Up first this week is Muzzle. Aaron Eckhart plays a K9 cop and military veteran in Los Angeles who loses his K9 partner in a bust. Things go sideways and Eckhart must see a therapist while the incident is being investigated. He gets a new dog that has a shady past and he soon realizes that there is a lot going on with Fentanyl hitting the streets of LA. Eckhart should be too big of a name for a small movie like this, but he does what he can for the film. There’s a love interest and the film has cameos from Stephen Lang to Nick Searcy, but I can’t quite figure out who the film is aimed at. Eckhart elevates it from just a straight forward police procedural, but it also seems like it could be geared towards a religious audience with talk about redemption and keeping drugs off the streets. It’s also produced by Wyatt Russell and Oliver Hudson (Kurt Russell’s son and step-son) so maybe it was supposed to be a bigger film? It’s watchable and the dog shots (the camera POV of the dogs tracking people) are interesting, but I’m curious if this was going to be a theatrical film at first that just didn’t get a wider release.
Second we have Doc Martin: Last Christmas in Portwenn. This 68 minute episode of Doc Martin revolves around Christmas in the small town of Portwenn. Of course the curmudgeonly doctor wants nothing to do with Christmas and almost instantly spoils it ordering a man playing Santa Claus to leave because of a possible infection breaking his son’s young heart. The episode tells us why Martin has never enjoyed the holiday and the Mrs. tries to bring some holiday cheer to the town by planning a lantern parade. Martin gets trapped in the snow trying to help the man dressed as Santa at his home and there’s a side story with a turkey and the local store owner making a pass at the doctor himself. Fans of the show will enjoy it and there’s a nice bonus feature saying goodbye to the series.
Sticking with TV, Ride with Norman Reedus Season 6 is out this week. Season 6 is four episodes and sees The Walking Dead star traveling with Keanu Reeves, Josh Holloway, Johnny Knoxville and artist Adri Law. Reeves and Reedus ride in the Utah desert. Reedus and the LOST star travel Northern Italy. Reedus and the Jackass star travel through Rome and Reedus travels through Portugal with Law. It’s a basic premise with famous people on bikes, but the locations are always beautiful and the stories/adventures are fun.
Return to Dust was a bit of a head scratcher. It’s easy to follow, but I’m not 100% sure what I was supposed to get out of it. In a small town in Asia two people are arranged to marry. He’s a bit of a reclusive type living on his farm. She has a bladder issue which makes her an outcast. They get together, farm, raise crops, build a house, something bad happens, the end. Yes I understand the symbolism of the farm doing well as their relationship does well and they find brief happiness together, but it’s not something I’d have a need to watch again. It’s well acted and very well made, but I feel like I’ve seen this story a thousand times before.
The next batch of releases come from Mill Creek Entertainment. First is The Blind which comes in both Blu-ray or DVD. I wasn’t the biggest Duck Dynasty fan, but I know enough to follow along to this film. It’s about Phil Robertson long before him and his family became reality TV stars. He grew up dirt poor hunting and fishing and this movie is about that, meeting his eventual wife and having a family. Phil was a great football player and was actually ahead of Terry Bradshaw in college before he dropped out to take care of his family. He would battle alcoholism and struggled with life until he found religion and his duck calls made them rich. It is a religious film about finding redemption and straightening out your life through Jesus and the church, but it’s a watchable movie if you don’t know much about the story. Plus you learn a bit about Si before he became a reality TV show favorite. If you are a fan of Duck Dynasty or the family, pick this one up.
Second we have An Angelic Christmas. There are two types of Christmas movies that do very little for me, the Hallmark romance ones and religious films like this one. This is about an angel trying to earn her wings and tries to bring Christmas cheer to a small town. A young girl had lost a parent and her family could use a guardian angel type. Now there is nothing wrong with the movie and the target audience will eat it up, but I’m just not part of that audience. It’s wholesome enough for families to watch this time of year so that’s a good thing. The little kids are cute. The story is easy to follow and you know there will be a happy-ish ending. The town is quaint and it has an array of side characters in the town. It’s not for me, but families will like it.
Last we have Ultraseven 55th Anniversary Anthology. This is a collection of 55 episodes, specials and films featuring a dozen Ultraman heroes. You get Ultraman Ace, Ultraman Taro, Ultraman Leo, Ultraman 80, Ultraman Kids, Ultraman Neos, Ultraman Mebius, Ultraseven X, Ultraman Ginga, Ultraman Zero, Ultraman Orb and more. If you collect Mill Creek’s Ultraman series you might have all of this, but not in one special collection that also comes with a cool 16 page booklet. If you read me enough you know I like the older Ultraman series more than the newer stuff, but this is a good mix spanning 55 years. The packaging is very cool so if you collect these releases you’ll definitely want this one for the collection. If you have kids and want to introduce them to Ultraman, this is a good way to get them into it seeing all the different versions of the hero.
The Nerds Templar 