Too Big To Fail (Blu-ray Review)
HBO Films critically acclaimed and Emmy nominated film Too Big To Fail presents a searing and explosive account of the events that led to the 2008 financial crisis and how the U.S. economy was brought back from the brink of collapse. Too Big To Fail is based on the bestselling book by Andrew Ross Sorkin and offers an intimate look at the powerful men and women who decided the fate of the world’s economy in a matter of a few weeks. Centering on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the film goes behind closed doors to examine the symbiotic relationship between Wall Street and Washington. Directed by Academy Award winner Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential), the film features an all-star cast lead by Academy Award winner William Hurt (Kiss of the Spider Woman), Emmy and Academy Award nominee Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man, John Adams), Academy Award nominee James Woods (Ghosts of Mississippi), Emmy winner Cynthia Nixon (Sex And The City), Topher Grace (Spider-Man 3) and Billy Crudup (Public Enemies). Continue reading ‘Too Big To Fail (Blu-ray Review)’
Academy Award-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg stars as a sassy lounge singer forced to hide from the mob in the last place anyone would ever look for her – a convent. In the side-splitting sequel, Whoopi is back for another hilarious adventure as Sister Mary Clarence spreads the gift of music and the power of laughter at an inner-city school. The casts include Dame Maggie Smith, James Coburn, Kathy Najimy, Michael Jeter, Harvey Keitel, Lauryn Hill, and more. 
The Amazing Spider-Man is the story of Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), an outcast high-schooler who was abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school crush, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone), and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents’ disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr Curt Connors (Rhys Ifans), his father’s former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors’ alter-ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero. 
Coming this fall, the third highest-grossing movie of all time and the #1 movie in the world, “Marvel’s The Avengers” assembles as you’ve never seen it before on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital and On-Demand platforms on September 25, 2012. In anticipation of this release, Marvel is also launching an all-new App in July – “The Avengers Initiative: A Marvel Second Screen App” (available for the first time on iPhone) – that gives fans unprecedented access to exclusive content building up to the home entertainment release. The announcement comes as “Marvel’s The Avengers” crossed the incredible $600 million domestic box office threshold on June 26 – only the third film in history to do so. It has now grossed an estimated $1.44 billion globally. 
Since ancient times, stories of epic battles and mystical legends have been passed through the generations across the rugged and mysterious Highlands of Scotland. From Disney and Pixar, a new tale joins the lore when the courageous Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald) confronts tradition and challenges destiny to change her fate. Brave follows the heroic journey of Merida, a skilled archer and headstrong daughter of King Fergus (voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson). Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the unruly and uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (voice of Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (voice of Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (voice of Robbie Coltrane). Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric Witch (voice of Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to harness all of her skills and resources – including her clever and mischievous triplet brothers – to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late, discovering the meaning of true bravery. Directed by Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman, Brave is a grand adventure full of heart, memorable characters and signature Pixar humor that audiences of all ages around the world have come to eagerly expect. 
It’s been 50 years since man first ventured into the unknown, and the heavens are only now yielding their greatest secrets. Season 6 of the pioneering series “The Universe” takes viewers further than ever, to the extreme edges of our solar system where chaos and catastrophe bring epic drama to the planets – including some of the most horrifying days on Earth. Through stunning CGI, witness the birth pangs of the solar system, shocked into existence by a nearby supernova, and enduring over 700 million years of brutal bombardment by deadly asteroids; colossal cataclysms that shaped the planets and transformed their climates forever; and startling new scientific discoveries revealing a hellish history of continuous devastation on Earth. And travel to the system’s very fringes to explore the possibility that the Sun has an evil twin, a monstrous star known as Nemesis suspected of causing every mass extinction in Earth’s history. In signature cutting-edge style, The Universe: The Complete Season Six, available in both blu-ray and DVD, features astounding NASA footage and the opinions of leading astrophysicists to probe even more deeply into the billion-years-old story of the world beyond Earth. 
Around the globe, headlines break the news: a scandal takes down an Indian cotton tycoon; a Chinese opium trader dies of an apparent overdose; bombings in Strasbourg and Vienna; the death of an American steel magnate… no one sees the connective thread between these seemingly random events-no one, that is, except the great Sherlock Holmes, who has discerned a deliberate web of death and destruction. At its center sits a singularly sinister spider: Moriarty. Holmes’ investigation into Moriarty’s plot becomes more dangerous as it leads him and Watson out of London to France, Germany and finally Switzerland. But the cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead, and moving perilously close to completing his ominous plan. If he succeeds, it will not only bring him immense wealth and power but alter the course of history. Filmmaker Guy Ritchie (Sherlock Holmes) returns to direct Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, which stars two-time Academy Award nominees Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) and Jude Law (Contagion) along with Rachel McAdams (The Notebook), Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes), Eddie Marsan (War Horse), Geraldine James (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Jared Harris (TV’s Mad Men), Stephen Fry (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), and Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). 
Yesterday I was invited to join a round-table discussion with some of the leaders of the Blu-ray industry to discuss the evolution of the home entertainment market and how current technologies (Blu-ray Disc, digital steaming and downloads and disc-based digital extensions) complement one another to give consumers more flexibility and control over their content and viewing options than ever before. The discussion was moderated by Andy Parsons, Chair, BDA US Promotions Committee who also hosted the Q&A panel that followed afterwards along with Rich Marty, Vice President for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Paul Erickson, Senior Analyst for IMS Research. As you might expect, UltraViolet came up a lot in the discussion (including my own complaint about it) as well as hardware questions, 3D adoption and its market share, their thoughts on the future of the format, and a lot more. There was even some talk about the upcoming Lawrence of Arabia Blu-ray release. Read on for more details! 
FBI profiler Terry McCaleb almost always gets to the heart of a case. This time, that heart beats inside him. He’s a cardiac patient who received a murder victim’s heart. And the donor’s sister asks him to make good on his second chance by finding the killer. That’s just the first of many twists in a smart, gritty suspense thriller that’s “vintage Eastwood: swift, surprising and very, very exciting” (Jim Svejda, KNX/CBS Radio). Clint Eastwood produces, directs and stars in this edgy, acclaimed mystery based on Michael Connelly’s novel and scripted by Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential). With a superb cast brought to a hard boil playing characters to quicken your pulse and hold you spellbound, Blood Work represents another fine effort by Clint Eastwood as both an actor and as a director. 
Academy Award winners Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood confront each other from opposite sides of the law in A Perfect World, an acclaimed, multi-layered manhunt saga (directed by Eastwood) that rumbles down Texas back-roads toward a harrowing collision with fate. Costner plays Butch Haynes, a hardened prison escapee on the lam with a young hostage (T.J. Lowther in a remarkable film debut) who sees in Butch the father figure he never had. Eastwood is wily Texas Ranger Red Garnett, leading deputies and a criminologist (Laura Dern) on a statewide pursuit. Red knows every road and pothole in the Panhandle. What’s more, he knows the elusive Haynes — because their paths have crossed before. 
Ladies and gentlemen, be alert. We are going to initiate a hard-target search for a fugitive in an ever-widening perimeter. We will wade through swamps, prowl Manhattan streets, search every house and doghouse. We’ll eat on the run, sleep tomorrow, watch our backs. And since Marshal Sam Gerard leads the hunt, we will experience suspense, action and daring twists every breathless step of the way. Returning to his Oscar-winning role from The Fugitive, Tommy Lee Jones is Gerard, joining an A-team including Wesley Snipes, Robert Downey Jr. and director Stuart Baird (Executive Decision) to deliver adrenaline-rush excitement. The suspect: armed, extremely dangerous, perhaps linked to a spy ring. The chase: highlighted by an out-of-control 727, a death match in a ship’s cargo hold, a 12-story plunge onto a moving train and more heart-pounding sequences. The movie: U.S. Marshals. 
It’s been 25 years since the action buddy film, Lethal Weapon, became a phenomenon in its genre and spawned a legacy of films on the heels of its success. Now Warner Home Video has debuted the ultimate Lethal Weapon Collection as a 5-Disc gift-set containing all four original theatrical releases in the series (Lethal Weapon, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3 and Lethal Weapon 4). The franchise, directed by Richard Donner (Superman, Goonies) and starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as L.A. detectives Riggs and Murtaugh, is one of the most successful in film franchise history, with a worldwide box-office gross and home entertainment sales totaling more than $1 billion. The Lethal Weapon Collection includes four featurettes (released for the first time in the US) about the genesis, legacy and making of each film in the franchise. Also included are deleted scenes, outtakes and two music videos; one starring Sting and Eric Clapton. Lastly, also included are two hours of 2010 cast interviews with Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Rene Russo, Joe Pesci and Richard Donner. The magic is back!
Ridley Scott, director of’ Alien and Blade Runner, returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a new mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a mysterious journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race and to discover the intentions of an alien race who may or may not have mankind’s best interest in their plans. 
From Academy Award–winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton comes John Carter – a sweeping action-adventure set on the mysterious and exotic planet of Barsoom (Mars). John Carter is based on a classic novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, whose highly imaginative adventures served as inspiration for many filmmakers, both past and present. The film tells the story of war-weary, former military captain John Carter (Taylor Kitsch), who is inexplicably transported to Mars where he becomes reluctantly embroiled in a conflict of epic proportions amongst the inhabitants of the planet, including Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the captivating Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins). In a world on the brink of collapse, Carter rediscovers his humanity when he realizes that the survival of Barsoom and its people rests in his hands. 
The DVD collectors set that fans of classic TV have been waiting for is finally coming out as Time Life will now start taking pre-orders for The Carol Burnett Show: The Ultimate Collection on DVD!! The 22-DVD set contains 50 episodes from the award-winning and influential TV series, featuring the funniest and most beloved characters and sketches. Fans and collectors can pre-order the DVD release of The Carol Burnett Show: The Ultimate Collection today! The DVD is available for preorder on 
In this stunning underwater adventure teeming with memorable comedic characters and heartfelt emotion, “Finding Nemo” follows the momentous journey of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) and his young son Nemo (voiced by Alexander Gould). When the two are unexpectedly separated in the Great Barrier Reef, Nemo is carried far from his ocean home and deposited in a fish tank in a dentist’s office. Buoyed by the companionship of Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres), a friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish, Marlin embarks on a dangerous trek and finds himself the unlikely hero of an epic effort to rescue his son––who hatches a few daring plans of his own to return safely home. Finding Nemo swims into living rooms for the first time ever in high-definition Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and Digital platforms on December 4, 2012. 
