Blu-ray Movie Reviews

“Imagine there’s no heaven. It’s easy if you try.” That profound statement set the table for the visceral round of revelations John Lennon had in store for us on his second proper solo album following his departure from The Beatles, September 1971’s Imagine. Whereas “God,” the critical denouement on Lennon’s galvanizing December 1970 solo debut Plastic Ono Band, served as a gasp-inducing, barrier-breaking declarative manifesto, “Imagine” proffered more of a “what if” scenario that embodied an inclusively universal yet concurrently subversive scope.

A bounty hunter of last resort, Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin) is a battle-hardened gunslinger who can track down anything but is a man destined to be alone. When the U.S. military approaches him with an offer he can't refuse, he soon begins to track down and stop the sinister terrorist Quentin Turnbull (John Malkovich).

While the story is loosely based on the DC Comics series, some of the changes made for the movie are too farfetched (conversing with the dead) and it's not very entertaining. Granted, there are plenty of explosions although the story lacks any depth and will insult your intelligence. Furthermore, the addition of Megan Fox as the love interest proves once again that the beautiful young woman can't act her way out of a paper bag, but she looks stunning in 1080p.

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<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/julie.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>Meryl Streep is Julia Child and Amy Adams is Julie Powell in writer/director Nora Ephron's adaptation of two bestselling memoirs: Powell's "Julie & Julia" and "My Life In France," by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme. Based on two true stories, "Julie & Julia" intertwines the lives of two women who, though separated by time and space, are both at loose ends...until they discover that with the right combination of passion, fearlessness and butter, anything is possible.</i>

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/415juno.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Juno (Ellen Page) is a confident and candid teenage girl facing an unplanned pregnancy. Instead of taking the expedient way out with an abortion, she sets out to find the perfect parents to adopt her baby. With the support of her family and friends, she struggles with the physical changes that her body undergoes as well as the challenges of the social stereotypes associated with teenage pregnancy.

After telling his new girlfriend that he's married as a means of avoiding real commitment, a plastic surgeon (Adam Sandler) must recruit a fake family to prove his honesty. His loyal assistant (Jennifer Aniston) agrees to play the soon to be ex-wife in order to score a free trip to Hawaii, but things don't go according to the plan when the two discover there's more to their friendship than meets the eye.

After Friends, many people wondered which of the ensemble cast would be the most successful and Aniston has been the most visible with movie projects. Here she plays the same character we've seen hundreds of times before in the romantic comedy genre as the loyal friend who discovers she's fallen in love and must overcome long odds in order to fulfill her dreams. Yawn!

When you think about the serial nature of comic books and the virtually limitless stream of new stories published each month, big-screen sequels in this genre should be a slam-dunk, right? Unfortunately, Kick-Ass 2 loses its way; its themes becoming at once muddled and more clichéd. High-schooler/hero Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is upping his crime-fighting game under the tutelage of 15-year-old Hit-Girl (Chloë Grace Moretz), who soon faces her own identity crisis. Inspired by the duo’s exploits, an all-new team of masked heroes has assembled, just as the vengeful son of a dead mob boss begins recruiting his own evil army, and a showdown is inevitable.