Blu-Ray/Movie Review: The Incredible Mr. Limpet

 

The Incredible Mr. Limpet is a 1964 comedy starring Don Knotts, Carole Cook, Jack Weston, Andrew Duggan, Larry Keating, Paul Frees, and Elizabeth MacRae. Most of the story is set in the 1940s during World War II. Knotts plays a bookkeeper named Henry Limpet, who loves fish and often wishes he were one. He attempts to enlist to fight in the war, but is denied due to poor eyesight. He is the classic wimpy pushover who is browbeaten by his wife, Bessie (played by Cook), and is mercilessly teased by his best friend George (played by Weston). When he falls off the pier at Coney Island, he transforms into a fish, and when he discovers that he has a powerful underwater roar that he calls a "thrum," he begins helping the Navy destroy German U-boats.

The blu-ray release is a single-disc release. The A/V quality is good, but it did not receive the high-quality restoration some older films have. If you have a decent home-theater setup, the movie will look and sound okay, but it will not be as good as those that receive an extensive HD transfer. There is a little over 20 minutes of bonus content, including an introduction to the film by Knotts, a promotional short film about the film's premier in Weeki Wachee, FL, a series of short segments in which Knotts reflects on the various actors who worked on the fim, and the theatrical trailer (which is preceeded by a promotion for the songs from the film which was relased as a single).

The movie is a bit corny and cheesy, but it was one of the first (if not the first) movies to blend live-action with animation. And unlike many of today's comedies, it is absolutely family-friendly and can be enjoyed by people of all ages. There is one sex joke at the end that is pretty mild and would probably go over most kids' heads, but there is no swearing or anything that is not appropriate for young kids. It holds up fairly well, even after 60+ years. Ultimately, the movie is a fun, offbeat film that is worth watching. 

4K-UHD/Movie Review: Dogma

 

Dogma is the 1999 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It was the fourth film in what is known as the View Askewinverse, which is the series of comedies written and directed by Smith, which at the time, included the films Clerks, Mallrats, and Chasing Amy. It stars Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, Alan Rickman, and Chris Rock, as well as Smith and Jason Mewes as the characters Jay and Silent Bob. George Carlin and Alanis Morissette also have what amounts to extended cameos. Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson (who were the leads in Clerks) made cameo appearances, and Janeane Garofalo and Bud Cort have small roles. In the film, Affleck and Damon play fallen angels named Bartleby and Loki, who attempt to exploit a loophole in their banishment to Earth and re-enter Heaven, which, if successful, will wipe out everything in existence. Fiorentino plays Bethany, a counselor at an abortion clinic who is undergoing a crisis of faith and is recruited by the angel Metatron (played by Rickman) to stop them. She is aided by Jay and Silent Bob, as well as Rock's character Rufus, and Hayek's character Serendipity, while Lee's character, the demon Azrael, tries to stop her. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is very good. It is definitely an upgrade over the initial DVD release, and a good, but not outstanding upgrade over the blu-ray (which had been out of print for many years). The UHD disc includes the two original commentary tracks, one with Smith, Affleck, Lee, Mewes, producer Scott Moser, and Vincent Pereira, which focuses on the movie itself, and the second is a technical commentary track with Smith, Moser, and Pereira in which they discuss more of the details about filming and getting the movie made. New features include a short introduction by Smith for the 4k release that plays after the disc loads, a new making-of documentary that runs almost an hour and a half that features updated interviews, a portion of a Q&A session with Smith after a screening of the film, an interview with Smith that runs about 15 minutes, the original trailer and a 25th anniversary trailer, and a few shorter featurettes. 

The standard blu-ray contains the films and both commentary tracks (although the track with Smith and the cast includes video pop-ups that are not in the version on the UHD disc), the intro by Smith, and all the legacy content carried over from the original release. Those include about an hour and a half of deleted and extended scenes, a 40-minute documentary focusing on the very stupid controversy surrounding the film when it was made, some storyboard sequences, more trailers and TV spots, among other things. As with the original release, most references to Miramax and Harvey Weinstein are censored from the extras (with only a couple of exceptions).

The film is good, but it will definitely not appeal to everyone. First and foremost, it is a crude comedy with crude humor (as is the case with most of Smith's movies). It happens to involve religion, unlike what some think, it does not make fun of religion or faith in general. It is a comedy that is set around religious concepts, some controversial and some not. Smith, who was a practicing Catholic for years, wanted to make a comedy that explored the religious dogma he learned growing up. He does poke fun at the Catholic Church, but not the concept of faith in general. Ultimately, if you do not mind crude humor and swearing, it is a good movie that actually teaches some aspects of Christianity and Catholicism, which some people may not otherwise know. If you can accept that, the movie is absolutely worth watching. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Boogie Nights

 

Boogie Nights is a 1997 film about the golden era of porn and is very loosely based on and inspired by events in the life of John Holmes. It was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson and starred Mack Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, Heather Graham, and John C. Reilly in the main roles, and Don Cheadle, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Luis Guzman, Nicole Ari Parker, Nina Hartley, Thomas Jane, Melora Walters, Robert Ridgely, Alfred Molina, Phillip Baker Hall, and Ricky Jay in supporting roles. The story begins in 1977, when Wahlberg's character, Eddie Adams, is discovered by Reynolds' character, adult film director Jack Horner, while working as a busboy at a Hollywood nightclub. Adams, who it is hinted is very well-endowed (and we find out at the end of the movie just how much so via a prosthetic penis), takes on the stage name Dirk Diggler and becomes the biggest name in porn as the story progresses into the mid-1980s. The first half of the film shows the glamorous side of the life of porn stars in that era, specifically the money, sex, and partying. The second half shows the dark side of that lifestyle and how the lives of some performers were ruined by the rampant drug use, the struggle (and sometimes inability) to get out, and how slimy some of the power brokers could be. Many of the events in the film are based on things that happened to real porn actors over the years.

The 4k release is a single-disc edition released in 2025 after the film was remastered. It carries over most of the bonus content from the original DVD release, but not all. The director's commentary track, deleted scenes, and music video are carried over, but the character profiles are not, nor is the ability to jump to specific musical numbers in the film from the disc menu. It also includes additional bonus material for this release, including more deleted and extended scenes focused on John C. Reilly's character, a two-part Q&A session, the first part featuring Anderson and Reilly, and the second featuring just Anderson, filmed in 2025. There is also a second commentary track featuring Anderson and many of the actors, spliced together from several conversations. It was not a situation in which the entire group was in a room watching the film and recording commentary as it played. Instead, it was created from several conversations, such as Anderson discussing the movie with some actors separately, and others where a couple of the actors were in the same place discussing the movie. In all, Wahlberg, Moore, Graham, Reilly, Cheadle, Macy, Guzman, and Walters all appear at various points in the second commentary track. Of the two, Anderson's solo commentary provides the most interesting details on the process of making the film. The A/V quality of the 4k restoration is excellent. The film looks and sounds great in the UHD format and is a very significant upgrade from the original DVD release.

The movie is well-written and very-well acted. While it does have a lot of nudity and sexual content (as well as fake drug use) it was not gratuitous and fit within the story being told. That said, it is definitely not family-friendly. It was the film that helped launch or further the careers of many of the cast members who would go on to become A or B-list stars, and revived Reynolds' career (even though he reportedly hated filming it and went on record as saying he never watched it). Ultimately, if you are a fan of good dramas, especially period pieces, this is absolutely worth watching.

4K-UHD/Movie Review: The Dreamers

 

The Dreamers is a 2003 film starring Eva Green (in her first movie role), Michael Pitt, and Louis Garrel. The supporting cast included Anna Chancellor and Robin Renucci. It was directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and based on a novel titled The Holy Innocents by Gilbert Adair (who also wrote the movie's screenplay). It was also the second-to-last film directed by Bertolucci, who is probably best known for the very controversial film, The Last Tango in Paris.

The events of the film are set in France in 1968. In it, Pitt plays an American college student studying in Paris. He is a shy movie buff, and during a protest against the firing of a theater director, he meets twins Theo (Garrel) and Isabelle (Green), the children of a famous French poet and fellow film enthusiasts his age. He befriends the twins, and when he is invited to stay with Theo and Isabelle while their parents are away for a month, they embark on a very unusual friendship.

I have the imported 4k release, which is a two-disc import set containing a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray disc. The UHD disc is region-free, meaning it will play on Region 1/US 4k Blu-Ray players. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding and a definite upgrade over the DVD. The standard Blu-ray disc is region-locked to Region 2, so you need a Region 2 or region-free player to play the content on that disc. The bonus content carries over most, but not all, of the features from the original DVD release and also adds bonus material not on the DVD release. The bonus content includes a commentary track on the film by Bertolucci, Adair, and the film's producer, Jeremy Thomas. It appears that the tracks were recorded separately and jump from one speaker to another, rather than being a conversation among the three. That is the only extra on the UHD disc. The rest, which include a making-of featurette, behind-the-scenes B-roll footage, cast and crew interviews, the original trailer, and a trailer for the 4K release, are all on the standard disc. It also includes a movie poster and several postcards featuring scenes from the film. 

The film is good, but strange. The relationship between Theo and Isabelle is cringe-worthy (borderline incestuous, but not quite) and is definitely not a traditional sibling relationship. The movie is definitely not family-friendly. It was originally released with an NC-17 rating, which is well deserved because it contains a lot of sexual content and nudity. It touches on some of the political turmoil of 1968, including the nationwide general strike and student riots in France, but it is mostly in the background until the very end of the film. It also includes clips from several old movies and a very good soundtrack (especially if you are a fan of late-1960s rock and blues). So, while the movie is good, it is definitely not for everyone. It is an erotic drama with a foreign-film feel and would definitely not be made the same way in the US. It was well-acted, especially since all the main actors were in their early 20s and did not have much acting experience when it was made. Ultimately, it is worth checking out if you are a fan of Green's (who has had the most success of all the actors since the movie came out), foreign films, and/or period pieces, and are not easily offended. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Don't Worry Darling

 

Don't Worry Darling is a 2022 film starring Florence Pugh, Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and Chris Pine in the leading roles, and a supporting cast featuring Sydney Chandler, Nick Kroll, Gemma Chan, Kiki Layne, and Dita Von Teese. Olivia Wilde also directed and was one of the producers of the film. It is a hard movie to classify, as it blends genres, specifically thriller, mystery, drama, suspense, and sci-fi. Pugh and Styles play Alice and Jack Chambers, who live in a 1950s desert "company town" run by Pine's character, Frank. Each morning, all the men go off to work at a secretive compound called Victory Headquarters in the middle of the desert, and are not allowed to discuss what they are working on, while the women are all homemakers who spend their days shopping and gossiping. It is implied that the men are working on some kind of national security project akin to the Manhattan Project, but as the movie progresses, we learn that not everything is as it seems. It is hard to fully describe the film without giving too much away, but if you combine bits of The Stepford Wives, The Matrix, Inception, The Truman Show, and The Astronaut Wives Club, you would get something like this.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is outstanding. The movie looks and sounds wonderful in UHD, with both audio and video near reference-quality. The bonus content, however, is very sparse. It is just on the standard blu-ray disc and consists of just a making-of featurette that runs just over 17 minutes and one deleted scene. The movie is well-written and very well-acted. Pugh's character is the centerpiece of the movie, and she does an excellent job in the leading role, but the entire cast does a great job in their respective roles. The writers do an excellent job of not giving away too much too soon. While you know very early on that something is off about the town and its people, they do a good job of not making everything obvious. Ultimately, it is an excellent film that is absolutely worth the time to watch. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: American Beauty

 

American Beauty is a 1999 drama written by Sam Mendes and Alan Ball, and directed by Mendes (in his directorial debut). It starred Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Mena Suvari, Thora Birch, Wes Bentley, and Chris Cooper. The outstanding supporting cast includes Allison Janney, Peter Gallagher, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Scott Bakula, John Cho, and Amber Smith (the latter two having very brief scenes). In the film, Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a middle-aged guy in a loveless marriage and a dead-end job who goes through a midlife crisis, inspired to quit his job by his new neighbor (and his daughter's new boyfriend), Ricky (played by Bentley). Benning plays his very Type-A wife, Carolyn, and Thora Birch plays his teenage daughter, Jane. Burnham starts lusting after his daughter's friend, Angela, and Cooper plays Ricky's father, Frank. The movie is about the parts of suburban life that people keep hidden behind closed doors, and how the perfect lives people try to project to their neighbors are often not reality.

The blu-ray release is a single-disc release. It carries over some (but not all) of the bonus content from the original DVD release. The bonus features include two versions of the theatrical trailers, a storyboard presentation with commentary by Mendes and the Director of Photography, a behind-the-scenes featurette featuring interviews with the cast and crew, and a commentary track on the film by Mendes and Alan Ball. It does not include the digital screenplay, production notes, the DVD-ROM content, or cast and crew biographies that were included on the DVD. The A/V quality of the Blu-Ray is excellent, and the HD format is a definite upgrade from the DVD. 

Ultimately, the movie is wonderful. It won several Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It is well-written and very well-acted. Some of the story is very cringeworthy, which was the point. All of the main characters are flawed at the very least, deeply so in some cases. It is a unique movie in which even the protagonists are not all that good. It deals with issues such as homophobia, adultery, lust, drug use, abuse (and ignoring abuse), and the like. It does contain a lot of swearing, sexual content, and nudity, so it very much earns its R-rating. And of course, in the last several years, Spacey has become a persona non grata because of multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. He was absolutely the star of the movie, and his performance helped carry the film and make it what it was. However, he definitely did not carry the film all by himself, and it would not have been as good as it was without the rest of the cast and crew. So, whatever Spacey did or did not do in his personal life, you can still enjoy the movie. Ultimately, it is a great movie that deserved all the acclaim it received and is absolutely worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Deep Impact

 

Deep Impact was a 1998 disaster film directed by Mimi Leder starring Robert Duvall, Elijah Wood, Leelee Sobieski, Tea Leoni, and Morgan Freeman. The supporting cast includes several recognizable actors, including Max Schell, Jon Favreau, Vanessa Redgrave, Blair Underwood, James Cromwell, Laura Innes, Dougray Scott, Mary McCormack, Ron Eldard, Richard Schiff, Charles Martin Smith, Kurtwood Smith, Aleksandr Baluev, and Mark Moses. 

The film's plot centers on a comet discovered by Wood's character, Leo Biederman, during an Astronomy club star party, which is on a collision course with Earth. The government begins preparations for stopping the comet, involving a crew of astronauts (Duvall, McCormack, Eldard, Underwood, Favreaud, and Baluev) being sent to try and blow up the comet using nuclear weapons. As a backup plan, they built a network of caves on Earth to hold a million people underground for two years, instituting a lottery system to randomly select anyone under 50 to be taken to the caves. It is partly an action movie, but mostly a blend of suspense and drama centered around the attempt to destroy the comet.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc (with just the movie) and a standard Blu-Ray disc with the movie and extras. The A/V quality of the film in the UHD format is excellent. The video transfer is not reference-quality, but it is a substantial upgrade over the DVD and 1080p versions of the film. The audio track is the same 5.1 lossless track created when the film was released on Blu-Ray. The extras were all carried over from the Blu-Ray release and include a commentary track on the movie by Leder and visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar, a few short making-of and behind-the-scenes featurettes, a photo gallery, the teaser trailer, and the theatrical trailer.

The movie was the "other" disaster film from 1998, along with Armageddon, which had a very similar plot and was the bigger summer blockbuster of that year. Deep Impact was arguably the better, more scientifically accurate movie (though it did stretch things, such as the idea that Earth's surface would be livable two years after a "planet-killing" comet hit it). Ultimately, it is well-written and acted with a great mix of action, drama, and suspense (and gets quite sad at the end). It is absolutely worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Dark City (Limited Edition)

 

Dark City is a 1998 film starring Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, Kiefer Sutherland, William Hurt, Ian Richardson, and Richard O'Brien. It also features Colin Friels and Melissa George in supporting roles. It was directed by Proyas and written by Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer. The movie was actually filmed in 1996, but got stuck in post-production and underwent extensive reshoots before it was finally released. The film is difficult to describe without giving too much away, but the basic plotline revolves around a man named John Murdoch (Sewell), who wakes up in a hotel bathtub with no memory of who he is or why he is there. After receiving a call from a doctor (Sutherland) telling him that someone is coming for him and to get out of the hotel now, he tries to piece his life together and while evading the police inspector (played by Hurt) trying to arrest him, reconnect with a wife he does not remember (Connelly), avoid a weird group of people called "The Strangers" who are after him, and trying to figure out what is going on in a strange city where the sun never comes up. 

The 4k set is a two-disc set released by Arrow Films in 2025, containing two UHD discs: one with the theatrical version of the film and one with the director's cut. The significant difference between the two is that the director's cut eliminates the voice-over that opens the theatrical version and reveals a substantial portion of the plot upfront. It also includes some deleted and extended scenes that add about 10 minutes to the runtime of the theatrical version. Each disc features bonus content, including multiple commentary tracks (five on the director's cut disc and two on the theatrical version disc), behind-the-scenes and making-of material, and the trailer. Most of the bonus content is archival material from the 2008 release, but a couple of commentary tracks and featurettes are new for this 2025 release. For example, the director's cut features a 2008 commentary track by Proyas and a 2025 commentary track. Each is very different. In the 2008 commentary, Proyas primarily focuses on describing the current scene, whereas his 2025 track is more of a retrospective on the movie, including the casting and filming process. In the 2025 commentary, he does not always discuss what is happening in the currently playing scene. The discs are held in a keep case that also includes a postcard from Shell Beach, Dr. Schreber's business card, a couple of art cards, and a poster. It also has a 60-page booklet with facts and commentary about the film. The keep case and booklet are held in a decorative outer box. The bonus material on the discs is very good. It would have been nice if Connelly and Sutherland had been included in the updated content (although one of the new bonus features does include Sewell).

The movie is difficult to categorize, as it blends genres. It combines horror, action, sci-fi, dystopian nightmare, and film noir elements. It is often compared to The Matrix, which was released a year after this one and overshadowed it. While there are definitely many similarities to The Matrix, this film tells a much different story. It is well-written and acted, and the story has some twists in it that are not predictable. It is not perfect, as it was a much lower-budget film than The Matrix, and Proyas had to make concessions with the story to get the movie made, which kept it from being exactly what he wanted. Ultimately, it is a very good and very underrated film that got lost in the shuffle after The Matrix became a huge hit. It is absolutely worth watching. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Ocean's 8

 

Ocean's 8 is a 2018 film starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Awkwafina, and Mindy Kaling. It  is partly a continuation and partly a reboot of the modern-day Ocean's movie franchise. The storyline centers on the character of Debbie Ocean (played by Sandra Bullock), the sister of Danny Ocean (George Clooney's character from Ocean's 11, 12, and 13). At the beginning of the film, she is being released from prison, much as he was in Ocean's 11. Of course, upon her release from prison, she ends up planning a heist. Specifically, the robbery of a 150-million-dollar necklace during the Met Gala. She heads an all-female crew, including Cate Blanchett (whose character mirrors Brad Pitt's character), Mindy Kaling, Sarah Paulson, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna, and Awkwafina. Anne Hathaway plays the actress whose neck the necklace needs to be removed from. James Corden also has a pretty hilarious supporting role.

I will not give away too much of the plot for those who have not seen it. It does have a similar feel to the other movies, especially how the details of the heist are laid out at the end. While Soderberg did not direct the film, he was a producer on it. So, while the style of the movie differed somewhat from the prior films, it retained some of the overall feel. There are a couple of cameos from the Ocean's 11 cast. If more movies are made, it definitely leaves room for other original cast members to appear, but the story was written in such a way that this could be the final film in the franchise.

The 4k set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the 4k disc is outstanding, and the movie looks and sounds great in the UHD format. Like most, the UHD disc has only the movie itself, and then the bonus features are on the regular blu-ray. The extras include a few minutes of deleted scenes, then a few behind-the-scenes and making-of featurettes. Probably about 40 minutes of material. Good for what is there, but not a ton (especially compared to the Ocean's trilogy blu-ray set).

I cannot say that everyone will like this. Given that it is rebooting a popular movie franchise (which itself was a reboot), there are going to be people who hate it because it does not feature the original cast or because it is ripping off the original story. Personally, I think it was well done and paid homage nicely to the prior movies without being a carbon copy of what has come before. Like the previous films, it requires some suspension of disbelief to buy into the story and everything that happens. Ultimately, it effectively updates the franchise and is worth watching.

Blu-Ray/Movie Collection Review: Die Hard 5-Movie Collection

 

This is the five-movie blu-ray set for the Die Hard movie franchise, including the original 1988 film Die Hard, and the four sequels: 1990's Die Hard 2, 1995's Die Hard With a Vengeance, 2007's Live Free or Die Hard, and 2013's A Good Day to Die Hard. There have been a few different iterations of the movies put out on blu-ray, including sets that just had 3, then 4 of the five total (at least to date) movies. I believe there have also been a couple of different versions of the five-movie set as well. Each film starred Bruce Willis as John McClane, an NYPD detective who is thrown into the middle of crazy situations. The supporting cast throughout the franchise included Alan Rickman, Reginald VelJohnson, Bonnie Bedelia, William Sadler, Franco Nero, John Amos, Dennis Franz, Jeremy Irons, Samuel L. Jackson, Justin Long, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Timothy Olyphant, Maggie Q., Kevin Smith, and Jai Courtney.

Chances are most people who are interested in getting the set are fans of the movies and have seen them all at least once. Pretty much everyone agrees that the first movie, put out in 1988 is iconic, not only because it saw Bruce Willis transition from a TV star to an action movie star, but also was a breakout performance for Alan Rickman (who is probably best known for his role as Snape in the Harry Potter franchise) as the great villain, Hans Gruber. The first film was a movie about a NY city cop who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time in Los Angeles in a building taken over by terrorists. As the franchise went on, the movies took on a larger scale, required more suspension of disbelief, and, at least in my opinion, never really equaled the quality of the first movie.

The sequels were of varying quality. I think there are varying opinions on which is the best and which is the worst of the sequels, but I think everyone agrees that having the 4th movie release with a PG-13 rating for the theatrical version was a big mistake. In all of them, for various reasons, Willis' character is an imperfect hero who ends up in outrageous situations where he has to take down a bunch of bad guys. That part of the storyline never really deviates throughout the franchise, but they manage to pull it off by not having the movies be carbon copies of each other.

The A/V quality varies from film to film. Of course, the A/V quality of the later movies is better than that of the early films; however, each movie received at least a decent HD transfer. There are a lot of extras for each movie. The 4th and 5th movies have the most behind-the-scenes and making-of material, and all of them have deleted and/or extended scenes, at least one commentary track, and other extras (like a gag reel, trailers, and TV spots, etc,) vary from movie-to-movie.

Overall, the Die Hard franchise is meant to be fun, summer-action movies. They do not have award-winning acting and writing, even though there have been many good to great actors appearing (Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons, Timothy Olyphant, Alan Rickman, etc.). If you accept that, they are fun movies, and for people who are big fans of the franchise, you get a lot of extras to watch (more than the total running time of all the movies combined). For casual fans, this set may be a bit much, however, and you may just want to get the individual movie(s) you like. Ultimately, the first movie is a must-see for fans of Willis or action movies in general. The others may not appeal to everyone, but they are worth checking out, and this set is definitely worth picking up for fans of the franchise. 

DVD/Movie Review: Sleepy Hollow

 

Sleepy Hollow is a 1999 horror film starring Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, and Christopher Walken. This version is an adaptation of the story written and directed by Tim Burton (post his departure from the Batman movies). Johnny Depp plays Ichabod Crane, and Christina Ricci plays Katrina Van Tassel, the daughter of the richest man in Sleepy Hollow, whose residents are being picked off by The Headless Horesman (played by Christopher Walken and Ray Park performing the stunts). The supporting cast includes Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Ian McDiramand, Christopher Lee (yes, Palpatine, Darth Maul, and Count Dooku in the same non-Star Wars movie), and Michael Gough (among others).

The DVD release had an okay video transfer. The extras included deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes material, and a commentary track by Tim Burton. Overall, a good amount of material for those who like bonus content.

The movie was excellent, with great acting and writing. It was an interesting choice to make Crane as eccentric as he was in the story, but not as goofy looking as he was written in the book (although Depp was willing to wear prosthetics). The love story between Depp and Ricci's characters was a bit creepy given their age difference, but there were no actual love/sex scenes between the two. The movie is very violent and gory (given the beheadings), so it is definitely not appropriate for young kids. Overall, however, it is a great adaptation of the story that is worth watching.

Blu-Ray/Movie Collection Review: The Oceans Trilogy

 

The Ocean's trilogy is a collection of three movies, starting with the 2001 remake of Ocean's 11 (which originally starred The Rat Pack), followed by the 2004 and 2007 sequels, Ocean's 12 and Ocean's 13. The core cast members of the updated version and the sequels included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, and Andy Garcia. The supporting cast included Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Carl Reiner, Elliot Gould, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, and Shaobo Qin. The rest of the cast changed from film to film, but included Vincent Cassel, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Izzard, Albert Finney, Cherry Jones, Ellen Barkin, Al Pacino, and David Paymer. 

The basic storyline of the first movie is that a group of thieves led by George Clooney and Brad Pitt put together and execute a plan to steal 160 million dollars from a Vegas casino owner (played by Andy Garcia). The sequels stood mostly on their own, essentially as revenge stories. Ocean's 12 and 13 were very different, with Ocean's 12 essentially being an extension of the storyline from the first film, and Ocean's 13 having a more stand-alone story. They are all directed by Steven Soderbergh and maintained the same production team, which I think allowed the films to be cohesive, keeping a similar tone and feel, without being carbon copies of each other. 

The blu-ray set is a four-disc set. The A/V quality of the blu-rays is good, but is probably not what A/V enthusiasts would consider reference quality. Ocean's 13 definitely looks the best of the three. Each movie is on its own disc and includes at least one commentary track, deleted/extended scenes, and some behind-the-scenes material (such as the HBO first looks), specific to the particular movie. The Ocean's 13 disc also includes a feature on real-life heists (such as the MIT card-counting group). Then there is a separate blu-ray with more bonus material around two hours worth of extras that spanned all three movies. 

The movies were well-written and acted. Each film had a mix of comedy and drama, with some action included here and there. Ultimately, if you are a fan of the movies and like watching the bonus material, this is definitely a good pickup.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Cheeky!

 

Cheeky is an Italian erotic comedy from 2000, starring Yulia Mayarchuk, Francessca Nunzi, and Jarno Berardi, and directed by Tinto Brass. It was released in Italy under the name Tra(sgre)dire, which is a play on the words transgress and cheat in Italian. In it, Mayarchuk plays Carla, who has recently moved to London from Venice to begin a job working as an intern at the front desk of a hotel. While looking for an apartment that she hopes to share with her jealous, possessive boyfriend (played by Berardi), she is seduced by a real estate agent (played by Nunzi). 

The 4k Set is a two-disc set, containing a UHD disc and a standard blu-ray disc. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is very good, especially for a low-budget 25-year-old international film. The film has the original Italian audio track and a dubbed English audio track (which it defaults to). It can be played with English captions that do not always match the actual dialogue. The film also has a commentary track by film critics Eugenio Ercolani and Nathanial Thompson, in which they discuss the film and Brass's larger body of work. The only other extra on the UHD disc are trailers for some of Brass' other films. The rest of the bonus material is on the regular blu-ray disc. Those include an archival backstage interview with Brass, some still photos from the film, a discussion with the cinematographer, Massimo Di Venanzo, in which he mostly talks about his career and how he began working with Brass, but does not discuss much about Cheeky at all, and an isolated score that just plays the music of the film over one of the still photos. It also comes with an illustrated booklet that discusses the film's controversial nature.

Cheeky is one of Brass's later films. It also marked a turn for him. He was known for making erotic movies, but he had been very much against making explicit films. He famously wanted his name removed from Caligula (which is the film he is probably best known for, at least in the United States) after the explicit material was added in without his knowledge after principal photography was complete. While this film did not feature actual sex, it got very close. Mayarchuk is in almost every scene, and is nude probably 90% of the time and partially nude the rest of the time, including very close-in shots that are akin to what you would see in Penthouse magazine back in the day. It is much more explicit than what you would see in the soft-core "Skinemax" type movies, but not quite what you would get in an unedited hardcore pornographic film. There is some full frontal male nudity as well, but most of that is done with prosthetics. Ultimately, this is a cult film that will probably only appeal to those familiar with Brass's other works. The movie itself is quite bad, but the quality of the writing and acting wasn't really the point. It does have a plot, but it is very much secondary to the sex scenes, of which there are many. If you do not expect it to be more than it is, it is entertaining. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Collection Review: Police Academy 1-7: The Complete Collection

 

Police Academy was a rather prolific series of comedy movies (at least at first) during the 1980s. They were put out in rapid succession every year from 1984-1989, and the final movie (yes, there are actually seven in all) was released in 1994, at which point the series was (thankfully) put out of its misery after the final two horrible entries.

The first movie, starring Steve Guttenberg, Kim Cattrall, G. W. Bailey, Bubba Smith, David Graf, Michael Winslow, Leslie Easterbrook, George Gaynes, and G.W. Bailey, is by far the best movie of the bunch. The subsequent movies varied in quality, with two and three being the best of the sequels (in my opinion), and the last two movies being the worst. The seventh movie was just plain stupid, with a bad plot, stupid sound effects inserted, and a feeling that what was left of the original cast was really just going through the motions. Steve Guttenberg stopped returning to the movies after Police Academy 4, which is the point where they should have really stopped.

This set is a seven-disc set, packaged in three keep cases (three discs in the first case and two in each of the other two) that can be kept in a decorative outer box. While it is a UK release, it seems like the set is region-free. I did not try playing them on a Region 1 player, but I have a region-free player, which, aside from one exception I have come across so far, can play DVDs and Blu-ray discs from anywhere, and it plays this set just fine. The extras vary from movie to movie. Each disc has a behind-the-scenes feature, which includes interviews with the cast and filmmakers. The length of them varies, with the longest being the one for the first movie (at about 25 minutes, give or take), and the others being around 7- 8 minutes. Then some of the discs may or may not include commentary tracks on the films, deleted scenes, trailers, specific character profiles, etc. It seems most of the interviews were conducted around 2004, before Bubba Smith and David Graf passed away, as they were both included in the interviews.

Overall, this set is a good, inexpensive way to get all of the movies in one collection. Even the best of them never tried to be more than they were, used very tongue-in-cheek comedy, and never took themselves too seriously. Over time, they became more and more slapstick and almost a caricature of themselves. The movies do have a lot of swearing, some violence, sexual jokes, and some include brief nudity, so the films definitely earned their R ratings. But, for those of us who grew up with the original movie, it is a fun blast from the past. Ultimately, if you are a fan of 80s comedies and/or a fan of the series, this is worth adding to a physical media collection.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Bolero

 

Bolero is a 1984 romantic drama starring Bo Derek, George Kennedy, Andrea Occhipinti, Ana Obregon, Olivia d'Abo, and Greg Bensen. It was written and directed by Bo Derek's husband, John. The plot involves an orphan heir to a massive fortune named Ayre "Mac" McGillvary (played by Bo Derek) looking for the right man to take her virginity after she graduates from college. She travels the world with her best friend, Catalina (played by Obergon), and chauffeur, Cotton (played by Kennedy), looking for the perfect man.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is good, but not outstanding. Given that it was a low-budget B-movie when released, it is not surprising that it did not receive a high-quality HD restoration. There are no bonus features with the release, just the movie itself, which can be played with English captions.

It was a very controversial movie for its time, because of sex scenes that rival the soft-core "Skinemax" movies, and the fact that d'Abo, who was 14 when the movie was filmed, appeared nude (although not close up, and not in sex scenes). It could not get a traditional release because it would have received an X-rating (even though there are no explicit sex scenes) since the NC-17 rating did not exist at the time. The movie itself is bad. The acting and writing were horrible, but anyone who is old enough to remember Bo Derek's heyday knows that her movies were not made because of their award-winning content. They were made because she was hot and willing to get naked at the drop of a hat. It was a bit funny to have Derek, who was almost 30 when the film was released, playing a 23-year-old recent college grad, but again, the details were not important. The movie does have a lot of nudity and several sex scenes, so it is not family-friendly. Ultimately, it is not a movie that you would watch because you want to see quality acting and writing, but if you are into cheesy 80s movies that show a lot of skin, it is worth checking out. 

DVD/Movie Review: ...And God Created Woman

 

And God Created Woman is the 1956 French romantic drama starring Brigitte Bardot, Curd Jurgens, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Marie Glory, Georges Poujouly, and Christian Marquand. It was directed by Bardot's then-husband, Roger Vadim. The movie is set in San-Tropez, France, where Bardot's character, Juliette, is an 18-year-old orphan whose outrageous (for the time) behavior makes her the subject of town gossip. To prevent her from being sent back to the orphanage until she turns 21, the town's wealthy real-estate developer tries to convince the eldest brother (Antione) of the family, whose land he is trying to purchase, to marry Juliette. While she wants to marry Antione, he is not interested in marrying her. His younger brother Michel, who is infatuated with Juliette, proposes to her, which she begrudgingly accepts. 

The Criterion DVD remasters the film quite well. It is not on the level of a Blu-ray or 4K-UHD high-quality restoration, but the film looks very good. The movie only has a French audio track (it does not have the English dubbed track that some versions of the movie include), but it can be played with English captions. It has a few bonus features, including the theatrical trailer (which is in English) and a featurette on the remastering process. 

The movie is definitely dated and feels like a product of the 1950s. It was, of course, the film that launched Bardot's popularity into the stratosphere as a sex symbol. It was also Vadim's (who should have been named "lucky bastard" since he married Bardot when she was 18, married Jane Fonda in her mid-20s, and dated several other gorgeous actresses) first film as a director. It does have some quick flashes of nudity, although you cannot really see much aside from a quick flash of side-boob, and some violence (highlighted by a hilariously awful fight scene about a third of the way through the movie). Ultimately, even though it would likely be made quite differently today than it was in 1956, and would probably not be found as entertaining or controversial today as it was back then, if you are a fan of classic films, it is worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Barbarella

 

Barbarella is the 1968 Sci-Fi cult-classic starring Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law, Milo O'Shea, Anita Pallenberg, Ugo Tognazzi, David Hemmings, Marcel Marceau, and Claude Dauphin. It was directed by Fonda's husband at the time, Roger Vadim, and produced by the famous Italian producer, Dino De Laurentiis. It was based on and adapted from a French comic book. The movie itself is bad. The writing and acting are god-awful, and the plot is silly. It was mostly a comedy (or what passed for comedy in the late 1960s) and was very tongue-in-cheek and campy (similar to the 1960s Batman TV series). It did have some (very bad) action, a slight political message, and a heavy anti-war message (based on the free-love hippie culture of the time). Of course, Fonda would become a highly controversial figure in the 1970s due to her protests against the Vietnam War, including visiting Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam. 

Despite having a very high budget (for the time), everything about the movie looks cheap and fake. Obviously, special effects in the late 1960s were nothing like what they are today; however, if you compare this film to the other major Sci-Fi classic that came out the same year, 2001, the difference is night and day. However, the movie does feature Fonda (who was an absolute smoke-show back then) in skimpy revealing outfits, and nude during the opening credits. Sadly, Fonda actually had an eating disorder at the time the movie was being made, so the outfits they put her in probably did not help that. The plot involves Barbarella (played by Fonda), who is a space traveler and representative of Earth (which, at some time in the future around the year 40,000, has become a peaceful utopia), being sent to the Tau Ceti planetary system to track down a rogue scientist named Durand Durand (played by O'Shea), who has created a weapon with the power to destroy humanity. There, she has sex with pretty much everyone she meets in exchange for help tracking Durand down. 

The 4K set is a two-disc set, containing a UHD disc and a standard Blu-ray disc. The A/V quality is very good, but it definitely exposes the limitations of the late 1960s special and practical effects. The UHD disc contains the movie and a handful of extras (alternate opening and closing credit sequences). The movie can be played with an audio commentary track by film critic Tim Lucas. The standard Blu-Ray contains hours of bonus content, most of which was produced in 2003 specifically for the 4K release by Arrow Films. The longest feature is a zoom discussion between Tim Lucas and comic book artist Steve Bissette, in which they discuss the movie, the comic it was adapted from, and the influence it had on similar films and comics, and pop culture in general (such as inspiring the name of the 1980s British pop group, Duran Duran, which was probably the best thing that resulted from the film's popularity). Additionally, the release includes behind-the-scenes footage, photo stills (which feature both promotional and behind-the-scenes images), interviews with some of the surviving cast and crew members, the theatrical trailer, and radio spots. Notably, Fonda does not appear in any of the updated bonus features. 

Ultimately, the movie is a product of the late 1960s that does not hold up particularly well, aside from being a cult classic. It is not necessarily a movie that you will watch because you want to see award-winning entertainment (unless you count the Razzies), but it is entertaining in its own way. And, if you like physical media releases with a lot of bonus content, this has you covered. I cannot say that the film will appeal to everyone, but if you like campy sci-fi that is "so bad it's good", this is worth watching. 

DVD.Movie Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny

 

Sword of Destiny is a sequel to the 2000 movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It stars Michelle Yeoh (who was the only cast member from the original film to return for the sequel), Donnie Yen, Natasha Liu Bordizzo, Jason Scott Lee, Harry Shum Jr., Eugenia Yuan, Roger Yuan, JuJu Chan, Chris Pang, Woo Young Park, and Darryl Quon. The movie is set 18 years after the events of the first film. In the movie, we learn a bit more about Shu Lien's (Yeoh's character) past and the man to whom she was betrothed. There is another fight for, and an attempt to steal, the Green Destiny, which is still at the home of the recently deceased Ser Te, and then there are some weird side plots.

The DVD is clearly not an official release. It can be played in a variety of languages (defaulting to Chinese), with an English audio track also available. The movie was actually filmed in English, even though it was released in Hong Kong and China before being released in the US. Therefore, if you watch it with the English audio track, you won't have to sit through bad overdubbing. It is also captioned in a few different languages, including English, but the English captions do not even slightly match what the characters are saying in the English audio track. Even though the DVD menu indicates there are bonus features, there is no way to select "bonus" from the menu; you can only play the movie, navigate the scene selection, or choose the audio and captions. The A/V quality is only okay, and there are some really bad (and cheesy) CGI effects in a couple of scenes.

The movie is okay, but nowhere near as good as the original film. It appears that the script was written with the hope that Zhang Ziyi would reprise her character from the first movie, and then the script was slightly altered when she did not. It features some good action sequences, some of which pay homage to scenes from the first film. I think it would have been better as a straight sequel to the first movie, telling what happened to Jen after she jumped from the mountain, and what Shu Lien did after Li Mu Bai's death. Ultimately, it is not a must-watch, but if you liked the first movie, it is interesting to check out. 

4k-UHD/Movie Review: American Pie 2 (Deluxe Collector's Edition) [UK Import]

 

American Pie 2 is the 2001 follow-up to 1999's unexpected hit comedy, American Pie. All the primary cast members (Jason Biggs, Seann William Scott, Chris Klein, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Tara Reid, Alyson Hannigan, Shannon Elizabeth, Eugene Levy, Mena Suvari, Natasha Lyonne, and Thomas Ian Nicholas) return for the sequel, as do many of the supporting cast, including Chris Owen, John Cho, Casey Affleck, Molly Cheeks, Jennifer Coolidge, and Eli Marienthal. The new cast members in this film include Denise Faye, Lisa Arturo, JoAnna Garcia, and Joelle Carter. 

The story is set a year after the events of the first movie, as the characters' first year of college is ending, and they go back home for the summer. In an attempt to rekindle the post-high school weirdness, the friends decide to rent a house on Lake Michigan for the summer, with the plan to throw a massive blowout party at the end of the summer. Of course, hijinks ensue, and the group ultimately learn something by the end of the film. 

The 4K set is a two-disc set containing a UHD disc and a regular Blu-ray disc. This is an import set from the UK, so while the UHD disc is region-free and can be played on a Region 1 4K player, the Blu-Ray disc is region-locked, so you will need a Region 2 player to watch it (which is really only an issue if you want to watch the bonus content, aside from the commentary tracks). The UHD disc includes both the theatrical and unrated versions of the movie and all four commentary tracks (one by the director J.B. Rogers, one by the writer Adam Herz, one by cast members Jason Biggs, Thomas Ian Nicholas, and Mena Suvari, and one by cast member Eddie Kaye Thomas) on the theatrical version. Both Rodgers and Herz's commentary tracks provide a lot of insight into the film and the process of getting it made, changes that were made, etc. The commentary with Biggs, Suvari, and Ian Nicholas is the most entertaining as they spend most of the time joking with each other. Thomas provides some insight into the movie, but he is a bit dry, and there are long stretches when he does not say anything (probably because he is by himself when it was recorded). The unrated version of the film adds about five minutes to the runtime and essentially extends a few scenes, but does not add anything significant to the storyline.

The rest of the bonus features are on the regular Blu-Ray. Some (like the deleted scenes, music video, trailer, etc.) were carried over from the original DVD release, but not everything from the original release is included on this release, so if you have the original DVD, you may want to keep it. Other bonus content includes featurettes on the changed Oz and Heather storyline, and the storyline with Stifler's dad that was ultimately cut from the movie.

The movie is a good follow-up to the original. While the tone (and many of the jokes) echo those of the first movie (especially in the beginning), it is not a carbon copy of the original film. There are some very funny moments and some dramatic moments in the film. The roles of the various characters underwent significant changes as the movie shifted its focus to Jim and Michelle's relationship. As a result, characters like Vicky and Kevin received much less screen time, while Hannigan's role expanded considerably in this movie compared to the first. Oz and Heather's story was supposed to be quite different, but it got changed during reshoots, as did Stifler's storyline, which changed the amount of screen time those characters received. Eugene Levy received similar screen time and served a similar function to his role in the first film. Shannon Elizabeth had a bit more screen time than she did in the first film (unfortunately, she does not get naked in this one), but she is mostly seen talking on the phone until the movie's third act. 

The movie does earn its R-rating, as it does have a lot of raunchy comedy, swearing, sexual dialogue, and nudity. Ultimately, it is a good movie about how life and relationships change after high school, whether you want them to or not. If you liked or loved the first movie, this one (while probably not quite as good as the first film) is worth watching.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the martial arts masterpiece of a film from 2000. It was directed by Ang Lee and starred Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Cheng Pei-Pei, Chang Chen, Xian Gao, and Sihung Lung. The story is set in 19th-century Imperial China. Fat and Yeoh play two master warriors named Li Mu Bai and Shu Lien. Bai is a Wudang swordsman. He and Shu Lien head a private security company. The two are in love, but because Shu Lien had been engaged to Li Mu Bai's close friend, they do not act on their feelings. Li Mu Bai is also grieving the murder of his teacher by a mysterious woman named Jade Fox (played by Pei-Pei), and decides to retire, giving his sword, Green Destiny, to Shu Lien to bring to their benefactor, Sir Te. She brings the sword to Sir Te's palace, where he is hosting a Governor and his family in advance of Governor Yu's daughter, Jen (played by Ziyi). The Green Destiny is stolen, which sets off the rest of the film's plot. 

The 4k-set is a two-disc set released in 2016 containing a UHD disc and a regular blu-ray disc, each containing the identical content. The A/V quality is outstanding. Both the audio and video of the UHD disc are at or near reference-quality. Although I will note that some of the audio seemed out of synch with the video upon my first viewing.  I think, however, that was my 4k player's fault, rather than a problem with the disc. 

Most of the bonus content from the prior physical media releases is included in this release, and there is some new bonus material created for the 4k release. There are two commentary tracks on the movie. The first is with director Ang Lee and screenwriter James Schamus. The second is by the cinematographer Peter Pau. Both commentary tracks provide a wealth of information about the film. Pau's is particularly enlightening because he explained how they pulled off all the visual effects on a very limited budget, which meant that the film had very few CGI effects. Then, there is a conversation with Michelle Yeoh and a photo gallery that was carried over from prior releases. New for this release is an introduction to the film by Ang Lee, several deleted scenes, a making-of featurette that includes some footage from the original making-of material included on the original release, and two versions of the music videa for the film's ending credits song, A Love Before Time (one in English and one in Mandarin). The most extensive bonus feature is a three-part retrospective on the movie that includes interviews with Lee, Schamus, and the movie's editor, Tim Squyres. 

The movie was a surprise hit, especially given that it was filmed in China, all of the dialogue was in Mandarin, and it played in US theaters with English Subtitles, had a cast made up of actors who were not extremely famous in the United States. Fat and Yeoh were pretty big international stars, and Pei-Pei was well-known in Hong Kong and China. This was the first major film role for Ziyi, who really had to carry much of the movie, especially during the half-hour-long flashback sequence in the middle of the film. Although she was only 19 when the movie was filmed, she did a wonderful job. Even though she was not billed as the movie's lead, she ended up being the lead. The movie came on the heels of the first Matrix film (and used the same stunt coreographers) and really (along with the first Rush Hour film, which was released a couple of years earlier) revitalized the martial arts movie genre. Unlike Rush Hour, this one incorporated fantasy elements into the story, such as the ability of some characters to "fly" (actually jump and soar, kind of like how Superman initially flew in the comics), which required a lot of wirework by the actors. Interestingly, Fat had never done a similar movie to this in his career, which was pretty extensive before this film, and Ziyi had a dance background, with no formal martial arts training. Yeoh, who had been in many martial arts films before this one, tore her ACL early on in filming, so the filmmakers had to use a lot of tricks to make it look like she was more mobile than she actually was. All the actors did an extremely good job with the action sequences and the dramatic moments. 

Unlike some martial arts films, it has a very good story. It is a bit harder to follow the story because you have to read subtitles while trying to watch what is going on (unless, of course, you understand Mandarin). Even so, the story is not that difficult to follow, even having to rely on subtitles. The only time it gets tough is when the characters are talking during the action sequences, so you have to try to read what they are saying and watch the action. While it does have a lot of fighting and some character deaths, there is not a lot of gore. There is also some sexual content, but no nudity. Ultimately, it is a wonderful movie that is worth watching and is a must-see for anyone who is a practitioner of martial arts and/or a fan of martial arts movies.