Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Hitch

 

Hitch is a 2005 movie directed by Andy Tennant and starring Will Smith, Kevin James, Amber Valletta, and Eva Mendez. In the movie, Smith plays a "date doctor" named Alexander Hitchens, who coaches men on how to pick up women with the goal of dating them versus just hooking up. James plays Albert Brennaman, who works at an investment firm and hires Hitch to help him get one of the firm's celebrity clients (played by Valletta) on a date. In the meantime, Hitch starts to fall for Mendez's character, who is a workaholic gossip columnist.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is okay, but not outstanding. Given, however, that the film is not a special-effects-laden blockbuster, most people will be fine with the quality of the transfer. The blu-ray has a handful of extras, including a gag reel, a couple of behind-the-scenes featurettes, and trailers for a few different movies. The movie is a fairly good, tongue-in-cheek romantic comedy. When the movie does not take itself too seriously and almost spoofs "typical" romantic comedies, it is very good. It is funny in a lot of parts, and the actors have (or seem to have) very good chemistry. Then, for some reason, it feels the need to become a "typical" romantic comedy and do almost the exact opposite of what it did for the first 3/4 of the movie. If they had stuck to its original formula, I think it would have been perfect. 

Kevin James was the total scene-stealer in the movie. He was never afraid of making a fool of himself, and you could tell that he and Will Smith were having a lot of fun working off each other. Eva Mendes plays bitter and jaded very well and she showed she has very good comedic chops and can do more than just be eye candy. Ultimately, it is a good date night movie that can get kind of schlocky at the end. While that does keep the movie from being as good as it could have been, it does not take away from the entire thing. It is definitely worth the time to watch.

DVD/Movie Review: Hide and Seek (Minor Spoilers)

 

Hide and Seek is a 2005 movie directed by John Polson and starring Robert De Niro, Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen, Elisabeth Shue, and Amy Irving. De Niro plays David Callaway, a psychologist who moves with his daughter Emily (played by Fanning) to upstate New York after his wife (Irving) commits suicide. Emily reveals that she has a friend named Charlie, whom David assumes is an imaginary friend, and starts to become more and more worried for his daughter as "Charlie" becomes violent. 

The DVD has several bonus features, including a commentary track with the director and screenwriter, several alternate endings, deleted scenes, rough scenes that are a mix of live-action and storyboards, and a making-of featurette.  You can also watch the movie with the alternate endings or just watch the alternate endings on their own. The movie is a good, but not great, thriller. I thought De Niro did a good job being crazy when he was let loose at the end of the film. But you could really see what was going to happen with his character a mile away. Dakota Fanning did an excellent job with her part and was really able to convey a range of emotions that someone her age usually cannot pull off. It is in part because of her great acting you can tell what happens with De Niro's character. Her reactions to him were perfect. The rest of the film, however, was pretty formulaic. From the potential love interest, the creepy next-door neighbor, and the mistrusting sheriff. I just think that there was not a ton of originality to the script. A lot of that got saved by the acting, but it could have been better. Even so, it is worth watching if you are looking for a thriller/suspense movie. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Haywire

 

Haywire is a 2011 action movie directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Gina Carano (who at this time was best known for her MMA career), Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, and Ewan McGregor. In it, Carano plays a black-ops agent named Mallory Kane, who is burned and targeted for assassination. She has to unravel a conspiracy in order to clear her name.

When it comes to athletes turned actors, I define the spectrum as The Rock at one end (very good, lots of charisma) and Hulk Hogan/Jesse Ventura at the other (can't act their way out of a wet paper bag). Carano falls somewhere in between. She definitely does not have the charisma of The Rock, and in this movie is very raw. She obviously has been in other movies and TV shows since this movie and has gotten somewhat better, but she was extremely green when this movie was made, and you can tell that the script was written with that in mind. Carano was absolutely not good at conveying a range of emotions (and still is not) or even conveying much emotion beyond being mad and/or irritated. Her performance here is best described as wooden. You could not tell the difference between any emotional state. She looked the same being serious, angry, horny, and scared. Part of that is also due to the character she is playing, a black-ops operative who keeps her emotions bottled up. But it seems like she is basically there to look pretty and fight, which she does well doing most, if not all, of her own stunts. The movie was also made well before her controversial social-media posts that got her fired from the Star Wars franchise.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray release is very good, and there are a couple of extras. The first and most extensive is a 16-minute feature on Carano that touches on her MMA background and her training for the movie. The second is a 5-minute feature on the men in the movie, featuring interviews with all the male cast members except Douglas. Ultimately, the movie is good but not great. It definitely helped that the movie had a good backing ensemble cast that you can tell was put in place to support the fact that Carano was green. Unfortunately, the script was such that even the A-list actors in the cast could not do much. All that said, if you are into action movies and can handle a so-so script and marginal acting ability from Carano, this can be enjoyable and is worth the time to watch. The movie does not take itself too seriously and does not drag on too long. If, however, you are a casual fan of action movies, you may not like this one.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Heartbreak Kid

 

The Heartbreak Kid is a 2007 comedy starring Ben Stiller, Malin Akerman, Michelle Monaghan, Jerry Stiller, Rob Corddry, and Danny McBride. The movie was directed by the Farrelly brothers. The plot is pretty simple. A lifelong bachelor named Eddie (Ben Stiller) finally decides to get married, but only after knowing the bride, Lila (Akerman) for a few weeks. On the way to and during the honeymoon, he discovers she is totally crazy and, while on his honeymoon, starts to fall for Monaghan's character, Miranda.

The A/V quality of the blu-ray is excellent. While there is not much (if any) in the way of special effects or CGI, the location shots look wonderful, and the video transfer looks especially good on a large screen. The extras include a commentary track by the Farrelly brothers, deleted scenes, a gag reel, the trailers, and a handful of behind-the-scenes featurettes. If you are expecting a traditional romantic comedy, this is not it. It is more like a spoof of a romantic comedy, with jokes that can get very vulgar. So if those kinds of comedies are not something you find entertaining, then stay away from this one. Malin Ackerman totally plays up the crazy role and runs with the totally over-the-top jokes. The part of the movie that is the more traditional romantic comedy is when Stiller's character meets Miranda and tries to woo her, but it is coupled with trying to keep her from learning about his wife. 

Ultimately, this is a good comedy that is definitely not family-friendly or for those who don't like the more vulgar kind of humor. There is a lot of swearing and sexual content (both nudity and sex jokes) in the movie. If you are offended by that kind of material, it is best to avoid this one, but if you do like that kind of humor, then it is worth checking out.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 51

Day 51 was Legs in Lift 4 and Speed 1.0 in T25. I did have to modify more of the exercises in T25 than I wanted to, but when I did the HIIT portion of Lift 4, I was able to modify less. So, it was a bit of a wash today. Overall, however, they both went fairly well.  

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 50

Day 50 was the start of week 8 in Lift 4 which was the chest and back workout and Cardio 1.0 from T25. 

Chest and Back was a circuit workout, with four exercises in each block and, of course, three sets of each exercise. Even without cardio, my heart rate was elevated for most of the workout, and I did break a sweat toward the end. The T25 workout went well, and I could again do more unmodified exercises throughout the workout.

Book Review: Star Wars: Escape from Valo

 

Escape from Valo is one of the Phase 3 High-Republic era Star Wars novels. This is a junior novel written by Daniel Older and Alyssa Wong and published in 2024. The Phase 3 novels bring the storyline back to the "present" time, which is about 230 years before the events of A New Hope. The events of the book are set on Valo, which was the planet that hosted the Galactic Fair that was attacked by the Nihil. The story is set about a year after the Nihil's destruction of the Starlight Beacon and the construction of their Stormwall, which keeps the Republic and the Jedi out of Nihil territory while trapping several Jedi and Republic worlds inside. In this book, Ram Jomaram, who was introduced in the junior novel Race to Crashpoint Tower, is making life difficult for the Nihil by launching raids pretending to be a Sith calling himself The Scarlet Skull. A group of Jedi younglings (and Nihil) track him down, and the book then becomes a cat-and-mouse chase with the Jedi trying to save one of their own and avoid one of the Nameless/Levelers.

The hardcover version of the book is moderately long (especially for a junior novel), at just under 370 pages. The book does advance the main storyline a bit, by showing that Levelers can be killed, but for the most part, the storyline is ancillary to the adult novels. Ultimately, I would say that the story is okay but the book is not one of the must-read books from the High-Republic era novels. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 49

For day 49. I just did the modified version of the 15-minute cardio workout from 645. It went well and I found that in the jumping pulse squats because of all the squats in Lift 4 and T45, I could do the 30 seconds in each of the three rounds without modifying.  

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 48

For Day 48, I just did the two recovery routines from Lift 4. They went exactly the same as they did on Wednesday. There was no increased flexibility or mobility, but neither had decreased either.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 47

Day 47 was speed 1.0 and Full-Body HIIT. Each of them was hard, and I did have to modify each of them a lot. Full-body HIIT has a lot of push-ups (there are push-ups in each of the three blocks), and you have to switch between getting up and down very quickly. After the three regular blocks are finished, you do each of the 6 exercises back-to-back for 30 seconds with no break. So, by the end most people will be toast. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 46

Day 46 was shoulders and arms from Lift 4 and Cardio 1.0 from T25. The shoulders and arms workout was a tough circuit workout that went fast and was hard to get through, even with moderate weight. Again, I could do more of the speed 1.0 workout unmodified, but I cannot get through the entire thing without modifying yet.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 45

Day 45 was the recovery day in Lift 4, meaning I did the two recovery workouts. Then, I did the 15-minute cardio workout from 645 but altered it a bit. I did not do any of the plank-based exercises or the kicktroughs. I swapped those three out for soccer sprints, speed skaters, and high-knee runs from Lift 4 since those get my heart rate up and don't work the chest.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 44

Day 44 was the legs workout in Lift 4, which was a 50/50 workout, and Speed 1.0 in T25.

Both of the workouts went well, and I was able to do more of the unmodified moves in each of them. My cardio stamina is not where I want it, but it is getting better.

Book Review: Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad

 

Manhunt is a book published in 2012 and written by Peter Bergen about the effort to find and eventually kill Osama Bin Laden. Bergen is one of the few Western journalists to interview Bin Laden back in the 1990s and was in the process of writing a book about Bin Laden when the September 11th terrorist attacks occurred. This book mostly focuses on the time after 9/11 and tracks (to the best extent possible) where Bin Laden went after fleeing the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan to the raid on the compound in Abbottabad where he was holed up. Bergen does detail a little bit of his history prior to 9/11, but the focus of the book was the time period from September 2001 to May 2011.

The hardcover version of the book is about 360 total pages (260 of which are substantive text, and the last 100 pages include a bibliography, end notes, and an index). The notes mainly cite sources but occasionally flesh out the material in the text. Along with highlighting Bin Laden's movements, the book provides a lot of detail on how the US government ultimately tracked him down. Bergen interviewed multiple government sources, including sources from the CIA (some of whom were referred to using pseudonyms). Bergen also had several in-the-room sources who discussed what was happening as President Obama and the national security team were watching the feed of the raid and military sources who discussed how the raid team got in and out of Pakistan. The book is very compelling, and while most of the details in the book have been declassified and available to the public for years, it is still worth the time to read. 

Book Review: Dune: House Corrino (Dune #9)

 

House Corrino, published in 2001, is the ninth book in the series of Dune novels (when read chronologically) and is the third book in the Prelude to Dune Trilogy, the third of the prequel trilogies leading to the events of the original novel. The book was again written by the combination of Frank Herbert's son, Brian, and Kevin J. Anderson. The events of this book are set about 15 years before the events of the original novel, with Paul's birth occurring at the end of the book, Chani being about eight months old, and Princess Irulan as a young girl. The book mostly involves those who are adults in the original novel and includes three main plotlines, each of which has ancillary plotlines. In the first, Shaddam is trying to perfect the synthetic spice and break the Harkonnen hold on the spice trade. In the second, Leto devises a daring attack on the planet Ix to restore Prince Rhombur to power. In the third, the Harkonnens plot to kill Lady Jessica and/or her unborn child. 

The hardcover version of the book is about 500 pages long. The book is a faster read than the prior novels since all of the main characters have been established. There are some new characters in the book, but their involvement is tangential to the storylines. The end of the book does not lead directly into the events of the original Dune, as there are another four novels that, by their titles, seem to be centered around Paul, Chani, Irulan, and Jessica just before the events of the original book. This book (and the trilogy of novels it is a part of) does, however, provide a lot of context for what is in the original novel. The book is mostly about political maneuvering between the Houses, but there is quite a bit of action in the last third. The book is absolutely worth reading, but definitely has to be read in sequence with the other books to follow its plotlines. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Ultimate Edition)

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilerish material from the end of the movie but does not give away the ending+++

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth installment of the Harry Potter movie (and book) franchise. The movie was made in 2009 and again was directed by David Yates. The storyline is advanced a lot in this movie and it ultimately sets up the climax of the story. Most of the cast remained the same for this movie, with the biggest addition being Jim Broadbent, who plays the new potions teacher, Horace Slughorn. By this time in the series, if you stick with the movies, you know there are substantial portions of the books that are cut out and even some changes to the storyline. I can generally look at the two separately, but the one thing I dislike about this movie is how they change the reason that Harry does not intervene in the climactic scene. Although most people have likely seen the movie several times and know how it ends I don't want to give away too much just in case someone reading this does not know the ending. In the book, Harry is stunned and covered with his invisibility cloak. That makes a far better explanation of why he does not help than hiding in the shadows.

Like the Ultimate Edition release of the prior film, Order of the Phoenix, this is another two-disc set. The first disc includes the movie, and the second disc has most of the extras. The only extra on disc 1 is the ability to play the film in Maximum Movie Mode, which is a picture-in-picture track with a lot of behind-the-scenes material and interviews that play along with the movie. There are also focus points that can be played within the picture-in-picture track or separately from the main menu. On the second disc, you get Part 6 of the Creating the World of Harry Potter documentary, which focuses on the special effects, a Behind the Magic television special, deleted scenes, a documentary focused on J.K. Rowling, theatrical trailers, a sneak peek at The Deathly Hallows, and a few other small featurettes. So, again, you get a ton of bonus content if you like watching that (which is really the main reason to get this set). The set also comes with another hardcover booklet and collectible cards. Again, there is no extended edition of the movie. The deleted scenes are available in the special features, but they are not incorporated into the movie itself. For some people, that will be a deal killer. Certainly, if you have already purchased the theatrical editions, you have the same movie.

The movie is very good, and the A/V quality of the blu-ray is outstanding. There was a lot of material cut from the book, but the film (aside from what I mentioned above) does seem to follow it fairly well. I do like that Draco does get to do a lot more in this movie than just sneer at Harry. Tom Felton proved himself to be a very good actor, which is not something you would have really known from all the other movies because his job has been just to be a pain in the ass. The set is spectacular (other than the lack of an extended edition of the movie) and is a must for anyone who is a die-hard fan of the franchise. 

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Ultimate Edition)

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the 2005 installment in the Harry Potter movie franchise. It brought back the entire main cast and again expanded the cast. The major additions to the cast in this movie were Evanna Lynch, Imelda Staunton, and Helena Bonham Carter. Some of the characters had smaller roles in this movie, while the roles of other characters were expanded. The movie was directed by David Yates, who would go on to direct the rest of the Harry Potter movies in the series and the three Fantastic Beasts movies. 

This time, the Ultimate Edition set is a two-disc set. One disc contains the movie and the other the bulk of the bonus content. Again, there is not an extended edition of the movie, but you can play the movie with a picture-in-picture in-movie experience that is hosted by Daniel Radcliff, and within that, there are focus points that provide an even deeper look at specific scenes or locations. On disc 2, the fifth part of the Creating Harry Potter documentary is included, as well as eleven minutes of deleted scenes, several more behind-the-scenes featurettes, and the trailers for the movie. And, there is another commemorative hardcover booklet included with this set. So, again, if you love the bonus content, this has a lot for you.

The movie is very good, and as has been the case throughout the series, the young actors continue to get better. Harry Potter is a series that (for the most part) got progressively better with each movie, not only because the child actors got better as they grew up, but the books got better as they transitioned from being "kid's books" to the darker more adult-themed books. This movie has a lot more violence and death than all the others up to this point and includes the first death of a major character. This movie also introduces the characters of Luna Lovegood and Delores Umbridge. Both parts are cast perfectly, and Imelda Staunton conveys the sense that Umbridge is borderline evil, definitely sadistic, and always up to no good. I liked the final battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore, but I think they could have made it longer. Given that this was the shortest of the films, they should have put as much as possible into that battle. Plus, they certainly could have added in some other elements from the books, like fleshing out the Snape and Lilly Potter storyline.

I feel that all the Ultimate Editions should have extended versions of the films offered as the first two did. Yes, the deleted scenes are included in the special features, but it would be nice to see them incorporated into the movie itself. The movie does set up a lot of the remaining storyline, but not as much as the book does so you have to look at the movies as their own thing, separate from the books. The Ultimate Edition is really only something that hardcore fans are going to be interested in since most casual fans are not likely to want to sit through hours of behind-the-scenes material. If you are a hardcore fan, however, this is worth the pickup even though there is not an extended edition of the movie included.

DVD/Movie Review: Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Meyers

 

+++Warning, this contains spoilerish material from this movie and from Halloween H20. If you have not seen either of them yet, proceed with caution.+++

Halloween 5, subtitled "The Revenge of Michael Myers," is the 1989 followup to the movie that revived the Halloween franchise centered around the killer from the iconic 1978 movie. This movie brought back Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, Beau Starr, and Donald Pleasence from the prior film. Cornell and Starr's roles are reduced in this movie, but it does bring in Wendy Kaplan as Tina, one of Ellie's friends, who ultimately plays Jamie's protector (along with Loomis). 

I have mixed feelings about this movie. It was very much a continuation of Halloween 4, taking place one year later. It explains that Jamie (played by Danielle Harris) does not really turn evil but develops a telepathic bond with Michael. Because of that, she can see when people are in danger from him. He, of course, continues to try to get at her to kill her. That part of the storyline is fine. My problem with this movie is how it sets up the dreadful Part 6. It planted the seeds of the whole cult storyline with the mysterious man in black and began all the nonsense that would follow in that movie. I don't even have a problem with not killing off Michael, although if it had been done, it would have been an acceptable way to wrap up the story. The producers rebooted the franchise with Halloween H20, a couple of movies down the line (when they could get Jamie Lee Curtis back), which pretended that 4 and 5 never existed anyway, so Michael could have been killed off in this movie. 

The original DVD release does have a significant amount of special features, including a director commentary track (that also includes Harris and Cornell), an introduction to the movie by Harris and Cornell, and trailers. The most significant bonus feature is a making-of documentary that features interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and bonus footage that was not included in the movie. 

You ultimately know what you get with the Halloween movies. Even the original movie (which was the best in the series) was not an Academy Award winner. The movies became sillier and less believable as the series went on. That said, this is worth having in your collection if you are a fan of the series. Danielle Harris and Donald Pleasence continued to do a great job in their roles. Pleasence's role was reduced by now because of his age, but he still played Loomis passionately. Harris had to portray a range of emotions in this movie and did a fantastic job. Obviously, these movies are not going to appeal to everyone. However, if you like the first two movies and the 4th movie, this is worth watching.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Ultimate Edition)

 

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth movie in the franchise. It was released in 2005 and brings back all of the major characters (and actors) and has a few additions. First, Ralph Fiennes is added to the cast to play the adult version of Voldemort, and Robert Pattinson is added to the cast as Cedric Diggory. The other new cast members include Miranda Richardson, David Tennant, Brendan Gleeson, and Clemence Poesy.  This is the movie where the dark part of the story takes hold. It is also the book where they had to cut the most out. The book is over 600 pages long, and they would have had to split the movie into two parts (something that was considered) to get it all in. Eventually, they just decided to cut the ancillary storylines and just tell the story following Harry and nobody else. 

The Ultimate Edition set is another 4-disc set that also includes collectible cards and a hardcover book with behind-the-scenes pictures and information. The first disc just has the theatrical version of the movie, which can be played with a picture-in-picture in-movie experience that has interviews with the cast and crew members. There is no director's cut/extended edition, which as I said in my review for the Prisoner of Azkaban, UE set, it should have had. While the deleted scenes are available in the extras, it is far better to see them incorporated into the movie than just throwing them together out of order. The other extras include Part 4 of the Creating the World of Harry Potter documentary, with this segment (which is nearly an hour long) devoted to the music. Then there are more cast interviews, over two hours of TV specials, trailers, and the legacy DVD features. 

The movie is very good, even though a lot was cut out from the book. One thing that I think the movie suffers from that is we do not get to see enough of the character of Cedric, and thus, the emotional impact later on in the movie is lessened because his character is barely on screen for a lot of the film. Aside from that, the big reveal at the end of the movie when Voldemort finally returns in the flesh was great. Ralph Fiennes does a wonderful job bringing Voldemort's sinister aspect to life. He is not on the screen for a long time in the movie, but for the amount of time he is, he gives the sense that he is going to be the perfect "big bad" the rest of the way. Brendan Gleeson does a great job playing Mad-Eye Moody. In this movie, he has to play a character who is playing a character. The version of Mad-Eye he plays in this one is more over the top than in the later films. Miranda Richardson is wonderful, playing the slimy journalist Rita Skeeter, who is a gossip columnist who plays fast and loose with the truth.

Ultimately, as is the case with the other UE versions (especially for the first two movies), the extras are great and provide hours of great content. If you like going through the bonus content and can live without having an extended version of the film (and do a little price shopping), this is a great addition to your collection.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 43

Day 43 was the start of week 7 (the first shred week) in Lift 4 and Cardio 1.0 from T25. That means the muscle groupings get mixed up in Lift 4, with today's workout being the chest and back circuit workout. Even though this one does not have a HIIT component, it has the three-exercise, three-round burnout, which wipes you out (at least it wipes me out) as much as doing HIIT does.  The T25 workout in the morning again got a little bit easier, especially in the lunges (which have been difficult for me).

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 42

Day 42 was upper and lower body foam rolling from 645. I did both routines back-to-back and definitely felt refreshed after doing them. These are the best foam rolling routines I have done since the P90X2 mobility and recovery routine. Between the two, you foam roll all of your major muscle groups, which is absolutely necessary when doing two-a-day workouts. 

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 41

Day 41 was just the two Lift 4 recovery routines. I don't have anything new to say about either of them. I have not progressed or regressed since I did them on Wednesday.

Workout Update: T25/Lift-4/645 Corrective and Foam Rolling- Day 40

Day 40 was Speed 1.0 from T25 and Legs in Lift 4. Of course, because this was an even-numbered week in Lift 4, it means that the legs workout was a HIIT workout.  So, this day was a lot of cardio, which I actually liked. It was hard, and I still have to modify, but each workout gets a little bit easier.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Ultimate Edition)

 

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, released in 2004, is the third movie in the franchise and represents the darker turn in the story. The main cast members return to their roles, with th exception of Richard Harris who passed away between movies. The role of Dumbledore was recast with Michael Gambon taking over the role. The other major cast additions were David Thewlis, who joins the cast as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, and Gary Oldman as Sirius Black.  

The Ultimate edition is another three-disc set, two blu-ray discs, and one DVD disc. The first blu-ray disc just contains the theatrical version of the movie. The second blu-ray disc and the DVD disc contain the bonus material. There is another hardcover booklet and collectible cards in the set as well.  All the extras that are included are great. The documentary series that runs throughout the course of the ultimate editions gives a great behind-the-scenes look at the series as a whole, and then there are a lot of features that are just specific to this movie. One of the best parts of the first two UE sets was the option of seeing the extended edition (which essentially just incorporated the deleted scenes into the movie). You do get the deleted scenes here, but they do not flow as well just seeing them one after another. That is the only drawback to the set and what drops it down a star for me.

As for the movie itself, it is great. By this time in the series, you kind of know how the movies flow and feel in comparison to the books. You have to expect that a lot is going to be cut from the books to make the movie. Since this was the point at which the books started getting longer, more is cut from this movie than was cut in the first two. The story introduces three characters that are essential to the rest of the story. Sirius Black, Lupin, and Wormtail. Lupin gets the most screen time and is great as the favorite teacher who takes Harry under his wing to start to prepare him for what lies ahead. The story continues to get darker, and the characters are put in more and more peril. Basically, this is the film where the shift from introducing the world and the characters to getting to the meat of the Harry vs. Voldemort story begins.

The big change in this movie is the addition of Michael Gambon as Dumbledore. Gambon plays a far less soft-spoken and more eccentric version of Dumbledore than Harris dis. When I first saw the movie I did not like his version as much, but after this film you get used to him more, and his presence feels more natural by the end of the series. I did prefer Harris's version of the character, but I do not think it would have worked for Gambon to try to be a carbon copy of Harris. Had Gambon been cast as Dumbledore from the start, his portrayal would have been fine, but switching from one actor to the other was grating. Of course, the character of Dumbledore was too essential to the story to kill off after the second movie, so the role had to be recast.

The lack of an extended version of the film aside, the movie is great, the A/V quality of the movie is excellent, and the extras are very good (although not quite as good as the extras in the Ultimate Editions of the first two movies). If you are more than just a casual fan of the franchise and can find this for the right price, it is worth adding to your collection.

4k-UHD/Movie Review: Avatar

 

Avatar is a visually stunning movie from 2009, directed by James Cameron, starring Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Joel David Moore, Stephen Lang, and Giovanni Ribisi. The movie's premise is that while Earth's natural resources are being depleted, a moon in the Alpha Centauri solar system called Pandora has a valuable mineral called "unobtanium" that a company called the Resources Development Administration wants to mine. The problem is that the native population, which includes a race of 10-foot-tall humanoids called the Na'vi who live in harmony with nature, is in the way. The moon's atmosphere is inhospitable to humans, but the company has built Avatars, Na'vi shell bodies that humans can link their consciousness into. The company hires a group of scientists to act to use the Avatars to interact with the Na'vi and try to get them to move off of their land so that the unobtanium can be mined and uses the military to provide protection against the many threats the moon poses.

This is one of two 4k sets that are available. Even though this is labeled as an ultimate collector's edition, the version that is just labeled "Collector's Edition" has more features. This one is a three-disc set. There is a UHD disc and one regular blu-ray disc that just contains the movie. The A/V quality of the UHD disc is fantastic and can be considered reference quality. The third disc is another blu-ray disc with all the special features. The special features mix new material created for the 4k release with some (but not all) of the legacy material created for the original physical media release. The new content includes a roundtable discussion with one of the producers and the prominent cast members called "Memories of Avatar" and a featurette called "Avatar, a Look Back" with new interviews with the cast and crew members. The legacy carry-over content includes the hour-and-a-half-long documentary titled "Capturing Avatar" and the hour-and-a-half worth of making-of featurettes. This set does not include the extended edition of the movies, the trailers, the stills gallery, the VFX featurettes, etc., contained in the original Extended Collector's Edition blu-ray release. If you own that set, you may want to hang onto it if you get this one.

The movie is very good. The story is based on the concepts of colonialism, imperialism, and the treatment of native populations throughout history. It also hammers the themes of environmental damage and corporate greed. It is well-written and well-acted, but the fantastic special effects are the main appeal. This movie took a leap similar to what The Matrix did back in 1999 in terms of special effects and integrating CGI effects into film, making the CGI characters and sets nearly indistinguishable from what was built practically. Even if you are not a huge fan of Sci-Fi, this is still worth watching.