Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Cloud Atlas is something of a cinematic curiosity. It is incredibly ambitious and deftly executed, weaving together six disparate tales with similar themes of oppression and rebellion, each told with the same handful of actors playing the key roles in each scenario. Set in different locations and in eras ranging from 1849 up through 2321, the movie serves up everything from a single slave earning his freedom on a sailing ship to a genetically engineered hostess inspiring a full-on societal revolt. But even when the all-star filmmaking team of the Wachowskis and Tom Tykwer has three hours to play with, not one of the half-dozen narratives can be particularly deep or overwhelmingly original. They have, however, fashioned an enormous event movie that pushes technique—dramatic as well as purely technical—into bold new territory.

In the opening scene of Identity Thief, financial analyst Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) receives a phone call from the Fraud Protection Department at Indenti-Vault Credit Monitoring Service. A woman named Janine informs him that someone has tried to steal his identity. Fortunately, they prevented it in time, but to circumvent future problems, she offers him a free total protection plan that will safeguard his credit against theft or fraud.

Three super collections on Blu-ray—John Cassavetes: Five Films, The Vincent Price Collection, Bruce Lee: The Legacy Collection

Much Ado About Nothing, After Earth, The Hangover Part III, Fear Eats the Soul 3 – The Night After the Nightmare: The Exorcist, Curse of Chucky, Chucky: The Complete Collection, I Married a Witch, Zombie Hunter, American Horror Story: Asylum, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea & Fantastic Voyage, Stalag 17.

The Wizard of Oz 75th anniversary Collector’s Edition, This is the End, Poirot: Series 7 & 8, Jack Irish, The Big Parade, and From Here to Eternity.

Also reviewed: Kings of Leon, Sting, and Icona Pop. Plus: a thematic list of all the other prominent new releases and reissues, including The Complete Waitresses and a big box of Nirvana’s In Utero.

World War Z, Fear Eats the Soul— The Horror Continues: Dracula, Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection, Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th, Bates Motel: Season 1, Autumn Sonata, Behind the Candelabra, and more.