I'm getting back into the blogging business, and to ease my way in I'm creating a new feature for the site where I get to boast about my recent Blu-ray/DVD purchases! I mean, a new feature for the site where I tabulate the cost of each item and at the end of the month check my bank statement and swear "this will never happen again" . . . until I absentmindedly walk into a Half Price Books or Pawn America and go, "oh lookie! So and so for only $6! MINE!" These examples are by no means inspired by real life conversations with myself. . . Not at all.
Anyway, there's been lotsa splurgin', so let's take a look a gander!
Last summer, not a soul could have guessed one of the most engrossing TV dramas would come from the Lifetime network. Yet here we are. In 10 episodes, UNREAL's first season explored the psyche of a woman trying to get her life back in order after it all breaking into shambles, and makes a misguided calculation that returning to work -- at the very place her life descent into shitsville -- would help that process along. It does not go well. Thanks to the Mankato Pawn America, UNREAL - SEASON 1 is mine! Albeit, minus the slipcover, which admittedly makes me slightly cringe as a slipcover enthusiast. Another never-woulda-guessed-it surprise is WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, a horror mockumentary about a handful of vampire immortals sharing a house and dealing with their nocturnal proclivities while also trying not to kill one another as roommates tend to want.
Next up, BIRDMAN - a movie that didn't necessarily blow me away creatively or as a viewer, but it was the right price and had a slip, so might be worth a second chance down the line. As a completionist, had to pick up FINAL DESTINATION 5 (easily the worst of the five, both in regards to the death sequences and the all-around 'quality' of the film), and finishing this haul up: KUNG FU PANDA 3! Damn fun ride at the theater, and had some spectacular fight scenes in the third act - a $5 price tag for a Blu-ray released just a mere week before and with a slipcover to boot, not much hesitation in this pickup.
The haul where good prices resulted in half-hearted yet long-time-coming purchases. AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY was a memorable drama two or three years ago when it debuted, the screenplay doing more for me than any of the performances. THE HATEFUL EIGHT is the weakest Tarantino movie since JACKIE BROWN (although this isn't a commonly shared opinion, it seems), but with a $7 tag, slipcover, and likelihood Tarantino will never release a Special Edition of the title, why the hell not just pick it up now? Vin Diesel surprised last year with THE LAST WITCH HUNTER, a fun romp with Ygritte of GAME OF THRONES fame and lots of CGI badassery. Honestly, it was the fresh take on tired stereotypes that really catapulted the title from 'casual theater enjoyment' to 'I should own this.'
PREMIUM RUSH has been a long time coming - fun flick, JoGo is amazing in everything. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN . . . I feel ashamed it wasn't already on my shelf. 13 ASSASSINS I watched years ago during my college days and, if memory serves me right, has some pretty visuals and gorgeously excessively violent fight scenes near the climax. VIRGINITY HIT was likewise another college years watch, and for $1 at Pawn America, I liked it enough for a second round. And finally, RANGO - long has it been since I've seen this beautifully animated movie from Gore Verbinski of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN fame, and with a rare slipcover - no thought necessary: it had to be mine!
How about you, fellow nerds? What's your recent haul? Any comments or questions about this haul, or why the hell I bought what I bought? Sound off below!
