Into the Blu

Lisbeth Salander has been returned from near death but, while recovering in hospital, she is charged with murder. She must rely on her former lover, reporter Mikael Blomkvist to help investigate and hopefully unravel the truth behind the enormous political cover up that has pinned Salander falsely. Continue Reading

I cant say that I am a fan of extended edition films. Normally, the film as exhibited in the theater was the best version of the film. Extended material which is usually from the cutting room floor, was there for a darn good reason and really was better left unseen. It kind of reminds me of a poor answer to a college essay exam where you don’t really have a clear vision of what the answer should be, so you just regurgitate everything that you can recall about the particular subject of the question in the hopes that you hit upon just enough to get some credit. Continue Reading

I know that I have commented a few times in the past that there is really precious little in the way of original material coming out of Hollywood these days. I don’t know if it is the result of a brain drought or due to the economy, with film makers and their financial backers only willing to make or finance films that are based on tried and true formulas. Hence, copies of prior successful films seem to be what we are left with these days. The only real originality these days seems to be what for lack of a better term I will call combo films as opposed to the combo pack so common these days with Blu-ray releases. A combo film is one that combines two or more successful films into one which can lead to a mildly entertaining result. Such is the case with the subject of this review Battle: Los Angeles. Continue Reading

I had seen the trailer for Unknown and thought that it looked rather interesting. Clearly, Liam Neeson has become something of an action suspense stars what with his riveting performance in Wanted in a role that is rather similar to the one he has in Unknown. While I was intrigued by the story line for the film as revealed in the trailer, I was quite surprised by the film, which while keeping one’s attention for a time , is nothing more than a remake of another film, set in Berlin rather than on Mars. Continue Reading

I can’t say that I am all that familiar with the Sheryl Crow catalog and have never seen her live in concert. However, what I have heard on record, a little as it has been, I have liked, from her debut hit All I Wanna Do (has it really been 17 years, Holy Cow Batman!) to the other hit I am familiar with, Strong Enough. So, when I got the chance to get a copy of her latest concert release on Blu-ray, I figured I would give it a look to check out more of her music and her live chops. Continue Reading

With all the so-called “Bieber-fever” going on, it was inevitable that the token feature film would debut. Here it is, 104 minutes of fan service for those still fawning over his one and only album (no remixes and acoustic version don’t count in this case). Continue Reading

Being a very big Bill Nighy fan I was excited to see Wild Target in my review discs. Albeit I’d never heard of this flick, which is always a bit disconcerting because there could be a reason for this, however there are quite a few talented people involved so I decided to keep my expectations up. How’d the film fare?

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The live action Scooby-Doo franchise always felt fine where it was, they were silly films that captured the slapstick humor, mysterious monsters and overall tone of the classic cartoon… So when I found out that they’ve rebooted the series with a direct-to-video prequel with a completely new and unheard of cast I was a bit weary… How’d it pan out?

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People often comment tome when they find out that I do some Blu-ray movie reviews that it must be great to be able to see all those films. Yes, it can be great to see the films, more times than not before they are available for sale. However, that can be a bit of a double edged sword in that for every really good film, I have to watch many terrible films as well. However, one benefit is the exposure I receive to smaller, less known films that would never have otherwise come to my attention that are fully worthy of a larger audience. One such film is the subject of this review, The Way Back. Continue Reading

When it comes to films produced by Michael Bay, I can’t say that I really expect all that much in the terms of quality. You know, a quality screenplay, quality dialogue and character development. There are plenty of quality special effects, CGI and wiz bang sound effects, but not that much else. If you have seen Transformers or even worse, Transformers 2, you know the score. I was therefore expecting more of the same when the subject of this review, I Am Number Four, showed up on my doorstep. While not directed by Michael Bay, would I Am Number Four follow the Michael Bay playbook? Continue Reading

An Education is a critical darling of the previous Oscar season that features a major breakout role for lead Carey Mulligan, who received no less than 24 major acting award nominations for her performance. More a loss-of-innocence story than coming-of-age (which it is sometimes marketed as), this makes for a great character film. Continue Reading

I was surprised when I saw Jackass 3 on store shelves when it wasn’t released in 3D, considering the industry is hoisting 3D up as a savior for staggering box office performances I would assume that they would try and take that same approach with home media release. I’m guessing they’re going to wait a while and release the 3D Blu-ray down the road… So is the film worthwhile without the extra dimension?

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