Into the Blu

The release of just about every Disney animated film on Blu-ray is eagerly anticipated, especially the old classic films. As far as this writer is concerned, the folks at Disney set the bar real high when it comes to their older venerated catalog with the simply stellar release of Pinocchio earlier this year. An even more eagerly awaited release is the classic film Snow White, which underwent a total restoration as did Pinocchio in preparation for its release on Blu-ray. Well, Snow White has finally arrived on Blu-ray. Was it worth the wait? Will it meet or possibly even exceed the quality of the Pinocchio release? Continue Reading

As I am sure anyone could glean from my prior review of the Star Trek films on Blu-ray, I am a real Star Trek fan, although I won’t go so far as to consider myself a Trekker or Trekkie or whatever the current nomenclature is these days. However, I am old enough to have watched all 3 seasons of the original series that ran on TV in the 1960′s and then again in syndication and loved when the first few films made it to the big screen. Continue Reading

When Wrong Turn came out in 2003 I really didn’t know what to think, I mean here was a film pretty much named after a street sign. I often wonder if the idea of calling it “Wrong Way” or “U-Turn” ever crossed their minds LOL. I actually also remember going to the movie theater back in 03 to see Wrong Turn on opening day. I still remember that film today, 6 years later, so to say the least it must have been half-way decent. So when I got a call to see if I wanted to review Wrong Turn on Blu-ray I of course jumped on the chance to revisit the film, be it from curiosity alone. Continue Reading

September 29, 2009 Releases…

• Monsters vs. Aliens
• The Wizard of Oz (70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition)
• The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)
• Labyrinth
• The Dark Crystal
• How I Met Your Mother: Season Four
• Snakes on a Plane
• Management
• The Unit: Season Four
• Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
• The Universe Seasons 1-3
• The Universe: The Complete Season Three
• Steve Vai – Where the Wild Things Are
• Screwballs
• The New York Ripper
• The Girlfriend Experience
• Burst Angel: The Complete Collection
• Fireproof
• Rob Thomas – Live at Red Rocks
• Facing the Giants
• Billy Jack
• Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

I can’t really say that I was all that familiar with the X-Men comic book prior to the first film coming out. I had heard about the comic but never really had the inclination to read it. I guess I am told old to read comics anyway. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the first two X-Men films. Perhaps it was helpful that I could watch the films with a clean slate and not be biased in any way based on the comic’s long history, second guessing the plot and character development. While I enjoyed the first two films, I thought that the third was really dreadful. It was with interest that I waited for the fourth installment in the X-Men film library, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Unfortunately, I found this film to be even less worthwhile than the prior film, X-Men: The last Stand. Continue Reading

The fairly new (to the big screen) British director Toby Wilkins brings us yet another low budget horror film, which to say the least has not been my cup of tea as of late. I can argue this a thousand times over but the blunt reality of the situation is horror is a dying breed, but a breed that I love nonetheless. Sure it’s been a long while since there has been a truly remarkable horror film but along the way there have been a few worth watching. Thus far I have heard nothing but decent things about Splinter, which is said to be one of the top horror films of 2008. With a cast of acceptable B-Listers including Paulo Costanzo and Jill Wagner we can only hope for some decent thrills and chills with Splinter. Continue Reading

September 22, 2009 Releases…

• Star Trek: The Next Generation Motion Picture Collection
• Star Trek The Original Series: Season Two
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles – The Complete Second Season
• Shaun of the Dead
• Hot Fuzz
• Observe and Report
• Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
• Battle for Terra
• Streets of Blood
• Clive Barker’s Book of Blood
• Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection
• The Complete Monterey Pop Festival- Criterion Collection
• Pierrot Le Fou – Criterion Collection
• The Haunted World of El Superbeasto
• Scooby-Doo: The Mystery Begins
• Godzilla, King of the Monsters
• Lymelife
• Adam Resurrected
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek VIII: First Contact

So I’ve had this film sitting in my review queue for some time now.  Strange Wilderness, brought to us from Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison Productions, had served its time waiting in line behind my other film reviews.  I knew nothing of this film other than two thumbs down from a co-worker.  Just how strange is the wilderness?  Was it as bad as I heard?  Lace up your hiking boots and grab some film.  We’re headed into the wild! Continue Reading

Back in June, Paramount announced their new line of Sapphire Series Blu-ray releases. The Sapphire Series promised the best films and the best possible picture and audio quality, making these editions the finest version of each film ever released on a home video format. The first two releases announced were the testosterone filed epic adventures Braveheart and Gladiator. I was finally able to snag a copy of Braveheart and couldn’t wait to see if this transfer lived up to the hype. Thankfully, it did! Continue Reading

It may be hard to believe with the plethora of HD channels available now via DBS, cable cos and telecos, but there was a time during the first two years of HD broadcasts that there was almost no HD programming available to watch. There was only one HD cable channel, HBO, and the major broadcast networks, some of which had maybe one show in HD available each day or, in the case of PBS, ran nothing but a loop hour after hour. Even worse was Fox, which at the beginning, didn’t think that HD was even necessary, broadcasting in 480p widescreen which they believed the viewing audience would find to be good enough. Needless to say, those of us who were very early adopters of HD, were hungry for almost any kind of HD programming and would watch shows that we normally might not have given a second thought to just because they were in HD. Continue Reading

Nature documentaries and Blu-ray go together like peanut butter and jelly or macaroni and cheese. In this humble writer’s opinion, the two best nature documentaries on Blu-ray to date are Planet Earth and Galapagos, both produced by the BBC, which feature some compelling storytelling and above all else, stunning video presentations. Now along comes another nature documentary showing great promise, Earth. Snappy title huh? While Earth is released by Disneynature, it is a co-production with the BBC and the Discovery channel along with Green Light Media. Given this pedigree, it will be interesting to see how Earth stacks up against the best. Continue Reading

September 15, 2009 Releases…

• X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• Army of Darkness (Screwhead Edition)
• The Hannibal Lecter Anthology
• My Name Is Earl: Season 4
• Van Helsing
• An American Werewolf in London (Full Moon Edition)
• Deep Impact
• Hero
• Amadeus (Director’s Cut)
• Easy Virtue
• Wrong Turn
• Wrong Turn 2 – Dead End
• The Legend of Drunken Master
• Grace
• Camille
• Sex, Lies, and Videotape
• Varsity Blues
• Iron Monkey
• Crash: Season 1
• The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi