Blu-ray Movie Reviews

For his 24th film, screenwriter-director Paul Schrader chose to do another adaptation of a novel by Russell Banks (the first one being Affliction). In it, dying acclaimed documentary filmmaker Leonard Fife (Richard Gere) wishes to give an extended filmed interview to his former student Malcolm (Michael Imperioli) in the presence of Fife’s wife and likewise ex-pupil Emma (Uma Thurman).

The small screen serves up some big drama in these three TV-on-Blu-ray releases, from Liberace to slave revolt to big-city vigilante justice.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/403unbreakable.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Bruce Willis stars as David Dunn, the sole survivor of a horrific train accident who escaped not only with his life, but without any injuries to speak of. Dunn's survival prompts a visit from Elijah Prince (Samuel L. Jackson), a crazed man who believes that David possesses superhuman strength and is a comic-book hero come to life.

Uncut Gems, like its lead character, Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), is challenging. A brash, lying, motor-mouthed, but charming hustler trading in precious gems and jewelry from a store he owns in Manhattan's Diamond District, Howard's real talent is upsetting people—along with other self-destructive behavior like pissing off the loan sharks he's heavily in debt to.

Arriving in Berlin for a technology conference, Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) must make a mad dash back to the airport in order to find his left-behind briefcase that contains some valuable information and his passport. In his haste, he leaves his wife (January Jones) at the hotel check-in and doesn't tell her where he's headed. After a horrific accident, he awakens in a hospital four days later and is troubled to learn that no one has come looking for him. He tracks down his wife at the conference and discovers that she doesn't recognize him, and another man (Aidan Quinn) has assumed his identity. Is he going mad?

With his starring role in Taken, Neeson showed he had the chops to handle the action genre and he delivers another solid performance here. The pacing is fantastic and the story keeps you on the edge of your seat until the tidy and disappointing ending.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/up.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) fulfills his lifelong dream of adventure and exploration when he ties thousands of helium balloons to his house and escapes the construction hell surrounding his Oakland, California, home for the beautiful surroundings of South America. But shortly after takeoff, there's a disturbing knock at the front door&#151;a local Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai) looking to earn his "assisting the elderly" badge has stowed away for the trip.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/060608vendetta.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Remember, remember the 5th of November. The significance of this date in England goes back to 1605, when a Catholic terrorist by the name of Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament in protest over how Catholics were treated. Fast forward to the near future and meet V (Hugo Weaving), our tragic hero, who struts around town wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and is a terrorist in his own right&mdash;or at least the totalitarian government has labeled him as such.