Up first this week is Greenland 2: Migration, a sequel to Greenland which most of us first saw during lockdown. I haven’t seen the first film since 2021 or so, but even if you haven’t either, the sequel is easy enough to follow. Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin (along with their son) start off in Greenland trying to survive in the new world. Butler is out scavenging while Baccarin is trying to help make decisions for humanity. An event happens and the family must leave and try to make their way to France via England. Was the sequel necessary? Not in the slightest, but I am a sucker for disaster films. I also like Butler and Baccarin so I was overall entertained. They are far from great films and they rely heavily on CGI, but Butler is an easy guy to root for as he tries to get his film to the original crater where rumors say life is blooming again. If you liked Greenland you’ll like the sequel, but don’t expect to be blown away by it. It’s serviceable, but I can see why it was forgotten at the box office.
Second we have Blazing Fists from director Takashi Miike. Had I not read that in the press release I would have never said this was a Miike film. Nothing about it feels like a Miike. I believe it’s based on a true story and finds 2 young men befriending one another in juvie and after hearing a fighter speak at the detention center, they decide to become fighters as well. They take odd jobs while training, but their pasts catch up to them as they try to get into a fighting competition. The young actors are solid and the fight sequences are decent too, but I expected a lot more from it since it is a Miike film. It’s a crime drama more than an action flick although the big third act action set piece is pretty wild. It’s good, but I wanted a bit more from it, but I can definitely see the young cast becoming staples of Japanese pop culture.
Next we have a 4K release for Tobe Hooper’s Salem’s Lot based on the book by Stephen King. This is the original 1970s adaptation and it comes as both the TV mini-series version and the theatrical cut. I watched the theatrical cut because I hadn’t seen that version before and had watched the mini-series cut a few years back. If you aren’t familiar with the story it’s about a writer returning to his small New England town to work on a new book, but he’s always been fascinated by a mansion there. A new antique shop is opening and the town is talking about the new people now living in the mansion. Of course it being a King story, there’s more to it and that is vampires. A young boy goes missing and soon others are being hurt. The writer knows it’s the inhabitants of the mansion and must figure out how to stop them. I’ve always enjoyed it and the theatrical cut is about an hour shorter than the mini-series. The new 4K looks and sounds great and comes with a slew of bonus features including commentaries, interviews and more. If you are a fan of Salem’s Lot the new 4K is quite cool.
Last we have Eiichi Kudo’s Samurai Revolution Trilogy which features 13 Assassins, The Great Killing and Eleven Samurai. All three films are very similar with stories about revenge, corruption, politics and a big, epic-sized third act action set piece. The films build up with story about who did who wrong, who got killed, what group of samurai is needed to avenge someone or protect someone until the third act gives you a crazy fight between a handful of people against an army or group at least double their size. All three films are in black & white and have fantastic costuming and set design. All three feel similar, but as a fan of the genre I enjoyed them. They come with commentaries, essays and more.
The Nerds Templar 