Into the Blu

In light of my name, I thought a review of a film entitled Whip It would be a natural. I had never heard of the film before and only knew that it starred Ellen Page and involved Roller Derby, a “sport” that I thought had disappeared from view long ago. You never know about these things as every now and then a film comes up that takes you totally by surprise with how entertaining it is. Whip It is just such a film. Continue Reading

Pride & Prejudice is one of my wife’s favorite books and one of the best looking films ever released on the ill-fated HD DVD format. I loved the cinematography in the film and the VC-1 encode was simply fantastic. This is one of the Universal films that I eagerly waited for release on Blu-ray. Well, without much in the way of fanfare, Pride & Prejudice has finally found its way to Blu-ray and I, for one, am glad it has Continue Reading

Making a very popular book into a film is more often times than not, a very tricky business. An author may devote several pages to rather minute detail that is important to the story that just can’t be translated to the screen very easily. The same is true for some plot twists which have to be dropped due to time constraints that just don’t exist with the printed page. However, when the subtle details and minor plot lines are dropped, the flow of the story and our understanding of the characters is often changed, more often than not, to the detriment to our enjoyment of the film. Continue Reading

In advance of reviewing JCVD, I had heard mostly positive things, especially about the acting of our eponymous hero, Jean-Claude Van Damme.  Although not expecting Shakespeare or high art, when the Blu-ray cover screams “He deserves not a black belt, but an Oscar” (this from a reputable source), one cannot help but be excited.  After all, we all enjoy seeing an actor surprise us with previously unseen ability and depth.  And what better character is there for any actor to play other than a caricatured version of themself? Continue Reading

Tarantino’s epic spaghetti western set within World War II has been in pre-production since before the Kill Bill movies, due to the fact Tarantino wanted to make sure the script was perfect. He considered it his masterpiece and reworked the story over the course of over a decade. Through many rewrites and various casting changes the film was released in 2009.

Did it live up to the hype? Continue Reading

Wow, has it really been 20 years since The Simpsons has been on the air? I can still remember when the Simpsons appeared as a regular short feature on the old Tracy Ullman show before the folks at Fox decided to make it into a 30 minute show. Now into their 21st season (and still going strong), The Simpsons 20th season has now made its way to Blu-ray and is the subject of today’s review. Continue Reading

One of my favorite memories of when the VHS format gave way to DVD was when a great list of catalog titles were re-released on DVD, and usually at an extremely attractive price.  Not only did it allow the collector to quickly build a collection, it also gave them the benefits of higher quality audio and video of movies they loved. Continue Reading

There is something strangely appealing about teen horror movies, though I am unsure if this appeal is from nostalgia for my teen years, or an admiration for the humorous and creative ways the movie characters die.

Regardless, when watching a teen horror movie, I expect to laugh out loud, remark on the stupidity of at least one of the lead characters, be disgusted by at least one “gut explosion”, and enjoy the requisite topless scene.  On all counts, “The Final Destination” did not disappoint. Continue Reading

Needless to say, the death of Michael Jackson created a media maelstrom. It didn’t take long before the rumors and rampant speculation began over the cause of his death. Had he been ill? Were drugs the cause? If so, what kind? One couldn’t turn on the TV without finding coverage of his death. The only way to escape it was the keep the TV off, or so it seemed. Continue Reading

After Arnold Schwarzenegger was greeted with tremendous success outside of the action genre with comedies like Twins and Kindergarten Cop, it only seemed natural for Sylvester Stallone to follow suit. The results were two of the most unpopular films of his career; Oscar and Stop! Or my Mom will shoot. Playing it safe Stallone returned to his comfort zone with Cliffhanger, a film he co-wrote, that was directed by Renny Harlin, the man behind Die Hard 2. Was it a return to form for Stallone? Continue Reading

Approaching a skateboard documentary such as Dogtown & Z-Boys without a prior knowledge (or interested) of skateboarding made me curious. Being a somewhat neutral viewer, would I still find the documentary interesting? Would it be filled with references that non-skaters would not understand? Overall, is it a well made documentary? Continue Reading

When I first saw the new artwork for the Blu-ray of Near Dark it was reminiscent of a certain vampire romance saga that is currently sweeping the nation… I was immediately taken back, I began questioning my memory. When I first saw Near Dark all those years ago, it wasn’t some sappy romantic vampire film… It was a dark and awesome. Continue Reading