Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Written by novelist and playwright J.M. Barrie and produced as a London stage play in 1904, Peter Pan has become a timeless classic, finding its way onto stage, screen, and television. But it’s this 1953 Disney film that defines the story for most modern audiences.

Phoenix was one of the best films of 2015 (the U.S. release date): taut, nerve-racking, gorgeous in a lurid way. It has a Vertigo vibe, leaning heavily on Hitchcock’s German Expressionist influences, but marked with Angst of a more sociopolitical nature, as if the likes of F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang had shot films just after WWII instead of the two decades before. It begins with a woman, an Auschwitz survivor (played by Nina Hoss), entering a hospital for facial surgery to repair the damage done by brutal guards. She wants to look the way she did before, so her husband can recognize her. After the operation, she finds him waiting tables at a nightclub called Phoenix.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/pp2.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The bumbling Inspector Clouseau (Steve Martin) is called when treasures around the world begin to mysteriously disappear, including the priceless Pink Panther diamond. With a dream team of international detectives at his side, Clouseau must apprehend the master thief known as the Tornado.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/pinocchio.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Woodcarver Geppetto (voiced by Christian Rub) wishes upon a star for his latest creation, Pinocchio (Dickie Jones), to become a real boy. The Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable) descends from the stars while he sleeps and makes his wish come true&#151;with a catch. Pinocchio must prove himself to be of good character before he can become a real boy. Since he doesn't how to achieve this goal, the Blue Fairy assigns Jiminy Cricket (Cliff Edwards) to act as his conscience.

Ratatouille, Cars, and Pixar Short Films Collection

Talk about a win-win. Not only is the BBC's <I>Planet Earth</I> series spectacular hi-def eye candy, it's so well-made and narratively compelling that it holds up to an insane number of repeated viewings. And I should know- my two-year old son has us watching several of these episodes (especially <I>Shallow Seas</I> and <I> Ocean Deep</I>) several times a week.