Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ghost in the Shell: 25th Anniversary Edition
Corey Gunnestad  |  Jan 22, 2015  | 
When American radio announcer Herbert Morrison stood watching the Hindenburg disaster unfold before his eyes, he tearfully exclaimed, “Oh, the humanity!” I coincidentally had the exact same thought while watching Ghost in the Shell again for the first time in 20 years—but for a much different reason. I saw this film when it first came out, and I remember having a difficult time identifying with it. I finally figured out why: There’s no humanity in it.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Thomas J. Norton  |  Sep 17, 2012  | 
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As Marvel’s comic characters go, Ghost Rider is hellishly hard to categorize. From what I can gather from the character’s two films, 2007’s Ghost Rider and this sequel (I’m not a fan of the comics), Johnny Blaze is a motorcycle stunt rider who sells his soul to the devil to save his father’s life. In exchange, he periodically turns into an ancient, fiery demon that searches out evil to suck out its soul. A bummer for sure, but everybody needs a hobby. His motorcycle has apparently sold its carburetor and tires to Beelzebub as well, since whenever Johnny goes all flames and stuff, he’s also treated to one hell of a ride. Talk about sitting on the hot seat.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ghost Town
David Vaughn  |  Jan 06, 2009  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/ghosttown.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Bertram Pincas (Ricky Gervais), a socially- challenged New York City dentist, emerges from a routine colonoscopy with the uncanny ability to see and speak to the dead. When word of his ability gets out in the spirit community of his ability, he becomes the go-to- guy for every ghost with unfinished bisinessbusiness. One such ghost is Frank Herlihy (Greg Kinnear), who is determined to stop a relationship involving his widow, Gwen (Tea Leoni), and so he seeks Bertram’'s help in the matter.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ghostbusters
Chris Chiarella  |  Dec 22, 2014  | 
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Yes, it’s been 30 years since the original Ghostbusters, the first movie to strike upon that irresistible balance of big laughs and big scares. The story is built around the ridiculously fun idea of professional trackers/capturers of wayward spirits, brought to life by the undeniable comedic talents of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis. The Oscar-nominated special effects also helped Ghostbusters become the biggest box-office hit in a year full of blockbusters. Although young Mr. Murray’s effusive wiseassery dates the movie somewhat (much like the remarkable amount of smoking on display), watching it anew reminds us of his consummate ability to find often subtle ways to make every moment his own—and so many of his lines worth quoting.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ghostbusters (2016)
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Mar 17, 2017  | 
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Forget all the hyperbole about an all-female cast and man-hating: Is this Ghostbusters reboot any good simply based on merit? Yes and no. The movie retreads familiar ground and tries too hard to emulate its predecessor but has fantastic special effects. Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, and Leslie Jones are a group of paranormal hunters. McCarthy and Wiig play longtime pals once estranged from each other, reunited when Wiig is fired from her position at Columbia University due to McCarthy’s publishing of a book they wrote years earlier expounding on the existence of ghosts.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ghostbusters (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jul 01, 2009  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/ghostbusters.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When ghosts and demons run amuck in New York City, it's up to a team of ex-college professors turned ghost exterminators to capture the unwanted apparitions. The team of Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Aykroyd), and Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis) must save the beautiful Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) and her nerdy neighbor Louis (Rick Moranis) when they inadvertently open the gates of hell.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gilda
Josef Krebs  |  May 06, 2016  | 
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Two dice roll into close-up. Thus, down-and-out dockside gambler Johnny Farrell is introduced, along with the theme of characters that make their own luck by cheating with chance, love, and big business. Whereas Johnny just plays his way into a job at an exotic Buenos Aires casino through his cardsharp skills, snappy spiel, and fast fisticuffs, his boss, Ballin, has greater ambitions in creating an international monopoly and is willing to use intimidation, illegal business practices, and murder to attain his goal. Johnny becomes as faithful and obedient to his mentor as Ballin’s phallic walking stick, until Ballin breaks their agreement of no women around, returning from a business trip with a wife—Gilda. Especially as she’s the woman who’d ripped Johnny’s heart out.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Giveaway: Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction
Michael Berk  |  Oct 07, 2011  | 

Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction are both out this week in brand-new Blu-ray releases, approved by the director, and we've gotten some copies to give away, courtesy of Lionsgate/Miramax.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Giveaway: Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Michael Berk  |  Oct 07, 2011  | 

We've been following the progress of 7.1 audio pretty closely, and this week saw the release of Transformers: Dark of the Moon on Blu-ray, complete with a new, home theater-specific Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mix.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gladiator
David Vaughn  |  Oct 05, 2009  | 

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/gladiator.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>One of the most eagerly awaited titles makes its debut on Blu-ray with Paramount's new brand&#151;Sapphire Series&#151;promising the pinnacle in both picture and sound. Unfortunately, <i>Gladiator</i> only fulfills half the promise&#151;the audio is outstanding, but the video is a shameful example of using an older master not fit for HD release.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gladiator
Josef Krebs  |  Jun 12, 2001  | 

More Ben-Hur than Spartacus, director Ridley Scott's Gladiator is painted with broad strokes of sentimentality, gory violence, and New Age spirituality.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gladiator (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jul 30, 2010  | 
Last October, I was disappointed with one of the debut titles of Paramount's new Sapphire Series Blu-rays, Gladiator. While the audio track was outstanding, the video encode left a lot to be desired due to some excessive digital manipulation and rampant edge enhancement. At the time, I asked Paramount to recall the disc and offer a replacement program as Sony did with the original release of The Fifth Element.

Ask and ye shall receive! The studio has implemented a limited exchange program with a new video encode that drastically improves the disc. If you own the original release, call Paramount at (888) 889-9456 to exchange it. For consumers wishing to buy the new version, it will be available in stores with a yellow barcode versus white on the original release.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Glory
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Sep 27, 2019  | 
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Glory is the 1989 Oscar-winning film (Best Supporting Actor, Denzel Washington) from director Edward Zwick that follows the true story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment—the Union Army's second African-American regiment in the American Civil War—led by white Union Colonel Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick).
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gods and Generals Extended Director's Cut (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 27, 2011  | 
Recounting the fierce allegiances and combat of the early Civil War, Gods and Generals recreates the two years prior to the historic battle of Gettysburg and delves into the lives of Stonewall Jackson (Stephen Lang), Joshua Chamberlain (Jeff Daniels), and Robert E. Lee (Robert Duvall).

I love history (especially American history), so I really wanted to like this film. Unfortunately, the script is all over the place and the pacing is downright awful. It doesn't help that it's been expanded with an additional hour of footage and clocks in at 280 minutes in order to lengthen certain scenes and adds a subplot of John Wilkes Booth (Chris Conner). On the plus side, the battle scenes are well done and Duvall's depiction of Lee is marvelous.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Gods of Egypt
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Sep 30, 2016  | 
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It’s difficult to fathom that Alex Proyas, the director who gave us Dark City and The Crow, is the same director responsible for I, Robot and Gods of Egypt, but sure enough, he is. If the first two films were dark and foreboding, and I, Robot was a perfect visual effects popcorn movie, then Gods of Egypt is…what, exactly? Well, let’s say it’s a big special-effects movie, and that’s it. It certainly has Proyas’s style all over it, but it’s hollow inside.
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