Category: Movie DVDs (Page 33 of 100)

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

September 30, 2009 /

DC Premiere’s latest animated movie, “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies,” isn’t so much a movie as it is a really long episode of “Justice League of America.” Based on the six-issue limited series by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness, “Public Enemies” finds the country in such a terrible state of distress that the people are willing to elect Lex Luthor as their new president. When Luthor begins enlisting superheroes to work for the government, Superman becomes suspicious of his ulterior motives. Using the impending arrival of a meteor from Krypton as a distraction, Luthor frames Superman for the murder of Metallo and places a $1 billion bounty on his head. Now, every villain from Silver Banshee to General Grodd is hot on his trail, and the only person willing to take his side is his good friend Batman. Unfortunately, the movie is so damn short at a mere 67 minutes that Batman is hardly given his time to shine. In fact, while he may share top billing with the Man of Steel, this is first and foremost a Superman movie. Not that Superman fans will complain, but for those hoping to see a little more from the Caped Crusader, prepare to be disappointed. The public enemies of this film aren’t the titular superheroes, it’s the suits in charge of putting together this half-assed adventure.

Click to buy “Superman/Batman: Public Enemies”

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Blu Tuesday: The Wizard of Oz: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector’s Edition

September 29, 2009 /

When it comes to movie classics, there is none more beloved than Victor Fleming’s 1939 musical, “The Wizard of Oz.” Based on the popular children’s book by L. Frank Baum, the film has been featured on numerous “best of” lists and continues to captivate people of all ages to this day. In celebration of its 70th anniversary, Warner Home Video is releasing the movie for the very first time in high definition in a special collector’s set designed exclusively for the hardcore “Oz” fan. This four-disc box set includes over 16 hours of bonus material, a 52-page commemorative book about the making of the film, a reproduction of the original 1939 campaign book, a replica of the film’s budget sheet, and a limited edition watch.

Of course, the main draw of the set is the film itself, and while many have logged complaints about the film’s new hi-def transfer following the one-night special engagement in theaters across the country, there’s no truth behind any of them. Though a movie as old as “The Wizard of Oz” is never going to look as pristine as one from the last decade, the hours of work that went into restoring the film for its Blu-ray debut can be appreciated the minute Leo the MGM Lion comes on screen. It’s not perfect, mind you, but when compared to the many reissues over the years, this version is hands down the best one yet. Colors pop off the screen without looking oversaturated, while the sepia-toned segments look sharper than ever.

As expected with a movie as legendary as “The Wizard of Oz,” Warner Bros. has crammed as many special features onto the four-disc set as possible — to the point that it’s almost overkill. Granted, one of those discs only contains a digital copy of the film, but the other three more than make up for it. Disc One features the movie, as well as a new audio commentary by “Oz” historian John Fricke and a sing-along track. The previously released TV special, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic,” hosted by Angela Lansbury also appears, as do featurettes on music, costumes and production design (“The Art of Imagination”) and the legacy of the film (“Because of the Wonderful Things It Does”).

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Blu Tuesday: Observe and Report, Wallace & Gromit and Star Trek

September 22, 2009 /

On the surface, this week’s selection of Blu-rays may not look like much, but there’s something here for everyone, including the latest from Seth Rogen, the debut of a couple cult classics, and a few box sets that most movie nerds already have on their radar. There may not be any really major titles being released today, but I’d much rather have the option to choose from a solid list like this any day of the week.

“Observe & Report” (Sony)

A curious mix between “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” and “Taxi Driver,” Jody Hill’s sophomore effort isn’t the usual Seth Rogen laugh-a-thon, but rather a pitch-black comedy that only gets darker and more sadistic with each passing minute. This is the kind of film that usually divides moviegoers, and though I didn’t love it or hate it, I will admit that it’s Rogen’s strongest (and most mature) performance to date. It usually takes a while for a comic actor to branch off into more serious roles, but Rogen has been so overexposed lately that it’s nice to see him try something new. “Observe and Report” is hardly the kind of film that benefits from high definition, however, so Warner Bros. has made a point of distinguishing the Blu-ray edition from its DVD counterpart by making all of the extras – like a picture-in-picture commentary, deleted scenes and a gag reel – exclusive to this release. It isn’t exactly the smartest business practice, but HD fans won’t complain. At least we’re finally getting a little extra bang for our buck.

“Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection” (Lionsgate)

People may think of Tim Burton when they hear the words “stop motion animation,” but for my money, Nick Park is the king of the genre. His “Wallace & Gromit” shorts have earned a nice little following over the years, and though the feature-length “Curse of the Were-Rabbit” failed to take the franchise to the next level, it’s still a darned good film in its own right. Still, Park’s bread and butter (or crackers and cheese, if you will) has always been the shorts, and along with collecting his three previous films (“A Grand Day Out,” “The Wrong Trousers” and “A Close Shave”), the new compilation also features Wallace and Gromit’s latest madcap adventure, “A Matter of Loaf and Death.” To sweeten the pot, Lionsgate has also included a bevy of bonus material like commentary tracks, making-of featurettes and a hilarious episode of “Shaun the Sheep.” At only $20 bucks for the Blu-ray edition, it’s hard to imagine even the most casual fan not succumbing to such a great deal.

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Sin Nombre

September 21, 2009 /

You’ll want to watch the DVD of writer-director Cary Joji Fukunaga’s acclaimed feature debut on the biggest television set you can find. That’s not only because this film is full of astonishing Latin American location work from a newcomer with a stunning camera eye, but also because Universal saw fit not to make new subtitles for the DVD version of the film, leaving us with only the tiny, eye-strain inducing subtitles from the theatrical release. That technical annoyance aside, this blend of social drama, action-thriller and love story unites American filmmaking slickness with what feels like an insider’s view of the brutal travails of Central American immigrants and the sickness of life inside today’s gangs. The story brings together a heartbroken Mexican gangbanger on the run (Marco Antonio Aguirre) and an innocent Honduran teen (Paulina Gaitan) trying to unite with family in New Jersey in an involving and violent story that does a fine job of humanizing the “illegal immigrants” that fill the fevered imagination of America’s right wing.

On his first feature (produced by the “Y Tu Mama Tambien” twosome of Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal), Berkeley, California-bred writer-director Fukunaga has made an impossibly slick, extremely well-acted combination of indie subject matter and mainstream style that involves us with strong characterization, fine acting from a cast of unknowns, and visual brilliance. Even if “Sin Nombre” ultimately doesn’t quite justify the heartrending journey the film takes us on, it’s a mightily impressive debut that will inspire young filmmakers and seriously anger Lou Dobbs — two highly praiseworthy achievements.

Click to buy “Sin Nombre”

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Blu Tuesday: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Army of Darkness and The Ultimate Force of Four

September 15, 2009 /

It’s been several weeks since we’ve seen any high-def titles really worth talking about. The average moviegoer could even say the same for today’s releases, but despite there being only one major title hitting stores, there’s a small niche of cinephiles (myself included) that will likely pick up more than a few great films making their Blu-ray debut.

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (20th Century Fox)

Fox’s highly anticipated spin-off doesn’t exactly qualify as one of those films, but it’s a movie that a lot of fanboys are going to want in their collections anyway. That’s not to say that “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is necessarily bad, but it certainly isn’t as good as a lot of people were expecting. Part of the problem is that the movie is supposed to be about the origin of Wolverine, and yet that’s the least interesting part of the film. For all intents and purposes, this is just another X-Men movie, because it features a slew of mutant characters we’ve been dying to see onscreen for while. In fact, the number of mutant cameos in this film alone is almost as large as the entire cast of the X-Men franchise, which only begs to ask the question: why not just make another X-Men movie instead? That was clearly the idea behind “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” because although the filmmakers severely botched it up (characters are haphazardly killed off, while others stray from their comic book roots), your X-Men collection wouldn’t feel complete without it.

“Army of Darkness” (Universal)

By far one of my favorite movies of all time, Sam Raimi’s semi-sequel to “The Evil Dead” and “Evil Dead 2” trades in scares for laughs as Ash is transported back to the Middle Ages to lead its people against an army of dead. Though the movie was a certifiable box office dud when it was released in theaters, it’s earned a huge cult following over the years and features B-movie actor extraordinaire, Bruce Campbell, at his absolute best. Though the HD transfer isn’t quite as good as we’ve come to expect from Universal’s past releases, it’s still better than the shoddy video quality that fans of the movie are used to. Sadly, the new Screwhead Edition only comes with one new bonus feature (a visual effects featurette called “Creating the Deadites”), and it’s one that I could have easily gone without had they included all of the extras from the numerous DVD editions. As it stands, only the alternate ending and some production photos have survived the jump to Blu-ray, so you might want to wait until a more ultimate version is released before you pick this up. Those that consider themselves diehard fans, however, probably own more than a few versions of this already, and so buying this one will only come naturally.

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