BLU-RAY MOVIE REVIEWS

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/422orphanage.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Returning to her childhood home—a creepy, seaside orphanage—Laura (Belen Rueda) unknowingly unleashes a long-forgotten, evil spirit. When her son, Sim&#243;n (Roger Pr&#237;ncep), mysteriously disappears, she is thrust into a chilling nightmare in which she must confront the memories of her past before the ghosts of the orphanage destroy her.

Given its massive budget (estimated to be $195 million), I expected the battle scenes to rival those in Saving Private Ryan—which they do in their scope and visceral impact—but it's the psychological struggles of our three heroes that kept me riveted. Not only do they have to fight a relentless enemy in the Japanese, but they must cope with the elements—suffocating heat, malaria, tropical rainstorms—and somehow keep a grasp on their own humanity. If they're fortunate enough to survive and return home, how will they acclimate to the civilized world after spending four years in hell?

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/Perfectstorm.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Based on the book by Sebastian Junger, <i>The Perfect Storm</i> centers around one of the deadliest storms in recorded history. In 1991, three weather fronts collided in the North Atlantic&#151;one of them being Hurricane Grace&#151;which caused swells 100 feet tall and winds that reached 160MPH.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/polarexpress3d.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>A boy (Daryl Sabara) has lost the Christmas spirit and doesn't believe in Santa Claus. He awakes on Christmas Eve to the sound of a train arriving in his front yard. Invited to join the Polar Express on its journey to the North Pole by the train conductor (Tom Hanks), a magical world opens his eyes to the spirit of Christmas.

This is the first 2D hand-drawn animated title from Disney since 2004's Home on the Range. After the mainstream birth of computer animation with 1995's Toy Story, many studios, including Disney, got the impression that families are tired of "classic" animation and only interested in computer-animated titles. Surprisingly, Disney seemed to forget that not only does a film need to look pretty, it needs to have a good story. However, the studio has redeemed itself here, even though the trailers weren't that impressive.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/reader.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>In 1958, Hannah (Kate Winslet) has a passionate summer affair with a young neighborhood boy named Michael (David Kross and Ralph Fiennes), but then disappears with no explanation, leaving Michael emotionally scarred. Eight years later, she resurfaces as one of the defendants in a war-crimes trial stemming from her actions during World War II. Michael realizes he has information that can set her free and must decide whether or not to save her.

When high-school baseball coach Jim Morris (Dennis Quaid) was looking for a way to inspire his perennially losing team to win, he decided to issue a challenge they couldn't refuse. If they made it to the district playoffs, he would try out for a major-league baseball team. Fortunately for Morris, his team fulfilled their part of the bargain, and he went to the tryout in which his fast ball was clocked at 98 mph! It wasn't long before Jim found himself pitching for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as a 35-year-old rookie. The best part of the story is that it actually happened in 1999.