Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Maybe I'm getting too old, but I'm really getting tired of gratuitous violence that's so prevalent in today's films. I like an action movie just as much as the next guy, but does the violence need to come along for the ride? That aside, the action is pretty intense and well choreographed, but Johnson and Thornton's characters are hard to root for and I couldn't wait for this one to end.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/fearless.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When an ill-advised fight destroys the reputation of renowned martial-arts champion Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li), his family pays the ultimate price. Shamed and disgraced, Huo must look within himself to find inner peace and discover what his mission in life should be.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/fod.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) questions his own sanity when he hears a voice whispering, "If you build it, he will come." Eventually, a vision of a baseball field appears in the distance, planting the seed of a most unusual idea. With the help of his supportive wife Annie (Amy Madigan), Ray tears up a portion of his crop and constructs a baseball diamond, leading to the appearance of Shoeless Joe Jackson (Ray Liotta) and seven other White Sox players from the disgraced 1919 team. Play ball!

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/fightclub.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until a sensuous eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of control spiral toward oblivion.</I>

<I>Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within</I> is a cross-genre blend of sci-fi and computer animation, more Japanese anime than cuddly Disney. Check out the flood of Japanese names in the end-credits. Released in 2001, it was one of the first attempts at photo-realistic animation, and in that respect, at least, was startlingly successful. While you'll never confuse the images here with those of real people, they're as close to it as anyone has come, either before or since. Unlike the more recent <I>Polar Express</I>, the characters here don't have creepy, zombie-like eyes.

Last night we dropped by the 7.1-equipped 3D theater in Dolby's midtown offices for a sneak peek at Francois and Pierre Lamoureux's Pat Metheny: The Orchestrion Project, the forthcoming theatrical 3D film of jazz legened Pat Metheny's latest "solo" outing with his mechanical orchestra.