As a fan of animation, I’ve never been quite sure what to make of the newer stylistic animations coming from the DC Studios.  Part Totally Spies and part Akira, this style shares some familiarity with anime, yet has a more modern look, with especially strong styling for certain characters (like Batman).

Therefore, I was quite intrigued to receive a copy of Batman: Under the Red Hood, as this would give me an excellent opportunity to review a full length movie from DC.  Batman has been one of my favourites since childhood, and I was very curious to see if DC is continuing with the gritty modern-day Batman, or has reverted (at least in animation) to the somewhat lighter 70’s version. Read the full story

With the new Predators film in theatres now trying to reboot the franchise and bring the series into a more respectable light after the AVP failure, we are given the film that started it all on Blu-ray. Does it hold up well after all these years or do we need to wait for Predators to come out in order to see our favorite Stan Winston monster in all its Blu-ray glory? Read the full story

To say that I was not looking forward to the April 16^th theatrical release date of Kick-Ass would be like saying that I would rather watch a DVD of my favorite film over its superior Blu-ray counterpart.  It’s just not going to happen.  And now that my number four film of the year is coming out on Blu-ray August 3^rd, I have even more reason to celebrate.  My obsession with this film happened way back on the magical date of July 24, 2009.  It was on that very day, within Hall H at Comic-Con 2009 in San Diego, that I was introduced to the world of Kick-Ass. I never wore a grin so large in life as compared to when we, the captive audience within Hall H, were treated to not only the film’s Red Band trailer, but also exclusive clips highlighting the mayhem and action of the eccentric cast.  Weird thing is, the film had no distribution deal as of yet.  It was shown first at Comic-Con to gauge the public’s interest.  And if memory serves me correct, the panel even got a standing ovation by the end of its time slot.  Not long after, Lionsgate, one of my favorite movie studios sealed the deal to distribute Kick-Ass nationwide.  And that was a great day indeed.  Sadly, Nicolas Cage was absent from the 2009 Comic-Con panel, but this girl (see below), Chloe Moretz (aka Hit-Girl), won the audience over with not only her youth and innocence, but also her, for lack of a better term, “kick-ass” action sequences.  I’m a firm believer that Kick-Ass would not be half the film it is without Hit-Girl.  I think she will be an actress people will need to pay close attention to over the next few years.  Trust me on that (Let Me In). 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

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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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

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. Read the full story

Marked for Death was made at the peak of Steven Seagal’s popularity. The year it was released, it was one of 20^th Century Fox’s top grossing films next to Home Alone. It may not be Seagal’s best film, but looking back I remember it having its moments. However, after 20 years, does it still hold up?

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One evening  I came across Undisputed III in a video store and passed by it quickly for it simply didn’t look like anything that interested me, the sticker on the front cover boasts about an award the film won for best fight choreography and the fact that it’s a second direct-to-video sequel of a mediocre  2002 Wesley Snipes flick. Having to review it definitely is interesting for it allows me to figure out if I should judge a book by its cover… Was I wrong to judge?

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Brian G. Hutton made two very different world war ii movies in the late sixties/early seventies starring Clint Eastwood. Both of which are the subject of this review and have been recently released as a double feature Blu-ray for us to enjoy. Having enjoyed both films in the past and seeing the lack of worthwhile double feature Blu-ray’s out, Kelly’s Heroes & Where Eagles Dare have the potential to fill the void.  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

In the early 1980’s, I used to help my Dad do the off-hours cleaning of a major electronics store, with payment for my services being that I could play all the Atari 2600 I wanted.  Unfortunately, some days all of the Atari cartridges were locked up, and I was forced to find other diversions in the store.  This led me to the A/V department, and the original RCA Selectavision Video Disc player.

Although Star Wars IV was always my favourite, one day I found Escape from New York in my favourite Selectavision player.  I was suitably impressed (as most 14-year olds are) with the post apocalyptic artwork on the cover, so on went the player, and into my memory went one of my favourite movie memories of my preteen life. Read the full story

When Elektra, a spin-off from 2003’s Daredevil, was first announced so many years ago my heart filled with overwhelming anticipation.  Back then; I guess you could say I had a small crush on Jennifer Garner.  She was, after all, in prime physical form for her hit TV series Alias, not to mention that sexy vixen outfit that adorned her promiscuous curves opposite Ben Affleck in 2003’s Daredevil.  So I guess you could say that I was looking forward to seeing her fill that uniform once again and kick some ninja clan a$$. There was only one small problem.  Didn’t she die in Daredevil?  How would they ever bring her back?  Inquiring minds wanted to know.  I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I laid awake contemplating this.  It was horrible. Read the full story

Flight of the Intruder is a lesser known 90’s flick starring Brad Johnson, Willem Dafoe and Danny Glover that I had in my Amazon shopping cart for a few weeks debating whether or not this would’ve been a worthwhile Blu-ray to own, but due to Lionsgate’s recent sloppy catalog releases I was hesitant. Luckily I received a copy to review, so was I right to be hesitant?

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I always thought that The Thomas Crown Affair starring Pierce Brosnan was an overlooked film. This may be due to the fact that it was a remake of a 1968 film of the same name starring Steve McQueen. While it is an updating of the original, it certainly has plenty going for it in its own right, especially the stunning “visuals” provided by Rene Russo, who has never looked better than she does in this film. When I saw that this film was being released on Blu-ray, I couldn’t wait to get a copy to see how much an improvement a high def treatment would be over the prior DVD release. Thankfully, quite a bit as it turns out. Read the full story

Avatar is probably the most eagerly awaited Blu-ray release to date. After all, the film did $2.6 billion in worldwide box office receipts and features some stunning CGI and at the present time, represents the state of the art as what can be done with CGI, albeit it at an incredible cost. Well, Avatar has finally arrived on Blu-ray and I couldn’t wait to pop it in to see whether it has the reference audio and video presentations that we all expected. Read the full story

There is no doubt that the film Armageddon was an eagerly awaited release on Blu-ray and I can see why. The film certainly features plenty of action and explosions aplenty. While it certainly has its entertaining moments, it is certainly filled with some really bad science and a plot that is about as thin as they come. In light of all the anticipation, I was expecting a really impressive visual and audio experience on from this Blu-ray release and was not disappointed. The film itself, well, that is another matter entirely. Read the full story