300 [Blu-ray]

300: Inspiring Tale Magnificently Told
A more intense shot of testosterone you will not find in any film. Equal parts bravado, guts and glory, "300" is simply the most exciting film to come out this year - or in several. Criticized for its violence and gore, fans of Miller's graphic novels will find that violence and gore to be as beautifully depicted on the screen as in the print version. A highly hyped CGI affair the cast could easily have been overcome by the sheer impressiveness of the physical production. To his credit director Zack Snyder is blessed with and uses a cast every bit equal to the challenge of competing with Miller's dark fantastic take of the Spartan's greatest story.

Gerard Butler (Phantom of the Opera, Dear Frankie, etc.) adds yet another impressive and wildly different character to his arsenal of screen roles. As Leonidas, King of Sparta, Butler is, from his pigtail to his muscled, sandled feet, every inch a king; a true leader of men. His passion and intensity is matched by a splendid...
This is Sparta!
Frank Miller adaptations are on a roll. First we got "Sin City," and now we have the story of three hundred Spartans who repelled a massive invasion.

And the adaptation of "300" is a stunning one -- literally stunning, since it bombards the viewer with larger-than-life characters, smashing visuals and tight direction. It goes a bit too fast for its own good, but it's a truly epic film that takes the historical war movie to another level -- all the more so because it actually happened.

As the introduction tells us, the Spartans were the ultimate warrior people. Babies were inspected for weakness or faults, and killed if they had any; as they were growing up, they were taught and toughened by a savage regimen. Their only true hope was to "die beautifully" for their land.

A Persian messenger arrives, telling King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) that the god-king Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) wants the Spartans to bow to him. Leonidas' response: shove the Persians...
"Give them nothing but take from them...everything!"
As a guy, if this film doesn't get your blood churning and your testosterone pumped up to a deliriously critical level, well, you're either dead inside or you're a Tibetan monk with complete mastery over your cardiovascular and hormonal systems. 300 is a man's man's man's flick and is a muscular love poem which celebrates the ideals of honor, courage, sacrifice, and standing up for your beliefs. Righteous stuff.

Not being much of a history buff, the only famous last stands I can instantly come up with are the Battles of the Alamo, of the Little Big Horn, and of Thermopylae (I guess I could also throw in Game 7 between the Lakers and the Blazers, 2000). Of these, the legendary Battle of Thermopylae is the most dramatic and is the mother of all last stands. I first heard about the Battle of Thermopylae (480BC) and the 300 Spartans way back when I was in high school, and I thought it a nifty story from the very first. A few years ago, I read Frank Miller's graphic novel 300...
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Akira [Blu-ray/DVD Combo]

AKIRA on Blu-ray is the first film (animated or live) to be featured in 192kHz audio! Don't throw away your DVD's just yet!
"AKIRA", the 1988 anime film that became the masterpiece of mangaka and director Katsuhiro Otomo.

My first viewing of "AKIRA" was back in 1993. I have to be truthful, it was one of those films that I had to watch several times because I felt I was missing something integral. Each time I watched the film, there was always something new that I picked up and for anyone who has seen this animated film, just how much was put into the animation, the detail for an animated film.

In 1988, Disney had "Oliver & Friends" and being touted as the first animation to utilize hand drawn art and computerized graphics and as the film incorporated some darkness that may scare the kiddies, in Japan, "AKIRA" was a film that would set records in the Summer and eventually get a limited release in theaters.

The film would surprise and shock people because this was not a children's animation, this was geared for adults. And did it look awesome at that time!

Flash...
Akira
Akira is one of those movies that you never forget. The images are extremely powerful and graphic, so that they stick with you long after the movie is over. Despite its sometimes-confusing plot line, this movie is a wonderfully written, chilling look into the future, and into humanity as a whole. The movie more or less centers around a teenage biker gang in Neo-Tokyo, thirty-years after World War III. The main characters, Kaneda and Tetsuo, are two childhood friends who are constantly in competition with each other (Tetsuo being the weaker, taunted one.) Regardless, Tetsuo still looks up to Kaneda. As the introduction moves out of the chase scene, an interesting encounter with an odd looking child (who awakens the physic abilities lying dormant within Tetsuo's mind) truly begins the movie.

The animation quality in this movie is almost enough of a reason to buy it. The detail is incredible, umparalled even by Disney?s standards. No one background or setting is used twice, and the...
Everything Falls Down
Akira is most frequently designated as one of the seminal anime films, like 'Ghost in the Shell,' which have done much to define the potential of the Japanese genre. By the making of this film, 'Akira' was already as very popular manga (by Katsuhiro Otomo). Its theme is one that recurs frequently in anime, the good and the bad of human 'evolution.'

Neo Tokyo is Tokyo reborn on the ashes of the devastation of the next world war. Set in 2019, the city is already large, crowded, and apparently thriving. Yet, as you look at the details of this superbly animated film, it becomes obvious that something is seriously wrong. Discontent has fueled a rising level of social violent, motorcycle gangs make war on the streets, and if one listens carefully, one hears rumors about 'Akira, a savior who wields tremendous powers.

Kanada and Tetsuo are bike gangers, friends since childhood. When a conflict with the clown gang turns ultra-rough, Tetsuo is injured, just as the appearance of a...
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Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea [Blu-ray]

60's Sci Fi at its best
Sure, the science is implausible. But this film employs enough plot devises and not-half-bad special effects to make it a real party flick. The two real treats in the film: (1)An aging but always fascinating to watch Peter Lorre, chain-smoking his way through some pretty dumb lines, and (2) Barbara Eden in a skin-tight naval "uniform," as the admiral's personal assistant, jiggling about the submarine, and even going topside, in 6-inch spike high heels. What fun!
Thrilling 1960's Sci Fi Drama That Spawned The Series
Viewing Irwin Allen's sci fi drama "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", recently after many years was like going back in time to the days when I would race home from school to see the next exciting episode of the popular series that this film spun off into. Viewed critically by viewers nowadays for the simple special effects and often absurd science on display, I see it rather as simply a very enjoyable 100 minutes of good old fashioned science fiction which for the time was very state of the art. Remarkably the film still holds up well for the most part with the great Seaview atomic submarine and the still quite frightening effects of the sky being on fire and melting the Polar Caps, being the real standouts in terms of special effects technology. For a film of this type it has a quite memorable cast in acting veterans Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine, Peter Lorre, and Henry Daniell combining very well with such "younger generation" performers as Frankie Avalon, Barbara Eden and Michael...
A Green-Washed Seaview
I can just imagine the marketing department at Fox scouring its archives for products it can tie in with today's environmental concerns. The "Global Warming" edition of the Voyage movie is a rather obvious repackaging of an old product with a glitzy extra or two, but the association with climate change is a stretch. In the movie, the sky catches fire and Earth's temperatures rise dramatically. Global warming, indeed.

I was happy to see the movie released with extras such as an isolated music track, commentary, and production gallery, but disappointed with the quality of each of the features. The music track is well recorded, but unlike the special edition of "Fantastic Voyage," there's no dialog to fill the passages which have no music. Long stretches of silence are the result.

With the commentary playing, I found myself groaning every time Voyage "expert" Tim Colliver launched into another of his glib ad-libs, which were riddled with obvious grammatical errors...
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Slap Shot (Blu-ray + Digital Copy + UltraViolet)

Fantastic, Funny, a CLASSIC for ANY Hockey Fan
Slap Shot is a great hockey comedy. It's a hilarious, vulgar, completely wild joyride through the trials of a failing 70's steelmill-town based, utterly amateur hockey team. Failing, that is, until their players resort to pure violence in an attempt to keep their franchise alive.

Paul Newman plays the womanizing player/coach who, after a series of embarassing losses (including one to a visitng team's center who's flat drunk) needs to work with a 3 brother gang of misfits, who all look alike and have an incredibly aggressive style of playing.

Chaos insues when Newman's character decides to finally play these "goons" with his other teammates, and he watches as the fan base increases when they proceed to physically demolish - without any love for the game - the opposing teammates in an series of hysterical scenes that combine the best in hockey photography with hilariously explicit dialouge and violence. The shot of the goon's nonchalanty skating past the...
Maybe the greatest sports movie ever
Ask hardcore hockey fans (the kind that are familiar with the Montreal Maroons or that understand that present-day hockey is virtually figure-skating compared to the seventies) what their favorite sports movie is, or ask hockey pros what their favorite sports movie is; probably more than half the time, you'll hear "Slap Shot". Some "serious" sports films suffer from self-importance or a lack of realism; try watching a good war documentary for actual life-and-death situations. Thankfully, "Slap Shot" doesn't take itself terribly seriously yet still manages to paint an accurate, believable picture.

Sure, the humor is rude and crude, but necessary to paint a somewhat accurate picture of `70's minor league hockey (surely these guys weren't discussing Plato or speaking in blue-blood accents). It may be offensive to uninitiated people (e.g. people who don't watch hockey or team sports in general), but the humor is oft-hilarious for hockey fans.

Paul Newman plays...
At last, the original version is saved
I have just received (and watched) the DVD version of "Slap Shot", and I thank the powers that be for restoring the original sound track to the movie. The generic music that was released on VHS took the heart out of the movie. With the restoration, and the excellent digital quality of the movie, my favorite film is complete. Now, a full 5 stars only because I can't give it 10.
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Zero Dark Thirty (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + UltraViolet Digital Copy)

"I'm not your friend. I'm not gonna help you. I'm going to break you. Any questions?"
ZERO DARK THIRTY REVIEW, by Jordan B. -- 5 / 5

"I'm not your friend. I'm not gonna help you. I'm going to break you. Any questions?"

The ten-year manhunt for the world's most wanted terrorist leader is a story we all followed and one whose ending will likely go down in history as one of the twenty-first century's most triumphant moments, both for America and for many others across the globe. With ZERO DARK THIRTY, director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriting partner Mark Boal have taken those ten years and condensed them into 157 very deliberate, riveting, and powerful minutes. Much like the manhunt itself, ZERO DARK THIRTY is a powerhouse, a thrilling and winding tale that requires patience but arrives with an ending worth waiting for.

September 11, 2001 was a Tuesday. ZERO DARK THIRTY begins with a bone-chilling opening sequence that brings us back to that dark day. Bigelow shows us nothing but black, and layers tens or perhaps hundreds of audio...
An honest telling of a harsh story
"I want to make something absolutely clear. If you thought there was some working group coming to the rescue well I want you to know that you're wrong. This is it. There is nobody else hidden away on some other floor. There is just us and we are failing." -CIA Officer

There's a reason Zero Dark Thirty was nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, the movie is just that good. It may not be a movie for all audiences. If you go see this movie expecting to see a movie that looks like a James Bond or Jason Bourne action extravaganza, you might find yourself sorely disappointed. Likewise it's not a Tom Clancy techno thriller. Zero Dark Thirty is an honest drama showing the CIA's decade long struggle to find the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.

The main character of the movie is CIA analyst named Maya (played by Jessica Chastain); no last name is given. Maya enters the hunt for Osama Bin Laden at an undisclosed CIA facility where captured terrorists are...
Riveting last hour makes for a must-see movie
I have read and heard so much about this movie in the last 3-4 months, including that fantastic trailer, that I literally couldn't wait to see it for myself. I saw it this past weekend here in Cincinnati.

"Zero Dark Thirty" (2012 release; 157 min.) brings the story of "the greatest man hunt in American history". As the movie opens we hear (but don't see) voices in distress as 9/11 is happening. The movie then moves to 2003, to a CIA "black site", where we get the first of a number of "enhanced interrogation scenes", including the infamous waterboarding techniques. We get to know Maya (played by Jessica Chastain), a young CIA operative who is tasked with trying to find Bin Laden. The years come and go, with very little progress. Then finally comes a breakthrough. Even though you know how it all ends, I don't want to give further plot details as it really woudl ruin your viewing experience.

Several comments: the last hour and 10 min. of the movie is nothing short...
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Dredd [3D Blu-ray/Blu-ray + Digital Copy + UltraViolet]

Best comic adaptation of 2012
First off, let me say that I am biased to this particular comic book character. I've been a fan since the late '80s and have wanted a film adaptation for a long time. I am not saying that I am pre-disposed to like this film. In fact, quite the contrary is true. I'm not only coming at this from the point of view of somebody who wants to see a good movie, but as somebody who will be judging this by its adherence to and respect for its source material.

I've been disappointed before. The Stallone version of the '90s failed this test on both counts. In fact, the only thing that movie got right was a few beautifully rendered hyper dense scenic shots of Mega City one. This film didn't have those shots. In fact, the scenic shots of the city didn't seem that dense at all...yeah there were tall building....but spaced far apart. It seemed almost like a quaint small city trying to be a big one at the edge of a dessert. That is...until we are taken inside the city...
DREDD IS BACK!!!
DREDD 3D

Excellent movie for the budget. The spirit of Dredd is here in spades. It is not perfect but bloody imaginative.

First the camera work is fantastic. This is really a film to see in 3D. Not because of fancy Hollywood CGI but because of brilliant artistic imagery.

MegaCity looks European in the visuals and vistas but maybe for Americans the vans and cars just look weird. So it works!

Pete Travis' direction is solid and Alex Garland's script is informed and funny. Would loved to have heard Dredd say "Drokk" just once!

Karl Urban is Dredd. He needs to be warmed too but he plays the part very well. Olivia Thirlby is also excellent as Anderson. Lena Headey is very convincing in her Motherly role.

I do hope this becomes a franchise. Dredd is as important as Bond. Show him some respect.

Brilliant!!!!!
Destined to become a cult classic! It's "Die Hard" meets "Robocop!"
It is an utter crime how this movie flopped at the box office. To be honest I had no idea what to expect when I entered the theater to see this movie. Initially i wanted to go see "Looper" but for some reason at the time I was in the mood for something less cerebral, so me and my buddy chose to see Dredd 3D after a class mate told me to check it out and that it was phenomenal. My God, I was completely blown away! I was so blown away that I went to see it again immediately the next day!

You can tell the director of this film really cared about the project. I felt his heart and soul within every composition and frame. Before this film I use to be anti-3D but after I saw this, it completely changed the game for me, yes even more than "avatar" did. This was the first time I felt that the only way to experience this film was in 3d. even though this film failed at the box office, i feel as if i was part of something special because i was one of the few who saw it in 3d at the...
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Django Unchained (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet)

If John Ford and Kinji Fukasaku had a baby....
I really liked Django Unchained, or as I like to call it: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence right through the eyeball and then the bullet continued through about 7 other torsos, shot out from a guy's belly button bringing a plume of intestines with it, ricocheted off someone's jugular vein, then snapped the cord holding up a chandelier causing said chandelier to plummet like a lead balloon, crushing the skulls of various evil varmints and polecats and then plunging into an occupied outhouse where the dynamite was also stored, causing the outhouse to explode in a crimson rain of blood, guts and offal.

But I guess all that wouldn't fit on the poster.

Django has everything you'd want in a movie, action, humor, suspense, drama, and even some romance, all washed down with gallons of blood. Did I mention some beautiful western vistas? it's got those too. And there are plenty of refernces to some of the geat westerns of the past, some of them only visual so pay...
Exactly what I wanted and expected from a Tarantino Western
Yes it's violent and bloody, and yes, the "n" word is used liberally throughout the movie, but it's a Tarantino film taking place in pre-Civil War South for pete's sake. What would you expect?
All three leading actors were amazing. Fox & Waltz were insanely good. Beautifly shot and a compelling story that I was never quite sure how all would be resolved (other than knowing a bunch a folks were gonna die).
In honor of Roger Ebert, I give it two thumbs up. R.I.P. Mr. Ebert.
A vision of history that only Tarantino can bring us...
As an avid fan of Quentin Tarantino, there's a level of quality that I expect from each film that he makes. I expect to connect with his characters, but not necessarily like any of them. I expect to see a film that satisfies the film geek in me. More than anything, I expect to see a film that entertains throughout the prerequisite bloated running time.

"Django Unchained" is nearly three hours long. But it never feels that long, it entertains and surprises every step along the way. When I first checked my watch, we were already two hours into the film. All of Tarantino's films are usually about this long. Tarantino has been having fun with fictionalizing historical periods lately. This started with 2009's "Inglourious Basterds", which was easily one of the best films of that year. My eighty-something year old grandmother, who lived through the time that the film depicted - World War II - said that if events actually happened as they did in that film, that we would be living...
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