Confession time.  Yes, I am old enough that I saw National Lampoon’s Vacation at a real life movie theatre.  If memory serves correct, it was at the Garrick Theatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and I had orange soda shoot out of my nose when laughing at the hilarious adventures of the Griswolds and their Travel Queen Family Truckster.  Vacation is one of those rare movies that still appeals as much to me today as it did when I was younger. Read the full story

Half a century ago seems like a long time; but it was around that time that one of Hollywood’s most gifted and eccentric directors was in his prime; making classic films that would set the stage for today’s filmmakers. Alfred Hitchcock was one the kind of director that doesn’t really exist anymore; similar to Orson Welles, his films were carefully crafted masterpieces that were so layered that even today there are countless books and websites dedicated to analyzing his works. North by Northwest was screenwriter, Ernest Lehman’s attempt to create the Hitchcock picture to end all Hitchcock pictures, did he succeed? Read the full story

The Duke has made his way to Blu-ray.  The John Wayne classic The Green Berets recently hit store shelves on Blu-ray disc, which for many, was a long awaited arrival.  It’s a positive thing to see studios focusing not only on current films, but those from the past as well.  Let’s not waste any more time on an introduction and find out the verdict on John Wayne in 1080p! Read the full story

Two Girls and a Guy is a 1997 independent comedy starring Robert Downey Jr. and Heather Graham, it focuses on love, lust, trust and everything in between in modern relationships.

It tries to examine and reflect on some sort of universal truths about new age relationships. However with an ambitious script and the expectations that come with a pitch like that, if done poorly the film just has a higher height to fall from… Let’s see what happens. Read the full story

There are movies that are timeless for their ability to touch audiences over the generations, regardless of the time period in which they were made. These films have several things in common, including a great script, a perfect cast and a message that inspires hope and inspiration. One of these films is Miracle on 34th Street, which made its debut in theaters in 1947 and is making its high def debut on Blu-ray this month. Read the full story

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. Read the full story

Life magazine once hailed Quo Vadis as “The most genuinely colossal movie you are likely to see for the rest of your lives.”  Having always been partial toward epics and period pieces, I must say, the thought of 30,000 live extras certainly sounded colossal.  With films such as Gladiator, Troy, and Braveheart already a part of my permanent collection; it would be interesting to see whether Quo Vadis could withstand the test of time, and match up against the use of modern day CGI in films.  Read the full story

In the realm of classic musicals such as An American in Paris (a previous review of mine), next on the critique agenda was Gigi.  Released in 1958, Gigi has been billed as “A stylish triumph from start to finish,” but can it withstand the test of time and the transfer to Blu-ray?  Let’s find out. Read the full story

Friday the 13^th is one of the most memorable franchises in horror, there no doubt about that. While the first film didn’t even include the now famous Jason Voorhees, we learnt that his psychopathic mother had a blood lust on camp councillors. In Part 2 we are introduced to the infamous Jason who brutally ends the lives of a group of young adults. While all character developments and interesting back stories were covered in the first two films, we aren’t left with much for Part 3, other than a barrage of pointless murders… sounds good to me!  Released in 1982 Paramount didn’t waste any time shooting out these sequels (the first film being released in 1980), but the public was falling in love with the psychopath and the series quickly became a cult favorite. Read the full story

There are some very memorable horror movies from my childhood, and the years before and since. When I think of villains of these movies amongst Chucky, Mike Meyers, and Freddy Krueger there is of course one name that is synonymous with brutal murders and horrifying chases, Jason Voorhees.  In fact when I was a kid I was afraid of going near the water in the fear that Jason would emerge, just as we were left at the conclusion of Friday the 13^th. So it goes without saying that the series is creepy, and has a lasting effect on its audiences. But I’d hardly call it debatable that the series tapered downhill after its initial film (as is the case with most sequels) but at which point does it really decline? Some could say that Friday the 13^th Part 2 is where it all begins, because we are first introduced to the real villain, Jason. So where does Part 2 rank in the midst of a long line of Friday the 13^th sequels? Read the full story

I am not a fan of musicals.  That’s my pessimistic intro and when I found out I would be reviewing An American in Paris, I was apprehensive but moved forward with an open mind.  After all, it does star Hollywood legend Gene Kelly.  Growing up, I remember my mom frequently watching musicals such as The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Oklahoma! and Meet Me in St. Louis.  Meanwhile, my dad was listening to Black Sabbath and Lynard Skynard.  I drifted toward the latter.  Guys in cowboy hats smiling and singing in a circle just didn’t do it for me.  Open mind, here I come.  Let’s review the classic musical, An American in Paris. Read the full story

I really hadn’t recognized the historical significance of the film, The Robe, prior to its release on Blu-ray. Oh, I knew it was an important film alright, but generally thought of it as the film that appeared all chopped up and panned and scanned on TV each December as Christmas approached. Read the full story

One of the benefits of being able to review Blu-Ray discs is that you are often exposed to very good films that you not have otherwise been aware of. Getting to the theater with kids can often be difficult, so the ability to view films with high def video and lossless audio at home can be a wonderful experience. However, for every great title you get to enjoy, you have to sit through a few clunkers. I guess you have to take the bad with the good. Vanishing Point is the type of film that I would likely not get the chance to view were it not for the review process. The question is, whether it will prove to be one of those nuggets that I am happy to have come across or one of the clunkers. Read the full story

Looking back over the last twenty or even thirty years of horror films, we’ve been on a downward slope with the occasional spike of decency. In a market filled with remakes, blood and guts, and redundancy, there’s a bit of solace thinking back on movies like The Omen. An undeniable favorite in the Christian end times corner of the horror universe. Packaged along with Richard Donner’s classic are two sequels and a remake, will they follow the overall downward trend? Or are we going to see a spike, maybe even a spark in inventive and horrific film making? Read the full story

I have only seen a handful of Paul Newman films in my lifetime. Most of the films I have watched were more from the 80’s and 90’s. The one film I found the most enjoyment from was The Color of Money. As I have mentioned many times before in my reviews, I don’t have the most experience with films prior to 1970. They have never been my cup of tea. I had vowed to have an open mind about things when they pertain to older films. So, going into the viewing of Cool Hand Luke, I had no idea of what to expect. Read the full story

In many cases, you won’t find Jack Nicholson in a role that is bad. He is an actor who can play just about any part thrown at him and make it his own. He has been President in Mars Attacks, a crazed out writer in The Shining and in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Jack as McMurphy, a petty thief, hits a homerun easily in one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. Read the full story

I have seen plenty of Clint Eastwood films throughout my lifetime. I have always been a fan of his although I have yet to watch any of his Westerns, aside from The Unforgiven. Eastwood, for most of his career, has been the typical bad ass who you didn’t want to meet up with if you were doing something wrong. In Dirty Harry, Eastwood’s character was the trend setter of what movie cops were to become; the loaner who does things his own way regardless if anyone else likes it or not. Read the full story