Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Stop me if you've heard this one. Wild animal breaks out of a New York zoo to return to the wild. Other animal friends follow to bring him back. They travel by boat to a strange, jungle environment.

Perhaps America’s greatest working filmmaker, Martin Scorsese continues to refine his stream-of-consciousness directorial style, a motif that reached its zenith in 1990’s Goodfellas. His latest film, which chronicles the rise and fall of stock shark Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), might lack the depth and poignancy of Scorsese’s gangster classic, but it takes his staccato storytelling techniques to an even higher level of commercial appeal. Starring in his fifth Scorsese film, DiCaprio interprets the larger-than-life Belfort with essential hubris, though his portrayal sometimes strays into heavy-handedness. Not so Jonah Hill, who, as DiCaprio’s lieutenant, delivers the best performance of his meteoric career, not to mention this movie. (Both DiCaprio and Hill were nominated for Oscars.) Matthew McConaughey and Rob Reiner conjure delightful caricatures in their supporting roles, endowing Wolf with the dimensionality that has become a Scorsese trademark.

The Warner Bros. Archive Collection has remastered and released another contemporary classic from their vaults: The World According to Garp, and a welcome arrival it is. Adapted from the novel by John Irving and released back in 1982, this quirky comic drama featured star-making performances from three relative newcomers: Glenn Close, John Lithgow, and a gifted young comedian named Robin Williams. Appropriately, Lithgow and Close were both nominated for Academy Awards for their supporting performances, but it was several years too soon for Williams to be taken seriously as a dramatic actor. George Roy Hill, who directed Paul Newman and Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting, showed inspired brilliance in giving the lead role to Williams, an actor whose only prior characterizations were a manic alien named Mork from Ork and a one-eyed sailor named Popeye.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/wrestler.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Randy "The Ram" Robinson (Mickey Rourke) is an aging professional wrestler who's desperately trying to hang on to the fame and glory that once surrounded him. Bruised and battered both inside and outside the ring, Randy tries to piece together his life by attempting to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) and pursue a relationship with Cassidy (Marisa Tomei), an exotic dancer who's facing her own challenges.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/youngv.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>A young and fiery queen (Emily Blunt) inherits the throne from her uncle in the early 19th century. Spurning the advice of her mother and advisor, she befriends Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany), a self-serving politician who doesn't have the Queen's best interest at heart. Things turn around for the young monarch when she follows her heart and marries Price Albert (Rupert Friend).

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/blood.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Daniel Day-Lewis delivers a spellbinding performance as Daniel Plainview, a turn-of-the-century independent oil baron prospecting in California. He is a ruthless man who hates all men, including himself. Plainview manipulates the locals into selling their land to him, and in the process, he makes an enemy of a resident preacher.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/thischristmas.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>For the first time in years, all the Whitfield kids have come home to spend the holiday with their mother Ma'Dere (Loretta Devine) and her boyfriend Joe (Delroy Lindo). Each has brought their own issues with them, and as the family prepares for the holiday festivities, the ties that bind them together are tested. Isn't family wonderful?