Posts Tagged: 2009

Blu-Ray Movies — No Comments
6
Jun 10

Up in the Air [Blu-ray] (2009)

Up in the Air [Blu-ray]

Up in the Air transforms some painful subjects into smart, sly comedy–with just enough of the pain underneath to give it some weight. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) spends most of his days traveling around the country and firing people; he’s hired by bosses who don’t have the nerve to do their layoffs themselves. His life of constant flight suits him–he wants no attachments. But two things suddenly threaten his vacuum-sealed world: his company decides to do layoffs via video conference so they don’t have to pay for travel, and Bingham meets a woman named Alex (Vera Farmiga, The Departed), who seems to be the female version of him… and of course, he starts to fall in love. Writer-director Jason Reitman is building a caree (more…)

Blu-Ray Movies — No Comments
19
May 10

Ninja Assassin [Blu-ray] (2009)

Ninja Assassin [Blu-ray]

The entertaining, adrenaline-packed Ninja Assassin wastes no time cutting quite literally to the guts and gore of the mysterious world of ninja warriors–the blood flows as freely as champagne on New Year’s Eve. Only 3-D might have made it even better. Taken from the streets as a child, the orphan Raizo (Korean pop artist Rain, in his first leading role) is molded into a deadly assassin through methods that might make even the strong of stomach wince. The story flows from present-day Berlin to Raizo’s brutal training by the Ozunu, one of the mythical Nine Clans that perform political assassinations around the world. Refusal to follow an order by the clan leader forces Raizo into a life on the run. When Mika (Naomie Harris), (more…)

Blu-Ray Movies — No Comments
17
May 10

Up (Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + BD Live) [Blu-ray] (2009)

Up (Four-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo + BD Live) [Blu-ray]

At a time when too many animated films consist of anthropomorphized animals cracking sitcom one-liners and flatulence jokes, the warmth, originality, humor, and unflagging imagination of Up feel as welcome as rain in a desert. Carl Fredericksen (voice by Ed Asner) ranks among the most unlikely heroes in recent animation history. A 78- year-old curmudgeon, he enjoyed his modest life as a balloon seller because he shared it with his adventurous wife Ellie (Ellie Docter). But she died, leaving him with memories and the awareness that they never made their dream journey to Paradise Falls in South America. When well-meaning officials consign Carl to Shady Oaks Retirement Home, he rigs thousands of helium balloons to his house an (more…)

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21
Apr 10

The Hurt Locker [Blu-ray] (2009)

The Hurt Locker [Blu-ray]

The making of honest action movies has become so rare that Kathryn Bigelow’s magnificent The Hurt Locker was shown mostly in art cinemas rather than multiplexes. That’s fine; the picture is a work of art. But it also delivers more kinetic excitement, more breath-bating suspense, more putting-you-right-there in the danger zone than all the brain-dead, visually incoherent wrecking derbies hogging mall screens. Partly it’s a matter of subject. The movie focuses on an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, the guys whose more or less daily job is to disarm the homemade bombs that have accounted for most U.S. casualties in Iraq. But even more, the film’s extraordinary tension derives from the precision and intelligence of Bigelow’s d (more…)

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1
Apr 10

Where the Wild Things Are [Blu-ray] (2009)

Where the Wild Things Are [Blu-ray]

Through his handcrafted ode to the trials of childhood, Spike Jonze puts his own unique imprint on Maurice Sendak’s enduring classic. In the prologue, 9-year-old Max (Max Records) stomps around the house, feeling neglected. When his mom (Catherine Keener) sends him to bed without supper, Max runs away (something he doesn’t do in the book). He finds a boat and sails to a distant land where fuzzy monsters are raising a rumpus in the forest. Since his wolf suit allows him to fit right in, he joins the fray, catching the eye of Carol (James Gandolfini, excellent), who notes, approvingly, “I like the way you destroy stuff. There’s a spark to your work that can’t be taught.” With that, they pronounce the diminutive creature king, (more…)

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26
Feb 10

Sherlock Holmes [Blu-ray] (2009)

Sherlock Holmes [Blu-ray]

Guy Ritchie (Snatch, RocknRolla) attempts to reinvent one of the world’s most iconic literary figures as an action hero in this brawny, visually arresting period adventure. Robert Downey Jr. is an intriguing choice for the Great Detective, and if he occasionally murmurs his lines a pitch or two out of hearing range, his trademark bristling energy and off-kilter humor do much to sell Ritchie’s notion of Holmes. Jude Law is equally well-equipped as a more active Dr. Watson–he’s closer to Robert Duvall’s vigorous portrayal in The Seven Per-Cent Solution than to Nigel Bruce–and together, they make for an engaging team. Too bad the plot they’re thrust into is such a mess–a bustling and disorganized flurry of martial arts, bla (more…)

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24
Feb 10

Red Cliff International Version – Part I & Part II [Blu-ray] (2009)

Red Cliff International Version - Part I & Part II [Blu-ray]

Amazon.com

Director John Woo’s Red Cliff boasts some mighty impressive numbers. It took four screenwriters to adapt the 800,000-word source material, a 14th-century Chinese novel called Romance of the Three Kingdoms. There are also three editors, two directors of photography, hundreds of horses, and a combined cast and crew numbering in the thousands, making it reportedly the most expensive movie ever made in China. There are quite a few minutes, too, as it has a running time of 2 hours 28 minutes. That’s only about half the length of the cut released in Asia, a fact that has led some critics to dismiss the American release as merely a bowdlerized version of the real deal. That may be, but this depiction of the titular battl (more…)

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24
Feb 10

The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Blu-ray] (2009)

The Twilight Saga: New Moon [Blu-ray]

New Moon, the second in Stephenie Meyer’s blockbuster teen-fiction saga adapted for film, is stronger than its predecessor, Twilight. Director Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass), taking the helm from Catherine Hardwicke, brings a lighter, more assured touch to the sequel, which continues the star-crossed love story of mortal Bella (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson). Incidentally, Edward is absent for most of the film; after an accident on Bella’s birthday reminds Edward that her life is always at risk when he’s around, he chooses to abandon her, sending her into a deep depression. The only person who helps her heal her broken heart is her friend Jacob (Taylor Lautner), a member of the Quileute tribe who, (more…)

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17
Feb 10

The Princess and The Frog (Three Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo with Digital Copy) (2009)

The Princess and The Frog (Three Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo with Digital Copy)

Amazon.com

After the visual bombast of many contemporary CG and motion-capture features, the drawn characters in The Princess and the Frog, the Walt Disney Studio’s eagerly awaited return to traditional animation, feel doubly welcome. Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin), The Princess and the Frog moves the classic fairy tale to a snazzy version of 1920s New Orleans. Tiana (voice by Anika Noni Rose), the first African-American Disney heroine, is not a princess, but a young woman who hopes to fulfill her father’s dream of opening a restaurant to serve food that will bring together people from all walks of life. Tiana may wish upon a star, but she believes that hard work is the way to fulfill (more…)

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12
Feb 10

Michael Jackson: This Is It [Blu-ray] (2009)

Michael Jackson: This Is It [Blu-ray]

Amazon.com

It’s hard not to watch This Is It without feeling a mixture of sorrow and elation. When he passed away in the summer of 2009, Michael Jackson was in the midst of rehearsals for his final tour, an ambitious 50-date engagement. In editing 120 hours of rehearsal footage together, Jackson producer Kenny Ortega proves that it would’ve been an event for the ages. Michael performs material that spans his career, from a Motown medley to multi-platinum hits from Off the Wall, Thriller, and Bad. Though he hadn’t toured in 10 years, it becomes instantly apparent, despite rumors to the contrary, that Jackson was still in full possession of that unmistakable voice–high-pitched whoops and all–and that he still had the gravity (more…)

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