Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 4.25/5
Retelling the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, it depicts the titanic clash in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Experience history at swordpoint.

Movie: 3.5
Picture/Sound: 4/4
Extras: 3.5

Video: 3.25/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3/5
Al Pacino plays university professor Jack Gramm, who occasionally assists the FBI in matters of forensic psychiatry. His recent testimony against a freshly convicted criminal seems to be the reason he has gotten a scary phone call informing him he will die in 88 minutes.

Video: 3/5
Audio: 2/5
Extras: 3/5
The Christmas spirit isn't served up with more heartfelt warmth or observant hilarity that in this beloved adaptation of Jean Shepherd's holiday story. In 1940s Indiana, nine-year-old Ralphie dreams of his ideal Christmas gift: a genuine Red Ryder 200-shot Carbine Action Air Rifle. But when gruff dad and doting mom regularly respond with "You'll shoot your eye out!" Ralphie mounts a full-scale, hint-dropping, Santa-begging campaign. He also endures all kinds of childhood calamities from snowsuit paralysis to the yellow-eyed Scotty Farkus affair to the dreaded tongue-on-a-frozen-flagpole gambit. We triple-dog-dare you to unwrap a more welcome Yuletide classic.

Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2.5/5
After her husband, Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, is kidnapped by terrorists, Mariane heads a desperate search for clues in a frantic race against time to locate her missing husband.

Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Five teenage friends living on one street all dream of a sinister man with a disfigured face, a frightening voice and a gardener's glove with knives for fingers. But when one among them dies, they soon realize that what happens in their dreams happens for real and the only way to stay alive is to stay awake. Buried in their past is a debt that has just come due. To save themselves, they must plunge into the mind of the most twisted nightmare of all: Freddy Krueger. Jackie Earle Haley plays the legendary evildoer in this contemporary reimagining of the seminal horror classic.

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 3.5/5
You don't really see films like this anymore. David Lean's epic take on social/political prejudice in India is not what I would call popular film, but you can't deny the outstanding production value. The problem I had with the film is its runtime. This is a movie that could easily have been a bit short of two hours but runs for nearly three. The film takes its time developing the characters, but it isn't until nearly half way through that the real meat of the story begins. While I am always a fan of character development and strong storytelling I couldn't help but get bored with the pacing of this film. I love the photography and the scale of production, but without a strong and interesting storyline coupled with it, you find yourself looking at the remaining time left too often. The film revolves around a young English woman who ventures to India with the mother of a local magistrate who she is gearing up to marry. Shortly after arriving she finds herself questioning her relationship with him and longs to see more of native India. She meets up with a local doctor who takes them on a trip to a local landmark. Things don't go well and a social battle begins when the doctor is accused of sexually assaulting her, setting the stage for a local revolt. Again the tale is interesting enough; I just think it could have been edited down substantially.