«««« out of 4 Stars

Running Time 182 Minutes

Are you ready to take a deep soak in the mind of Tarantino?

His new mammoth Western, The Hateful Eight is a full-blown, bat-shit crazy epic built entirely from the wonderful words you’d expect in a QT film. Important thing is there are signs of growth yet again in Tarantino’s work.

We must begin with the presentation in the grand sense of the word. The Hateful Eight is the first film to be shot in Ultra Panavision 70 mm in almost 50 years. This is a large format that used to be the IMAX of the era. You see Lawrence of Arabia in 70. You see Ben Hur. Films with expansive scope. WhileThe Hateful Eight is epic in story, visually it is...

Happy holidays, everyone! While there are still some shoppers out braving the crowds, there are still plenty of new releases on DVD and Blu-ray for those ready to relax indoors. The highlights are listed below. So if you can’t make it out to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these titles a try!

Big New Releases!

12 Rounds 3: Lockdown - I had no idea there was even a follow-up to the original, but this week bring a second sequel to the action title 12 Rounds. In it, a police officer finds himself hunted down in his own precinct by crooked cops. None of the cast of the previous installments return, making this a sequel in name only. The few reviews posted have...

Rating: ««« out of 4 Stars

Running Time: 137 min.

I’ve got to be honest, the hype surrounding Star Wars: The Force Awakens is almost absurd. It has been 10 years since the last chapter and even though the majority of people were disappointed, its fan base still continues to grow. This has always been confusing to me. I enjoyed the original films as a kid, but never to the extent that many others my age and older have. So, please don’t send me death threats for my tempered reaction to the latest installment, which I found to be fun and enjoyable but far from revelatory. Clearly, I’m just not the target audience.

Picking up 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi...

Rating: «« out of 4 stars

Running Time: 121 min.

In case you didn’t already know, Herman Melville’s classic Moby-Dick was partially based on a real event. Obviously, he took some liberties, but ultimately delivered a story that many consider to be one of the great American novels. Rather than give this classic piece of literature a cinematic adaptation, the filmmakers have decided to shoot a 2000 non-fiction novel that details the inspiration for the story. And the result of this man vs. nature tale is quite choppy. In the Heart of the Sea has a few impressive moments, but ultimately gets lost at sea.

The story opens with Melville (Ben Whishaw) hearing the tale from the...