Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 2.5/5
Extras: 2/5
As the mourners and guests at a British country manor struggle valiantly to "keep a stiff upper lip,"" a dignified ceremony devolves into a hilarious, no-holds-barred debacle of misplaced cadavers, indecent exposure, and shocking family secrets.

Video: 4.75/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 4/5
Welcome to the "Death Race", where hardened convicts and smoking-hot navigators race tricked-out cars in the most twisted spectator sport on Earth! Sentenced to the world's most dangerous prison for a murder he did not commit, Jensen Ames has only one chance to get out alive - win the ultimate race to the death.

Video: 5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.5/5
"Defiance" is a riveting adventure that showcases the extraordinary true story of the Bielski brothers, simple farmers - outnumbered and outgunned - who turned a group of war refugees into powerful freedom fighters. Tuvia, along with his unyielding brother, Zus, motivate hundreds of civilians to join their ranks against the Nazi regime. Their "Inspirational story" is a true testament to the human spirit.

Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3/5
Trapped in an elevator high above Philadelphia, five people discover that the Devil is among them – and no one can escape their fate. This chilling, supernatural thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat all the way to a heart-stopping ending with a truly wicked twist.

Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3/5
Dexter is a crime drama about Dexter Morgan, a man who leads a double life as an incredibly likeable forensics expert for the Miami Police Department and as an emotionless vigilante serial killer. Taught by his foster father to harness his lust for blood and killing, Dexter lives by his own strict moral code - he only kills murderers who can't otherwise be brought to justice. Dexter is a killer who grapples with fitting into society while, at the same time, he struggles with his inability to feel emotion. The irony of Dexter's life is that he works closely as a blood splatter analyst with the very people who hunt his kind - the homicide department.

<I>Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 (anamorphic). Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, Dolby Surround (French, Spanish), DTS 5.1 ES (English). MGM Home Entertainment 1004346. PG-13. $29.98.</I>

Video: 5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: N/A
Last year video guru Joe Kane released the first High Definition test disc to the market with Digital Video Essentials. We'd seen this release before on the short lived D-Theater format but this time around the disc offered a more intuitive menu structure and offered two resolutions for test material. Problem was; it was limited to HD DVD only. This new version is available in both HD DVD and Blu-ray and is slightly scaled down. Some of the more advanced test patterns that are good for display evaluation are missing but most of the patterns for display setup are all there. The disc has both 1080p and 720p content making it very adaptable for the two most popular screen resolutions on the market today. This new disc also features more in-depth instructions on the materials and their benefit on display playback. The menu is still a bit cumbersome at times and I wish they would have allowed for storage of some favorites similar to what we see with some HD DVD and Blu-ray releases that have a bookmark function. All of the familiar demonstration material is here from the previous editions as well.