Blu-ray Movie Reviews

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/fatboy.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Minutes before his wedding, Dennis Doyle (Simon Pegg) leaves his pregnant fianc&#233;, Libby (Thandie Newton), at the altar. Five years later, he realizes he made the biggest mistake of his life and wants her back. Unfortunately, Libby has moved on and is dating Whit (Hank Azaria), a super-successful financial manager with a great personality and even better abs. Dennis, on the other hand, is overweight and employed as a security guard at a London mall. In order to prove his worth to Libby, Dennis decides to enter the same London Marathon that Whit has been training for&#151;the big difference is that Dennis has only three weeks to prepare for the grueling 26-mile race.

LAPD Detective James Carter (Chris Tucker) likes to work alone and vows to never have a partner but he must join forces with Detective Inspector Lee (Jackie Chan) of the Hong Kong police department when the daughter of a visiting Hong Kong official is kidnapped in the United States.

Chan became a household name in America when this film debuted in 1998, although he was already a star in China. His amazing stunts wowed audiences and showed impressive comedic timing when paired with Tucker. The action-comedy spawned two additional sequels but this is the best of the three.

LAPD officer Paul Cutler (Gabriel Macht) leaves the sun and fun of California when he's ordered by Homeland Security to relocate to Detroit in order to train its S.W.A.T. team on the latest rescue techniques. Things are going great until a botched domestic dispute turns ugly and the surviving spouse (Robert Patrick) wants revenge.

I had low expectations considering this is a direct-to-video release, which allowed me to moderately enjoy the flick. The script, acting, and production value all have a low-budget "made for TV" feel, but director Benny Boom does his best to keep a brisk pace to keep it interesting.

The old adage “trust no one” is dramatically reinforced in the adrenaline-pumping thriller Safe House. Government-run safe houses are supposedly secure areas where people of interest can be kept in quarantine for purposes of questioning or until safe transport can be arranged. Ryan Reynolds is a “housekeeper” stationed at a CIA safe house in Capetown, South Africa. His daily regimen consists of total isolation and staring at the walls. One night, however, covert operatives arrive with a high-profile renegade agent to be interrogated. Shortly after his arrival, all hell breaks loose and pretty much stays on the loose until the end of the movie. Denzel Washington stars as the rogue agent carrying some extremely volatile and valuable information.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/sanbud.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When Puppy Paws (voiced by Zachary Gordon), the fun-loving son of Santa Paws (Tom Bosley) gets tired of the North Pole, he checks out Santa's naughty list and finds Budderballs's (John Flitter) name right on top. Puppy Paws heads south to meet the Buddies and find out how ordinary pups spend their days. But when the world begins to forget the true meaning of the holidays and the magic of the season begins to literally melt away, it's up to Puppy Paws and his newfound Buddies to save the day.

Three-time Oscar winner Oliver Stone has made some interesting choices in his career, from instant classics (such as 1987’s Wall Street) to real head-scratchers (2010’s Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps). Leaning more into the latter camp is Savages, a beautifully photographed romantic crime drama about equally beautiful people who just so happen to be drug dealers by trade.