Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
La Grande Illusion
Fred Kaplan  |  Jan 23, 2013
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Jean Renoir’s La Grande Illusion remains, 75 years on, one of the greatest films ever made. To some, it may seem a bit clichéd, but that’s only because so many movies since have cribbed from its plot lines. It takes place in German POW camps during the First World War and was shot on what many recognized at the time as the eve of a Second World War. One of the things it’s about is the world that vanished, for better and for worse, in the two decades between the two wars. There has been much debate over just which “great illusion” Renoir was referring to in his title. Some have assumed it’s war. But this is not a simple anti-war movie; at the end, our French heroes, who have escaped from the camp, can’t wait to get home so they can reenlist in the fighting.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
La La Land
Chris Chiarella  |  Jul 14, 2017
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Right or wrong, writer/director Damien Chazelle knew what he wanted. From the cinematographic techniques to the costumes and sets to the staging of the elaborate song-and-dance numbers, he employed every tool at his disposal to bring this uniquely Hollywood tale to life.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Labor Day
Anthony Chiarella  |  Aug 13, 2014
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Increasingly depressed and agoraphobic since her divorce, Adele (Kate Winslet) relies upon her doting son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith). At the start of the 1987 Labor Day weekend, mother and son are confronted by escaped convict Frank (Josh Brolin), who demands their assistance in eluding the authorities. Over the next few days, Frank’s kindness and innocence are manifest, and the trio has become a family—almost. Confused by conflicting emotions and threatened with the prospect of a competitor for his mother’s love, the awkward adolescent facilitates Frank’s capture. Adele has loved and lost again. Or has she?
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Labyrinth
Chris Chiarella  |  Nov 05, 2021
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After making Return of the Jedi, Executive producer George Lucas was looking for fresh creative frontiers, and he would embark upon new cinematic collabs with previous and first-time cohorts. One such experiment was his team-up with mastermind Jim Henson for the family-friendly fantasy, Labyrinth. With a playful script by Monty Python alum Terry Jones, the story follows an angry teenager Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) with a fondness for fairy tales.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider Review
David Vaughn  |  Jul 01, 2018
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A secret from her father’s past leads adventure-seeker Lara Croft on one of her greatest challenges. What she seeks to find is the Triangle of Light, a legendary artifact whose power to alter space and time happens only once every 5,000 years. Also in hot pursuit: the Illuminati, a secret society bent on world domination. Lara and her trusty tech-geek sidekick, Bryce, must do everything in their power to stop them.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Last Action Hero (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jan 12, 2010

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/lastaction.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Movie lover Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) finds himself transported into the latest Jack Slater (Arnold Schwarzenegger) action film when he's given a magic movie ticket by an elderly theater owner (Art Carney). Danny tried to convince Jack he's a fictional character but he doesn't buy it. His perspective changes when his arch nemesis, Benedict (Charles Dance), steals the ticket and enters the "real world" in order to kill Arnold Schwarzenegger, thus taking out Slater.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Last Holiday
David Vaughn  |  Dec 31, 2008

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/lastholiday.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Shy New Orleans cookware salesclerk Georgia Byrd (Queen Latifah) finds out she has less than a month to live when diagnosed with terminal cancer. Determined not to live her last days in depression, she sets out on a dream vacation to a European resort spa without no worries of paying for the trip. You go girl!

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Last Night In Soho
Roger Kanno  |  Mar 11, 2022
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Edgar Wright's Last Night in Soho starts off a little slowly, but like many of the director's previous films (Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Baby Driver), it oozes style. The story centers around Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie), a talented fashion design student who is transported back to the 1960s in her dreams where she witnesses scenes from the life of an aspiring young singer, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). Along with her dreams, Eloise has increasingly frightening visions where Sandie's life is beginning to spiral downward. Through her dreams and visions, Eloise ultimately learns the fate of Sandie and those around her in London's Soho District during the 1960s.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Lawless
Corey Gunnestad  |  May 29, 2013
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Making a living during the Great Depression carried with it certain necessities. For three orphaned brothers living in the backwoods of rural Virginia in the early 1930s, making moonshine and selling it to the locals was a very profitable but dangerous business. The fundamental rule of mob warfare applied there, too: If you want to live to enjoy the spoils, you have to have the balls and the will to do what the other guy won’t.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Lawrence Of Arabia
Fred Kaplan  |  Apr 26, 2013
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Lawrence of Arabia may be the last extravagant blockbuster that was also a great film. It’s nearly four hours long, much of it consisting of men galloping on camels through the desert, shot on location with a cast of hundreds, no sex, almost no women—yet this is riveting, heart-pounding stuff, and witty, to boot. It’s based on the true story of T.E. Lawrence, the romantic British officer who led a gaggle of bedouin armies against Turkish strongholds in World War I, helped bring down the Ottoman Empire, came to believe his own myths and see himself as a demigod—and thus became a delusional monster. The film has the feel of a grand epic and an intimate psychodrama. It’s an adventure, a clash of cultures, and a tragedy.
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Le cercle rouge
Chris Chiarella  |  May 27, 2022
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The title of Le cercle rouge is derived from a Buddhist proverb about people coming together in fateful encounters—a theme pertinent to recently released convict Corey (Alain Delon) who crosses paths with escaped suspect Vogel (Gian-Maria Volonte). Along with alcoholic ex-cop Jansen (Yves Montand), they team up for a big-franc jewel heist—sophisticated for its time—unaware that determined detective Mattei (André Bourvil) and his snitches are on their trail. While similarities inevitably exist, anyone expecting the visceral intensity of a more recent Heat or a Reservoir Dogs will be in for a surprise.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Leap Year (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 05, 2010

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/leapyear.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>When her fianc&#233; neglects to propose to her on their fourth anniversary, Anna (Amy Adams) follows him to Ireland hell-bent on turning the tables an Irish tradition allowing women to propose marriage on Leap Day. When foul weather disrupts her trip, she ends up on the other side of the country and must rely on a handsome local, Declan (Matthew Goode), to provide transportation. You'll never guess what happens along the way.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Leatherheads
David Vaughn  |  Sep 16, 2008

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/leatherheads.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Dodge Connolly (George Clooney), an aging football hero in 1925, is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. He recruits college-football star Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), a war hero with great looks and unparalleled speed on the field who seems too good to be true. Chicago reporter Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger) begins to discover that Carter's hero status doesn't pass the smell test.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
David Vaughn  |  Dec 24, 2010
Young owl Soren (voiced by Jim Sturgess) marvels at tales of the Guardians of Ga'Hoole, mythic winged warriors who battled to save all owlkind from the evil Pure Ones. When he and brother Kludd (Ryan Kwanten) fall into the talons of the Pure Ones, it's up to Soren to make a daring escape with the help of other brave owls and seek out the Great Tree, home of the Guardians.

The marketing for this film wasn't very enticing, but the story has a lot of heart and is very entertaining. Director Zach Snyder (300, Watchmen) makes his animation debut with this fantasy adventure based on the beloved books by Kathryn Lasky.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsMusic Reviews
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
Josef Krebs  |  Jun 23, 2017
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The heart of I’m Your Man is a celebratory concert of the recently passed Leonard Cohen’s songs performed by an oddball assortment of top talent at the Sydney Opera House. Between each number come interviews with performers telling of the inevitable life-changing moment of hearing Cohen for the first time. In addition, the poet/singer-songwriter/Jewish Zen Buddhist monk himself delivers anecdotes on personal history, his long, arduous working process, and meaning behind certain ballads illustrated and illuminated by archive poetry recitations, artwork, and photos and footage from childhood and career.
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