Recent Blu-Ray reviews from DVD Authority

In Time (Blu-Ray)

2/2/2012

I was listening to the radio last Fall and the DJ said that the 7 billionth person in the world had been born. 7 billionth! Wow. Maybe it's the way my mind works, but one of the first things I thought about was that in the future, we're going to run out of resources for all the people on this planet. Famine is already an issue, so with more peo...

Shakespeare in Love (Blu-Ray)

2/1/2012

The debate will always rage on as to which film was actually more deserving of the 1999 Best Picture winner: Shakespeare in Love or Saving Private Ryan. The former ended up taking home the trophy of "Best Picture of the Year" though it was highly-speculated that the Weinsteins somewhat "bought" the campaign. Spielberg ended up w...

The Double (Blu-Ray)

1/27/2012

For some reason it's always pained me to see "A" list actors in "B" movie roles. Of course this isn't always a bad thing as some gems are out there. I can't really think of any at the moment, but they exist. Such is the case with "The Double" starring Richard Gere and Topher Grace, two stars that have certainly made their mark in films (Gere muc...

Love Story (Blu-Ray)

1/26/2012

Oliver Barrett IV (Ryan O'Neal) comes from a wealthy family and attends Harvard Law, as well as being involved in the hockey program there. On the other hand, Jennifer Cavalieri (Ali MacGraw) has a more humble background and goes to Radcliffe, where she studies music. The two seem to have little in common, but once they meet and have a chance to ta...

Midnight in Paris (Blu-Ray)

1/25/2012

Woody Allen is one of those directors that actors must feel somewhat obligated to say "Yes" to when he offers them a role. And why not, he's Woody Allen! Admittedly I'm somewhat of a fair-weathered fan of Allen and haven't even seen all of his films. Sure I've seen his gems like "Annie Hall", "Manhattan" and "Hannah and Her Sisters" but...

Drive (Blu-Ray)

1/24/2012

I know that Ryan Gosling used to be a member of the Mickey Mouse club along with Justin Timberlake, but after reading his bio on IMDB, that was in 1993 and I was in college then. Now I do remember him from one of my favorite guilty pleasure movies, "Murder by Numbers." In it he played a high school mastermind attempting to get away with murder. ...

Dead Poets Society (Blu-Ray)

1/21/2012

I was channel surfing the other day and caught a bit of "Patch Adams", a movie which I'd never seen. I didn't watch the whole thing but I was familiar with the plot. The 80's saw the rise of a young comic by the name of Robin Willaims and he made his mark (or "Mork", rather) in television on the show "Mork and Mindy" in which he played an alien t...

The Ides of March (Blu-Ray)

1/20/2012

For those that don't know, The Ides of March is a phrase that goes back a couple thousand years. It was uttered by a soothsayer to warn Julias Caesar of his impending death. "Ides" means middle and the middle of March was the 15th. That's when Caesar was killed. Ok, that's your history lesson for today. Now onto politics. First and foremost, I...

The English Patient (Blu-Ray)

1/19/2012

As the final, brutal days of the European conflict in World War II unfold, a nurse finds herself entranced by her latest patient. Hana (Juliette Binoche) is haunted by the death and destruction she has seen, to the point where she believes that if she connects with someone, that person is doomed to perish as a result. She is wounded by what she has...

Good Morning, Vietnam (Blu-Ray)

1/18/2012

As the conflict in Vietnam pushes on, the troops have lowered morale thanks to the longer than expected campaigns and broken promises. In an attempt to boost spirits and provide some entertainment, the Army brings in radio personality Adrian Cronauer (Robin Williams). As it turns out, he was just what the troops needed, as the men love his show and...

Cold Mountain (Blu-Ray)

1/17/2012

At the start of the Civil War, countless men rushed to the front lines to defend their land, their beliefs, and their futures. A lot of these men left behind wives, children, and other family members and loved ones, who had to wait for potential returns. Of course, these men promised to come back alive, but few were able to keep that promise. Inman...

Billy Elliot (Blu-Ray)

1/14/2012

If we could turn back the clock eleven years, we'd see that there was much talk of "Billy Elliot" and a possible mention nod for Best Picture. That never happened, as much as Universal would have liked it to. The film seemed to follow a certain formula (that's usually a shoo-in for a "hit" at the movies) and that was the story of one "Billy Ellio...

Frida (Blu-Ray)

1/13/2012

One of a myriad of biographical films, "Frida", is well-made, but we have to ask ourselves if it is truly worthy of being watched/admired/revered? Is it? Honestly, I don’t know. Selma Hayek was nominated (and deservedly so) for a Best Actress Oscar for her part as the tortured Frida Kahlo. Going back to her Spanish roots (influences), she mes...

Paranormal Activity 3 (Blu-Ray)

1/12/2012

A few years ago history was made when "Paranormal Activity" made its debut to the tune of over $100 million at the box office. The film was made on a shoestring budget and no doubt Paramount (the distributor) was happy when the numbers started to roll in. As is the case with anything and everything that makes money in Hollywood, there was soon a ...

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (Blu-Ray)

1/11/2012

There's an old saying that "less is more." And when you think about it, it really works when referring to movies. This is what made "Jaws" work so well in that we never really saw the shark, namely we just felt its presence. Unfortunately "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" and countless other horror movies don't take this cue and show us what we're su...

Sid and Nancy (Blu-Ray)

1/10/2012

At the heart of the punk movement in the 1970s was a band called The Sex Pistols, who inspired all sorts of listeners to take on a new approach to life. These guys were loud, brash, rude, filthy, foul mouthed, and they smelled bad, but thousands of fans followed their every move. The streets were filled with them, people with strange hairstyles, le...

The Art of Getting By (Blu-Ray)

1/7/2012

An eyebrow always raises with me when I see the writing on a new Blu-Ray or DVD that reads "From the studio that brought you..." I mean, it's the studio. Not the same director, cast or even writer. The studio! Still I realize that marketing departments have a job to do and their job is to sell the movie regardless of its reviews. I ha...

Traffic: Criterion Collection (Blu-Ray)

1/6/2012

Lately, there hasn't been much to crow about when it comes to the movies that Hollywood has been putting out. Countless sequels to movies that no one liked to begin with, "action packed" computer-generated movies that are as hollow as they are stupid...the list goes on. So leave it to Steven Soderbergh, who won a Best Director Oscar for his work he...

Shark Night (Blu-Ray)

1/5/2012

Every so often I get a movie that makes me chuckle. Not in the sense that the movie in question is a comedy and the intended result is a laugh. No, sometimes a movie is just lame that you can't help but wonder what in the world the filmmakers were thinking. When it comes to movies about sharks and/or shark attacks, there will most likely be no r...

Moneyball (Blu-Ray)

1/4/2012

For the first fifteen years of my life I wanted to be a baseball player. I suspect that most kids did at one point in time. Ironically enough, as I got older, I did play sports but they weren't team-oriented. I swam, played tennis and golf. Still, baseball is, has been and I venture to guess that it always will be the American past time. And, ...