Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 3/5
I had the discomfort of sitting through Cloverfield during its theatrical run and I was actually a bit intimidated by the idea of seeing it again in my own theater room. My discomfort had nothing to do with the story itself, but rather the experience that the camera style offers. My wife and I both suffered from extreme headaches for several hours after the theatrical viewing and my wife thought she would be sick at any moment for quite sometime after. I found myself closing my eyes a lot just to help things during the movie. The film is merely stock footage of the events that happened in New York after a large monster of some sort attacks the city. The footage is taken with a handicam and follows a few young residents as they first try to escape the city and then turn around to try and rescue a friend. The camera work is all over the place and really only provides snippets of the monster and reminded me a bit of The Blair Witch Project at times. While I thought the execution and premise of this film were both excellent, they didn't justify the physical effects watching the film induced. I thought watching this on a smaller screen (120" diagonal in my case) would help, but that just wasn't the case. I would recommend anyone going into this film the first time be prepared.

Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 2/5
Park Chan-Wook made quite the name for himself internationally with his superb "revenge" trilogy. He's probably best known in the US for the middle of the three films, Oldboy. This time around Chan-Wook takes on a different type of film, though the knack for heavy violence is still present. I'm a Cyborg revolves around a young girl who is committed to a mental hospital after attempting suicide at a factory. There she meets several interesting characters with various mental issues and a young man who hides behind a mask. The girl thinks she is a cyborg and talks to various electrical items throughout the hospital and the film takes on a bit of a fantasy role with interesting visual displays that reminded me slightly of the French film, Amelie. Overall this is a slow building film but by the end you realize the full heart of the characters. People looking for a film similar to Chan-Wook's more popular offerings may be disappointed, but this was still a very interesting character piece on its own.

Paramount Movie ••••½ Picture ••••½ Sound •••• Extras ••••

"Epic" is a word tossed

DreamWorks Movie ••• Picture •••• Sound •••• Extras ••

With serial killers all the rage (in both fiction and reali

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.75/5
Extras: 4.25/5
Stallone is definitely doing his best to defy the odds. I never thought that Rocky Balboa would be a good film but I was pleasantly surprised. I thought he may be pushing his luck with Rambo but instead he delivered what I feel to be the best installment in the series since the first film. This is a no hold bar action film that not only turns up the body count and gore, but delivers the best production design and tone of the sequels. Rambo has turned hard in his later years and when a group of activists that he delivered into war torn Burma turn up missing, he joins a group of mercenaries to get them out. The story is simplistic in nature and doesn't try to get too political, but it does shed light on the unfortunate events of that volatile region. Stallone proves that he is still every bit of the action star he used to be and rumor has it another Rambo film is in the works.

Video: 4.75/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 3/5
I'm always a fan of period drama and despite the rather lackluster reviews, The Other Boleyn Girl was quite entertaining. The film is based on the true story of two sisters who started quite the scandal with King Henry VIII after his queen fails to give him a male heir. Anne Boleyn is propositioned as a mistress for the King to give him an heir but he becomes captivated with her married sister, Mary. From there a downward spiral commences as the King is pulled from one to the other which eventually tears the kingdom apart resulting in the annulment of his marriage with the queen, a separation from the Catholic Church and a string of failed marriages. It was these events that set things in motion for Queen Elizabeth and the feud between the Protestant Queen and the Catholics. If I had to complain I would say the PG-13 rating seemed to tone down the film a bit more than it needed to be. This film focuses on very adult themes that would have been better served with an adult rating in my opinion.