Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Although I don’t usually pay attention to such things, the other day as I was opening a recent Blu-ray purchase, I took note of the “Compatible with PlayStation 3” sticker that either the studio or the retailer had attached to the shrink wrap. It was trivial, hardly worth glancing at, but it got me thinking about how closely the Blu-ray format is tied to Sony’s multipurpose game console. Of course, I seem to recall similar stickers about the PlayStation 2 appearing on early DVD releases, but the situation is very different now. DVD’s benefits over its VHS and Laserdisc predecessors were so obvious that the format achieved explosive growth, and its success was never dependent on just one playback machine. Certainly, the PS2 brought DVD into a lot of homes very quickly, but standalone players and computer drives were equally (and soon more) popular with the public. Everyone wanted DVD, whether they wanted a game console to go with it or not.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/bodyoflies.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>On the hunt for the mastermind behind a wave of global terrorist attacks, a young and idealistic CIA agent (Leonardo DiCaprio) scrambles around the Middle East looking for clues. At home, his boss, Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe), is a cold-hearted CIA veteran who orchestrates the action behind the scenes to place his man in the right place in order to nab the villain.

Bored with life and looking for adventure, Bonnie Parker (Faye Dunaway) meets the man of her dreams, Clyde Barrow (Warren Beatty), right outside her bedroom window. In order to impress the girl, Clyde holds up a local store, marking the start of a vicious crime spree that sweeps the Depression-ravaged South in the 1930s.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/boogienights.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>During the 1970s, the San Fernando Vally in Southern California became the porn capital of the world. It’s here that Eddie Adams, aka Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg), enters the industry seduced by the glamour and has the ultimate tool to become a superstar. Under the tutelage of porn director Jack Horner (Burt Reynolds) and his extended “family,” Eddie wants to elevate the industry from smut to an art form.

South central Los Angeles wasn't an ideal neighborhood to come of age in the early 1990s given the rampant drug problems and gang violence. John Singleton's debut as a director captures the scene perfectly, following the lives of Doughboy (Ice Cube), Chris (Redge Green), Ricky (Morris Chestnut), and Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) as they try and navigate the mean streets of the 'hood.

Even 20 years after its powerful debut, Boyz n The Hood is one of the most realistic depictions of urban life in America. It portrays the hazards that inner-city youth constantly battle—poverty, rampant drug and alcohol use, broken families, and gang violence. Each of the main characters face their own personal struggles, and Lawrence Fishburne delivers a career-defining performance as Furious, Tre's wise father who dishes out advice on life and survival.