Blu-ray Movie Reviews

As if their world-saving missions weren’t hard enough already, the entire Impossible Mission Force is shut down by an overzealous CIA director, and the IMF’s best agent, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise), is now an international fugitive. Of course, those setbacks don’t stop him from continuing his search for the Syndicate. The Syndicate is ruthless, frighteningly effective, and worst of all, the CIA refuses to believe that it even exists, so the pursuit is uphill all the way.

The Pritchett clan has Jay (Ed O'Neill) as the patriarch who's married to his much younger Columbian wife Gloria (Sofia Vergara). Along for the ride is her old soul 11-year-old son, Manny (Rico Rodriguez), who is wise beyond his years but doesn't exactly mesh with his stepfather. Jay has two grown children from his first marriage, Claire (Julie Bowen) and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson), who have families of their own. Each family has their unique traits and when they all get together they form a very interesting and hilarious modern family.

I generally don't watch much TV, but Modern Family is a show that hooked me last year on Blu-ray and I couldn't wait to revisit the show on Blu-ray. This is by far the funniest show I've seen in years and the interactions between the characters are priceless. Whether it's Gloria's accent, Manny's phobias, or Jay's frustration with modern society, I'm laughing my rear-end off every episode. In fact, my wife and I laugh so much our kids have requested we don't watch the show if they are trying to sleep because we keep waking them up with our laughter!

Ever wonder how Monsters, Inc.’s Mike and Sully met? Me neither, since their friendship is so well defined in that vastly superior original film. But Monsters University takes us back to their college days anyway, when the optimistic Mr. Wozanski and the cocky Mr. Sullivan first crossed paths. Since childhood, the bookish, hardworking Mike has dreamed of becoming the greatest scarer ever, but after a disastrous first semester, he must win the campus Scare Games if he’s to have any hope of continuing his education. That means teaming up with a ragtag bunch of underdogs—and with Sully, who is rather a shallow jerk before he learns to play nice. This prequel is fraught with clichés and soon feels too darned long. As we used to say back when I was in school, that’s a bummer.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/monstersbd.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Not only does <i>Monsters, Inc.</i> feature fantastic animation, it's one of Pixar's best stories, too. While the film was being made, California was subject to rolling blackouts due to Enron's manipulation of the energy market, so it's only fitting that the wizards at the studio came up with this wonderful story about powering Monstropolis with the screams of children. I love this movie, and its treatment on Blu-ray is exceptional in both the audio and video departments, with meticulous attention to detail and first-class sound design.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/moon.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Sometime in the future, Lunar Industries becomes the Earth's dominant supplier of clean energy that's harvested from the lunar soil and sent back to our planet. Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) has been stationed on the dark side of the moon for nearly three years and has only two weeks to go before he can rejoin his wife and young daughter back home, but his extended isolation is beginning to take its toll. He starts to hallucinate and question his sanity when he discovers he may not be the only human at the facility.

Moonrise Kingdom is another witty charmer from writer/director Wes Anderson, this time with a bittersweet tinge of youth’s passing in 1965 New England. The protagonists are two troubled 12-year-olds who run away to marry in the wilderness of insular New Penzance Island. Suzy’s parents are miserable, insufferable lawyers (Frances McDormand and Bill Murray). Suzy sees a lot (often through binoculars) and has discovered her mother is having an affair with the island policeman, Captain Sharp (Bruce Willis). Sam is an orphan with outstanding wilderness skills, who resigns from his Khaki Scout troop (in writing!) and is not invited back to his foster family if found. His only family is the troop of Khaki Scouts led by the well-meaning but overmatched Scout Master Ward (Edward Norton).

A laid-off television producer (Rachel McAdams) is desperate for work and takes a job to produce the lowest-rated morning new show called "Daybreak." She soon learns that the zany world of network broadcasting will require quick thinking and a great sense of humor in order to handle the self-absorbed co-hosts of the show (Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton).

The film boasts and impressive cast, an accomplished writer (Alan Brosh McKenna - The Devil Wears Prada) and director (Roger Michell - Notting Hill), and hit-maker J.J. Abrams as the producer. Unfortunately, the accomplished team delivers few laughs with a cast of unlikable characters and shallow scrip.