Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader—20th Century Fox
Kris Deering  |  Apr 13, 2011  | 
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 3/5
When Lucy and Edmund Pensive, along with their cousin Eustace, are swallowed into a painting and transported back to Narnia, they join King Caspian and a noble mouse named Reepicheep aboard the magnificent ship The Dawn Treader. The courageous voyagers travel to mysterious islands, confront mystical creatures, and reunite with the Great Lion Aslan and a mission that will determine the fate of Narnia itself.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Rabbit Hole—Lionsgate
Kris Deering  |  Apr 12, 2011  | 
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 3.5/5
Extras: 3/5
Becca and Howie Corbett are returning to their everyday existence in the wake of a shocking, sudden loss. Just eight months ago, they were a happy suburban family with everything they wanted. Now, they are caught up in a maze of memory, longing, guilt, recrimination, sarcasm and tightly controlled rage from which they cannot escape. While Becca finds pain in the familiar, Howie finds comfort. The shifts come in abrupt, unforeseen moments. Becca hesitantly opens up to her opinionated, loving mother and secretly reaches out to the teenager involved in the accident that changes everything; while Howie lashes out and imagines solace with another woman. Yet, as off track as they are, the couple keeps trying to find their way back to a life that still holds the potential for beauty, laughter and happiness. The resulting journey is an intimate glimpse into two people learning to re-engage with each other and a world that has been tilted off its axis.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster—Well Go USA
Kris Deering  |  Apr 12, 2011  | 
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.5/5
During the Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man protected the dignity of Chinese by his wushu (martial art). As he had beaten the Japanese army and angered them, he had to escape. After the war, his family lived in Fashan and experienced hardship. Ip moved his family to Hong Kong to start a new page in 1949. Ip Man began teaching Wing Chun in Hong Kong. A young man, Wong Leung, gathered a few of his boxing friends and asked Ip to be their master. Ip had his first group of students.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Incredibles (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Apr 11, 2011  | 
Once one of the world's top crime fighters, Bob Parr (a.k.a. Mr. Incredible) fought evil and saved lives on a daily basis. But 15 years later, he and his wife Helen (the former Elastigirl) have been forced to take on civilian identities and retreat to the suburbs. Itching for action, Mr. Incredible gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top-secret assignment.

Pixar has quite a track record with its films, and this is one of their best. I love how they take something from our society (rampant personal injury lawsuits) and weave it into a story about superheroes that can no longer practice their craft because someone gets a sore neck when being saved from certain death! The cast is brilliant here with Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter as the husband and wife crime fighting team along with Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best/Frozone.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Somewhere—Universal
Kris Deering  |  Apr 10, 2011  | 
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2/5
You have probably seen him in the tabloids; Johnny is living at the legendary Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood. He has a Ferrari to drive around in, and a constant stream of girls and pills to stay in with. Comfortably numbed, Johnny drifts along. Then, his 11-year-old daughter Cleo from his failed marriage arrives unexpectedly at the Chateau. Their encounters encourage Johnny to face up to where he is in life and confront the question that we all must: which path in life will you take.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Little Fockers—Universal
Kris Deering  |  Apr 09, 2011  | 
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 3.5/5
It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get "in" with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, however, Jack's suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring back. When Greg and Pam's entire clan - including Pam's lovelorn ex, Kevin - descends for the twins' birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he's fully capable as the man of the house. But with all the misunderstandings, spying and covert missions, will Greg pass Jack's final test and become the family's next patriarch... or will the circle of trust be broken for good.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Resident—Image Entertainment/Hammer Films
Kris Deering  |  Apr 09, 2011  | 
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 0/5
Juliet, a beautiful doctor, has found the perfect New York apartment to start a new life after separating from her husband. It's got spacious rooms, a spectacular view, and a handy, handsome landlord. But there are secrets behind every wall and terror in every room as Juliet gets the unnerving feeling that she is not alone. She is being watched. She is being stalked. And no one is safe when she discovers the relentless horror on her doorstep. But how do you stop an evil that you can't see... until it's too late?
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
David Vaughn  |  Apr 08, 2011  | 
In the future, the polar ice caps have melted, the sea waters have flooded coastal cities, and you must obtain a license to have a child. Science has evolved to the point of creating artificial beings, called mechas, to serve humans and preserve precious natural resources. One such mecha, David (Haley Joel Osment), is the first of its kind; an artificial kid that can give and receive unconditional love to his adoptive parents.

Of all of Spielberg's films, this is probably my least favorite. Its pacing is horrendous, it runs much too long at 145 minutes, and its last 40 minutes are a bizarre waste of time. While the acting and special effects are very good they can't overcome the boring second act and the horrendous ending(s).

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Little Fockers (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Apr 06, 2011  | 
After his brother-in-law ruins his marriage with his philandering ways, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is his father-in-law's (Robert DeNiro) last hope to assume the role as the family patriarch (aka, "The Godfocker"). When a beautiful pharmaceutical rep (Jessica Alba) enters the scene, Greg must repel her sexual advances in order to keep his marriage sacred and not lose the new found admiration from the family patriarch.

After being skewered by critics in its theatrical run, I had extremely low expectations for the third installment of the trials and tribulations of Greg Focker. While it doesn't measure up to the first film (or the second), there are quite a few laughs, especially when Stiller and DeNiro share the screen together. Unfortunately the screenplay doesn't flow very well and I expected to see more of the kids given the title of the film, but their time on screen is very limited.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsMusic Reviews
Rush’s Fountain of Surround, Part 2: Moving Predictions
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 05, 2011  | 

“It’s a timeless record with so much detail,” says surround-sound remix guru Richard Chycki about Rush’s 1981 masterpiece, Moving Pictures. “I’m glad you’ve clued into all of the nuances.” Chycki is referring to what I said to him last week about the PCM 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes he did for MP’s 30th anniversary reissue. Today marks the release of the CD+DVD version, something certainly worth getting if you’re not equipped for Blu-ray — but the much preferred Holy Grail CD+BD version won’t be out until May 3.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Black Swan—20th Century Fox
Kris Deering  |  Apr 04, 2011  | 
Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 3.5/5
Nina is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre for the opening production of their new season, "Swan Lake", Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily, who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side - a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Tron's Screen Gem
Geoffrey Morrison  |  Apr 03, 2011  | 

First with the just-released Diamond Edition of its 1942 classic, Bambi, and now with Tron: Legacy, Disney is including a Blu-ray bonus called Disney Second Screen. After downloading an app to your iPad or laptop computer, you enable the program in the disc's menu. The iPad/laptop now plays special features to coincide with your viewing of the Blu-ray on TV.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Stand By Me (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Apr 01, 2011  | 
During the Labor Day weekend in 1959, a group of friends go in search of a young boy's dead body on the outskirts of a woodsy Oregon town. The two day trek turns into an adventure of self-discovery as Gordy (Wil Wheaton), Chris (River Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman), and Vern (Jerry O'Connell) must overcome some town bullies and find an inner strength they never knew they possessed.

Based on the Steven King novella "The Body," Stand by Me is one of my favorite films from my high school years. Director Rob Reiner takes you on a wonderful journey and reminds me of some of my own adventures (although I never went looking for a dead body). The performances from the young cast showed each had the talent to become Hollywood stars, but Phoenix threw it all away with a drug overdose in 1993.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1—Warner Bros.
Kris Deering  |  Mar 31, 2011  | 
Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 4/5
Part 1 begins as Harry, Ron and Hermione set out on their perilous mission to track down and destroy the Horcruxes - the keys to Voldemort's immortality. On their own and on the run, the three friends must now rely on one another more than ever. But there are Dark Forces in their midst that threaten to tear them apart.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Social Network comes to Blu-ray
Josef Krebs  |  Mar 31, 2011  | 

The Social Network opens with a conversation between Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend (Rooney Mara), and it's the perfect setup for a movie about a certain form of Internet interaction.

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