Showing posts with label Warner Brothers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Warner Brothers. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Caddyshack [Blu-ray]


A welcome HD upgrade
A welcome HD upgrade to the classic comedy. I don't think I need to go into the plot for Caddyshack and as such I'll review the Blu-ray disc itself. The new Blu-ray has a good HD transfer, it's not the cleanest print but I don't think it's going to get any better. The sound has also been remastered to a DTS Master Audio 5.1 lossless track which is nice and expands the sound stage from the previous mono only offerings. Although strangely the original mono track is missing.

The extras are included are the Theatrical Trailer (480i) and "Caddyshack: The 19th Hole" (480i) is ported over from the previous 20th Anniversary DVD. But the real highlight is "Bio - Caddyshack: The Inside Story" (HD 1080i), this new documentary is very informative and goes for over 80mins.

Overall an HD excellent upgrade over the older 20th Anniversary DVD.
Caddyshack = Comedy Classic.....But we need more extras!
Hey, if you're reading this, you probably already know how hilarious Caddyshack is. I've gotta say I was disappointed when I purchased the 20th Anniversary DVD and it was the same thing as the 19th Anniversary VHS! I've never had the pleasure of seeing the TV version of this film, which from what I've read on other posts, has a lot of deleted footage. Why wasn't this footage included in the 20th DVD? In the trailer alone there's a bunch of scenes that aren't included in the film. How about including them? The bottom line is, while the film is great, we're starving for ALL the extra footage! I feel like I'm Spaulding and Warner Brothers is Judge Smails. "I want a hamburger, no...a cheeseburger, I want a hot dog, I want potato chips" -- "You'll get nothing and like it!" Give us more!
One of the Funniest Comedies of All Time!
Y'know, I get rather disgusted when I read reviews of movies like Caddyshack which describe it as "no-brainer" and "low-brow" (see the Amazon.com review, for example). The fact is that many so-called critics really don't have a clue when it comes to comedy movies of this type. Disrespect and irreverence for the establishment has been a staple of comedy movies for years. Are the only good comedies the light-hearted drivel that the likes of Grant and Hepburn made in the 30's? Of course not!

Caddyshack features fine performances from Bill Murray, Rodney Dangerfield, Chevy Chase, Ted Knight, and of course, the gopher. This motion picture is replete with sight gags and one-liners that to this day are repeated by afficianados of clever satire.

You don't have to be a lowbrow to like this movie, and just because you think it's funny doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. Caddyshack and Animal House withstand the test of time as two of the...
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Monday, November 25, 2013

Batman: Under the Red Hood [Blu-ray]


Best DCU animated movie yet!
I've liked most of the DC's recent forays into animation on varying levels, but none of them really hit the mark for me. The scripts in those other titles just weren't good enough and brought the entire production down. Many of them had excellent voice actors and animation, but that couldn't save a poor script.

Batman: Under the Red Hood is different.

Managing to cram five different arcs from the comics into a movie just under 90 minutes is impressive. Managing to do that and keep the entire thing remarkably faithful and have it turn out well is on another level.

The movie starts off with the final moments of the comic arc 'Death in the Family' featured in Batman #426-429, where the Joker sadistically kills Jason Todd aka the second Robin. This scene isn't extremely graphic and most of the violence is kept off screen, but as other reviewers have warned please take the PG-13 rating seriously. From there the story jumps forward five years and compresses...
Dark, violent, and action packed!!!
I was prepared to dislike the new DC direct-to-dvd animated film, Batman: Under the Red Hood. I've been annoyed with these animated films for a number of reasons, some admittedly nitpicky and petty, but annoyances just the same. However, after watching a review copy I was quite pleased with the way it worked out! Having read the original story arc in the comics, I wondered how they were going to take such a complex tale, one that draws on various Batman stories going as far back as 1951, and roll it all up into a neat little self-contained package lasting under an hour and 20 minutes (short running time--another gripe of mine). The answer is, quite deftly!

The story has to do with the Batman's greatest failure, the sadistic, violent death of the second Robin, Jason Todd, at the hands of the Joker, who began his career as a masked criminal known as the Red Hood, which is established in short, succinct flashbacks. The story begins five years after the death of Jason Todd...
VERY GOOD...RED HOOD RULES
Just watched it today, I had to comment about it. People always complain about the voice actors...the cast did great..Batman, Nightwing, RED HOOD..they all sounded great.I'm not going to comment on Joker's voice, instead I will praise his animation...Joker looked GREAT. The movie is much adult oriented this time, ..good. I can't recommend it enough..great moments, shocking and touching at the same time. the final battle, the final scene..the intro music, which is the same played at the end could be used for a live action movie. I want to see more of the guy behind the red hood...

SPOILER ALERT; Remember what Joker does with a pencil in THE DARK KNIGHT?...watch this movie and see what he does..with a glass..and be surprised like I was.....ENJOY IT for what it is, a dark, violent, good BATMAN story.
I would love to see the Killing joke....
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Sunday, October 6, 2013

Pacific Rim (Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + UltraViolet Combo Pack)


A fantastic adventure with Del Toro's great polish throughout
Pacific Rim got hammered pretty hard by a lot of confused critics who apparently only know Guillermo del Toro from his more artistic magical realism work and somehow missed Hellboy, Mimic, and Blade 2. Pacific Rim belongs solidly to the latter camp, but it's a labor of love and is missing none of the flair that makes del Toro films so special. At its core it is essentially a Western Super Sentai film; heroes suit up in giant robots to battle monsters that are invading our dimension... And that's it. You can foist all sorts of allegory onto this movie if you want, and you can plumb it for deeper meaning- it's rich enough- but at the end of the day it's a thrilling adventure about friendship, big robots, and monster punching. Wet blankets need not apply.

Short summary: a portal to an alien world opens under the ocean and giant monsters come out. The governments of the world team up to battle them, eventually doing so with Jaegers, huge robots piloted by two psychically linked...
Non-spoiler - Big Robots vs. Big Monsters = BIG FUN!
If you ever watched a Godzilla movie, or any other giant monster movie, and wanted to see what it might look like with today's special effects, grab your popcorn and check out Guillermo del Toro's "Pacific Rim."

In the near future, Earth faces invasion from giant monsters (Kaiju), who emerge from the ocean and wreak havoc on coastal cities. The humans create giant robot Jaegers to fight them. For a while this works, but the monsters grow stronger and once again overwhelm the humans. Pacific Rim follows a former robot jockey who is called back to duty as the human defenses dwindle.....

I've looked forward to this movie for a long time, as I loved the giant monster movies of my youth. This didn't disappoint. Interesting and intimidating Kaiju, unique and powerful Jaegers, well choreographed fight scenes, and awesome special effects combine to make this a fantastic summer movie. There were several scenes which had the audience cheering and applauding...
What Bayformers could have been
I'll say up front, though it bears little resemblance to the monster sized dump that is Michael Bay's "Transformers" trilogy-Pacific Rim is the type of movie Bayformers should have been. What I mean by that-is that unlike those hell spawned abominations-Pacific Rim delivers giant robots that awe and inspire instead of ones that pee on people and dangle metallic testicles. Also unlike Bayformers you will not be forced to witness any dog humping or have to groan through lame "jokes" about red mugs in yellow rooms. (No 45 minute long who-gives-a-crap job interview scenes in here either)

Thankfully-Pacific Rim does not take an uber-cool property and twist it, turn it and crush it beyond recognition into some overly long, lame one-note joke of a film. Instead, it's completely earnest and non cynical in its delivery. I've been a fan of Guillermo Del Toro since Pan's Labyrinth (a BRILLIANT adult fairy tale) and have gone back and watched his other films to discover what a...
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