Blu-ray Movie Reviews

In one sense this film is an unexpected gift. I would never have imagined such intense, mesmerizing human drama could be culled from the story of two rival magicians trying to destroy each other personally and professionally around the turn of the century. Of course, in another sense the success of a film made from such a talented pool of people on both sides of the camera shouldn't seem surprising at all.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/proposal.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>There's no other way to put it&#151;Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is not a very nice person. In fact, co-workers, especially her personal assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds), fear her because of her management style. But when Margaret discovers she's being deported back to her native Canada because she neglected her immigration paperwork, the quick-thinking executive announces that she and Andrew are engaged to be married.

<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.

This is the compelling story of those first Mercury astronauts, who paved the way for that “One giant leap for mankind” moment. It’s also the story of uber test pilot Chuck Yeager—never an astronaut but the first man to break the sound barrier.

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.