Kelly's Heroes/Where Eagles Dare (Action Double Feature) [Blu-ray]

Clint Eastwood (Actor)

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This review is from: Kelly's Heroes/Where Eagles Dare (Action Double Feature) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

I bought this Blu-ray for Where Eagles Dare, and had hopes for an improvement over the DVD version, which was already pretty good. Sadly, during the transfer the brightness was turned down so low that much of the image is now lost in the shadows. For example, many scenes are now so dark that you can't see the actor's faces. In other cases, big items (like airplanes) are lost in the darkness of the mountain backgrounds. This was not a problem on the DVD version. It's especially regrettable since in the brighter scenes, the blu-ray does offer a sharp image. I can only wonder if the person doing the transfer actually looked at the results. (Note that another reviewer feels the brighter DVD image was a problem, and the darker blu-ray is more faithful to the original version shown in theaters 42 years ago. I saw it back then, but make no claims to remember the brigtness level in the theater on that day so long ago. Maybe others have a better ability to remember such things.)

UPDATE 6/18/10: A commenter suggested I try altering my LCD video settings. These settings work well for every other disc I own, plus OTA broadcast and streaming Netflix over Roku, but what the heck, I tried it. I had to choose a setting with very, very high contrast and backlight levels, but it made a real difference. The movie looked a lot better and the

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Toy Story (Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray/DVD Combo w/ Blu-ray Packaging) (1995)

Price: $19.99

Tim Allen (Actor), Tom Hanks (Actor)  

This review is from: Toy Story (10th Anniversary Edition) (DVD)

Cowboy doll Woody is Andy's favorite toy, and as part of that comes the privilege of being the leader of all the other toys. His world is suddenly turned upside down when Andy gets a Buzz Lightyear action figure for his birthday. Suddenly, Woody finds himself in danger of being replaced as Andy and all the toys flock to Buzz. Worse yet, Buzz doesn't know he's a toy. He thinks he's the real Buzz Lightyear. But when the two toys get lost a couple days before Andy moves, they'll have to work together to get home. Can Woody work with Buzz when they don't have the same goal?

I can't believe it's been ten years since this movie came out. It's had an immeasurable impact on the animation field and movies in general. At the same time, its flaws are evident. The humans look as plastic as the toys, and the fur on the dog is laughable. Computers have come a long way in ten years.

Whether this movie was any good or not, it would have been an important milestone. Fortunately, it succeeds on an entertainment level as well. The story is masterfully told revealing plot points and character equally. The movie is extremely funny as well; with lots of jokes for the adults in the audience and some classic lines I quote all the time. Plus it introduces us to a Pixar staple, the climax that will not quit.

Pixar has released great DVD's from the start, and this two-disc set is no different. The movie is transferred directly from the digital files, so the picture is perfect. Sound is wonderful in two separate 5.1 surround tracks. Many of these extras are from the Ultimate Toy Box release of a few years ago, and they are well worth having. The commentary is very informative. The deleted scenes are interesting, but it's obvious why they were deleted. The new features looking back at the movie from ten years later are wonderful as well.
   
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The Back-Up Plan (2010)

 Jennifer Lopez (Actor), Eric Christian Olsen(Actor), Alan Poul (Director)

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This review is from: The Back-Up Plan (DVD)

Part of the Jennifer Lopez Comeback Machine, the new film "The Back-Up Plan", tries to be a sweet-natured old-fashioned romantic comedy. But it isn't funny enough or interesting enough to provide anything other than a way to pass some time when it eventually begins its endless rotation on Basic Cable.

Zoe (Lopez) owns a small pet boutique in Manhattan. Desperate to have a child and unwilling to wait any longer for Mr. Right, she tries artificial insemination. The day this process "takes", she meets Stan (Alex O'Loughlin, the good looking star of two television flops "Moonlight" and "Three Rivers", he's good looking, but he can't act). Stan is a merchant at the local farmer's market, peddling the cheese he grows on his farm. Seriously. Stan is attracted to Zoe and wants to get to know her. For some reason, he initially puts her off, so it takes a while, but eventually, she relents and agrees to go on a date. Just as they start to get to know each other, Zoe tells him about the pregnancy. He decides to stick with her, helping her through the process. Hilarity ensues.

Yes, I know. Doesn't sound all that hilarious does it. And that is a large part of the problem with this romantic comedy. Directed by Alan Poul (one of the Executive Producers on HBO's "Six Feet Under" and TV's "Swingtown"), the film tries desperately to make some situations funny. And the desperation shows. When this happens, and it happens too much, the film becomes a tedious exercise.

There were a lot of wrong decisions made in the making of this film. Every time you want to escape into Stan's romantic antics (the first dinner he takes Zoe to is pretty special), the filmmakers almost seem to think they need a laugh and try to make something happen. When it does, it only serves to spoil the moment and worse, it doesn't make you laugh. When Zoe thinks she might have to face life as a single mom, she attends a Single Mom's group. The main joke here seems to be that everyone attending the group seems to be a lesbian couple. The leader very carefully enunciates each of the words in the acronym a few times. This moment seems to go on forever. And Zoe seems to stick with the group to avoid offending anyone. After Stan enters the picture, she gets roped into another meeting and brings Stan along. This scene goes on FOREVER and isn't nearly as funny as everyone involved with the film seems to think it is. Outtakes from this scene play during the credits and both Lopez and O'Loughlin are captured laughing hysterically.

The filmmakers also seem to want to make Lopez into a Caucasian woman. Is there anyone on the planet who doesn't know who Jennifer Lopez is? After spending years looking at her face plastered on the cover of just about every magazine, watching her music videos, seeing her perform on television, watching her movies, I would find it hard pressed to believe anyone wouldn't recognize her on sight. So why try and hide her ethnicity? Her grandmother is played by Linda Lavin (TV's "Alice) who is about as white as bread. And the filmmakers go to great lengths to hide Lopez's back-end. She is always carrying a big canvas bag that almost always conveniently hangs across her backside. Her clothes are designed to slim her down. They are trying to hide who she is. Will this make her a more respected actress? No, doing some good work will make her a more respected actress. And this film doesn't accomplish that.

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Wall-E (Two-Disc and BD Live) [Blu-ray] (2008)

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This review is from: Wall-E (Single-Disc Edition) (DVD)

I am floored. I didn't think it was possible for Pixar to surpass Toy Story, but it has. A sophisticated treat for adults and teens, a cuddly romance for the juice-box set, this comedic science fiction thriller romance (really!) takes the company to a new, more mature level. Filled with artistry, depth, meaning and a lot of humor, WALL-E is a masterpiece. Where Cars was a kid's movie with added adult themes, this is an adult movie with added value for children.

DIALOGUE SCHMIALOGUE

Before I saw WALL-E I had read about the lack of dialogue, and how it might be a risky move for Pixar to make a film with characters that don't talk in a traditional sense. Well, trash that. The most emotionally powerful scenes in this movie are those with the LEAST dialogue. Fully developed and indeed almost human, the two main characters are Wall-E himself (the letters stand for Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class; there's also a WALL-A) and EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), two machines in love.

After about a half hour I was wondering if Pixar could continue to pull off this less-is-more concept for the rest of the film -- then the two robots started playing Pong! Such imaginative screenplay carries the film to what should be a Best Picture nomination. Seriously.

A TOUCHING STORY

WALL-E is a lonely little robotic trash compactor who was left behind after Earth was abandoned some 700 years earlier. He has been methodically cleaning up the trash-ridden planet ever since, and harboring a tiny plant he has found among the garbage. Eve, meanwhile, lives on the immense spaceship Axiom, which is also home to the fat, blob-like remains of the human race. She is a probe robot that flies to Earth to determine if the planet is ready for habitation. WALL-E takes one look at the streamlined, angelic Eve and falls in love.


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Die Hard Collection (Die Hard/ Die Hard 2: Die Harder/ Die Hard with a Vengeance/ Live Free or Die Hard) [Blu-ray]

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This review is from: Die Hard Collection (Die Hard/ Die Hard 2: Die Harder/ Die Hard with a Vengeance/ Live Free or Die Hard) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

When I think Blu-ray, I expect high quality video and sound, otherwise there is no point to buying a blu-ray version of an already existing dvd.
The first two movies, Die Hard 1 & 2 from the 80's, look terrible visually. FOX did a horrible job in re-mastering these for blu-ray, or they did not re-master them at all. It is possible they used the regular dvd's and just up-converted them without remastering/restoring them digitally. Sound is decent. The third film, Die Hard with a Vengeance is more recent from the 90's, but it doesn't look great. The fourth film does look good and sounds great, but it would be more convenient to just purchase the fourth film as a blu-ray version and get the first three on regular DVD if you don't own them already. You would save a lot more money and you would be getting the same thing as this box set here. FOX definitely messed up with this whole set.