Up first this week is the second Stephen King adaptation co-starring Mark Hamill I’ve seen this year, The Life of Chuck. The Long Walk was a lot more direct compared to this Tom Hiddleston starring drama. I’m honestly not even sure if I understood the film. I get the concept of one man’s death being looked at through an existential “God-like” perspective told through vignettes of different times, but I don’t know if I could recommend it to those looking for a mainstream film because Loki is in it. It’s definitely Mike Flanagan’s most different film and definitely isn’t his normal horror take. That being said there is a lot I liked about it. Even if I didn’t “get it” it has a ton of style. The opening chapter shows the world about to end and has the feel of a typical Flanagan horror drama. Karen Gillan and Chiwetel Ejiofor are solid in this part. The second chapter has a fantastic dance sequence with Hiddleston and Annalise Basso (the younger version of Gillan in Flanagan’s brilliant Oculus). I’d honestly watch a full film of these two dancing instead of this movie. The third chapter explains who Chuck is and how his parents died and how he was raised by his grandparents (Hamill and Mia Sara who made me feel old seeing her as a grandmother). It’s all well made and well acted, but the story didn’t work for me. I get what it was going for, but it didn’t do it for me. I received the Blu-ray and it comes with Making Of, Interviews with Hiddleston, Hamill and Ejiofor, Commentary with Flanagan and more.
Second we have a new 4K of the underrated The Good, The Bad, The Weird. We here at The Nerds Templar are big fans of this Korean Western starring Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung. We are big fans of the Clint Eastwood trilogy that inspired the film of course, but we also like this Kim Jee-woon take on the genre. It’s pretty classic Western storytelling with a treasure map the Weird is trying to figure out, the Good is a bounty hunter after him, the Bad is a bandit hired to get the map at any cost. Despite being a Korean film taking place during the 1930s, it very much feels like a classic Hollywood Western or Spaghetti Western. One reason for that is the fantastic cast. Song Kang-ho is an award winning actor best known here in the States for Parasite. Lee Byung-hun is another great actor most notably known for I Saw The Devil and probably to Americans as Storm Shadow in the GI Joe movies. Jung Woo-sung is also an award winning actor in Korea. The film also feels like a Western with wide, long takes showing off much of the background especially in the horse/motorcycle/Army action sequence. There’s a train robbery that Clint or John Wayne would be proud of as well. It has slapstick elements of a Spaghetti Western too especially the hotel fight sequence. If you aren’t familiar with the film I highly recommend it. The 4K looks and sounds great and comes with the International and Korean releases along with multiple interviews, commentaries and more. This is a great addition to the collection.
Stephen King has another release this week as Creepshow 2 gets a new 4K for physical media collectors. King and George A Romero’s anthology sequel like all anthologies has good segments and not as good segments. The Raft is my favorite of the bunch and is about surviving on a raft surrounded by toxic sludge. The Hitchhiker is straight 80s styling with the woman looking straight out of 80s Central Casting. The hit & run story has been done many times before and after, but it works. Old Chief Wood’nhead has always been hindered by one performance to me, but again being an anthology there will always be a segment that misses more than the others. It’s been released on Blu-ray before, but this new 4K looks sharp and comes with bonus features including multiple interviews, commentary, featurettes and more. If you are a horror enthusiast you’ll pick this one up.
Last we have a 4K of Raw Meat also known as Death Line. Starring Donald Pleasance and Christopher Lee (in a cameo) I wasn’t familiar with the film. Pleasance plays a British cop investigating some disappearances around a train station. An American and Brit see a man passed out and at first think he’s drunk, but when they get the authorities he’s missing. He happens to be a man of power and Pleasance is told not to investigate, but he must solve the crime. It’s actually pretty creepy with a Texas Chainsaw Massacre level of cannibalism to it. It’s very 70s Britain with its wardrobe, dialogue and setting. Pleasance is great in the role and I did enjoy the Christopher Lee cameo. I’m sure it has a huge cult following because of its cast and its fans will eat up this new release. It comes with a 4K and Blu-ray disc, slipcover and bonus features that include commentaries, interviews and more. If you enjoy the film you’ll dig this new release.
The Nerds Templar 