When I was asked if I wanted a review copy of the film $5 A Day, I initially thought no as I had never heard of the film before. Then I looked into the film a bit and saw that it had some buzz at some independent film festivals. The story seemed interesting and the cast excellent. Given all of this and the fact that the film was directed by Nigel Cole, I thought, what the heck, give it a look. I am glad I did. Read the full story

I must say that I find it amazing that a modest sci-fi movie hit from 1994 has spawned now three television series, from the original Stargate SG-1 to Stargate Atlantis to the subject of today’s review Stargate Universe. While I enjoyed the original film, I can’t say that I was a huge fan of SG-1 and have not liked Stargate Atlantis at all. How will Stargate Universe stack up against the prior two series? For yours truly, it is easily the best of the bunch and well worth a look. Read the full story

There is no question that animated films have universally looked great on Blu-ray, whether they be computer based animation such as the Pixar films, hand drawn films or stop action animation. Unfortunately, the subject of this review, James and the Giant Peach is an exception to this general rule. Read the full story

Of the top three baseball based films of all time, only 2 have made their way to Blu-ray, Field of Dreams and The Natural, at least until now. While I love both of these films, the very best baseball themed film is Bull Durham, which fortunately, was finally released on Blu-ray this week. While I was more than pleased with the look and sound of The Natural, Field of Dreams was another matter altogether and was a disappointment in the video department. Would Bull Durham prove to be more like The Natural or more like Field of Dreams. Unfortunately, the Blu-ray release of Bull Durham is as disappointing as Field of Dreams. Read the full story

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. Read the full story

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. Read the full story

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. Read the full story

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. Read the full story

One of the benefits of doing reviews of Blu-ray releases is being exposed to films that I would otherwise not otherwise have the chance to see. This can be a bit of a double edge sword as for every little gem of a film I see, I have to experience other films that I wished I would have been able to avoid. The subject of this review, A Single Man, is one of the films that I probably would not have had the chance to see were it not for the opportunity to do this review. Would I find it to be one of those little undiscovered gems or would I be lamenting the loss of the two hours taken up in viewing the film? Read the full story

Most of us are probably only aware of Leo Tolstoy as the author of War and Peace. I know I was not aware of the long and at times turbulent 58 year marriage to his wife Sofya and the political intrigue surrounding the last period of his life. Such a rich story line along with the typical Russian intrigue, has the makings of a great film. Does The Last Station deliver on its promise? Read the full story

The packaging for a home video release can often be very telling, especially the movie reviewer quotes that are on the package. Generally, the few the quotes, the worse the film. Another rule of thumb is whether you have ever heard of the reviewers before. When there are only one or two short quotes from reviewers who are not exactly household names, well, look out. Even worse is when one of the actors in the film is not listed in the credits. Well all are in play with the release that is the subject of this review, When in Rome. Would it prove to be an exception to these rules of thumb? Read the full story

There are some shall I call them “suspense thrillers” that are good for only one viewing. Once you know the ending and how the plot twists are resolved, the film is spoiled for subsequent viewing. There are other suspense thrillers that are great no matter how many times you view them as you are continually pulled into the narrative by superior film making, whether you know the ending or not. One of the latter types of suspense thrillers is the subject of this review, The Illusionist. Read the full story

Maybe it is just me but there seems to be a preoccupation with what I will call end of days philosophy in today’s media, whether it be books, TV shows or movies. It seems that every time I turn on the History Channel, there is some sort of show on about the Mayan calendar ending in 2012 or the predictions of Nostradamus about the end of the world or a show about a comet blasting life as we know it on the Earth right out of existence. While some of it can be thought provoking or even entertaining, most of it is hogwash. I bring this up as the film which is the subject of today’s review, The Book of Eli, fits it with the category of end of days media, as it deals with the aftermath of an apocalyptic war that almost destroyed life on Earth. Does the film rate as thought provoking, entertaining or just mere hogwash? Read the full story

With the World Cup starting this week in South Africa, I thought i appropriate to get back into the swing of things with a review of a film that is centered around another World Cup that occurred in South Africa, the Rugby World Cup in 1995 which was much much more that a sporting match and which helped reunite a county that had been torn by racial violence. That film is Invictus. Read the full story

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? Read the full story

There is no question that many in the UK as well as the US find the British Royal Family fascinating. This is true whether it is the present group of royals or those from days gone by. There are certainly enough films dealing with latter, with two very compelling films about Queen Elizabeth I staring Kate Blanchett coming easily to mind. When most of us thinks about Britain’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Victoria, we think of the staid old Queen Victoria, not the vibrant young Victoria which almost seems to have disappeared from the pages of history, at least from the pages of movie history. Into that void comes the film aptly titled The Young Victoria starring Emily Blunt as Victoria and Rupert Friend as Prince Albert which just so happens to be the subject of today’s review. Read the full story

Opportunities lost. I kept coming back to that concept in my head as I watched the subject of this review, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. The film certainly features and interesting and compelling lead character and some excellent acting performances but in the end falls die to the film;s script and direction. it is too bad as there is a kernel of a find film here. Read the full story