Into the Blu

Imagine for a minute that there is an alternate reality around us all the time that we don’t notice, existing in objects that we take for granted every day and that can house malevolent forces bent on our destruction. This is the world of mirrors, which can trap and hold not only our transient reflections, but demons that can manipulate our reality. This is the basis of the film Mirrors. Sounds like an interesting idea in the abstract but how does it work on film? Glad you asked. Continue Reading

“I don’t believe in Heaven. I believe in pain. I believe in fear. I believe in death”.

Now is your chance to believe in Payne, Max Payne. This explosive Blu-ray release will give your senses an overload of spectacular images and sounds. Max Payne resides in a stylish world that appears more a Frank Miller graphic novel than video game. There’s no question that Blu-ray is likely the only way to see this film the way it was intended to be viewed. Only high definition can bring such an artistic universe to our television screens. The question then becomes, should you watch it at all. Continue Reading

Given my love for actress Jessica Alba it only make sense that I take a few minutes to write about a delight in my life, entitled Good Luck Chuck.  This film has been out for almost a year now on the Blu-ray format and I am sure all my educated readers have already read their fair share of reviews on this title.  If you are in the majority right now you are probably already scratching your head at the high scores I have given to Good Luck Chuck.  If you have not seen this movie, then you are probably pondering is it really as good as he says it is?  Or you may be thinking is this reviewer so infatuated with the looks of Jessica Alba that he has completely gone against the grain of society in popular opinion?  Let me be the first to tell you there is more than meets the eye in this film, a phrase I am sure all you fan boys are quite familiar with.  I have to compare this movie directly with the likes of Bad Santa.  Here you have two very raunchy films at times, but strip away the exterior and devote yourself to the feature, and what you really have on the interior is a film warm in heart.  Continue Reading

If you are a fan of the Twisted Metal video games, then I can guarantee you will love the movie Death Race. It is the closest thing I have ever seen to bringing the carnage and destruction of the video game to real life. With that being said, Death Race is not based on the video game Twisted Metal. I am just trying to paint a visual portrait of what to expect hoping that you actually know what I am talking about. In reality, the film is a remake of the 1975 movie Death Race 2000, based on Ib Melchior’s short story “The Racer.” Continue Reading

Not being the biggest Jet Li fan, I was kind of relieved back in 2006 when Fearless was billed as his final film. What ever happened to that? I don’t know. I referred to him as the Brett Favre of the Silver Screen but I think I was just hearing what I wanted to hear. Later I learned that it was supposedly marketed as his final martial arts epic. So I guess that does free him to do other movie projects without being labeled a liar, as long as they aren’t coined as “epics.” Continue Reading

In the Winter of 1969 an elite force of the U.S. Army was sent on a top secret assignment in South East Vietnam. The objective: rescue Sgt. Four Leaf Tayback from a heavily guarded NVA Prison Camp. The mission was considered near suicide. Of the 10 men sent, 4 returned. Of those 4, 3 wrote books about what happened. Of those 3, 2 were published. Of those 2, just one got a movie deal. This is the story of the men who attempted to make that movie: Continue Reading

As the title implies, this really is a movie about zombie strippers. With that being the case, the movie really is as absurd as the title sounds. And yes…I love it! I have not been this excited to watch a Blu-ray again since my initial viewing of another future cult classic film, in my opinion, Doomsday. Zombie Strippers is a 2008 comedy horror film, written and directed by Jay Lee. The movie features legendary horror star Robert Englund and ex-porn star, the Heartbreaker, Jenna Jameson. These two really need no further introductions. Ultimate Fighting Champion Tito Ortiz also stars as a bouncer in the film. If you can lower your standards a bit by making it past the first fifteen minutes of this film and don’t mind excessive gratuitous nudity, then you will be in store for a very fun and titillating time. After awhile you just become so numb from the nudity that it feels alien when the girls are clothed. We had some great conversations about this film today around the office water cooler. Continue Reading

Unlike most people, I have been waiting for Rob Zombie’s interpretation of Halloween to come out on the Blu-ray format for over a year now. Words cannot express how disappointed I was that I had to buy the Standard Definition DVD of this movie when it came out in late 2007 because there was no release date in sight for the Blu-ray format. Coincidentally, that was the last DVD I ever bought. Having always been a big Michael Myers fan, I was extra stoked that the theatrical release of this movie fell on my birthday. What a birthday that was! Could you imagine a better way to celebrate your birthday? There is no need to seriously answer that one. That is what they call a rhetorical question. I really enjoyed Rob Zombie’s eccentric visions in House of 1,000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects so I was very much looking forward to him tackling one of my all-time favorite movie villains, Michael Myers. Continue Reading

Take a little Mad Max, add a little Escape from New York, mix in some 28 Days/Weeks Later, and what do you get?  A fun little movie entitled Doomsday. Doomsday was released in 2008 and for the most part was not a box office success. The film was a British production, which may have actually hurt its sales because it was not marketed very well in the US. Doomsday is written and directed by Neil Marshall, who has brought us such gems as Dog Soldiers and The Descent, so my expectations were high when I first watched it in theaters. Today I will review Doomsday on Blu-ray, also note this is Universal’s first entry into the Blu market. Continue Reading

I came into Shutter with relatively low expectations. This is an American version of a Thai film, using a Japanese director. Let’s face it, this Asian Invasion horror movement has begun to produce some very bad horror movies here in the US. I can’t begin to describe how tired I am of films like The Grudge that offer so much promise but quickly descend into what has already become a very tired cliché. How many more films about creepy long haired Japanese female ghosts do we really need? Continue Reading

I’ve made it known in the past that I’m a huge fan of horror movies. I love the feeling you get when you’re scared, the adrenaline rush to the senses that just grasps you throughout your cinematic experience. To date there have been very few horror movies that focus on the theory of human possession and exorcisms, today I will review one such film. Continue Reading

It’s so easy to get disappointed in horror films these days. It seems that they all fall into just a few categories that have recently been done to death. If we’re not talking a new American version of an Asian hit, then we’re talking about some torture driven device that merely amps up the blood and guts, leaving anything resembling a story behind in its wake. Not so with the newly released The Ruins. Continue Reading