blu-ray reviews

Movies about ripping off casinos or working the systems they use has been a source of a myriad of films, most recently the Oceans series. With that trilogy effectively “wrapped” for now (until someone decides otherwise), what better time than now to adapt the true story of MIT students counting cards in Las Vegas and raking in more cash than they could ever hope? While the critical reception was low, 21 managed to make its budget over four times when worldwide box office intake is taken into account. The film stars starring Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne and Kevin Spacey in the leads, with Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jack McGee and Jacob Pitts acting as the supporting cast. Inspired by the true story of MIT students who mastered the art of card counting, 21 focuses on Ben Campbell (Sturgess), a soon-to-be-MIT graduate looking for a way to fund his Harvard medical education. When he’s approached by one of his teachers, Professor Mickey Rosa (Spacye), to join a group of

Every genre of horror has been tapped; whether it’s the serial killer hunting you down or the spooky haunted house, every area of the world that could be frightening has been long since explored. There is one area, however, that hasn’t been as oversaturated with movies as other genres and that’s what The Ruins attempts to tackle. Despite the plot revolving around a previously undisturbed Mayan ruin, the real beasty in this feature is…wait for it…the plants surrounding the temple! Are you scared yet? You should be, if you’re about to sit down and watch the film, that is. After a relaxing vacation, a group of tight-knit college students decide to spend their last day looking at the ancient Mayan ruins. Getting word of a previously uncharted Mayan temple, the gang goes out with a guide who shows them to the spot, but it isn’t long before members of their group start to die. Natives are refusing to allow them to come back off of the temple and soon the

Growing up, my love for Batman was epic. Despite an animated series and other films being out there, two were my primary focus: Tim Burton’s Batman and the Adam West / Burt Ward headlined Batman The Movie. Two very different ends of the spectrum, yet on more than one level I could enjoy both, even if one was dark and moody and the other light and campy. Even with The Dark Knight tearing up movie theaters and breaking records, there’s still a comfort one can get when coming back to the old Adam West series, even if it’s purely on a superficial “I grew up with it, so it’s OK” level. Released at the height of the camp series popularity in the 60s, Batman The Movie brought together its stars, Adam West and Burt Ward, for a full-length picture that brought out four of the biggest villains that Batman (West) had ever faced: The Joker (Caesar Romero), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and Catwoman (Lee Meriwether). With

After the incredible debut of The Mummy, Universal appeared to not only want just one sequel, but another to quickly follow it. While there was no third The Mummy (until this year, anyway), a prequel to the series titled The Scorpion King came out less than a year after The Mummy Returns hit screens. The character, played by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, had a brief role in The Mummy Returns but his character was expanded upon in his own movie, changing not only his mannerisms from the movie but also sliding the film into a more general popcorn fair, much like its The Mummy brethren. The last true Akkadian mercenary, Mathayus (The Rock) is assigned to kill Memnon’s (Steven Brand) sorceress, Cassandra (Kelly Hu). Despite nearly carrying out his duty, a run in that results in the death of Mathayus’s brother waylays his plans to carry out his order for the death of Cassandra. Along the way Mathayus realizes that he can use Cassandra as bait to capture Memnon and

Since movies about viruses (Resident Evil series) and films revolving around societies abandoned by humanity or facing Armageddon (Mad Max) have always been a big box office draw, it seems only natural that a story be done to combine the two. Headlined by Rhona Mirta, Malcolm McDowell and Bob Hoskins, Doomsday arrived in theaters to an almost equal split of love and hate from critics. Despite the film’s heavy promotion on TV, the film ultimately pulled in a poor box office intake: under twenty million worldwide. Not that box office performance is always a key to its quality, but with a debut in nearly 2000 screens, something clearly disconnected between the promotions and mixed critical reviews. After a virus begins to kill off citizens after twenty-four hours of exposure, all of Scotland becomes quarantined. With no cure ever found, all of Scotland is bordered off by a massive wall. The wall keeps the virus and its survivors contained, but it isn’t until London begins to experience the same virus, dubbed

Yet another in the “I never saw, but I wanted to” file, Gangs of New York came out with guns (and clubs) blazin’ in 2002 and swept the Oscar’s in 2003 with ten nominations, walking away without a single one of them. For a film that received so much critical acclaim, it seems odd it didn’t walk away with an Oscar of some sort, especially considering the strength of the acting and directing in this film. Still, ten nominations is nothing to snuff at and by the time the film hit the home video format, it gained a whole new audience of fans. Six years later the film arrives on the latest digital disc format, Blu-ray, complete with an incredible picture and audio to match. After being incarcerated as a youth, Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) was eventually released back into the world that spurred his family. Amsterdam returned to the five points where he watched his father die at the hands of Bill “The Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Dae Lewis). Despite

After the rousing success that was The Mummy a sequel was inevitable. Fast tracked by Universal, The Mummy Returns was quickly conceived and cast, reuniting our heroes (and villains) from the first movie and mixing in a bit of fat and history into the film. On top of the new plot points, new characters introduced such as the son of Rock and Evelyn as well as the new mystical and historical character, The Scorpion King, who received his own spin-off prequel which released a short year after The Mummy Returns smashed onto screens. While it didn’t receive as strong reviews as its predecessor, fans still found The Mummy Returns a fun romp, even if it did have its fair share of quirks. Picking up nine years from the last time we saw O’Connell and the Carnahan’s, we quickly learn that after falling in love during their first adventure together, Rick and Evie married and had a son of their own, named Alex. Within no time at all, Alex is causing

It’d been years since screen had seen a rousing adventure movie that the whole family could enjoy and by the time The Mummy shot its way into theaters in 1999 and it seemed to be just what moviegoers were hungering for. With Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz headlining the film, audiences were treated to a new on-screen couple as well as a rousing action film that utilized (then) state-of-the-art CGI to bring to life the villainous Mummy Imhotep, played by Arnold Vosloo. Within a day of opening, Universal Studios phoned director Stephen Sommers that they wanted a sequel…and with good reason. While not a critical success, the film raked it in at the box office and subsequently made quite a handsome sum on the home video market. Deep within the Egyptian desert, American treasure hunter Rick O’Connell (Fraser) is hired by Evelyn (Weisz) and Jonathan Carnahan (John Hannah) to take them to the ancient city of Hamunaptra. Racing against another group of treasure hunters, group find nothing but trouble once