I wanted to love this movie.  I really did.  Often cited as one of the great romantic comedies of all time, I went into this expecting something absolutely remarkable.  It was even nominted for six Academy Awards (winning three of them).  Well, it didn’t take long for me to realize that I wasn’t going to be jumping on the Moonstruck bandwagon.  I mean, I can definitely appreciate that people respond so well to it, but some movies just aren’t for everyone.  And this tale of love/infidelity just didn’t work for me.

I say this as a huge Nicolas Cage fan as well.  Lately, he’s been phoning in his performances, but in his prime, he was a powerhouse actor, reveling in the over-the-top characters he got to play.  And his portrayal of Ronnie is fantastic, for what it is.  Cher also does a great job with the role that she is given.  Considering how authentic their relationship felt, I was surprised at how little I was able to get invested in their story.

Cher stars as Loretta, a superstitious woman from Brooklyn, who believes that she is cursed after the death of her husband.  Because of her fears, she decides to play it safe and marry a sensible man that she doesn’t love.  When he has to suddenly leave the country, she ends up falling for her new fiances younger brother while delivering invitations.  This begins a passionate and confusing affair, made all the more complicated by the romantic drama taking place within her own family.

And I think that’s where my problems with the film lie.  I just didn’t enjoy spending time with this family.  I suppose it’s a well written script, but I couldn’t get into the culture of this group of people.  Loretta’s parents have their own issues, and watching those in relation to her own just couldn’t capture my interest.  It’s a little too over-the-top for my taste, with every character spouting dialogue that feels as if it’s from a screenplay and not real life.

I was hoping that the extras on the newly released Blu-Ray would help shed some light on what it is that everybody loves about the film.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of material, and what’s there seems as if it comes from previous releases.  The first feature is an audio commentary with Cher, director Norman Jewisn and writer John Patrick Shanley (obviously recorded seperately and edited together).  It’s a pretty straightforward track, without a lot of pauses.  It’s a good track for fans of the film, with a lot of interesting insights, but nothing swayed me on the film.

The next extra is a documentary called “Moonstruck: At the Heart of an Italian Family.”  Running about 25 minutes, this features several interviews with the cast and crew.  It’s an interesting retrospective, and focuses on a lot of different aspects of the film, including the film’s ultimate extremely positive reception.

Also included is a very brief (about six minutes) analysis of the film’s soundtrack.  Overall, I wish I liked the film more.  As I said, I appreciated it more than I enjoyed it.  The acting is great and the screenplay is competent.  But the familiy dynamics just proved overwhelming to me, and the characters frustrating with their decisions.  If you’re already a fan, it’s a decent disc.  There’s nothing spectacular about it, but the picture looks good, and the sound works well with what is given.  It’s not that I found the film bad, I just wasn’t able to enjoy it.  Hopefully, others will get more out of it than I did.

I am the type of person that almost always goes into a film about mental illness with a degree of cynicism.  It just seems to me that, by their very nature, these films are designed to manipulate an audience by playing on their sympathies.  If you end up not liking the film, it can seem like an attack on whatever illness is being portrayed.  However, Dustin Hoffman’s performance in Rain Man feels so achingly realized, I can’t help but sit transfixed, mesmerized by the magic trick he is pulling off on screen.

Hoffman becomes Raymond Babbitt, an autistic savant struggling to stay sane within his own insanity.  When I watch this performance, I see a man trapped within his own head, a prisoner to his own idiosyncracies.  When he becomes agitated, he retreats into the Abbott and Costello “Who’s On First” routine, but there is no humor there.  It’s an escape, and it’s moments like this that are just hearbreaking.

Every mannerism is perfectly realized to this end, and it’s still one of Hoffman’s greatest performances.  Tom Cruise gives an equally fantastic performance as Charlie Babbitt, Raymond’s brother.  When the film begins, Charlie is a money-obsessed lamborghini dealer.  He too appears trapped within his own head, confined by greed.  Letting money dictate his life, he alienates those around him, even his own girlfriend.  When his father dies, he goes to collect what he believes will be a substantial inheritance, only to get a car and his father’s prize rose bushes.  It is when he follows the trail of the money he didn’t receive that he discovers his long lost older brother, Raymond.

This is where the film really begins, as Charlie takes Raymond on a cross-country road trip to try and get the rest of the inheritance that Charlie believes is rightfully his.  Of course, along the way, they get to really know each other, and while Charlie doesn’t completely transform as a character, he does become a better person.

This is a funny and serious look at two people suffering from their own mental issues.  One is a literal disease, and the other is a state-of-mind.  The way these two characters play off of each other in their journey makes for a believable and entertaining film, and one that works despite the difficulties of the genre.  Unfortunately, the Blu-Ray release doesn’t include any new features.  There are a few extras, but they all seem as if they came from previous releases.

There are three commentary tracks, one with director Barry Levinson, and the other two with the writers.  While all three are interesting in spurts, there’s nothing that makes them “must-listen” tracks.  There’s also a fairly entertaining behind-the-scenes documentary called “The Journey of Rain Man,” that provides a look at the making of the film.  Next up is a documentary called “Lifting the Fog: A Look at the Mysteries of Autism,” which is exactly what it sounds like.  An interesting look at the disease that inspired the fim, this feature contains insight and interviews with people who really suffer from the disease, and those who influenced the writing of the film.  There is also a single deleted scene, and the original trailer.

The picture looks good, but is nothing outstanding.  It’s a decent transfer, but it seems like it could have been cleaned-up a little bit more.  There is nothing distractingly bad about it, there’s just nothing all that stunning either.  The film sounds great, however, especially in a sequence where Charlie takes Raymond to Vegas to count cards.

Overall, the Blu-Ray release is nothing special, but the film definitely is.  I’ve seen the movie before, but I was struck by just how powerful the performances really are.  A well-deserved winner of 4 Academy-Awards, this is a really great movie, and a worthy addition to any film collection.

With a boast that “the passion is even hotter on Blu-Ray” printed on the box, Last Tango In Paris arrives with the promise of something worth getting excited about.  The film’s plot is described using words such as “scandalous” and “scintillating.”  All of this together could be seen as pretty enticing, and didn’t seem to match the dark nature of everything I’d heard about the film.  I mean, I knew the stories about the film, and how stars Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider had trouble coping with the aftermath of making the film, both comparing the making the film to being raped.  I’ve seen pictures of the protests and read a great deal of the divisive literature written about the film.  And I knew about the graphic sexuality that was the undercurrent of the controversy.  For these reasons, I never had any desire to see the movie.  While I try to love all cinema, this one just seemed like too much for me.

So, as I went into the film, I wasn’t sure what to believe.  Would it be as uncomfortable as I feared?  I guess the answer is yes, but not really for the reasons I expected.  While there is a lot of graphic sexuality in the film, I found the script to be just as disturbing.  This is the story of Paul and Jeanne, two broken individuals who decide to pursue an anonymous sexual relationship in order to work out their psychological issues.  They meet every day in an empty apartment Paul rents, and the only rule is that they can never know each other’s names or anything about their personal lives.

Paul is recovering from the suicide of his wife, while Jeanne is engaged to a young filmmaker, and is miserable.  The torrid nature of their trysts provide some sort of outlet for the darkness within.  However, when the rules are broken, everything changes.  As I said, the sex is very uncomfortable, and there is nothing “passionate” about it, as the box seems to indicate.  This is a very cold and disturbing movie.

It’s hard to discuss a movie like this without getting too graphic.  I’ll just say that the film is controversial for several reasons, and rightly so.  This is a very adult film, and not one for people looking for a good time.  I can appreciate the film, and the artistry behind the scenes.  It is a powerful story, masterfully acted and directed.  Brando even got an Oscar nominatin for his performance.  However, despite the talent involved, I really don’t feel like this was a movie I needed to see, and it’s one I will have a hard time recommending to people.

As for the Blu-Ray release, everything about it is adequate.  I wasn’t blown away by the picture or the sound, but with a movie like this, I wasn’t expecting to be.  This is a very minimalistic film, and as such, so is the presentation.  As for extras, I was shocked to find that the only feature included is the trailer.  There is so much history involved in this film, I was really expecting a lot more.

I love film history, sometimes as much as the film itself.  I love knowing the context of a film’s release, and while I’d already familiarized myself with this one, I would have appreciated some sort of look back at the film from a historical perspective.  A trailer just isn’t enough these days.  Despite the fact that it is a film classic, I just can’t recommend this particular release.

I’m going to begin with a confession.  Until this viewing, I had never seen Thelma and Louise.  I always cite Ridley Scott as one of my favorite directors, and despite the fact that many consider this to be one of his best films, I was never able to muster up enough interest to actually give it a try.  Every clip I ever saw looked tedious, and with it being impossible not to know the ending, I never really saw the point.

Well, it turns out that knowing the ending is irrelevant.  As the saying goes, it isn’t so much about the destination as it is the journey.  Often described as a female-empowerment flick, Thelma and Louise is in the most basic terms a story of two friends (Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis) on a roadtrip.  I wouldn’t say the film is so much a female-empowerment film as it is a film about self-discovery.  After killing an attempted rapist, Thelma and Louise find themselves on the run from the law.  Along the way, they will learn who they really are, and as everyone knows, end up making the ultimate sacrifice.

While Sarandon and Davis prove what amazing actors they are, they are surrounded by an equally amazing supporting cast including Brad Pitt and Harvey Keitel.  Pitt especially was a revelation, and this is the film that helped kick-start his career.  A film like this doesn’t work unless everyone involved is working at the top of their game.  The cinematography gorgeously depicts their journey across the mid-West, while Hans Zimmer provides an appropriately Western sounding score.  The dialogue is smart and realistic, and as mentioned above, Ridley Scott does a fantastic job directing.

Considering I had never seen the film before, I had never seen any previously released extras either.  However, it should be noted that all of the extras on this 20th Anniversary edition are repeats from previous releases.  They aren’t bad, they just aren’t new.  However, what I imagine is new is the incredible transfer on this film.  The picture and sound could have been from a movie released today.  At times, the film feels like a classic Western, and every aspect of their journey across the landscape just pops off the screen.  It really is a gorgeous film.

The extras include two commentary tracks, one with Ridley Scott, and the other with Sarandon, Davis and screenwriter Callie Khouri.  There is also a feature that runs just over 45 minutes called “Thelma & Louise: The Last Journey.”  This is a comprehensive look at the entire production.  It’s an interesting look back, and defintely worth checking out if you haven’t already seen it.  After this comes a five-minute Elecronic Press Kit.  Nothing too exciting there.

One of the more interesting features is one that I didn’t even know existed.  There is an extended alternate ending.  Yes, the iconic fade to white was not how the film originally ended.  Conceptually, it’s not all that different, but emotionally, it leaves the audience in a completely different place.  I vastly prefer the original, but it’s interesting from a historical perspective, especially considering that I always assumed the ending to be one of the most defining moments of the film.

There are also deleted and extended scenes, a music video, and some storyboards of the final chase.  Overall, it’s not the greatest set of extras I’ve ever seen, but they do their job.  They provide a little bit of insight, an interesting look back at the making of the film, and some different perspectives on things overall.

The film ended up being a lot better than I expected.  I’m glad I was able to set aside my expectations, and let myself get caught up in the film.  It works on almost every level, and I can see why, twenty years later, the film is still considered a classic.

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since Dances With Wolves first came out.  I vividly remember my frustration at being in junior high, forced to watch this film for history class.  Nothing sucks the joy out of a movie more than having to watch it for school.  I never would have imagined that I would revisit the film 20 years later, only to completely fall in love with it.

Gorgeously epic in scope, this is Costner’s masterpiece.  Not only did he direct the film, but he stars as Lt. John Dunbar, a Civil War hero who finds himself at war with his own people after joing a tribe of Sioux Indians.  His transition into their culture is beautifully handled, covering a huge timespan.  Initially, the language barrier is an issue, with Mary McDonell’s character of Stands With A Fist providing interpretation.  As expected, they fall in love, but it’s handled in such a way that it feels real.

Eventually, he becomes one of them.  We witness him living life in their way, and a large percentage of the movie details this part of his life.  One of the most thrilling sequences involves a buffalo hunt they all go on.  It’s amazing to think that Costner was able to capture this sequence without the use of any CGI.  At the time, computer generated special effects were in their infancy, and almost all of the buffalo were real.  There were a few special effects in this sequence, but this scene is a remarkable feat of filmmaking.

Pretty much everything about this film works.  The iconic soundtrack works perfectly to underscore the emotional undercurrent of each sequence, as well as enhancing the adrenaline-pumping action sequences.  On top of this, the acting is pretty much flawless, the cinematography is beautiful, and the script is an amazing piece of work.   My only real issue with the film is it’s length.

Running just shy of four hours, this is a lot of movie.  The Blu-Ray contains ONLY the extended cut, and I really wish they would have included the original theatrical edition as well.  I haven’t seen the original since it first came out, so I wasn’t really able to identify exactly where the extra sequences were.  However, the film did feel like it could be edited some.  There is a lot of material that just wasn’t essential for a film this long.  However, this is my only complaint on what is an otherwise terrific Blu-Ray release.

It’s very obvious that a great amount of work went into putting this package together.  The picture and sound are both flawless.  As the film is so epic in scope, there is a great deal of variety in the images presented.  There are sweeping panoramic moments to go with the intimate up-close sequences.  I was amazed at just how sharp everything looked.  The movie feels like something older, but it never looks or sounds old.  This is a presentation worthy of the today’s blockbusters.

As far as extras are concerned, there is a lot of material on this set.  To start with, there are two commentary tracks.  The first one is with Costner and the producer, Jim Wilson.  The other one is with the Director of Photography and the editor.  There is also a pop-up trivia track detailing the real-life history behind the events in the film, and a game that you can play during the movie about what was real and what wasn’t.

The next disc contains all of the actual documentaries on the film.  I don’t believe any of this material is new to the Blu-Ray, but it’s still really interesting and definitely worth a look.  There is a feature about life on the frontier, a generic making-of feature, and a fantastic  documentary called “The Creation of an Epic: A Retrospective Documentary.”  This is one of those looks back that covers all aspects of the film’s production.  It’s a fascinating peek behind-the-curtain at what it takes to film a movie of this scale.

The rest of the features are short little segments that provide brief looks at individual moments from the film.  There are also a series of galleries, the preview, TV commercials, etc.  This is a pretty massive set when you look at all of this material taken together.  As mentioned above, the only complaint I have is that they don’t include the theatrical cut.  I remember reading an interview with Costner a while back where he discussed the extended cut (initially put together for another release), and how he had nothing to do with it.  This is not a director’s cut, just the theatrical cut with a lot of extra footage.  These extra moments don’t the film any worse, but it does feel padded, and I feel like it would be shorter.  The film is great, but it feels long.  Despite the length, this is a film that you owe it to yourself to see.  No matter how many epics he tries to make, I don’t think Costner will ever be able to replicate his success with this masterpiece.

Birth, the expectation of the beginning of a new life created out of love and devotion for a man and wife. The excitement, anxiety and wonderful moment when you get to witness that little person come into the world. The anticipation of birth is exciting for most fathers as it is for the mothers who deliver their children, an event never to be missed. So picture this, you’re a new father, expecting with much anticipation and love your first baby; alas, a business trip comes up right before your wife goes in for her scheduled C-Section. Not to worry, you’ll have plenty of time to fly back and be there for your beautiful wife and new baby. That is, unless, you’re met with a series of events and one very difficult “actor” that eventually lead you to race for your life from the TSA, Mexican Border Patrol, and the cops! Wait a second!! Rewind!

Warner Brothers presents in association with Legendary Pictures and Green Hat films, “Due Date” now available for your viewing pleasure in remarkable Blue-Ray clarity and sound. Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, Chaplain) and Zack Galifianakis (The Hang Over, Bored to Death) star as Peter and Ethan in this laugh out loud hang on to your seat comedy brought to you by Director Todd Philips who has brought you Brotastic movies such as “Old School”, “The Hang Over” and “Road Trip”. If you are familiar with Philips’ other films you know there are some pretty unbelievable moments that are not to be missed, and “Due Date” delivers. This film had me shouting at the top of my lungs and laughing until the tears ran down my face.

Peter Highman wants nothing more than to get home to his expectant wife Sarah played by the lovely Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby Gone, Eagle Eye). While boarding the plane for Los Angeles a series of events leads to Peter getting lead off the plane and escorted to TSA where they proceed to place him on a no fly list only after he’s asked for them to send his luggage to Los Angeles ahead of him. Stuck in Atlanta with no money and no ID he meets up with Ethan Tremblay a wanna-be actor on his way to “Hollywood” to make it on “the TV” accompanied by his little dog Sonny. Peter reluctantly agrees and away they go on a cross country road trip which leads to chaos, mayhem, a broken arm, three fractured ribs, a gunshot wound, multiple felonies and an international incident!!

From being involved in a spectacular and horrifying car accident when Ethan falls asleep at the wheel, to getting a contact high from Ethan’s “medicinal marijuana” and imagining that they are hurtling thru space and time when in actuality they’re going straight for the Mexican border, there is no shortage of insane and impossible situations as Peter desperately tries to keep from murdering Ethan in his sleep and getting to his wife who has suddenly gone into natural labor! And just when you think nothing else can possibly happen to them… it does!

The extras for this film include deleted scenes, a gag reel (which is always good for extra laughs) an action montage which is almost necessary with all the chaos that occurs, and the full segment of Ethan finally achieving his goal of being on “Two and a Half Men”. The laughter doesn’t stop. I found the menus very easy to move through and the selections crisp and clean. The Blue Ray also lets you speed through the  Previews if you are not as interested to watch them but holds them for you on the menu if you’d like to actually watch them.

My only complaint with this film is the a small bit of audio difficulty when it came to the Gag Reel, as the rest of the extras and features happened to be in full surround sound audio the gag reel did not and you almost had to strain to hear it, which is unfortunate as a gag reel, for me, is a great bonus feature.

Go out and rent or buy this fantastic film and get a good group of friends together to watch, “Due Date” on Blue Ray available today in a single pack or a two disk set which includes the Blue Ray, DVD and a digital copy. This film does not disappoint and will have you rolling in your seats. All the characters are hilariously flushed out including the supporting cast has its great moments and Robert Downey Jr. brings to the table another fantastic and hilarious performance. Make sure you wear a crash helmet and remember to, “Check yourself before you wreck yourself!”

For those who are more concerned with quantity than quality, I have good news.  The new Blu-Ray release of Dungeons and Dragons also features the made-for-television sequel, Wrath of the Dragon God.  That’s two movies for the price of one!  For everyone else, this set is nothing but bad news.

I have to admit, I was a little excited when I was assigned this two-movie set.  I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons, but I love the fantasy genre.  At best, I was hoping this would be a fun surprise that had slipped under my radar, and at worst, I thought it might be a film in the “so bad it’s good” category.  Unfortunately, it actually falls into the “it’s so bad I would rather be doing anything else than watching this garbage” category.

The first film, Dungeons and Dragons, actually has some talented people involved.  I mean, Jeremy Irons is the villain!  Bonus points for that.  It also stars Marlon Wayans and Thora Birch.  Not a bad cast.  However, they all end up doing hideous work.  Irons give what has to be the worst performance of his career, chewing the scenery in a way that quickly becomes uncomfortable to watch.  And then there’s Wayans.  At some point during shooting, one would think that he would have been advised that the constant shrieking was probably not the best way to go.  As for Birch, she looks as bored as I felt watching this.

The “story” revolves around the Empire of Izmer, a world run by the mages in which all others are subservient.  There’s some nonsense about a staff that controls golden dragons falling into the wrong hands, and a quest for another staff that controls red dragons that will prove more powerful than the golden staff.  Or some nonsense like that.  A wannabe Lord of the Rings, the film is basically a quest for that second staff with a team for good and a team for evil simultaneously searching.

The story doesn’t really have any focus, the sets are ugly, the special effects atrocious, and on and on.  I really don’t have anything positive to say about this first film.  At least the second film is a little better.  That’s not to say it’s good by any means, but it doesn’t seem quite as insulting.  The fantasy elements are reigned in a little bit, and it feels a little less campy.  The effects work is just as bad, if not worse, but at least it’s not as goofy.

Interestingly, the only returning character is a villain from the first film.  Even though that character died, he is resurrected several years later, and is seeking revenge on the next generation of those who thwarted him the first time around.  Of course, in doing so, he could end up destroying the world.  Yawn.

As I said above, I’ve never played Dungeons and Dragons in my life, and really don’t know much about it.  For all I know, these films could be very accurate depictions of the world from this game.  If that’s the case, I officially have no interest in ever playing.  For D&D to be as popular as it is, I have to assume that these films do not do the world of the game justice.  There is no way that the stories presented here could possibly have the longevity that the game has built up.

There are a fair amount of extras on the discs, some of which do go into the history of the game.  Most of these extras fall on the second film.  The first film has a couple of commentary tracks, a documentary called “Let the Games Begin,” a making-of featurette, a special effects deconstruction, and the trailer.  These are all pretty generic, run-of-the mill features, but I was still surprised to find so much content on such a throw-away film.

The second film’s features do tend to lean towards the game itself.  In fact, one of the commentary tracks features actual gamers.  There’s also a making-of feature, and an interview with the late Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons.  I’m not going to say I found any of these features all that compelling, but if you are into the game at all, then you will probably enjoy these features more than the film itself.

In watching the films, I knew they would look cheap, but I was surprised at how bad the Blu-Ray actually looks.  It might just be the way the film is shot, but the image felt muddy and washed out, lacking the pop usually present on Blu-Ray.  I don’t know what I was expecting, but I did think it would look better than this.

There really is no reason to buy this collection unless you’re a hard-core Dungeons and Dragons fan.  Then again, the fans might hate it the most.  Either way, these aren’t good films.  Any excitement I had when I began was gone within 5 minutes.  After that, this entire set became a chore.  I very seldom find films difficult to sit through, especially fantasy, but these really tried my patience.  Disappointing on every level, I’d recommend skipping this set entirely.

If you attended High School any time in the last 50ish years since the birth of the American teenager then you know what cliques, outcasts, and popularity are. Somewhere between playing tag on the playground in grammar school to about 7th grade we hit a wall and the line gets drawn in the sand between the “winners” and the “losers”. But what happens after? What happens when High School is over and you realize that all that baloney wasn’t worth any of it and then what happens; say, 8 years down the line? What if you go from ugly duckling to swan? You, the “loser”, have now blossomed into a beautiful and successful woman with everything you might want leaving most of those bad days behind, but suddenly life gives you a curve ball and you end up face to face with your arch nemesis and even worst what if she’s about to become your sister in law!!

I’ll tell you what happens… calamity, hilarious, brilliant calamity. Touchstone Pictures and Oops Doughnuts Productions gives to home audience’s everywhere, “You Again” (2010) staring Kristin Bell (Veronica Mars, Forgetting Sara Marshall) as Marni, the nerdy outcast  turned gorgeous PR executive, Odette Yustman (Cloverfield, Unborn) as Joanna or JJ the snobby popular head cheerleader turned do gooder nurse and fiancée of Marni’s older brother Will, Sigourney Weaver (Alien, Heartbreakers) as Joanna’s wealthy aunt Mona who happens to also be Gail’s frienemy from High School , Jamie Lee Curtis

(Christmas with the Cranks, Halloween films) as one time golden girl Gail and Marni’s mom, and the hilarious antics of Betty White (The Proposal, The Golden Girls) as Marni’s Grandmother, create a group of women about to be thrown together by the sudden marriage of Will Marnie’s older brother.

This movie offers a plethora of laughter and heartwarming moments, and the DVD offers so many hilarious extras and deleted scenes that beyond the hilarity of the film it gives you so many extra moments of laughter the DVD is totally worth having. You can see that the entire cast enjoyed making this film and you get to see it with brilliant clarity and sound. As an added bonus to those of us who don’t particularly like being bombarded by previews the Blue Ray offers a quick key to speed thru all the previews of which there are several.

I think the only thing I’d give the Blue Ray a negative on is the basic looking menus. It looks like it got put together very quickly and not to impressive. However it’s such a small thing that it’s easily dismissed.

Go out and purchase this delightful Blue Ray which will give you many nights of delightful fun and enjoy “You Again”.