I KILL GIANTS (2017) (Umbrella DVD Review)

I KILL GIANTS (2017) 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Duration: 106 Minutes
Rating: PG
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1 with Optional english Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (2.40:1) 
Director: Anders Walter
Cast: Imogen Poots, Madison Wolfe, Noel Clarke, Zoe Saldana

In the dark coming-of-age fantasy I kill Giants (2017), based on Joe Kelly and Ken Niimura's Man of Action/Image Comics graphic novel, we have young troubled-girl Thorson (Madison Wolfe, The Conjuring 2) who believes she's the sworn protector of her small coastal community, protecting everyone from various malevolent giants she believes inhabit the area, and to that end she has devised various serums, traps and warning systems to aid her on her quest to rid the world of giants. She sets up elaborate baited traps in the forest and beaches, and she has created a detailed mythos for the myriad of giants, keeping a journal with her secret recipes and plans inside. She also carves mystic protective runes into the walls and doors at school, and carries with her a pink heart-shaped purse, within which is her sacred weapon, a mythical ax she's named Coveleski, after a famous baseball player nicknamed the "giant killer". 

This belief in giants is public knowledge unfortunately, she's not afraid to talk about it to anyone, which at school makes her an easy target, not helping are the bunny ears she wears, it likes an neon-arrow pointing down to the weirdo. School bully Taylor (Rory Jackson) mercilessly targets the young girl both verbally and physically, it seems her mission is to destroy the troubled girl, regardless of her obvious problems. At home things aren't much better, her gamer-teen brother seems like an angry douche, while her older and well-meaning sister Karen (Imogen Poots, Centurion) runs the household, burning the candle at both ends trying to keep her siblings on-track and her little sister out of the asylum. The reason for the lack of parental figure in the family is not readily apparent, but it comes around in a meaningful way later on.

The new girl at school Sophia (Sydney Wade) attempts to befriend the giant-killing strangeling but she doesn't make it easy, though she does eventually let her inside her bubble, inviting her to her secret lair and explaining how it is her duty to protect the world from giants, describing in detail the various kinds of giants, and showing her the elaborate baits and traps she has set up around the community. The friendship is difficult to maintain, and later on when the new girl is tricked into betraying her by the bully she turns on her with a quickness. 

Also in the picture is sympathetic school psychologist Mrs. Mollé (Zoe Saldana, Guardians of the Galaxy) who is having a real hard time getting Barbara to face the real-life cause of her delusional fantasies, and when all is revealed it's a heart breaker for sure, I teared up more than one watching this one. 

Audio/Video: I  Kill Giants (2017) arrives on region-free DVD framed in anamorphic widescreen, the image looks solid with some b=very nice lensing capturing the gorgeous coastal scenery. The English DTS-HD MA surround audio is nicely immersive, and gets some nice booming depth when the giants show-up throughout, no subtitles are provided. This is a bare bones disc with no start-up menu or extras.

I love that we have a kid-friendly fantasy film rooted in the sorrows of reality, a coming of age story for young girls that doesn't talk down, that deals with deep anguish and the hardship of coming of age, and it's painted with a whimsical lensing that is gorgeous, including fantastical images of trolls and fairytale forests, it's a good mix of adolescent trauma and fairytale imagery. If you're looking for some dark fantasy to watch with the kids that falls somewhere in between The Neverending Story and Pan's Labyrinth look no further, I consider this is a new kid classic in my household.

  


I Kill Giants

SWEET VIRGINIA (2017) (Blu-ray Review)

SWEET VIRGINIA (2017) 

Label: Shout! Factory / IFC Midnight
Release Date: April 3rd 2018
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 93 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Stereo 2.0, Surround 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.40:1)
Director: Jamie M. Dagg
Cast: Jon Bernthal, Christopher Abbott, Imogen Poots, Rosemarie Dewitt

Brooding small town thriller Sweet Virginia (2017) opens with a drifter named Elwood (Christopher Abbott, Girls) walking into a bar after hours, inside three men are gathered, Elwood acts strangely and is turned away, returning moments later with a gun, killing all three men inside. We learn that Elwood was hired by the wife of one of the men inside to kill him, a woman named Lila (Imogen Poots, 28 Weeks Later), but things didn't go as planned and the killer ends up with two unintended victims, rocking the small community. Later when the self-made widow is informed by her lawyer that her husband was on the verge of bankruptcy, her lack of funds to pay the hit-man sets in motion a series of unfortunate events. 

Central to the story is a depressive motel owner named Sam (Jon Bernthal, Netflix'a The Punisher) who has connections to Poots' character, he's having an affair with her mother Bernadette (Rosemarie Dewitt, Poltergeist), who's husband was one of the unintended casualties at the bar. The dots begin to connect when Elwood who is staying at the motel run by Sam recognizes him as a former rodeo champion from West Virginia, and Elwood sort of forces an uneasy acquaintance with the motel owner, and so the dots begin to connect, slowly building towards an inevitable violent climax that will leave few unscathed.

This slow-burning thriller caught my attention from the get-go with the crime at he bar, it grabs the attention, and then things settle down and it begin to unfold and build-up in a subtle sort of way, you can see the machination at work, the intertwined characters  begin to mingle and cross-pollinate, culminating with the expected violent outcome, there's no surprised here but I liked the contrast of the characters of Sam and Elwood. Bernthal as Sam is a surprisingly quiet guy, very meek and downplayed, we see him cower away from the threat violence an earlier scene, in contrast to the high-strung Elwood, a man with a short fuse who is always holding back the inner-rage, which is threatening to boil over at any moment. We see him set off by a pair of locals punks giving him the eye at a phone booth, or when he realizes Lila is coming up short of his required fee for the crime. 

I love this sort of quiet small town thriller, watching the pieces come together in the final push at the end, but I didn't find this one to be all that satisfying, the tense finale was a bit too anti-climatic for my tastes, there's a pressure build-up and then it just sort of deflated without the appropriate fanfare, it's not bad but it is a one and done. 

FILTH (2013)

FILTH (2013) 

Label: Magnolia Home Entertainment 

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 98 Minutes

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 1080p Widescreen 

Cast: James McAvoy, Jamie Bell, Eddie Marsan, Jim Broadbent, Imogen Poots

Director: Jon S. Baird

I went into this one completely cold and walked-away totally wowed - this was a delirious good time from start to finish. James McAvoy (X-MEN:FIRST CLASS) completely owns this biting black comedy as the unhinged Scottish Detective Sergeant Bruce Robertson. A young buck on the force plotting his ascension to the position of Detective Inspector at the expense of everyone around him. The drug-addled Robertson is a rather vile individual but through the charismatic performance of McAvoy manages to gain a few sympathy points along the way. 

Robertson's an unsavory character not above violently shagging his fellow officer's wives and using his position to coerce a blow job from the underage daughter of a local magistrate when she's caught in a  awkward situation - he's a pretty scummy guy and that I felt sympathetic for him probably says something dark about me - but it must be said he is not a totally despicable person and does have a few redeeming moments throughout but they are far and few between. 

His road to making Detective Inspector seems assured if he can solve the murder of a Japanese student whom was beaten to death by a group of violent street teens. He sets himself up to come up on top but things begins to shift as Robertson is besieged by surreal, nightmarish visions and prone to strange and violent outbursts. This is a epic losing your grip on reality film with a damn fine unhinged performance from James McAvoy (X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) and some fun supporting roles from Jamie Bell (SNOWPIERCER) as the coke-snorting rookie, Eddie Marsan (AT WORLD'S END) as a four-eyed friend, Jim Broadbent (HOT FUZZ) as a demented psychiatrist and Imogen Poots (28 WEEKS LATER) as perhaps the lone voice of reason.

A stylish and warped piece of cinema that is both grotesque, bitterly funny and extremely dark which makes for one Hell of a fun watch from start to finish. This one goes places you won't expect and I can pretty much guarantee fans of TRAINSPOTTING and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE will find much to enjoy here - additionally this one seems like it would continue to entertain upon repeat viewing - definitely a film I could gush over for awhile. James McAvoy continues to impress me a little more with each film.  

The disc from Magnolia looks great with a sweet HD presentation that's sharp, crisp and oozing with color - the more surreal scenes are fantastic to watch and really pop with vibrancy and clarity. A nice selection of extras including a commentary from director John S. Baird and author Irvine Welsh plus outtakes, deleted and extended scenes and a few  behind-the-scene featurettes.