Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.5/5
Extras: 3/5
There were quite a few films last year that really resonated with me and by year's end it was a tough call on which was my favorite. P.T. Anderson's newest film was one of them and probably his strongest offering to date (and that's saying something). There Will Be Blood is a haunting look at the early oil industry and namely one oil prospector who is at odds with society around him. Daniel Day Lewis delivers one of the best acting performances of recent memory and continues to solidify his reputation as one of the best in the business. His work here is truly haunting and never lets up throughout the film, despite its long run time. While this film didn't win Best Picture last year it had to have been one of the toughest years for the Academy voters considering the strength of the titles.

Video: 3.75/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2.75/5
Farrell plays a M.I.T. graduate who is recruited by the CIA to become one of their spies. Pacino is brilliant as the recruiter as well as the school's lead instructor. This is the first film that the CIA has actually consulted on with regards to their training program and according to their liaison it's pretty accurate. Farrell's character shows promise throughout the entire school but also finds himself emotionally involved with one of the students. This becomes his Achilles heel and eventual undoing. Or so he thinks. After being kicked out of the school he finds that his dismissal was a front to place him as a deep undercover operative. But the target ends up being the same girl he was falling for in school who is actually a mole that the CIA is onto.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/060608next.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>Nicolas Cage stars as Cris "Frank Cadillac" Johnson, a small-time magician in Las Vegas. Cris isn’t your ordinary slight-of-hand magician&mdash;he has the ability to see two minutes into the future. Is it a gift or a curse? FBI agent Callie Ferris (Julianne Moore) discovers his ability and will stop at nothing to get him into custody in order to stop a planned nuclear attack on Los Angeles.

<IMG SRC="/images/archivesart/060608butch.jpg" WIDTH=200 BORDER=0 ALIGN=RIGHT>The president of the Union Pacific Railroad hires the Pinkertons to hunt down and kill Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid for repeatedly robbing his trains. With a lucky escape still fresh in their minds, Butch decides it's time to retire to Bolivia, and who is Sundance to argue?

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 5/5
Extras: 3/5
I had the discomfort of sitting through Cloverfield during its theatrical run and I was actually a bit intimidated by the idea of seeing it again in my own theater room. My discomfort had nothing to do with the story itself, but rather the experience that the camera style offers. My wife and I both suffered from extreme headaches for several hours after the theatrical viewing and my wife thought she would be sick at any moment for quite sometime after. I found myself closing my eyes a lot just to help things during the movie. The film is merely stock footage of the events that happened in New York after a large monster of some sort attacks the city. The footage is taken with a handicam and follows a few young residents as they first try to escape the city and then turn around to try and rescue a friend. The camera work is all over the place and really only provides snippets of the monster and reminded me a bit of The Blair Witch Project at times. While I thought the execution and premise of this film were both excellent, they didn't justify the physical effects watching the film induced. I thought watching this on a smaller screen (120" diagonal in my case) would help, but that just wasn't the case. I would recommend anyone going into this film the first time be prepared.

Video: 4.25/5
Audio: 4.75/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Just in time for the upcoming theatrical release of Shyamalan's The Happening comes one of his best films on Blu-ray, Signs. I honestly loved just about everything with this movie. This film excels at keeping the audience on edge and balancing all aspects of the production. This is a solid thriller that delivers great chills but does so with respect to the intimacy of each character. Few films have kept me on the edge as well as this one does and I love the character development and themes on faith. This still stands as probably my favorite film from director M. Night Shyamalan and is a welcome addition to the HD library.

Video: 4/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 2/5
Park Chan-Wook made quite the name for himself internationally with his superb "revenge" trilogy. He's probably best known in the US for the middle of the three films, Oldboy. This time around Chan-Wook takes on a different type of film, though the knack for heavy violence is still present. I'm a Cyborg revolves around a young girl who is committed to a mental hospital after attempting suicide at a factory. There she meets several interesting characters with various mental issues and a young man who hides behind a mask. The girl thinks she is a cyborg and talks to various electrical items throughout the hospital and the film takes on a bit of a fantasy role with interesting visual displays that reminded me slightly of the French film, Amelie. Overall this is a slow building film but by the end you realize the full heart of the characters. People looking for a film similar to Chan-Wook's more popular offerings may be disappointed, but this was still a very interesting character piece on its own.