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The absolutely stunning Kubo and the Two Strings is a powerful home video experience, but loses us in its uneven storytelling. Review by Matt Cummings If 2016 has proven one thing, it's that the chasm of truly terrible film has never been larger. It's as if mainstream Hollywood dug itself a hole under the false impression that crap sells merely because their marketing acumen relieves all ills. So when a modestly-disappointing film arrives, we're almost ready to award it something for not failing. That's the case with Universal's Kubo and the Two Strings , an amazing visual experience surrounded by a story that almost gets it right. The home release fares much better, delivering superior audio and video, as well as a satisfying set of extras. The Movie - 3.5/5 Having been saved by his mother (voiced by Charlize Theron) from the grips of his evil twin aunts and grandfather, Kubo (Art Patkinson) has grown up with an amazing magical talent: he can mani

The gorgeous-looking The Secret Life of Pets feels strangely familiar, but is entirely adorable. Review by Matt Cummings As a pet owner and failed foster parent to three kittens (my wife and I actually kept all three), it goes without saying that my curiosity in The Secret Life of Pets went far above the cinematography, the animation, or really anything else. I just wanted to see what pets do - and think about - while their overlord oppressor goes to work. And while strangely familiar to the original Toy Story , this one more than makes up for it in cuteness and spectacular animation. The home release sports excellent video, audio, and a near-perfect set of extras, minus no director commentary. The Movie - 4/5 Among the hustle and bustle of New York City, the pets who reside with their owners are supposed to live docile, predictable lives: eat and sleep, repeat as necessary. But for Max (voiced by Louis C.K.), he's the king of his domain and apartment complex. He

Sometimes, as the saying goes, you have to roll a hard six. Universal is doing just that with a movie version of Battlestar Galactica , a prospect that’s been bubbling under for some years and, according to Deadline, is finally coming together. Lisa Joy, writer on HBO’s new take on Westworld, is on board to write it with The Hunger Games ’ Francis Lawrence likely to direct. Battlestar Galactica, as devotees of the Ronald D. Moore’s seminal remake series will know, follows the survivors of a human civilisation through the outer reaches of space as they attempt to evade a Cylon fleet hellbent on exterminating them to reach a new home. Originally the brainchild of Glen A. Larson in the late ‘70s, its most recent incarnation offered powerful allegories about post-9/11 America, the erosion of civil liberties and cloning, not to mention some frackin’ epic space battles with Cylon toasters. Expect any movie version worth its salt to offer plenty more. There’s been plenty of other atte

Universal's gigantic dinosaur moneymaker arrives at home just in time to bore us. Review by Matt Cummings If you had come to me in December of 2014 with news that Jurassic World would be (up to this point) the largest moneymaker of 2015, I would have sicked my rapacious cats on you. Better than Age of Ultron ? Furious 7 ? And what about Mad Max: Fury Road ? While all better films, World somehow entered the zietgiest, eventually taking in an astonishing $651.7m domestically and shattering long-held records across the board. With its release onto Blu-ray this week, there's still little reasoning behind such an impressive performance, even with an amazing audio and video transfer. The Movie - 3.5/5 After the disastrous events of Isla Nubar in Jurassic Park , the island is more like Disneyland now, replete with happy genetically-spliced dinosaurs of every kind, creating a safe (if almost homogeneous) experience, with children riding mini-Triceratops and a Sea

According to THR Ari Sandel , who made his directorial debut with The DUFF , is coming on board to direct Monster High , Universal’s adaptation of the popular Mattel toy line. The studio has been developing the project since 2009 with, among others, producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage and their Fake Empire shingle. The two also worked on the screenplay (the initial writers were Alfred Gough and Miles Millar). It is, however, the first time it’s had a director in play, with Sandel in negotiations to helm. The female-skewing property focuses on the spawn of famous monsters including Dracula, Frankenstein and the Wolfman (Draculaura, Frankie Stein and Clawdeen Wolf, respectively) undergoing the trials and tribulations of high school. High is not just toys but involves animated movies, video games, apps, among other games and activities. Mattel’s Playground Productions is executive producing. Sandel has proven to have a light touch with teen-oriented material not only w

Filled with high-octane stunts and likable additions, Furious 7 roars to a tearful tribute. Review by Matt Cummings WARNING: This review contains SPOILERS. Review by Matt Cummings When Furious 7 arrived in theaters on April 3, 2015 it was unclear whether audiences would accept the inevitable: that Actor Paul Walker - who tragically died in 2013 - would no longer grace this lucrative franchise. Would the film, delayed almost a year as it was re-shot, bring a satisfying conclusion to Walker's Brian O'Conner story arc? Based on its incredible success out-of-the-gate success, the answer was an emphatic yes. Whether it's the best of the series is open to debate, but as it arrives on Blu-ray it's clear that Universal commands the field, with one of the best looking and sounding affairs of the year. The Movie - 4/5 With Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) defeated in London, Team Furious doesn't realize that Shaw's meaner brother Deckard (Jason Statham) h

Universal revised its opening figure up as the musical biopic grabbed a big slice of the audience. Turns out that Straight Outta Compton did even better at the North American box office this weekend than Universal originally estimated. While the studio predicted a weekend box office of $56.1 million on Sunday morning, on Monday it revised that number to a whopping $60.2 million. The film opened to $24.1 million on Friday, including its Thursday night screenings; it corralled $19.3 million on Saturday and took in an extra $16.8 million on Sunday. The film now stands as the fifth best August opening ever, narrowly surpassing M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs, which opened to $60.1 million in 2002. Universal’s R-rated Compton, the biopic about the groundbreaking hip-hop group N.W.A, produced for just $29 million, posted a best-ever opening for its director F. Gary Gray. It also overshadowed other rap movies like Eminem’s 8 Mile, which bowed to $51.2 million in 2002 and Notorious, the

This week's episode of Inside the Bucket is online! Revel in the digital mastery! In a highly-contentious superhero throwdown, Inside the Bucket brings together Matt, Brandon, and SandwichJohn as they break down the best movie and television news from our website SANDWICHJOHNFILMS.COM with all the style of a bull and full of greasy attitude. The show kicks off with our news segment, as the trio discuss several stories from the past week, including news on Josh Trank’s comments on Fantastic Four , Sony Pictures reveals film slate through 2017, Universal Pictures box office record, and the Red/Green Band Trailers for Deadpool . They discuss a very surprising weekend box office, as well as discuss three Blu-rays releasing this week. And then things turn ugly. The boys break down their Rants and Raves as they bitch and complain about all the things they're watching, following, and are generally pissed off about from the past week. Matt also gives short reviews

Jurassic 5 opens June 22, 2018. By Brandon Wolfe Given its record-breaking runaway success, Universal is not about to allow another 14 years to pass before heading back to Dinoland, as the studio has carved out a June 22, 2018 release date for the follow-up to Jurassic World . Director Colin Trevorrow will write the script for the next installment, but will not return to the director's chair. However, stars Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will be booking their return engagements. Jurassic World now stands as the third-highest grossing film in history, worldwide. Currently, nothing else is set for that date in June 2018, but that May will bring Avengers: Infinity War Part I , The Lego Movie Sequel and the Han Solo solo film . What this ultimately means is that Chris Pratt will be ruling Hollywood for years to come. Discuss this story with fellow SJF fans on Facebook . On Twitter, follow us at @SandwichJohnFilms , and follow author Brandon Wolfe at @BrandonTheWolfe .

Say hello to my little friend — again. According to THR , Universal is moving forward with its Scarface remake and has tapped Straight Outta Compton writer Jonathan Herman to do the rewrite. Paul Attanasio and David Ayer wrote previous drafts of the film, which will be a new and original take on the immigrant story, which spawned films in 1932 and 1983. The 1983 version, which was released by Universal, tells the story of Cuban refugee Tony Montana ( Al Pacino ) who arrives in 1980s Miami with nothing and rises up to become a powerful drug kingpin. That film made the expression, "Say hello to my little friend," one of the most iconic lines in cinema. The new film will be set in Los Angeles and explore an immigrant's rise in the criminal underworld. Herman has become a go-to writer at Universal, having penned the Straight Outta Compton draft that received the green light from the studio. He is currently in development on The Demonologist and The Birds remake at

So far, Universal has largely left it to director Colin Trevorrow to keep the hype machine churning for Jurassic World by premiering teaser imagery on his Twitter feed. He’s back with a new official poster, one designed to fire straight at the nostalgia centre of your brain with a simple display of the logo. The tagline, “ The Park is open ” ties in nicely with the plot of this new film. Set years after Steven Spielberg’s original, the attraction is now up and running. While it has been hugely successful, the place and its dino inhabitants have actually become a little less than thrilling for today’s blasé audiences. Naturally, the island's bosses decide to come up with something exciting and new. Which goes badly for everyone, with the running and screaming... Expect a lot of new dino-action this time around, a healthy set of nods to the past and plenty of practical effects work in among the flashier digital tricks. With Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Nick

Episode #12 of Inside the Bucket is online! Revel in the digital majesty by clicking below.   Join Matt and John in their weekend descent into the hell known as INSIDE THE BUCKET.  This week, the boys are joined by Sue Lukenbaugh from MUSELED.COM as she just tries to survive seeing two grown men nude doing a podcast.  They start with news about Star Wars VII and Star Trek 3 which is featured at our site   SANDWICHJOHNFILMS.COM .  Then, they rant and rave about  Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  as well as review the list of all network renewals.  Finally, they review  Neighbors , starring Seth Rogan, Rose Byrne, Zac Effron, Dave Franco.  Please check out all the links to the stories we covered in today's podcast. We want to wish every mother out there a Happy Mother's Day - dudes, do NOT take mom to see  300: Rise of an Empire , but do think about  Captain America: The Winter Solider.   Thanks to everyone for your continued support, and we'll see you at one of our scr

Elizabeth Banks is set to make her directing debut in the upcoming Pitch Perfect sequel, EW has confirmed. “Elizabeth originated the idea for Pitch Perfect and was instrumental in making the first film such a huge success,” said Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley in a release. “She brings an enormous amount of energy and experience to everything she works on and we’re thrilled that she is making her feature directorial debut on Pitch Perfect 2 .” Banks, who co-starred and produced the original, will continue with those roles as well in the sequel to the hit 2012 musical comedy. Although no casting announcements have been announced, The Hollywood Reporter quotes insiders saying that Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson are likely to return. No plot information for Pitch Perfect 2 has been released, but the script will be written by Kay Cannon, the original screenwriter. Please Leave A Comment-

Universal announced at its CinemaCon presentation today that it plans to produce a Pitch Perfect sequel that would hit theaters sometime in 2015. The reveal doesn’t come as too much of a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention. Pitch Perfect earned $112 million worldwide against a slight $17 million budget, and in the months since its theatrical run, it has kept hitting new high notes. According to Universal, the film has earned over $90 million across all home market platforms, and it currently stands as the studio’s third highest-grossing VOD title ever behind blockbusters Ted and Bridesmaids. On top of that, the Pitch Perfect soundtrack has sold over 636,000 copies and spawned a hit single — complete with its own music video – with Anna Kendrick’s “Cups.” Kay Cannon, who penned Pitch Perfect , will write the screenplay for the sequel, but no other cast or crew have been revealed as of yet. Still, given the cast’s recent MTV Movie Awards reunion (which, notably, exclude

Ever since Universal announced during CES 2012 that it would deliver many of its classic films on Blu-ray this year as part of a centennial celebration, we've been keeping a careful eye out for news regarding Steven Spielberg's classic E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial . While we still don't know the release date, price or if it will contain the changes made in the 2002 edition of the flick, Universal posted a trailer for the Blu-ray  that confirmed a digital remastering from the 35MM film, 7.1 surround sound and "hours of bonus features". Additionally, forum posters on Blu-ray.com have noticed this (probably not final) box art appearing on Amazon UK recently. After waiting for word since a new distribution deal brought the flick back to Universal in 2008, a few months of silence hasn't broken us, but hopefully more details appear soon. The best guess still sees the 30th Anniversary release hitting store shelves in time for the holidays (likely after Jaws, which is

Universal has won a bidding war to pick up The Disciple Program , a thriller script that has Mark Wahlberg attached to star. Morten Tyldum, who directed the Swedish thriller Headhunters, is attached to direct the project, which was written by newcomer Tyler Marceca. The screenplay centers on a man who begins an investigation into his wife’s mysterious death, only to find that the mystery goes much deeper than he imagined. Wahlberg and Steve Levinson are producing. The real story here is Marceca. An unsigned writer from Brooklyn, he wrote ten pages as part of a screenwriting contest run by The Writer’s Store. He later completed the script and submitted it to an online script review site called Script Shadow. In most cases, the site features scripts that are already making the rounds throughout Hollywood. Disciple Program came out of left field and in February became the only amateur screenplay to reach the site’s top-ten list. That caused a veritable feeding frenzy at the

Looks like someone at Universal took a gander at Sony re-booting the Spider-Man franchise after the last outing in 2007 and thought both, ‘Hhm… maybe we should tap that reboot reservoir...’ and, ‘Pah! 2007? Lightweights. We’ll up the ante and relaunch something that last saw cinemas in 2008!’ Hence today’s announcement that the studio has decided to reboot The Mummy . The producers – including franchise veteran Sean Daniel – have decided that Prometheus co-writer Jon Spaihts is the man to dust off Imhotep and give him a new coat of sand and evil. "I see it as the sort of opportunity I had with Prometheus: to go back to a franchise's roots in dark, scary source material and simultaneously open it up to an epic scale we haven't seen before," Spaihts tells Variety. Stephen Sommers brought Universal's veteran Egyptian troublemaker back to life in 1999, after a classic Boris Karloff effort back in 1932 and a few remakes / spin-offs in the 1940s. Sommers cast Bren

Taylor Kitsch To Set Sail In A Battleship Taylor Kitsch, will play the lead in the upcoming adaptation of the Hasbro board game "Battleship."  Kitsch would be playing a Naval commander named Alex Hopper, described as "wildly spirited" and "a great seaman but a lousy politician." Pete Berg is directing the action adventure movie, whose story has drawn heat from some quarters for adding an "alien invasion" element to what has been traditionally seen as a grounded Naval game. A little about  Kitsch he was a key actor in TV's "Friday Night Lights" to playing superhero Gambit in "Wolverine." Please Leave A Comment- Source- THR

"War of Gods" To Star Twilight's Kellan Lutz If you live on another planet then just maybe you have no idea who Kellen Lutz is, he is one of the stars in the Twilight series and plays Emmett Cullen.  He will be playing Poseidon in the upcoming film "War Of Gods." The film is a Greek myth fantasy film that centers on the conflict between the Greek gods and the elder gods known as the Titans, whose king, Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), is on a murderous rampage across Greece.  Jason Keller worked on the most recent draft of the screenplay, which also was worked on by Christian Gudegast and Charley and Vlas Parlapanides. Lutz also stars in the upcoming remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Please Leave A Comment- Source- THR