Blu-ray Movie Reviews

In this darkly satiric thriller about conceptual dining, mockery is made both of foodies and society’s growing obsession with the dramatically experiential. A group of wealthy culinary enthusiasts, snobby gastronomes, and famous experts are whisked by yacht to a private island where an unforgettable meal awaits them at a highly exclusive gourmet restaurant.

In the final months of World War II, as Allied armies smashed across Europe and into Germany, an organization called the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program (the MFAA) was assigned the task of recovering and preserving countless art treasures plundered by the Nazis. It included hundreds of art experts from 13 countries, working in small cadres.

The Mountain Between Us is part survival adventure and part love story within a compelling premise. Ben and Alex meet by chance at the airport; their flight has been cancelled due to inclement weather, and both have urgent need of reaching their destinations. Ben (Idris Elba) is a prominent neurosurgeon who is needed in surgery the following day, and Alex (Kate Winslet) is a photojournalist who's getting married in 24 hours.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/mummy.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>About a thousand years before the birth of Christ, high priest Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) had a forbidden relationship with Anck Su Namun (Patricia Velasquez), the mistress to Pharaoh Seti I (Aharon Ipale). As punishment, he was mummified alive in the city of Hamunaptra and cursed with a living death.

The first act of this lightweight horror film draws you in, starting with ancient palace intrigue and moving to turn of the (20th) century Egypt. The second act is OK, if implausible. The third is loaded with action, but also suggests the CGI artists just got a new software sandbox and just had to play in it.

As a product of the Muppets generation I had high hopes for their return to the silver screen and eventually Blu-ray, but color me very disappointed. While the technical aspects of the Blu-ray are pure reference-quality with amazing detail, vibrant colors, and enveloping surround sound, the script leaves a lot to be desired with uninspiring human characters, a paint by numbers script, and middling musical numbers—and no, I don't think "Man or Muppet" should have won the Oscar. My kids have generally liked the Muppet productions but were just as disappointed in this one as I was, but at least it looked and sounded great and is a worthy candidate for showing off your gear.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/natural.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is a country hick who has one dream in life; to play professional baseball. But that's not enough, when he walks down the street he wants people to say, "There goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in the game." At 19, his boyhood dream catches a glimpse of reality when he's summoned to Chicago for a tryout with the Cubs. On the journey he meets Harriet Bird (Barbara Hershey), who turns out to be a psychotic killer who shoots a silver bullet into Hobbs' abdomen. Left for dead in a Chicago hotel room, Hobbs miraculously survives and disappears for 16 years until he finally realizes his dream of playing baseball by signing a contract with the hapless New York Knights.