Author: Robert Greenberger

I admit I didn’t really notice Nicolas Cage (then billed as Nicola Coppola) in his debut, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, but I quickly became a fan after seeing him in 1984’s underrated Racing with the Moon. Since then, he has made dozens of movies, across the genres, going from romantic lead to tortured lead to action lead and back again.

Despite making all of these films, earning numerous nominations and earning an Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and numerous local critics’ awards, Cage has never quite gotten the respect his work deserves. Some of that is because of questionable career choices as well as an outsized public life that has garnered embarrassing headlines and unwanted notoriety.

Along the way, he has become a beloved cult performer, with many enjoying his low budget efforts and others rooting for him to regain his peak performance. With age and experience has come a certain acceptance for his life and he’s come to lean in to the absurdity of his reputation. Which certainly explains his willingness to star in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent , out on disc now from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

Written and directed by Tom Gormican, shooting only his second feature, the movie lampoons Cage’s personality as “Nick Cage”, an actor struggling with a stalled career. He has good credits, the requisite ex-wife and daughter, and is haunted by visions of his younger self. It is at this moment when retirement looks inviting but his agent (Neil Patrick Harris) convinces him to take $1 million payday to attend a fan’s birthday party.

This is not just any rich fan; Javi (Pedro Pascal) is a rich fan, whose infectious enthusiasm for Cage’s oeuvre, entices Cage to agree to help shoot a film from Javi’s loose script. To complicate matters, the CIA meets with Cage, informing him that Javi may be a film nerd, but is also an international criminal who likely kidnapped a Catalan politician’s daughter (Katrin Vankova) and they need his help. Agents Vivian Etten (Tiffany Haddish) and Martin Etten (Ike Barnholtz) work to get Cage ready for a new career: spy.

Yes, things are exaggerated and ridiculous but there’s a lot of self-knowing humor and homages to Cage’s career that make this an eminently watchable, fun film. By being a little all over the place, its broadness also diminishes its chance for being a sly sendup of the Cage persona.

The film is now available in a variety of media including the trustworthy 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray, Digital HD code combo pack (always my preference). The 2160p transfer in 2.39:1 perfectly captures the bright sun-kissed shores of Majorca and the rugged Croatian terrain. As good as the 1080p Blu-ray is, you can see improvements in 4K. The Dolby Atmos keeps apace fairly well, making for solid home entertainment.

Given the subject and subject matter, I had hope for more amusing or inventive Special Features. We get Audio Commentary by Writer/Director Gormican and Co-Writer Kevin Etten; Deleted Scenes (4:53), with feature optional Audio Commentary; The Mind (6:38); Glimmers of a Bygone Cage (4:48); Everybody Needs a Javi (4:21); Nick, Nicky, and Sergio (4:33); Second Act Action (6:41); Cages 5 and Up (2:08); and the most engaging, SXSW Film Festival Q & A (15:48).

There’s much that is fascinating about the Viking culture, largely because of its organized barbarism while feeling incredibly familiar given how much of their legacy has seeped into world culture. Television has certainly explored these people through several series, but it’s been a long time since we had a good, sweeping Viking saga on the silver screen.

Robert Eggers had long been interested in the Viking culture and when he and actor Alexander Skarsgård began discussing working together , it became clear that the Vikings were the appropriate subject matter. Like the director, whose work I was unfamiliar with before now, Skarsgård was deeply interested in these people.

Working with historian/writer/poet Sjón, Eggers crafted a story drawn from the actual legends, a tale of revenge similar to the Viking tale that inspired Hamlet. Set in the waning years of the ninth century, The Northman opens with young Prince Amleth (Oscar Novak) in a ceremony to prepare him to succeed his father King Aurvandill (Ethan Hawke). The next day, the king is murdered by his bastard brother Fjölnir (Claes Bang) and Amleth flees.

Grown to manhood, Amleth (Skarsgård) is a force to be reckoned with. After an encounter with the He-witch Olga (Ana Taylor-Joy), he learns his mother Queen Gudrún (Nicole Kidman) has married Fjölnir and given birth to his half-brother Gunnar (Elliott Rose). It’s time to go home and set things to right, but it’s an action-packed, violent homecoming.

Toss in Willem Dafoe as the jester and Bjork as a sorceress, you have a strong cast, all of whom rise to the strength of the material, filled as it is with prophecies, magic, enchanted swords, and complex family relations.

The film got terrific reviews but performed poorly at the box office, having more to do with Covid-19 and the economy than its merits. Available now on disc from Universal Home Entertainment, this is a highly recommended viewing experience. You can find it in the usual assortments including the 4K, Blu-ray, Digital HD code combo pack.

The 4K Ultra HD transfer is pristine, perfectly maintaining the color palette with rich blacks. It helps that the film was shot in 4K digital, so everything from skin tones to subtle magical effects are well captured. The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is also near-perfect, with a terrific sub-woofer beat, underscoring the film. The audio track captures the loud violent clashes and the hushed sounds of the wilderness.

The Special Features are a nice assortment with a recommended Audio Commentary from Eggers, with some nice insights into the production process. Additionally, there are Deleted And Extended Scenes (12:28); An Ageless Epic (11:17); The Faces Of Vikings (10:27); Amleth’s Journey To Manhood (3:56); Shooting The Raid (4:10), with director of photography Jarin Blaschke discussing this complex set-piece; Knattleikr Game (2:42), the violent “ball game” is explained; and, A Norse Landscape (4:43).

Tin Man
By Justin Madson
Amulet Books, 224 pages, $17.99/$29.99

As coming of age graphic novel go, Tin Man is above average, a fine story of some other version of Earth with a young teen struggling to find his place in the world after the death of his grandmother. His older sister, Solar, has less time for him now that she has an, ugh, boyfriend, who happens to be a jerk. So, Fenn is left to tinker in the garage, hoping to complete a rocket ship and visit space.

While scavenging for spare parts at a junkyard, he meets up with Campbell, a tin woodsman who thinks there is more to life than merely chopping down trees in the forest. They become friends and the adventure takes off.

The book description calls it “equal parts The Iron Giant, The Wizard of Oz, Edward Scissorhands, and Freaks and Geeks” but it is heavily layered with Oz elements, making it very much an alternate reality from L. Frank Baum’s world. And it doesn’t need to be. In fact, all the reimagining of Oz, the wizard, the witches, etc., are actually distracting. Madson seems almost afraid to create his own story, relying on the Oz tropes to get him through, get him noticed. 

The story of friendship, wanderlust, and growing up is perfectly fine although we’ve seen all these elements before. Madson’s strength is in making us feel for Fenn, Solar, and Campbell. The sibling relationship is one of the freshest aspects of the book as is the family’s easy acceptance of a mechanical being , accepting the other.

Madson’s artwork and color is effective and his dialogue smooth. The book is fine YA addition to the GN library and might get some to go back and sample Baum’s original work.  

Unsuspecting comic book readers raised on the EC-inspired black and white horror magazines from Warren Publishing had no idea what to make of Heavy Metal when it debuted on American newsstands in 1977. We came to understand it was a domestic version of France’s wildly successful Metal Hurlant, and introduced us to European talents and storytelling. It was mind-blowing.

The magazine’s success led to an animated feature, released in the summer of 1981, heralded by the beautiful Chris Achilléos promotional poster image , introducing us to Taarna, who has become the magazine’s unofficial mascot and most recognizable figure.

The film, like the magazine, was a series of animated shorts, an anthology of science fiction, and fantasy, with heavy dollops of violence, nudity, and heavy metal music. And like the magazine, it was beautiful to look at and occasionally made sense.

It opened to mixed reviews and modest success, leading to the less enchanting Heavy Metal 2000. Both have been restored and re-released in a fine box set from Sony Home Entertainment.

For the record, the film consists of:

“Soft Landing” adapted by Dan O’Bannon (Blue Thunder) and Thomas Warkentin (Star Trek comic strip), from their own story. This leads into “Grimaldi”, continuing the tale.

“Harry Canyon” is adapted from Moebius’ The Long Tomorrow by Daniel Goldberg and Len Blum, with music from Blue Öyster Cult, Donald Fagen, Stevie Nicks, Journey, and Riggs.

Richard Corben’s classic “Den” is brought to life here and is one of the best looking segments of the film. John Candy is surprisingly good providing Den’s voice.

Bernie Wrightson’s “Captain Sternn” follows in an original story after the hero debuted in the magazine a year earlier. Young Eugene Levy voices Captain Lincoln F. Sternn and John Vernon is his Prosecutor.

“B-17” is an original from O’Bannon with music from Don Felder.

Angus McKie adapts his own “So Beautiful & So Dangerous” with vocal work from Candy, Levy, and Harold Ramis. Music here comes from Grand Funk Railroad, Cheap Trick, Nazareth, Fleder, Trust, and Sammy Hagar.

“Taarna” closes out the film, adapted from Moebius’ Arzach by Daniel Goldberg and Len Blum. This sword and sorcery/SF tale is accompanied by music from Black Sabbath and Devo.

The film is loosely connected by an orb called Loc-Nar (voiced by the stentorian Percy Rodriguez) and it sort of works as does the entire movie. The uneven quality is a result of multiple animation houses simultaneously working on the film and there’s even one sequence that was cut because of time constraints.

It’s a time capsule of story and music so worth a look in that regard. The magazine’s heyday was over within a few years of the film’s release and it wasn’t until two years ago it regained any notoriety thanks to new management. (Ful disclosure, CEO Matt Medney and I co-wrote a novel coming out in October.)

The film has been lovingly restored in both 4k Ultra HD and Blu-ray. The animation is crisp, the color palette subtle and bold where it needs to be. This is one of the better-animated transfers I have seen. Accompanied by the swell Dolby Atmos soundtrack, every electric guitar thrum and synthesizer is nicely balanced with the effects and dialogue.

The combo pack comes with Heavy Metal in both 4k and Blu-ray and just a Blu-ray of Heavy Metal 2000. The special features from the previous Blu-ray release remain intact with the addition of Heavy Metal: A Look Back (9:20) as producers Ivan Reitman and Norman Reedus, geek Kevin Smith, actress Ebony Jeanette, screenwriter Matthew Klickstein, and HM CEO Matthew Medney chat it up. The other features include: Heavy Metal: Feature Length Rough Cut (1:30:21); Deleted Scenes (8:42); and, Imagining Heavy Metal (35:39).

What has made Peter Parker an enduring hero for the last sixty years is that he could be us. He is someone who has great highs and really low low , his sure hand maintains order, making certain everyone has their moment or two, starting with Ned (Jacob Batalon), who is shown to have mystic potential, and MJ (Zendaya), who has come to embrace her boyfriend’s weird life.

What’s especially pleasing is how human the villains feel, and watching Doc Ock (Alfred Molina), Elektro (Jamie Foxx), the Lizard (Rhys Ifans), and Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church) interact with one another and the teens is a pleasure.

Willem Dafoe’s tortured Harry Obsborn/Green Goblin was also a fine wild card in the mix.

And if super-villains are brought from the multiverse to Peter’s world , so too can there be allies in the form of other Spider-Man, somewhat older (Tobey Maguire) and wiser (Andrew Garfield). The three interacting is a delight and we can sense the unique qualities each brought to their webbed roles. Nicely, each of them deals with leftover issues from their film series so you get triple closure for the price of one.

Should Holland never don the suit again, we are left satisfied. But, we’re also ready for the next chapter.

The movie is streaming or available on disc in the usual combo packs. The 1080p Blu-ray transfer is near-perfect, all the textures and colors pop nicely, either in the shadows, night, or daylight. The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is equal to the visuals making this quite worth seeing on a home screen.

The disc boasts quite a bit of Special Features, some taking a victory lap after three films, others exploring the large cast of characters. Interestingly, there are no deleted scenes. We do the following: Bloopers & Gag Reel (4:01); Action Choreography Across the Multiverse (6:25); A Spectacular Spider-Journey with Tom Holland (6:16); Realities Collide, Spiders Unite (8:09); Graduation Day (7:07); Enter Strange (5:04); Weaving Jon Watts’ Web (7:18); Alternate Reality Easter Eggs (4:41); A Multiverse of Miscreants (6:38); A Meeting of the Spiders – Heroes Panel (7:23); The Sinister Summit – Villains Panel (8:44);  The Daily Bugle clips (4:15);  Stunt Scene Pre-Vis (3:35); and Theatrical Marketing Materials: Tom & Jacob Lie Detector (1:58), Tom’s Press Tour (1:03), and Georgia Promo (1:15).

Okay, so why is ComicMix reviewing a football movie? Well, first of all, we’re a little more than just comics and secondly, it stars Captain Marvel himself, so there’s that.

Besides, it’s about a real-life hero, and who doesn’t love heroes?

Kurt Warner’s story is well worth exploring and the Lionsgate Home Entertainment release of last year’s American Underdog does a fine job recounting the story. For those unfamiliar, Warner was a star at Northern Iowa but spent four years unable to get signed by an NFL team. Finally, the Green Bay Packers signed but released him in 1994. He then played three seasons for the Iowa Barnstormers in the brief-lived Arena Football League before finally making it to the NFL with the St. Louis Rams. Once there, he led what has been dubbed the Greatest Show on Turn, culminating in winning Super Bowl XXXIV.

It’s a story about perseverance and support at home, in the form of his loving wife Brenda (Anna Paquin). Levi, at 41, is a little old to be convincing as a man half his age, but his enduring charm and charisma makes that easy to overlook. Together, they make a charming couple, and their scenes anchor the film’s emotional story. Brenda has a blind special needs son, Zach, and Hayden Zaller make a fine debut in the role.

Dennis Quaid, as Coach Dick Vermeil, leads a fine supporting cast that includes familiar faces such as Bruce McGill and Ser’Darius Blain. Best of all, Levi is reunited with his Chuck costar Adam Baldwin, who plays Warner’s college coach.

Directed by Andrew and Jon Erwin, better known for their Christian-themed movies, certainly are reverent here, avoiding some of the sport’s rougher edges. The film is inspired by All Things Possible by Kurt Warner with Michael Silver, and the screenplay comes from Friday Night Lights veterans Jon Erwin & David Aaron Cohen and Jon Gunn. They are supported by a strong score from Composer John Debney.

Make sure you watch all the credits since there’s some touching archival footage of Warner and Zach.

Available in Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD, the movie look strong with a fine 1080p MPEG-AVC with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio , The high def transfer and rich color palette are nicely presented. The accompanying Dolby Atmos and a core 7.1 Dolby TrueHD Master Audio track works just fine.

The disc is packed with a fine assortment of Special Features, an above average collection including Audio Commentary from Directors Andrew and Jon Erwin and Producer Kevin Downes; “Inspired” (16:08), about the production; “Making the Cut” (13:45) , about the editing; “A Coach’s Faith” (30:48), focuses on Vermeil and his biggest fan, Saturday Night Live’s Heidi Gardner; “New to the Scene: Hayden Zaller” (6:10); “Meet the Champion” (14:49), Warner himself speaks;  “Behind the Game” (8:13);  “American Underdog: Behind the Story” (3:39); and , Deleted Scenes (17:44), with and without director commentary.

Once upon a time, Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons produced a cheeky series called The Secret Service, which got turned into a fun film called Kingsman. While the comics remain fun reads, the film series has deteriorated when left entirely in Matthew Vaughn’s hands. He’s good filmmaker as witnessed by Kingsman and the underrated Stardust. But , we get a sense of how the independent covert intelligence agency got started, born in the wake of tragedy. Orlando (Ralph Fiennes, Duke of Oxford watches helpless, as his wife Emily (NAME) is gunned down on a visit to a concentration camp in South Africa. He is left to raise his young son , honoring her dying wish that he never see war again. Raised in a rarified cocoon by manservant Shola (Djimon Hounsou) and nanny Polly (Gemma Arterton), Conrad (Harris Dickinson) craves to see the world and join the military.

In time, he discovers Orlando, Shola, and Polly have been covertly gathering intelligence as Europe moves toward The Great War, pitting cousins King George, Kaiser Wilhelm, and Tsar Nicholas (all Tom Hollander) against one another. Events propel father and son into action, testing their bonds as the world teeters on the edge of chaos.

There are definitely some fun moments such as the network of servants and household staff around the world that share information, feeding Polly (Arterton, who may be having the most fun), who synthesizes the information for Orlando. But they are overshadowed by the over-the-top antics of Rasputin (Rhys Ifans) and a collection of cardboard villains led by The Shepherd. a shadowy figure who is anything but menacing. (And sharp-eyed viewers will figure out his identity.) The notion that Mata Hari (Valerie Pachner) seduced Woodrow Wilson for the Shepherd to blackmail is an absurdity.

The action is fine as it is but doesn’t get the heart stirring. The characters are predictable and two-dimensional and newcomer Dickinson can’t keep up with the stellar cast, which also includes Charles Dance, Matthew Goode, and Daniel Brühl. Vaughn and co-writer Karl Gajdusek are at fault here. Vaughn’s direction is fine but not enough given the weak material he created.

The film is out in the usual formats including the sturdy Blu-ray/DVD/Digital HD Combo Pack. The 1080p transfer is perfectly fine for home viewing in 2.39:1. The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 is excellent.

There are a handful of perfunctory Special Features including Recreating the Trenches (2:17); A Generation Lost (11:22); Oxfords and Rogues (18:33); All the World’s a Stage (26:41); Instruments of War (17:01); Fortune Favors the Bold (11:46); and Long Live the Kingsman (4:11).

Students of history know that 355 was the code name assigned to a woman who spied on behalf of George Washington, during the war for independence. We never learned who she was and the digits have been immortalized in pop culture ever since. Most recently, it was appended to the female empowerment action film The 355 , out now on disc from Universal Home Entertainment.

The brainchild of star Jessica Chastain , she pitched it to Simon Kingberg as they were shooting X-Men: Dark Phoenix and it should have been out in 2021, but you know, Covid-19. The movie is overall an entertaining enough experience but its overall laziness in design and execution makes it a lesser effort.

While it’s nice to see operatives from CIA, MI6, Germany’s BND, China’s Ministry of State Security, and Colombia’s National Intelligence Directorateavoid political considerations to band together, the film also takes a very cynical approach to their efforts. We have several members of these agencies betray their principles and oaths , endangering the entire world. The MacGuffin in this case is a hard drive containing a one-of-a-kind piece of software that can pierce any firewall and seize control of nuclear missiles, electric grids, etc.

We have CIA agent Mason “Mace” Brown (Chastain) betrayed by her best friend and new lover, Nick (Sebastian Stan), which means the harddrive is in play. Mace crosses paths with German agent Marie Schmidt (Diane Kruger) who are rivals who beat one another until they find common cause. NID’s Luis Rojas (Édgar Ramírez) seems to have taken for himself, which means psychologist Graciela (Penélope Cruz) is sent into the field for the first time to retrieve it. When it goes into the wild, Mace recruits MI6’s Khadijah Adiyeme (Lupita Nyong’o), now out of the game, to aid her since she understands the enormity of the threat.

In time, they form bonds and kick ass. The MacGuffin continues to move from hand to hand, country to country until it is in Shanghai, up for auction which brings in Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan). Then things continue to unravel and go boom.

What’s missing here is a true sense of surprise. The agents are types, not characters, their dialogue and personality quirks perfunctory rather than refreshing. Kingberg cowrote this lackluster script with Theresa Rebeck and they seemed to be filling out a Bingo card.

Don’t get me wrong, the action is swell and the set pieces are well worth watching, with the leading ladies doing most of their own stunts, but after a while, it feels tired. Details are missing, questions at the end are left unanswered and the denouement is dissatisfying. Worst of all, they never connect the title to the team of women.

The film is out in the usual packages including the trusty Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD Combo Pack. The movies looks great, the 1080p transfer nicely capturing the colors and details. The lossless Dolby Digital audio track does a fine job capturing the explosions, dialogue, and score.

The film’s special features include two Deleted Scenes (6:19); Chasing Through Paris (4:57); Action That Hurts (5:26); Reconstructing Marrakesh (5:33); Chaos at the City of Dreams (3:50). Two VFX Breakdowns (2:12, 2:43).