Pads & Panels

Title: John Carter

Format: Blu-ray 3D + Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Directed by: Andrew Stanton

Written by: Andrew Stanton, Mark Andrews, Michael Chabon

Starring: Taylor Kitsch, Lynn Collins, Samantha Morton, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Dominic West, James Purefoy, Willem Dafoe

Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

Film Rating:

Blu-ray 3D Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

John Carter may be best known in retrospect as a bad business decision. One that saw a lot of money spent and not nearly as much made. And that comes, I think, primarily from its source material.

John Carter is the kind of fiction that has attained a certain cult status – an incredibly loyal contingent of followers staunchly stand by the Edgar Rice Burroughs sci-fi adventure – but may be entirely unfamiliar to general audiences. And ultimately what happened is a group of those loyal followers pushed to get this made, and the mass audiences just weren’t there.

But that doesn’t necessarily speak to the quality of the film. Financial success doesn’t always speak to quality, of course, but in this case there does seem to be a connection. What John Carter struggles with most is finding, or creating, an identity for itself. By the end of 132 minutes, we’ve all seen a lot of fantastic things but are left caring about very little of it. (more…)

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Title: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Format: Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Directed by: Stephen Daldry

Written by: Eric Roth

Starring: Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn, Viola Davis, John Goodman, Jeffrey Wright, Max von Sydow

Studio:Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

Rating:

Review by: Sarah Jones

The Film

Almost everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they found out about the tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001. Some were directly affected, knowing someone who was killed in the attacks or in the rescue efforts.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close portrays such a story, but it is also a story about trying to move on after losing a loved one and trying to find meaning in the pieces they leave behind. (more…)

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Title: War Horse

Format: 4-Disc Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Written by: Lee Hall, Richard Curtis

Starring: Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup, Jeremy Irvine

Studio: Touchstone Home Entertainment, Dreamworks Pictures

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

War Horse is unique in that it essentially tells the story of a war from the perspective of an animal used in war. It features a number of human characters, the most prominent of which is Albert (Jeremy Irvine), the son of the owner of the horse Joey sold off to the cavalry, but ultimately the story is about the horse and what it endures in the midst of this human war.

But despite the promising premise and the acclaim it has received, War Horse is a disjointed, overly long film that lacks direction and more so focus in its execution, leaving viewers with a film that puts forth a lot of effort but fails to hit its mark. It boils down to a lot of action and moments, but the only lasting impression I had was one particularly amusing grammar joke made in the midst of some self-awareness that the Germans in this film speak English, but with accents. (more…)

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Title: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Format: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Directed by: Rupert Wyatt

Written by: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver

Starring: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, Andy Serkis

Studio: 20th Century Fox

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

It’s a wonder Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ ad campaign didn’t completely derail the film’s success. It was hard not be skeptical of the return of the series after the overly cheesy trailer teases of Ceasar unlocking his cage with a makeshift device, a sinister shot of apes looking down on a man in a rotunda and a gorilla jumping at a helicopter in a scene that drew comparisons to King Kong (and that’s not to mention the bad taste the 2001 Mark Wahlberg remake left in our mouths). It unfortunately made a cheesy trailer of what turned out to be a stylish summer blockbuster with incredible special effects, an engaging story and a groundbreaking performance by Andy Serkis. (more…)

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Title: Contagion

Format: Blu-ray + DVD + Ultraviolet Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Written by: Scott Z. Burns

Starring: Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, Sanaa Lathan

Studio: Warner Bros.

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

As a procedural on the spread of a lethal, airborne virus, Contagion is fascinating. It follows a cast of characters who are dealing with the first case and ensuing epidemic of a spreading deadly disease and the social unrest that goes with it. But despite its star-studded cast, engaging premise and timeline structure, Contagion falls flat simply because it is hard to care about any of its characters. (more…)

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Title: I am Number Four

Format: 3 Disc Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Directed by: D. J. Caruso

Screenplay Written by: Alfred Gough, Miles Millar and Marti Noxon

Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer, Dianna Agron, Callan McAuliffe, Kevin Durand

Studio: Touchstone Pictures, Dreamworks

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Sarah Kumley

The Film

I am Number Four is about two groups of aliens who have come to Earth, one seeking a safe haven and the other in an effort to exterminate the first. Number 4 (aka John Smith) and his guardian, Henri, escaped their home planet of Lorien along with 8 other extraordinary children and their caretakers. The Mogadorians have wiped out life on Lorien and followed the refuges to Earth in an effort to hunt them down and kill them, the catch being that they must be killed in order.

The film opens with Number 3’s death and jumps right into John’s life with Henri, who promptly pack up and move when their life in Florida is compromised. In Ohio, John is quickly smitten with Sarah and befriends the school outcast, Sam. The Mogadorians aren’t the only ones tracking John, however, and when they find him, there is no time to escape so they must fight back. (more…)

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Title: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Format: Blu-ray

MPAA: PG-13

Directed by: Mike Newell

Written by: Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Ben Kingsley, Gemma Arterton, Alfred Molina

Producer: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment

Film Rating:

Blu-ray Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

The Film

For Bill’s review of the film, originally published May 28, 2010, click here.

The Blu-ray

No matter what anyone thinks about the film itself, it’s hard to deny that Disney is putting out some of the best hi-def packages right now. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time comes as a three-disc combo pack, containing a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy. (more…)

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Title: Batman: Under the Red Hood

Format: Blu-Ray

MPAA: PG-13

Director: Brandon Vietti

Writer: Judd Winick

Producer: Warner Bros., Premiere

Film Rating: Rating:

Blu-Ray Rating: Rating:

Review by: Archie Easter

The Film

Based on Judd Winick’s original six-issue Batman story arc Under the Hood, Under the Red Hood streamlines and slightly modifies the original without compromising the writing or integrity of the story in the process. The end result is one of DC’s best animated films to date, and an absolute must-see for fans and newcomers alike. (more…)

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Title: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

MPAA: PG-13

Directed by: Mike Newell

Written by: Boaz Yakin, Doug Miro, Carlo Bernard

Producer: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

To say video games in cinema have had a tumultuous past would be an understatement. There arguably hasn’t been a single good English-language adaptation of the medium (aside from fan made gems like Mega Man). While comic fans have had their medium validated in Hollywood by the likes of Spider-Man, X2 and The Dark Knight, gaming fans are still waiting for their equivalent.

At this point, we’d probably even accept something along the quality lines of the Ang Lee Hulk, or even Fantastic Four, anything to get video game movies out of this rut. Instead, we’ve suffered through the laughably bad likes of Street Fighter and Hitman, as well as failed big budget attempts with Max Payne, Doom and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.

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Enter Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It’s a Jerry Bruckheimer production, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the terribly named Dastan, aka the Prince of Persia. At the helm is Mike Newell, who has one Harry Potter film (Goblet of Fire) and the critically acclaimed Donnie Brasco, among others, to his name in the last decade. It also comes under the Walt Disney banner, the company no doubt looking for the next swashbuckling franchise to take up the mantle of Pirates of the Caribbean.

And considering all of these elements, Prince of Persia was poised to be just that, and possibly redeem the name of video game cinema in the process. At the very least, one could expect the Bruckheimer production to be loaded with bombastic action, dramatic acting and great special effects. Sure, a handful of cheesy one-liners – every 10 minutes – but an entertaining popcorn flick no less. Make no mistake – Prince of Persia is probably the best video game film adaptation ever made, but really, considering the competition, what is that saying? (more…)

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Title: Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

Format: Blu-Ray

MPAA: PG-13

Director: Sam Lui, Lauren Montgomery

Writer: Dwayne McDuffie

Producer: Warner Bros., Premiere

Film Rating:

DVD Rating:

Review by: Thomas Braaksma

The Film

There seems to be a resurgence of animated, comic-book movies these days. Some are less than impressive, and some resurrect the feeling of the glory days, when the X-Men and Batman ruled animation. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths falls in the latter camp, delivering entertainment on par with the aforementioned cartoons that graced small screens in the 1990s.

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths will actually be a familiar story to viewers who may have come across a similar story in the DC comic JLA: Earth 2, and others before it. It is a revisualization of the idea of another earth where Lex Luther and the Joker are the heroes of the world, and Superman, Batman and friends are the villains. Though the stories are similar, Two Earths‘ interpretation does a great job of standing as its own. It tones down the adult content that JLA: Earth 2 contained, and appropriately reinterprets the story for all audiences. (more…)

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