All Articles by Andre Dellamorte

IMMORTALS Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 29th, 2012 at 6:05 am

Tarsem Singh directed Immortals, which is readily apparent from the first few seconds. There are few directors working today with such a distinct visual style, and that can be commended – to some extent. What he doesn’t have is a good grasp on how to build a narrative, and so his films play better as an instillation pieces. His movies are filled with pretty images, but they don’t really build a greater narrative. With Immortals he’s got the story of the Greek gods, with humans Theseus (Henry Cavill) facing up against Hyperion (Mickey Rourke), while the gods (Luke Evans, Isabella Lucas, Kellan Lutz) watch and decide if they risk helping mortals. Our review of the Blu-ray of Immortals follows after the jump.

AMERICAN PIE Trilogy Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 27th, 2012 at 5:23 am

With the upcoming release of American Reunion, the first three American Pie films have been put to Blu-ray, all offering both theatrical and unrated cuts. The films follow Jim (Jason Biggs) and his best friends Oz (Chris Klein), Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas), Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) and Steve Stifler (Seann William Scott) as they quest to get laid. In the first film, Jim is just looking for sex, in the second he finds love, and in the third he gets married. Alyson Hannigan, Tara Reid, Jennifer Coolidge, Mena Survari, Shannon Elizabeth, January Jones, Natasha Lyonne, and Eugene Levy also star. And our review of the American Pie trilogy on Blu-ray follows after jump.

WIZARDS 35th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 26th, 2012 at 5:45 am

It’s easy to admire Ralph Bakshi.  He was one of the few animators working in the 1970’s and 80’s free from Walt Disney, free to make R-rated cartoons, and films that weren’t as kid-centric – he was a pioneer that had few followers (at least in America).  But often his films – like his version of Fritz the Cat – have moments of interest, but are often cheap and not that good or funny.  1977’s Wizards was his attempt to do commercial work. It was a PG fantasy film for 20^th Century Fox (as it came out in February, it is possible it was done to cash in on the success of Star Wars, but the timing is a little awkward) meant to be his entry into the mainstream world.  It worked; it led to his version of Lord of the Rings. But with the Blu-ray release of Wizards for its 35^th Anniversary, it’s a slap-shod fantasy fable with moments of interest, but is ultimately weak. Our review of the Blu-ray follows after the jump.

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 24th, 2012 at 5:51 am

When The Adventures of Tintin came to America, there was a sense that it was almost an obligatory release. Even though it came from director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson – and from writers Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish – Herge’s Tintin has long been an international phenomenon that never made much of an impression on Americans. The film did okay in a busy season, but it feels like that should be way more celebrated. Tintin is Spielberg doing Indiana Jones in a way he never could before, and in doing so makes Crystal Skull look that much worse. This is Spielberg – one of the finest action directors in cinema history – unbridled. This is Spielberg not having to worry about cranes, or stuntman’s lives, or even editing. And for that The Adventures of Tintin is massively entertaining. Starring Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Tintin is one of 2011’s most undervalued movies, and our review of the Blu-ray follows after the jump.

JOHNNY ENGLISH REBORN Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 23rd, 2012 at 5:34 am

Johnny English is solely an international phenomenon. The first Rowan Atkinson-starring vehicle made $28 Million stateside and its sequel made $8, but the first made $132 Million internationally and its sequel made $152 Million. Even if the third film goes straight to DVD stateside, it’s likely more is in order. In the second film, Atikson plays against Dominic West, Gillian Anderson and Rosamund Pike in another parody of the 007 legend. It’s all very good for Atkinson fans, but there’s thin gruel here for everyone else. Our review of Johnny English Reborn on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

THE TOWN Ultimate Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 22nd, 2012 at 6:05 am

Few career resurrections/resuscitations have been so pronounced as Ben Affleck’s. Post-Gigli and Surviving Christmas, there was a sense that Affleck was going to live in the shadow of his previous successes and showcase the career path that Matt Damon managed to avoid. But his turn to directing has enlivened his career, leading to better roles (or at least better chosen ones) and an earned respect for his behind-the-scenes talents.

In The Town, Affleck stars as a bank robber looking to get out, but is sucked into one last score. Though The Town isn’t quite as good as Gone Baby Gone, it shows that Affleck can handle action and suspense fairly well even while starring in the film. Co-starring Rebecca Hall, Jon Hamm, Blake Lively and Jeremy Renner, our review of The Town: Ultimate Collector’s Edition on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

THE MUPPETS Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 21st, 2012 at 11:26 am

There have been a number of generations now who’ve grown up under the sway of Jim Henson’s Muppets. Since their creation, it’s become virtually impossible for a non-Amish child to have missed seeing Kermit the Frog and company through their movies, toys, and Sesame Street. And for the Muppets big return to cinema in 2011’s The Muppets, they’ve pitched the film to play to everyone who’s ever loved these characters. It’s a smart movie that mines nostalgia, but never does so in stupid or cloying ways. The Muppets co-star with Jason Segel (who co-wrote the film with Nicholas Stoller), Amy Adams, Chris Cooper and Rashida Jones in a tale of getting the old group back together again to save the Muppet theater from an evil oil tycoon (Cooper). Our review of the Blu-ray of The Muppets follows after the jump.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 20th, 2012 at 9:20 am

Even though the trilogy had already been made into films (with many of those film’s cast members moving on to American roles), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was such an international phenomenon that the notion that people don’t like reading subtitles allowed for an American version. To make it into a big prestige project, director David Fincher and writer Steve Zaillian were brought in to adapt the successful novel for the big screen. Here Lisbeth Salander is played by Rooney Mara – who got an Oscar nomination for her work – and Mikael Blomkvist is played by Daniel Craig. Their characters investigate the Vanger family at the insistence of Henrik (Christopher Plummer), because he thinks someone in the family killed his niece. Our review of the Blu-ray of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo follows after the jump.

J. EDGAR Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 19th, 2012 at 5:17 am

Clint Eastwood has morphed from being an action director and a man’s man to the leading purveyor of Oscar bait. It seems now that every year Eastwood has a new film that designed to provoke the Academy voters into rewarding him yet again. And for 2011’s J. Edgar, he assembled an Oscar super group. Working with Brian Grazer as his producer, Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black as his writer, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer and Judi Dench, you’ve got an all-star team that screams Oscar gold. They assembled to make a bio-pic of J. Edgar Hoover, but created one of Eastwood’s worst films. Our review of the Blu-ray of J. Edgar follows after the jump.

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 17th, 2012 at 6:00 am

Martha Marcy May Marelene is the ultimate Sundance movie (not an insult). It offers a breakout performance by a new performer (here Elizabeth Olsen) familiar character actor faces from the supporting cast (Sarah Paulson, John Hawkes), and a strong directorial tone and style from first timer Sean Durkin. It’s also a small movie – but not in a bad way – that tells of how a woman survived the cult she was in, and how she tries to adjust to the outside world. Our review of Martha Marcy May Marlene on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

JACK AND JILL Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 16th, 2012 at 6:00 am

Adam Sandler had a moment there where he seemed to have found what made him a great funnyman and showed that he had acting chops. And though he’d been great before, that moment was around 2008 and 2009 when he made You Don’t Mess With the Zohan and Funny People, but since then he seems to have regressed. After Funny People didn’t work, he’s now making the movies he made fun of in Funny People. Sandler churns out a movie or two a year with his crew of regulars (which includes director Dennis Dugan, Allen Covert, Nick Swarsdon, Jonathan Loughran, Peter Dante and a peppering of his old SNL chums), and in Jack and Jill all the familiar faces show up while Sandler plays twins – with one of the twins being a girl! Cross-dressing is an old comic trope, but Sandler and company do little with it. The film’s saving grace is Al Pacino playing himself. Our review of Jack and Jill on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

YOUNG ADULT Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 15th, 2012 at 6:00 am

Even though Jason Reitman is the director of Young Adult, and Charlize Theron, Patrick Wilson and Patton Oswalt are the leads, writer Diablo Cody comes across as the star and auteur of the film. She wrote Juno – which won her an Oscar and was a huge success – helped create The United States of Tara, and wrote Jennifer’s Body. As to be expected with any success from a larger than life female artist, the backlash was severe and cruel. In many ways Cody is commenting on her haters in Young Adult, a pitch black comedy about a ghost writer (Theron) who goes back to her hometown in the hopes of wrecking a marriage. Our review of the film on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

FOOTLOOSE Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 14th, 2012 at 12:00 pm

The original Footloose is a charming relic from the 1980’s. Not a great film, it has the premise that there is a town where dancing is outlawed (based on a slightly true story). It’s a narrative hook that wouldn’t be out of place in a Mickey Rooney film, but is a good (safe) way to give teen rebels a cause. Craig Brewer – director of Hustle and Flow and Black Snake Moan – was chosen to direct the remake, and it’s a pleasant surprise to find out that he loved the original. So much so that his remake takes much from the original and updates it only slightly. As such it’s a fairly straight ahead remake; there aren’t too many narrative changes, but his work adds modest improvements across the board. Kenny Wormald, Julianne Hough and Dennis Quaid star in the film, and our review of Footloose on Blu-ray follows after the jump.

GAME OF THRONES Season One DVD Review

Posted: March 7th, 2012 at 6:58 am

HBO’s Game of Thrones comes at an interesting time in geekdom, and its success speaks to the barriers that have been broken. Though fantasy and science fiction have often been popular cinematically, on television it’s been stuck in a Stargate-esque ghetto. But now we’ve got one of the most thoughtful shows currently on air on one of the most prestigious networks that also happens to be about dragons and swordplay. Perhaps the better arbiter of what crosses over to the mainstream and what doesn’t is quality, and Game of Thrones is definitely an engrossing show even for those who’ve never picked up a twenty sided die. Sean Bean, Lena Headey, Mark Addy and Peter Dinklage lead a mostly British cast in a tale about warring families in a fantastical middle age. Our review of Game of Thrones on DVD follows after the jump.

HUGO Blu-ray Review

Posted: March 5th, 2012 at 11:00 am

Martin Scorsese loves movies. You don’t even have to watch Scorsese’s films to know that he’s as movie mad as they come, it’s part of what defines him as a human being. Where Quentin Tarantino has made himself the king of cinema from 1970 on, Scorsese’s love seems to cover the entirety of cinema. And to enjoy Hugo, his love letter to early cinema, it probably helps to be a little movie mad yourself. Asa Butterfield, Ben Kingsley, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Sacha Baron Cohen star in Hugo, and our review of the Blu-ray follows after the jump.

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