The formula for the classic romantic comedy consists of a few scenes that tell a heart felt story of love lost and then won again, intercut with hilarious circumstances that heighten the overall romance. For today's Blu-ray release of
No Strings Attached that producers would remove the romance from the romantic comedy and replace with lust. If they were trying to appeal to a more male audience, maybe it worked – the film grossed over $70M in domestic receipts. Whether or not its too male-centric, however, is left up to those ladies who pick up this film today.
Staff reviewer Martin Liebman commented for the
No Strings Attached Blu-ray review , "No Strings Attached is comfortable, predictable, and mindless. Movies need not always take a stab at solving problems or unearthing some deeper meaning in the plot; it would just be nice if one of these Romantic Comedies would one day look for a silver lining rather than simply frolicking around and trying to blend in with the crowd. Paramount's Blu-ray release of No Strings Attached features a sensational 1080p transfer, a genre-average lossless soundtrack, and a handful of extras."
On the other side of the romantic genre is the romantic genre, aptly filled by today's Blu-ray release of the Academy-award nominee
Blue Valentine. The film, which tracks the end of a marriage between Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams), is brutally honest and, as the title suggests, there is no happy ending here. Just a well made film that most likely missed due to its minimal theatrical run.
For the
Blue Valentine Blu-ray review, staff reviewer Martin Liebman concluded, "Here is a film that bucks cinema convention and does it with a unique structural style; engrossing, realistic performances; and a dousing of despair that opens the film and never lets up." He continues, "Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Blue Valentine yields a fairly good 1080p transfer that seems harmed only by the innate qualities of the source. The audio is fine for this style of movie and the supplements are few in number but fairly high in quality, revealing just how involved and painstakingly authentic this film is."
Another Academy-award nominee out on Blu-ray today, this time in the field of animation, is
The Illusionist. While not a winner, most would agree that getting a nomination is about as good as its going to get when you're up against Pixar. Animation nuts are sure to add this one to their shopping list today.
Staff reviewer Martin Liebman commented in his
The Illusionist Blu-ray review, "'Simplistically complex' is perhaps an apt descriptor of Director Sylvain Chomet's masterpiece. It's a film with a high replay value for its emotional and thematic resonance, and it seems it's the sort of movie where whatever one takes away from it is the proper interpretation." He continued, "Sony's Blu-ray release of The Illusionist features flawless video, wonderful audio, and a few supplements."