Blu-ray Movie Reviews

David Leitch is known mostly as a stunt coordinator on big action films like Tron: Legacy, but for Atomic Blonde he steps behind the camera as the big man in charge to direct an adaptation of the graphic novel series The Coldest City by Antony Johnson and Sam Hart. The movie is fairly dripping in neon and ’80s nostalgia. Charlize Theron stars as sexy Cold War MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton, tasked to go into East Berlin and work with embedded station chief David Percival (James McAvoy) in order to find a sensitive dossier.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/atonementbd.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT><i>When a young girl catches her sister in a passionate embrace with a childhood friend, her jealousy drives her to tell a lie that will change the course of their lives forever. </i>

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/australia.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>At the beginning of World War II, English aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) inherits a vast cattle ranch in Northern Australia from her late husband. In order to save the ranch, she needs the help of a local tough guy, Drover (Hugh Jackman), to drive 2000 head of cattle hundreds of miles across the outback with Japanese forces approaching the continent.

Destined to spend his life in a wheel chair, paraplegic war veteran Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is brought to Pandora to gather intelligence on the Na'vi, assuming his deceased brothers "avatar" identity. While spending time with the natives, Jake begins to bond with the tribe and falls in loDestined to spend his life in a wheel chair, paraplegic war veteran Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is brought to Pandora to gather intelligence on the Na'vi, assuming his deceased brothers "avatar" identity. While spending time with the natives, Jake begins to bond with the tribe and falls in love with Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and soon the ex-soldier must choose which side he's on.

Writer/producer/director James Cameron has quite a resume with plenty of box office successes, including the megahit Titanic. The idea for Avatar came to Cameron sometime in the mid-1990s, but the technology at the time couldn't realize his vision. Over a decade later, it became technologically feasible to make the film, although it almost broke the bank with a production coast of $237 million.

There is simply no precedent for a cinematic event of this magnitude. Avengers: Endgame is not merely the latest installment in the Marvel canon, but one that builds upon all that has come before to complete story arcs begun as far back as 2008's crucial Iron Man. It also concludes the most recent dramatic "phase" in the 22-film series, and of course drops the other shoe from the 2018 Avengers set-up, Infinity War. And it does all of this with a deft touch, despite its plethora of fantasy characters and an absurdly brisk three-hour running time.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/away.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Anticipating the birth of their first child, unmarried couple Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) partake in a cross-country journey to visit family and friends and find the perfect location to raise their child. Along the way, they meet an interesting cast of characters that make their ultimate destination much easier to choose.