DVD/Movie Review: My Summer of Love

 

My Summer of Love is a 2004 independent British film starring Natalie Press, Emily Blunt, and Paddy Considine.  It definitely feels like a low-budget independent movie. The big draw is that it was the film debut of Emily Blunt, who has, of course, gone on to, at the very least, border super-stardom if she cannot already be called an A-list actress. It is a movie about two young girls named Mona (Press) and Tasmin (Blunt) who have a summer fling with each other, which ultimately ends up going bad. The acting is decent, but the writing was definitely not anything special, which, of course, affected the performances of the actors.

It seems that there are several versions of the DVD out there. The one I have has just the movie itself that plays from a title menu. There are no captions or any DVD extras. I am sure that is the case for most, if not all, of the releases. I definitely think it is a middle-of-the-road quality movie. It is not horrible, but it is not a must-see either.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: A Quiet Place

 

A Quiet Place is a 2018 film with a twist on movies with themes of unseen monsters, alien invasions, etc. The twist is that the monsters in this movie are blind but have super hearing and kill anything that makes noise. The movie stars John Krasinski (who wrote the screenplay and directed the film), his real-life wife Emily Blunt, Noah Jupe, and Millicent Simmonds, playing members of a family in what is essentially a post-apocalyptic world in which many humans and animals have been killed. Those who have survived have to be perfectly quiet, communicate via sign language, and can only talk if they are near something that is making more noise than them.

It is a very different movie, especially as a horror movie, because there is minimal sound. Of course, sound is critical to the thrills in most horror movies, and in this one, it is the absence of sound, including background sounds. Even the soundtrack is very understated. The movie pulls off what most TV shows cannot, namely, having little to no dialog between the actors yet still managing to tell a compelling story.

The 4k set is a two-disc set with a UHD  disc and a regular Blu-Ray disc. The movie looks great in the UHD format. What the film lacks in sound, it makes up for in visuals and special effects. The UHD disc has just the movie, and then there are about 35 minutes (give or take) of behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes on the regular Blu-Ray. Overall, the film is well written, very well acted, and tells a unique story on an old theme of a creature-based horror movie. It is definitely worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Huntsman: Winter's War

 

The Huntsman: Winter's War is partly a prequel, but mostly a sequel to the movie Snow White and the Huntsman, which basically ignores Snow White. Kristen Stewart is shown in one flash at the beginning of the movie using footage from the first movie, but after that, Snow White is not seen again. The prequel part of the movie, in the beginning, is basically an origin story for the ice queen Freya (played by Emily Blunt) who is the sister of Queen Ravenna, and Eric/The Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) and his love Sara, played by Jessica Chastain. Then, the movie jumps to a point after the events of the first movie in which Snow White has fallen ill (explaining her absence), and William (Snow White's husband) tasks Eric with retrieving the Mirror before Freya can use its power.

For those who get the blu-ray, the movie looks and sounds great in HD. Of course, there are a lot of CGI special effects that look awesome in the HD format. The disc includes two versions of the movie, the theatrical, and an extended edition that adds a little over six minutes to the movie. The additions are pretty negligible and do not change the story at all. For extras, there is a commentary track on the movie by the director, deleted scenes, and a gag reel, that each clocks in just under 10 minutes, and then a five-part making-of documentary that runs about a half-hour in total.

Overall, the movie is good, but because of Stewart essentially being fired, it is really disconnected from the first movie. Chastain and Blunt do step into their roles well and Charlize Theron is again awesome as Ravenna. Hemsworth does a good job in the leading role and thus Snow White's absence is not felt as much as I thought it would be when it was announced the movie would be made without her.