The Day the Earth Stood Still Blu Ray

The Day the Earth Stood Still Blu Ray Review

The remake of the 1951 classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still, gets a fresh Hollywood make up with some nice special effects and updated story. The 1951 version is considered one of the best science fiction films to grace the silver screen. So, it would take a herculean effort to outshine the original film. The remake is helmed by a relatively unknown director named Scott Derrickson. While the film doesn’t totally destroy the original, it does not live up to the reputation. There are several detractions that make the film unworthy of the original movie.

Keanu Reeves plays the alien visitor Klaatu. He comes to Earth to determine whether we as species deserve to live as the dominant species. He first lands in Central Park where he is immediately shot by one of the soldier. A big robot steps out from the space orb to defend Klaatu. Realizing the mistake, the officials rush Klaatu to the hospital where he is promptly saved. When he is healed, he is put through interrogation by the Secretary of Defense, Kathy Bates. Klaatu insists on being taken to United Nation to speak to all the leaders of the World. However, he is denied the request and promptly treated as hostile. This is where Dr. Helen Benson steps in to intervene and do the right thing.

The story doesn’t deviate too much from the original version except for the environmental message vs. the war from the original. This is where I begin to lose interest. Not another “we screwed up the environment” movie. The Hollywood seems to think it is a spokesman for the environment and its cause. I have no problem with that except they seem to hammering it every chance it gets. Regardless, it’s really derivative effort. Another annoying aspect of the movie was the Jaden Smith’s character. It served no purpose in my opinion and could have been written out. His character was so annoying that I was finding myself wishing him some bodily harm. Keanu Reeves delivers an adequate performance where he doesn’t have to act too much. He has done better movies. This is not one of them.

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Patriot Games Blu Ray Review

Harrison Ford’s first foray into Tom Clancy movie was probably the probably the weaker of the two Jack Ryan movie. After the great job by Alec Baldwin in The Hunt for Red October, Harrison Ford steps in as the next Jack Ryan in the thriller. Is he better than Baldwin? I think so. I think Harrison Ford was the best Jack Ryan in Clancy inspired films. As one might suspect from a movie derived from Tom Clancy, it is a thriller with lots of intrigue sprinkled with sporadic action sequence.

Harrison Ford stars as CIA agent Jack Ryan along with Anne Archer as his wife and Thora Birch as his daughter. The movie starts with Jack Ryan preventing a car bombing attempt by IRA. During the course of intervention, he kills few IRA members including a brother of a terrorist, Sean Miller. This sets up the revenge plot by Sean Miller who vows to avenge his brother. He soon targets the entire Ryan family for his revenge. The family is put through very challenging situations. The movie is about Ryan having to outwit and out muscle his opponent to save his family.

Made in 1992, the movie will feel outdated for most viewers who are more accustomed to satellites and spy gadget infested thrillers. While this may detract some luster, it is still a very serviceable film. There are some plot holes here and there. But, it is a solid thriller with solid acting and assured directing. The Blu-ray update is still very much warranted as I consider this a must for Tom Clancy fans.

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The Spirit Blu Ray

The Spirit Blu Ray Review

The Spirit mostly bombed at the box office. For a good reason. Most of the people were probably expecting 300 or Sin City type of movie. The movie style and Frank Miller’s name attached to the movie most likely signaled movie closer to 300 and Sin City. The Spirit is entirely different movie. 300 was action packed stylish movie while Sin City was stylistic and gritty in its execution. The Spirit is more comedic than action. While it does retain that Sin City style, its over the top comic and corny lines make the movie barely enjoyable.

The story is about a cop who comes back from death to fight criminals, mainly the Octopus played by Samuel L Jackson. The basic story is that Octopus created some drug that could prolong the life. Needless to say, Octopus and the Spirit both take the drug and duke it out over the course of the movie. Eva Mendes plays the old fling who comes back to get her hands on some treasure. There are little bit more to the story but not much.

This is film that’s all style and very little substance. I know a lot of the viewers were expecting Sin City and instead, got this comedic effort. You really can’t go wrong with Samuel L Jackson for Octopus but rest of the characters and story are just boring. I was indifferent from start to finish and was neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. All in all, it is a very forgettable film from Frank Miller.

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Blu-ray HD movie review of 28 Days Later

At a first glance, it’s easy to dismiss 28 Days Later as just another zombie horror fest. The gore and zombies are present in the movie. However, one of the most startling and striking scene in the movie is the London devoid of its population. Danny Boyle does well to elevate this film from a mere horror movie to a great cinema. There are biting social commentary and human condition set against zombie infested England.

The story starts out with environmental nut jobs attacking a lab that tests various viruses, including the rage virus, on the chimps. As most of you can guess, the chimps are set loose and the virus spreads to human. At the first sign of devastation, we see Jim, Cillian Murphy, wake up from the hospital to empty London 28 days after the initial release of the virus. From this point on, he meets up with few other survivors including a man and his daughter. They head out to find other survivors as well as head out to place where they can be saved. The second half deals with some surviving military man and their twisted sense of law. The second part of the movie really shows what some humans are reduced at their worst. Danny Boyle could have easily made another Dawn of the Dead, which was good in its own way, but he sprinkled in a lot more than just slash fest horror film.

I’m a big fan of Danny Boyle ever since the Trainspotting. He puts his own spin on the zombie genre with some intense psychological horror as well as physical horror. The acting and writing was spot on and the direction was top notch as well. It’s shame that the sequel did not live up to the standard set by this film. Overall, any fan of zombie movies or Danny Boyle should not miss this gem.

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Blu-ray dvd movie review of Trading Places

The younger generation haven’t had chance to watch any decent Eddie Murphy comedies like some of the older folks like myself. Besides the Shrek franchise, Meet Dave and Norbit are some of the worst Eddie Murphy films. You really wouldn’t have expected that from an actor who made us laugh with Beverly Hills Cop, 48 Hours, and Coming to America. Trading Places is another comedy gem with Eddie Murphy. Trading Places was one of the first movie to feature the SNL funnyman Eddie Murphy.

The movie is about an experiment/bet placed by two rich Duke Brothers, think of Lehman brothers. They bet that with right environment, anybody can become a rich upper-class person and anybody can become poor. To carry out this bet, they forcibly put Louis Winthorpe III in bad situation and put Billy Ray in his place. Louis, played by Dan Akroyd is rich investment type whereas Billy Ray is low life conman. This sets up classic mistaken identity/role reversal film. Louis is put through some hardship and Billy is pampered in rich lifestyle. One day, Billy overhears the Duke Brothers talking about the bet and decides to take revenge on them along with Louis. So they pool their knowledge. Louis brings the financial market knowledge and Billy brining in the criminal side. Together, they hatch plan to make themselves rich and ruin Duke Brothers.

Simply put, this is one of the funniest Eddie Murphy movie. Along with Dan Akroyd and Jamie Lee Curtis, Eddie Murphy delivers one of his best performances in this film. Released back in 1983, this is one of the funniest films of the 1980s. I might also add that it’s feel good movie where the greedy bastards get their due. And, it’s somewhat ironic that the Lehman’s fate is somewhat similar to that of Duke Brothers. Overall, movie you can appreciate in any time.

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blu-ray disc movie review of Role Models

The director of somewhat cult favorite Wet Hot American Summer brings us another comedy in Role Models. Instead of the romantic comedy, David Wain goes for relationship comedy between two adults and two kids. Amidst some cheap and crude joke, David Wain manages to deliver a nice message, do what makes you happy.

The story starts out with two friends Wheeler and Danny, Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd, working for energy drink company. They work as spokesmen who go from school to school promoting their energy drink as an alternative to the drugs. One day, Danny’s girlfriend, Elizabeth Banks, breaks up with him. This causes Danny to go little crazy after one of the speech. Both of them end up getting arrested. The judge gives them choice of jail time or volunteer for an organization that mentor’s kids, sort of like Boys Club. On the advice of his girlfriend, Danny and Wheeler take the volunteer duty. They end up with two odd kids that ultimately lead to some funny and somewhat touching moments.

I think it’s fairly easy to say that the “journey” leads both parties to happier place. Paul Rudd and Seann Scott are very good as two friends that get into trouble. Both don’t wander too far from their stereotypical roles. Scott plays the toilet humor guy to sarcastic Rudd. The two actors who play the kids are very good. Christopher Mintz-Plasse who played the McLovin is hilarious as the introvert who enjoys the dungeon and dragon role playing kid. Bobb’e J. Thompson is also great as foul mouthed troublesome kid. The interaction between the four makes the film worth watching. The message of “do what makes you happy” ultimately plays out as you would expect in the end.

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Blu-Ray dvd movie review of Let the Right One In

Lately, the horror scene has been dominated by slasher remakes and Asian horror film remakes. Let the right one in is a breath of fresh air in somewhat stale horror genre. The Swedish film was directed by Tomas Alfredson and adapted from John Ajvide’s book. The film takes conventional vampire/romance film and adds a twist in the form of coming of age story of two leads.

The story is about 12 year old Oskar and a girl named Eli. Oskar is constantly bullied by his classmates and secretly fantasizes about killing them in his spare time. One day, Eli and her dad movies into his building and he has chance to meet with her. From early on, audiences are let in on the secret of Eli’s nature. Oskar befriends Eli and they soon hit it off. In a chilling scene, Oskar finds out the true identity of Eli. The rest of the story revolves around the relationship between the two kids and their problems. The interaction is quite touching at times and really brutal at others. It’s really a stark contrast between one moment to another.

The two leads are the only real characters worth noting in the film as the story revolves around their relationship. The rest either end up being food source for Eli or just passerby in Oskar and Eli’s world. This film has garnered a lot of praise and awards in the film festival circuits. I think any horror film fans should see this film. The Blu-ray version does come with the original Swedish sound track. Don’t settle for terrible dubbed version. I’m not sure what’s scarier, the growing up pains or having a vampire for a girlfriend.

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Blu-Ray movie review of Slumdog Millionaire

The much hyped and awarded film, Slumdog Millionaire, finally comes to Blu-ray and DVD this week. Directed by English directory, Danny Boyle, the movie takes features relatively unknown casts set in India. Breaking out with Trainspotting, Danny Boyle has had mixed bag of success in film industry. The 28 days later was a great success whereas the science fiction epic Sunshine was not as well received by critics and audiences. With Slumdog Millionaire, he returns to genre he is very comfortable with.

The story is ultimately about destiny and love. I know this sounds little corny but once watch the film, you won’t feel that it is sappy chick flick. The story follows two Malik brothers, Jamal and Salim, who are orphaned at early age. Soon after, they meet another orphaned girl named Latika. They are soon taken in by a group who takes advantage of these orphans by turning them out to beg in mass numbers. When Salim finds out they intentionally blind kids to rake in more money, he takes Jamal and runs away while leaving behind Latika. The rest of the story is about Jamal’s longing for Latika and his search for her throughout the entire film. All this is in the background of Jamal trying to win the ultimate prize in the India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. As the questions are asked, Jamal answers them correctly. How he answers the questions are linked with the experiences he goes through in searching for Latika.

This is truly an uplifting film. The story and plot is acceptable. But, the message it delivers is what people have found to be appealing. The struggle Jamal goes through to find and reach Latika and ultimately finding her and finding that happily ever after. The way the story is presented is fresh and imaginative. The acting was superb and it’s surprising to find out that the real kids were casted from the poverty stricken part of the India. The two main leads are also relatively new actors that did fantastic job. This is a must see movie of the year.

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