Blu ray movie review of Push

Push is little better than Jumper and not as good as X-Men series. The science fiction film borrows heavily from previous movies that dealt with human evolution that manifest in super human abilities. While a lot of audiences and critics have dismissed it as waste of time and unoriginal, it has its charm and fun. If you watched the film expecting Schindler’s list caliber film, than you will be very disappointed. However, if you take the film for a nice waste of few hours, you might come out satisfied.

The story is not very original. As stated earlier, it resembles X-Men in the subject matter. Some humans attain super human powers through experiments. While X-Men deals with evolution, the overall concept is similar. We see pockets of people with special abilities scattered throughout the World. The various organizations organize or control these people for their country. The main plot deals with one of these “pusher” escaping the facility after surviving an injection of drug that can enhance the ability. Every organization goes after this subject as she is the only subject to survive the injection.

While the story plods along in a decent speed, the main attraction of the movie is the action. The battles between different types of “pusher” are fairly well choreographed and staged. The ideas behind each abilities are interesting enough. The Jumper had people that can teleport instantly while Push has people that can perform various abilities. Overall, it’s a fun movie if you don’t expect too much.

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Blu ray movie review of Miami Vice

Michael Mann’s epic movie, Heat, remains one of the best heist/action movies of all time. Almost all of the male movie goers will put Heat as one of their top 5 favorite movies. It is no surprise that Michael Mann has made the iconic Miami Vice series into a gritty feature length movie. Mann served as executive producer for the 1980s television series. Mann wrote and directed the 2006 movie adaptation with some mixed result. While not as epic as the Heat, the Miami Vice has plenty of edge and great action sequence that is the hallmark of Mann’s movies.

The plot is very straight forward. While on an assignment to break up a prostitution ring, they stumble across informant that has some good information regarding drug deals. This turns out to be a case being worked on by FBI task force. From this point on, there are nonstop actions from frame to frame. The biggest obstacle is the leak on the FBI’s side as Tubbs, Jaime Foxx, and Crockett, Colin Farrell, try to stop this drug ring.

The violence is not toned down in this movie. Mann goes for maximum realism in the action sequence. While Heat had more stylized violence, Miami Vice goes for bare knuckle street fighting mentality. Each gun fights are not mixed with some crazy jumps or shots. Instead, both sides go for most efficient way to kill each other. This makes some sequence very violent and brutal. The acting by Farrell and Foxx are top notch. While plot is not very original, the movie never gets boring.

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Blu-ray disc movie review of Miracle

As NHL has slipped in popularity behind other sports, most have largely forgotten about the 1980 Olympic hockey triumph by the team USA. The movie Miracle chronicles the entire run of the team USA hockey team including the “miracle on the ice” game. Even the casual sports fan will recognized the famous “do you believe in miracles?” by Al Michaels as USA beat the mighty Soviets. By beating the Soviet team filled with professionals, the amateur filled team USA became the first team in 20 years to beat the Soviets.

The plot follows very closely to the events leading up to the Olympic and the games played during it. The story follows Herb Brooks as he assembles the team to compete in the 1980 Olympic. The film follows the assembling, training, and the final cut for the Olympic team. The film splits its time between the life of Herb Brooks and the actual team and its glory. Herb Brooks knows what it means to represent the team USA. He missed the cut on the 1960 team that won the Gold. He was part of the 1964 and 1968 team that lost badly to the Soviets. This drives him to succeed as the coach to the 1980 team even if it’s against the heavily favored Soviets.

The big part of any sports movie is the sports sequence and how realistic they are. Sports film have come long way in displaying the actual action sequences in realistic way. The Miracle portrays the sporting sequences in a very realistic manner. The movie makers used actual athletes who were proficient in skating to portray the action sequences. Since we all know the outcome, it’s the drama and journey leading up to the great accomplishment that’s front and center in the movie. It is very inspirational and entertaining movie.

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Blu ray HD movie review of The Last Emperor

It’s was little strange for western director to make a biographical film based on the last emperor of China. Regardless, Bernardo Bertolucci, an Italian, created a master piece in The Last Emperor. Released in 1987, the film garnered nine Oscar nominations and won all nine Oscars including the best picture award.

The movie is told in combination of flash backs and flash forwards. The movie deals with the life of the last emperor of China, Pu Yi. Pu Yi, played by John Lone, assumes the Dragon Throne at the age of three. From there, he sees the Japanese invasion as well as the Communist revolution. He goes from the all powerful emperor to a puppet emperor to a prisoner all in one life time. The movie doesn’t sugar coat or sway you any direction. It remains historically correct for most of the movie. Even toward the end of the movie, you feel neither good nor bad about the outcome.

The custom and location of a given movie rarely commands important role in modern movies except for period pieces. The Last Emperor employs some of the most beautiful locations and costumes in the history of cinema. The true location as well as the many extras truly makes the film extra special. The running time may distract some viewers as it tends to meander through on some parts. It was really remarkable to see such powerful figure fall from the throne all the way to the prison. This is a very good movie and everyone should invest 2 hours watching it.

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Blu ray HD movie review of Ghostbusters

Twenty five years after the release, the Ghostbusters is one of my favorite films of all time. If you were growing up during the 80s, you will most likely remember the original, the sequel, and the bombardment of animation series. A lot of us gobbled up everything related to Ghostbusters. Even with limited technology, the Ghostbusters displayed great special effects along with great story and even greater dialogues. Even though the film is clearly aimed at younger kids, the jokes and dialogues are funny to the adults. I find myself laughing hard at the film even as an adult.

Ghostbusters is a comedic gem that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Three scientists, Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler decide to start up a business to deal with paranormal beings after being let go by the University. This gets them a case dealing with Dana Barrett, played by Sigourney Weaver, where they have to deal with portal openings in her refrigerator. From there, the Ghostbusters have to deal with the evil forces that threaten to destroy entire Manhattan. The story is rather simple but very fun.

A lot of the credit for the movie’s success rests on the funny dialogue as well as great directing and acting. Bill Murray as the funny Dr. Venkman is one of the most memorable characters played by Bill Murray. Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis round out the perfect partners for the Ghostbusters. Without a doubt, this is the best movie directed by Ivan Reitman. He’s had hand in some semi successful films since the Ghostbusters and its sequel. However, they don’t come close to the greatness of Ghostbusters movies. With the release of the new video game as well as the new Blu-ray version, this would be great time for new generation to experience this fantastic movie before the release of the third installment in 2012.

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Blu ray movie review of Gran Torino

Don’t write off Gran Torino as an “older version of Dirty Harry.” The trailer for the movie is not an accurate representation of the movie. Clint Eastwood has largely made his career playing tough blue blooded heroes in various forms. He made his mark with Dirty Harry and the unforgettable western, Unforgiven. With Gran Torino, he once again shows us why he is once in a generation type of actor. Released after much heralded Changeling, the Gran Torino did not receive too much attention from the public. However, with positive reviews, the movie raked in around $150 million.

The story is one we’ve seen before, the older person trying to mentor a troubled kid. This relationship has been explored in other movies. What sets this movie apart is the presence of Clint Eastwood. This role was written with Clint Eastwood in mind. He perfectly plays the racist Korean War veteran, Walt, who cannot connect with anyone, including his sons. The movie opens up with funeral of his late wife. He just wants to get through with the proceeding and send everyone home so he can be alone. The two sons try to convince him to move out of the old neighborhood inundated by foreign people. One family, Hmong origin, lives next door and eventually befriends Eastwood’s character. He eventually gets involved in the Kid next door, Thao. Thao gets tangled up in some gang problem and Walt steps up to help him out.

Again, this story has been told in many movies before. But, the execution and the acting by Clint Eastwood sets it apart from those movies. Clint Eastwood deserved to win the Oscar for his role in this movie. He was both funny and heartbreaking throughout the movie. The minor complaint is the lack of polished acting from the supporting cast. Sometimes, I found myself cringing at the lack of acting chops surrounding Clint Eastwood. Otherwise, this is one of the best movies I’ve seen in long time.

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Blu ray movie review of March of the Penguins

Planet Earth has really put nature documentaries on everyone’s must see list. Even if you are not a great fan of nature shows, most of us have watched nature documentaries in one form or another. Most likely, a documentary narrated by David Attenborough. The March of the Penguins is right up there with the best of the documentaries. The director Luc Jacquet follows the incredible journey of Emperor Penguins on their trip to procreate. The trip seems very difficult from start to finish. I cannot imagine the trouble the crew went through to capture the amazing footages.

We follow the Emperor Penguins at the start of the journey where they patiently trod and slide from the sea to their ultimate destination. This is a long journey that takes them away from food source and into one of the most hostile environment on Earth. Once they get to this place, they find a mate. Once the egg is laid, the females return to the sea to feed while the males huddle together to protect their offspring. The females return to relieve their mates and to see their offspring.

The English version is narrated by Morgan Freeman. He adds a tremendous narrative skill to the entire movie. The story is almost unbelievable. The trouble these penguins go through to ensure the continuation of their species is nothing short of amazing. The movie’s breathtaking images will be imprinted in your minds long after the movie is finished. This is a movie everyone can enjoy. Even if you are not a big nature documentary fan.

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Blu ray disc movie review of Defiance

Defiance is a “true” story about the Bielski brother’s fight against the Nazis during the World War II. The film is emotional and well executed by the director Edward Zwick, director of Glory and The Last Samurai. Zwick has great experience in directing war films. Both Glory and The Last Samurai are fairly decent war films. The biggest flaw of the film is in its representation as a true story film. The movie is rife with inaccuracies and great deviation from the facts. If you can over look the inaccuracies, the movie is rather emotional and inspirational.

The movie’s version of Bielski brother’s story starts out with Germans cracking down on the village where the Bielskis live. They return home one day to find their parents murdered and the Jews being rounded up by the SS. This forces them to retreat into the woods where they find few others fleeing from the Nazis. Little by little, they gather into a group of people that needs to survive. Bielski brothers take charge and organize how they will survive. They forage, hunt, and even rob nearby farmers to feed the growing group. One of the farmers notifies the Nazi and they come under attack and forced to flee. This is the starting point of their struggle against the element as well as the Nazis.

The movie is well polished Hollywood production. On its own, it is a very good movie in terms of script, acting, and directing. Complains come from the very inaccurate portrayal of Bielski brother’s exploits. The film glorifies Bielskis and their actions. While some of it is true, a lot of the negative facts and historical facts have been left out of the movie entirely. This is easily understandable as the filmmaker most likely wanted to have likeable heroes for his movie. In absence of these transgressions, the movie should attract most viewers. After watching the film, everyone should hit the internet to check the facts against the movie to get better understanding.

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Blu ray HD movie review of Black Sheep

Black Sheep is Chris Farley’s second foray into comedy movie. The first one, Tommy boy, was a big success for the former Saturday Night Live funny man. Naturally, he followed up with equally funny Black Sheep. Christ Farley made one more feature film, Beverly Hills Ninja, before he tragically passed away. While Black Sheep is funny, it feels like a poor attempt to replicate the Tommy Boy formula. The plot changes but the characters seem have transferred from Tommy boy. While this may not be a bad thing, it is somewhat disappointing that they couldn’t come up with original movie.

Chris Farley plays Mike Donnelly while David Spade plays Steve Dodds. Essentially, Mike’s brother is running for the governor’s seat and Steve Dodds is hired to keep Mike out of trouble during the election. This is basically the same situation set up in the Tommy Boy where David Spade’s character is charged with looking out for the bumbling Tommy Callahan. The rehashed characters don’t detract from the laughter from the duo. If you were fan of Farley and Spade, you will most likely ignore the redundant characters and enjoy the film. On the other hand, if you are not a fan, you might find it boring and trite.

The main attraction of the movie is Chris Farley. He was extremely talented comedian who always put smile on my face. The guy is non-stop from one sequence to next. David Spade fills in nicely as the side kick and foil to Farley’s comedy. Another delight was Gary Busey as the crazy sergeant Drake Savage who turns out to be a “good” guy. The entire movie is based on the chemistry between the main characters and the side characters. And, the interaction between Farley and Spade was one of the best combos. It is shame that Farley passed away so early in his life. He could have surpassed all other former SNL member as the greatest comedian to grace the big screen.

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Blu ray disc review of 24 season seven

24 have lost a lot of steam recently. The weak season six combined with 2 year layoff has dulled some luster off this great action series from Fox. The two hour lead in movie was somewhat underwhelming and put more pressure on season seven to restore the series to its greatness. Soon after the completion of the season seven on the television, Fox released the Blu-ray box set in less than a week. The action drama has always provided great entertainment with its action and loads and loads of political intrigue. It has dealt with domestic and foreign terrorism in frank manner. It did not shy away from controversial Muslim terrorist link or Russian terrorists. Also, it tackled the domestic terrorism in form of corrupt government as well as greedy corporations. Season seven is no exception.

At the end of the two hour lead in movie, Jack is hauled off to face the Congress for his role in CTU’s somewhat forceful tactics. 24 opens up with Jack facing Senator Mayer’s wrath on Jack’s interrogation methods. Jack has no apologies for his action. During the Senate hearing, FBI requests Jacks help in tracking down Tony Almeida, who is suspected of planning a terror attack. FBI believes that Tony is helping Dubaku in helping to procure a device that is capable of hacking into nation’s security system. This starts the convoluted plot involving African dictator and unknown puppet master behind the entire plot. This is over simplification of the plot and as many fans will know, the plot will thicken as the hours go by.

I think season seven boasts greater casts than the previous efforts. We have the familiar cats including Jack, Chloe, Bill, and Tony. Annie Wersching and Cherry Jones are a great addition as Renee Walker and President Taylor respectively. We have various canon fodders and the obligatory moles that are hallmark of the series. I always wonder how so many moles are present in the series. Regardless, 24 is one of the few television series that I hate having to watch in piece meal. I think the arrival of DVD and now Blu-ray was perfect timing for the series like 24 where you can take few days and watch it in one or two sittings. I can’t wait for the season eight.

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