Archive Page 566
May 30th, 2011 by Gerard Iribe
Time to dive back into the classics! Classic films on Blu-ray always make me smile, because of the luster and time period, and because most of the time I wasn’t even born yet. It’s great to see how films were made back in the day. The Manchurian Candidate is one of these films. Make no mistake now, this is the original 1962 release and not that abomination of a remake with Denzel Washington. The original Manchurian Candidate starred Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, Janet Liegh, and Henry Silva. That’s a very impressive cast. Will this be a very impressive Blu-ray? Let us visit with The Manchurian Candidate, shall we? Continue reading ‘The Manchurian Candidate (Blu-ray Review)’
May 30th, 2011 by Aaron Neuwirth
Over the 2011 Memorial Day weekend, I had the chance to cover a very special event out in the Los Angeles area. On May 28th, at the K1 Speed Indoor Racing facility in Gardena, California, I was able to witness the Celebrity Go-Kart Tournament, which brought forth a number of stars helping to produce awareness and show their support for the American Diabetes Association. Many stars, both young and adult, along with their families, were willing to come out on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and race for awareness, while also have a fun time for the sake of a good, charitable cause. Continue reading ‘An All-Star Go-Kart Race To The Finish, Benefiting The American Diabetes Association’
May 30th, 2011 by Gregg Senko
Appropriate for Memorial Day here in the U.S. today is a Blu-ray review about a film looking at the Vietnam War. Simply called Platoon, it’s not the project that earned Oliver Stone his first Academy Award, but it certainly didn’t fly under the radar either, garnering four of the little golden statues for directing, film editing, sound, and best picture. Now, a quarter of a century later, arguably the greatest Vietnam movie of all time is now available on Blu-ray. The film actually comes in a DVD/Blu-ray combo pack, which is a bit puzzling. I say get rid of the dvd and give me a digital copy instead (what am I supposed to do with a dvd??). That aside, we’ve got one very important movie to review here.
Continue reading ‘Platoon (Blu-ray Review)’
May 29th, 2011 by Sean Ferguson
Every once in awhile, the James Bond Blu-ray sets go on sale at Amazon and this is one of those times! Instead of being $70 each they are now $24.99 each so if you haven’t picked these up yet, now is a good time! These are great sets that mix movies from different Bonds – from the original one Sean Connery, to Roger Moore, and on to Pierce Brosnan. No matter who’s playing Bond, you can count on there being a lot of beautiful women, a lot of action, and a suave British superspy around to stop anyone thinking about world domination!
Continue reading ‘James Bond Blu-ray Sets on Sale for $24.99 each (64% off)!’
May 29th, 2011 by Gerard Iribe
Here we are again with some more horror material to hopefully satiate your horror-film palette. Savage County is a DVD release from the FilmBuff Company and MTV New Media. In essence, this is more DTV (direct-to-video) programming on a low budget scale. The question remains as to whether it’s any good or not. Savage County was made on a $250,000 budget which by all intents and purposes is a lot of money. How does it compare to the many horror movies out there that share similar themes and storylines? Get ready to cross township lines and enter Savage County on DVD courtesy of Why So Blu. Continue reading ‘Savage County (DVD Review)’
May 28th, 2011 by Sean Ferguson
Nominated for ten Academy Awards, this 1976 Best Picture Winner started a franchise that inspired the world. A struggling Philadelphia club fighter (Sylvester Stallone) gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight for love, glory and self-respect. Featuring a legendary musical score by Bill Conti and thrilling fight sequences, this rousing crowd-pleaser proved to be as much an underdog at the Oscars as Rocky himself! Rocky won Best Picture over the likes of All The President’s Men, Bound for Glory, Network, and Taxi Driver! Audiences couldn’t get enough of the character which allowed the story to continue in Rocky II, III, IV, V, and to be wrapped up beautifully in Rocky Balboa. Continue reading ‘Rocky (Blu-ray Review)’
May 28th, 2011 by Gerard Iribe
The hits just keep on hitting here at Why So Blu. Up next is a tale of crime, redemption, and punishment in Tim Robbin’s Dead Man Walking. Another popular film from the mid 90’s starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. Dead Man Walking makes its debut on Blu-ray in the states and this is our review. In fact, this will be our THIRD Blu-ray review that features relationships (of some kind) and dysfunction (of some kind) and how they will or will not resolve themselves. Dead Man Walking is another film that I thought was released 8-9 years ago. Well, you better make that 16 years ago! *gets a flashback* So how will Dead Man Walking on Blu-ray fare? Walk with me and see for yourself. Continue reading ‘Dead Man Walking (Blu-ray Review)’
May 28th, 2011 by Aaron Neuwirth
The Dragon Warrior, a panda bear named Po, is back with his team of martial arts animal warrior friends known as the Furious Five in this gorgeous sequel to Kung Fu Panda. I emphasize gorgeous, as the animation (which includes different animation styles), use of color, and martial arts choreography are all wonderfully executed (it also works in 3D, as is usually the case with animated features). The entire voice cast returns for this film, which is a follow up to what I consider to be DreamWorks Animation’s best film. I feel my expectations were in about the right place and as a result I really enjoyed the film, despite a few issues that have me holding back from calling it as good as the first. Continue reading ‘‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ Serves Up Another Bowl of Awesomeness’
May 28th, 2011 by Aaron Neuwirth
In 2004, the Michael Mann film Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx was released. It was a thriller based around the coupling of a contract killer and a cab driver. The film was well made, acted, and incredibly entertaining. I am surprised I have not seen more films attempt to copy that formula, as the film was quite successful both critically and commercially, but finally, my prayers have been answered in the form of this direct-to-video release starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Cole Hauser, The Hit List. The story is very similar to that of Collateral’s, with a few exceptions, chiefly in terms of how good the movie actually is. The film is not very good and gets very few points for originality, and only slightly more in terms of the quality of the Blu-ray, but it did manage to be somewhat entertaining. Continue reading ‘The Hit List (Blu-ray Review)’
May 27th, 2011 by Gerard Iribe
Wow, two seriously messed up relationship films in a row for this humble reviewer must be a record! (Betty Blue would be the other one) That’s okay, because when it comes to Blu-ray my gluttonous tendencies know no bounds. Years before he would actually be considered insane in some circles Nicolas Cage was out there doing serious character study pieces. Cage even won an Academy Award in 1995 for Best Actor in Leaving Las Vegas and Elisabeth Shue would also be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role. When both leads are nominated and win then you know they’re a powerhouse duo not to be messed with. So how does the Leaving Las Vegas Blu-ray compare to their performances overall? Let’s take a trip to Sin City and find out! Continue reading ‘Leaving Las Vegas (Blu-ray Review)’
May 27th, 2011 by Sean Ferguson
It’s time to enter the fifth dimension once again with The Twilight Zone: Season 4! All eighteen episodes from the influential sci-fi/fantasy series’ fourth season are here, remastered and presented in pristine 1080p high-definition and uncompressed PCM audio. In addition, the five disc set includes hours of amazing bonus features, specially created for this Blu-ray release, as well as bonus features from the previous Definitive Collection DVD release. You unlock this door with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension – a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You’ve just crossed over into the Twilight Zone… Continue reading ‘The Twilight Zone Season 4 (Blu-ray Review)’
May 27th, 2011 by Patrick Bellante
I never played the first Portal game and I found out that Portal 2 does a terrible job of explaining what the hell happened in the first installment. With that being said, I could not help being extremely lost with Portal 2‘s story line. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much of a story, but once I found out there was some sort of underlying tale, I wanted to know what it was. Most games that are sequels give a brief overview of the who, what, when and why. Bummer…this did not. Story aside, I thought the game was fun and challenging. So let’s talk about it some more. Continue reading ‘Meet Me on the Other Side with ‘Portal 2’’
May 26th, 2011 by Brian White
Unbeknown to anyone else besides myself, at the beginning of the year I decided there were a total of three movies I was really looking forward to in 2011. The first, not a critics choice by any means, has already came and went. Of course, I’m talking about the Independence Day sequel (joking), Battle: Los Angeles. Unlike the majority of critics, I was able to enjoy myself immensely throughout the film. Wait! That doesn’t sound right. Anyway, the second is Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Why am I looking forward to this? Well, being a huge fan of the first film, I’m really curious to see if Michael Bay can knock this one out of the ballpark and totally redeem himself for that POS he put out in 2009 or if he will fail miserably much like most of his horror produced films do. Continue reading ‘Hangover 2: The Wolf Pack Strikes Back’
May 25th, 2011 by Jami Ferguson
Walt Disney Studios has just released Gnomeo & Juliet on Blu-ray 3-D, Blu-ray 2D, DVD and digital download. I was lucky enough to receive the 3-Disc Combo Pack which includes all of the options I just listed. There is also a Two Disc Blu-ray Combo pack and One Disc DVD available.
The dictionary defines cute as pleasantly attractive, in a delicate way; said of children, young ladies, pet animals and some objects, but seldom of adults. Gnomeo & Juliet could easily be the new poster child for cuteness. Continue reading ‘Gnomeo & Juliet 2D/3D (Blu-ray Review)’
May 25th, 2011 by Sean Ferguson
It’s not every day that you get to hear from an ILM veteran talk about his career and the movies he’s worked on. He’s worked with George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Tim Burton, Dean Parisot, Alfonso Cuaron, Richard Donner, and more! From his thoughts on Star Wars to working on the new updated Star Tours ride, Blade Runner, Galaxy Quest, Harry Potter, and including his latest work on I Am Number Four, I think you will enjoy hearing it all as much as I did! If you are a fan of movies or simply a fan of Industrial Light & Magic, then you ought to enjoy this!
Continue reading ‘A Talk With ILM Visual Effects Supervisor Bill George About I Am Number Four’
May 25th, 2011 by Gerard Iribe
Here we go, Jason Statham is back as a another unstoppable killing machine in The Mechanic. I’ve lost count as to how many films Statham has made where he plays a hitman, but what makes this film kind of a stand out is that it’s a remake of the classic 1972 film starring Charles Bronson. I have not seen the original in many, many years, so I will not make comparisons, because I just don’t remember. Simon West is back in the director’s chair (Con-Air) and with an eclectic cast that includes Donald Sutherland and Ben Foster, how will this remake measure up? Let’s see what happens. Continue reading ‘The Mechanic (Blu-ray Review)’
May 25th, 2011 by Gerard Iribe
I love my French cinema and Cinema Libre Studio has brought Betty Blue to the Blu-ray format. I must warn you that this is the original 116 minute theatrical version and not the 185 minute director’s cut that played in a few art house theaters not that long ago which I missed. Hopefully people can get on the bandwagon and discover Betty Blue for the first time on Blu-ray since it does hit themes that many of us can relate to and others that we never will. The trailers have all made the film seem like a dark comedy, but there’s more to it than that. There is plenty of explicit sex to go around for those that are so inclined along with some intense drama. If you’re up to the adventure then keep reading. Continue reading ‘Betty Blue (Blu-ray Review)’
May 25th, 2011 by Aaron Neuwirth
Before I get to explaining (in more words than I have to) that if you laughed at the first film, then (minus the originality) you’ll probably enjoy this one, I want to list some of the alternate sequel titles that my friends and I came up with for The Hangover Part II: Hangovers, 2 Drunk 2 Hungover, Hangover 2: Hung Harder, and Hangover 2: Bangkok Dangerous. With that out of the way, let me just say that I really enjoyed the first Hangover. I built it up in my mind to be something amazing before it was released in the summer of 2009, and somehow the film delivered. Very funny, quotable, and rewatchable, not to mention quite cinematic and well made from a filmmaker’s standpoint. With this new film, I did not try to build it up as much. The first film seemed to come out of nowhere, but surprised audiences with an original premise as a mystery comedy of sorts, while I only expected more of the same from its sequel. Continue reading ‘‘Hangover’ New Moon: The Wolf Pack Is Back’
