Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 3/5
Hollywood confuses me sometimes. When I was growing up names like Coppola, Forman, Lean, Spielberg, and Kubrick meant a lot to moviegoers. These days it doesn't seem to matter any more. I've seen picture after picture relocated to small venues and limited releases despite heavyweight directors and storytellers attached. Take a look at last year's Best Picture nominees for example. How many of those films were even opened wide upon initial release? But how many films that probably lower your IQ at an alarming rate are opened wide every week. I guess the mighty dollar is still king and art and great storytelling is something now reserved for straight to video fare. I remember when the opposite was true.

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 2.5/5
When the first trailers hit for Ice Cube's new comedy, I somehow thought this might be a new addition to the Friday series. That is definitely not the case, though the films do have some slight resemblances. In the beginning I thought this one was actually borrowing a bit too much from the themes and setups of Friday but once the story really got rolling things settled out a bit. I'm not going to lie; this one stumbles a lot out of the gate. My wife and I weren't clicking with the rather forced comedy early on in the film, but if you give this one a chance it makes up for it in the second and third act and actually turns out to be a fun film with a good heart. The comedy can be a bit hit or miss at times since some of the jokes are a bit forced, but overall we had a good time with it.

Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3/5
Unbeknownst to most people Shall We Dance? is actually a remake of a Japanese movie. Thankfully it fares much better than the endless amount of Japanese horror remakes we see on this shore. Gere plays a husband who is in search of some spark in his life as he continues the daily grind day in and day out. A young dancer catches his eye on his way home so he decides to check out the school where she works. What he finds is a new passion and direction in his life that has him feeling young and motivated again. This film takes an interesting look at relationships and how people need to find their own niche in life. It's a great film for couples and fans of dance alike.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/27dresses.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Always a bridesmaid and never the bride, Jane (Katherine Heigle) has filled this role 27 times and has a closetful of dresses to prove it. When her younger sister Tess (Malin Ackerman) comes to town and catches the eye of her boss George (Edward Burnes)&mdash;with whom Jane is secretly in love&mdash;she is inspired to put herself first for a change.

Video: 2.5/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: .5/5
Commando was slated for release on Blu-ray quite some time ago but was pulled at the last moment. A few people still managed to nab a copy at some stores resulting in some interesting prices on popular internet auction sites. This one has always been a pure action popcorn piece that moves along just enough to show a lot of Arnold's muscles and butt kicking. It's definitely mindless fun, but it's lost the allure it had when I was younger. Still, I'm glad Fox is delivering more of its catalog to HD and this is a welcome addition for action and Arnold fans.

Video: 3/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 3/5
An all star cast leads this troubling thriller about a bank robbery gone terribly wrong. Two brothers with big financial problems plan a "fool proof" robbery of their parent's jewelry store. But things go terribly wrong when the younger brother brings in a third person who botches the job and leaves their Mom on her death bed. Things spiral out of control from their in this dark and morally obtuse tale of where greed and lies can take you.