New Blu-ray Reviews
Home- January 28, 2012
Fairy Tail: Part 3 Blu-ray Movie
Blu-ray + DVD
FUNimation Entertainment | 2010 | 293 min | Rated TV-14 | Jan 31, 2012 | Jeffrey Kauffman
Across the Fiore kingdom, wizards join guilds and make their pay by filling magical needs—but one guild has a reputation as the roughest, rowdiest, most dangerous of all: Fairy Tail! The guild-on-guild mayhem continues as Fairy Tail struggles to fend off Phantom Lord—whose Element 4 must be defeated in order to disable a massive magic cannon aimed at guild headquarters! With a never surrender attitude, Natsu and his friends push their powers to the limit to protect Lucy and save Magnolia from total annihilation! Then, Erza’s tortured past returns to haunt her when estranged friends ambush a well-deserved vacation. Her team tracks them down to a looming tower where a possessed wizard close to Erza’s heart puts them in a sinister game of life or death!
Action / Adventure / Anime / Comedy / Fantasy / Comic book / Foreign
The Adventures of Mark Twain Blu-ray Movie
Eureka Entertainment | 1986 | 86 min | Rated BBFC: U | Oct 31, 2011 | Kenneth Brown
Based on elements from the stories of Mark Twain, this feature-length Claymation fantasy follows the adventures of Tom Sawyer, Becky Thatcher and Huck Finn as they stowaway aboard the interplanetary balloon of Mark Twain. Twain, disgusted with the human race, is intent upon finding Halley's Comet and crashing into it, achieving his "destiny." It's up to Tom, Becky, and Huck to convince him that his judgment is wrong and that he still has much to offer humanity that might make a difference. Their efforts aren't just charitable; if they fail, they will share Twain's fate. Along the way, they use a magical time portal to get a detailed overview of the Twain philosophy, observing the "historical" events that inspired his works.
Adventure / Animation / Family
- January 27, 2012
The Apartment Blu-ray Movie
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 1960 | 125 min | Not rated | Jan 24, 2012 | Casey Broadwater
Bud Baxter is a struggling clerk in a huge New York insurance company. He's discovered a quick way to climb the corporate ladder—by lending out his apartment to the executives as a place to take their mistresses. He often has to deal with the aftermath of their visits, and one night, he's left with a major problem to solve.
Comedy / Drama / Romance
The Last Lions Blu-ray Movie
Virgil Films & Entertainment | 2011 | 88 min | Rated PG | Jan 03, 2012 | Jeffrey Kauffman
Fifty years ago there were close to half-a-million lions in Africa. Today there are around 20,000. To make matters worse, lions, unlike elephants, which are far more numerous, have virtually no protection under government mandate or through international accords. This is the jumping-off point for a disturbing, well-researched and beautifully made cri de coeur from husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert, award-winning filmmakers from Botswana who have been Explorers-in-Residence at National Geographic for more than four years. Pointing to poaching as a primary threat while noting the lion's pride of place on the list for eco-tourists-an industry that brings in 200 billion dollars per year worldwide-the Jouberts build a solid case for both the moral duty we have to protect lions (as well as other threatened "big cats," tigers among them) and the economic sense such protection would make..
Documentary / Family
Poirot: Series 1 Blu-ray Movie
Acorn Media | 1989 | 519 min | Not rated | Jan 31, 2012 | Michael Reuben
Agatha Christie's brilliant Belgian detective is on the case in the first series of this television adaptation, which aired on ITV in the U.K. and PBS in the U.S. The setting is 1930s Europe and the glittering Art Deco era, where Christie's dapper sleuth solves the thorniest of cases with his formidable intellect.
Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller / Period
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas Blu-ray Movie
Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + UV Digital Copy
Warner Bros. | 2011 | 1 Movie, 2 Cuts | 90 min | Rated R | Feb 07, 2012 | Kenneth Brown
Six years have elapsed since Guantanamo Bay, leaving Harold and Kumar estranged from one another with very different families, friends and lives. But when Kumar arrives on Harold's doorstep during the holiday season with a mysterious package in hand, he inadvertently burns down Harold's father-in-law's beloved Christmas tree. To fix the problem, Harold and Kumar embark on a mission through New York City to find the perfect Christmas tree, once again stumbling into trouble at every single turn.
Comedy / Dark humor / Holiday
Tiny Furniture Blu-ray Movie
Criterion | 2009-2010 | 2 Movies | 100 min | Not rated | Feb 14, 2012 | Dr. Svet Atanasov
A recent college grad returns home while she tries to figure out what to do with her life.
Comedy / Drama
- January 26, 2012
A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas Blu-ray Movie
Extended Cut | Extra Dope Edition / Blu-ray/DVD Combo + UV Digital Copy
Warner Bros. | 2011 | 1 Movie, 2 Cuts | 96 min | Rated R | Feb 07, 2012 | Kenneth Brown
Six years have elapsed since Guantanamo Bay, leaving Harold and Kumar estranged from one another with very different families, friends and lives. But when Kumar arrives on Harold's doorstep during the holiday season with a mysterious package in hand, he inadvertently burns down Harold's father-in-law's beloved Christmas tree. To fix the problem, Harold and Kumar embark on a mission through New York City to find the perfect Christmas tree, once again stumbling into trouble at every single turn.
Comedy / Dark humor / Holiday
The Dead Blu-ray Movie
Starz / Anchor Bay | 2010 | 105 min | Rated R | Feb 14, 2012 | Martin Liebman
Following at first the journey of Lt. Brian Murphy, wanting nothing more than to return home from a zombie outbreak stricken Africa, then Murphy and Sgt. Daniel Dembele, the latter trying to find his son, this is a quest film as much as horror, the journey as important as the grue.
Horror
Yakuza Weapon Blu-ray Movie
Gokudô heiki / Blu-ray + DVD
Well Go USA | 2011 | 105 min | Not rated | Feb 07, 2012 | Jeffrey Kauffman
Ex-yakuza Shozo Iwaki engages in a titanic battle of revenge against double-crossing Kurawaki, the man who killed his father. After a building-leveling skirmish, Shozo wakes up with an M61 Vulcan cannon in place of his right arm, and a rocket launcher where his left leg used to be. Shozo quickly learns to love his weaponized frame, and prepares for a bloody rematch with Kurawaki, who has some mechanical improvements of his own.
Action / Crime / Sci-Fi / Foreign
- January 25, 2012
Fascination Blu-ray Movie
Redemption | 1979 | 80 min | Unrated | Jan 24, 2012 | Casey Broadwater
This erotic horror film, set in 1905, tells the story of a thief who seeks refuge in a castle owned by two women, Eva and Elizabeth. The women are seductive and teasing, but turn out to be part of a vampiric cult of blood-drinking aristocrats.
Horror / Erotic / Foreign
Love Story Blu-ray Movie
Paramount Pictures | 1970 | 100 min | Rated PG | Feb 07, 2012 | Martin Liebman
Against his fathers wishes, upper-class Harvard student Oliver marries Jenny, a girl from a poor Italian family. After some struggle, Oliver finishes law school and the young couple are about to start a family when Jenny is found to be gravely ill.
Drama / Romance
Al Di Meola: Morocco Fantasia Blu-ray Movie
in-akustik | 2009 | 136 min | Not rated | Jan 24, 2012 | Jeffrey Kauffman
Virtuoso guitarist Al Di Meola performs live in Morocco with his group World Sinfonia.
Music
Shameless: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Movie
Blu-ray + UV Digital Copy
Warner Bros. | 2011 | 595 min | Rated TV-MA | Dec 27, 2011 | Kenneth Brown
Meet the fabulously dysfunctional Gallagher family. Dad's a drunk, Mom split long ago, eldest daughter Fiona tries to hold the family together. Eldest son Philip (Lip) trades his physics tutoring skills for sexual favors from neighborhood girls. Middle son Ian is gay. Youngest daughter Debbie is stealing money from her UNICEF collection. Ten-year-old Carl is a budding sociopath and an arsonist, and toddler Liam is - well, he might actually be black, but nobody has a clue how.
Comedy / Drama / Dark humor
Adaptation. Blu-ray Movie
Image Entertainment | 2002 | 115 min | Rated R | Jan 31, 2012 | Michael Reuben
Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman is hired to adapt "The Orchid Thief," a nonfiction book by Susan Orlean about an eccentric orchid breeder, John Laroche, but he becomes completely blocked. Meanwhile, Charlie's happy-go-lucky twin brother, Donald, dashes off a potboiler thriller based on multiple personality disorder. As Charlie continues to struggle, we see Laroche and Orlean in flashbacks, but past and present converge, as Charlie "writes himself" into his screenplay, and he and Donald begin to collaborate.
Comedy / Drama / Dark humor / Surreal
The Moon in the Gutter Blu-ray Movie
La lune dans le caniveau
Cinema Libre Studios | 1983 | 130 min | Rated R | Dec 06, 2011 | Dr. Svet Atanasov
In Marseilles, a woman commits suicide after she is raped in an alley. Nightly, her brother Gerard broods at the scene hoping to catch the rapist. He lives with his lover Bella whom he neglects, an alcoholic brother who lurks about, and his father who's stayed drunk since the daughter's death, ignoring work and his own companion. At a seedy bar, Gerard meets a wealthy, nihilistic hedonist and his beautiful sister. Gerard flips for her and thinks she's his ticket out of the slum. Bella warns him otherwise and also, in jealousy, sets two thugs on him. Then Gerard thinks he's found his sister's rapist. These emotional crises force Gerard to choose what's most important.
Drama / Foreign
- January 24, 2012
The Phantom of the Opera at The Royal Albert Hall Blu-ray Movie
25th Anniversary
Universal Studios | 2011 | 160 min | Not rated | Feb 07, 2012 | Jeffrey Kauffman
Fully-staged, commemorative live performance of 'The Phantom of the Opera', the popular Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical based on the French novel 'Le Fantôme de l'Opéra', by Gaston Leroux. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Phantom of the Opera, three special performances were filmed at the Royal Albert Hall in London, the third of which was screened live worldwide on October 2nd, 2011. For the film's Home Video release, and for all subsequent releases, footage from all three performances was edited together.
Drama / Musical / Mystery / Romance / Thriller / Psychological thriller / Period
The Rum Diary Blu-ray Movie
Sony Pictures | 2011 | 120 min | Rated R | Feb 14, 2012 | Martin Liebman
Tiring of the noise and madness of New York and the crushing conventions of the late Eisenhower-era United States, journalist Paul Kemp travels to the U.S. pristine island of Puerto Rico to write for a local newspaper, The San Juan Star, run by downtrodden editor Lotterman. Adopting the rum-soaked life of the island, Paul soon becomes obsessed with Chenault, the wildly attractive Connecticut-born fiancé of Sanderson. Sanderson, a businessman involved in shady property development deals, is one of a growing number of U.S. entrepreneurs who are determined to convert Puerto Rico into a capitalist paradise in service of the wealthy.
Adventure / Drama
The Woman Blu-ray Movie
The Collective | 2011 | 101 min | Rated R | Jan 24, 2012 | Jeffrey Kauffman
When a successful country lawyer captures and attempts to "civilize" the last remaining member of a violent clan that has roamed the Northeast coast for decades, he puts the lives of his family in jeopardy.
Crime / Drama / Horror / Thriller
Lips of Blood Blu-ray Movie
Lèvres de sang
Redemption | 1975 | 88 min | Not rated | Jan 24, 2012 | Casey Broadwater
This erotic vampire film features a young man on a strange quest after recognizing a castle on a poster. He seems to remember the castle from his childhood and eventually finds it with the aid of a strange woman dressed in white. It turns out that his family has been keeping the secret of vampirism from him.
Horror / Mystery / Erotic / Surreal