Archive Page 515
May 13th, 2012 by Sean Ferguson
Filmed in high definition, recorded in Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby 5.1 Surround and DTS, with a running time of approximately three and a half hours, Live At Montreux 2004 includes all the greatest hits of his legendary career. The 25-song 2004 concert encapsulates the essence of this great artist, who has performed on the Montreux stage numerous times. One such time, in 1996, was with a Jazz Big-Band. Thirteen songs from that ’96 performance—including one with Tony Bennett (“There’ll Be Some Changes Made”)—serve as a bonus feature (in standard definition). From “In The Air Tonight” “You Can’t Hurry Love” and “Easy Lover” to “A Groovy Kind Of Love” “Another Day In Paradise” “One More Night” and “Against All Odds” the set-list accentuates the wildly fluctuating amount of genres and styles that Collins has smoothly assimilated within his own personal flair.
Continue reading ‘Phil Collins: Live at Montreux 2004 (Blu-ray Review)’
May 12th, 2012 by Gerard Iribe
Aggression Scale: (noun) A psychological test measuring the frequency of overt aggressive behaviors that may result in physical or psychological injury to others. What a cool and evocative title for a film, if I do say so myself. The first things that come into my mind are…aggression (duh) and violence (double duh). Anchor Bay is on a roll as they bring us this feature film by director Steven C. Miller. It made a big splash over at the 2012 SXSW Film Festival this past year, so I’m hoping that it will make a big splash on Blu-ray. I love the one tagline used on the back of the box by Indiewire.com – Like Home Alone, but with more death! Well you don’t have to tell me twice. This should be a neat romp. Continue reading ‘The Aggression Scale (Blu-ray Review)’
May 12th, 2012 by Gerard Iribe
I’m always on the look out for low budget independent horror films, so when I saw the tagline for Playback read: Some secrets should stay buried, I was like cool! Throw in Christian Slater into the mix and we definitely got something brewing that could be special. I even like the cover art. Magnolia’s “Magnet” genre pictures label presents Playback, a horror movie that will do its best to scare up thrills and such. Will Playback succeed or will it make you wish your Blu-ray player had a rewind button? That’s what we’re here to find out, so don’t touch that dial. Do televisions even have dials anymore? Nevermind. Continue reading ‘Playback (Blu-ray Review)’
May 12th, 2012 by David Freedman
As Mad Men starts its fifth season, David and Leah look back at the cultural impact of the show and what can be expected in the new season. Mad Men follows the world of marketing in New York City in the early to mid-1960s and the people who sell those dreams. As Mad Men starts its fifth season, David and Leah look back at the cultural impact of the show and what can be expected in the new season. Mad Men follows the world of marketing in New York City in the early to mid-1960s and the people who sell those dreams. Starring Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss and Vincent Kartheiser, Christina Hendricks, January Jones and John Slattery. This series was created and produced by Matthew Weiner. It airs on AMC. Check out all our reviews at www.justseenit.com Continue reading ‘Mad Men Retrospective – Just Seen It TV Review’
May 12th, 2012 by Aaron Neuwirth
Remember what happened to action movies after Die Hard came out? A lot of action films were made that basically amounted to things like “It’s Die Hard on a boat” or “It’s Die Hard on a train” to varied levels of success, but one thing was for sure, Die Hard changed how a lot of people and studios wanted to make action films. That has somewhat subsided in favor of other types of action cinema, ranging from the slow-mo escapades of John Woo-like films to the bombastic extravaganzas of Michael Bay features, or the shakiness inspired by Paul Greengrass’s work on the Bourne series. Sleepless Night is a French thriller that feels like a call back to the Die Hard days, placing an ordinary man in incredibly tense, violent, and stressful situations within a nightclub. It is well made from an impressively complex level rather than a stylish one and features action bits that feel very natural. Some minor plot flaws aside, the film is solid.
Continue reading ‘‘Sleepless Night’ Rests For No One’
May 12th, 2012 by Gerard Iribe
La haine (Hate) is French actor-director-writer Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 film that deals with race, riots, police brutality, and class warfare seen through the eyes of young people in the ghettos of France. Criterion Collection has, at long last, brought this important film to the Blu-ray format. The original DVD was also released by Criterion back in 2006 to coincide with its 10 year anniversary at the time. Now 17 years later (the film was released in 1995 theatrically), high definition enthusiasts can see what all the praise is about on Blu-ray. La haine is fully loaded and looks to nail the viewer right between the eyes. Stay sharp! Continue reading ‘La Haine: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
May 12th, 2012 by Jami Ferguson
Written and directed by Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Clueless stars Alicia Silverstone in a break-out performance as Cher, a beautiful and self-absorbed high school student who spends her days focused on assembling the ideal fashion ensemble, talking her way out of bad grades and searching for the perfect boyfriend. What Cher discovers is that popularity only gets you so far, looks can be deceiving and love is sometimes found where you least expect it. Whatever. Clueless features an outstanding ensemble cast including Paul Rudd (Role Models), Brittany Murphy (8 Mile), Stacey Dash (“Single Ladies”), Donald Faison (“Scrubs”), Jeremy Sisto (“Law & Order”) and Breckin Meyer (“Franklin & Bash”). Continue reading ‘Clueless (Blu-ray Review)’
May 11th, 2012 by David Freedman
General Aladeen, ruthless dictator of Wadiya, travels to NY to speak at the UN. But after he escapes a kidnapping attempt, no one in the Big Apple believes who he really is. So he risks his life to ensure that democracy never comes to the country he so lovingly oppresses. This comedy stars Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, Ben Kingsley and John C. Reilly. Its directed by Larry Charles and written by Sacha Baron Cohen and Alec Berg. Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg, Scott Rudin and Jeff Schaffer produced this broad comedy. Check out all our reviews at www.justseenit.com Continue reading ‘The Dictator – Just Seen It Movie Review’
May 11th, 2012 by Gerard Iribe
Directed by visionary filmmaker Tarsem Singh (Immortals), MIRROR MIRROR is a visually-spectacular, fresh and funny retelling of the classic Snow White legend. This family comedy features a star-studded cast including Academy Award®-winner Julia Roberts as the evil Queen, breakout star Lily Collins (The Blind Side) as Snow White, Armie Hammer (The Social Network) as the Prince, and Golden Globe® nominee Nathan Lane as the hapless bungling servant to the Queen. The film also stars Sean Bean (Game of Thrones) as the King and Mare Winningham (Brothers) as Baker Margaret and showcases the stunning costumes from Academy Award®-winning designer Eiko Ishioka (Dracula). The Blu-ray includes sparkling extras including a behind-the-scenes featurette, a toe-tapping dance-along to the reworked Nina Hart song “I Believe in Love” performed by the film’s Collins that plays over the end credits, interactive digital storybook, deleted scenes and much more. Continue reading ‘‘Mirror Mirror’ on Blu-ray June 26th’
May 11th, 2012 by Gerard Iribe
When every single word counts, what do you choose to say? That is the question answered to comedic effect in A THOUSAND WORDS, debuting on Blu-ray and DVD on June 26, 2012 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. The film will also be available On Demand and for Digital Download on June 22, 2012. Academy Award® nominee Eddie Murphy (Tower Heist) is Jack McCall, a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, anywhere. He has set his sights on popular New Age guru Dr. Sinja (Cliff Curtis) for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard one night. With every word that comes out of Jack’s mouth, another leaf instantly falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree will meet their end. Undeterred, he comes up with some outrageously funny ways to communicate, but ultimately he must face reality. Words have never failed the effusive Jack McCall before, but now he’s only got a thousand words left to discover what matters most in life. “Laugh a lot” (Julie Harkness, “Made In Hollywood”) and learn some entertaining life lessons in this “heartwarming and hilarious” (Shawn Edwards,Fox-TV) comedy. Continue reading ‘‘A Thousand Words’ on Blu-ray June 26th’
May 11th, 2012 by Sean Ferguson
Director Tim Burton brings the cult classic series “Dark Shadows” to the big screen in a film featuring an all-star cast, led by Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter. In the year 1750, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from England to start a new life in America, where they build a fishing empire in the coastal Maine town that comes to carry their name: Collinsport. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of falling in love with a beauty named Josette DuPres (Bella Heathcote) and breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death—turning him into a vampire, and then burying him…alive. Continue reading ‘Dark Shadows – A Comedy With Bite’
May 10th, 2012 by David Freedman
Mallory is a freelance, covert operative and very good at what she does. But when a mission goes seriously wrong and her partner tries to kill her, Mallory must run for her life. Discovering that she was used as a pawn, Mallory hunts down her betrayer in Haywire. The action, spy thriller is directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas and Michael Fassbender. Sound interesting? Well then check out our Just Seen It movie review below. Continue reading ‘Haywire – Just Seen It Movie Review’
May 10th, 2012 by Blu-ray Brian
Bam! Boom! Screech! The microphone tap grows louder and LOUDER. Is this thing on? Good! You can all hear me! Today, here at Why So Blu, we would like to welcome one of our newest contributors of content…Mr. David Freedman, founder of www.justseenit.com. In a nutshell, JUST SEEN IT is the review show where a group of industry students review the newest in theaters and on network TV and cable. They have been ‘on the air’ for over a year now and have produced more than 250 episodes! And I’ll tell you what. I like what I have “seen.” So what do you say? Can you welcome them with arms wide open just like you greet our reviews and coverage each and every day? I know you can! Continue reading ‘Why So Blu Welcomes JUST SEEN IT to the Scene!’
May 10th, 2012 by Sean Ferguson
The 1992 presidential election was a triumph not only for Bill Clinton but also for the new breed of strategists who guided him to the White House and changed the face of politics in the process. For this thrilling, behind-closed-doors account of that campaign, renowned cinema verité filmmakers D. A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop) and Chris Hegedus (Startup.com) closely followed the brainstorming and bull sessions of Clinton’s crack team of consultants—especially the folksy James Carville and the preppy George Stephanopoulos, who became media stars in their own right as they injected a youthful spirit and spontaneity into the process of campaigning. Fleet-footed and entertaining, The War Room is a vivid document of a political moment whose truths (“It’s the economy, stupid!”) still ring in our ears. Continue reading ‘The War Room: Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)’
May 10th, 2012 by Mary Welms
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp are back together again for their 8th collaboration, a reinterpretation of Dark Shadows, a very popular soap opera that aired from 1966 – 1971. I think it goes without saying that I have been very excited ever since I heard Burton and Depp were working on this project together. As a child I would watch the soap opera wishing that I would grow up to be a vampire. Now Burton and Depp have brought back a cult classic for the younger generation to enjoy, but with a different twist on it. Being a fan of the original series I have to admit I wasn’t too sure how I would like the humor in it, but once again the dynamic duo did not disappoint me. I know I have said this before but one of the greatest enjoyments I get out of Johnny Depp’s acting is his facial expressions. I love that he puts his heart and soul into each character he becomes. You will find Barnabas drawing you in, sinking his fangs into your neck and holding you there. In my opinion, Johnny owned this movie. He took command of every scene he was in. He’s not only very captivating as a vampire, but he has also renewed my dream of becoming a vampire when I grow up. Continue reading ‘My I’m In Love With Johnny Depp ‘Dark Shadows’ Movie Review’
May 9th, 2012 by Gerard Iribe
Actor Michael Fassbender (Inglourious Basterds) and director Steve McQueen (Hunger) have teamed up once again to bring us Shame, a tale of sexual addiction and depravity. Carrey Mulligan (Drive) joins in on the festivities. Shame is rated NC-17, the highest, or next to highest rating a Hollywood feature can get. I think X or XXX is next, but that doesn’t happen with mainstream films. Shame was one of the most talked about films of 2011 and it garnered a Golden Globe nomination for Michael Fassbender in the lead actor category. How does Shame stack up to the lurid word-of-mouth it got upon release? Will this Blu-ray presentation be a shame or will it live up to the hype? We’ll see what happens. Continue reading ‘Shame (Blu-ray Review)’
May 9th, 2012 by Gerard Iribe
Since that most sacred day is coming up this weekend, we here at Why So Blu thought it best to review the new remake of the 1980 cult-classic, Mother’s Day starring Rebecca De Mornay and Jaime King. Mother’s Day is a modern day remake of the old school flick that was written, produced, and directed by Charles Kaufman and produced by his brother, Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Films). This remake was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman who was director of the Saw films 2-4, and Repo! The Genetic Opera. With actors who have extensive experience in front of the camera doing thrillers, to directors who have extensive experience crafting horror thrillers behind the camera – I was curious to tackle Mother’s Day on Blu-ray. Let’s see if my curiosity was satisfied in the following review. Continue reading ‘Mother’s Day (Blu-ray Review)’
May 8th, 2012 by Blu-ray Brian
This one, much like Cabin in the Woods, really caught me by surprise. While it’s no Cabin, 21 Jump Street did make for a pretty fun time with the hilarious tag team of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. Simply put, both stars are too old for this “shift” as they go undercover on Blu-ray and DVD June 26th. The Blu-ray set features a gag reel, deleted scenes and many more hilarious special features. So what are you waiting for? Put those hands down, click on this link and pre-order your copy now! And oh yeah…check out the full press release below from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment too! Continue reading ‘Blu-ray is Going Undercover on 21 Jump Street June 26th’
