The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1

Breaking Dawn is as good of an entry in the series as the previous films so if you liked the earlier movies, you’ll definitely enjoy this one. If you hate them and only get dragged to them by your significant other, well, I don’t have much good news for you. I will say that the make-up and effects used on Kristen Stewart to portray her declining health towards the end of the movie are quite incredible; whatever you think of the film, you have to give them credit for that.

Like the past two films, Breaking Dawn looks and sounds very good on Blu-ray. The film is dark, but the action is always clear thanks to some solid contrasts and excellent shadow delineation. The picture has just the right amount of grain, and while colors are a bit subdued, it looks as if that’s intentional on the part of the filmmakers. The soundtrack captures the mood and ambiance of the film well, with the surround speakers kicking in when needed, and even remaining active in the quieter scenes. Meanwhile, you can still discern all the shoegazing, mumbled dialogue without any trouble, so that’s a plus.

Extra features on the two-disc DVD include:

• Go Behind The Scenes With A Captivating 6-Part Making-Of Documentary
• Relive The Memories With Edward & Bella’s Personal Wedding Video
• Get A Glimpse Into Jacob’s Destiny
• Watch Your Favorite Scenes Over And Over In Edward Fast Forward and Jacob Fast Forward
• Plus An Audio Commentary with Director Bill Condon

Lady & The Tramp is the latest Walt Disney classic to be released on Blu-ray, and it’s even more wonderful in high def than it has been before. I am an unabashed Disney fan, and I love almost all of the classic Disney films, but Lady & the Tramp is one of my favorites. While I seem to have a penchant for Disney’s dog-related tales (101 Dalmatians is one of my absolute favorite Disney films), there’s no denying the artistry and romance that infuses this film. And if there’s a more well-known and iconic animated scene in cinema history than Lady and The Tramp sharing that spaghetti noodle, I don’t know what it is.

Lady & The Tramp looks and sounds amazing on Blu-ray. As an animated feature, the movie couldn’t look any better, with vibrant colors, solid black outlines, a clean print, and very strong detail. The restoration work is nothing short of amazing, too, as the film looks as clean as if it was made yesterday. The surround soundtrack is also extremely impressive, boasting an incredibly dynamic mix. Dialogue is, as should be in any animated feature, crystal clear and never sounds forced or canned.

Extra features include:

• Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes
• Never-Before-Heard Deleted Song
• Inside Walt’s Story Meetings
• Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad
• Lady’s Pedigree: The Making Of Lady And The Tramp
• The Siamese Cat Song: Finding A Voice For The Cats
• Puppypedia: Going To The Dogs And More
• Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad
• Digital Copy Of Feature Film

I have no idea why I wanted to watch Johnny English Reborn. I didn’t see the first one, nor did I have any desire to; heck, I haven’t even ever seen any Mr. Bean movies/shows. But somewhere along the line, the trailer for Johnny English Reborn won me over enough to want to check out this blast of spy-world zaniness. I figured at the very least, with Gillian Anderson and Rosamund Pike in it, there would be something good to look at.

What I can say is that Rowan Atkinson is very good at what he does, which is physical comedy and buffoonery. He plays the hapless Johnny English to perfection, screwing things up royally before somehow accidentally saving the day. He’s basically like a British version of Inspector Gadget, just without the Go-Go-Gadget-Copter. Ultimately, the film is silly as can be, but also pretty amusing at times. Adults will find that the laughs don’t come regularly enough, but kids in that tween age will probably get a big ice out of it. If nothing else, it’s a pretty harmless comedy that doesn’t require much thinking, and is at least enjoyable.

The high definition really makes the movie shine. The scenic backdrops burst with color in HD, while the audio is top notch with the action scenes just sounding nearly perfect on your flat screen.

Extra features include:

• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Real
• Featurette

I’m a pretty huge Alfred Hitchcock fan, and though it’s taken a while, I’m extremely glad to see so many Hitchcock titles finally making their way to Blu-ray. To Catch A Thief may be considered one of Hitch’s less weighty affairs, but it’s also one of my favorites. As much as I love Hitchcock’s suspense masterpieces like Psycho, Rear Window, and Vertigo, I also love his forays into less dark territory, such as this one and the recently released (via Criterion) The Lady Vanishes.

Hitchcock had such a flair for humor and romanticism, which is funny considering his attitude towards actors was never considered overtly friendly. But when Cary Grant and Grace Kelly share the screen, the result is magic. With sharp dialogue and Hitch’s sure hand behind the camera, To Catch a Thief is at times thriller, comedy, drama, heist film, and romance. And it all blends together seamlessly into a near perfect film experience.

The transfer here has very few flaws. By and large, the movie features amazing color saturation and image clarity. There are a few instances of slightly soft imagery, but for the most part you’ll find very clean lines and good attention to detail throughout the film. In fact, the scenic backgrounds of the French Riviera feature detail that is simply stunning.  The film also features a solid soundtrack. This is not the aural attack you would get with a modern big budget Hollywood blockbuster, but rather an impressively accurate mix that work hard to create a sense of authenticity. Score music sounds terrific, dialogue is all reproduced with nice, natural tones, and the mix on the whole is very pleasing, even if it’s not the one you’re going to pull out to show off your surround sound system.

Extra features include:

• Commentary by Dr. Drew Casper, Hitchcock Film Historian
• A Night with the Hitchcocks
• Unacceptable Under the Code: Film Censorship in America
• Writing and Casting To Catch A Thief
• The Making of To Catch A Thief
• Behind the Gates: Cary Grant and Grace Kelly
• Alfred Hitchcock and To Catch A Thief: An Appreciation
• Edith Head: The Paramount Years
• If You Love To Catch A Thief, You’ll Love this Interactive Travelogue
• Theatrical Trailer
• Galleries

London Boulevard is a film that’s performances outweigh the movie’s value as a whole. Colin Farrell is electric as a reformed gangster whose past acquaintances threaten to suck him back into a life of crime, something he’s trying desperately to avoid. Keira Knightley is terrific as a world-famous movie star that Farrell becomes involved with. All of the supporting actors are terrific as well. It’s just a shame that all those performances don’t add up to a better film.

To be fair, London Boulevard is a GOOD movie, it’s just not a great movie. There’s a sense of been-there-done-that to the storyline. I mean, how many movies have we seen already with the former bad guy trying not to get sucked back in to the dark side? A lot. And while endings for movies like this are a tricky affair, I was still left unsatisfied but the ultimate finale of the film. Still, London Boulevard is worth watching for the performances and a few great moments of intensity and suspense, it’s just not the film I was hoping it would be.

The Blu-ray presents a fine audiovisual experience. The transfer is exceptional, with good shadow delineation, colors, and image clarity. The soundtrack isn’t particularly subtle, but when it needs to, it kicks in with some nice low end and good use of the surrounds.

Extra features include:

• The Making of London Boulevard

I wasn’t nearly as enamored with Dito Montiel’s writer/directorial debut, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints as many critics were. While I think it’s one of the best movie titles of the past few decades, the film itself did very little for me, save for Channing Tatum’s terrific performance. The Son of No One, also written and directed by Montiel and starring Tatum, looked as if maybe it might be a more engaging film, a fictional story rather than an autobiographical one.

Unfortunately, I just don’t think Montiel’s style and my sensibilities are meant to mesh. I think I actually liked this film even less than saints, despite a supporting cast that includes Al Pacino, Ray Liotta, Juliette Binoche, Tracy Morgan, and Katie Holmes. The Son of No One is dark, depressing, slow moving, and ultimately just unpleasant to watch from start to finish. Montiel also does a time shifting narrative thing, but he fractures the timeline in so many places (and often in such small increments) that the film starts t feel overly stylized just for the sake of being stylized, and that’s never a good thing.

The transfer for the film is pretty decent, if unexciting. While sometimes intentionally desaturated, colors are strong and vibrant. The print is free of any blemishes, and you get the feeling that this transfer represents exactly how the cinematographer wanted the movie to look, even if it’s a bit dark for my tastes. The surround soundtrack also is fairly solid, with nice levels and clean dialogue, but not too much in the way of impressive surround usage.

Extra features include:

• Audio Commentary featuring Writer/Producer/Director Dito Montiel and Executive Producer/Editor Jake Pushinsky
• Deleted Scenes

Things I love: British TV? Check. Horror movies? Check. Post-apocalyptic subject matter? Check. So why was I so let down by The Fades: Season One?

The BBC’s new horror series follows a young man who has his eyes opened up to the the world of The Fades, or souls that are trapped on earth. Along the way, he’s plagued by visions of the end of the world. Sounds great, right? Right. It DOES sound great, which is why I can’t figure out why the show doesn’t do more for me. It manages to blend some humor into all the apocryphal portents, and there’s no lack of intensity to the show. At the end of the day, I think i just wasn’t drawn into any of the characters’ storylines particularly effectively. Nobody stood out for me as someone to get invested in, and that made the show a tough sell for me.

It’s a well-made show for sure, and there is definitely an audience out there for it. I can’t say I disliked it strongly, it just didn’t work for me the way I was hoping it would.

Image clarity is good and it is slightly better than on the standard DVD. Color saturation shines the brightest, offering up a nice vibrancy that’s missing from the DVD. The prints are fairly free of debris and dust and overall the picture quality is pretty good. The soundtrack offers up some good surround sound on occasion, and it does feature clean, clear dialogue.

Extra features include:

• Mac Explains
• Extra Scenes
• Deleted Scenes
• Interviews with Johnny Harris and Natalie Dormer
• Outtakes

Chalet Girl is a British romantic comedy that is aimed squarely at the teen girl market. If it was made ten years ago, it would have starred one of the Olsen twins, for sure. Not being British or a teenage girl, I should not have liked this movie at all. Yet, I was completely charmed by it.

With a winning cast that includes the fantastic Felicity Jones (you will start to know this girl’s name, I guarantee it), Ed Westwick, Sophia Bush, Bill Nighy, and Brooke Shields, the film is pretty standard stuff in terms of storyline. A former skateboarding champion, Kim suffers personal tragedy and leaves the circuit She then ends up working as a chalet girl at a rich family’s ski chalet, where — surprise, surprise — she not only starts to fall for the rich son, but also figures out she’s a natural at snowboarding. The plot is filled with cliches, but that doesn’t matter. You’re not watching this movie for the suspense of what’s going to happen.

Where the film works is that the cast has great chemistry and the script is quite sharp, with several good chuckles peppered throughout the film at regular intervals. Felicity Jones is adorable, and she carries the film quite well on her shoulders. The film is just cute, lighthearted fun, and sometimes, that’s all you need for a romantic comedy to be enjoyable. This one works, and I was completely won over by it.

Extra features include:

• Commentary
• Interviews
• Behind The Scenes
• Viral Videos
• YouTube Viral Videos
• Trailer

Retreat could have been a great film, but it falls into cliches too many times to rise above the genre tropes that it suffers from. Basically a cross between Dead Calm, Straw Dogs, and Funny Games, the film focuses on a couple staying on a remote island whose home is invaded by a young man who claims to be from the military. He also claims that a deadly virus is ravaging the outside world, and effectively ends up holding the couple hostage as they try to plot their freedom.

Now, with Thandie Newton, Cillian Murphy, and Jamie Bell in the cast (actually, they’re the whole cast), you know this isn’t just a cheap thriller, and indeed, the film is very well acted. A big part of the problem comes from the fact that the couple in jeopardy can barely stand each other as the film begins. I don’t know why these movies always have to start with a couple who are at the end of their relationship. Would it really be that much less enticing of a story for a HAPPY couple to get held hostage for a change? I can think of a dozen movies with this scenario over the past few years, and every single time it features main characters whose relationship is fractured and broken. Just once I’d like to see a happy family have to fight against an outside force.

That being said, the film isn’t bad, it’s just not great. The ending does try to do some interesting things, and while I didn’t love it, it at least gets points for trying to do something a little bit different. Still, this one’s a rental at best.

Extra features include:

• Retreat: The Making Of
• Photo Gallery

Elite Squad: The Enemy Within is a movie that caught my attention because it was directed by Jose Padilha who also directed a number of critically acclaimed documntaries. Billed as a hit South American action movie, I was intrigued by it and thought I might be in for a treat.

First, a few things I have to mention. First off, there are more production company logos at the beginning of this film than I have ever seen on a movie in my entire life. I am not exaggerating, either, there must be 30 logos before the opening credits start. It’s insane. It’s almost worth watching the movie just so you can see it. Also, what’s conveniently left off the Blu-ray box, but not the opening titles, is that this movie is actually Elite Squad 2. Yep, it’s a sequel.

Now, I haven’t seen the first one, so I can’t say whether you need to have seen it or not before going into this one, but I could follow along just fine, so I don’t think it’s tied in too directly with the events of the first film. Regardless, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within is a taut thriller that suffers only from the political machinations that bog down the plot. The action sequences are terrific, and the film is extremely well-shot, but at about the half-hour point, things begin to slow down for a while, and it definitely impacts the overall feel of the film.

The film looks and sounds pretty great on Blu-ray, with some nice, clean imagery and an immersive soundtrack that kicks in nicely when the action scenes start getting to it.

Extra features include:

• An Hour-long Making-Of Feature

I’m vocally not a fan of the Asian period epic films that seem to have been flooding the US market lately, but War of the Arrows does enough right that I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. First off, the film doesn’t focus on a whole country’s affairs, instead focusing on a fe main characters and a small village, keeping the scope less epic and more personal. It also relies on traditional filmmaking, with very little in the way of CGI and a lot more in the way of choreographed fight and action sequences. It’s fascinating how going backwards to the way things used to be done actually gives a tim a fresh feel, something which this genre has been lacking of late. Visually speaking, this is a pretty darn cool tim, and it’s smaller scope allowed me to get more personally engaged in it as well.

Extra features include:

• Behind The Scenes
• Highlights
• Trailers

Metal Shifters is a SyFy mvie starring a ton of science fiction television alums, so I thought it would be fun to pop in, even though I knew what to expect from most SyFy movies. The cast includes Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s Nicole DeBoer, Stargate‘s Kavan Smith and Paul McGillion, and Battlestar Galactica‘s Donnelly Rhodes, among others, so it’s a fun cast for die-hard sci-fi fans. And while I thought I was getting a cheap Transformers knock-off, this is actually just a good old-fashioned small town vs. giant alien robot monster film.

On the plus side, there’s that cast. On the minus side, there’s… well, everything else. The movie is basically a cheese factory, and although the special effects aren’t as bad as some SyFy movies, the dialogue is a bit painful at times. And when you see how the townspeople beat this alien menace, well, you just have to laugh a little. Still, if you like these kinds of movies, and you know there are people out there who do, it’s fun in its own way.

the picture quality in high definition isn’t that great. Imagery can often appear just a bit soft, and colors aren’t as vibrant as I would have hoped. The surround soundtrack offers some nice stereo effects, even if it is somewhat front-heavy, but the fidelity is nice and the sounds are all crisp and clean.

Extra features include:

• Metal Shifters: Behind The Scenes

Official Synopsis:

Set in the political snake-pit of Elizabethan England, Anonymous speculates on an issue that has for centuries intrigued academics and brilliant minds… who was the author of the plays credited to William Shakespeare? Anonymous poses one possible answer, focusing on a time when cloak-and-dagger political intrigue, illicit romances in the Royal Court, and the schemes of greedy nobles hungry for the power were exposed in the most unlikely of places: the London stage.

Our Take:

Anonymous adds fuel to the fire to the belief I always had that William Shakespeare didn‘t write everything he is credited with. I found the story interesting and performances pretty solid, but the film itself drags in many places and lost my interest overall. I believe Shakespeare wrote some of his work, but this film pretty much makes him look like a drunk actor that was gift wrapped a career (which wasn’t even supposed to be his). I enjoyed Rhys Ifans, Vanessa Redgrave and her daughter Joely Richardson’s work in the film, but it shouldn’t be over two hours long. If the film came in around an hour forty or so and sped up some of the pacing problems, I think I might have enjoyed it much more.

Special Features:

• Commentary with Director Roland Emmerich and Writer John Orloff
• Deleted Scenes
• Who Is The Real William Shakespeare?

Conclusion:

Anonymous is like a lot of period piece films, it has great costumes, great set design, and a good historical storyline, but like a lot of them, it tends to lose its audience if it starts to slow down. The pacing of the film is the biggest flaw to me because at times it really seems to crawl to a halt. I didn’t have a problem with the multiple timelines, but it seemed to take forever to get from Shakespeare starting to perform the plays till when the people above him started to put it together. I really wanted to like this a lot, but I did not.

SHOULD BE GREAT, JUST OK!

Overall Picture:

Movie: B-
Extra Features: B

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Official Synopsis:

With the kind help of friends and neighbors, widower and aquarium worker Sam Wong (Jet Li) shares a contented life with his autistic 22-year-old son, David (Lunmei Kwai). That is until Sam learns that he has a terminal illness that will soon leave David orphaned. Now, the doting father begins a quest to ensure that his boy will be loved and cared for after his death. Xiao Lu Xue directs this touching drama.

Our Take:

Ocean Heaven is definitely not your standard Jet Li Asian made movie. I‘ve never seen him in a film like this and was actually quite impressed. Maybe I’m ignorant to Asian film, but I automatically think martial arts/action film when I think Jet Li not dying from cancer with an autistic son. The story is very well done. At first you aren’t quite sure what exactly the full story is, but once it unfolds, it turns out to be quite the drama. I’m not sure if the actor playing Tafu is autistic in real life, but he is very good in it either way. Very solid, unexpected film from Jet Li.

Audio & Video:

The video quality is perfect in HD. A lot of the film takes place in or under water and the water is just pure crisp blue. The audio is equally perfect with the sound of the ocean water and later the water in the aquarium with the animals really making you feel like you are there.

Special Features:

• Making Of
• Trailers

Conclusion:

Ocean Heaven is an intriguing film for anyone who isn‘t into Asian cinema. The performances are top notch and the story is equally as good which makes the film universal. If Hollywood isn’t already looking to remake the film, they really should. I could easily see George Clooney, Sean Penn, Johnny Depp or Aaron Eckhart stepping into Jet Li’s shoes and potentially winning an Oscar for it (especially Eckhart). A lot of Asian films don’t crossover to me, but this really did. With autism being such a hotbed topic today, this film (and any remake) would be an eye opening story for a lot of people unfamiliar with the daily struggle of dealing with an autistic person.

Overall Picture:

Movie: B
Video: A
Audio: A
Extra Features: B

Follow me at www.Twitter.com/Murraymaker

Official Synopsis:

Always impersonating those around him, Marcelo (Wagner Moura) dreams of traveling the world and living the life as an airplane pilot. His mimicking skills and elaborate scams ultimately take him from the seamy underworld of drug trafficking to the glamorous pitfalls of high society. Changing everything from his name to his looks to stay ahead of the authorities, Marcelo must now figure out who he is and who he wants to be – before he loses himself entirely.

Our Take:

VIPs is a story I knew nothing about and that‘s about the most positive thing I can say about it. I found it way too easy for this guy to become Carrera, his alter ego. He had never flown alone, but he can land a plane in a crosswind. He just makes up a story to the police about flying a plane and they believe him. Not one person ever asks him for an ID when he checks into a hotel or goes to a bar/restaurant. The acting wasn’t great, I really got annoyed by the whole talking to the father thing and the ending did nothing for me.

Special Features:

• Interviews With Director Toniko Melo, Actors Wagner Moura and Gisele Froes, Screenwriter Braulio Mantavani, Producer Fernando Meirelles, Costume Designer Veronica Julian

Conclusion:

The con-man in the movie might be the most famous con-man in the history of South America and I wouldn‘t know the difference. Nothing in VIPs made me even want to research it more. I usually like movies like this or even ones about drug or gun trafficking (like Blow), but this really didn’t hold my attention. Not knowing any of the actors or the story it’s based on didn’t help any either. I wasn’t really sure if I should root for the guy or if he would turn out to be a monster, but in the end I just got a guy who made up lies and people just believed him.

DISAPPOINTING!

Overall Picture:

Movie: C-
Extra Features: B

Season Three sees the mythology continue to grow, with new plotlines developing nearly every episode. Relationships are strengthened and torn apart, and it’s the interplay between characters that really keeps this show moving. Sure, there are some great action and magic sequences, but much like a show with a similar feel — Smallville — it’s the characters that will keep you coming back for more. Another BBC win!

Extra features include:

• Cast And Crew Audio Commentaries
• The Making Of Merlin Season 3
• Deleted Scenes
• Outtakes
• Photo Gallery
• Wallpapers

RECOMMENDED!

Primeval Vol. 3 is the latest season of the hit British show, but you can come in cold without a lot of learning curve. Weird “anomalies” -portals in time- keep opening up all over England, letting in dinosaurs, sea monsters, and insects from the past and future; and we’ve only one line of defense in a team of scientists trying to stay one step ahead to keep everyone safe.

Our stalwart heroes work for an all purpose sci-fi government team (this is essentially Torchwood without the sex) that is more British bureaucracy than gung-ho monster fighters and they would have been far better served to just do in the incredibly tedious Helen back in the first season, but every week they keep England safe from some very effective sci-fi tropes.

Watched in one dense serving the juvenilia and plot holes tend to show, but if you pick this box up and parse out the episodes one or two at a time you’re in for a real treat. The actors are charming (the cast rotates a few characters in and out through the course of this series) and the CGI is only occasionally wonky, so sit back and relax. You’ll feel like a kid watching a Saturday sci-fi serial, enjoying the whiz-bang ride.

Extra features include:

• New Dawn – Making The New Primeval Episode
• Prequel Webisodes

Primeval review by Jay Kulpa

BBC has been steadily pumping out high quality Doctor Who releases for the past several years, but their last two waves have included some real standouts, including a Special Edition of The Caves of Androzani, and a fun entry called Invasion of the Dinosaurs. The best part about these latest releases is that we get a nice mix of the Doctors. In the past, it’s seemed as if the DVDs have focused very heavily on Tom Baker; this time around, we get entries from the Jon Pertwee, Peter Davison, and even William Hartnell eras, as well as the ubiquitous Baker. It’s nice to get some exposure to the other Doctors besides Baker, who I’m pretty familiar with at this point.

The Pertwee outing is my favorite of the bunch, although Tom Baker’s Android Invasion entry is cracking good fun as well.

Meanwhile, The Sensorites is one of the earliest Doctor Who storylines, a four-parter from the William Hartnell years. I find the Hartnell stuff interesting because it’s so different from the Doctor Who I’m familiar with, but the whole thing is a bit on the dry side.

As always, BBC has loaded up each of these DVD’s with more amazing extra features than you can stuff a TARDIS with. Below is the full breakdown of each disc:

The Android Invasion -

• Audio Commentary by Actors Milton Johns (Guy Crayford) and Martin Friend (Styggron), Producer Philip Hinchcliffe and Production Assistant Marion McDougal
• The Village That Came To Life: Making Of
• Life After Who – Philip Hinchcliffe
• Photo Gallery
• Tie-In Weetabix Commercial
• Radio Times Listings
• Weetabix Packet Promotions
• Production Notes Subtitle Option

The Caves of Androzani -

• Audio Commentary By Actors Peter Davison, Nicola Bryant and Director Graeme Harper
• Chain Reaction: Making Of
• Directing Who: Then And Now With Graeme Harper
• Behind The Scenes – The Regeneration With Optional Commentary
• Behind The Scenes – Creating Sharaz Jek With Optional Commentary
• Russell Harty With Peter Davison and Colin Baker
• News Reports on Peter Davison’s Departure
• Isolated Music Score
• Photo Gallery
• PDF Materials: Radio Times Listings, Production Notes

The Sensorites -

• Audio Commentary by Actors William Russell, Carole Ann Ford, Joe Greig, Martyn Huntley, Giles Phibbs, Director Frank Cox, Designer Raymond Cusick and Make-up Designer Sonia Markham, Moderated By Toby Hadoke
• Looking For Peter – Toby Hadoke Goes in Search of the Enigmatic Peter R. Newman
• Vision On – What Exactly Does a Vision Mixer Do?
• Secret Voices of the Sense-Sphere – Clive Doig Reveals The Origins of the Eerie Sensorite Voices
• Photo Gallery

Invasion of the Dinosaurs -

• Audio Commentary by Actors Richard Franklin (Mike Yates), Peter Miles (Professor Whitaker), Terence Wilton (Mark), Designer Richard Morris, Script Editor Terrance Dicks and Director Paddy Russell, Moderated by Toby Hadoke
• Additional Commentary by John Levene (Sgt. Benton) for 10 Minutes on Part Five
• People, Power and Puppetry: Making Of
• Deleted Scenes
• Now And Then
• Billy Smart’s Circus with Jon Pertwee and His Whomobile
• Doctor Who Stories: Elisabeth Sladen Part 1
• Option To Play Part One In New Color-Recovered Version or Pre-Existing Black-And-White Version
• Photo Gallery
• Radio Times Listings
• Production Notes Subtitle Option

Murphy’s Law is, without a doubt, some of the coolest, hardest-edged TV on TV. If you’ve ever liked any kind of undercover cop show, mafia show, or just plain action show, you will love this series. The show’s first two seasons follow Irish cop Tommy Murphy (a brilliant James Nesbitt) as he infiltrates various underground and criminal organizations. In each episode, Murphy goes undercover in some sort of dangerous situation, and more often than not, justice (and violence) prevail.

The show benefits from sharp writing, tense situations, brutal action, and the aforementioned James Nesbitt, who is simply electrifying. Why this guy isn’t a bigger star, I don’t know. (And maybe he is in the UK, I couldn’t tell you, but he’s virtually unknown in the US.) The show is kind of like a British version of 24, but only in terms of intensity, not in terms of storylines. Murphy goes undercover and finds himself in some hairy situations, and the show varies between one-off episodes and season-long arcs. Either way, the show is brilliant.

Murphy’s Law: The Complete Collection collects all five seasons in one set, but these are short, UK seasons, so they’re only six or so episodes each. Still, that’s a lot of really great television, so no complaints here. Also, there are no real extra features except for text bios of Nesbitt, but again, the show itself is the real star.

HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!

Slightly less effective (but still good) is George Gently: Series 1, making its debut on Blu-ray. This 90-minute cop show is set in 1960s England, and this two-disc DVD set brings us the first three episodes (which I guess are really more like TV movies). This is a solid show with good performances and interesting cases that bring the societal aspects of 1960s Britain into the workings of the show, but I don’t find it to be quite as engaging as Murphy’s Law.

The Blu-ray treats the show well,although this is lower-budgeted British TV, si t’s not exactly like watching a Hollywood blockbuster. The show looks fairly crisp and clean, and colors are well-saturated, if not overly vibrant. The soundtrack is solid if not too active, but there’s little to complain about on the whole.

The only extra features are text interviews with cast and crew.

Midsomer Murders is yet another mystery show (man, those Brits sure do like their cop shows!), this time based on a series of novels by Caroline Graham. The lead in this show is Detective Chief Inspector Tom Barnaby (played excellently by John Nettles), and while this is a police procedural, it’s a bit more Murder She Wrote than CSI, as Barnaby’s family sometimes get involved in solving crimes, and the show eschews gritty visuals for a more down-home feel.

This newest collection is Set 19, and it’s available on Blu-ray as well as DVD. It looks as if this is the last entry with Barnaby in the lead, so it will be interesting to see how the show carries on without him.

The Blu-ray looks and sounds quite good. Like George Gently, this isn’t the highest standard you can find of high definition presentation, but the imagery is clear, colors solid, and the soundtrack is capable. Fans of the show will surely also like having the set’s four mysteries on two discs instead of the four that the DVD version contains.

The only extra feature is a behind-the-scenes photo gallery.

For a long period of time, the British have always been leaps and bounds ahead of us Americans when it came to producing quality television dramas. Thanks to “It’s Not TV, It’s HBO” and a more maturing of evening network programming, Americans have closed that gap.

This is exactly what makes New Tricks: Season Six so underwhelming. It feels exactly like your standard American police procedural, but with actors that look like normal people. New Tricks follows a police crew made up of older officers that investigate cold cases, not using advanced DNA testing, but simple old fashioned investigative techniques like interviewing people and piecing together the scenarios logically. Naturally, this begs the question of why the cases went cold to begin with if they are so easily solved each episode using such simplistic methods. Suspension of disbelief, I suppose. Each episode begins with a new case being given to the team and they proceed to investigate it before arriving at the sometimes shocking conclusion of who the killer was. Think Scooby Doo, but with older British men and women and no haunted amusement parks.

New Tricks comes complete with dramatic tones and quick humorous one-liners, but this type of show simply does not do much for me. While it is easy to get involved in the soap opera-ish murder trails (who was seeing a dominatrix or whose brother-in-law killed which sister-in-law), New Tricks does not have very many new tricks of its own, but feels like similar fare one can see on American television.

The only extra feature is a behind-the-scenes featurette.

New Tricks review by Matthew Orlando.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Shades is a romantic dramady that has some aspects of Dead Like Me thrown into the mix, although I think it might predate that show by a couple of years. (Ironically, Dead Like Me cast member Callum Blue has a supporting role in Shades.) The story follows two recently-deceased people (played expertly by Dervla Kirwan and Stephen Tompkinson) who meet in the afterlife. Still somewhat tethered to the people they left behind, the duo has to deal with the consequences of those families and loved ones. They can’t talk to their loved ones, but they can communicate with strangers, which makes things interesting. The show is dramatic, but with touches of whimsy, and it will definitely appeal to the romantics out there.

Sadly, there are no extra features on this set.

Battlefield Detectives is a pretty cool show, especially for history and war aficionados. The show basically takes modern day techniques and recreates major battles of the past using 3-D computer models, maps, artifacts, original footage, and dramatic reenactments. Throughout each episode, the investigators attempt to answer questions about some of history’s most important battles. In this set, we learn about major skirmishes at Waterloo, Gallipoli, Agincourt, Trafalgar, Balaklava, Little Big Horn, and Vietnam. Some episodes are more compelling than others, but all in all, the show is fairly interesting overall.

Extra features include:

• 16-page viewer’s guide with articles on the Anglo-Saxons and Normans, the treasure ship Girona the Crimean War, the history of Kemal Atatürk, and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, and a map of Bonaparte’s battles
• Biographies of major military leaders
• Plus Nelson’s notable quotes, the story of “The Charge of the Light Brigade” poem, and discussion questions at athenalearning.com
• SDH Subtitles

Northern Lights is a funny series about two best friends who are constantly trying to outdo each other. In typical Brit fashion, the friendship is played out over two seasons and a Christmas special, and it’s quite fun to watch. Robson Green and Mark Benton play the pals, and a lot of laughs ensue as the duo has moved into adult life, after starting their one-upmanship as school friends. I had never heard of this show before, and while not every joe hits 100%, it’s certainly an enjoyable romp over the course of 13 episodes.

The only extra feature is a behind-the-scenes featurette, but at 45 minutes, it’s a pretty in-depth look at the creation of the show. Fans will definitely not be disappointed by it.

The perfect Easter gift, the HOP Blu-ray/DVD Combo Packs deliver perfect hi-def picture andperfect hi-def sound and include an all-new, never-before-seen, music-filled mini-movie, extensive bonus features and interactive games, adding hours of entertaining fun for parents and children alike. The Combo Packs also contain a Digital Copy of the film for a limited time, compatible with iTunes, iPad, iPhone, iPod touch, Android or online retail partners as well as an UltraViolet copy, the revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and TV shows by storing them in the cloud to instantly stream and download to computers, tablets and smart phones. Consumers can now truly enjoy their movies anytime, anywhere on the platform of their choice.

Directed by Tim Hill (Alvin and the Chipmunks) and produced by Chris Meledandri (Despicable Me), HOP features hilarious performances by Russell Brand (Despicable Me, Get Him to the Greek), James Marsden (X-Men, Enchanted), Hank Azaria (The Simpsons), Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory), Hugh Laurie (House), Gary Cole (Talladega Nights), Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds) and David Hasselhoff (America’s Got Talent).

COMBO PACK EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES:
Phil’s Dance Party —An All-New Mini-Movie starring fan-favorite chicks Phil and Carlos. Phil eats so much candy that he crashes, leaving Carlos to perform a solo of the big dance finale…the Merengue!
The World of HOP—Explore an interactive map of Easter Island to experience the making of HOP.
All Access with Cody Simpson—The best-selling teenage heartthrob performs the film’s catchy theme song, “I Want Candy” and attends the HOP world premiere, his first Hollywood movie red carpet event.
Russell Brand: Being the Bunny—A wacky look at what happens in Russell’s brain as he prepares to become THE Easter Bunny.
Russell Brand’s Kid Crack Ups—Russell Brand interviews kids with comedic results.
Carlos on Carlos: The Premiere According to Carlos—Experience the world premiere of HOP from the POV of Carlos. Viewers are given a guided tour of the party, where they can meet celebs and see all the fun!
Emotion in Motion: The Dance of Ken Daurio—Writer Ken Daurio sits down to discuss his inspiration for everyone’s favorite dancing chick and reveals just how hard it was to teach Phil those awesome moves.
Post Coup Commentary: Carlos & Phil Tell All—Actor Hank Azaria reveals the truth about Carlos’ and Phil’s relationship, and how they imagined Easter Island would be if their coup had been successful.

Games:
E.B.’s Candy Challenge—First to the finish line in this virtual board game wins! There are some challenges along the way, including mini games like Picture Challenge, 3 Egg Monte, and Candy Fix.
Drum Along—E.B. can hit some tasty beats. Viewers compete to keep up with him as he plays a sequence of rhythms on four drums.
Pink Beret Skill Tester—Fans can find out if they have what it takes to become a Pink Beret with the skill tester! Challenges will test memory, observations skills and logic and players can earn the rank of Pink Beret, Carlos’ right hand chick, or Phil’s intern.

Official Synopsis:

The groundbreaking physical comedy of Jerry Lewis has earned him the undisputed moniker of “The King of Comedy.”  While the vast majority of Lewis’ extraordinary body of work is readily available, - a rare dramatic performance, produced as a special for NBC’s Lincoln-Mercury Startime TV series – hasn’t been seen since its original 1959 airing.  Meticulously restored, this DVD includes the B&W kinescope version and an extremely rare video version, one of the earliest surviving examples of a color TV broadcast.  True entertainment history from Lewis’ personal archives.

Our Take:

I’m not a big fan of Jerry Lewis’ comedic stylings so I wasn’t all that excited to review this movie, but The Jazz Singer turned out to be a very enjoyable tribute to Al Jolson’s original.  As the nightclub-performing son of a Cantor, Lewis gets plenty of chances to show off his physical comedy and singing skills, but it’s his dramatic acting I found the most engaging.  The restored picture is better than expected given the age of the original video, but it’s definitely not modern-day quality.

Special Features:

• Featurette with Jerry’s son on the restoration of The Jazz Singer
• Behind-the-scenes photo gallery

Conclusion:

This version of The Jazz Singer is an entertaining re-telling of a familiar tale.  Jerry Lewis’ performance left me wanting to see more dramatic turns from him.  If you are a Jerry Lewis fan, this is a must-see.  If you are not one (like me), you’ll still enjoy Lewis’ confident performance in this impressive restoration.

Overall Picture:

Movie: B
Extra Features: B+

Official Synopsis:

There are estimates that over a million people attempt to cross illegally from Mexico to the United States every year – some succeed, some don’t. Aspiring director Travis (Scott Mechlowicz, Peaceful Warrior, Euro Trip) and his crew make the journey themselves in order to chronicle the phenomenon of undocumented immigration, but after crossing the border seemingly unnoticed they encounter a band of violent right-wing radicals determined to carry out the sort of ‘justice’ that the legal system cannot. Writer-director Chris Peckover makes a powerful debut with Undocumented, a grueling exercise in human cruelty that blends biting social commentary with grim violence for an unforgettable experience.

Our Take:

Undocumented is a fake documentary that wants you to feel one way, but I felt the total opposite. It wants you to feel bad about these people being chronicled and how they come to the US by paying all the money they have to coyotes and other people and most of them don’t make it or in the case of the fake movie, get captured by a bunch of “bad guys” who torture them before sending them back to Mexico. I hate the fake movie within a movie genre to begin with and I would have rather have seen a straight up horror movie like Saw or Hostel. The horror scenes I will admit were good, there is some good gore and violence, but as a film, I just couldn’t get into its style.

Special Features:

• Commentary
• Alternate opening
• Teaser
• Trailer

Conclusion:

Undocumented isn’t the worst film by a first time filmmaker. It has pieces that I thoroughly enjoyed, but as a film in this genre, I just didn’t like it. I hate shakey camera work, in your face filmmaking most of the time and because of that I just can’t recommend the film. The acting and few decent scenes just couldn’t get me passed the style of the film. A lot of it seemed clichéd and felt like something I’ve seen before and I can’t root for people breaking the law or consider them the “good guys” in a film.

WATCH HOSTEL INSTEAD!

Overall Picture:

Movie: C-
Extra Features: B

Official Synopsis:

Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead an all-star cast in this hilarious comedy caper about a luxury condo manager (Stiller) who leads a staff of workers to seek payback on the Wall Street swindler (Alan Alda) who defrauded them. With only days until the billionaire gets away with the perfect crime, the unlikely crew of amateur thieves enlists the help of petty crook Slide (Murphy) to steal the $20 million they’re sure is hidden in the penthouse. From the director of the Rush Hour series, “Tower Heist is so fun, it’s criminal!” (Associated Press)

Our Take:

Whenever the best thing you can say about a movie is that, “it wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be,” that is not a good sign. I expected very little from Tower Heist, and that’s exactly what I got. The film is ludicrous, poorly scripted, poorly plotted, and never follow up on half the set-ups it puts in place. That being said, it at least is ever boring.

And really, that’s the best you can say about it: it’s not boring. It’s also not funny, clever, plausible, intelligent, or interesting. The characters are all kind of annoying, Ben Stiller and Tea Leoni do these half-assed Brooklyn accents that sound terrible, and the film really is lazy filmmaking at its best. Did I hate it? Not exactly. Did I like it? Not really. A big part of the problem is that it sets up jokes and then never follows through on them. A lot of them involve Eddie Murphy; every time you think he might bust out and do something classically-Eddie crazy, the film cuts away and that’s the end of it. You just sort of end up scratching your head going; “what was the point of it all?”

And I have no answer for that.

Audio & Video:

Tower Heist looks quite good on Blu-ray. It’s not the kind of movie that dazzles you with its visuals, so it’s easy at first to dismiss the transfer as unimpressive, but it’s not. Colors are incredibly vibrant and lifelike, while image clarity is sharp and clear at all times. Contrasts are strong, blacks are solid, and the print is free and clear of any blemishes. Just because the movie isn’t the most visually exciting film around doesn’t mean the transfer doesn’t shine.

The surround soundtrack is also pretty good. When there’s action or excitement on screen, all of the speakers kick in nicely and get to work. Dialogue is crystal clear and the film’s music sounds terrific, so this is a mix that does its job well.

Special Features:

• Universal’s Second Screen
• Flick View
• 2 Alternate Endings
• Gag Reel
• Tower Heist Video Diary
• Plotting Tower Heist
• Feature Commentary with Diretor Brett Ratner, Editor Mark Helfrich and Co-Writers
• Ted Griffin
• Pocket Blu
• D-Box Motion Code Enabled
• Ultraviolet Digital Copy Of Feature Film

Conclusion:

Tower Heist is far from the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but there’s absolutely nothing about it that makes it worth recommending. Rent it some night if you’ve seen every other movie in your queue, but that’s about it.

Overall Picture:

Movie: C
Video: A
Audio: A
Extra Features: A