Blu-ray Movie Reviews

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/johnadams.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography <I>John Adams</I> by David McCullough, this Emmy-winning HBO miniseries focuses on the life of the second president of the United States, from the Boston Massacre, where he defended the accused British troops, until his death on July 4, 1826. With his vision of a nation of liberty and justice for all, Adams (Paul Giamatti) guided his peers&#151;George Washington (David Morse), Benjamin Franklin (Tom Wilkinson), and Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane)&#151;in setting the values and plans upon which our country was founded. His steadying force was his wife Abigail (Laura Linney), whose life-spanning partnership became one of the most moving love stories in American history.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/truerom.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>Runaway lovers Clarence (Christian Slater) and Alabama (Patricia Arquette) play a dangerous game when they come to possess a suitcase of mob contraband. They head for Los Angeles, where they'll sell the goods and begin a new life. But both sides of the law have other ideas.</i>

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/com.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Alfonso Cuaron's vision of the future is bleak and depressing, but damn it looks and sounds awesome on Blu-ray. Don't expect a cornucopia of color, which is virtually nonexistent in 2027 with perpetual overcast skies and gloomy lighting, and there certainly isn't any stimulus money being spent on infrastructure&#151;the world needs some fresh paint! The disc excels in detail&#151;both foregrounds and backgrounds are always razor-sharp. The audio features top-notch frequency response, dynamic range, and imaging.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/robinhoodpot.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>Kevin Costner triumphs as the legendary Sherwood Forest outlaw leader in this epic adventure bringing a 12th-century medieval world to spectacular screen life. Enhancing the fun are 12 added minutes of footage not seen in theatres, especially more juicy malevolence of Robin Hood's archenemy, the Sheriff of Nottingham. Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio also star in this lavish production lensed in Britain and France, where historic structures, majestic forests, and vividly realistic recreations of Olde England combined to create a world at once ancient and ageless.</i>