Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 15th, 2012
Back when I reviewed the original Blu-ray/DVD combo release, I said that those wanting special features should wait for the inevitable double-dip. Well, here it is, and so loaded with features that they get a Blu-ray to themselves.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 14th, 2012
It really does seem like certain movies are created for the sole purpose of winning a boatload of Oscars. I don't really have a problem with this: I'd personally rather see studios and filmmakers make a shameless grab for prestige than make no attempt at all and revert to their de facto sequel/prequel/reboot mode. The problem is — despite that one clueless, rude person who insists on taking phone calls and texting during the feature presentation, and is somehow always seated directly in front of or behind you
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on February 12th, 2012
It followed Annie Hall by two years, once again reshaping the mass market’s notion of serio-comic romance. With its bittersweet plotting and cynical one-liners, Woody Allen’s Manhattan was an even bigger commercial success than its Oscar-winning predecessor. Its current incarnation on Blu-Ray offers the best chance yet to revisit its eccentric brilliance.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Bob Ross on February 10th, 2012
This April will mark 35 years since Woody Allen emerged as a world-class comic filmmaker. Although Annie Hall was his seventh feature (if you include the voice-over spy-spoof What’s Up, Tiger Lily?, which you certainly should), and although Allen already had a sizable group of admirers (including this longtime fan), his 1977 mainstream smash gave him commercial clout and a little something called the Best Picture Academy Award.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 8th, 2012
"Gentlemen, I assure you she's the perfect type for the job. She's good at making friends with gentlemen, and we want somebody inside his house who has his confidence."
Say what you will about Alfred Hitchcock, but one thing he never lacked was confidence. Today filmmakers and film fans alike still worship at his altar. His church was the darkened neighborhood cinema, and no one held court better than the man fans affectionately refer to as Hitch. The flicker didn't come from candles as you might expect in such a place of worship. They emanated from the silver screen.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 7th, 2012
Recent Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain famously appeared in a whopping six movies released in 2011. These include two Best Picture nominees (The Help, The Tree of Life), and two other movies that briefly generated a small measure of Oscar buzz (Take Shelter for Michael Shannon's performance, and Coriolanus for Vanessa Redgrave's work). Unfortunately, when people try to recount Chastain's outstanding breakout year, Texas Killing Fields is destined to become the sixth movie no one can remember.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by J C on February 6th, 2012
“I was dumb enough to think I'd be joining some elite police officers here. I don't know who these people are.”
Those words come from Kathryn Bolkovac (Oscar winner Rachel Weisz), a Nebraska cop who accepts a high-paying gig as a United Nations peacekeeper. The film, inspired by true events in 1999 post-war Bosnia, follows Bolkovac as she discovers a human trafficking/sexual slavery ring with an insidious connection to International Police Task Force personnel, including some from the United States.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on February 6th, 2012
Evidence has revealed the possibility that a Soviet Assassin code-named “Cassius,” thought to be long dead, is still at large after a US Senator is murdered. A veteran CIA operative (played by Richard Gere) is teamed up with an enthusiastic young FBI agent (played by Topher Grace) who has studied and obsessed over Cassius' actions since his days at Harvard.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 3rd, 2012
"It is generally thought that time travel is impossible. Tonight, however, we ask you to bravely go where no audience has gone before, back in time to the 1970's"
And that's exactly what you'll get to do if you're smart enough to take my advice and pick up Styx: The Grand Illusion & Pieces Of Eight Live on Blu-ray from Eagle Rock Entertainment. It doesn't matter if you're old enough to remember when these albums were first released in 1977 and 1978 or if you've newly discovered the band and the albums. In fact, it doesn't even matter if you're a Styx fan at all....yet.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on February 3rd, 2012
Forgive the impending fun-with-words but, hot on the TAIL of the theatrical release of Red Tails is the Blu Ray release of this 1995 interpretation of the same story. Based on the actual group of airmen who were the first African-American fighter pilots in the United States Army Air Corps. This film follows the first cadets through their training and onto their various combat and mission in North Africa and Italy during World War II.