DVD/Blu-ray Reviews

It might be circumstance that Five Deadly Venoms, a martial arts classic from Shaw Brothers Studio, gets released the same week that Kung Fu Panda 2 is released.  Chances are, it isn’t though.  Considering the huge amount of influence this film from 1978...

In the wake of the unheralded success of Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, many a fancy knockoff was produced for film and television.  The Allen Quartermain film series with Richard Chamberlain, Bring ‘Em Back Alive with Bruce Boxleitner ...

In spite of efforts to instill in our young women the notion that self-worth shouldn’t be measured by her ability to attract a husband, filmmakers continue to craft comedy from that very outmoded belief ...

What’s the measure of a man? The position he plays on the football team? How well he can hunt? The extreme to which he must be pushed before resorting to violence? While Rod Lurie’s Straw Dogs tackles ...

MPAA Rating: R for grisly afterviews of horrific and bizarre killings, and for strong language.
Director: David Fincher
Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker
Cast: Brad Pitt; Morgan Freeman; Gwyneth Paltrow
Genre: Crime | Drama | thriller
Memorable Movie Quote: "If you kill him, he wins."
Release Date: Septemeber 22, 1995
Blu-ray Release Date: September 14, 2010.

At a whopping 85 years of age and with not a single stand of visible gray hair, Wings, directed by William Wellman, is a marvel of the film industry.  Of course you know its history as the first Academy Award winner for Best Picture.  That was in 1927.  We all do ...

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some violence and a scene of sensuality.
Runtime: 122 mins.
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Writer: Melissa Rosenberg (screenplay); Stephenie Meyer (novel)
Cast: Kristen Stewart; Robert Pattinson; Billy Burke ... complete cast
Tagline: When you can live forever what do you live for?
Genre: Action | Horror
Memorable Quote: "What did you expect? Coffins and dungeons and moats? " ... more quotes
Release Date: November 21, 2008
DVD Release Date: March 17, 2009

Saving the best for the last, director Edgar Wright and star Simon Pegg nicely wrap up their “Cornetto” trilogy with The World’s End.  It is a movie that is refreshing and hilarious and – shockingly enough – full of heart.  If you thought Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz was ...

Rated: Rated PG-13 for some sex-related comments.
Runtime: 108 mins.
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Writer: Catherine Johnson
Cast: Amanda Seyfried; Stellan Skarsgard; Pierce Brosnan; Meryl Streep ... complete cast
Tagline: A mother. A daughter. Three possible fathers. Take a trip down the aisle you'll never forget.
Genre: Musical/Comedy
Memorable Quote: "Last time I saw your mother she said she never wanted to see me again." ... more quotes
Release Date: July 18, 2008
DVD Release Date: December 16, 2008

Rated: for thematic elements and some mild language.
Runtime: 97 mins.
Director: Joe Camp
Writer: Joe Camp
Cast: Chris Kendrick; Nick Whitaker; Christy Summerhays ....complete cast
Genre: Family/Drama
Tagline: Rules are Made to be Housebroken.
Memorable Quote: "Why do you stay with him? He doesn't love you"

A Fistful of Dollars / For a Few Dollars More / The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

MGM Home Video has made available on sparkling Blu-ray, a classic spaghetti western trilogy starring Clint Eastwood.

Il Buono, il brutto, il cattivo

MPAA Rating: Not rated by the MPAA
Runtime: 161 mins.
Director: Sergio Leone
Writer: Luciano Vincenzoni & Sergio Leone
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach
Tagline: They formed an alliance of hate to steal a fortune in dead man's gold.
Genre: Western
Memorable Quote: "Two hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money. We're gonna have to earn it. "
Release Date: December 29, 1967
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 11, 2010

Per un pugno di dollari

MPAA Rating: Not rated by the MPAA
Runtime: 99 mins.
Director: Sergio Leone
Writer: A. Bonzzoni & Víctor Andrés Catena
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Marianne Koch
Tagline: This short cigar belongs to a man with no name. This long gun belongs to a man with no name. This poncho belongs to a man with no name. He's going to trigger a whole new style in adventure.
Genre: Western
Memorable Quote: "When a man's got money in his pocket he begins to appreciate peace. "
Release Date: January 18, 1967
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 11, 2010

Per qualche dollaro in più

MPAA Rating: Not rated by the MPAA
Runtime: 132 mins.
Director: Sergio Leone
Writer: Sergio Leone and Fulvio Morsella
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef
Tagline: The man with no name is back... The man in black is waiting! As if one wasn't enough . . . as if death needed a double!.
Genre: Western
Memorable Quote: "No, old man. Thought I was having trouble with my adding. It's all right now."
Release Date: May 10, 1967
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: May 11, 2010

With Pacific Rim, Guillermo del Toro has turned in an almost perfect summer blockbuster.  It's been hyped to death and it might not live up to the hype - but it is a whole lot of fun.  And in a summer that has not been full of it at the box office, that surely counts ...