DVD's and Blu-ray's are Our Passion

Archive for October, 2008

Blu-ray Review: Thunderball – Ultimate Edition w/ Movie Ticket

Released December 21, 1965, Thunderball was the fourth James Bond film based on the Ian Fleming novel of the same name. It was the highest grossing film with Connery in the lead role. Connery would star in just one more film before handing over the reins to George Lazenby and eventually Roger Moore. As a [...]

Blu-ray Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull marks the fourth installment into one of Hollywood’s most beloved series of films. Even as a big fan of the series, I had my doubts; Indiana Jones first graced the screen back in 1981, some twenty-seven years ago. Could Harrison Ford, now in his sixties, still [...]

DVD Review: Annie Leibovitz – Life Through A Lens

As a long time subscriber to both Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair, I feel like I know Annie Leibovitz well. Granted, I’ve never met her, but some of her pictures are burned in my memory: John Lennon and Yoko Ono for the January 22, 1981 Rolling Stone cover, shot the day of Lennon’s death, the [...]

DVD Review: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Best of Season 3

“It is part of the price of leadership of this great and free nation to be the target of clever satirists.” –President Lyndon B. Johnson, in a letter to the Smothers Brothers When The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour premiered on CBS in February of 1967, the show was just a slightly “hipper” version of other [...]

Blu-ray Review: Dr. No – Ultimate Edition w/ Movie Ticket

The longtime New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther wrote of James Bond in his review of Dr No on May 30, 1963: “Nonsense, you say. Of course, it’s nonsense — pure, escapist bunk, with Bond, an elegant fellow, played by Sean Connery, doing everything (and everybody) that an idle day-dreamer might like to do. [...]

DVD Review: The Cult of Cartman – Revelations

Man, it’s hard to believe that South Park is currently in its twelfth season on Comedy Central and in my opinion, as funny as ever. The brainchild of college buddies Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park was a hit from the night it first aired in August of 1997 and quickly became one of [...]

DVD Review: Chaplin -15th Anniversary Edition

Over ninety years after Charlie Chaplin introduced moviegoers to The Little Tramp in 1914, the character still remains one of the most recognizable figures in films today. Chaplin himself is sighted by many comedians as an inspiration for their work. Comedian Buster Keaton, who had a healthy professional rivalry with Chaplin, wrote in his autobiography [...]

Blu-Ray Review: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is based on the Tony Award-winning musical with a book by Hugh Wheeler and words and music by Stephen Sondheim. The Broadway show originally opened on March 1, 1979. Len Cariou won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd. [...]

DVD Review: The Happening

M. Night Shyamalan burst on the international film scene with 1999′s The Sixth Sense, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. He followed that success by writing and directing Unbreakable, released in 2000. The film received mixed reviews and a lukewarm box office reception. Signs, released in 2002, [...]

DVD Review: Jack Frost – Deluxe Remastered Edition

I can’t believe its October already. With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s just about time to start watching all of those Thanksgiving and Christmas themed specials that help mark this time of year. Warner Brothers recently released Jack Frost as a deluxe edition, to help get the ball rolling. The special originally aired on [...]

DVD Review: Watership Down – Deluxe Edition

I was very young when Richard Adams’ Watership Down hit American movie theaters in 1978, but I do remember it seemed like every adult or teenager I knew had read or was reading the book, in preparation for the film. The plot is rather simple: Watership Down tells the tale of a group of rabbits [...]

DVD Review: Supernatural – The Complete Third Season

Created by Eric Kripke, Supernatural centers on Dean and Sam Winchester (Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki, respectively); the two brothers travel around the country in a black 1967 Chevy Impala, investigating paranormal events and other unexplained happenings, many of them based on myths, American urban legends, as well as classic supernatural characters such as vampires, [...]

DVD Review: Legion of Super Heroes, Volume 3

Legion of Super Heroes centers on the young Superman’s adventures in the 31st century as he fights alongside a group of futuristic superheroes known as the “Legion of Super Heroes.” The series, which began airing on Saturday mornings on the Kids WB! Network in the fall of 2006. With a large stable of Legionnaires to [...]

DVD Review: Blood+: Volume Three

I’m fairly new to the world of anime, having read a few books over the past year and watched a couple of select DVD titles. I was interested in taking a look at the Blood+ series because I’ve always liked a good vampire story, so I figured it would be a great way to take [...]

Blu-ray Review: Iron Man – Ultimate Edition

Iron Man rocks. I thought a tin can superhero on the big screen sounded like a surefire dud. I was so sure of myself; I avoided the film in theatrical release and waited until I got a copy of the Blu-ray. Iron Man is a long running Marvel comic that started out with Tony Stark [...]

DVD Review: Pushing Daisies – The Complete First Season

Described by producers as a “forensic fairy tale,” Pushing Daises centers on a pie maker named Ned, who has the mysterious ability to bring dead things back to life by touching them. The problem is, another touch renders that person or thing dead again permanently. Further, if something is revived for more than one minute, [...]

DVD Review: Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil

Lewis Black has a rather frenetic style when delivering comedy. Much like the late George Carlin, he always seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown. While in a full on rant, Black ridicules history, politics, religion, trends and cultural phenomena. He uses sarcasm and hyperbole laced with profanity to emphasis his disgust disdain or [...]

Blu-ray Review: The Godfather Collection – The Coppola Restoration

The Godfather Collection – The Coppola Restoration has to be one of the best Blu-ray releases of 2008. Parts I and II are arguably two of the greatest films ever made, and now the entire trilogy is available remastered, with a high-definition Blu-ray picture and TrueHD 5.1 sound. This is just about as good as [...]

Music Review: Serena Ryder – Sweeping the Ashes

Back in November of 2007, I reviewed Serena Ryder’s EP I Told You in a Whispered Song. That was my introduction to the Canadian born singer. Nearly two years later, Ryder is set to release a new three song EP titled Sweeping the Ashes that highlights her raspy delivery, emotional lyrics and impressive guitar skills. [...]

DVD Review: Samantha Who? – The Complete First Season

ABC’s Samantha Who? Os a comedy about a young woman who wakes up from an eight day coma only to discover she has no recollection of who she is or the people who have been in an out of her life. Every day is a revelation, and what she discovers about herself isn’t pretty. “I [...]