Take a Jump with THE FALL GUY Landing on 4K Ultra HD

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to 4K Ultra HD, Bluray and Digital this week from director David Leitch and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the story of a stuntman who is becoming THE FALL GUY.

Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is the stunt double for action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Girlfriend Jody (Emily Blunt) is a camera woman on the picture that they are both working on. Ryder wants an action sequence to be bigger and asks Colt to make it happen. What ends up happening is an accident that ruins a lot of things in Colt’s life.

That is until almost two years later, Colt gets a call from film producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham). She tells him that Jody is the director on another Ryder action film, MetalStorm, and he is wanted on the set to do stunts. He is thrilled because he wants to help Jody with anything she needs, it isn’t until he is on the set that he finds out the truth.

He isn’t there a day before having to deal with ex-girlfriend rage and a disappearing action star. Gail asks Colt to go find him and it isn’t everything he signed up for. Arriving at Ryder’s place, he is sent on a wild goose chase leading him to a hallucinating chase and a body on ice in a hotel room. Trying to understand what is happening, he is chased down by thugs who want Ryder’s phone.

All of that is interfering with his reconnection to Jody and that is setting Colt on edge, especially knowing that the cops are on his case. Colt and Jody come up with a plan that will hold those responsible accountable but not without a few stunts thrown in.

Gosling as Colt comes on with a stuntman swag that had me giggling from the very beginning. What is stellar about Gosling is that he can take on a heavy role and become so entangled in the character that its mesmerizing and with comedy, he has facial expressions that just brings out such fun and it’s fantastic. He did justice to the role of Colt.

Blunt as Jody has her own set of issues feeling like the jilted ex-girlfriend who is taking her frustration out on her film. Blunt gives her character indignation that all jilted girls feel but don’t have a chance to make a sci-fi about it. I just love everything Blunt does no matter if it’s a serious character or comedy, like Gosling, she makes magic happen.

Taylor-Johnson as Ryder is an actor that is full of himself and doesn’t think the rules of anything apply to him. He has everyone on the set on the verge of craziness but has Colt on the verge of being the best stuntman. Waddingham as Gail is a woman who basically spends her time trying to plump up everyone’s ego all while babysitting a straw in a drink of who-knows-what. At the top of her game, she isn’t about to let a stuntman and a girlfriend ruin her kingdom.

Other cast include Teresa Palmer as Iggy Starr, Stephanie Hsu as Alma Milan, Winston Duke as Dan Tucker, Matuse as Doone, Adam Dunn as Nigel and Ben Knight as Dressler. There are cameos by Lee Majors, Heather Thomas and Jason Momoa.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

Exclusive Bonus Features include Extended Cut, Gag Reel, Alternative Takes, Stunts: Breaking Down the Action, City Truck Jump/Sidewinder, Garbage Bin, Boat Chase, Car Jump, High Fall, Making a Meta Masterpiece, How to Break a World Record, Nightclub Mayhem, The Art of Doubling, Making METALSTORM, Falling for THE FALL GUY with Bob Reese, and Feature Commentary.

If you are into nostalgia mixed with comedy then this is the film for you. The soundtrack is amazing, especially the scene of Colt lamenting with a Taylor Swift song (All Too Well). From the very beginning, the action is exactly what one would expect from a stunt man. As the story goes along, the comedy is just completely hilarious.

Gosling once again brings in a fun performance that made the film, especially for someone who remembers the 1908’s television series fondly, a walk down nostalgia lane delightful. Blunt brings in the calm in the midst of chaos and at the same time is so darn charming in the process. All of that together makes THE FALL GUY a really good family fun film that calls for pizza or popcorn at the very least on a Friday night! Cheer from start to finish!

In the end – what could possibly go right?

Take a Jump with THE FALL GUY Landing on Digital

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Digital this week from director David Leitch and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the story of a stuntman who is becoming THE FALL GUY.

Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is the stunt double for action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Girlfriend Jody (Emily Blunt) is a camera woman on the picture that they are both working on. Ryder wants an action sequence to be bigger and asks Colt to make it happen. What ends up happening is an accident that ruins a lot of things in Colt’s life.

That is until almost two years later, Colt gets a call from film producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham). She tells him that Jody is the director on another Ryder action film, MetalStorm, and he is wanted on the set to do stunts. He is thrilled because he wants to help Jody with anything she needs, it isn’t until he is on the set that he finds out the truth.

He isn’t there a day before having to deal with ex-girlfriend rage and a disappearing action star. Gail asks Colt to go find him and it isn’t everything he signed up for. Arriving at Ryder’s place, he is sent on a wild goose chase leading him to a hallucinating chase and a body on ice in a hotel room. Trying to understand what is happening, he is chased down by thugs who want Ryder’s phone.

All of that is interfering with his reconnection to Jody and that is setting Colt on edge, especially knowing that the cops are on his case. Colt and Jody come up with a plan that will hold those responsible accountable but not without a few stunts thrown in.

Gosling as Colt comes on with a stuntman swag that had me giggling from the very beginning. What is stellar about Gosling is that he can take on a heavy role and become so entangled in the character that its mesmerizing and with comedy, he has facial expressions that just brings out such fun and it’s fantastic. He did justice to the role of Colt.

Blunt as Jody has her own set of issues feeling like the jilted ex-girlfriend who is taking her frustration out on her film. Blunt gives her character indignation that all jilted girls feel but don’t have a chance to make a sci-fi about it. I just love everything Blunt does no matter if it’s a serious character or comedy, like Gosling, she makes magic happen.

Taylor-Johnson as Ryder is an actor that is full of himself and doesn’t think the rules of anything apply to him. He has everyone on the set on the verge of craziness but has Colt on the verge of being the best stuntman. Waddingham as Gail is a woman who basically spends her time trying to plump up everyone’s ego all while babysitting a straw in a drink of who-knows-what. At the top of her game, she isn’t about to let a stuntman and a girlfriend ruin her kingdom.

Other cast include Teresa Palmer as Iggy Starr, Stephanie Hsu as Alma Milan, Winston Duke as Dan Tucker, Matuse as Doone, Adam Dunn as Nigel and Ben Knight as Dressler. There are cameos by Lee Majors, Heather Thomas and Jason Momoa.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

THE FALL GUY comes with an Extended Cut with an additional twenty-minutes of never-before-seen footage featuring more action, more laughs and more stunts when purchased from Apple TV, Fandango at Home (formerly Vudu), Comcast Xfinity, Cox and Microsoft Movies & TV. The original film is available wherever you rent or buy movies.

If you are into nostalgia mixed with comedy then this is the film for you. The soundtrack is amazing, especially the scene of Colt lamenting with a Taylor Swift song (All Too Well). From the very beginning, the action is exactly what one would expect from a stunt man. As the story goes along, the comedy is just completely hilarious.

Gosling once again brings in a fun performance that made the film, especially for someone who remembers the 1908’s television series fondly, a walk down nostalgia lane delightful. Blunt brings in the calm in the midst of chaos and at the same time is so darn charming in the process. All of that together makes THE FALL GUY a really good family fun film that calls for pizza or popcorn at the very least on a Friday night! Cheer from start to finish!

In the end – what could possibly go right?

He is OPPENHEIMER

 

Jeri Jacquin

On Bluray, DVD and Digital from writer/director Christopher Nolan and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the intense story of our time about a man named OPPENHEIMER.

J. Robert Oppenheimer is a young man in 1926 studying theoretical physics in Germany after transferring from Cambridge. Earning a PhD. he continues to study in Switzerland and takes to quantum physics back in the United States. Marrying biologist Kitty (Emily Blunt) and starting a family, he begins teaching at the University of California at Berkeley.

Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) learns in 1928 that nuclear fission has been discovered and he knows that it can be used as a weapon. A few years later he is approached by Army General Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) and asked to lead the creation of the atomic bomb also called the Manhattan Project. The war with Germany is making the project a priority and Oppenheimer is dealing with an affair with Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh).

Groves says he knows of Oppenheimer’s past but it doesn’t negate the need for the project. So, the team comes together with Isidor Isaac Rabi (David Krumholtz), Edward Teller (Benny Safdie), Enrico Fermi (Danny Deferrari), Leo Szilard (Mate Haumann) and David Hill (Rami Malek) moving them all to Los Alamos, New Mexico. Oppenheimer even consults with Albert Einstein (Tom Conti) but when Hitler’s reign is destroyed, the question of needing the bomb becomes paramount.

President Truman learns that the Trinity test worked and now his eyes are on Japan. What happens after is the U.S. government comes for Oppenheimer starts with AEC Chairman Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey, Jr.) opening up his life book but has personal goals as well. There are hearings and truths that come out and all in an attempt to use Oppenheimer as a scapegoat.

Murphy as Oppenheimer is stunning in this role. From the moment he is on the screen, his character is surrounded by louder voices yet my eyes are focused on Murphy. This is a look at a man who is made to look like a villain and a mad scientist who had no thought about what his creation could do. Instead, Nolan gives us a look at everything and everyone surrounding his life only to discover that the path is not as diabolical as history tried to portray. Murphy is flat out brilliant and that doesn’t seem enough praise for this work.

Blunt as Kitty is woman/wife/mother who had struggles of her own. Seeing her life with Oppenheimer going in one direction, she learns that it had the potential to take away who she was. Knowing her husbands work is important, Blunt’s portrayal of Kitty is of a woman who turned a blind eye to just about everything around her.

Downey, Jr. as Strauss is a man on a mission and it has nothing to do with the United States, it is his own selfish and personal goals. He spends his time trying to convince everyone around him of what is good and evil and when it boils down to it, evil lives close to home. To be clear, I love almost everything Downey, Jr. has ever done on screen and as his career has grown (and past Iron Man – don’t get me started on that or I’ll cry), the role of Strauss was brilliantly cast and Downey, Jr. makes it his very own.

Pugh at Tatlock is a woman who has her own issues and can not seem to let go of Oppenheimer. Pugh gives her character a combination of allure, insecurity and intelligence with more questions about her life than the movie has time to answer.

Other cast include Ronald Auguste as J. Ernest Wilkins Jr., Christopher Denham as Klaus Fuchs, Devon Bostick as Seth Neddermeyer, Trond Fausa as George Kistiakowsky, James Urbaniak as Kurt Godel, Gustaf Skarsgard as Hans Bethe, Josh Peck as Kenneth Bainbridge, Tom Jenkins as Richard C. Tolman, David Rysdahl as Donald Hornig, Jack Quaid as Richard Feynman, Olli Haaskivi as Edward Condon, Louise Lombard as Ruth Tolman, Emma Dumont as Jackie Oppenheimer, Guy Burnet as George Eltenton, Michael Angarano as Robert Seber, Rory Keane as Hartland Snyder, and Alex Wolff as Luis Alvarez.

Also, Josh Zuckerman as Giovanni Lomanitz, Gregory Jbara as Sen. Magnuson, Tim DeKay as Sen. Pastore, Harry Groener as Sen. McGee, John Gowans as Ward Evans, Macon Blair as Lloyd Garrison, Scott Grimes as Counsel Strauss, Jefferson Hall as Haakon Chevalier, Tony Goldwyn as Gordon Gray, Dane DeHaan as Kenneth Nichols, James D’Arcy as Patrick Blackett, Dylan Arnold as Frank Oppenheimer, Casey Affleck as Boris Pash, Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, Jason Clarke as Roger Robb, Casey Affleck as Boris Pash, Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush and Kenneth Branagh as Niels Bohr.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

Special Features include The Story of Our Time: The Making of OPPENHEIMER, Meet the Press Q&A Panel: OPPENHEIMER, To End All War: Oppenheimer & the Atomic Bomb and more!

The cast is so large that it would be impossible to speak on all the performances but know that they are absolutely stellar. I do want to shout out to Conti as Einstein and although he isn’t on the screen much, the moments are important. Also, Branagh as Bohr and again, it is not a huge role but he puts his stamp on the beginning and the end.

Although most viewers may not grasp quantum physics or hydrogen bomb theory etc. (honestly, I can barely do algebra), it is fascinating to see it come to life. It is an actual character to be watched in the film, it is a character that takes up the screen both verbally and physically with only one purpose – to scare the living daylights out of us all.

OPPENHEIMER is one of the best movies of the year and it is intense, jaw dropping, thought-provoking and worthy of conversations. The cinematography is equally all of those things but I would expect nothing less from Nolan. Writing and directing this film means he was totally invested in the outcome and that, my friends, is unique and filled with originality. I can say it’s going to be difficult for Nolan to beat this, but I have a feeling he will.

In the end – the world forever changes!

 

It is the Return of the Iconic LOOPER

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming on 4K Ultra HD, Bluray and Digital from writer/director Rian Johnson and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the 10^th Anniversary since the release of LOOPER.

Kansas City in 2044 and Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works for a crime organization as a looper. Using a looper means one can send an enemy back in time to be disposed of conveniently and this is all run by Abe (Jeff Daniels). There is a little glitch in being a looper because after a certain amount of time – loopers meet themselves to ‘close the loop’.

Now, a man named Seth (Paul Dano) tells Joe that he has failed to close a loop and now everyone is in jeopardy as the Rainmaker wants to take out bosses. The Gat men are now on the hunt for Joe who seems to jump time to avoid being captured. Continually trying to alter history, there is no escape.

Old Joe (Bruce Willis) is affected by everything young Joe does and has memories of everything. When the two meet, Old Joe makes it clear he wants to save his wife and take out the Rainmaker. The only way they can find him is by markings on a map that could tell them everything they need to know.

Joe’s information leads to a farm where Sara (Emily Blunt) lives. She recognizes the numbers as her son Cid’s (Pierce Gagnon) birthday and more importantly the hospital where he was born. Old Joe is going there to do something heinous as another Gat Man comes to the farm where Cid and Joe have to hid.

Sara confesses that she and her son have telekinetic gifts and when put to the test, Cid uses them to save his mother. Old Joe and young Joe have unfinished business and Sara will do everything a mother would to protect her child.

There is only one way out!

Gordon-Levitt as Young Joe gets the opportunity to play opposite another iconic actor as his younger self. When the film was released 10 years ago, I did not think they looked much alike but that did not stop me from enjoying the dance between them. Gordon-Levitt is good at the no-emotion dead stare of his character but there are ‘human’ moments that shine through.

Willis as Old Joe gave us all a look into how he would continue to give us action films. When LOOPER was made, the world already knew he had amazing chops and this film, although still being picked apart by fans, stands firm. Old Joe is a man on a mission, and he does not see the right or wrong in what he is attempting to do and the focus on this actor’s face is everything.

Blunt as Sara is a protective mother who has her own secrets to hide. When young Joe shows up it seems the cat is out of the bag but that does not stop her from pointing a weapon in any face that gets in her way. Gagnon as son Cid has a few tricks up his own sleeve and when push comes to shove, he can cause more mischief than any looper.

Daniels as Abe runs a tight ship and there is not much leeway in what he wants done. He sees what is happening, what is to come and how there is only one option. I just adore Daniels in the choices of roles that are consistently different and pure – well, Daniels. Shout out to Paul Dano, another one of my favorite actors for his epic demise but important contribution to the story!

Other cast includes Noah Segan as Kid Blue, Piper Perabo as Suzie, Summer Qing as Joe’s Wife, Tracie Thomas as Beatrix, Garrett Dillahunt as Jesse, Nick Gomez as Dale and Franke Brennan as Old Seth.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

Bonus Materials include in the 4K Ultra HD Disc are Feature Presentation in 4K Resolution with Dolby Vision, and All-New Director-Approved Dolby Atmos Audio. The Bonus Materials on the Bluray Disc are Feature Presentation in High Definition, Feature Commentary with Director Rain Johnson, Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Emily Blunt, Looper: The Future from Beginning, 22 Deleted Scenes, Scoring Looper, The Science of Time Travel Featurette and Looper Animated Trailer. 

LOOPER is one for the books because, ten years later, still has people asking the question ‘what did I just see?’. It has stood the test of time and is just as fascinating to watch now as it was the first time the film hit theatres.

There were so many twists and turns the first time I saw the film in 2012 that seeing it once again I have caught nuisances that I did not even consider before. The film is still strange, fascinating, unusual and worth every moment of the one hundred- and eighteen-minute running time.

Sony did themselves proud in re-releasing this film making it available to add to everyone’s home entertainment library. There is the discussion of the colliding of these two Joe’s where one wants his riches and the other wants his love and how far each will go to get what they want. Willis and Gordon-Levitt are stellar and allow us all to see the Joe’s go at it.

In the end – hunted by your future and haunted by your past!

Delighting on Bluray is WILD MOUNTAIN THYME

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming from director writer/director John Patrick Shanley and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment comes the story of life and land in WILD MOUNTAIN THYME.

Tony (Christopher Walken) has lived his life on a beautiful plot of land in Ireland with his son Anthony (Jamie Dornan). In the land next to them is Aoife (Dearbhla Molloy) and daughter Rosemary (Emily Blunt) who keeps her heart out for Anthony.

When Anthony learns that his father might be selling the land to him, he is devastated. He also learns that nephew Adam (Jon Hamm) from America is coming for Tony’s birthday and that is who is considered front runner for the land. There is also a piece of land between Tony and Aoife that belongs to Rosemary!

When tragedy hits Rosemary, Tony wonders if his idea of selling the farm is a very good one and Adam returns to New York. When Anthony’s life changes, he suggests to Rosemary that maybe she should go and see the world and leave the farm. She takes off for New York and meets up with Adam and finally sees a dream on stage.

Anthony lets Rosemary know that he believes Adam is looking for a wife. This is where things get pickled as Anthony cares for Rosemary, Rosemary cares for Anthony and Adam will either make or break them or maybe the secrets they have will explain it all!

Blunt as Rosemary is just so dang cute its ridiculous. Of course, everything Blunt has done is amazing to watch so I did not expect this to be any different. As Rosemary, she is a dreamer and the most patient woman I think I have ever heard of. What I love about this character is that she knows there is something keeping them apart and pulls and pulls again believing that even in her dreams there is something to hold on to.

Dornan as Anthony is a painfully shy man who just does not know his worth to himself and those around him. Dornan is so sweet in this role and even the awkwardness of Anthony only makes him more endearing. Practicing a way to reach the point where he can speak to Rosemary, he constantly is being pulled back by his own fears. Playing opposite Walken is the father-son realities that there is a history in every one’s life, even a father.

Hamm as Adam is not happy when Tony keeps him dangling on a string. Returning to New York, he is surprised to see Rosemary again and that is when he wonders if he has what it takes to be an Irish farmer. 

Walken as Anthony is crotchety, pushy and has a goal – to see his son alone no longer. Although his accent gets a little muddled at times, it changes nothing about his performance. There is a scene between father and son that is not only tissue worthy but thumps the heart because it was a moment of pure love between the two.

Other cast includes Jon Tenney as tommy, Danielle Ryan as Maeve, Lydia McGuinness as Eleanor, Abigail Coburn as young Rosemary and Darragh O’Kane as young Anthony.

Bleeker Street is a New York City film company that has brought outstanding films to the public. Their library includes TRUMBO, DENIAL, THE LOST CITY OF Z, BEIRUT, HOTEL MUMBAI, ORDINARY LOVE and THE ROADS NOT TAKEN. For more information on the titles from Bleeker Street please visit www.bleeckerstreetmedia.com.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.

WILD MOUNTAIN THYME is the kind of film that I adore during a stressful time. It is set in the glorious green of Ireland with vast open land, animals and streams. There is something wonderful just seeing that scenery mixed with something we do not see a lot of in Southern California – rainstorms!

This is a story of generational families and stories that are not told until time has its way. Watching Walken play Dornan’s father is full of emotion, bold, brassy and loud emotion. In case anyone is wondering if Irish families are like that, well, my grandmother’s side certainly was and is. Outspoken, vocal, and no nonsense were the order of the day in her household. That in itself made me laugh at the film watching Blunt be everything I saw in my own grandmother.

It is also a story of love and longing by two people who have such different dreams yet have known each other since childhood. Even then, a fence did not stop them from consistently being pulled toward one another because everything they did not say are the things that could have brought them together sooner. Isn’t that how we all are?

Grab your own love, cuddle up with a huge comfy blanket on a fluffy sofa and be whisked away to Ireland and cheer on the couple who wants what you have – minus the fence.

In the end – there is nothing more dangerous than an Irish woman in love!

WILD MOUNTAIN THYME

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming soon from director writer/director John Patrick Shanley and Bleeker Street comes the story of life and land in WILD MOUNTAIN THYME.

Tony (Christopher Walken) has lived his life on a beautiful plot of land in Ireland with his son Anthony (Jamie Dornan). In the land next to them is Aoife (Dearbhla Molloy) and daughter Rosemary (Emily Blunt) who keeps her heart out for Anthony.

When Anthony learns that his father might be selling the land to him, he is devastated. He also learns that nephew Adam (Jon Hamm) from America is coming for Tony’s birthday and that is who is considered front runner for the land. There is also a piece of land between Tony and Aoife that belongs to Rosemary!

Tragedy hits Rosemary, Tony wonders if his idea of selling the farm is a very good one and Adam returns to New York. When Anthony’s life changes, he suggests to Rosemary that maybe she should go and see the world and leave the farm. She takes off for New York and meets up with Adam and finally sees a dream on stage.

Anthony lets Rosemary know that he believes Adam is looking for a wife. This is where things get pickled as Anthony cares for Rosemary, Rosemary cares for Anthony and Adam will either make or break them or maybe the secrets they have will explain it all!

Blunt as Rosemary is just so dang cute its ridiculous. Of course, everything Blunt has done is amazing to watch so I did not expect this to be any different. As Rosemary, she is a dreamer and the most patient woman I think I have ever heard of. What I love about this character is that she knows there is something keeping them apart and pulls and pulls again believing that even in her dreams there is something to hold on to.

Dornan as Anthony is a painfully shy man who just does not know his worth to himself and those around him. Dornan is so sweet in this role and even the awkwardness of Anthony only makes him more endearing. Practicing a way to reach the point where he can speak to Rosemary, he constantly is being pulled back by his own fears. Playing opposite Walken is the father-son realities that there is a history in every one’s life, even a father.

Hamm as Adam is not happy when Tony keeps him dangling on a string. Returning to New York, he is surprised to see Rosemary again and that is when he wonders if he has what it takes to be an Irish farmer.  

Walken as Anthony is crotchety, pushy and has a goal – to see his son alone no longer. Although his accent gets a little muddled at times, it changes nothing about his performance. There is a scene between father and son that is not only tissue worthy but thumps the heart because it was a moment of pure love between the two.

Other cast includes Jon Tenney as tommy, Danielle Ryan as Maeve, Lydia McGuinness as Eleanor, Abigail Coburn as young Rosemary and Darragh O’Kane as young Anthony.

Bleeker Street is a New York City film company that has brought outstanding films to the public. Their library includes TRUMBO, DENIAL, THE LOST CITY OF Z, BEIRUT, HOTEL MUMBAI, ORDINARY LOVE and THE ROADS NOT TAKEN. For more information on the titles from Bleeker Street please visit www.bleeckerstreetmedia.com.

WILD MOUNTAIN THYME is the kind of film that I adore during a stressful time. It is set in the glorious green of Ireland with vast open land, animals and streams. There is something wonderful just seeing that scenery mixed with something we do not see a lot of in Southern California – rainstorms!

This is a story of generational families and stories that are not told until time has its way. Watching Walken play Dornan’s father is full of emotion, bold, brassy and loud emotion. In case anyone is wondering if Irish families are like that, well, my grandmother’s side certainly was and is. Outspoken, vocal, and no nonsense were the order of the day in her household. That in itself made me laugh at the film watching Blunt be everything I saw in my own grandmother.

It is also a story of love and longing by two people who have such different dreams yet have known each other since childhood. Even then, a fence did not stop them from consistently being pulled toward one another because everything they did not say are the things that could have brought them together sooner. Isn’t that how we all are?

Grab your own love, cuddle up with a huge comfy blanket on a fluffy sofa and be whisked away to Ireland and cheer on the couple who wants what you have – minus the fence.

In the end – there is nothing more dangerous than an Irish woman in love!

Disney’s MARY POPPINS RETURNS Lands Down on Bluray

Jeri Jacquin

On Bluray/DVD and Digital from Walt Disney Home Entertainment comes our favorite Nanny as MARY POPPINS RETURNS.

Back in 1930s London, Michael Banks (Ben Whishaw) is living with his three children Annabell (Pixie Davies), John (Nathanael Saleh) and Georgie (Joel Dawson) after the passing of his wife. Sister Jane (Emily Mortimer) visits the childhood home regularly and living a busy life.

The Fidelity Fiduciary Bank is back with a new chairman in Weatherall Wilkins (Colin Firth) who is in their lives as Michael has borrowed money and the Banks family is being threatened with repossession of the family home. Remembering that their father left them shares, the two go through the attic to desperately find them – instead they find a kite but Michael throws it away.

Annabel, John and Georgie find the kite and decide to take it to the park. That is where they meet a very straight forward and no-nonsense nanny named Mary Poppins (Emily Blunt) who takes the children home. Much to the surprise of Michael and Jane, Mary Poppins announces she is taking charge of the children.

That gives Michael time to go and look for the shares but Wilkins is no help. That’s when Annabel and John get the idea to sell something of their mother’s hoping it will help pay off the debt. Georgie has an accident and Mary enlists the help of her friend Jack (Lin-Manuel Miranda) as they set off on an adventure to fix the bowl.

When that doesn’t work, Mary takes the children to visit Topsy (Meryl Streep) who tells them the bowl won’t help their problem. The children decide to go straight to Wilkins to ask for help only to discover what is really going on.

The family learns that it only takes a moment to turn back time but will it be enough to save their iconic home?

Blunt as Mary Poppins is charming and looks like she is having an amazing time. To me that’s important when you are taking on such an iconic character. It is good to see those shoes back in the house on Cherry Tree Lane and Blunt makes sure that we remember every minute of the return.

Whishaw as Michael is now raising his own children in the house of his childhood. It makes the transition for those of us who remember everything from 1964. Dealing with the bank is such an adult issue but then again it is nothing new to Michael. Mortimer as Jane has much of her mother’s women empowerment issues but doesn’t forget where they came from as children.

Davies, Saleh and Dawson as the new Banks children have some big shoes to fill and they do it quite nicely thank you very much. They are charming, sweet, funny and have hearts as big as their father and aunt. There isn’t anything they won’t do for their family and with Mary Poppins’ help, they are about to prove it.

Firth as Wilkins has the wonderful ability to be absolutely sympathetic on one hand (and be believable about it) and in the next breath he is as horrible as he wants to be – all while grinning with no shame. Streep as Topsy is very funny and of course she has the pipes to pull off any song you put in front of her.

Miranda as Jack gets a chance to be the next generation chimney sweet as well as “Jack” of all trades. He fits in with his soot laden face and dancing on the London night cobblestone streets with all of his friends – including Mary Poppins.

Shout out to Julie Walters as Ellen because I have adored her since first seeing her in the 1983 film EDUCATING RITA. She is a chameleon and there isn’t a role she has done that I am not enthralled with. As Ellen she is hilarious!

It must be said, this film could NOT have been any more endearing without Dick Van Dyke who just made me absolutely giddy. Returning as Dawes was the smartest thing Disney could have done allowing us slightly older movie lovers to embrace someone who still dances in paintings that are drawn on our hearts.

Other cast include Julie Walters as Ellen, David Warner as Admiral Boom, Jim Norton as Mr. Binnacle, Jeremy Swift as Hamilton Gooding, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Templeton Frye, Angela Lansbury as the Balloon Lady, Noma Dumezweni as Miss Penny Farthing, Sudha Bhuchar as Miss Lark, Tarik Frimpong as Angus and Dick Van Dyke as Mr. Dawes Jr.

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment began distributing under its own label in 1980 and continues to bring quality programming to kids and kids at heart. Home of the most beloved animated features including SNOW WHITE, PINOCCHIO and SLEEPING BEAUTY to name a few is what keeps families coming back for more. To see what is currently available to add to your own family library please visit. www.movies.disney.com for their At Home titles!

The Bluray Bonus Extras contain over an hour of Bonus Including a Sing-Along Edition Deleted Song: The Anthropomorphic Zoo, Bloopers, The Practically Perfect Making of MARY POPPINS RETURNS, Deleted Scenes and so much more!

MARY POPPINS RETURNS is absolutely a must have on Bluray to sit right next to the 1964 original MARY POPPINS. You can have both, love both and binge watch both with what I think could be three or four generations of family members loving every moment.

MARY POPPINS RETURNS is colorful, musical, fun, animated and everything we would expect not only from Disney but from Mary Poppins’ herself.

In the end – in a place we hold dear where wonder once lived…soon from above, a new story begins – again!

Monsters Test Your Ability to Live in A QUIET PLACE

Jeri Jacquin

Silently making its way into theatres this Friday from director John Krasinski via storytellers Bryan Woods and Scott Beck is Paramount Pictures directions to A QUIET PLACE.

Living in a world built on survival by being silent, Lee (John Krasinski) and wife Evelyn (Emily Blunt) along with sons Beau (Cade Woodward), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and daughter Regan (Millicent Simmons) are in a drugstore looking for medications. Young son Beau sees a toy he wants but Dad Lee explains that it makes noise. He does this by use of sign language as Regan is deaf.

The whole family communicates now using sign language because the creatures that hunt them have uber hearing and any sound will bring them within seconds. On the way home to their farm there is an incident that changes the family and makes survival even harder. Evelyn is pregnant and the family finds clever ways to prepare for the new arrival.

Lee takes Marcus out with him to find food and Regan isn't happy that she isn't asked to go. Feeling that her father doesn’t care about her, she takes off down the road. Evelyn is alone taking care of the house when the first sign that the baby is coming and a cry out brings the creatures. She has only moments to send a signal to the others that there is danger and it all sends each in another direction trying to redirect the creatures.

From the house to the field, they each use what they have learned to try and save one another from the creatures that can't see but most certainly can hear ... every ... sound.

Krasinski as Lee is a man who is continually trying to find ways to keep his family safe. When there is a moment to breathe, he is working on a way to help his daughter or showing Marcus how to survive in the creature infested world. Blunt as Evelyn is in total Mom-mode and certainly takes a quiet childbirth to a whole new level. This is not the world she ever intended for her children to live in but knows it's the one they now must survive in.

Simmonds as Regan deals with this world a little differently than the rest of the family. She doesn't hear the screeching and the loud presence of the creatures but knows what they are capable of. Jupe as Marcus is rightfully petrified of the creatures but his father teaches him what he needs to survive and a secret that might just have given him more courage than he imagined he had for such a young kid.

So, A QUIET PLACE is truly scary in the sense that there are only fractions of moments where you hear the actors actually speak, the rest is sign language and pure adrenaline with every bit of acting on the faces of the characters. I absolutely loved every second of watching this cast because of that very reason.

I loved jumping, actually yelled and didn't realize it was me that yelled, held my breath and didn't realize I was doing it, and felt amazingly sad for this family. The storyline doesn't start out with any explanation as to what happened leaving that to the newspaper headlines that are about in Lee's workshop which means my mind was free to fill in the blanks.

This is actually a yarn spun in such a way that I was intrigued when the film first sent out the trailers. A film done mostly in silence? Wow, I knew then it was a film I had to see for myself. The audience for the screening was totally into every moment of the film and I had an extra jump as the lady next to me grabbed my arm! The scariest part of the film is actually seeing the fears that are totally believable by everyone in the audience unfold on the screen.

Let me make it clear - I would not survive in a silent world purely because, as I learned during the teen years, trying to be quiet meant the pressure to make that happen would definitely produce noise (just ask my sister Ellen!). That being said I also cringed at ever little creak, every little muffled sound and held my breath with every footstep the family took. That's what makes an amazing movie going experience - when you unknowingly become physically invested.

The story didn't give me a moment’s peace and I couldn't work on my bag of popcorn because I didn't want to be jumped by any creatures! In the midst of all the silence and insane creepy creatures - the writers and director Krasinski manages a moment of beauty between Lee and Evelyn and it made my heart melt. Of course I had to snap out of that quickly and walking out of the theatre my first thought was that I wanted to see A QUIET PLACE again.

John Krasinski took the story by Woods and Beck and directed right where it needs to be, straight into our fears. Well played sir, well played.

In the end - if they can hear you they can hunt you!