Blu ray movie review of The Rite

If you watched The Rite’s trailer, you might have expected to watch typical exorcism movie in the mold of Exorcist or even the recently released The Last Exorcism. But, when you dive into the actual movie information, it clearly states that it’s based on a true event. The claim of true event relating to exorcism will probably put some doubts in many viewers. The Rite might not have garnered too much attention if it wasn’t for Anthony Hopkins. Any movie with Anthony Hopkins deserves the benefit of doubt as he rarely stars in a terrible movie.

The story is about a veteran exorcist who mentors a novice exorcist who does not truly believe in exorcism. An American seminary student is on a verge of quitting seminary school all together. As a last ditch effort, he is sent to Italy to take an exorcism course. Even there, he is very skeptical of exorcism and its validity. He is assigned to watch and learn from veteran exorcist played by Anthony Hopkins. He starts to witness some things that challenge his belief. Ultimately, he learns to believe and truly regain his faith.

I expected to watch some horror movie akin to The Last Exorcism. While there are a lot of supernatural events, at its heart the movie is about faith. I can almost brand this movie as a Christianity movie. The transformation of non believing seminary student into a full blown exorcist at the end affirms this movie as more than your regular horror films. While it’s admirable to explore one’s faith, the movie wasn’t all that exciting. There were some exciting moments and serious thinking moments; it lacked the usual horror film excitement. Overall, Anthony Hopkins carries this movie from boring to watchable.

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Blu ray movie review of The Mechanic

Once you see Jason Statham on the cast list, you know what type of film you are going to be watching. Mainly, Statham is associated with action movies. I can’t think of single movie that Statham started that didn’t involve some type of violence/action. He has made a great career out of playing a singular type of character in most movies. Even so, he does do fantastic job at being an action hero. The Mechanic is no exception. The 2011 version is the remake of the classic 1972 version starting Charles Bronson. Perhaps Statham is the newer version of Bronson.

The story is about a professional hit man named Arthur Bishop. He is one of the very best assassins who specialize in many different type of assassination. The latest assignment from the top is to eliminate his long time friend and mentor Harry. He agonizes over the decision. However, shown the evidence of betrayal by Harry, he goes ahead and eliminates Harry. When he runs into Harry’s son, he decides to mentor him to become a great assassin himself. After few missions, Bishop finally learns the truth about Harry and Harry’s son suspects Bishop had something to do with his father’s death.

This is fairly straight forward movie. I’m pretty sure you’ll see the ending half way through the movie. The ride toward the ending isn’t bad though. You’ll get to see Statham’s trademark action sequences as well as some great demise of bad guys. Ultimately, it is fairly predictable movie with little substance.

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Blu ray movie review of No Strings Attached

No Strings Attached is another predictable romantic comedy with some good actors. To be honest, it is fairly difficult to come up with completely original plot in romantic comedy arena. Two leads meet, have conflict, and ultimately end up together at the end of the movie. No Strings Attached follows this script very closely. Good or bad, No Strings Attached was bound to get a lot of attention due to Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as the two main leads.

Like the title suggests, the story is about whether two friends can casually have sex and remain friends. Adam and Emma meet early in the childhood and meet occasionally throughout their lives. In the present, they meet up again exchange phone number. During a drunken haze, Adam calls Emma and somehow ends up at her apartment. When he wakes up, he tells Emma about his dad sleeping with his ex girlfriend. They both somehow end up in bed after the sad tale. Soon after, they end up sleeping together on regular basis. While Adam falls for Emma, Emma refuses to officially call it a relationship. Eventually Adam decides he wants more while Emma stubbornly refuses his advances.

There is really no suspense on whether they will end up together or not. Never the less, the predictable ending does not detract from the funny story line between the two main characters. Even the supporting cast puts in a very fine performance. While not the most original story, the strong cast and performance make it a likable film even if you happen to be a male audience.

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Blu ray movie review of What Dreams May Come

We don’t often think of Robin Williams as a dramatic actor. Instead, we see him as a funnyman on big or small screen. Even with his Oscar win for Good Will Hunting, we don’t really see him as dramatic actor. Robin Williams followed up his 1997 Oscar performance in Good Will Hunting with another dramatic role in What Dreams May Come. With budget of around $85 million dollars, What Dreams May Come was considered one of the more expensive films to be made in 1998. Usually, that kind of budget is reserved for big blockbuster action flicks instead of a melodrama/love story/supernatural story.

What Dreams May Come is a Drama, Supernatural, Fantasy, and Romance film rolled into one movie. The story is about a man named Chris Neilson, Robin Williams, who dies and goes to heaven. After the arrival, he finds out that his wife is not there to greet him. He finds out that she is in hell for committing suicide. He sets out on a journey to find his wife and somehow bring her to the heaven.
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he visuals are quite incredible by any standard. The mix of computer generated images and actual set pieces are simply outstanding. After the plots and acting, the visuals will remain with you longer than the other elements of this movie. That is not to say that movie was boring or stale. On the contrary, it was quite impressive watching Robin Williams travel through heaven and hell to save his wife from eternal damnation. Setting aside religious aspect of the movie, the overall story is about love between a man and a woman and their love for their child. Overall, this movie definitely deserved a Blu ray transfer.

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Blu ray movie review of The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet starting Seth Rogan is the remake of the 1960s television series starting Bruce lee and Van Williams as Kato and Green Hornet respectively. The television series itself was based on the popular comic book. With the recent fondness of movies based on comic books, it was inevitable for Green Hornet to be made into a movie. However, Seth Rogan as the main lead was little odd choice as I can’t wrap my head around an action movie centered on Seth Rogan as the lead. While I am a fan of Seth Rogan, I’m most familiar with him in a comedic role. The movie was written by Seth Rogen and you can clearly see he is a big fan of the franchise.

The plot isn’t overly complicated or even all that interesting. Playboy Britt Reid, played by Seth Rogen, inherits a media empire when his father is murdered. He quits his partying and becomes serious about fighting crime with the help of his side kick Kato. Britt becomes a “superhero” fighting Benjamin Chudnofsky’s crime empire. The entire Chudnofsky and his criminal gang run the city and somehow Britt connects his father’s death to the Chudnofsky gang.

To be honest, I didn’t think I’d like the movie at all. Seth Rogan is funny but I didn’t think he could carry a comic book movie. I think Seth Rogan fits well with the movie. If it was X-man or other action oriented movie, he would not be a good fit. However, he fits fairly well in the role of Britt Reid. Jay Chou as Kato is relatively new face for the western audience. However, he is one of the most popular entertainer in Asia. The interaction between the two leads was the highlight of the movie. I’d say this is more a comedic film than an action film. Overall, I enjoyed the movie.

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