Tag: Blu-ray new releases (Page 2 of 5)

Blu Tuesday: Gamer, Magnolia and Whiteout

January 19, 2010 /

It’s another busy week in Blu-ray, but despite the wide selection of titles to choose from, there aren’t too many standouts. In fact, two of the films I’ve decided to highlight wouldn’t even make the final cut most weeks, so before I talk myself out of finishing today’s post, let’s jump right into it.

“Gamer” (Lionsgate)

Fans of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor’s “Crank” series will no doubt enjoy their latest film, but despite a pretty cool premise that shamelessly steals from cult classics like “The Running Man” and “Death Race 2000,” “Gamer” fails to impress. A big reason for that is the script, which is definitely more restrained than the “Crank” movies but still pretty batshit crazy. (Case in point: “Heroes” star Milo Ventimiglia cameos as a “Sims”-like character named, wait for it, Rick Rape.) One thing that does work is the look of the film. Neveldine and Taylor may not know how to censor their own twisted imaginations, but they’re talented filmmakers with a great visual style. They also put together some great extras for the Blu-ray release, including an audio commentary, a making-of featurette, and a behind-the-scenes look at the RED camera technology used on the film.

“Magnolia” (Warner Bros.)

Paul Thomas Anderson might not be as prolific as his fans would like him to be, but whenever he does decide to make a film, they usually turn out pretty well. “Magnolia” has been called overrated by some, and whether or not that’s true, it’s hard to deny the brilliance behind it. For starters, Anderson reportedly wrote the movie in only a few weeks, which is quite the achievement when you consider the complexity of the narrative. It also boasts a great cast including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, John C. Reilly, and Tom Cruise in his Oscar-nominated role, and some of the best editing of the last decade. Clocking in at just over three-hours, “Magnolia” may be Anderson’s longest movie, but it glides by faster than any of his films. Warner Brothers’ Blu-ray release delivers a solid HD transfer, while the included video diary offers an intimate look at the making of the film.

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Blu Tuesday: The Hurt Locker, Moon and 8 1/2

January 12, 2010 /

After the craziness of the holiday shopping season, the home video market tends to slow down considerably for a few weeks. Now that we’re all back in the swing of things, however, the studios have commenced their usual release schedule, and with the holidays leading to a significant increase in Blu-ray ownership, it’s going to get really crazy. This week’s selection features two of the year’s best films, an old favorite, and much more.

“The Hurt Locker” (Lionsgate)

Director Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq war thriller is one of the most suspenseful movies I’ve ever seen, piling on the tension so high that you’ll literally spend the entire film on the edge of your seat. It also happens to be one of my favorite movies of the year and is a highly considered favorite to take home this year’s Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director. Jeremy Renner is a marvel to watch as the bomb squad thrill junkie at the center of the story, but the real star is Bigelow, who takes an otherwise barebones script and transforms it into a series of memorable set pieces that continually upstage the one before it. The included special features aren’t as great as they probably could be, but the audio commentary by Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boals (not to mention the Q&A track that plays over a 23-minute photo gallery slideshow) is definitely worth a listen.

“Moon” (Sony)

It wasn’t that long ago that Sam Rockwell was being hyped as the next big actor of his generation, and although his career never really reached the level that many expected, the guy has been turning out great performance after great performance for years. However, in Duncan Jones’ directorial debut, “Moon,” Rockwell delivers the performance of a lifetime as a contract astronaut working on a moon-based space station where he monitors the mining of a green-energy source called Helium-3. The indie sci-fi flick takes a trippy but exciting turn when Rockwell’s character discovers a doppelganger tasked with the same mission. With no one else to play off but himself (and Kevin Spacey’s voice as a HAL-like computer called Gerty), Rockwell takes an already good story and makes it that much better. Yet another great sci-fi film to add to 2009’s ever-growing list.

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Blu Tuesday: Up, Monsters Inc., and Watchmen

November 10, 2009 /

It’s been awhile since my last proper Blu-ray column (a little longer than I’d like to admit, in fact), but it’s been really busy around here at the Bullz-Eye office, and when it comes to priorities, well, Blu Tuesday ranks pretty low on the list. Still, with the holiday season just around the corner, the studios are beginning to make an early push with plenty of great new Blu-ray titles that simply can’t be ignored any longer.

“Up” (Walt Disney)

Many people will tell you that “Up” is one of the best films of the year, but I’m not one of those people. In fact, though I did like Pixar’s latest film about a cantankerous old widower named Harry Caray – er, I mean, Carl – who goes on an adventure through the jungles of South America, it just barely cracks my Top 5 favorite films from the Disney-owned animation studio. Still, there’s plenty to love about the four-disc Blu-ray release, including three copies of the movie, the “Partly Cloudy” short that ran in front of the film, and an all-new short that details what Dug the dog was up to before meeting Carl and Russell. There are also some cool production featurettes on things like character design and the different endings devised for Muntz, as well as an alternate version of the opening montage, but the best of the bunch is a documentary about the Pixar crew’s trip to Venezuela and how it inspired the look and feel of the film.

“Monsters, Inc.” (Walt Disney)

“Monsters, Inc.” was probably the best film that Pixar had put out at the time, and though it might not seem quite as good when compared to more recent films like “Ratatouille” and “WALL*E,” it’s just as charming as you remember it. Even though its story is pretty straightforward (based on the original treatment included on the Blu-ray, it’s amazing they were even able to stretch it into a full-length feature), the movie shows hints of the raw emotion that director Pete Docter would later inject into his sophomore effort, “Up.” Because the original DVD release was already jam-packed with bonus material, however, the new Blu-ray edition is more about owning the film in high definition than the extras that come with it. As you can probably imagine, “Monsters, Inc.” looks incredible in 1080p, and even with the changes in technology, you could still hold it up to any Pixar film released in the last three years. The few new special features that have been included also serve as a nice complement – particularly a filmmakers’ roundtable that looks back at the making of the film and a sneak peek at the “Monsters, Inc.” attraction at Tokyo Disneyland.

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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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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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