Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Red Riding Hood—Warner Bros.
Kris Deering  |  Jun 21, 2011  | 
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.5/5
Valerie is a beautiful young woman torn between two men. She is in love with a brooding outsider, Peter, but her parents have arranged for her to marry the wealthy Henry. Unwilling to lose each other, Valerie and Peter are planning to run away together when they learn that Valerie's older sister has been killed by the werewolf that prowls the dark forest surrounding their village. For years, the people have maintained an uneasy truce with the beast, offering the creature a monthly animal sacrifice. But under a blood red moon, the wolf has upped the stakes by taking a human life. Hungry for revenge, the people call on famed werewolf hunter, Father Solomon, to help them kill the wolf. But Solomon's arrival brings unintended consequences as he warns that the wolf, who takes human form by day, could be any one of them. Panic grips the town as the death toll rises with each red moon, tearing apart the once close-knit village. But it is Valerie who discovers she has a unique connection to the wolf that inexorably draws them together, making her both suspect... and bait.
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Music ReviewsBlu-ray Movie Reviews
A Talk with "Keeping Score" co-director Joan Saffa
Robert Ripps  |  Jun 20, 2011  | 

Robert Ripps: From your perspective, how has Keeping Score evolved since its 2004 premiere, both artistically and technologically?

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Hall Pass (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 20, 2011  | 
Rick (Owen Wilson) and Fred (Jason Sudeikis) have both been married for a long time and even though they love their wives, they just can't help checking out every hot woman in their view. Fed up with their rubber-necking, their wives take a different approach to revitalize their marriages by giving them a "hall pass": one week of freedom to do whatever they want with no questions asked. Be careful what you wish for guys.

While I was never a huge fan of Something About Mary, at least I found its humor to be somewhat amusing and I can see why it was a hit. Unfortunately, Farrelly brother's formula hasn't worked as well since then. I thought the premise had potential but unfortunately it's another stinker filled with sophomoric humor by middle-aged men who think they're still in high school.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Sucker Punch—Warner Bros.
Kris Deering  |  Jun 18, 2011  | 
Video: 4/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 4.5/5
Close your eyes. Open your mind. You will be unprepared. "Sucker Punch" is an epic action fantasy that takes us into the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her. And her incredible adventures blur the liens between what's real and what is imaginary.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Unknown—Warner Bros.
Kris Deering  |  Jun 18, 2011  | 
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3/5
Liam Neeson plays Dr. Martin Harris, who awakens after a car accident in Berlin to discover that his wife suddenly doesn't recognize him and another man has assumed his identity. Ignored by disbelieving authorities and hunted by mysterious assassins, he finds himself alone, tired and on the run. Aided by an unlikely ally, Harris plunges into a deadly mystery forcing him to question his sanity, his identity and just how far he's willing to go to uncover the truth.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Death at a Funeral—MGM
Kris Deering  |  Jun 17, 2011  | 
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 2.5/5
Extras: 2/5
As the mourners and guests at a British country manor struggle valiantly to "keep a stiff upper lip,"" a dignified ceremony devolves into a hilarious, no-holds-barred debacle of misplaced cadavers, indecent exposure, and shocking family secrets.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Sanctum—Universal
Kris Deering  |  Jun 17, 2011  | 
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3/5
Master diver Frank McGuire leads a team - including his 17-year-old son - to explore the largest, most beautiful and least accessible cave system on Earth. But when a tropical storm cuts off their only escape route, the team must work together to find their way through an uncharted and dangerous underwater labyrinth to make it out alive. With time running out, can they survive, or will they be trapped forever.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Eagle—Universal
Kris Deering  |  Jun 17, 2011  | 
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3.5/5
The Roman epic adventure "The Eagle" is based on the classic novel "The Eagle of the Ninth". In 140 AD, twenty years after the unexplained disappearance of the entire Ninth Legion in the mountains of Scotland, young centurion Marcus Aquila arrives from Rome to solve the mystery and restore the reputation of his father, the commander of the Ninth. Accompanied only by his British slave Esca, Marcus sets out across Hadrian's Wall into the uncharted highlands of Caledonia - to confront its savage tribes, make peace with his father's memory, and retrieve the lost legion's golden emblem, the Eagle of the Ninth.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Unknown (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 17, 2011  | 
Arriving in Berlin for a technology conference, Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) must make a mad dash back to the airport in order to find his left-behind briefcase that contains some valuable information and his passport. In his haste, he leaves his wife (January Jones) at the hotel check-in and doesn't tell her where he's headed. After a horrific accident, he awakens in a hospital four days later and is troubled to learn that no one has come looking for him. He tracks down his wife at the conference and discovers that she doesn't recognize him, and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. Is he going mad?

With his starring role in Taken, Neeson showed he had the chops to handle the action genre and he delivers another solid performance here. The pacing is fantastic and the story keeps you on the edge of your seat until the tidy and disappointing ending.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
36th Precint—Tartan Palisades
Kris Deering  |  Jun 16, 2011  | 
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2/5
In this action-packed cop thriller a gang of armed robbers have committed seven deadly robberies within a year. When two lieutenants are told that whoever stops the gang will become the next Chief of Police, the competition between them becomes increasingly ruthless, blurring the lines of morality, until there is no difference between the police and the criminals they chase.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Adjustment Bureau—Universal
Kris Deering  |  Jun 16, 2011  | 
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 4/5
On the brink of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, ambitious politician David Norris meets beautiful contemporary ballet dancer Elise Sellas - a woman like none he's ever known. But just as he realizes he's falling for her, mysterious men conspire to keep the two apart. David learns he is up against the agents of Fate itself - the men of "The Adjustment Bureau" - who will do everything in their considerable power to prevent David and Elise from being together. In the face of overwhelming odds, he must either let her go and accept a predetermined path... or risk everything to defy Fate and be with her.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Blu-ray Review: Hall Pass
Josef Krebs  |  Jun 16, 2011  | 

The starting point of Hall Pass, the latest comedy from writer/directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly, is the same as that of most current TV sitcoms: Gone-to-pot, sex-mad, middle-aged suburban American husbands — who’ve been infantilized by their disappointed, slightly contemptuous, much more attractive wives — yearn for freedom (and more sex) via younger, even hotter women.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Blu-ray Review: Red Riding Hood
Rad Bennett  |  Jun 15, 2011  | 

Fairy tales have been reinterpreted throughout history, often with great success. Little Red Riding Hood has been updated by artists from Tex Avery to Stephen Sondheim; it was even presented as a very funny Fractured Fairy Tale on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Unfortunately, Catherine Hardwicke’s new version doesn’t belong in such high-class company.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Harry Potter Years 5 and 6 Ultimate Editions (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 15, 2011  | 
At the end of the Goblet of Fire, Harry witnessed the return of Lord Voldemort and barely escaped with his life. The Ministry of Magic doesn’t believe Harry's tale and is doing everything within their power to keep the wizarding world from knowing the truth by orchestrating a smear campaign against the boy who lived and Professor Dumbledore. Furthermore, the ministry is taking an active role in educating of the students at Hogwarts by appointing Dolores Umbridge as the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher. When she refuses to teach practical defensive magic, Hermoine convinces Harry to form Dumbledore’s Army with a select group of students in order to give them a fighting chance.

Director David Yates takes over the helm inheriting the legacy of Chris Columbus, Mike Newell, and Alphonso Cuaron. From a pure directorial aspect, I think he did an excellent job, but my biggest complaint with this movie lies in the writer, Michael Goldenberg, who replaced Steven Kloves who penned the first four movies.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Company Men (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 13, 2011  | 
Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) is one of the best salesmen for an East coast-based multinational corporation who's climbing the corporate ladder. When tough times rock the company, he finds himself one of the casualties of the layoffs and must make adjustments to his lifestyle in order to make ends meet.

Writer/Director John Wells wanted to make this film after the dot-com bust earlier this century but couldn't get the project underway. After the recent downturn in the economy he was able to adjust the script and delivers a fantastic drama about how a layoff can ruin your life. The all-star cast includes Chris Cooper and Kevin Costner, although my favorite character in the film is Tommy Lee Jones who plays the executive with a conscience.

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