Into the Blu

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 have always found The Green Hornet to be the most overlooked of the comic book action heros and one that was in desperate need for an updating. Given the recent incredible (both commercially and artistically) of the Batman movie franchise, it seemed to me The Green Hornet would be a natural as the two heroes had a lot in common thematically, namely Super heroes that were not really “super” and who were misunderstood by the general public. However, as films, there is a huge difference. Batman had a genius behind the camera, Christopher Nolan, with a real vision about how to bring the comic book to life, whereas, The Green Hornet has Seth Rogan. Not exactly a fair fight! Continue Reading

It’s really easy to spot a bad movie when you see one. One of the easiest things to spot is when a movie gets a direct-to-video sequel. Does S.W.A.T. Firefight break the mold or is simply cash grab with the S.W.A.T. moniker to try and increase revenue?

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There is an old saying in sports that the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. It is used to describe a team that is better than the collective talents of the players would otherwise lead you to believe. The opposite is also true, as the team with the best talent doesn’t always win. This old sports cliche came to mind when thinking about the film that is the subject of this review, The Tourist. After all, it stars two of the biggest stars in film, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. It is set in two of the most romantic and glamorous cities in the world, Paris and Venice. It therefore has to be superb, right? Well, not quite. Continue Reading

In the sports world, one often hears that a team is greater than the sum of its parts, that is, the team is better as a unit than the individual talents of the players would have lead you to believe with team chemistry and the ability to work well together being the key elements to such success. In the movie business on the other hand, the opposite is too often true with the whole being is lesser than the sum of its parts would have lead you to believe. Usually a good story concept and even a good cast is undone by poor execution. Such is the case with the movie that is up for review, Takers. Continue Reading

It seems like Adam Sandler has pretty well given up on his vintage comedy style. With Happy Gilmore and Billy Madison over a decade old it appears like a whole new generation doesn’t know the Adam Sandler of Saturday Night Live and slapstick comedies like the aforementioned titles. Instead he’s done a plethora of family style comedies; Bedtime Stories, Click, Spanglish, etc. Initially I was hoping that Grown Ups would reunite a group of classic SNL alumni and be a laugh riot; do they come through? Starring Kevin James, Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider the expectations are really high. Continue Reading

I guess it is due to the fact that I am now what you might call middle aged (you know, too old to be young but not old enough to be really old), I can’t say that the though of another teen comedy had all that much appeal to me. However, I had to admit that the idea of a John Hughes style teen comedy crossed with a classic piece of literature, i.e. The Scarlet Letter, did sound interesting. The subject of that interesting cross pollination is the subject of this review, the highly entertaining Easy A. Continue Reading

There are some films that sound great on paper, with an interesting cast and story line that just don’t translate well to the screen. The story behind Coco Chanel & Igor Stavinsky sure sounded interesting, involving an affair between two compelling figures from the 20th Century. The question is, would it translate well to the screen? Despite some critical success, I would have to say, no. Continue Reading

Every winter, especially ones as rough as this past one, you are bouyed by the thought that Spring is just around the corner when you hear that it is time for pitchers and catchers to report to spring training. As a kid, I just couldn’t wait for the start of spring training and the start of the baseball season. In fact, I still can’t. With the season now upon us, what better film can there be to make its debut on Blu-ray than The Natural, which is the subject of today’s review. Continue Reading

The original The Stepfather was an early favorite of mine, featuring an amazing performance by Terry O’ Quinn as a man struggling to find the perfect family. He is so determined in his quest that he has no problem killing anyone who stands in his way. I heard news of a remake awhile ago and was rather discouraged by the news, especially after I heard it was being made by the same people, director Nelson McCormick and writer J.S. Cardone, who brought us last year’s unremarkable and ultimately forgettable Prom Night remake. Still, I decided to watch it with an open mind.

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As I may have mentioned in previous reviews, I feel chills up and down my spine when the official wife of this movie reviewer picks up a disc and says “This looks good!”  As an eternal lover of formulatic movies (especially rom-coms), the official wife’s tastes are diametrically different than mine. 

Worst part is, this movie stars two of my least favourite actors in the world.  Sarah Jessica Parker (she of the huge head) always seems to play high strung, loud and needy characters.  I avoid these people like the plague in real life.  And although Hugh Grant appears to be a genial sort, is there any discernable difference between any of the different characters he has played in a number of different rom-coms?

So, in reviewing this movie, I had a few challenges in front of me.  I needed to watch the whole movie, stay awake, go in to it with an open mind, and not loudly predict what was going to happen (or face censure from the official wife). Continue Reading

The old joke about The History channel was that the H stood for Hitler, as it seemed that every time you turned on the channel, there was a show about World War II. Recently, the History Channel has changed its focus, from actual history to what I will charitably refer to as pseudo-history. One of the staples of that “pseudo-history” is the fixation with end of the world prophecies, and in particular, the claim that the Mayan calender ends on 12/21/2102 and that somehow, this fact portends the end of the world. Continue Reading