Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Sunset Boulevard
David Vaughn  |  May 08, 2013
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One of silent film’s biggest stars, Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), enlists the talents of a down-on-his-luck Hollywood screenwriter Joe Gillis (William Holden) to help edit a screenplay she wrote in hopes of launching her big comeback. Little does Gillis know, the poor lady is off her rocker. But when you’re broke, you have to take work when you can get it. The pair watch her old movies with her trusty butler—who hides his own dirty secret—at the helm of the camera, but the more time Gillis spends with the ex-starlet, the more he becomes accustomed to the lavish lifestyle she provides him.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Super 8
David Vaughn  |  Nov 23, 2011

The video quality of this Blu-ray is impressive, as long as the overused lens flare—a hallmark of director J.J. Abrams—doesn't bother you. But the audio is the real highlight here, easily matching Abrams' outstanding previous hit, Star Trek. In fact, this disc has the best audio-demo scene of any 2011 release I've heard, and it's sure to knock your socks off, as well as those of anyone you play it for. If you want to show off what your surround-sound system can do, this soundtrack is second to none.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Superhero Movie
David Vaughn  |  Jan 06, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/superhero.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>In an homage to <i>Spiderman</i>, nerdy high-school student Rick Riker (Drake Bell) is bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly, giving him superhuman abilities. He soon discovers the secret of being a superhero&#151;it's all in the costume&#151;and becomes "The Dragonfly."

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Superman: The Movie, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut—HD DVD
Thomas J. Norton  |  Dec 28, 2006  |  First Published: Dec 29, 2006

The 1978 story of the comic hero Superman was far from the first live action realization of that character, but it has become a classic. Christopher Reeve, in the title role, was an appealing actor. While he was never a great one, he was a good choice for the Man of Steel. It's no accident that Brandon Routh, a Reeve near look-alike, was chosen for the lead role in the new Superman Returns.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Surf's Up (Blu-ray)
 |  Sep 20, 2007  |  First Published: Sep 21, 2007

Surf's Up (Blu-ray, available October 9), a new computer animated film, isn't as groundbreaking as Final Fantasy. Nor is it likely to grab the Academy Award as best animated feature in a Ratatouille year. But despite all that, and despite the fact that this is the 196th movie in the past two years to feature penguins (OK, the third, unless I somehow missed the other 193), it's still a lot of fun.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Surrogates
David Vaughn  |  Feb 05, 2010
In the near future, humans live their lives through perfect robotic surrogates controlled from the safety of their homes, and murder becomes a thing of the past. But when the son of the surrogates' creator is killed, an FBI agent (Bruce Willis) must reenter the real world to unravel the mysterious death.

To witness the effect of technology on our society, all you have to do is sit in a restaurant and watch families spend more time texting on their smartphones instead of talking to each other. Surrogates takes this to the extreme as humans completely withdraw from society, but it's certainly thought-provoking. Nevertheless, the pulsating DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack is loaded with demo scenes featuring pinpoint discrete effects, multidimensional imaging, and some foundation-shaking bass.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Suspiria
Al Griffin  |  Apr 01, 2019
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It was a bold move for Luca Guadagnino, director of the 2018 Academy Award-nominated, Call Me by Your Name, to undertake a remake of Suspiria, the 1977 film from Italian horror auteur Dario Argento, as his next project. Buoyed no doubt by the critical acclaim Call Me by Your Name had received, Guadagnino, an avowed Argento fan, likely felt he could do Argento's cult classic justice.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Michael Gaughn  |  May 31, 2008
DreamWorks
Movie ••• Picture •••• Sound •••• Extras ••

With serial killers all the rage (in both fiction and reali

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Swing Vote
David Vaughn  |  Jan 21, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/swingvote.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Bud Johnson (Kevin Costner) is a regular guy with a dead-end job content with coasting his way through life until his daughter, Molly (Madeline Carroll), sets off a chain of events that results in a presidential election coming down to a single vote&#151;Bud's. All hell breaks loose when political operatives from both parties, including the incumbent president (Kelsey Grammar) and the Democrat challenger (Dennis Hopper), swarm his hometown to vie for the winning vote.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Taken
David Vaughn  |  May 25, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/taken.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>One of the best action movies I've seen in a long time offers a great picture and kick-ass audio. The AVC encode reveals phenomenal shadow detail and offers a razor-sharp image. The audio is just as impressive with an enveloping surround stage, first-rate frequency response, and pervasive ambience.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Taken (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 20, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/taken.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) is an ex-CIA agent trying to reestablish a relationship with his 17-year-old daughter Kim (Maggie Grace). Against his better judgment, he bows to pressure from his ex-wife (Famke Janssen) and signs a release enabling her to spend the summer in France. She's not even in country for 24 hours when she's kidnapped and sold into a slavery/prostitution ring. Utilizing his special skills, he tracks down her kidnappers and metes out justice in order to rescue his daughter.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ted
Corey Gunnestad  |  May 14, 2013
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Interactivity
One magical night, a lonely young boy named John makes a special wish that his teddy bear will come to life and be his best friend. And on that special night, the fates decide to grant him his wish. The next morning, John introduces Teddy to his absolutely freaked-out parents. Flash-forward 25 years, and John has grown up into a strapping young man who looks astonishingly like Mark Wahlberg. Best friend, Teddy, now just called plain Ted, has grown up, too, but only in maturity…or lack thereof. John and Ted now spend their afternoons getting high in front of the tube and talking trash about women.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Ted 2
Corey Gunnestad  |  Apr 08, 2016
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Ted, the foul-mouthed, pot-smoking teddy bear, has married his longtime human girlfriend, Tami-Lynn, and a beautiful wedding it was. But as with most marriages between stuffed animals and human beings, the honeymoon ends all too soon, and after only a year, the newlyweds are already fighting. Naturally, the best remedy to soothe a decaying marriage and revitalize the spark is to bring a baby into the equation. But since Ted is lacking in the genitalia department, their choices are reduced to either adoption or artificial insemination.
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3D Blu-ray Movie ReviewsBlu-ray Movie Reviews
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Corey Gunnestad  |  Mar 24, 2015
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Way back in the mid to late 1980s, I was an avid comic book collector, and one of my favorite discoveries around that time was a brand-new and independently produced comic called Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It lacked the polish and grandeur of the Marvel and DC titles, but it was raw, edgy, and totally original. There was no shortage of blood on the katana, if you get my drift. Not long after that, however, mainstream pop culture bastardized it into a puke-inducing kiddie cartoon and toy franchise. The once-hardcore vigilante turtles suddenly became pizza-eating wisecrackers who over-frequently used words like dude and cowabunga. It also spawned three diaper-filling live-action films, and I abandoned all hope after that.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Film Collection (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Aug 15, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/tmnt.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The quartet of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello, and Raphael emerge from the New York City sewers to rescue their ninja mentor Splinter. The live-action characters go on to deal with their evil nemesis, Shredder, in the second film and time travel in the third. The last film in the series, <i>TMNT</i>, is an animated affair with our heroes dispensing justice to an army of monsters.

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