Recently in Blu-ray Category

Blu-ray Review: Grey's Anatomy - Season Four (Expanded)

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Season four of Grey's Anatomy saw a few changes both on and off the screen as season four of the series got underway in the follow of 2007. Due to her producing responsibilities on both Grey's and its spinoff Private Practice, series creator Shonda Rhimes assigned the day-to-day showrunning duties to writer and executive producer Krista Vernoff. Season four would also prove to be a real test for the series popularity, as several cast members were not returning for the fourth season. Kate Walsh and her character doctor Addison Montgomery were leaving for Private Practice and it was announced that Isaiah Washington, who played Dr. Preston Burke would not be returning to the show after his contract wasn't renewed.



Blu-ray Review: The Love Guru

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I freely admit I'm a movie freak. I regularly admit that I'll sit through any film once in the hopes of finding some morsel of merit in each piece of celluloid I subject myself to. Even though I had read absolutely terrible reviews about Mike Myers' The Love Guru, I went into it with an open mind. Admittedly, I decided after seeing the trailer several months ago, that I wasn't going to spend money to see this movie in theatrical release but I was more than willing to give it a shot on blu-ray. All my friends said it was a stinker and most of the reviews I read seemed to concur. Still, as a longtime fan of Mike Myers, I remained hopeful.



Blu-ray Review Transformers [Two Disc Special Edition]

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I should preface this review by saying that my initial interest in Transformers grew from the films role in the HD vs. Blu-ray format war. When Paramount released the high-definition version of Transformers exclusively on HD DVD back in 2007, it looked as though HD might be gaining the upper hand. The move also angered Blu-ray enthusiasts that the HD DVD became one of the biggest selling high-definition movies of all time, and it's been a long ten months or so waiting for Paramount finally to issue it in Blu-ray format. Well, the wait is over and the film looks better than ever with a higher video bit rate and a new Dolby TrueHD soundtrack.



Blu-ray Review: 88 Minutes

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Al Pacino is one of the greatest film actors of the last thirty-five years. His performances as Michael Corleone in The Godfather, Frank Serpico in Serpico and Sonny in Dog Day Afternoon are just a few of Pacino's most memorable roles in a celebrated career. With a resume like that, one would think Al Pacino would want to try to avoid any real stinkers. Granted, in the last fifteen years or so, Pacino has done some films that can't begin to match The Godfather and many of his other films, but 88 Minutes can only be described as a dud. After watching this film, I simply can't fathom why Pacino and director Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes) would agree to take on this project.



Blu-ray Review: Kill Bill -Volume 2

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When Quentin Tarantino began shooting Kill Bill, he originally intended to make only one film. However, as he was shooting, it became obvious that he had shot enough footage for two films. Instead of trying to widdle the story down to an acceptable length, Tarantino wisely decided to produce two films that were released six months apart. Whether Tarantino intended to or not, Kill Bill -Volume 2 turned out to be a vastly different film from the first, and served to give the entire Kill Bill saga a truly epic feel.



Blu-ray Review: Kill Bill - Volume 1

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Blood is a dominant feature in Quentin Tarantino's fourth film, Kill Bill - Volume 1. It oozes, drips, flows, gushes and splatters in deep red to jet black Heads and limbs are removed with reckless abandon as characters are struck down with an emotionless fervor. However, Kill Bill begs the viewer to avert their eyes from the ceaseless bloodshed and turns your stomach with its exaggerated depiction of brutality. While there are some very violent scenes in earlier Tarantino films Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, nothing compares to the sadistic brutality and carnage on display in Kill Bill - Volume 1.



The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of those films that seems to get better with each viewing. You begin to see the subtle nuances in the story and really appreciate writer Tim Burton's ability to create such a captivating tale and director Henry Selick's ability to bring it to the screen. Intense emotion oozes from each shot and musical performance, while the picture itself has both a dark and lighthearted tone. As any Tim Burton fan knows, only Burton himself could combine such a dichotomy of emotions and create a motion picture as beloved as The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is a film that quite literally can be enjoyed by anyone, at any time of the year, regardless of whether it falls around Halloween or Christmas; I especially enjoy watching it sometime during the week before Christmas. Well produced, and different from anything with a holiday theme, The Night Before Christmas Collector's Edition deserves a place in every film lover's library.



The Nightmare Before Christmas is one of those films that seems to get better with each viewing. You begin to see the subtle nuances in the story and really appreciate writer Tim Burton's ability to create such a captivating tale and director Henry Selick's ability to bring it to the screen. Intense emotion oozes from each shot and musical performance, while the picture itself has both a dark and lighthearted tone. As any Tim Burton fan knows, only Burton himself could combine such a dichotomy of emotions and create a motion picture as beloved as The Nightmare Before Christmas. It is a film that quite literally can be enjoyed by anyone, at any time of the year, regardless of whether it falls around Halloween or Christmas; I especially enjoy watching it sometime during the week before Christmas. Well produced, and different from anything with a holiday theme, The Night Before Christmas Collector's Edition deserves a place in every DVD collection.



Blu-ray Review: Married Life

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The snappy animated credits over Doris Day's recording of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," suggests that Married Life might be a sophisticated comedy about love in the 1950's. The opening scene tells us that yes, Married Life is about love, but the situation is anything but snappy. It's Nov. 5, 1949, and in a stylish restaurant in what is presumably New York City, Harry Allen (Chris Cooper) tells his best friend Richard Langley (Pierce Brosnan) that he's leaving his wife for someone who makes him truly happy.

Harry's the quintessential "nice guy," good at what he does, is pleasant to everyone and never has a hair out of place. A hopeless romantic, Harry finds his marriage to Pat (Patricia Clarkson) unfulfilling, lacking the hearts and flowers he always dreamed would be part of his greatest love affair. While most men would love a woman who prefers sex to intimacy, for Harry, sex with little intimacy leaves him cold.



Remakes of beloved classic films are often disasters. Undoubtedly the creative forces behind these endeavors start out with the best of intentions. The problem is that when you try to reformat something that so many fans already consider a masterpiece, you're behind the eight ball before you even shoot the first frame. When I first heard that Josh Friedman (who wrote the screenplay for 2006's The Black Dahlia), had developed a television series based on the events following Terminator 2: Judgment Day, I was highly skeptical. I couldn't imagine a Terminator project without Arnold Schwarzenegger or anyone but Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. However, after watching the first nine episodes of Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Blu-ray, I'm apt to check out the second season when it premieres September 8th on Fox at 8:00 p.m.



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