Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Apr 22, 2011
Precocious siblings Lucy (Georgie Henley) and Edmund (Skandar Heynes), along with their cousin Eustance (Will Poulter), are sucked into a painting and transported back to Narnia. They join King Caspian (Ben Barnes) and the noble mouse Reepicheep in a quest to rescue lords who had been lost fighting evil on a remote island. Aboard the magnificent ship The Dawn Treader the courageous voyagers travel to mysterious islands, confront mystical creatures, and reunite with the Great Lion Aslan on a mission that tests their characters to determine the fate of Narnia itself.

I haven't been a big fan of this theatrical franchise (nor the books, for that matter), but I do appreciate the family friendly message and just adore Georgie Henley's character. Fortunately, the director keeps the runtime under two hours and the brisk pacing helps keep the film more entertaining than the bloated second installment Prince Caspian. Disney decided the dump the franchise after the poor box office showing of the second film and Fox stepped in to the mix, but with a much lower budget (about $80 million less), and it shows in the finished product. The CGI isn't nearly as good and the cinematography takes a step back compared to its two predecessors.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Circle
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 01, 2017
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If you do something in your life and there’s no camera around to capture it, did it really happen? In essence, that’s the core conceit of The Circle, director James Ponsoldt’s of-the-moment adaptation of Dave Eggers’ 2013 speculative fiction novel that imagines a fully interconnected world where the life unfilmed is not worth living (well, kinda).
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Color Purple (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jan 27, 2011
Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) is a southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to a brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover). Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letters to her sister Nettie (Akousa Busia), but Albert has been hiding the return correspondence making Celie believe she's dead. Finally, Celie finds champions in her daughter-in-law, the take-no-shit Sofia (Oprah Winfrey) and the glamorous Shug Avery (Margaret Avery), a local entertainer.

Up until Steven Spielberg produced and directed this film, he was more known for "popular" cinematic titles such as Jaws, Indiana JonesE.T and he hadn't had to deal with meaty subjects such as rape, incest, and woman's rights. Ultimately the film received 11 Academy Award nominations (winning none) and Spielberg proved he was up for the challenge and went on to become one of the best director's of his generation.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Conspirator
Corey Gunnestad  |  Sep 26, 2011
On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed in Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. Twelve days later, his assassin John Wilkes Booth, perished while barricading himself in a barn rather than surrender to the Union Army. In the tumultuous weeks following the assassination, a web of conspiracy was uncovered, and a number of Booth’s accomplices were arrested and put on trial.

The conspirator of the film’s title is Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), the woman who owned the boarding house where the accomplices met in secret and whose son was closely tied to Booth. Blinded by revenge and an unrelenting desire to put the matter to rest, the American State Department completely disregarded the rule of law and Surratt’s constitutional rights in their fervor to secure a conviction. James McAvoy deftly plays Frederick Aiken, the attorney assigned to defend Surratt and who ends up fighting overwhelming opposition from the seats of power in his quest for a fair trial.

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Coolest 4K Collector's Edition SteelBooks
Chris Chiarella  |  Jan 08, 2025
So yeah, steelbooks are totally a thing now, as collectors are driving a growing segment of the physical media market, looking for something that feels special in the hand and looks distinctive on the shelf. It also helps if there’s a good movie inside and the studios have been happy to oblige, mostly revisiting catalog titles to bring us noteworthy releases like these picks from this past summer.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Counterfeiters
Sol Louis Siegel  |  Oct 02, 2008
Sony
Movie •••• Picture •••½Sound •••½Extras •••½
The winner of last year's Os
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  May 05, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/buttonx.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>"I was born under unusual circumstances…"</i> &#151; Benjamin Button

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Dark Knight
David Vaughn  |  Dec 07, 2008

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/darkknight.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Batman (Christian Bale) continues his war on crime in Gotham City with the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Determined to destroy organized crime, the three make great strides toward restoring order until a criminal mastermind know as The Joker (Heath Ledger) thrusts the city into anarchy, forcing Batman closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Dark Knight
Josef Krebs  |  Dec 08, 2008
Warner
Movie •••• Picture ••••½Sound ••••• Extras ••••
Terrorism, torture, intrusive surveillance, and a
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Dark Knight Rises
Chris Chiarella  |  May 21, 2013
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Eight years have passed since the complicated events of The Dark Knight. The Batman (Christian Bale) has taken the blame for the death of district attorney Harvey Dent in an attempt to inspire the people of Gotham City to stand strong against crime. With the subsequent passage of the Dent Act, Gotham is tougher on criminals than ever, even while The Bat has disappeared, his alter ego Bruce Wayne living in self-imposed exile.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Dark Tower
John Sciacca  |  Mar 09, 2018
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Bringing Stephen King novels to the big screen is always fraught with conundrums, the expansive detail not often translating well to film. Condensing the eight Dark Tower novels into a single sub-100 minute movie seemed especially ambitious. The Dark Tower screenwriters plucked bits and pieces from the series, beginning in the middle and crafting a tale from there.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Day the Earth Stood Still
David Vaughn  |  Dec 19, 2008

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/dayearthstill.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>A flying saucer lands in Washington D.C., capturing the attention of the world. When Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and his robot Gort (Lock Martin) emerge from the vehicle, Klaatu is shot by a nervous soldier and taken to Walter Reed Hospital for recovery. He soon receives a visit from the President's envoy, Mr. Harley (Frank Conroy), who apologizes for the misunderstanding. Klaatu's only request is to meet with all of the world's leaders to deliver a message, but given the political climate, this is an impossible request.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
Glenn Kenny  |  May 18, 2009
20th Century Fox
Movie •½Disc ••••
Robert Wise's original 1951 film of The Day the Earth Stood Still may be an acknowledged classi
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Day the Earth Stood Still (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Apr 10, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/day2008.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Based on the short story <i>Farewell to the Master</i> by Henry Bates, <i>The Day the Earth Stood Still</i> tries to modernize the 1951 classic with modern special effects and a new take on the story. Klaatu (Keanu Reeves) and his robot Gort emerge from a spaceship in Central Park, whereupon he's shot by a nervous soldier. Klaatu is then rushed to a military hospital for surgery, and once he's patched up, he is visited by the Secretary of Defense (Kathy Bates), who denies his request for a meeting with the UN. With the help of Dr. Helen Benson (Jennifer Connelly), Klaatu escapes, and the two end up spending the majority of their time together as all hell breaks loose.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
The Deep Blue Sea
Shane Buettner  |  Dec 12, 2012
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For those who found Revolutionary Road too upbeat comes its British postwar counterpart in the soul-crushing slog that is The Deep Blue Sea (for those hoping to read a review of Renny Harlin’s guilty pleasure of a shark movie, the title of that is simply Deep Blue Sea, so sorry to disappoint you!). Set in 1950 post-war London, The Deep Blue Sea gives us Hester (Rachel Weisz), a smart, cultured, and ardent woman at a time when none of those traits was apparently valued in British society. Hester leaves her staid marriage to a wealthy judge old enough to be her father (and who looks old enough to be her grandfather), falling in for a fiery affair with a handsome pilot nearer her age named Freddie (Tom Hiddleston, or Loki to Avengers fans out there). The drag is, Freddie’s rather a creep and has issues with both commitment and finding gainful employment.
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