Into the Blu

Movie trailers can be very deceiving. Far too often, you see a trailer at the theater and think, wow, that looks like an interesting film, only to find that the film sucks. Every now and then, a great trailer turns into a great film. The converse is also often true, a bad trailer proceeds a bad film.  Such is the case with the subject of today’s review… Cop Out. Continue Reading

I can’t say that I have ever been a big fan of action films based upon early Greek mythology. Lord knows, I find the mythology fascinating and the sites in antiquity devoted to them incredibly interesting and must sees, belonging on anyone’s bucket list. It is just that the films made on the subject have been totally lame, for want of a better word. Unfortunately, the film that is the subject matter of today’s review, Clash of the Titans, is just another in a long list of weak and mindless films based upon this otherwise interesting subject matter. Continue Reading

We’re given two very different horror films in this double feature, one is a nineties slasher film that seems to emulate the formulas of the many slasher films of its time, whereas Otis seems to be an indie film that tries to be as different as possible. Unfortunately as it happens so many times, do these films’ reach exceeds their grasps?

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Harry Callahan is the forefathers of the modern action genre and in this double feature collection we’re given two sequels to the original classic that kickstarted the action/cop genre. Although the sequels can’t compare to the original Dirty Harry, how do Sudden Impact & The Enforcer stack up as a double feature.

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July 27th, 2010 Releases…

• Clash of the Titans
• Repo Men
• Rambo (Extended Cut)
• Batman: Under the Red Hood
• Ip Man (Collector’s Edition)
• Stargate Universe – SGU: Season 1.5
• Rambo: The Complete Collector’s Set
• Operation: Endgame
• Johnny Handsome
• The Secret of the Grain (Criterion Collection)

For my fifth movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected The Twelve Chairs, Mr. Brooks’ movie adaptation of an Old Russian folk tale.  This is a fairly obscure film, and one I likely would not have watched if it had not been a part of this collection.

As Mr. Brooks’ second directing effort (his first being the conspicuously absent The Producers), it would be interesting to see what his later work evolved from, and how much his early work was influenced by others.  Did the movie deserve its obscure status, or was it worthy of more attention as part of the Mel Brooks legacy? Continue Reading

During the various debates on the issue of torture and its effectiveness in eliciting useful information to prevent impending terrorist attacks, the question of the ticking time bomb was often raised. Would you torture to prevent the the use of a nuclear bomb in an American city? Well, that is the central issue raised in the film that is the subject of this review, the suspense thriller Unthinkable. Continue Reading

July 20th, 2010 Releases…

• The Losers
• Cop Out
• The Runaways
• The Red Shoes (Criterion Collection)
• Black Narcissus (Criterion Collection)
• Just Another Day
• Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne: The Complete Series
• Being Human: Season 1
• Cats & Dogs
• Tin Man

Sometimes you have to kill to do good things. That statement from General Pang in a nutshell summarizes the film The Warlords that is the subject of today’s review. The Warlords was recently featured on HDNet and HDNet Movies and I was curious to see whether the Blu-ray release of the film would be a significant upgrade in terms of picture and sound quality over the prior cable presentation. Continue Reading

July 13th, 2010 Releases…

• The Bounty Hunter
• Insomnia
• Chloe
• In Bruges
• Greenberg
• White Collar: The Complete First Season
• Our Family Wedding
• Parasomnia
• Middle of Nowhere
• Caught in the Crossfire

For my fourth movie in my review of the Mel Brooks Collection, I selected High Anxiety, Mr. Brooks’ loving spoof of Alfred Hitchcock movies.  Although I admire Mr. Hitchcock’s work, I can honestly admit it has been a few decades since I last saw one of his films (The Birds).

One challenge I anticipated with High Anxiety is that certain subjects like murder and suspense do not work well in comedy (like in Have you Heard About the Morgans).  Truly, the only way to make a thriller work with humour is to go way, way, way over the top, much like in the Police Squad series of movies.

However, my pleasant surprise at the quality of To Be Or Not To Be left me with some anticipation that this movie may also surprise me with its wit and charm. Continue Reading

Rambo, Rambo: The Extended Cut, Rambo IV,John Rambo or whatever you want to call it is Sylvester Stallone’s follow-up, some 20 years later, to the successful Rambo franchise of the 80’s.  Unlike its predecessor, this film kicks a$$ in all four of my major action/war critical requirements: realism/believability, brutality, heart pounding action sequences and satisfying necessary emotional ties.  However, this time around, Lionsgate provides us Blu-ray customers with an alternate Director’s Cut version of what many peeps may call Stallone’s best entry into the franchise since the original film. Did we really need another cut of the successful 2008 film or should the question simply be did the fans really want another version?  I can’t speak for everyone, but in the case of the last question my answer would be a loud hell yeah, bring it on!  But perhaps the real question here is whether this new Extended Cut is really better than the theatrical presentation?  That was the firs thing that was on my mind as I sat down to watch/review this Blu-ray disc.  So give me a few minutes of your time and I will give you my two cents on this important issue/debate. Continue Reading