360 is available to own on Blu Ray, November 6, 2012. Courtesy of eOne Entertainment
Infidelity makes up such a large portion of entertainment in our society. Soap operas, movies and even reality TV are riddled with some form of adultery.
Fernando Meirelles’ latest film, 360, connects the lives of various sexually corrupt people from different areas of the world.
The crippling factor in this film rests in the story. Unlike brilliant films such as Closer or Little Children, this movie tries especially hard to tell far too many stories (I stopped counting at 7), without ever fully developing any of them.
Luckily, the performances are solid. The star studded cast including Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Jamel Debbouze, Lucia Siposová, Gabriela Marcinkova, and Ben Foster showcase their abundant talents commendably. Foster’s performance as the paroled sexual offender in particular, is fantastic, albeit chilling.
The Blu Ray release delivers the solid cinematography and thoughtful score nicely; however, the special features are fairly thin. Both The Making-of 360 and A look at 360 featurettes feature the cast and filmmakers synopsising the story and its characters. Behind-The-Scenes, however, actually lets you stand behind the camera and watch scenes being filmed or hear discussions between the actors and director Fernando Meirelles. Very cool stuff!
Bottom Line: Unless you’re a fan of the film there isn’t any reason to add this Blu Ray to your collection.
Andrew Garfield is Peter Parker in The Amazing Spider-Man. In theatres July 3, 2012. Courtesy of Sony Pictures
How many of you are wondering why Spider-Man is being rebooted only five years after the absolute garbage that was Spider-Man 3? Well, if the latter half of your own question doesn’t give you a hint, here’s the answer you’re looking for: In order for Sony to hold the rights to the web-slinging franchise, they had to make a movie within a certain number of years and time was running out. Fortunately for us, The Amazing Spider-Man successfully reboots the dying franchise and fixes all of the character errors running rampant the original trilogy.
In this reboot, high school genius, Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield), struggles with the loss of those closest to him and deals with his newfound arachnoid powers.
Correcting Sam Raimi’s production faults of the past was a high priority in this reimagining. The fresh new faces were perfectly cast with the talented Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) delivering a far superior Peter Parker than his predecessor, Tobey Maguire. Matching his excellence in performance is Emma Stone (Easy A), whose subtle character nuances are not something you can teach at drama school.
Director Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer) nailed the character development. Where his direction, and the script from a trio of writers, falls short is in the development of the villain. Had Dr. Connors/The Lizard’s journey been further elaborated upon, he would have been seen as more than your run of the mill mutant monster.
The special effects are fantastic in every aspect except for the CGI rendering of The Lizard, who looked out of place when compared to more accurately rendered characters like The Hulk in The Avengers.
In the end, the solid story and depth left me hungry for a sequel.
Bottom Line: This is Peter Parker as he should be. Definitely venture out to watch this in IMAX 3D on Wednesday, July 3, 2012.
Catch the fully restored Jaws at TIFF Bell Lightbox starting June 29th. Courtesy of Universal Pictures
It is said that a fear of sharks is primal in most human beings. With masterful direction and one of the greatest musical scores, Steven Spielberg’s original run of Jaws terrified audiences and induced unprecedented phobias among moviegoers. Thirty-seven years later, this classic horror has been given a much needed restoration from the original beaten up stock and the results are impeccable. Rather than explain it all to you, I’ll let the professionals give you the scoop in the video below.
Simply put, the restoration makes the movie look like a period film shot today. They’ve also avoided any George Lucas style digital “upgrades” to replace any of the practical effects. While present day audiences have been desensitized to brutal violence, Jaws still manages to wrap you in a blanket of fear. Not something many horrors of today will be able to claim 30 years in the future.
The only problem with this movie is the lack of knowledge about the behavior of sharks during its production. Peter Benchley, author of the novel the movie is based on, has mentioned he would have never written the book had he known about the real behavior of sharks. This is important for all those who treat the fictional film as a source of facts.
With that in mind, you’ll want to treat yourself to a magnificent example of filmmaking. The Hitchcockian influenced direction from Steven Spielberg is brilliant, as is the editing by Verna Fields and the performances from Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss.
Bottom Line: Jaws’ flawless face lift deserves to be revisited by every fan of great cinema.
You can find the restored re-release at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto or in select local theatres on June 29th.
Logan Marshall-Green, Noomi Rapace, and Michael Fassbender star in Prometheus. Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
It’s difficult not to become completely encapsulated in an epic horror/sci-fi the likes of Ridley Scott’s Alien from 1979. With the standards set from that film, any movie associated with it will be viewed under extreme scrutiny. Luckily, Prometheus separates itself from the original by focusing on the science and adds elements of horror to spice things up.
In Prometheus, a scientific discovery leads to a galactic exploration to find the origins of humanity. What they find when they reach their destination is nothing close to what they expected.
Ridley Scott, the once legendary director, has returned to where his major success had initialized with classics like Blade Runner. With the aid of writers Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindeloff, Scott takes us on a journey that explores man’s greatest mystery: Where do we come from? Both director and writers achieve an incredible level of thought provoking ideas and thrilling storytelling. However, they also left a lot of unexplored venues which will prevent this movie from reaching the stratospheric acclaim of its predecessor.
Casting for this movie hit an almost perfect score with an excellent ensemble of actors to portray the various archetypes. Michael Fassbender is yet again phenomenal in his role as the multi-layered, intriguing android. Alongside him, Noomi Rapace shows equal skill in manifesting her character’s emotions (very reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver in 1979). While the rest of the cast was great, Charlize Theron completely lacked everything that was required to make her performance memorable. Mind you, it is hard to be memorable when your character appeared to be tacked on haphazardly.
The cinematography is beautiful, but the musical score lacked atmosphere to really provide punch to crucial moments.
Scott’s use of the added 3rd dimension works phenomenally. The entire film viewed through 3D glasses delivered the most realistic “looking through a window” effect to date. Definitely worth the additional cost.
Bottom Line: No matter how great this film appears to be, the nagging flaws keep it from becoming an epic classic.
Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins star in the Blu Ray release of John Carter. Courtesy of Disney Pictures
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ magazine serials from the early 1900’s hit cinemas earlier this year in the form of John Carter. Unfortunately, the film was completely ill-advertised and suffered a disastrous box office run. Hopefully more people are willing to give this fantasy/sci-fi adventure a chance when it’s released on Blu Ray today.
The movie tells the story of Civil War veteran John Carter’s unwitting transport to Mars, discovering a race of human and alien life forms at war.
Academy Award winning writer/director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) does a good job with his first foray into live action cinema. He creates a good balance between drama and action, with neither element overpowering the other – Unlike a hollow blockbuster. To be honest, this isn’t his best work, but there’s enough substance in the story to keep the audience eagerly intrigued.
This is Taylor Kitsch’s first time as a lead in a film with such a vast budget (estimated at $250 million… Not exactly pocket change). Kitsch did a great job as the leading man, showing a good range of emotion as well as a much appreciated knack for slap-stick comedy. The rest of the cast felt solid, but never outstanding.
For Blu Ray + DVD release, Disney has included a stout amount of special features for fans to explore. Among these are Disney’s interactive Second Screen feature that allows you to connect with a computer or tablet for additional viewing pleasure, Deleted Scenes, Barsoon Bloopers, 360 Degrees Of John Carter featurette, 100 Years in the Making featurette, and a feature length commentary with the director and producers.
On top of that wallop of special features, the movie itself looks and sounds fantastic.
Bottom Line: If you’re a fan of the film or looking for something different to watch, this movie will provide a ride you’re sure to enjoy.
John Tui, Taylor Kitsch, and Rihanna star in Battleship. Courtesy of Universal Pictures
For the past two decades, Michael Bay has been “King of the explosion”, “Master of destruction”, “Terror to critics who flat out hate him”, etc. We’ve reached a milestone in Hollywood today with the release of Battleship, whose director, Peter Berg, has finally dethroned Bay with his movie which could have been alternately titled, “Life of an Explosion”.
In Battleship, Alex Hopper, a guy going nowhere in life, reluctantly joins the Navy and falls for the admiral’s daughter. Then, aliens are signaled to Earth and they do battle, much like the board game from Hasbro of which the movie is based.
That’s right folks, the story is about as thin as brothers Erich Hoeber (Red) and Jon Hoeber (Red) could possibly make it. Their script celebrates clichés and cheesy dialogues, leaving plenty of time for the director to blow everything up.
The cast is pretty much dreadful to watch. A lot of the attempted humor falls flat and there was no chemistry between any of the actors – Especially between Taylor Kitsch and Brooklyn Decker as the “love struck” couple. Kitsch better do something worth watching soon or he may find himself stuck in the “B” movie zone. What’s really sad is that the only person worth watching, Liam Neeson, was given very little screen time, even if the trailers would have you think otherwise.
However, if you’re in the mood for endless action or enjoy explosion “porn”, this movie has the goods to satisfy your every need. Some of the Transformers inspired CGI is crude, but at least the movie is shot nicely which allows the audience to see the ballistic action in its entirety.
Bottom Line: With your finger on the fast forward button, this is a great piece of demo material for your home theatre.
Luckily, the performances are solid. The star studded cast including Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Anthony Hopkins, Jamel Debbouze, Lucia Siposová, Gabriela Marcinkova, and Ben Foster showcase their abundant talents commendably. Foster’s performance as the paroled sexual offender in particular, is fantastic, albeit chilling.
The Blu Ray release delivers the solid cinematography and thoughtful score nicely; however, the special features are fairly thin. Both The Making-of 360 and A look at 360 featurettes feature the cast and filmmakers synopsising the story and its characters. Behind-The-Scenes, however, actually lets you stand behind the camera and watch scenes being filmed or hear discussions between the actors and director Fernando Meirelles. Very cool stuff!
Bottom Line: Unless you’re a fan of the film there isn’t any reason to add this Blu Ray to your collection. 
John Carter: Blu Ray + DVD Review
Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins star in the Blu Ray release of John Carter. Courtesy of Disney Pictures
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ magazine serials from the early 1900’s hit cinemas earlier this year in the form of John Carter. Unfortunately, the film was completely ill-advertised and suffered a disastrous box office run. Hopefully more people are willing to give this fantasy/sci-fi adventure a chance when it’s released on Blu Ray today.
The movie tells the story of Civil War veteran John Carter’s unwitting transport to Mars, discovering a race of human and alien life forms at war.
Academy Award winning writer/director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo, Wall-E) does a good job with his first foray into live action cinema. He creates a good balance between drama and action, with neither element overpowering the other – Unlike a hollow blockbuster. To be honest, this isn’t his best work, but there’s enough substance in the story to keep the audience eagerly intrigued.
This is Taylor Kitsch’s first time as a lead in a film with such a vast budget (estimated at $250 million… Not exactly pocket change). Kitsch did a great job as the leading man, showing a good range of emotion as well as a much appreciated knack for slap-stick comedy. The rest of the cast felt solid, but never outstanding.
For Blu Ray + DVD release, Disney has included a stout amount of special features for fans to explore. Among these are Disney’s interactive Second Screen feature that allows you to connect with a computer or tablet for additional viewing pleasure, Deleted Scenes, Barsoon Bloopers, 360 Degrees Of John Carter featurette, 100 Years in the Making featurette, and a feature length commentary with the director and producers.
On top of that wallop of special features, the movie itself looks and sounds fantastic.
Bottom Line: If you’re a fan of the film or looking for something different to watch, this movie will provide a ride you’re sure to enjoy.
Movie Grade B
Blu Ray Grade A
Runtime: 132 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Leave a comment | tags: 3D, A Princess of Mars, action cinema, Andrew Stanton, blockbuster, blu ray, box office, CGI, civil war veteran, david budo, Disney, dvd, Edgar Rice Burroughs, entertainment, feature length commentary, film, Finding Nemo, hollywood, IMAX, John Carter, Lynn Collins, movie, oscars, review, Sci Fi, Second Screen, special features, Taylor Kitsch, Wall-E | posted in Jun. 2012