Category: DVD/BLU-RAY

After the one-two-three punch of "The Distinguished Gentleman," "Beverly Hills Cop III," and "Vampire in Brooklyn," there was legitimate concern in 1996 that Eddie Murphy had lost his big screen mojo. After 15 years of solid entertainment, Murphy was low on creative gas, requiring material that would allow him to shine brightly in a brash manner audiences had grown accustomed to. Remaking Jerry Lewis's 1963 smash "The Nutty Professor" was the boost the comedy legend needed at the time, triggering enormous box office returns while renewing faith in Murphy's abilities to charm with comedic chaos. The movie restored his marquee value, though it did so by emphasizing a crude imagination and a fondness for bodily function humor, often caught playing all the way to the back row to keep the energy of the lukewarm update zooming along. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the mid-2000s, dance movies became all the rage in Hollywood, boosted by the surprising box office performance of 2003's "Honey" and the out-of-nowhere success of 2004's "You Got Served." Bringing hip-hop dancing to the masses, while offering studios low-budget entertainment to exploit, the films took flight, creating a profitable string of dramatically flabby efforts that bewitched younger audiences in the mood for flashy body movement and corny plots typically involving young thugs reaching their potential on the dance floor. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The name Mel Gibson causes a great number of people to break out in hives these days, a perfectly reasonable reaction in light of the star's recent behavior and history of manic episodes. However, for the purposes of this review, Gibson's violent behavior and association with industry leeches and creeps will be set aside temporarily to focus on the business at hand. Despite anger issues that could qualify the man as a genuine lethal weapon, Gibson is a fine actor with a history of iconic roles and emotionally charged performances. One of his most committed being 1996's "Ransom," where the screen idol teamed with director Ron Howard, an unlikely choice for such punishing material. The pairing defied the odds, turning a twisty tale of a cold-blooded kidnapping into a gripping mainstream diversion, generating an authentic ambiance of concern and frustration from material that's prone to melodramatic outbursts. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Like most people, I had a general appreciation for the daily existence of a koala, imagining the creature hanging out in tall trees, gobbling down leaves, while Todd Rundgren's "Bang the Drum All Day" plays on an imaginary soundtrack. It's a simplified portrait of the koala, but there's not much out there in the sea of popular culture to disturb the stereotype, finding the furry animals often depicted with cartoonish cuteness and lethargy, establishing an instant comfort with the koala nation. "Cracking the Koala Code" is a "Nature" episode directly dealing with territorial and mating rituals of the creatures, and boy howdy, does it ever alter the public's concept of the koala as a peaceful, adorable beast with a harmless addiction to greenery. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1988, Steven Seagal, with his trim frame and greasy hair, brooded his way into multiplexes with "Above the Law," a novelty action picture that shocked the industry when it actually found an audience, turning a hulking, squinty Akido instructor into a B-movie superhero. Growing a ponytail and stiffening his screen presence, Seagal returned to screens two years later with "Hard to Kill," welcomed with growing box office success and a behind-the-scenes relationship with co-star Kelly LeBrock (the two were married at the time). Suddenly, Seagal went from a lark to a semi-bankable star, and with good reason. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's not every day that one receives the opportunity to bask in the expanse of the elements, leaving the "Nova" program, "Hunting the Elements," quite a distinctive viewing opportunity. Less of an analysis and more of a breezy overview of periodic table highlights, the program quests to bring the mysteries of science down to an approachable level while remaining challenging enough to provide scholarly types with an invigorating investigation of a habitually studied topic. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1987, Patrick Swayze scored a sleeper smash with "Dirty Dancing," catapulting the actor to bigger and better roles in Hollywood, offering a shot at starring vehicles after years of supporting work. In 1990, Swayze hit the jackpot with "Ghost," a bona fide blockbuster that made him a household name, using sensual pottery and a resolute commitment to emoting to turn his last name into legend. Yet, there was an odd year in between the hits, with 1989 providing an especially double-fisted year for Swayze, testing out his newfound bankability with two actioners of disparate temperaments, both met with cult approval and middling box office. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's a wonder how a film like "Bringing Down the House" made it through the trials of script development and studio inspection. A racially charged comedy released roughly 30 years after such an enterprise could still be considered daring, the feature is a uncomfortable blend of hate and slapstick, greased down with a sitcom lubricant to aid mass appeal and to keep the more easily offended from throwing a fit after sitting through such nonsense. It's broad but terribly outdated material; however, upon its release in 2003 (making Disney's "10th Anniversary Edition" label a little bewildering), the movie was greeted with massive box office success, finding audiences eagerly devouring the shenanigans without a single thought paid to the toxic nature of the writing and direction. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

While some movie trilogies shine like a diamond, most tend to peter out by the second sequel. Think "Spider-Man 3," "RoboCop 3," and "Beverly Hills Cop 3." "Blade: Trinity" is a classic example of a franchise running at top speed into a brick wall for its third installment, collecting a series of dismal ideas, poor characterizations, and iffy filmmaking ability into a glacial, joyless enterprise that essentially ignores what made the previous pictures connect with audiences. Although ripe with potential, "Blade: Trinity" is a trainwreck set to a booming soundtrack, turning vampire hunting into a screen chore while it almost intentionally torches the macabre groundwork laid down by the first two features. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In 1989, writer/director Oliver Stone was diligently working on building his filmmaking career after his 1986 effort, the semi-autobiographical "Platoon," was showered with awards and exceptional box office, making the struggling artist a hot commodity. His vision would carry on to movies such as 1987's "Wall Street" and 1988's "Talk Radio," but Stone's interests in the nuances of the Vietnam War was far from sated. Adapted from the autobiography by veteran-turned-activist Ron Kovic, "Born on the Fourth of July" allowed Stone a chance to expand his dissection of this tumultuous era, acquiring a story not necessarily about the horror of the front lines, but the conflict of the troubled soul. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

In the wild, camouflage is a key component of survival, permitting creatures a chance to protect themselves using their natural skin or fur as defense against predators. For lions, sheer force is employed to help establish dominance, but their natural golden coloring assists in the routine of personal security, allowing the beasts to blend in with their surroundings, giving them an advantage in a land of continuous hunting. For the white lion, their bright appearance is akin to painting a target on their back, standing out like a snowball in a dry land, making them a particular curiosity in South Africa's wild bush country. How does a lion with ivory fur survive in a brutal land where concealment is a way of life? How could anything so obvious to the naked eye make it past life as a cub? Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

The work of Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin is best described as polarizing, with audiences near and far torn between a profound appreciation for the helmer's stylistics and tributes to moviemaking processes of old, and his dedication to abstract thought, rarely embarking on a picture that isn't moderately impenetrable. He's not an artist to be embraced, but observed, especially when Maddin launches into his own orbit, recalling the early years of David Lynch, aiming to alienate a large portion of his audience with oppressive layers of interpretational cinema, meant to challenge the cineaste more than satisfy the average matinee warrior. Through efforts like "The Saddest Music in the World" and "My Winnipeg," Maddin has built a brand name with his dedication to surrealism and magical happenings, typically slathered with expressionistic images pulled straight from silent cinema. He's an acquired taste, though with "Keyhole," the impish prankster is beginning to repeat himself. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

“I Wish” is a sweet, gentle picture from Japan, directed by Hirokazu Koreeda, who specializes in softly wistful features of visual beauty. Although it runs for longer than it should, “I Wish” finds a charming position of curiosity and longing that helps to extend its interests to the audience, creating interesting characters facing adversity, who look to a bit of magic to help ease the discomfort in their lives. It’s also a movie about children told from a child’s perspective, granting the film a specialized concentration of adolescent energy that provides a unique thumbprint to an otherwise leisurely exploration of hope and travel. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

With the tradition of a wedding comes the honeymoon, a special time where a couple is provided a chance for intimacy after the ceremonial whirlwind. It's a period of closeness in the midst of an exotic location, demanding the twosome engage in all sorts of relaxation and mild adventuring, solidifying the union with an once-in-a-lifetime shot at glorious recreation. For wolf biologist Isaac Babcock and his new wife Bjornen, sealant for their matrimonial bliss wasn't cured under a Hawaiian sun, but in the harsh conditions of the wild, with the two embarking on a journey into the restless lands of Idaho to experience nature up close as a couple. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Bettany Hughes is a historian and a popular television documentary host with an interest in world culture and religion that she wants to share with her audience. "Seven Wonders of the Buddhist World" is a travelogue program devoted to her thirst for knowledge, moving beyond the classroom to consume religious locales and practices in person, bringing along cameras to share this wealth of experience, providing atmosphere to the education. Despite the ravages of humidity and arduous distances, Hughes finds her way to seven places of unimaginable beauty and spiritual depth, stepping foot on Buddhist history with a goal to provide the average viewer with a deeper understanding of Buddhism and all of its colorful and meaningful practices. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

I'm not sure what type of women-in-prison film "Female Convict Scorpion" is aiming to be, but it's not a very successful one. With a subgenre that typically thrives on outlandish behavior, overheated performances, and exploitation elements up the wazoo, "Female Convict Scorpion" only hints at a larger scale of madness, remaining subdued for the majority of its run time for reasons not fully understood. Boasting only a few celebratory screen elements and a handful of committed but not necessarily inspired performances, the feature is a disappointment, unwilling to truly rear back and vomit forth a particularly sticky mess of breasts, beatings, and elaborate designs of revenge. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

When discussing the top box office draws of 1977, a certain range of familiar movies comes to mind. "Star Wars." "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." "Saturday Night Fever." Placing fourth on that list is "Smokey and the Bandit," perhaps the most improbable blockbuster of the year, riding a drive-in cinema obsession to greater monetary glory, turning Burt Reynolds and the Pontiac Trans Am into legends along the way. Not bad for a modestly budgeted production with a bizarre premise that will have to be explained in full to future generations. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

Writer/director Gabriele Albanesi is a major fan of horror. It's a cinematic obsession that oozes out of every pore of "Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show," a spooky psychological production that's obviously intended to pay tribute to the titans of the genre, with principal interest in the Italian boom of the 1970s. Unfortunately, fandom can only take the feature so far, and while the movie has all the goopy particulars gorehounds will appreciate, along with a pronounced literary creep to bring it a specialized sensuality, "Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show" ends up a malformed lump of intentions without the necessary directorial polish to bring the material to its full potential. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's perfectly understandable why "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" would remain such an enticing title for adaptation. After all, it's not every day one gets to complete the work of Charles Dickens, who died in the middle of writing the novel, leaving the narrative and the mystery itself hanging in the air. With such a storytelling gap to fill, screenwriters and playwrights have been offered a rare opportunity to finish what Dickens started, taking this tale of murder and jealousy into multiple directions while attempting to remain true to the general lean of the source material. This BBC take on the trials and tribulations facing the good residents of Cloisterham is a mixed bag of Dickensian distractions. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com

It's extremely easy to take the Sun for granted. As the growling yellow star at the center of our solar system, the Sun is a dependable source of energy and mystery, enthralling the residents of Earth for an eternity, with certain cultures of the past worshipping its powers. Recent centuries have seen the star transformed into the ultimate question mark of the galaxy by a host of inquisitive scientists, each hoping to acquire a greater understanding of the Sun's inner workings. "Secrets of the Sun" is a NOVA production that plunges into the heart of the matter, assembling satellite imagery, scientific study, and intensive research (feel the suspense of microfiche examination!) to gather a stronger appreciation for the blazing circle in the sky. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com