Into the Blu

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 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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I guess you can say that I was pulled into the world of Happy Potter against my will. One of my kids was a fan as was my wife so when the first film was released, I was dragged along. Much to my surprise, I enjoyed the film. I kept hearing how the films were faithful to the books and how detailed the books were and that I should really read the books as well. The books are rather long and for quite awhile, I was very content to just visit the cinema with the family and get the whole gist of the book in a couple of hours. It was not until a trip to of all places, the UK, where I first grabbed a copy of The Half Blood Prince which I was able to finish on a long trip. I enjoyed the book and really found it interesting to see how the book was brought to the screen. Continue Reading

I always wince a bit when I hear that a particular film, TV show or record is a “Cult favorite”. After all, a particular piece of “media” can’t be anywhere near a commercial hit or it wouldn’t have “cult” status. Therefore, for me, cult status and commercial bomb are often times synonymous. Often times there is a very good reason why a particular piece of media is a bomb, and that is because is wasn’t very good in the first place. That isn’t always the case, as certain films and albums are simply ahead of their times and had they been release later in different times, would have struck more of a chord with the mass audience. Continue Reading

Documentary films can sure stir up a bit of controversy, due in large part to the fact that that is often their purpose. They are designed to give exposure to a particular issue that may be unreported in the press and can go into a level of detail and insight not possible on a TV news program. They also have a very distinct point of view, a bias if you will, that can be either on the right or left of the political spectrum. How you view the documentary can often depend on your political leanings, regardless of the truth or merit of the film. There are some documentaries that, even with a particular bias, get the facts so right to be well worth a viewing regardless of your political affiliations. Just one of those documentary films if the subject of this review, Inside Job. Continue Reading

Some directors go to the same well over and over again, making films with the same basic formula with different settings and actors but the same basic plot. Once a film is successful, the natural inclination is to repeat that formula so long as it remains box office gold. Whether the films are any good or not is irrelevant. The only issue is will it make money. Well, that is the case with the film that is subject of this review, Due Date, which is brought to us by the same team that brought us the widely successful (at least at the box office), The Hangover, looking to repeat that box office gold. Continue Reading

In watching the film that is the subject of this review, a number of sports cliches came to mind. You know, like “You’ll get them next time”, “You can’t win them all”, ‘Even a .300 hitter makes an out 7 out of t0 times.” For the sake of cliche completeness, you can also thrown in “Nobody’s perfect”. Well these cliches are all certainly applicable to the film that is the subject of today’s review, Woody Allen’s latest film, “You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger”. Woody, as my dad would tell me when I struck out in Little League, better luck next time. Continue Reading

With The Kids are All Right winning the Golden Globe for Best comedy, the film was definitely moved to the top of my “must watch soon” list and upon seeing the many awards this film has been collecting my expectations were raised accordingly. With a very edgy premise and an ensemble cast of great actors it begs the question… Does the film live up to all of this?

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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

The folks at Disney have sure been busy restoring and releasing some of their masterpieces on the Blu-ray format. Since the inception of the format, Disney has released classics such as Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs all of the which look spectacular and better than they ever have in the home environment by a wide margin. To that list of Disney classics you can now add Alice in Wonderland, which is coming to Blu-ray on its 60th Anniversary. Will it hold up to the other films in terms of picture and audio quality? Continue Reading