Writer/director (and former bartender) Troy Duffy became a cult hero when
The Boondock Saints was released, a film loved by fans for its intense action sequences, witty dialog, and an unforgettable performance by Willem Dafoe. Ten years later, Duffy released the sequel to his opus – which is out on Blu-ray today – to cheers from his devoted fans and jeers from many of the critics who were underwelmed by the story. Of course, if you were expecting a deep, thought-provoking story from
The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, you'd obviously never seen the original.
This is typically where I would summarize the plot of the release, but for this film, there is really no point. All you need to know is that two vengeful Irish brothers (known as "The Saints" to the adoring public) go around killing mobsters, drug pushers, and the like in the most entertaining ways possible. As long as you go into the film expecting that, you won't be disappointed.
For those of you who are familiar with the first film, there is nothing new here – that is to say, you should already know exactly what is going to happen before you even hit play. While not nearly as good as the original – the characters of Rocco and Smecker have been replaced with similar, but less engaging, characters – the film still is a lot of fun to watch.
Sony's Blu-ray presentation is also respectable; though don't expect the same level of detail and fidelity from this low budget film. Video can be distorted at times, and the audio mix is far from perfect, but for what it is, you couldn't expect any better. I'm sort of disappointed there weren't as many deleted scenes as the first title (my favorite being the phone call back to mom), but that might explain why the film felt a little long.
George Clooney's latest film
Up in the Air was a critical and box office success, though you'd likely never know it. After two weeks in limited released, it went wide the same weekend that Avatar hit theaters, a move to either attract female audience who refused to see the 3D megahit or to punish director Jason Reitman for some unknown slight. Regardless, the film pulled a very respectable $83M in domestic box office receipts, a feat the
Juno director is no doubt very pleased with.
In his
Blu-ray review of Up in the Air, staff reviewer Martin Liebman commented, "Up in the Air itself proves an audience-friendly experience, not only because of the presence of a superstar leading man but because of its uncanny ability at meshing pure entertainment with thought-provoking elements that don't interfere with the picture's purely magical, funny, touching, and well-crafted exterior." He continued, "Paramount's Blu-ray release is itself an achievement, the 1080p picture quality classy and classic, film-like and handsome, while the lossless soundtrack is rather pedestrian by nature but nevertheless rich and satisfying in presentation."
For a complete listing of all the Blu-ray titles released today,
click here.