Blu-ray Movie Reviews

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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Westworld Season One - The Maze
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Mar 29, 2018
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In a not too distant future, the wealthy plunk down big bucks to enter Westworld, a Disneyland for adults populated by “hosts”—human-like A.I. androids capable of fulfilling their every desire. With a cast of A-list names such as Evan Rachel Wood, Anthony Hopkins, Jeffrey Wright, and Ed Harris, this psychological, character-driven drama series goes beyond the gimmickry of its 1973 original to offer up a well-crafted exploration of what it means to be human as well as the blurred lines between good and evil and past and present. Could it be a replacement for Game of Thrones? Only time will tell.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Westworld: Season Two
David Vaughn  |  Feb 08, 2019
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Westworld: Season One ended in a cliffhanger with Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood) taking charge of the adult amusement park. Westworld: Season Two picks up shortly after this event with the puppet show now over and the liberated “hosts” coming after the humans for their own pound of flesh.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
What Doesn't Kill You (Blu-ray) What Doesn't Kill You (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Apr 28, 2009

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/whatdoesnt.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Brian (Mark Ruffalo) and Paulie (Ethan Hawke) grew up like brothers on the gritty streets of South Boston as thugs. They graduate from petty crimes to more serious offenses and eventually fall under the influence of organized-crime boss Pat Kelly (Brian Goodman), at which point their lives begin to spiral out of control.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
What Happens in Vegas
David Vaughn  |  Oct 06, 2008

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/vegas.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>New Yorkers Jack (Ashton Kutcher) and Joy (Cameron Diaz) independently decide to head to Vegas for a weekend to drown their sorrows for different reasons&#151; he was fired from his job, and she was recently dumped by her fianc. After a wild night of partying, the two strangers wake up and discover that, in their drunken bliss, they got married. Neither of them is too happy about their impaired decision, and they agree on an annulment&#151; that is, until Jack wins a $3 million dollar jackpot with Joy's quarter, prompting an all-out war for the money.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
What If
David Vaughn  |  Mar 18, 2015
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Wallace has not been lucky in love. He dumped his last girlfriend when he caught her cheating on him and was so dejected he ended up dropping out of medical school and moving in with his sister and her young son. Shut away from the world for almost a year, he decides to attend his ex-college roommate’s party where he meets the perfect girl and gets her phone number right before she drops the bombshell that her boyfriend is waiting for her at home—some guys can’t catch a break. After Wallace’s previous relationship, he doesn’t want to be “that kind of guy” and discards her number. As luck would have it, he runs into her a few weeks later at the movies and the pair decide to just be friends—but what if something more develops?
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
When in Rome (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jun 15, 2010

When in Rome (Blu-ray)

Your typical presentation of a romantic comedy.

By David Vaughn

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/whenrome.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Beth (Kristen Bell) takes a whirlwind trip to Italy for her sister's wedding and finds herself pursued by the most unlikely group of men who have fallen madly in love with her. When she returns the love with one of them she questions whether it's real or if he's under the same mystical spell that has infected the others.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Where the Wild Things Are (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Mar 03, 2010

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/wildbd.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Max (Max Records) is a rambunctious and sensitive boy who feels misunderstood at home and escapes to where the Wild Things are. He lands on an island and meets a group of strange creatures whose emotions are as wild and unpredictable as their actions. When Max is crowned king of their land he promises to create a place where everyone will be happy but this proves to be more complicated than he originally thought.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Whip It (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Feb 01, 2010

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/whipit.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Small-town teenager Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) is searching for her way in the world. Her mother (Marcia Gay Harden) dreams of her being a beauty queen but one look at Bliss in a fancy gown and it's easy to see it's a pipedream. When she discovers the sport of roller derby her life takes a new direction, but how will her mother deal with her newfound hobby?

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
Brandon A. DuHamel  |  Oct 21, 2016
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In Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (military code for, umm, WTF), Tina Fey plays real-life reporter Kim Baker who, tired of her stagnant career, accepts a three-month assignment embedded with the U.S. Marines covering the war in Afghanistan, much to the dismay of her boyfriend. As three months turns into four years, Baker meets a collection of colorful war correspondents, marines, and corrupt government officials, including a Scottish playboy (Martin Freeman) who becomes her love interest and a gorgeous rival reporter (Margot Robbie). But as she endures the almost surreal dangers and day-to-day activities of Afghanistan, she begins to realize that the place is having a negative effect on her perception of reality.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
White Christmas (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Nov 05, 2010
A pair of army buddies (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) join forces with a sister act (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen) in order to save a Vermont inn run by their former commanding officer.

The simplistic plot doesn't inspire but the plethora of Irving Berlin classics are mostly enjoyable. The song "White Christmas" was made popular by Crosby in the 1942 film "Holiday Inn," and within the first few minutes he's belting out the tune. My wife enjoys the film much more than I do—I find it somewhat boring—but the HD presentation kept my attention.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
White Collar (Blu-ray)
David Vaughn  |  Jul 26, 2010
Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) is a charming criminal mastermind who is finally caught by his nemesis, FBI Agent Peter Burke (Tim DeKay) and in lieu of being sent back to prison, the two form a unique partnership. Caffrey lends his criminal expertise to the FBI in exchange for limited freedom to help the Feds capture other elusive criminals.

I don't have much time to watch TV and I find watching the shows on Blu-ray is much more convenient to my schedule. The buddy-cop angle is far from new and I was a bit apprehensive when I popped the first disc in my player, but surprisingly I've enjoyed every one of the 14 season one episodes. The tandem of Bomer and DeKay has great chemistry and the supporting cast that includes Tiffany Thiessen and Willie Garson is very strong.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
White Heat
Fred Kaplan  |  Nov 08, 2013
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White Heat is one of the greatest gangster movies ever made. It’s a true film noir, a Freudian character study, and a pioneering police procedural, with slick suspense, a dry wit, and a deep-cutting (but not bloody) cruelty that’s still jarring today. The script is by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts, who later wrote a few seasons of the Charlie’s Angels TV show, which at its best pulled off a warmed-over, softly satirical simulacrum of those traits.
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Blu-ray Movie ReviewsUltra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Widows
Roger Kanno  |  Mar 22, 2019
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Widows is a taught crime thriller directed by Oscar-winner Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), who co-wrote the script with author Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl). Based on a British television series, it follows the lives of several women brought together by their husbands' criminal pasts and features an outstanding cast led by an intense performance from Viola Davis, with support from Daniel Kaluuya, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and others. Told in a stylish and well-paced manner, Widows holds plenty of twists and surprises for the viewer. I found the movie to be thoroughly engrossing.
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Blu-ray Movie Reviews
Wild Target
David Vaughn  |  Feb 15, 2011
Rose (Emily Blunt) is a free-spirited kleptomaniac looking to pull off the ultimate scam with some forged artwork. When things go haywire, she finds herself the target of a world-class assassin (Bill Nighy) who becomes enamored with the young woman and can't fulfill his contract. This sets off a bizarre series of events that will change their lives forever.

It's rare to find an intelligent comedy since Judge Apatow transformed the genre with The 40 Year Old Virgin and its sophomoric humor. While there are definitely sexual undertones in this story, they are subtle and aren't the central focus. On the other hand, Blunt is one of the most beautiful women in film, and seeing her in 1080p is reason enough to check out this spectacular encode.

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Other TechBlu-ray Movie Reviews
Will Apple Kill Custom?
Brent Butterworth  |  May 11, 2011

Technologies that distribute audio and video around a home are incredibly cool-if you can afford them, if you can tolerate complicated installation, and if you can figure out how to use them once they're in. I've long assumed a big consumer electronics company like Samsung or Sony would invent a more practical multiroom A/V solution, but it seems the technology that finally gets us past the old paradigms may be Apple's AirPlay.

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