Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Greatest Game Ever Played (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 17, 2009  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/greatest.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Amateur golfer Francis Ouimet (Shia La Beouf) has a dream&#151;he wants to compete against the world's greatest player and his hero, Harry Vardon (Stephen Dillane). With his poor background, this doesn't seem likely until a member of the prestigious country club where he caddies notices his talent and gives him the opportunity to play. When he qualifies for the 1913 US Open, his dream comes true as he battles his hero in one of the most defining moments in US golf history.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Gunman
Anthony Chiarella  |  Oct 29, 2015  | 
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After assassinating Congo’s Minister of Mining in 2006, Jim Terrier (Sean Penn) must flee the country, leaving the woman he loves (Jasmine Trinca) to his friend Felix (Javier Bardem). Eight years later, Terrier returns, only to discover that he has become a target. Searching for answers as he struggles to stay alive, Terrier manages to either murder or precipitate the death of everyone he meets, including his closest friends. In the end, with the help of a clever Interpol agent (Idris Elba), Terrier learns that his former employer is trying to eradicate all evidence of the crime—including him.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Hangover: Extreme Edition (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Dec 17, 2009  | 
Two days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) drives to Las Vegas with his best buddies for a blow-out bachelor party they vow they'll never forget—only they did. When the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, their hotel suite is trashed, a couple of live animals have taken up residence, and the groom is lost. With little time to spare, they try to piece together the previous night and discover what happened to Doug and attempt get him back to L.A. in time for his wedding.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Hateful Eight
Josef Krebs  |  Aug 05, 2016  | 
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Two bounty hunters, a sheriff, and a prisoner walk into a haberdashery store… Such is the rambling setup of this old-dark-house-in-a-storm whodunit shaggy-dog story that writer-director Quentin Tarantino has turned into his meta-Western, The Hateful Eight. The colorful, gabby characters have been thrown together on a stagecoach heading for Red Rock, Wyoming, but are forced to take refuge from a raging blizzard in a log-cabin abode, stuck waiting it out with a rogue’s gallery of grizzled ragamuffins trustworthy as far as you can spit.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Blu-ray)
Shane Buettner  |  Mar 03, 2007  | 

Got your blanket with you? I have barely a passing familiarity with Douglas Adams' <I>Hitchhiker's</I> series of books. So passing that I actually thought it was a single book, and only found out that it was first a radio creation and then a series of books, TV shows, and other media creations when I read the Wikipdia entry before writing this.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Host
Corey Gunnestad  |  Dec 04, 2013  | 
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Interactivity
In the not-too-distant future, life on planet earth is perfect. World peace has finally been achieved. There is no more war, hunger, disease, or environmental disaster, and humans live in contented harmony with each other. Sounds pretty cool, no? So what’s the problem?
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Hour
David Vaughn  |  Sep 26, 2011  | 
Set behind the scenes of the BBC newsroom as an investigative news program is launched, the drama plots the personal lives, professional interplay, and jealous ambition between aspiring journalist Freddie Lyon (Ben Whishaw), ambitious young producer Bel Rowley (Romola Garai), and Hector Madden (Dominic West), the face and lead anchorman of this rising television news team. A love triangle ensues and the intense ambitions between the rising news team plays out against the backdrop of a mysterious murder and Freddie's controversial and dangerous investigation.

The BBC has been churning out some pretty entertaining programs lately with Sherlock and now The Hour. This six episode set starts off very slow and it almost lost me, but I was hooked once I got to know the characters and Freddie began to unravel the mystery behind the murder.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
David Vaughn  |  Jun 03, 2014  | 
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After securing victory in the Hunger Games the previous year by sticking the finger to President Snow by threatening suicide, Katniss and Peta must leave their homes and loved ones behind in order to embark on the Victory Tour through the districts. As they travel around the various locales, Katniss begins to sense a rebellion is afoot and believes she’s the unlikely inspiration for the movement. Still, Snow gets the last laugh by announcing a special 75th Hunger Games that will pit previous winners against each other in a winner-take-all showdown in a made-for-TV event that will be a winner in the ratings—take that, Everdeen!
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2
Avi Greengart  |  Jul 29, 2016  | 
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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 2 is actually the fourth installment in the Hunger Games trilogy. Splitting the last book of a series into two movies can allow for complexity (i.e., Harry Potter), but here it should have been avoided. Part 1 is mostly filler, and even Part 2 has some pacing issues. If you’re new to The Hunger Games, start at the beginning. Of all the teenage dystopian movie series, this one is the best conceived: Underlying the action and drama, it’s a believable look at PTSD and the personal cost of brutal dictatorships. It also has, by far, the best acting.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Hunger Games: MockingJay—Part 1
David Vaughn  |  Jul 09, 2015  | 
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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ended with Katniss being rescued from the Hunger Games arena, leaving Peeta behind. Wracked with survivor’s guilt, she finds herself in the mythical District 13, reuniting with her little sister, mother, and best friend, who somehow escaped District 12 after the Capitol and its nefarious President Snow bombed it into oblivion following Katniss’ escape. District 13 is ready to go on the offensive against Snow and his cronies, but they need Katniss’ rebellious and inspiring message to unite the other districts in the uprising, and it’s up to Plutarch Heavensbee to enhance our heroine’s image for the masses.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Huntsman: Winter’s War
David Vaughn  |  Jan 13, 2017  | 
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Charlize Theron is back as the evil Queen Ravenna, who betrays her sister Freya (Emily Blunt) with an unthinkable act of cruelty leading to her path down the dark side of magic; like Elsa from Frozen, she possesses an icy power. She heads north to train an army in order to conquer the realm, with one caveat: They are forbidden to fall in love, which is exactly what happens to Eric and Sara, leading to Freya going postal on her most treasured Huntsmen.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Ice Storm; Lust, Caution
Sol Louis Siegel  |  Jul 30, 2008  | 
Criterion
Movie •••½ Picture •••• Sound •••• Extras ••••
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Apr 22, 2010  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/imaginarium.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>In exchange for extraordinary powers, Doctor Parnassus (Chrstopher Plummer) makes a deal with the Devil to turn over any child he fathers when they turn sixteen. But as his daughter Valentina's (Lily Cole) birthday approaches, a mysterious stranger (Heath Ledger) arrives with the power to change everything. Does the good Doctor risk everything and make another deal with the Devil?

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Imitation Game
Anthony Chiarella  |  Jul 02, 2015  | 
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Arguably, no single individual did more to win World War II than Alan Turing. By cracking the Nazi Enigma code, it is estimated that the genius mathematician shortened the war by two years and saved 14 million lives. So, why isn’t he a household name? Father of the computer, Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) worked in Britain’s top-secret Bletchley Park, and his achievements were classified for over 50 years. The Imitation Game tells the story of Turing and his fellow code-breakers fighting the clock—and each other—in a race to win the war. Cumberbatch is transcendent as the antisocial, self-absorbed Turing, while Keira Knightley gives her best performance to date as his collaborator and confidante, Joan Clarke. (Both were nominated for Oscars.)
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Incredible Hulk
David Vaughn  |  Oct 24, 2008  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/incrediblehulk.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Scientist Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) scours the Earth for an antidote to the unbridled force of rage within him: The Hulk. But military mastermind General Ross (William Hurt) wants to control this power and will stop at nothing to capture Bruce to obtain the secret contained in his blood. In desperation, the general unleashes a nightmarish beast of aggression whose powers match the Hulk's own: the Abomination (Tim Roth).

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