The Day the Earth Stood Still 2008

Terrible, probably the worst re-made movie I have seen yet. Totally brain dead, horribly acted and executed... just bad!

PQ and AQ were good but hardly mattered when you are praying for the movie to end!

Do yourself a favor and watch the original instead... it's dated but a MUCH better movie.

Valkyrie - As the tide of war turns against Germany, a group of dissident Nazi officers and politicians recruits Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg to kill Hitler so that they may assume control of the military, end the war as quickly as possible and save Germany and her people from the destruction and humiliation of a crushing defeat.

This was a decent-enough "Nazi" flick and, thankfully, Tom Cruise wasn't too annoying. Bruno Ganz ("Der Untergang") was a much more interesting Hitler.

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PQ was very good. AQ was fine: The movie consisted primarily of dialogue, but there were a few solid explosions to shake things up.

They went out of their way to promote it as a German war movie, not nazi flick. Shame on you :)

Actually it's a better than expected movie with decent extras.

Marley & Me - John and Jennifer Grogan get married, buy a house, have kids, change jobs and move from Florida to Pennsylvania. Oh, and they have a dog named Marley: As a puppy, he's cute but mischievous; as an adult, he's obnoxious and destructive; in his old age, he's the perfect manipulatively sentimental prop.

It's a shame there's no depth to the story or to any of the characters, given that this overly-long movie (115 minutes, should have been 90, max.) is only superficially about Marley. Alan Arkin's performance is the highlight of the film; Kathleen Turner's is embarrassing...and she looks terrible, too.

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PQ and AQ were good.

They went out of their way to promote it as a German war movie, not nazi flick.I must've missed that little bit of promotion. :) What I saw was a lot of Nazis and not much war, which is why it struck me as a "'Nazi' flick". I guess I could have referred to it instead as a "Tom Cruise vanity piece"... ;)

Last night, I skimmed through the copies of The Transporter and Cast Away that I picked up on sale at Future Shop, and did a bit of back-to-back with the DVDs.

The Transporter: While it's not exactly great movie-making, this is a straightforward and enjoyable action flick which, thankfully, doesn't take itself too seriously. There's good pacing, great fight scenes, decent car chases and even some snappy dialogue.

The PQ was good, but only marginally better than that of the "Special Delivery Edition" DVD. The DTS-HD MA track is great but, quite honestly, if there was a difference between it and the DVD's excellent DTS 5.1 track, it was minimal at best.

Cast Away: This is a solid film with a top-notch performance by Tom Hanks, who carried a good part of the movie on his own and with minimal action or dialogue.

The same PQ and AQ issues apply here. Both are good, but only incrementally better than those of the DVD.

Had these two movies been priced at $15 or more, they'd have been overpriced. At $10, they're a pretty good deal, especially for anyone who does not already own the DVDs.

Frost/Nixon

Engrossing character study does not come off documentary or theatrical-ish. Director Ron Howard deftly keeps it grounded as a cinematic entity. PQ was excellent. The 70s never looked so good - and I lived through them.

Extras have clips of the real interview followed by the scene from the film. Langella did not attempt to imitate Nixon, but created a complex character based on Nixon. The scenes show how an actor's performance is broader and heavier than reality.

First rate.

Good end of cold war story. Great cast led by President Harrison Ford and terrorist, Gary Oldman. PQ is good but not great. AQ is among the best. Bullets zing around your head. Movie has one poor unconvincing special effect near the end and one unexplained plot point involving the turncoat secret service agent. Otherwise, very enjoyable. Worth a purchase even though no special features except for a good commentary.

Iron Maiden: Flight 666

I'm torn on this one: while I'm a big Iron Maiden fan I was hoping for more behind the scenes footage of this massive tour. It's still a very good documentary but if you're looking for something along the lines of their "Early Days" DVD you'll be disappointed. It is worth it to see how fans in different countries react to this band, especially South America. There is a fan moment from Columbia that is quite moving.

The Blu-Ray also features 16 songs filmed in 16 different cities, all of it shot in HD. While footage of these songs are featured on the documentary, the songs here are in their entirety. The disc also comes with an informative booklet. This actually blew my mind because most Blu-Ray's don't come with anything. It's basically a diary from various cities on the tour but it's an interesting read.

8.5/10

'Batman' (1989) has nice PQ. Good upgrade from the DVD. Audio was nice but it was at night so I could not pump it.

Nothing memorable in the AQ and PQ department, just ok.
But a retired Harry, err Highway, err Josie Wales or any of Clints many fine grumpy characters still packs a mean growl and left hook at 78:D
Great performance!!! Although the supporting actors left something to be desired.

The International

An Interpol agent attempts to take down an evil international bank. Watched first 30 minutes. Shrugged. Watched first 30 minutes again. Worthwhile. Picked up many plot details that propelled the film for 2/3 of the running time. Then the story ran thin and I began to lose interest (get it: banking, interest? Sorry). Still, not bad. Worth checking out; saving a couple hours for; depositing yourself on the couch...

PQ is good. Set in Berlin, Lyon, Milan, NY and Istanbul, the locales are mostly cold, sterile banks and offices, and the picture's clarity makes you feel their impersonal nature.

I will be renting both The International & Gran Torino on Monday...and hopefully A Bug's Life too if Blockbuster has it in for rent yet(mine doesn't but has it for sale).

Gran Torino movie volume seemed real low, I had to turn my Yamaha receiver up to -13 to hear it comfortably,where usually I have it around -20 to -22.
But beyond that I thought it was a great flick.

Flight of the Phoenix - When the test well they are drilling in Mongolia is shut down, pilot Frank Towns is sent to the oil prospecting facility to retrieve its crew. As pilot and passengers fly across the Gobi desert, a fierce sandstorm downs the flight and severely damages the plane. With few supplies and even less of a chance of being rescued, the survivors attempt to build a new airplane out of the wreckage of the old: A Phoenix to rise from the sands and carry them home.

Stunning LFE and decent cinematography aside, this is a truly crappy movie. There's lame acting, atrocious dialogue, irritating characters and pointless, highly-contrived scenes. What a dud.

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PQ is pretty good, although grain is occasionally noticeable - but not distracting - and some dark shots were a bit washed out. Despite a few scenes where dialogue sounded a little "boxy" and the level of the center channel dropped noticeably, AQ is excellent overall, with absolutely stunning LFE and very good use of surrounds.

Kung Fu Panda - had already seen on DVD...which is impressive enough being animation. The BD was incredible!! The sound is unreal for those who have a killer setup. Obviously the PQ is great...plus a good film otherwise.

True Romance

Great movie, one of my all time faves. Typical Q.T. type written film, lots of good lines, interesting characters(everyone is in this!), action and twists.

PQ was pretty darn good. AQ was ok, had a flat sound thoughout and sounded like the 'loudness' button was on at times, meaning that it sounded louder at times than it should of for the volume I was at. Felt a bit unbalanced as far as the talking and action noises are concerned at times.

Gran Torino movie volume seemed real low

Agreed, had to turn this up much higher than usual. Although it's just a number on the dial, but does make you wonder.

Also picked up True Romance and watched, it's a been a fav of mine since first viewing years ago. Great charachters and dialogue! I agree with hc666 on the AQ and PQ though. Audio seemed oddly loud at times, but overall the BD is a nice improvement over SD DVD.

Friday the 13th Part 1

Holy crap, this movie looks terrific!!! The best I have ever seen it by far! Not a bad movie, can appreciate what it is. Great ending and some decent gore and scared throughout. Featuring a young Kevin Bacon haha.

The music/audio in this sounds fabulous as well by the way, not alot in it, but when its there it sounds great!

PQ 4.5/5
AQ 4/5

Freddy Vs Jason

Total trash. Stupid plot, terrible acting and characters, way too much CGI and pointless over the top violence that reminded me more of The Road Runner Vs Coyote rather than Freddy Vs Jason.

One of the worst I have ever seen... easily!

PQ was good, AQ seemed low(esp the talking) but surrounds were active.