Into the Blu

Normally in my opening paragraph, I discuss my impressions of the film, possibly rekindle some old memories, and leave the reader with a question about the worthiness of the movie.  In my review for Shutter Island I am skipping this pretense.  If you like psychological thrillers with a touch of the supernatural, go buy this movie.  If you appreciate a haunting score that is as much a character as the actors, go buy this movie.  If you love to see films that are not made, but instead crafted, go buy this movie. Continue Reading

I always find family movies a bit of a challenge to watch.  As a grown-up, I don’t find certain things as interesting as kids do.  Conversely, I’m sure my kids wouldn’t find the societal subtext in A Clockwork Orange all that compelling.  They’d likely run screaming from the room, or sit bug-eyed with jaws agape.

This being said, I can at least watch a movie and determine if it is safe for parents to let their kids watch, and if it’s something the parents can stomach for the 90 minutes they’d maybe want to spend watching it with their kids.

At first blush, this film doesn’t look too promising.  It has an anthromorphized animal, Bindi Irwin (yes, Bindi the Jungle Girl, daughter of the late Steve Irwin), and a surprisingly slim Beau Bridges.  It is also the fourth film in a series that should have only been one movie long, and was direct-to-video.  So, can this movie rise above this dubious pedigree?  Continue Reading

One of my most cherished Christmas presents as an adolescent was a boxed set of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.  To the fertile mind of a 12-year old, these were the best books ever, igniting a life long affinity for fantasy literature.  What made the books even more special is the prose used allowed a reader to form strong visions in their own mind of the characters, places, and action contained therein.

After reading the books, I was excited to discover that an animated version of the book existed, and lobbied hard to get my buddies to rent it when we were having a movie night.  And after we all sat back and viewed the movie, we looked at each other with the same expression on our faces: “What in heck was that?”

So the question is, after 28 years of watching various forms of animation, have I gained a new appreciation for Ralph Bakshi’s labor of love?  Does being on Blu-ray make the movie any better? Continue Reading

BBC is synonymous with groundbreaking documentaries, with Planet Earth being the ultimate example of riveting documenting and beautiful cinematography. Wild Pacific is produced by Planet Earth’s producer Huw Cordey, which brings along some expectation. Does Wild Pacific bode well in comparison to its big brother, Planet Earth?

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May 25h, 2010 Releases…

• True Blood: The Complete Second Season
• Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
• The Road
• Spartacus
• Dear John
• Stagecoach (Criterion Collection)
• Babysitter Wanted
• Flashbacks Of A Fool
• Tell Tale
• The Shortcut

May 18th, 2010 Releases…

• Invictus
• Valentine’s Day
• Extraordinary Measures
• The Messenger
• Walkabout (Criterion Collection)
• The Spy Next Door
• Outlander
• Carlito’s Way
• The New Daughter
• 9 Songs

The first Alvin & the Chipmunks film was a surprise blockbuster, especially to me. I remembered watching the cartoon as a child and then when they announced a live action film, I immediately thought that it was way too late. Who would want to watch these archaic characters? Flash forward to today, where I received copy of the blockbuster ‘s ‘squeakquel’… I decided to give it a shot, was I wrong to immediately put down the chipmunk trio?

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In the early 1980’s, I used to help my Dad do the off-hours cleaning of a major electronics store, with payment for my services being that I could play all the Atari 2600 I wanted.  Unfortunately, some days all of the Atari cartridges were locked up, and I was forced to find other diversions in the store.  This led me to the A/V department, and the original RCA Selectavision Video Disc player.

Although Star Wars IV was always my favourite, one day I found Escape from New York in my favourite Selectavision player.  I was suitably impressed (as most 14-year olds are) with the post apocalyptic artwork on the cover, so on went the player, and into my memory went one of my favourite movie memories of my preteen life. Continue Reading

It has been since 2002 that Mel Gibson has had a starring role in a film. Rather than disappearing from view. Mr. Gibson has been active behind the camera. producing and directing two notable and controversial films Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto. However, Mel Gibson decided to make a return to the silver screen in the subject of today’s review Edge of Darkness. Mr. Gibson had previously indicated publicly that he would only return to the screen for a film that had an incredible script. Given that he has chosen Edge of Darkness as his returning vehicle, one can only assume that he thought it to be just such a script? Was he right? Continue Reading

When The Relic originally came out in theaters I was too young to go and see it at my local multiplex. I wanted to see it desperately because I had been a very big fan of the book on which it was based.  I don’t remember how, but I eventually ended up getting a VHS copy of it about a year later from a friend. It was obviously poorly copied because the sound was distorted and the picture was wavy. In fact, sometimes the picture was so completely warped at all you couldn`t tell what was happening at all. It was more like listening to an old radio show than watching a movie, but no word of a lie I probably watched that VHS five or six times.  Peter Hyams did the book justice and directs a very exciting contemporary monster movie, and even though I heard more of it than I saw, when I was 14 I though this movie was awesome. After all of these years, getting a chance to go back and review this movie on Blu-ray was a very pleasant surprise.

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When Elektra, a spin-off from 2003’s Daredevil, was first announced so many years ago my heart filled with overwhelming anticipation.  Back then; I guess you could say I had a small crush on Jennifer Garner.  She was, after all, in prime physical form for her hit TV series Alias, not to mention that sexy vixen outfit that adorned her promiscuous curves opposite Ben Affleck in 2003’s Daredevil.  So I guess you could say that I was looking forward to seeing her fill that uniform once again and kick some ninja clan a$$. There was only one small problem.  Didn’t she die in Daredevil?  How would they ever bring her back?  Inquiring minds wanted to know.  I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I laid awake contemplating this.  It was horrible. Continue Reading

May 11th, 2010 Releases…

• Legion
• Edge of Darkness
• Daybreakers
• The Karate Kid I & II
• The Magnificent Seven Collection
• Celine: Through the Eyes of the World
• M (Criterion Collection)
• History of the World Part 1
• The Man In the Iron Mask
• Marked for Death