BlurayUS Reviews

One of the things you’ve probably been saying to yourself if you’ve watched a lot of movies from the last 30 years is ‘where are all the big movies?’ Not big in box office, budget or star power – they’ve been around as long as Hollywood and the star system. The ‘big’ movies, where a [...]

Peter Jackson bought about the last great seismic change with the ”Lord of the Rings” saga, showing how the fantastical genres that had languished for so long could be bought to life with CGI instead of just showcasing what computers could do, blending Shakespearian performances and deep emotional themes and walking off with the crown [...]

”Gangster Squad” is De Palma’s ”The Untouchables” gurgling on a Grande Coke-sherbet chaser. The classic noir gangster-flick dry-humping the hip, effects-heavy actioners of today, it’s a an element meshing-popping-gushing-broadly appealing-fast-moving head-turner that’s clearly as interested in new Hollywood as it is old Hollywood. Loaded with the visual guns he loaded his ”Zombieland” with a couple [...]

EPIC! That is the word that jumped into my mind less than a minute into “Les Misérables.” Just the opening shot of prison constable Javert (Crowe) looking down on his charge of prisoners gave me a chill that would last for almost three hours. As I write this in early December I feel safe in [...]

It’s over. Finally. The epic vampire meets girl, girl meets vampire, wolf-boy takes his shirt off a lot adventures known as “The Twilight Saga” has reached its end with “Breaking Dawn: Part II.” For those of you that may have missed the story: Bella (Stewart) is a high school girl living in a remote town [...]

Filmmaker Lee Hirsch rips your heart out in, “Bully,” a documentary that gives an unflinching look into the lives of five families affected by bullying and the harrowing reality of its influence on children across the United States. Character driven, the documentary focuses on 12 year-old Alex and captures the daily spoonful of harassment he [...]

While nowhere near as Frakkin good as their ‘Battlestar Galactica’ reboot, SyFy’s prequel film (originally intended to be the pilot for a new series, which the network passed on) “Blood & Chrome” serves as a welcome reminder that there’s still life in the old ‘man vs. cylon’ template. As opposed to the previous “Galactica” spin-off, [...]

Set in a futuristic world, “Cosmopolis” follows Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson), the 28-year-old golden boy of finance as he glides around town in his ultramodern stretch limo in search of answers and a haircut as Wall Street crumbles around him. It pains me to say this since I’ve always enjoyed David Cronenberg films, (“History of [...]

[Review’s note: The version reviewed is the R-rated video-on-demand version. There is an unrated version that was released in other territories last month and will be released eventually on blu-ray.] HOLLYWOOD, TIME TO GIVE JOHN HYAMS A BIG BUDGET FILM. Many others will be echoing that sentiment as Hyams’s new film “Universal Soldier: Day of [...]

A “cutthroat story of greed, sex, blackmail and butter” says Jennifer Garner’s ambitious politico says in her introductory words. Director Jim Field Smith’s “Butter” includes all that, but like the fatty but tasty offering itself – a little bit of it is fine, any more and it starts to repeat on you. Falling somewhere between [...]

We mightn’t have met the mother yet, but sitcom star Josh Radnor’s not going to make us wait eight years to I.D his merit. In between seasons of his bread-and-butter gig, “How I Met Your Mother”, Radnor’s been Zach Braff-ing himself, attempting to convince the industry he’s capable of working with more than one camera [...]

15 years ago, I was likely also anticipating an Alicia Silverstone reunion – only that one involved a tongue and a bedroom wall of sticky clippings of a teenage movie star in skimpy clothing. And here we go again, reuniting with a beloved. Always a special thing. Silverstone’s latest reunion isn’t so much with me [...]

Is Jonathan Crane (aka The Scarecrow) in it? Is the character of Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) really Talia Al-Ghul? Does Bruce Wayne die at the end? Can director Christopher Nolan do what no director has in history and pull off the biggest, baddest, best last installment in a popular popcorn movie trilogy (”Spider-Man 3” was [...]

1995′s “Pocahontas” was Disney at it’s best, serving up a beautiful hand-drawn tale of romance and adventure, complete with an enlightening history lesson (albeit, a slightly exaggerated version of an event). The first film based on a real-life character – not to mention the first to feature a Native American heroine – the Mike Gabriel [...]

Where did we go wrong and stop believing in the sweet innocence of a Disney film? It’s no coincidence that Walk Disney was the most prolific Oscar winner when he was alive but under the stewardship of everyone from Michael Eisner to Bob Iger Mauschwitz has been reduced to just one of many studios churning [...]