Blogcritics

Blu-ray Review: Patriot Games

Matt Paprocki — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:10:04 EDT

One of the better Jack Ryan films arrives on a mid-level Blu-ray.
A tense, well thought out thriller, Patriot Games is high on the list of the Tom Clancy adaptations to the screen. While it may not be accurate to the novel in a number of ways, this is still fine movie making aside from a clustered and overly long start up.Patriot Games offers a lot of dialogue and characters in its first half hour. Many of these...

Blu-ray Review: Batman - Gotham Knight

Matt Paprocki — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:54:47 EDT

Dull, with a distinct lack of style separation.
Well acted and animated, it’s the scripting that pulls down Gotham Knight. This six chapter tale bridges the story between the latest Batman theatrical releases, but does so in formulaic fashion. As opposed to something such as The Animatrix, there’s not much variety here to make the anime-styled pieces worth watching. The opening and...

Blu-ray Review: Be Kind Rewind

Matt Paprocki — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:46:24 EDT

A surprising film that's vastly more than the trailers let on.
Marketed as a simple comedy about two guys remaking popular movies, Be Kind Rewind offers far more than that. It’s a comedy with a softer, even somber side. Yes, the movie “remakes” are fun, but that’s just the surface of this quirky piece.As an owner of a video store still renting out VHS, Danny Glover is determined to make...

Blu-ray Review: Drillbit Taylor

Matt Paprocki — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 20:28:05 EDT

Unfunny and overlong. A misfire for Rogan and Apatow.
Overly long with only a little comedic material to work with, Drillbit Taylor doesn’t have a lot going for it. Owen Wilson gives it his all, but the script and writing simply aren’t there to back it up. This is weak attempt from the usual guaranteed laughs of a Judd Apatow/Seth Rogan comedy. That’s not to say there are no laughs...

Blu-ray Review: Step Up 2 The Streets

Matt Paprocki — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:08:48 EDT

The first time you'll ever experience physical pain from watching a movie.
Was there some loud outcry from the movie community to show producers that we needed a sequel to Step Up? There couldn’t possibly be another reason why we needed another awful, clichéd, horrendous, and miserable pile of junk like this. This is appalling excuse for film. Step Up 2 tries way too hard to relate to its audience. The...

Blu-ray Review: College Road Trip

Matt Paprocki — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:25:08 EDT

Martin Lawrence needs a new agent, or needs a class on picking scripts with entertainment value.
Martin Lawrence is a funny guy. He’s been in plenty of thoroughly enjoyable comedies over the years to prove it. The question is then why would he end up in junk like College Road Trip? This is the bottom of the comedy barrel, a movie trying to so hard to be funny, it ends up annoying. Lawrence stars as an overprotective father struggling to...

Blu-ray Review: 10,000 BC

Matt Paprocki — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 21:44:42 EDT

Well, it gets off to a great start...
For the opening 30 minutes, 10,000 BC has a chance. It’s loaded with action, skips much of the simplistic story, and keeps the viewer engaged. Unfortunately, the movie continues devoid of entertainment until the big finale, but by then, the audience could care less. All of the impressive sights in the world can’t save this hideously...

Blu-ray Review: Gangs of New York

Matt Paprocki — Tue, 1 Jul 2008 17:54:02 EDT

Disney completely botches this HD release with a miserable transfer.
Deserving of most of the Oscars it was nominated for, Gangs of New York is an all encompassing look at a turbulent time in America's history many were unaware of prior to the film's release. Scorsese may focus the story on two men, but the time period and attention to detail draw the viewer into to far more than the core revenge tale. Outstanding...

Blu-ray Review: Cloverfield

Matt Paprocki — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:20:55 EDT

A truly mesmerizing Blu-ray experience.
Loads of hype and a lot to live up to Cloverfield only misses one mark: explaining its gigantic CGI star. The intensity of the handheld camera footage isn’t completely original, but lets audiences live through a fantastical disaster from a viewpoint unique to the genre. J.J. Abrams may not get his wish for this to be a cultural giant monster...

Blu-ray Review: Flyboys

Matt Paprocki — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:24:06 EDT

An overbloated attempt at a World War I drama is still a fine HD product.
Flyboys is loaded with potential, much like Michael Bay’s attempt at recreating Pearl Harbor. Unfortunately, this is another overloaded epic with unneeded subplots and character angles that are nothing short of boring. Thankfully, the energetic action scenes (and lots of them) are consistently well done, but not enough to raise the film from...