Blu-ray Movie Reviews

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/061308mib.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Agent "K" (Tommy Lee Jones) and Agent "J" (Will Smith) are members of a top-secret government agency charged with monitoring and policing alien activity on Earth. Clothed in their sharp black suits, the men must stop a deadly plot by a bug-like terrorist (Vincent D'Onofrio), who intends to start an intergalactic war by assassinating two ambassadors from opposing galaxies who are currently in New York.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/miamivice.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The title <i>Miami Vice</i> conjures up memories of the hit TV series from the 1980s, but this 2006 reincarnation is similar in name only. Its slow start develops into a more fast-action pace when a confidential informant contacts Crocket (Colin Farrell) and Tubbs (Jamie Fox) and lets them know that his cover was blown from "the inside." Forced to go undercover as drug and weapons runners, the pair attempt to get close enough to the cartel leader in order to bring him down.

An ordinary businessman (Luke Wilson) becomes embroiled in a dark and dangerous world of questionable morals and organized crime during the early days of the Internet. The family man has a successful career and idyllic live until he gets involved with two troubled geniuses who need business advice on getting their Internet scheme off the ground.

One would think a story about the birth of Internet porn would sizzle with excitement, but that's far from the case here. The screenplay lacks direction with silly subplots and then suddenly takes a bizarre turn in the third act. It can be funny at times, but mostly it's boring and uninteresting.

In this classy, hard-boiled, Prohibition-era noir saga by writer-director Joel Coen and co-writer Ethan Coen—with uncredited lifting from Samuel Dashiell Hammett, who actually created the memorable, colorful characters, plot, and mood in his 1931 novel The Glass Key—Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) is right-hand man and wise, cool-headed adviser to powerful political boss Liam "Leo" O'Bannon (Albert Finney).

We first met the Minions in the Despicable Me films. They were the henchmen of Gru, desperate to be seen as The Greatest Villain of All Time. But the Minions movie begins at the dawn of time when these funny, goggle-wearing creatures, babbling in their unique humina-humina-humina language, emerge from the primordial sea. They’re immediately driven to seek out the greatest villain they can find. But no sooner do they find one than they bumble into eliminating him.

Universal Movie ••½ Picture ••••½ Sound •••½ Extras •••

Were you to first watch the

When the first Mission: Impossible hit the theaters in 1996, I found the story to be a little confusing and flat. Subsequent viewings showed it to be a movie that got better with time. Unfortunately, the sequel in 2000 was a dud—the action was great, but the screenplay wasn't anything to brag about. Lucky for us, J.J. Abrams took over in 2006 and delivered the strongest movie in Mission: Impossible III with end-to-end action and a compelling story. The fourth installment is produced by Abrams and directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles), who shows he can deliver a live-action film with fantastic pacing and intriguing characters. I guess Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is just like fine wine—he gets better with age. Not only do I think this is the best film of the bunch, the audio and video quality are demo-worthy with fabulous detail, rich colors, and one of the most engaging Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtracks available on Blu-ray.