mercury's personal life. Ultimately, it is an excellent movie and enjoyable whether you are a fan of Queen or even like their music all that much. Although several of the band's songs are played in the movie, so it does help if you like their music. It is absolutely worth watching.

DVD/Movie Review: Daddio

 

Daddio is an independent film from 2023 directed by Christy Hall and starring Dakota Johnson (who is also a producer) and Sean Penn. The movie's premise is quite simple but works very well. Johnson's character, who is just called "Girlie," takes a cab driven by Penn's character, Clark, home from the airport. During the ride, the two strike up a conversation that includes topics ranging from the role of technology in our lives to relationships and power dynamics between men and women. Almost the entire movie is set in the cab, with the two characters talking between the divider.

The DVD release is very bare-bones. It just contains the movie, which runs about an hour and a half and can be played with or without English captions. There is no behind-the-scenes material, deleted scenes, or other bonus content. The movie is excellent and plays to both Johnson's and Penn's acting strengths. Johnson is much better when she is not trying to play a seductress (which absolutely does not suit her). Penn (regardless of what you think of his personal life and beliefs) does a great job in any role he takes on, especially dialogue-driven roles. The movie does have some sexual content, mainly in the form of explicit text messages between Girlie and the man she is seeing that occur during the cab ride. Those include naked pictures. However, there are no actual sex scenes or "live" nudity. Ultimately, it is a well-written and acted drama. If you are a fan of either actors and/or independent films as a whole, this is absolutely worth watching.

DVD/TV Series Review: Hawaii Five-0 Season 9

 

The 25-episode ninth season of Hawaii Five-0 aired during the 2018/2019 TV season. I will not do much of a review of the show, as anyone looking at this by now knows what the show is and the majority of the characters. I will say that the show continues to blend procedural and serial storylines, doing callbacks to earlier seasons along with the case-of-the-week episodes. The series also continues to pay homage to the original series (this time, using the 200th episode to do a play on the pilot episode of the original series). The show also continues to do some character development, giving backstories and side stories for almost all of the characters, especially Tani and Junior. We also get a Joe White episode (with Terry O'Quinn reprising his role) and a Catherine episode (bringing back Michelle Borth). Taryn Manning reprises her role as Steve's sister, Mary and Mark Dacascos reprises his role as Wo Fat. The season ends on a large cliffhanger, going into the 10th and final season of the show.

The DVD set is a six-disc set. While it does include some extras, they are very bare-bones. Deleted scenes are spread throughout all the discs, then there is a short (4.5-minute) gag reel and a 20-minute behind-the-scenes featurette on the final disc. As others have noted, the final two episodes are swapped on the DVD. Making it more confusing, the menus on the title screen are correct, listing the episodes in order, but they play in the wrong order. So, unless you are careful, you will see the season-ending cliffhanger before the episode that sets up the events of the final episode. Of course, over time, the studios have been putting out increasingly poor-quality DVDs with fewer extras. So, the only reason to buy this (especially if you subscribe to Paramount+, where you can stream it) is to keep your DVD collection complete (if you prefer physical media to streaming).

DVD/TV Series Review: Hawaii Five-0 Season 8

 

The 23-episode 8th season of Hawaii Five-0 aired during the 2017/2018 season. This season was a fairly significant shakeup for the show. Notably, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park left the show after a pay dispute, essentially wanting to be paid the same as Scott Caan and Alex O'Loughlin, and the producers and/or network refused, using the argument that they were secondary characters. So, the characters of Chin and Kono were written out of the show based on their season seven storylines, with Kono following the sex-trafficking ring and Chin heading up his own task force in San Francisco.

To balance out their departures the show brought in Meaghan Rath, who plays Tani, a police academy washout with McGarrett-like tendencies, and Beulah Koale, who plays Junior, a former Navy Seal looking to get on to the task force. The series also upped Ian Anthony Dale to a series regular. The writers did not split up Adam and Kinon, instead, oddly keeping them married, with her gone for the entire season. The addition of the new characters breathed a bit of new life into the series and allowed the show to do the kind of character development it had not done for quite a while, given that most of the other cast members had been on the show for a long time. That said, it was pretty crappy that Park and Kim were not paid the same given that for the first few seasons, before the additions of Chi McBride, Masi Oka, and Jorge Garcia as series regulars, those four characters basically built the series.

The show kept the case-of-the-week format it used throughout its run and tied in longer arcs throughout the season. One of the longer arcs involved Adam, as did the season-ending cliffhanger. This season's notable guest stars included Joey Lawrence, James Frain, Randy Couture, and Vincent Pastore (who plays Danny's uncle in a few episodes). Michelle Borth and Terry O'Quinn also reprise their roles as Catherine and Joe White in different episodes. The show did a good job balancing out stories for all the characters, which was helped by Scott Caan's notably reduced schedule during the season.

The DVD set is a six-disc set. The extras include deleted scenes for select episodes spread throughout all the discs. The final disc has a behind-the-scenes feature (about 23 minutes), a short feature on the new characters/actors, an animated "cargument" between Steve and Danny, and a gag reel. So, the set includes a decent amount of bonus content, but not as much as was included in the sets for the first few seasons. And, of course, as has been the case from about the fourth season onward, there is no Blu-Ray release available, just DVDs.

Overall, while the show is getting a bit "long in the tooth" I would not say it is entirely stale. While the show does suffer a bit from the loss of Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim, the overall feel did not change much. If you have been a fan of the prior seasons, you will probably like this one. On the other hand, if you have not really liked the show up to this point, nothing about this season will likely turn you into a fan.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Prison Break Event Series

 

+++Warning, This contains spoilers from Season 4, but no major giveaways from the event series.+++

The nine-episode event series/fifth season of Prison Break aired in the spring of 2017, about seven years after the fourth and (at the time) final season. This series came about when Wentworth Miller and Dominic Purcell began working together on The Flash and reminiscing about their days on Prison Break and that it would be nice to revisit that story. There was already an unaired storyline from season 4 that showed events that occurred during the time jump to the last scene and set up Michael faking his death, and this series took things from there.

The series starts with Lincoln receiving a picture that intimates his brother is still alive and (again) in prison. He discovers that Michael is indeed in a prison in Yemen, under an assumed name, and is considered an ISIS-sympathizing terrorist. As was the case for almost every season of the show, not everything is what it seems, and for having just nine episodes, the show is packed with twists. Some of the twists worked, and some were kind of silly. The series does retcon the date of Michael's death listed on his headstone, having him die in 2010, most likely to match up with the seven-year break between the original series finale and the event series.

This series serves as a way to give the fans a better ending for the main characters. It also blends in characters from the original series, both in large and small roles, although not every character from the original series appeared in the event series. There are also many new characters, mainly from the Yemen prison part of the story. Given the limited run of the series, there was not a lot of time to develop any of the new characters in detail, but the show managed to give them some depth. The main cast for the event series included Wentworth Miller, Dominic Purcell, Sarah Wayne Callies, Paul Adelstein, Rockmond Dunbar, Robert Knepper, Amaury Nolasco, Mark Feuerstein, Inbar Lavi, and Augustus Prew. 

The Blu-Ray set is a three-disc set. The only extra is an approximately 11-minute making-of feature on how the series was put together. It was okay, but not as extensive as the bonus materials included in the prior seasons. Given, however, that TV series on physical media (especially on Blu-Ray) have sharply declined since the original series went off the air, it is not all that surprising that the extras are very light. The Event Series was released on Blu-Ray separately, but it is easier to find on DVD (especially in the US). The easiest way to get it on Blu-Ray is by getting one of the complete series sets that includes it.

Overall, it is a good series that brings back popular characters and gives them more of a "happy" ending than they got in the original series. I do not think it as good as the original series, at least not the first couple of seasons, but I do think if you enjoyed the original series, you will likely enjoy this. And, it does give the series a full four-season episode count, essentially replacing the episodes that were lost due to the season-three writer's strike.

Blu-Ray/TV Series Review: Prison Break Season 4

 

+++Warning, this contains season 3 spoilers, but no major giveaways from the final season +++

The 22-episode fourth season (and original final season) of Prison Break aired during the 2008/2009 TV season.  The fourth season packs a lot into the 22 episodes, starting with two episodes that essentially finish the season three storyline, which was cut short due to the 2007 writer's strike. We find out what happened to the Sona prison and where the various characters end up after the escape (which involves a bit of a time jump). It is not spoiling anything to say that the reveal that Sarah was not killed (Sara Wayne Callies resolved her contract dispute and returned to the show), and from there, the rest of the season involves the group trying to take down the company, mainly surrounding a McGuffin plot point called Scylla. There are some returning characters from prior seasons, as well as new characters, notably a Compay hitman played by Cress Williams, who would go on to play very different characters on Hart of Dixie and Black Lightning, and if you saw those shows before this one, his performance as a bad guy is even more impressive, and Michael Rappaport, who plays a Homeland Security agent with a deal for the team.

The show has a lot of twists and turns, as it did in prior seasons, but I think some of them were things that would have been revealed last season if season three actually had a full season run and was not cut off at 13 episodes. So, it just feels like the season jumps around a lot. There are a lot of reveals, and as you should have come to expect from the show by now, not everyone makes it out unscathed. One thing I think the show did a great job of is not giving a happily-ever-after ending to all the characters.

The Blu-Ray set is a six-disc set. It should be noted that the Blu-Ray release contains the original 22 episodes that aired but does not contain the two unaired episodes (which are available separately under the title The Final Break), which aired as a TV movie and bridges a time-jump gap that occurs in the series finale. The extras include commentary tracks on select episodes, mainly from the writers of the particular episodes. However, some cast members appear on a couple of the commentary tracks. Then, the final disc has a little over a half hour's worth of behind-the-scenes material (broken up into three featurettes).

Overall, I think the season ended the series in a good way. Of course, it did not end up being the end of the series, as a limited event series aired in 2017 and gave the show a much better ending. But that was not a given thing when the fourth season was shot. The acting and writing were still top-notch, and the show still managed to do a lot of character development, even with the established cast. Because of the show's serialized nature, you need to have seen the prior seasons before watching this to really get what is going on. If you liked the prior seasons, then you will most likely enjoy this one.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Prison Break Season 3

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilers from season two, but no major season three giveaways+++

The 13-episode third season of Prison Break aired during the 2007/2008 TV season. It does yet another reset of the show, this time finding the group again in over their heads, with Michael, T-Bag, Alex, and Bellick in Sona, the prison in Panama where the inmates literally run the asylum. Apparently, the prison is modeled after a real prison in Brazil where the guards stay outside the prison, and inside it is a "Lord of The Flies" scenario. We know that The Company wanted Michael in prison, and we learn within the first episode that it is because they want him to break someone out. From there, the rest of the season is a take on the season one breakout, but with Michael having to plan on the fly and improvise, with Lincoln and Sucre trying to help him from the outside.

This season was a bit uneven due mainly to it being cut short by the 2007 writer's strike, getting just 13 episodes instead of the standard 22. Sarah Wayne Callies was pregnant and in a contract dispute, which led to a significantly reduced role for her character. There are new characters introduced the main ones being Jodi Lynn O'Keefe who plays Susan B. Anthony/Gretchen who is basically a cleaner for The Company, Chris Vance as Whistler, another prisoner, Danay Garcia, as his girlfriend Sophia, and Robert Wisdom as Lechero, the inmate who basically runs the prison in Panama. As with the prior two seasons, there are quite a few twists and turns, and not every character is who they seem.

The Blu-Ray set is a four-disc set. For those who get the blu-ray set, the extras are all on the final disc. There are no commentary tracks, as for the first two seasons. There is a 25-minute behind-the-scenes featurette and a 40-minute director's take feature, which is basically the director of each episode doing a scene breakdown from that particular episode. You can play all 13 at one time or one by one. The extras are rounded out by a short between-takes feature, which basically has some actors saying what they do between takes and a feature on the breakout episode. It is over an hour's worth of extras, so for those who like watching the bonus material, it definitely makes picking up the blu-ray set worth it.