Kris Deering

Video: 4/5
Audio: 3/5
Extras: 2/5
I really wanted to see this one during its theatrical run but missed the opportunity. After it was nominated for a bunch of awards this year, my interest peaked even more. I actually sat down to watch it while the Academy Awards was airing. I must say I'm surprised that this one was up for Best Picture. I thought it was a very good film, with really strong performances, but not quite Best Picture material. The film follows Michael Clayton, a big law firm bagman who does crisis management. This time around one of their top lawyers goes crazy during a meeting and jeopardizes a case involving a major agriculture company. The film never lost my interest and I was impressed with the level of suspense a legal thriller could sustain. While I might not agree with the Academy completely about the film, it is definitely worth a look for fans of the genre.

Video: 4/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 1.5/5
In 1995, everyone had a VCR, music was sold in record stores, and the world wide web was a newfound discovery. Businessman Jack Harris had the perfect life - a beautiful family and a successful career fixing problem companies. Then he met Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby, two geniuses but troubled men, who had invented the way adult entertainment is sold over the internet. When Jack agrees to help steer their business, he soon finds himself caught between a 23-year-old porn star and the FBI, all the while becoming one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs of his time. Witness a story so outrageous, you won't believe it's true. A story that proves business is a lot like sex: getting in is easy, pulling out is hard.

Video: 4.5/5
Audio: 4.25/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Stationed in Tuscany, Italy, four members of the U.S. Army's all-black 92nd Infantry Division, the Buffalo Soldiers, are trapped behind enemy lines after one of them risks his life to save a traumatized Italian boy. Separated from their unit, they find themselves in a remote Tuscan village where they experience the tragedy and the triumph of war. Based on the highly praised novel by James McBride, and filled with exceptional battle scenes and action, it's a gripping and inspiring story drawn from a real incident that will touch the goodness within us all and never let go.

Video: 4.25/5
Audio: 3.75/5
Extras: 0/5
Based on leading scholarly accounts and written by Bodrov and Arif Aliyev, "Mongol" delves into the dramatic and harrowing early yars of the ruler who was born as Temudgin in 1162. As it follows Temudgin from his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny, the film paints a multidimensional portrait of the future conqueror, revealing him not as the evil brute of hoary stereotype, but as an inspiring, fearless and visionary leader.