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RobertB
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- Review count23
- Helpfulness votes13
- First reviewOctober 5, 2017
- Last reviewMarch 27, 2018
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- Average rating4.8
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![I, Tonya [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray/DVD] [2017]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/6175/6175106_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
A great biographical comedy
on March 21, 2018
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
“I, Tonya”, a portrait of infamous Olympic ice skater Tonya Harding, is one of 2017’s most entertaining films. Directed by Craig Gillespie, it is an iconoclastic biographical comedy that is a brilliant mix of mockumentary-style film clips and interviews interspersed with dramatic sequences, figure skating scenes, and humorous moments in which the actors break the fourth wall and talk to the audience.
The acting is incredible. Australian Margot Robbie has finally nabbed her most important role playing Harding masterfully, but it might be Allison Janney as Harding’s sadistic, abusive mother LaVona that might be burned into your memory the most. Real-life villains this memorably heartless are rare for seasoned actors to find. I daresay one look at a photo of Janney in the part with her steely crow’s eyes staring through cycloid eyeglasses, oxygen tubes in her nose, short choppy boyish hair, and wearing a seedy old fur with a grumpy parrot perched on her shoulder, and you’ll never forget her.
Beautifully scripted as well as directed, the key to the film’s success might be its editing that superbly forms a cohesive biographical portrait allowing us deep into Tonya Harding’s skin, something that might make one pause. Yet while the film is fair in portraying her flaws, it takes no cheap shots, and shows admiration for her tenacity and skill.
Don’t miss this.
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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![The Shape of Water [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray/DVD] [2017]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/6178/6178113_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
A Beautiful Adult Fairy Tale by a Great Director
on March 21, 2018
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
Guillermo del Toro is today’s master of fantasy, having been a childhood lover of monsters growing up in Guadalajara, Mexico, before making some of the finest films of recent years -- from the ghostly horror of “The Devil’s Backbone” in 2001 to his gothic horror/romance, “Crimson Peak” in 2015. Indubitably, however, his greatest film is “Pan’s Labyrinth”, the 2006 film many of us consider the finest fantasy film ever made. Now he’s broken new ground with “The Shape of Water”, one of 2017’s most beautiful films.
Set in Baltimore in the year 1962 at the height of the Cold War, the plot follows a mute janitor at a secret government laboratory who forms a bond with a captured amphibian of the “Creature of the Black Lagoon” variety. Her name is Elisa, and Sally Hawkins plays her with an artistry that seems to reach back to the silent days of Chaplin and Keaton. Michael Shannon, with devoted viciousness, plays the right-wing Colonel Strickland, someone more interested in dissecting the creature for exploitation purposes than he is concerned over the space race with the Soviets. There are also elements of religious allegory (“We’re created in the Lord’s image. You don’t think that’s what the Lord looks like, do you?”).
Del Toro saw “The Creature from the Black Lagoon” on TV at 7 years old and it changed his life. Wishing a different ending for it in which the Gill Man and co-star Julie Adams would consummate their romance and live ‘happily ever after’, he wrote various scripts of a remake through the years that Universal studio executives wound up rejecting. “The Shape of Water” is the result of del Toro’s dream, and now today, with more permissive filmmaking allowable, he’s able to deal with the previously verboten issue between fish and human. The resulting film is a worthy accomplishment not only for its production design (embodying various shades of green) and its special effects, but also for attaining the level of a genuine adult fairy tale that deals with issues of trust, tolerance, and love in the human condition -- but most of all what it’s like to be an outsider (whether a lonely mute woman, gay man, overweight black woman, or an amphibious sea creature). “This is a healing movie for me,” del Toro states; one likes to think it would be for viewers as well.
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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![Sicario [Blu-ray/DVD] [2 Discs] [2015]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/4766/4766853_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
A Masterpiece by Denis Villeneuve
on January 18, 2018
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
My favorite film of 2015 is Canadian Denis Villeneuve's electrifying and morally-ambiguous portrait of the war against drugs on the border between the US and Mexico, "Sicario", a telling of the rite-of-passage of an idealistic and inexperienced FBI agent, superbly played by Emily Blunt, recruited to join a covert government team to bring down one of Mexico's most dangerous drug barons. She's accompanied by the team's leader, expertly played by Josh Brolin, a tough practical guy who believes the end justifies the means, and has no qualms about ignoring any laws that stand in his way. Also with them is a Mexican assassin played by Benicio Del Toro who has his own agenda. ("Sicario" derives from the Latin word, "Sicarius", meaning 'dagger man'; also 'hit man' in Spanish.) Villeneuve's past work comprises some of the finest films made the last few years (e.g., "Incendies", "Prisoners", and "Enemy") and "Sicario" is a tour-de-force of brilliant technique used to develop character as well as to encourage viewers into questioning their own moral choices in following proper laws or circumventing them for expediency. One critic called this film 'a punch to the gut' and it most certainly achieves that while never losing its grip on the audience, its action heightened by Roger Deakins' evocative cinematography utilizing the finest aerial tracking shots I have ever seen, along with crackerjack editing, and a pulse-pounding electronic music score by Icelandic composer, Jóhann Jóhannsson. Described by its director as "a dark poem," it is a tough, virtually perfect thriller that will stimulate your brain while gluing you to your seat.
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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![Moana [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray/DVD] [2016]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/prescaled/500/500/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/39e16ccd-82e9-4545-830a-cde051546ba7.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
Excellent Disney makes great 3D Blu-ray!
on January 18, 2018
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
"Moana" is also a Disney production (its 56th), and is a computer animated film telling the story of a strong-willed daughter of a Polynesian tribal chief named Moana who sets sail across the Pacific in search of the legendary demigod Maui to save her people. Moana is perfectly voiced by 14-year-old Hawaiian high school freshman Auli'i Cravalho with Dwayne Johnson surprisingly cast as the voice of the god Maui. Based on Polynesian mythology stories, this is an amazing movie with wonderful songs and astonishing visuals that help to make it an extremely moving film experience for adults as well as children. (One strange footnote: in some European countries, the title and protagonist were renamed 'Vaiana' due to a copyright problem over a cosmetic company that owns the use of the name 'Moana'. In Italy the change was made due to a more serious problem: to avoid any association with a deceased 'adult' actress named Moana Pozzi.)
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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![Blade Runner 2049 [3D] [Blu-ray] [Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D] [2017]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/6169/6169803_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
Villeneuve gives us a great Blade Runner sequel
on January 18, 2018
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
The long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott’s 1982 science fiction masterwork, “Blade Runner” possessed me unlike any other film in 2017. As I accumulated four theatrical sojourns watching “Blade Runner 2049” I found a deeper and richer cinematic experience with each viewing, one that, to me, even surpassed the original as a work of serious art (for this is no action picture). The reason for this undoubtedly was due to Scott entrusting the great Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve (who previously made “Incendies”, “Prisoners”, “Sicario” and the previous year’s “Arrival”) to honor the original film’s world and philosophical themes while laying claim to his own vision and personal style. Taking place 30 years after Deckart and Racheal emerged from the elevator to leave the smog and overpopulation of 2019 Los Angeles, the new film follows a recent model replicant (with a normal human lifespan) called ‘K’ (played perfectly by an appropriately laconic Ryan Gosling) as he investigates a growing replicant freedom uprising to discover the remains of a once-pregnant replicant, something that leads him not only into mysterious territory in which he discovers the now reclusive Rick Deckart (Harrison Ford in one of his most subtle performances), but also leads him into a journey into his own identity. Darker and more sparse than the original, “Blade Runner 2049” goes into more nihilistic territory that becomes its own original film while respecting the original (as well as the Philip K. Dick source novel). I think this balance between honoring the original film and reaching out with its own different form to become something different, all perfectly designed and executed by Villeneuve and his crew, is arguably its greatest achievement. Of course its cynical detractors point to its length – 164 minutes – and criticize the film’s slowness, but I praise it for having the courage to allow its story to develop in a carefully measured fashion, taking the time to engulf its willing and patient viewers into its world view. I liken it to turning over one’s self to the listening of a Wagner opera like “Parsifal” in which time seems to stop as one is encompassed completely into another place, another time -- and after its long viewing I seem to awaken as if having submitted to a dream, emerging somewhat reborn and more enlightened with knowledge of the human experience. And that is really what this and the original film are really about: underneath its marvelous science fiction trappings with its state-of-the-art production design and special effects (often eschewing CGI for authentically-constructed sets and realistic miniatures), and heightened to a level of unmatched beauty by the cinematography of Roger Deakens, the film is really a thoughtful meditation on what makes us human. To me this is the most accomplished film of 2017, and one I long to experience again and again in future viewings.
Unfortunately, the 3D experience on Blu-ray is slightly on the dark side and, since the company didn't think the film warranted a 7.1 Atmos track, it might be better to watch it in 2D Blu-ray. The 3D was great in the theater however, but they kind of messed this up putting it on disc.
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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![American Made [Includes Digital Copy] [4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray] [2017]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/6145/6145018_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
Superb movie of a true story
on January 18, 2018
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
American Made is Tom Cruise's best film in years with action and humor perfectly mixed with the serious drama of the true story. Beautiful Blu-ray quality shows off director Doug Liman's use of almost surrealistic colors. Don't miss this!
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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![American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson [Blu-ray] [3 Discs]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/prescaled/500/500/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/d68b2274-6563-4a69-955f-6290f04ee9d7.jpg)
This Emmy-nominated dramatization of the 1994-95 Los Angeles murder trial that rocked the nation retells the story of how prosecutors Christopher Darden (Sterling K. Brown) and Marcia Clark (Sarah Paulson) sought justice for victims Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman, against an all-star defense team of Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance), F. Lee Bailey (Nathan Lane), Robert Shapiro (John Travolta) and Robert Kardashian (David Schwimmer) seeking exoneration for accused perpetrator O.J. Simpson (Cuba Gooding, Jr.).
Customer Rating
5
One of the great mini-series in recent years
on October 5, 2017
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
When I first heard about this, I wasn't interested (somewhat tired of hearing about O.J.) but watching the first episode, I knew I was hooked for the entire season. World-class acting all around, incredible writing, brilliant directing -- what more could anyone ask? Don't miss this masterpiece!
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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![Wall Street [Blu-ray] [1987]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/4826/4826817_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
4
Great film if somewhat dated today
on October 5, 2017
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
It packs less than the punch it had when it first came out, it still deserves being seen and appreciated for its significance use of cinema to impart a moralistic tale against corporate greed. One of Oliver Stone's second-tier classics.
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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![Arrival [Includes Digital Copy] [Blu-ray] [2016]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/5708/5708708_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
A challenging Sci-Fi film for the thinking viewer
on October 5, 2017
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
Canadian Denis Villeneuve is one of the most brilliant filmmakers alive, having just come off of a string of five consecutive masterpieces, starting with "Polytechnique" in 2009 and proceeding with "Incendies", "Prisoners", "Enemy", and 2015's "Sicario". Known for bending viewers' minds with provocative movies that sometimes require copious thought to unlock their meanings, "Arrival" is not an exception. Ostensibly an alien-invasion movie about an expert linguist who is called upon to decode the language of arriving aliens in order to communicate with them, the film reaches so much further, even to primal questions of human existence. It is a hard film to discuss because it contains a bona-fide puzzle a viewer must unlock (involving time and, possibly, other dimensions) in order to even approach the film's meaning. If one 'gets' it, the film's denouement can be an emotional epiphany for the viewer; if not, one might flounder in enigmas upon leaving the theater. The film's genius is that either way the viewer should find this film haunting him for days after, perhaps taunting him to unlock its secrets. A second viewing is virtually a necessity, not only to study its careful plotting but also to appreciate its emotional resonances one has been too busy to appreciate upon first viewing, and it is a revelation upon seeing it again to find that the film has completely 'played fair,' providing visual and audio clues that had passed unnoticed. Amy Adams plays the linguist with such deep sincerity and total commitment, so important when one realizes that she is the true center of the film -- and Villeneuve, along with cinematographer Bradford Young, has supplied visuals so breathtakingly stunning you might have to pinch yourself to believe what your eyes are seeing. The visuals are also matched by the remarkable score by Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (who had teamed with Villeneuve on "Prisoners" and "Sicario") using vocals and experimental piano 'loops' to put viewers into an other-worldly state of being. It is such an audacious, creative piece of intelligent, adult science fiction (something rarely encountered today), the thoughtful, open-minded viewer should embrace this as a gem for both the mind and heart, and not hold against it that it is less interested in the usual science fiction tropes than the light and dark paradigms of human existence.
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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![Silence [Blu-ray] [2016]](https://pisces.bbystatic.com/image2/BestBuy_US/images/products/5715/5715602_sa.jpg)
Customer Rating
5
One of Scorsese's mature masterpieces
on October 5, 2017
Posted by: RobertB
from Daytona Beach, FL
Verified Purchase:Yes
For over 25 years, Scorsese has been obsessed with this story which follows two 17th-century Jesuit priests who travel from Portugal to Japan in search of their missing mentor during a time when Christianity was outlawed and their presence forbidden. Scorsese grew up in Manhattan's Little Italy section where both priests and gangsters lived around him, and his early goal was to become a priest before deciding on being a filmmaker. Consequently, both religion and violence would inform his entire body of work, from "Kundun" and "The Last Temptation of Christ" to "Taxi Driver" and "Goodfellas". But "Silence" is far from being a simple religious film about Christian faith; instead it reflects Scorsese's lifetime struggle with doubt, or, more accurately, the 'silence of God' -- a subject that had obsessed Ingmar Bergman as well (particularly in Bergman's early sixties trilogy, most specifically its central film, "Winter Light" -- a story of a small town priest who loses his faith). This is a visually stunning film with performances that are perfect -- especially Andrew Garfield as the protagonist priest Rodrigues, Liam Neeson as his mentor Ferreira, and Japanese actor Yôsuke Kubozuka (who plays the crazed Kichijiro as if he were a descendant of Toshiro Mifune's bandit in "Seven Samurai"). Viewing this film however brings with it a warning: It is not for the unseasoned filmgoer and very difficult for many viewers to enjoy or even to sit through. I found it compelling throughout but it moves inexorably slow as a silk caterpillar crawling along a sheet of glass. Stylistically, too, it is unlike anything Scorsese has given us before, the exact antithesis of his preceding film, "Wolf of Wall Street" which was profane in its crude 'fun' as well as paced like a music video, more exemplary of the rapidly vibrant editing style we've all become used to. I can't say strongly enough that "Silence" is a Serious Film, obviously made by Scorsese for himself alone without giving a single whit about what critics or audiences will think about it. At 74, he has earned that right. Here is an obsessively personal document of a great filmmaker approaching his own winter sleep. Perhaps Scorsese is Icarus flying too close to the sun but I think it likely that in fifty years from now when scholars take in his complete filmography, "Silence" -- no matter how tedious it might seem today -- will stand out as a masterpiece not unlike the Danish master filmmaker Carl Dreyer's late works, "Ordet" and "Gertrude". I certainly felt every single minute of this difficult, very trying film but I took something priceless away with me when I left the theater. I recommend it highly to the most serious and devout filmgoer. All others should best stay away.
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
My Best Buy number: 1050317513
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