Blu-ray Movie Reviews

In the 2009 NFL draft, Michael Oher's rags-to-riches story reached new heights when he was drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens. I love inspirational sports stories, and this is one of the best I've seen in years. The performances are outstanding, especially by Sandra Bullock, who won her first Oscar for the role, and by young Jae Head, who provides a lot of comic relief in an otherwise dramatic subtext.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/eli.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Eli (Denzel Washington) walks alone in post-apocalyptic America. He heads west on a mission he doesn't fully understand but knows he must complete. In his backpack is the last copy of a book that could become the wellspring of a revived society or in the wrong hands, the hammer of a despot.

The first Bourne movie not based on an actual Robert Ludlum novel, Legacy gets quite a lot wrong, frankly. The story brings us back to the era of 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum, when extreme measures were being taken to maintain the secrecy of the covert, overly ambitious super-soldier program that created Jason. A whole new crop of men has become the subject of some risky new behavior/performance-enhancing experiments, and as one of these lethal lab rats, Aaron is desperate for answers—and the necessary meds to keep his edge—despite the nasty opponents pursuing him at every turn.

John Hughes capture the teen mind, dialog, and spirit unlike any other writer/director in my lifetime. As a product of the 1980s, I can watch any of his films from the era and it's like reliving my youth. This film delves into the philosophical realm of existentialism and although each kid is part of a different clique, they each face the same struggles in school, at home, and in life and after a long day of detention end up becoming friends.