Blu-ray Movie Reviews

With the aid of his trusted ally Dr. John Watson (Jude Law), Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) is unequaled in his pursuit of criminals. After a string of ritualistic murders, the pair arrives just in time to save the latest victim and uncover the killer: Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong). He is sentenced to death but warns Holmes that death has no power over him, and he will rise again. It turns out he wasn't lying.

I'm not sure Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would approve of the modernized Sherlock Holmes, but it turns out he's one hell of an action hero. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack features some great demo-worthy scenes, although the dialog is not entirely intelligible in a couple of scenes. The VC-1 encode is just as impressive, with exquisite detail, inky blacks, and well-resolved shadows.

Long before Batman had the Joker, the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes, had an evil nemesis who was every bit his equal in intelligence and powers of perception; the yin to his yang, so to speak. Professor James Moriarty was a precursor to the Bond villain and a blueprint for every criminal mastermind to come. In the previous Sherlock Holmes film, he was a mysterious and sinister presence concealed in darkness. For A Game of Shadows, he comes to the forefront to challenge the master detective to a game to the death and is played with relish by Jared Harris.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/061308short.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Struck by lightning, a Defense Department robot malfunctions and, as a result, develops its own consciousness. Escaping the military, it finds refuge with a young woman (Ally Sheedy) who helps hide "Number 5" from its inventor, Newton Crosby (Steve Guttenberg), and the government who wants its weapon back.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/shrekthethird.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When Shrek's father-in-law (John Cleese)&#151;or shall I say, frog-in-law&#151;passes away, Shrek (Mike Myers) is the next in line to the throne. But Shrek has a different set of priorities&#151;a return to his beloved swamp. Along with his two sidekicks, Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas), he embarks on an adventure to find the rightful heir to the throne&#151;Arthur (Justin Timberlake).

When a government strike against the Mexican drug cartel on American soil proves fruitful but costly, a dedicated FBI field agent (Emily Blunt) joins an interagency task force to help bring the men responsible to justice. She quickly learns, however, that her new colleagues have a disturbing tendency to bend or break the rules, or even write their own. They’re an effective bunch, albeit mysteriously motivated. The dangerous transport of a high-value prisoner to the U.S. yields valuable information, including the whereabouts of a crucial cartel tunnel under the border.

Director Steven Soderbergh’s latest firecracker of a movie, Side Effects, is really two distinct movies. As good as it is, it would have been even better if it had stuck with the first one. Side Effects begins as a harrowing look at a woman’s descent into a crushing clinical depression and finally full-blown psychosis.

When Douglas Trumbull, the wizard behind the visual effects on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, finally took to the director’s chair, the result was 1972’s Silent Running. The environmentally themed adventure set in the distant future stars Bruce Dern in a gripping early career performance as botanist Freeman Lowell.