Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Director Howard Hawk’s Rio Bravo is based on the short story of the same name by B.H. McCampbell. It takes place in the American West and tells the story of a small-town sheriff, John T. Chance (John Wayne), who enlists the help of “Dude,” a hard drinker with a past, “Stumpy,” an ornery codger with a bum leg, and “Colorado,” a quick-with-a-gun whippersnapper, to help him prevent the leader of a local band of outlaws from busting his brother — whom Chance arrested for murder — out of jail.

Ranked as the fourth greatest love story of all time by the American Film Institute, Roman Holiday — director William Wyler’s 1953 fairy tale — memorably captures the bustling streets and iconic sites of Rome. The story is set against the backdrop of post-war Europe, expressing the exhilaration of not only embracing long-awaited peace but joyously breaking free as young Princess Ann retreats from her royal obligations and finds adventure. This movie put Audrey Hepburn on the map, and I thoroughly enjoy the story’s unapologetically schmaltzy romance blended with light humor.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, the final installment in the trilogy, finds our beloved band of misfits set on repairing the extreme damage done by Thanos during his run-in with The Avengers. But it isn’t long before the Guardians’ attempt to return to normal is upended by a brutal attack from a new enemy who has a direct connection to Rocket’s turbulent past and will use any means to fulfill his quest.

Under the guise of an invitation-only tournament for the world’s most elite fighters, the notorious crime lord Han is in fact planning something far more sinister. After some convincing from British intelligence, martial arts master Lee (Bruce Lee) agrees to participate, with the dual agenda of gathering the evidence needed for a government takedown plus revenge upon the man responsible for the death of his sister. A couple of newfound friends share Lee’s opposition to Han, but it will take more than these three to win this fight.

Only a few moments into Across the Spider-Verse’s two-hour-and-20-minute runtime, we can begin to understand why this sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning Into the Spider-Verse took almost five years to arrive. Dramatically bold and visually (and sonically) fearless, the movie is exhausting in the best possible sense, inviting the audience along on a mind-boggling adventure and daring us to keep up.

Time Bandits is a time traveling adventure set in an off-kilter world that is director Terry Gilliam’s signature. A frenetic story that skips through various vignettes, it follows a young boy drawn into a journey with a group of renegade dwarves who use a special map to travel to different periods in time and steal treasures. In hot pursuit of the dwarves is the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson) from whom the map was stolen.

Some sports movies are simply about baseball, boxing, hockey or whatever, while others manage to be about something else, and maybe even something more. Such is the case with The Longest Yard, which adds layer upon layer of subtext to the game of football until we can’t help but feel deeply invested in the final score.