Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gods of Egypt
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Sep 30, 2016  | 
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It’s difficult to fathom that Alex Proyas, the director who gave us Dark City and The Crow, is the same director responsible for I, Robot and Gods of Egypt, but sure enough, he is. If the first two films were dark and foreboding, and I, Robot was a perfect visual effects popcorn movie, then Gods of Egypt is…what, exactly? Well, let’s say it’s a big special-effects movie, and that’s it. It certainly has Proyas’s style all over it, but it’s hollow inside.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gone Baby Gone
Marc Horowitz  |  Jul 20, 2008  | 
Miramax
Movie •••• Picture •••• Sound •••½ Extras •••

Based on the book by Dennis Lehane (whose imagina

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gone Girl
Chris Chiarella  |  May 28, 2015  | 
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Here’s a truth-pill for all of you single folk out there: Sometimes marriage can really suck. Don’t take my word for it, though; instead, spend some time with the Dunnes, Nick and Amy (Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike). After a nigh-fairytale meeting and courtship, their seemingly idyllic life together develops cracks. The deterioration is expedited over the years by family troubles that lead to money troubles, and contempt and infidelity follow. For Amy, marriage is a daily humiliation. For Nick, it’s a trap, one from which he yearns to escape.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gone with the Wind - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition (Blu-ray) Gone with the Wind - 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition
David Vaughn  |  Nov 16, 2009  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/gwtw.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Set in the South against the backdrop of the Civil War, this is the story of headstrong and manipulative Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh), who lusts after a married man while neglecting her true love and third husband Rhett Butler (Clark Gable).

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
GoodFellas 25th Anniversary
Chris Chiarella  |  Jul 24, 2015  | 
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If not the first movie to expose the true inner workings of organized crime—in contrast to Coppola’s seminal, romanticized The Godfather—GoodFellas is arguably the most influential, and the most enduring. It is also one of Martin Scorsese’s most popular films, a near-perfect intersection of source material and cinematic execution. Nicholas Pileggi’s book Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family recounted bona-fide gangster Henry Hill’s rise from two-bit mob gopher to prolific felon, as well as his ultimate downfall, and the many escapades in between. Adapted with ample violence and profanity, GoodFellas (renamed to avoid confusion with contemporary TV series Wiseguy) is also incredibly funny, often darkly so, for a more deeply entertaining tale.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
GoodFellas – 20th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Feb 08, 2010  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/goodfellas20.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Based on the novel "Wiseguy, Life in a Mafia Family" by Nicholas Pileggi, <i>GoodFellas</i> follows the life of Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who started as a gofer for the Mob and advanced through the ranks (although he could never become a "made man" based upon his heritage).

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gran Torino (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Jun 03, 2009  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/grantor.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>Korean War vet and retired auto worker Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) doesn't much like how his life or his neighborhood has turned out. He especially doesn't like the people next door&#151;Hmong immigrants from Southeast Asia. But events force him to defend those neighbors against a local gang that feeds on violence and fear. </i>

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gravity Diamond Luxe Edition
David Vaughn  |  Jun 18, 2015  | 
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During a routine spacewalk from the Space Shuttle, disaster strikes, leaving the Shuttle destroyed and two astronauts stranded in the darkness with death lurking just over the horizon. With their oxygen running low, the two decide to make a desperate play to reach the International Space Station and secure a ride back to Earth, but the journey won’t be easy or uneventful.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Grease (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 05, 2009  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/grease.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>After a wonderful summer romance, Danny (John Travolta) and Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) must end their relationship when she has to return to her native Australia. When her trip is extended and she attends Rydell High, she discovers that Danny isn't the boy she fell in love with; he's the leader of the T-Birds, a leather-clad greaser gang.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Green Zone (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 22, 2010  | 
Roy Miller (Matt Damon) is a U.S. Army officer deployed in Iraq in the early stages of the war who's searching for WMD (weapons of mass destruction). When every search turns-up empty, he begins to questions the veracity of the "solid" intelligence provided by his superiors and goes off the reservation with the help of a CIA operative.

Damon reteams with director Paul Greengrass in this disappointing retelling of the Iraq war. The film is well shot, acted, and edited, but the screenplay is so heavy-handed in its political message it was hard to take seriously.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Greenberg (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jul 15, 2010  | 
After suffering a nervous breakdown, Roger Greenberg (Ben Stiller) house sits for his brother in Los Angeles and tries to reconnect with some old friends. Along the way he falls for his brother's personal assistant, Florence (Greta Gerwig), whose screwed-up life seems normal compared to Roger's.

This has to be one of the dullest movies I've seen in years. I give director Noah Baumbach props for creating a strikingly realistic world and coaxing strong performances out of Stiller and Gerwig, but the glacial pacing, meandering script, and constant whining by the characters tried my patience.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Grumpy Old Men (Blu-ray)
Kris Deering  |  Jul 09, 2009  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/grumpy.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>Two elderly, eccentric, next-door neighbors sustain a rancorous relationship that only a wise observer could recognize as a very special friendship. When a lonely, flamboyant, middle-aged widow moves in across the street from them, the male rivalry begins. One of the great screen duos of all time - Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau - reunite in this romantic comedy that examines the decades-old love-hate relationship between two neighbors and the way their lives are thrown into total upheaval when a lovely, free-spirited widow moves in across the street. </I>

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Guardians of the Galaxy
Chris Chiarella  |  Apr 08, 2015  | 
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Exploring the adventures of a lesser-known team from the Marvel Universe, Guardians of the Galaxy was something of a surprise hit. The plot is well worn, almost clichéd, as a group of disparate beings learn to work together, and we can spot the few twists light-years away. Perhaps the filmmakers are acknowledging all that has come before but have chosen to enliven this tale by infusing a vast quantity of smart-ass humor. And that decision pays off remarkably well, yielding one of the most entertaining space operas since Star Wars.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Guts and Glory: 10 Great Comic Book Movies on Blu-ray
Chris Chiarella  |  May 10, 2013  | 
When an older and quite esteemed film expert asked me not long ago what my favorite genre was, I was honestly flummoxed. Pixar isn’t a genre, and I’ve just seen too many lame science-fiction flicks. Looking back over a life of film fandom and the past decade in particular, I finally came up with an eyebrow-raising response: comic book movies.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsMusic Reviews
Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll
Mike Mettler  |  May 15, 2020  | 
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It would be easy to characterize Chuck Berry, who passed away at age 90 in 2017, as one cantankerously acrimonious fellow, but after revisiting Taylor Hackford's astute 1987 documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll, now available on Blu-ray for the first time via Shout Select, I'm reminded of how captivating, creative, and downright business-savvy the pioneering, guitar-playing singer/ songwriter actually was.
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