Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days [Blu-ray]

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie franchise continues to grow with Dog Days. That doesn?t mean it continues to mature, mind you. But fans of Jeff Kinney?s award-winning books and the films they inspire wouldn?t have it any other way.

The Movie:

Even fans of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books (a group to which my sons and I subscribe) have to be a little bit surprised that 20th Century Fox was able to squeeze a trilogy out of Jeff Kinney?s witty, observational, adolescent novels. The reason the franchise has been able to endure on screen, however, likely traces back to the initial casting made by executive producers long before the first reel of film was developed. Zachary Gordon, Devon Bostick, Steve Zahn and Rachael Harris are so perfectly attuned to characters on Kinney?s pages that we no longer think of the stick-figure caricatures which litter the author?s pages. We now think of the actors, and the touches they bring to each role.

That being said, this can?t go on much longer, right? With Dog Days, the third movie in the series, young Gordon looks like he?s ready for his freshman year at college, and not a middle-schooler still trying to figure out how to romance the sweetly innocent Holly Hills (Peyton List), tolerate his needy best friend (Robert Capron), and foil his older brother?s schemes at every turn. I?m not sure how Fox could continue with Wimpy Kid franchise without recasting the main leads, and, as stated above, that would be a devastating blow.

So, if this is the final adventure, what can fans expect? Well, school?s out for summer, and Greg (Gordon) wants to waste his days drinking soda, playing video games, and chasing Holly. Greg?s father (Zahn), has other plans, leading to a Three?s Company-inspired subplot about our lazy hero lying about having a job at a country club, where he runs up snack-bar tabs and causes all sorts of mild problems for all involved.

Dog Days bounces along under the steady guidance of director David Bowers, who helmed Rodrick Rules and comprehends what makes this series ? and the beloved characters ? tick. It?s silly and gross in all of the places that kids want it to be silly and gross, and there are just enough smarter-than-expected gags to keep parents emotionally and intellectually invested. This isn?t Pixar. But it isn?t pretending to be Pixar, and that matters.

It will be interesting to see where the Wimpy Kid films go from here. Because Fox has kept the budgets low, the films turn a profit, even though their overall grosses have gone down year to year. The movies might not survive. But Kinney just released The Third Wheel, the latest book in the long-running literary series, so fans can take solace that this won?t be goodbye for these characters, by any means.

The Disc:

Just like the film franchise, the Blu-ray disc for Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days has been lovingly crafted with Kinney?s fans in mind.

The video quality of the transfer is top-notch, though ?heat? in some spots makes for a grainy presentation. Director David Bowers isn?t shooting on 70mm. The Wimpy Kid movies often look one step up from an afterschool special, and Dog Days is no different. But it?s not aimed at film-school students, just at pre-teens looking for a laugh.

They?ll find the biggest laughs on a 5-minute gag reel, which has the young cast flubbing lines and breaking up takes with chuckles. Fans also will get a big kick out of ?Class Clown,? a three-minute animated cartoon that Kinney contributed to this Blu-ray documenting the further adventures of Greg, Rowley and the gang.

Those looking to dig a little deeper into the actual filmmaking process are advised to skip to the two-part ?Fox Movie Channel Presents Wimpy Empire,? which explores Kinney?s background and career. It gives an excellent example of the author?s day-to-day activities, and maps out the influence he has had on the youth-lit culture. (Hint: He?s massive.) Move from ?Wimpy Empire? to the audio commentary track and the 10 deleted scenes Fox has packed onto the Blu-ray. There?s even an alternate ending, which didn?t work as well as the one Bowers actually ran with.

The disc concludes with standard supplemental feartures, from a Dog Days trailer and promos for Fox movies to a BD-Live button that, at the moment, takes you to a site that doesn?t have content.

Starring: Zachary Gordon, Robert Capron, Rachael Harris, Steve Zahn, Devon BostickProduced by: Jeff Kinney, Jeremiah Samuels Written by: Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky

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Hyde Park On Hudson

Two years ago The King's Speech took an intimate and surprising look at an important historical figure, King George VI, and dug into his personal life to open a window onto a tumultuous time in history. King George VI, this time played by Samuel West instead of Colin Firth, appears again in Hyde Park On Hudson, which also attempts a light-hearted and personal revision of pre-World War II history. But even without a recent Oscar winner as an inevitable comparison, Hyde Park on Hudson flails terribly in its attempt to reveal new sides of our 32nd President, the King who came to visit him, and the quiet woman behind the scenes who witnessed it all.

The title refers to the childhood home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, played here in a convincing imitation by Bill Murray, who in the summer of 1939 spent as much time as possible in Hyde Park, under the doting wing of his mother (Elizabeth Wilson) and away from the prying eyes of Washington. Without much explanation he calls upon his fifth-cousin Daisy (Laura Linney) to pay him a visit, and the two begin a furtive sexual relationship, kicked off by a phenomenally awkward scene of a hand job given in a parked car. With Roosevelt's wife Eleanor (the beautiful Olivia Williams in a brutal wig) ever watchful things are hard enough for Daisy, but they get infinitely trickier when the Roosevelts invite King George VI and his wife Elizabeth (Olivia Colman) to become the first British monarchs ever to visit the United States.

Daisy has a termite's view of history as the house prepares for the arriving royalty, and her constant voiceover gives us the impression we might see this crucial summit through a keen new pair of eyes. But writer Richard Nelson, adapting his own play, abandons Daisy's point of view to poke into all kinds of closed rooms, from a late-night heart-to-heart between the President and King to the King's own bedroom, where the Queen is highly unamused by a series of cartoons depicting British soldiers like monkeys. Most of this is happening in a single night, while Daisy is off elsewhere, smoking cigarettes and mooning over the President privately, our lead character totally cut off from the potentially interesting comedy of manners happening in the main house.

The fact that the story's climactic moment revolves around whether or not the King will eat a hot dog tells you that Hyde Park on Hudson is not a serious drama of geo-political negotiation, but a little story about how personal insecurities and desires drive even the most powerful of men. That's certainly a valid view of history, but not a story Daisy is equipped to tell, and the movie feels constantly stuck between this secret romance (which is historically dubious anyway) and the actual history being made. Laura Linney gives a strong performance, as ever, but her chemistry with Murray is nonexistent, and while her later scenes with FDR's private secretary Marguerite LeHand (Elizabeth Marvel) have spark, both characters still remain tangential to the actual history Hyde Park on Hudson seems dead set on telling.

With lovely cinematography from Lol Crawley and a handful of strong individual scenes (FDR and George VI's late-night pow wow being one of them) Hyde Park On Hudson sometimes threatens to live up to its prestigious trappings. Then a scene of a Native American dance is played for laughs, or Daisy tells us something thunderingly obvious in voiceover, and the wheels start wobbling again. Too bad for Murray and what could have been a glide to another Oscar nomination, but this is a bit of awards bait in a crowded season that's very easy to leave alone.

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Francis Ford Coppola 5-Film Collection [Blu-ray]

A Francis Ford Coppola Blu-ray set with nary a Godfather film? Not an issue, since two films in the five-disc set are masterpieces that justify the purchase price for this pristine collection.

The Movie:

Lionsgate cheats, slightly, with its Coppola kit, as two of the five movies in the collection are varying cuts of the director?s Vietnam-era stunner Apocalypse Now. But it?s justified, as both the 1979 edit and the director?s 2001 cut have ardent followers, and both can now be analyzed in exquisite Blu-ray.

As a completist, and an elitist, I lean toward Coppola?s original cut. Gallons of ink have been spilt regarding the hardships Coppola endured on behalf of the filming of Apocalypse Now, a stinging commentary on the after-effects the Vietnam conflict had on wrung-out, patriotic soldiers. Heck, a full-length documentary, Heart of Darkness, details every painful step Coppola took to bring Apocalypse to the screen. (Where is that documentary? How is it not a supplement here? More on that in the next section.) The fact that Coppola had the fortitude to plunge back into Apocalypse to add nearly 45 additional minutes for the Redux cut makes it worth a look, but it pads a film that needed no enhancements.

Apocalypse Now and the first two Godfather films are considered Coppola?s crowning achievements. Give me The Conversation over all three, though. Perhaps its because I?m a Gene Hackman junkie, but the director?s haunting conspiracy thriller about a sound engineer and surveillance expert who grows steadily obsessed with a snippet of dialogue he records in a crowded square. Hackman?s mesmerizing, while Coppola plugs in to the fear and paranoia of an invisible ?Big Brother? that colors so many 1970s dramas. It?s a flawless character study, and ? in my honest opinion ? Coppola?s best film. It?s also relevant to note here that Coppola's The Conversation lost the Oscar for Best Picture in 1974 ... to Coppola's The Godfather Part II. Remarkable. What the hell did I do this year?

Fans can be happy grabbing the set for those two films, alone. But buyers will also get two additional, lesser films from Coppola?s oeuvre, and the supplements that come with them. If Apocalypse marks the end of the director?s ?Golden Age,? the 1982 musical One from the Heart starts the period in Coppola?s career where he started digging deeper into his own cinematic passions, while systematically alienating his audiences. The Las Vegas-set romance between Hank (Frederic Forrest) and Frannie (Teri Garr) was meant as an upbeat antidote to the somber Apocalypse. However, the director was unfocused, both on and off the set, and the film?s ballooning production budget nearly sank his self-propelled studio, American Zoetrope.

Coppola?s an artist. There?s no denying that. His pictures are experimental, and his later output became far less mainstream (while always remaining interesting). The 1980s and ?90s were marked by riveting productions of The Outsiders, The Cotton Club, Tucker: The Man and His Dream and Bram Stoker?s Dracula. But he continued to explore inward, and the last film in the set -- Tetro -- is an example of the wandering Coppola and his unfinished works. Released in 2009, the story of two brothers torn apart by creative differences was a symbol of the director?s current state. The narrative revolves around an unfinished screenplay, and the director?s reputation for consistently tinkering with his art led to an unfinished, half-hearted film. As part of this set, it shows the progression of Coppola?s creative voice, but I?d be surprised if you revisited Tetro more than once.

The Disc:

It?s a good thing the movies in the Coppola set are mostly worth owning, because the extras compiled by Lionsgate and Zoetrope aren?t worth the effort. This isn?t one of those exhausting collector?s edition packages that dig every bit of behind-the-scenes clips in hopes of pleasing the rabid film fanatic. Features that are included on the discs were present on previous home-video releases of the films, and the quality of the footage is grainy and disappointing.

In terms of visual transfers, the two cuts of Apocalypse Now look the best. There?s no age in their screenshots, and the prints have been scrubbed clean (while maintaining the integrity of the composition). The Conversation isn?t as lucky. Composition seems to fade in and out from scene to scene, and the browns and blacks that drove ?70s cinematography prove to be a problem to the Blu-ray conversion. The sound on The Conversation is fittingly brilliant, though.

Because Tetro is more modern, it looks better than Heart, which actually suffers from a dreadfully scratchy transfer. Vegas screams and pops off the screen in this unusually colorful film, but the presentation is weak, and damages the film?s impact.

The thing about Apocalypse Now is that fans likely grabbed the film?s DVD set that hit shelves backing 2010. Be glad if you did, for it boasts a full disc of extras ? Heart of Darkness included ? that aren?t found here. The Apocalypse duo has a commentary track from Coppola, and a BD feature that allows you to download additional software on a separate device and follow along with a different app, which is too much work.

The Conversation Blu-ray is the best in the set, packing in multiple audio commentary tracks, screen tests for Cindy Williams and Harrison Ford, script dictations and interviews with Coppola from the set, ?No Cigar? (a student short film by Coppola), ?Harry Cauls? San Francisco: Then and Now,? theatrical trailers and more.

The most interesting feature on the Heart Blu-ray has to be ?The Dream Studio,? a clip shot during the film?s tumultuous production that documented Coppola?s war with Paramount as he tried to establish American Zoetrope. Fans of the director?s experimental approach to storytelling also will enjoy ?The Electric Cinema,? which pries into his creative process. Vintage fetaurettes also dig into the making of the film, musician Tom Waits? contributions to the musical?s score, rehearsals, deleted scenes and the ?This One?s From the Heart? music video. Like each disc on this set, it?s a mixed bag of memorable regalia and disposable art. Still, for the price, the entire set is completely worth grabbing, if only to have films like The Conversation and One from the Heart on Blu-ray, finally, after all of these years.

Starring: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, Raul Julia, Teri GarrDirected by: Francis Ford CoppolaProduced by: Francis Ford Coppola, Fred Roos, Gray FredericksonWritten by: John Milius, Francis Ford Coppola, Armyan Bernstein

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Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino is without question one of the greatest filmmaker of the modern age. Over 20 years he has helped reinvent the crime genre, thrown traditional structure out the window, and created characters and shepherded performances that will never be forgotten. But with extreme talent and success comes high expectations as we come to Django Unchained, Tarantino?s eighth film (counting Kill Bill as one full feature). While the spaghetti western homage is packed with everything we?ve come to expect from the writer/director, from buckets of blood to crackling dialogue, ultimately it doesn?t fully deliver the spark we expect from him.

Much like Kill Bill and Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino takes us on another mission of revenge, and while the focus is a bit more narrow than the 2009 war epic, the story is just as explosive. Set two years before the start of the Civil War, the movie stars Jamie Foxx as titular Django, a slave freed from bondage by a German bounty hunter named Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz). At first Django is only on board because he's the only person who knows the faces of three criminals that Schultz is hunting, but the two eventually recognize a bond between them and head off on a mission to rescue Django?s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), who is owned by the infamous plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Unlike Basterds, which takes gleeful joy in rewriting history, it?s actually a realistic approach to the antebellum South that makes Django such a powerful and, in a strange way, cathartic work. Tarantino holds back nothing ? as he?s wont to do ? in his portrayal of slavery?s cruelty, unabashedly showing unspeakable acts like brandings, whippings, beatings and even dog attacks. But it?s anything but gratuitous. By showing the true-life unspeakable acts that were committed against innocent people during that era, the director earns a powerful emotional response from the audience, making them beg for karmic resolution - and because this is a revenge story they get it in full force. Without the brutality we?d be cheering for Django getting his vengeance anyway, but by including it the movie actually gives you a sense of closure and personal satisfaction.

And keeping the audience firmly planted in the world are the extraordinary performances by the lead cast members. Appearing in just about every scene, Foxx brilliantly sells the lone bounty hunter cowboy role when needed, but is at his best when sharing scenes with his co-stars; he and Waltz have sparkling chemistry that allows for the friendship to be believable while also featuring humor and sweetness. And for all the scenery-chewing he does, DiCaprio gives one of the best performances of his career, embracing the outlandish Calvin Candie and having a blast with the material.

When Django Unchained falters, it's in the areas where Tarantino usually excels. After a fluid, great first act, the second--which follows Django and Schultz to Candie?s plantation and sets up the con that they plan to pull-- has lulls that would be inconceivable in other Tarantino films. Other scenes move far too quickly and are over before they start, particularly two of the final action sequences. This could partially be explained by the fact that this is the first time that the writer/director has worked with editor Fred Raskin after spending his entire career closely working with the sadly departed Sally Menke, but the problems come from the script as well.

While there?s no confusing the movie as the work of another director, it?s also oddly missing some of the casual Tarantino flair. He peppers in the occasional pulpy quick zoom and has some fun with chronology, but the auteur?s signature feels faded here. A monologue by DiCaprio about the ?science? of phrenology is reminiscent of David Carradine?s Superman speech from Kill Bill Vol. 2 and Waltz?s musings on rats at the start of Inglourious Basterds, but is lacking some of the similar bite and wit in the writing. The movie is also loaded with amazing character actors, from Walton Goggins to James Remar to Michael Parks, but they are often gone just as quickly as they arrive, and some of them are even relegated to being glorified extras. Tarantino uses many of his best tools for Django Unchained, and while they do the job well for the most part they?re simply not as sharp this time out.

But even as one of his weaker efforts, Django Unchained still ranks higher than most of what comes out over the course of a year. Expectations aside, Django Unchained is a bold, fun, bloody ride with awesome performances, brilliant action, and a great story to tell - you know, a Tarantino movie.

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The Impossible

Some tragedies are so massive in scope it's impossible to fully wrap our heads around them. One such tragedy befell hundreds of thousands of people on December 26th, 2004, when a massive earthquake under the Indian Ocean hurled a tsunami on the shores of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Maldives, Somalia and Thailand. The Spanish-produced drama The Impossible doesn't attempt to reveal the scope of this catastrophe that is estimated to have killed more than 227,000. Instead, it chooses to center on the remarkable personal story of one family, ripped apart by the waves, who strove to find each other and survive.

? Directed by The Orphanage's Juan Antonio Bayona, his horror background can be felt throughout the film. Before the first image comes up, a title card reminds us of the day the tsunami came. Then, an angry thrum of churning water builds in the darkness. The sound design throughout the film is punctuated and violent, expertly conveying the power of the waves and the fragility of human bodies as they are thrashed about in it and its remains. When picture finally comes up, it's of the British Bennet family on a flight to Thailand for a Christmas vacation they'll never forget.

? Still dizzy off the threat of the water, I found their brief chatter on the plane plays out like the moment when campers in woods plagued by a killer gush about what a great weekend they'll have. It all just feels doomed from the start. As Henry and Maria (Ewan McGregor and Naomi Watts) dote on their three boys--five-year-old Simon (Oaklee Pendergast), seven-and-a-half-year-old Thomas (Samuel Joslin), and petulant adolescent Lucas (Tom Holland)-- the audience squirms with dread, knowing this is all the before, before the impossible will descend from the beach that's just yards away from their resort. The tension builds with the Bennets oblivious, and by the time the waves come barreling toward the boys and their parents, it's almost too much to take. But Bayona thoughtfully pulls his punch, cutting to black after the waves sweep over the boys and their father but before it hits their cringing mother.

? Cut to Maria panicked and flailing above wave churning with corpses, trees, shattered buildings and other threats. She switches from survival mode to mother mode when she spots her oldest shrieking as the waves carry him off. Their efforts to reach each other had my heart in my throat, but when they are at last together and the waters subside, so does most of the film's tension. As Maria and Lucas wander through the wreckage, wonder if the rest of their family is dead, and eventually make their way to a hospital, the stakes seem infinitely lower than just moments before. They've survived one of the worst natural disasters ever recorded. Everything else pales in comparison.

Nonetheless, The Impossible meanders along, splitting its simple story between Maria and Lucas, and Henry who is single-mindedly searching for the rest of his family. This jumping around further hurts the film's tension, and also exposes peeks into the loss of others, who clearly have nothing and no one left. Swamped by so much death and devastation, the struggle of the Bennets lost my interest, and I began to wonder what would happen to the hordes of lost children, the decimated villages, and the natives who could not fly away from all the tsunami's chaos, back to a homeland with all the modern conveniences. The more the movie glimpsed at these groups, then looked away, the more it bothered me that the family at the film's center had been transformed from the Spanish S?mon family (on whom the story is based) to the British Bennets.

You'll be hearing more about The Impossible as award season mounts as Watts, McGregor and young Holland are all said to be contenders. It's easy to see why. Their performances are tear-streaked, full of pain and emotion. The movie is essentially a raw nerve that pulses with ragged emotions from terror to despair, empathy and relief. Each of these actors offers a capable, physical and committed performance, but unfortunately none of it is enough to give The Impossible focus or a driving momentum.

? Bayona took on an ambitious project, and many of his choices work. The tsunami looks real, merciless and thoroughly horrifying as it sweeps away swimsuit-wearing tourists, towering palms trees and entire buildings with a relentless indifference. While the camerawork zigs and zags to capture the frantic panic of the disaster's survivors, the sound design stays sharp, vividly reminding us of how tender human flesh is as it snags on reeds and tears on rock. The emotions are vibrant and earnest. But once the threat of the waves was gone, I was no longer caught up in The Impossible.

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Resident Evil: Retribution [Blu-ray]

Resident Evil: Retribution opens with a weird rewind sequence that attempts to be epic through the use of extremely melodramatic music. It?s confusing and offensive and explains exactly why this movie doesn?t work?it never knows exactly what it is or how best to achieve what it wants.

The Movie:

The plotline of Resident Evil: Retribution, the fifth movie in the franchise, is complicated enough that director Paul W.S. Anderson doesn?t expect his audiences to catch on, or else isn?t a good enough director to have determined a better way to update audiences. Thus, he introduces a narrative device that uses multiple connected screens and a storytelling session with our heroine, Alice (Milla Jovovich), to get us up to date. Basically, the Umbrella Corporation is still up to its usually hijinks and this time Alice must find her way out of the corporations underground base, where they are putting together a variety of obnoxious and cruel experiments on clones.

This leads to April running around in an underground facility populated by different sorts of monsters and clones that have been created by the Umbrella Corporation and manipulated with viruses. Apparently, April is important enough that she is helped by Ada Wong (Bingbing Li) and a whole crew of not-so-gentle men, including Luther (Boris Kodjoe), Leon (Johann Urb), and Barry (Kevin Durand), who show up to help Alice escape.

To be clear, the underground facility features miniature cities meant to look like carbon copies of places as instrumental to humanity as Moscow and New York. Each of the settings is unique and populating those settings with creepy biohazards makes for visually appealing backdrops and action sequence?although the ideas behind the visuals are sometimes better than the actual graphics (blame the budget). Ultimately, however, the story is the big loser, telling a tale etched together to simulate a video game.

The biggest problem with Retribution is that it doesn?t expect its audience to think its way through anything. The film?s main cast runs around all willy-nilly, behaving like chickens with their heads cut off, and audiences simply have to follow Alice and her friends as they make decisions that seem to be based on emotion or potentially knowledge we aren?t privy to. Additionally, despite having no reason to root for our main characters, it becomes clear that most of them will prevail and most of the big bad Umbrella Corporation crew will have to settle for a not-so-nice demise. This likely is what happens when you beat one of the Resident Evil games?the good guy prevails and life for the bad guys goes to shit. Regardless, Retribution is a movie, and without the ability to play the game or strategize to get to the ultimate outcome, the endeavor is not only nonsensical, but sometimes dull.

I?m not sure how Retribution could have been any better. It?s a movie that wants to almost be an interactive experience, but then it would no longer be a movie. The occasional cute quip from a cast member or super cool action sequence with a chain doesn?t really change that. I can see how die hard franchise fans might want to jump in and see their favorite game characters act out familiar fighting styles, but for the rest of us, Resident Evil: Retribution is probably a film better avoided.

The Disc:

I may have complained about the film lacking interactive components that would be necessary to make the storyline work, but the disc is extremely interactive, and focuses on the ?Project Alice? portion of the film. My one qualm was that this section took a little while to load, but once it loads, fans will have access to a database of the characters in the movie. These include ?case files? on the characters, which offer video footage from the other Resident Evil films. There is also sensitive Umbrella Corporation information available, as well.

Next, deleted and extended scenes can be viewed. There is a lot of repeat in these, and some of the sequences are pretty lengthy. Still, there are a few segments that offer some behind-the-scenes information and that are worth a watch. Outtakes follow, which mostly include flubs with weapons and stunts, although it?s nice to see all of the super serious characters in the film having a bit of fun. The outtakes reel is one of the more enjoyable that I?ve seen, but it does go on and on and on.

Several lengthy featurettes are available, as well, including one on Alice?s character, one on the creatures in the flick, one on the design of the film and its settings, and one on the stunt work in the film. Finally ?Code Mika? discusses a return character that ?adds a Japanese element? to this film and ties it with the last film in the franchise, as well. A fan competition segment with a Resident Evil superfan and a game trailer also shows up in the special features.

Anderson pops up all over these featurettes, and you can tell he is really invested in the universe and the action sequences. He gets his own featurette, ?Maestro of Evil,? that discusses the ideas and intentions behind the fifth flick in the franchise. He wanted things to be ?bigger and better,? and the intensity has certainly been amped up this time around. Additionally, if you want to get more of Anderson?s ideas and enthusiasm, you can watch either of the two commentaries available with the set, which both feature the director and a few other people?the first offering actors' perspectives and the second offering a producer's perspective.

Overall, the disc is easy to navigate and it features a really pretty menu. If you like Retribution, I would highly recommend you purchase the Blu-ray for this film.

Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Bingbing Li, Boris KodjoeDirected by: Paul W.S. AndersonProduced by: Paul W. S. Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, Don CarmodyWritten by: Paul W. S. Anderson

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Killing Them Softly

From The Roaring Twenties to Scarface and Goodfellas, gangster movies are often about the violent distortion of the American Dream. Our anti-hero strives for wealth?and the better life he believes it will bring?through ingenuity, elbow grease, and often blood, sweat and tears?though none of the latter may be his own. The American gangster is perhaps the best way to explore how the American Dream can be made an American Nightmare. Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly tries to go a step further, using the setting of a criminal underground to speak to the evils of capitalism and corporation-overrun America. Unfortunately, it's a gamble that just doesn't pay off.

Based on George V. Higgins' novel Cogan's Trade, the film centers on a ill-conceived heist and the carnage it brings down on anyone even remotely connected to it. Though the film's trailers show a dark sense of humor, the movie's jokes lack comedic timing, making this feature either a failed comedy or a stale drama. While Brad Pitt may seem the star, his hitman character, the titular Jackie Cogan, doesn't appear until the film's second act. Until then, we're stuck with a greasy Australian junkie (Ben Mendelsohn) and a wiry, na?ve thief (Scoot McNairy) fresh from prison and hungry for some easy money. The two decide to rob a local illegal gambling den, planning to peg it on the place's crooked owner (Ray Liotta in a thankless role). Following the heist, unseen management brings in Cogan, who?per the title?prefers to keep his distance from his prey, killing them softly. Basically, he likes to keep it professional, avoid emotions. In the mix there's also Richard Jenkins as an easily flustered middle man and James Gandolfini as a monologuing and maudlin killer. Unfortunately, this incredible cast makes little impact because the film lacks focus.

From the start, Dominik, who previously won acclaim for writing and directing The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, makes confounding and dissonant choices. The film is a tangle of story threads unfurling crudely amid a misplaced dreamy soundtrack and speeches from Senator Barack Obama, Senator McCain and President George W. Bush, during the presidential campaign and financial crisis of 2008. Dominik attempts to make these repeated mentions of the economy sync up to his story of greedy and short-sighted crooks in some sort of meaningful way, but the message is incoherent beyond the obvious. Worse yet, the characters are so vile and selfish that there is nothing for us to connect to, and the proceedings carry no emotional weight or dramatic tension. Because really who cares what happens to men who say things like this, speaking of the women they've bedded: "These girls, you probably wouldn't want to rape them, but the plumbing's just fine."

This dialogue reflects the kind of brutality that's on display in Killing Them Softly. The violence in the film?much of it enacted against Liotta's poor scapegoat?is absolutely grotesque. An ardent fan of horror, I typically have a high tolerance for movie violence, but confess I turned away from the screen multiple times. It's not so much the gore, which was minor, but the bone-crunching sounds that crack loud and clear as punches, kicks and pistol whips are delivered. It actually made me queasy. And it might seem we're meant to be repulsed but the violence, but then there's a perplexing sequence of murder that plays out in dazzling slo-motion with beauty shots of bullet casings flying and blood gushing that seems to glorify the kill. And I'm left bewildered. Similar artistic flair?including a scene made thick and throbbing with effects to reflect the perspective of a stoned heroin junkie?are slapped in among the narrative, and are equally jarring.

My memories of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford are vague but positive, and so I expected much more from Dominik's follow-up than this mess of allegory and violence. The ease and elegance I remember from his last film is absent here as scenes start, lumber then stop without purpose before clumsily cutting elsewhere with a song slapped on, adding to the aimless and episodic feel. There will be a lot of truly remarkable films coming out this season, but by my count Killing Me Softly is not among them.

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Jersey Shore Shark Attack [Blu-ray]

Several times during Jersey Shore Shark Attack, I had to keep swatting at the back of my head to reassure myself that no one was pressing a gun against my skull, forcing me to watch. Such is the case when I volunteer for a film so recognizably non-essential for Cinema Blend. Since I?d reviewed seasons one and three of Jersey Shore proper for this site, I seemed to be advantageous where enjoying this semi-spoof was concerned. And guess what? I lucked out. This is grade-B hilarity trapped inside of an abysmal F-bomb. I?m certain the writers were breathing at least 75% pure oxygen when they thought ?Gym, tan, harpooning? was the perfect send-up line.

The Movie:

I stand before you (sitting at a computer) wholeheartedly blaspheming against everything that is cosmic about film by admitting I?ve allowed the douche-friendly cast and crew of JSSA to land largely on my good side. I previously had no idea it was a straight parody, in the loosest sense of the words. It made fun of the Jersey Shore cast while simultaneously existing as a really shitty shark attack movie, in the usual Syfy style. I can only hope the Real Housewives will be battling piranhas at some point in the future.

If there is any single person still left reading this, I commend you. Hey, I didn?t want to believe that the laughter escaping my face was genuine either. This is a movie where a guy gets attacked by a shark, and his cap washes up on shore, bitten in three different places. Three places! As if a shark?s bite, or appetite, was small enough for a hat to enter into it. Maybe it?s because the sharks were all rendered in some of the shittiest CGI this side of the Jaws cut scenes from the original Nintendo system. Maybe CGI sharks have a smaller bite range. Then how are they leaping out of water and biting entire people in half? For that matter, how are they leaping out of water? And is that seriously Paul Sorvino? Yes.

Sorvino?who is onscreen long enough for you to get three good sneezes in--plays a mayor/shareholder for a company who wants to keep deep sea drilling (CGI drilling, no less) in a spot that is populated by vibration-sensitive sharks with a thirst for human blood. That?s a ?situation? that calls for a hero to step in. Six heroes actually. (Make hero-zero joke here.)

Enter ?the complication? (Jeremy Luke), also called T.C. by everyone in voices that sound amazingly like Top Cat?s feline brethren. (If you can go the whole movie without calling Luke a ?Guido Jimmy McNulty,? you are the better person here.) There?s the beef-brained Donnie (Joey Russo) and Paulie Balzac (Daniel Booko). Booko probably comes the closest to his TV influence, though mostly because of the immaculate head of hair. On the female side, we have the completely interchangeable trio of Nooki (Melissa Molinaro), J-Moni (Alex Mauriello) and BJ (Audi Resendez). (I don?t even understand how ?BJ? is a character pun.) In case you were like me and thought this was a slasher film where one of these characters would get shark-chomped every few minutes, it isn?t. This gang of meatballs and cleavage is the film?s source of heroism. The bad guys are rich pricks, albino sharks, and drilling-friendly businessman William Atherton. But only Atherton has a swanky purple tie.

The basic story is that sharks attack the shore and eventually these goombahs and goombettes inexplicably bring out a bunch of guns and blast sharks in the fins until they die. Everything else is souped-up lingo liberally sprinkled through scenes that would have gained quality had nudity and cursing been allowed. That this material is largely PG-13 (although it is rated R), and isn?t drowning in alcohol and pheromones, does more to separate it from its MTV counterpart than the actual sharks involved, even with the occasional ejaculation joke. Examples of the mostly Italian lingo: gnocchi, preppy strunes, spuntini, pazzo, cugini, fazools. No Mario Bros. references, though there are unseen characters named Vinny No Neck and Vinny Bumbaza.

The sheer cult potential of a movie that includes the line, ?The shark that killed Joey Fatone has been shot,? so soon after referring to Fatone as ?a legend,? should intuitively be countered by Fatone?s actual presence within the movie. However, it?s a fun, self-deprecating cameo that ends in a fairly awesome death. Less fun is Vinny Guadagnino?s turn as a News Jersey reporter, which looks as if it was filmed after one of the filmmakers happened to catch Vinny out to dinner.

Since this movie is extremely useless without having watched even a single episode of Jersey Shore, I am almost impressed by Syfy?s willingness to exclude the viewers that would have avoided the movie based on its shark elements alone. There is nothing here for Shore-loathers or anyone else who doesn?t appreciate intentionally bad quality, as any plot-heavy scenes without the crew aren?t worth the trouble. But if you?ve got some friends over and a bong or a bottle of booze to share, then consider this a recommendation. No ugatz! I have no idea if I used that correctly.

The Disc:

Is it worth stating how useless Blu-ray technology is on a movie like this? Watching it on Syfy on a television from the 1970s is the way to go here. For features we get a commentary that tries to glorify everything seen on screen, and has volume problems where film dialogue is way too loud. It is occasionally interesting,to say the most. In the five-minute ?On Set? feature, the cast talks about how hilarious the movie is. It also shows characters too boring to bother mentioning earlier. If you aren?t saying ?Pound it. Explode it. Rain it down!? in fist bumping succession, then I cannot judge you negatively. That?s the B-side of my earlier recommendation.

Jersey Shore Shark Attack [Blu-ray] DetailsDistributor: Anchor Bay EntertainmentStarring: Jeremy Luke, Joey Russo, Melissa Molinaro, William AthertonProduced by: G.E. Furst, Fred Olen Ray, Kimberly A. Ray, Peter SullivanWritten by: Michael Ciminera, Richard Gnolfo

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Dredd

Setting an action film within a contained space is an excellent way to keep it tight and thrilling, but it's also a risk, since the formula has been done well so many times-- Die Hard set the standard, and films as recent as this year's The Raid have improved upon it. And it's doubly risky in a film like Dredd, which establishes the parameters of a harsh dystopian future in quick voiceover, but then limits the film almost entirely within an apartment mega-plex, which aside from a few technological innovations could pretty much exist today. You're swept into a fascinating future, only to be trapped in a tiny corner of it for an entire film; how is that going to be worth it?

Dredd, an adaptation of the comic books that's miles away from the 1995 Sylvester Stallone attempt, sets itself apart by knowing its strengths and playing to them, over and over again. Screenwriter Alex Garland (of Danny Boyle dystopias 28 Days Later and Sunshine), crafts a dead simple narrative about Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) and his psychic sidekick Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) needing to get to the top floor of a 200-story apartment complex to take out the vicious prostitute-turned-drug-kinpin Mama (Lena Headey). From there director Pete Travis follows our heroes through hails of gunfire with a clear eye for the geography of the building, while also adding in the film's great stylistic flourish-- Mama handles a drug called "slo-mo," which slows down perception to 1% of normal speed, and you'd better believe we see a lot of "slo-mo" vision. At times it makes Dredd look like a Zack Snyder knock-off, but it's also a gaudy and enjoyable break from this grim future-- especially when it highlights the film's favorite method of death, people falling from great heights to a splattery, gory death.

The movie goes very, very hard on the blood and guts, and there's plenty to find in a story where the Judges have guns that don't just shoot bullets, but grenades and fireballs and all kinds of goodies. Dredd can feel unrelenting at times, especially when a gory scene leads straight into a psychologically intense one, like when Anderson infiltrates the mind of a perp (The Wire's Wood Harris) only to find a lot of disturbing sexual depravity. And when your hero is equipped with a gun and rarely fights hand-to-hand, the action can feel a little redundant-- Travis doesn't really take advantage of all the potential of a chase in this kind of confined space, and when Dredd runs out of bullets, you feel less tension than a sense that maybe he wasn't all that great of a hero to begin with.

To Dredd's credit, though, he's played through a somewhat miraculous feat of acting by Urban, whose eyes are masked beneath a helmet the entire film and who speaks in a gruff monotone, but who conveys a world of emotion all the same. Dredd really shouldn't be an engaging character, but his commitment to justice and his growing affection for protege Anderson make him remarkably likable. Olivia Thirlby almost has the harder job, acting like an all-knowing psychic, and with her face fully exposed to show emotions enough for two people. The sassy friend from Juno translates remarkably well into a pint-sized badass, and with a promising dystopia lurking outside the walls of this movie, it's easy to imagine following both of them into further adventures. And though Headey has established herself as one memorable sociopath, Cersei Lannister on Game of Thrones, she takes it 10 steps further as Mama, a scarred and endlessly manipulative woman pulling all the strings from the top of her grimy tower.

With style and dour charisma to spare, Dredd proves that the smartest way to handle an action plot is often the simplest, while also tossing in enough flash to set itself apart. It didn't have quite enough fun with its ideas and location as I'd hoped for, but it's got plenty of strong raw material to get it to the finish line-- if this is the next evolution of the Die Hard formula, John McClane would probably feel exhausted by the darkness but also a little proud.

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Hocus Pocus [Blu-ray]

Like one of those horrifying potions the Sanderson Sisters brew to suck the life out of children, Hocus Pocus is filled with a lot of rank and sketchy ingredients. It features arguably the most pitiful, unlikeable protagonist in the eighty-plus year history of Walt Disney Pictures. It dispenses groan-worthy jokes like fun-sized candy bars, and its characters behave without reason or logic whenever the plot, which is ludicrous in its own right, needs them to do so. It?s consistently cheesy, occasionally stupid and yet, arguably, the most likeable family Halloween movie of all-time.

The Movie:

Some of this, of course, is due to a serious lack of competition. There aren?t a ton of great films for the second grade crowd that involve reincarnated witches, but even if there were, this one would stand near the top of the pack thanks to a lot of intelligent and shrewd formatting decisions made by director Kenny Ortega. Best known for choreographing Dirty Dancing and helming the High School Musical movies, Ortega keeps the action in Hocus Pocus brisk, the tone pretty zany and the focus, as it should be, on the Sanderson Sisters.

Winifred (Bette Midler), Mary (Kathy Najimy) and Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) might not be the main characters of the film, but they most assuredly are its biggest strengths. When we first meet them, they?re coaxing a beautiful little girl to her death. Three hundred years after they?re hung for sucking the victim?s life force to make themselves younger, a virgin (Omri Katz) mistakenly reincarnates them by lighting an enchanted candle. This fish out of water premise coupled with the ladies? basic quest (murdering more children) makes for a wonderful combination of humor and creepiness.

Ordinarily, a character can only offer one or the other, but because we?ve seen Winifred turn people into cats and shoot lightning bolts out of her fingers, we know she?s not to be trifled with. Yet, because we?ve also seen her mistake firemen for witch hunters and roads for black rivers, she and her sisters are wonderful fodder for comedy. The two-pronged offering makes the women constantly watchable, and helps keep the momentum up, which is probably the main reason why the film is still routinely watched nineteen years after it was released.

Hocus Pocus is snappy. It?s ninety-seven minutes on the go. Following the intriguing, well put together first scene set in the 1690s, almost all of the action takes place over the course of one evening. It never lingers for too long in one place and introduces plenty of hilarious side characters, including a fake cop and Garry and Penny Marshall playing an older couple mistaken for Satan and Medusa. When the energy begins to sour, there?s always a choreographed song and dance number or a run-in with a bully or something else to inject life, even into the few characters who lack spirit.

The most wooden of the offerings is Max Dennison, the aforementioned virgin who lights the Black Flame Candle. He?s not sympathetic or likeable. He acts like a d-bag and gives the hottest girl (Vinessa Shaw) in school his number in the middle of class; yet, he lets two idiotic bullies named Jay and Ice take his shoes without throwing a punch. He?s not particularly nice to his awesome sister Dani (Thora Birch), and he?s not confident in his own abilities. He?s pretty much a complete throwaway alongside his parents (Charles Rocket, Stephanie Faracy), but since he?s usually in the middle of doing something exciting or interacting with other characters who are far more interesting, his presence isn?t a huge dealbreaker. It?s just one of the few annoyances, alongside an occasional lack of plot explanation and bad jokes, that make Hocus Pocus more enjoyable and watchable than honest and great.

In some ways, that?s a critique. Hocus Pocus isn?t great. There are dozens of moments a viewer could point to and question. There are gaps in logic and there is an abounding shallowness, but in other ways, it's light-hearted tone and willingness to have fun at the expense of all else is why it regularly airs on television almost two decades later. It?s a trade-off, but all things considered, it?s probably a good one.

The Disc:

The back of the Hocus Pocus Blu-ray + DVD combo pack touts ?Disney Enhanced High Definition Picture And Sound? under its special features. For a film originally released in 1993 that was never meant to look overly pretty, it does look and sound a little better than you would expect. So, this set has that going for it. Unfortunately, it makes no attempt at offering anything else, unless you?re feeling generous and counting subtitles.

Distributor: Walt Disney PicturesStarring: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Omri Katz, Thora Birch Produced by: Steven Haft, David KirschnerWritten by: Mick Garris, David M Evans, Neil Cuthbert

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End Of Watch

Even if End of Watch had turned out to be a bad film, I still would have respected it. In both his script and his directing style David Ayer gambles constantly, be it in the way he decides to shoot a particular scene or help the audience get a better understanding of the central characters, and it's impressive how many of those gambles pay off. It?s those chances that Ayer takes that separate his movie from the standard cop drama, elevating it to be a great one.

These risks start at the most basic story levels, as End of Watch isn?t a movie about two cops fighting evil in South Central Los Angeles, but instead about two men, Officer Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Officer Zavala (Michael Pena), who have a pure bond of friendship and loyalty as officers in the L.A.P.D. Rather than having every scene feature Taylor and Zavala breaking down doors, firing off guns and talking about their mission to stop the big bad gang leader, Ayer instead slows everything down and gives the audience a chance to look into the characters? lives as more than just officers, but also people, attending weddings and quinceaneras. The timeline stretches over a number of months so we watch the relationship between Taylor and his girlfriend (Anna Kendrick), while also seeing Zavala?s wife (Natalie Martinez) give birth to their first son. A through line has the policemen on the heels of some serious evil developing in the city, but Ayer lets it unfold slowly, bouncing back and forth between the different universes of the characters? lives and placing more importance on the audience understanding who these men are than anything else.

End of Watch is a story about two partners, and Ayer couldn?t have done better casting them than Gyllenhaal and Pena. When Taylor and Zavala are riding around on patrol it feels as though Ayer sent the two actors out for a drive with a camera and told them to just speak naturally in character. Their banter is quick-witted but real, the characters discussing the cons of dating a Latin woman (due mostly to the ridiculous number of quinceaneras that you?ll have to attend), white people and coffee, and dealing with their respective significant others. The officers are as tight as brothers and there isn?t a single moment in the movie where you question it. Both Gyllenhaal and Pena put on brilliant performances, but it?s their chemistry that makes the movie work as well as it does.

End of Watch?s cinematography purports that it?s a found footage movie, but it's decidedly not one. At the start it?s explained that Taylor is taking a film class and making a project about his life as a police officer, which gives Ayer the ability to do a lot of handheld shots and first person perspective. While many directors would say, ?Okay, this is the aesthetic of our movie,? Ayer says, ?Screw that,? and peppers scenes with establishing shots and third person perspective ? again, he takes a lot of chances. By breaking convention and ignoring limitation he ends up delivering the audience a hard look at the unique, rough streets of South Central while also capitalizing on the grittiness, realism and intensity that comes with found footage. They work in harmony and the effect is dazzling.

After my screening of End of Watch I almost felt compelled to speed just so that I would get pulled over and I would have an opportunity to say, ?Thank you.? Ayer has spent just about his entire career chronicling tales of the L.A.P.D., with movies like Training Day, The Fast and the Furious, Dark Blue and Harsh Times, but this movie is something more-- intense, gripping, funny, and absolutely fantastic.

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Battleship [Blu-ray]

A film based on a board game is inherently a stupid idea and so is this film. Noisy as your grandmother's vacuum cleaner and filled with images hurled at you at breakneck speeds, the film initially looks like sub Michael Bay garbage. For the first half hour I was convinced that this had the potential to be a worse film than any made by Bay. What I failed to realize is that director Peter Berg is no Michael Bay, and by that I mean Berg still has some respect for the storytelling side of the filmmaking craft. Slowly, I found myself getting immersed in this world and when the battleships took precedence it finally dawned on me that Peter Berg may have made the best boardgame to film adaptation ever, not counting Clue. .

The Movie:

In Battleship, the focus remains on the stars of the game, the battleships themselves, as well as the ships? beauty in movement and the excitement of action on the high seas. Logic goes out the window, aliens are thrown into the story as the enemy (because why not?), Japanese and American (and Barbadian if you count Rihanna) soldiers work together, some kind of romance subplot is carried out half-heartedly, Liam Neeson stops by for a free lunch and what amounts to a cameo, and the screen explodes in wartime fireworks. It's completely stupid and, at the same time, stupidly fun.

The plot revolves around the Hopper brothers, Alex (Taylor Kitsch) and Stone (Alexander Skarsg?rd). Alex is the wild and crazy one, while Stone is the responsible rock steady one who is always trying to get his brother to do something with his life (like join the Navy or something and fight aliens with awesome battleships). But, as a Naval officer Alex is pretty much the same guy. He is bad at following orders and of course has to fall in love with the daughter (Brooklyn Decker) of his Admiral (Liam Neeson). Things come to a head on the day of a training mission in Hawaii, where apersonal problem--asking dad for permission to get married--has to be put on hold because alien spacecraft have shown up (clearly not just to make contact). What we have here is not a failure to communicate but rather the second sneak attack in Peal Harbor history.

Certainly, massively low expectations have something to do with how I reacted to the film. However, it exudes a real enthusiasm that is hard to find in these lumbering spectacles. Battleship just wants to be mindless fun. The acting is surprisingly competent, with star Taylor Kitsch quite confident in the lead and, even more surprisingly, there is really little in the way of groaningly bad dialogue. Believe it or not, no one ever says the game's signature line. So, lets say it here, all together and with enthusiasm, ?You sunk my Battleship!"

The Disc:

This movie may not end up on anyone's "ten best" list, but it will probably be played on a loop at HDTV showrooms around the world since its image and sound are stunning. The film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and there are scenes in this film, full of sea and sun, that guide your eyes way into the deep backgrounds where everything is sharp and clear and clean.

Universal really gave this film the full treatment with a huge inventory of extra features on the Blu-ray disc. These include an "Alternate Ending Pre-Visualization," which will do little more than convince viewers the ending chosen was correct.

"The Visual Effects of Battleship" show how far effects artists have come in creating water digitally. The scenes at sea in the film are completely convincing on a photo-realistic level. What I can never understand is, after all of the work is put into creating the reality, why the effects artists cannot resist creating impossible camera movements. These fly in and out of areas that no camera operator or even camera could enter and shatter that reality in seconds.

"USS Missouri VIP Tour" is exactly what it sounds like--an informative look at "Mighty Mo" from bow to stern. Next, "Preparing for Battle" covers the pre-production stage, focusing on the challenges of adapting the game into a movie. "All Hands On Deck: The Cast" is more of your standard behind-the-scenes piece that is full of the cast saying how fun it was to work together.

"Engage in Battle" is split into two smaller pieces, "Shooting at Sea" which shows how cautious Peter Berg was of shooting much of the film on actual water. Obviously, he heard the horror stories about Spielberg an Jaws as well as Kevin Costner and Waterworld. "All Aboard the Fleet" gives us a glimpse of shooting on a floating production barge.

"Commander Pete" is, of course, a segment where people say funny or nice things about Peter Berg. This makes me wonder about that story of him slapping Jennifer Garner during the making of The Kingdom. Hearsay says this almost led to a director to director throwdown when Garner's husband, Ben Affleck, showed up on set to confront Berg.

It's no surprise "All Access with Peter Berg" doesn't go into that incident at all. Instead, this feature is the newfangled way of featuring the director's commentary on selected scenes throughout the disc. Scenes are suddenly interrupted by Berg, who is in some kind of Minority Report world in the bonus features, making graphics and images appear in front of him with his hands and tossing them away, etc.

All in all, Battleship is a pretty impressive Blu-ray release, which also comes with a standard DVD and a downloadable digital copy, as well as Ultraviolet access. You can watch the film anywhere, even at sea.

Distributor: Universal Studios Home EntertainmentStarring: Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsg?rd, Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, Hamish Linklater, Jesse Plemons, Tadanobu Asano, Liam NeesonProduced by: Peter Berg, Brian Goldner, Duncan Henderson, Bennett Schneir, Scott Stuber Written by: Erich and Jon Hoeber

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Lawless

Though it's based only loosely on the real-life exploits of the Bondurant brothers, Lawless has the meandering pace of a real-life story, in which not every plot thread wraps up in an important theme, and not every character's fate feels perfectly aligned with the narrative. That can be frustrating in self-important biopics or sagas about Great Important Historical Events, but it's terrific for spending more time with the loud, wily and coarsely endearing Bondurants, who turned to bootlegging during Prohibition and turned it into a family business.

Directed by John Hillcoat, who brought gothic undertones to the Australian Western The Proposition and the bleak apocalypse drama The Road, Lawless is aware of the serious consequences of all this freewheeling bootlegging-- blood flows freely and frequently, and often from our heroes-- but he loves this world of Franklin County, Virginia as much as the Bondurants do. The film is narrated in sporadic voiceover by Jack (Shia LaBeouf), the youngest Bondurant, who explains that his older brothers Forrest (Tom Hardy) and Howard (Jason Clarke) have set up a bootlegging operation so efficient that even local law enforcement partakes in their moonshine offerings. There's a little too much telling and not showing in LaBeouf's voiceover, but the camera soon obliges, showing Forrest dispatching a would-be robber with a pair of brass knuckles, just before the title card hits the screen.

The Bondurants are intimidating but use violence sparingly, at least until the arrival of Rakes (Guy Pearce), a Chicago-based federal enforcer with crisp suits, city dialect, and a haircut so severe even Hitler probably would think it's a bit much. Rakes is determined to stamp out Franklin County's bootlegging operations, with the grudging support of the local sheriff, and the Bondurants are just as determined to evade him, setting up their stills in the woods, making direct contact with a powerful Chicago gangster (Gary Oldman, in a too-brief appearance), and turning to violence when the moment calls for it.

As the war escalates, life goes on in various ways, with Jack courting the local preacher's daughter (Mia Wasikowska) and adopting some pretensions of big-city lifestyle, Forrest kicking up a tentative romance with mysterious newcomer Maggie (Jessica Chastain), and Jack's schemes with buddy Cricket (Dane DeHaan, equally impressive here as in this spring's Chronicle) benefiting the family as often as they fail. It's all going to come to a head in a major way, of course, but the bumps along the road can be surprising, not to mention shockingly violent, and all the characters are make the meandering worthwhile. The performances are stellar down the line-- yes, even LaBeouf nicely captures Jack's boyish arrogance-- but more than that, the warm but dark family dynamic of the Bondurants is consistently engaging. They've carved out a wild world for themselves-- and one that will feel oddly quaint when Prohibition is repealed a few years later-- but man, did they make the most of it while it lasted.

Musician Nick Cave (who also co-wrote the script) provides the grim but rousing score, and Benoit Delhomme's stunning cinematography focuses on the harsh beauty of Appalachia, with some expertly assembled shots of trees somehow standing in for the entire region's menacing appeal. There are parts of Lawless that feel choppy, like Oldman's role feeling shrunk in the editing room, or the seemingly supernatural strength that Forrest possesses for no reason, other than that he's played by the same guy who was Bane. But shot through with good humor that balances out the blackness, and performances that liven up even rote plots of revenge, Lawless earns its detours and minor missteps, a late-summer surprise with unpredictable power.

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LOTR: The Return Of The King Extended Edition 5 Disc Set [Blu-ray]

As the third movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King had a lot going for it. It was the film where the Academy finally caught on to the breadth of the project, giving everyone involved with the production the notice that comes with eleven Oscars. I think for many people?including director Peter Jackson himself?The Return of the King is the favorite film in the trilogy. I?m not quite on the same page. While I appreciate The Return of the King for its magnificent vision and scope, I kind of wish Jackson had found a way to cut down on the time a little bit.

The Movie:

The Return of the King is extremely long. Not quite Lawrence of Arabia or Gone with the Wind long in its theatrical form, but the extended edition is a different story. The theatrical film clocks in at right around 200 minutes and the extended version is even longer, taking up four hours and 24 minutes of the audience?s day. It?s arduous, and just when you think you?ve gotten through the whole movie, there are multiple scenes that all feel like the end of the film, but are just lead-ins to the actual end.

Complaints aside, The Return of the King was achieved through a lot of hard work and determination. Elements from The Two Towers story and even from filming the second movie were intermixed into the third story beautifully, and with plenty of care. It?s not just the weight of the story that impresses, but the CGI and picture look fantastic, as well, supplemented in this set by the transfer to Blu-ray. On the big screen, when Legolas (Orlando Bloom) took down a furious killer elephant all by his lonesome, the moment was grandiose, and with the Blu-ray picture, the clarity of the scene still makes it seem epic on a much smaller screen.

The Return of the King is the end of the journey for Frodo (Elijah Wood) and company, and in many ways it?s a bittersweet end. Many a journey has been had in film, and when that journey is accomplished, it leaves our heroes with very little to do. Despite having too many endings (in my opinion), The Return of the King never leaves our heroes hanging, and in doing so, it never leaves its audience wanting more. It?s nearly impossible to take a book series as intricate as Tolkien?s and bring a film to fruition, but Jackson does the best he can with The Lord of the Rings series, and the trilogy stands on its own, while nodding constantly to the great literary work that preceded it.

Are you looking for Cinema Blend?s reviews of the Extended Edition 5-Disc singles sets for The Fellowship of the Ring or The Two Towers? We?ve got them!

The Disc:

The picture in the Return of the King has always looked pretty good, but if you haven?t had a chance to watch the extended edition of the film or catch it on Blu-ray, you should probably do so, now. If you?ve already shelled out for the extended edition in the past, however, it may not be worth it to throw out so much money to simply trade up. The menu page is streamlined, and the remastered audio, in particular, sounds far better than I remember. There?s even a BD Live connection, but there aren?t a ton of brand new extras to justify purchasing the set all over again?unless you are a freak for picture or sound.

The extras on the disc, like the movie itself, are just a bit more extensive than the other Blu-ray Extended Edition 5-Disc singles in the trilogy. When compared to The Two Towers Blu-ray, the commentaries seem a little more detailed, there are a few extra documentaries, there are over 500 extra gallery images, and there are more extra-long looks at the premieres and filming.

Disc 3 features a bunch of segments exploring the making of the film. A ?From Book To Script? section has two segments, ?Forging the Final Chapter? and an abandoned concept. The segment about creating the script actually talks about how it was easy to transfer some of the lengthy and epic material from The Two Towers and put it into the Return of the King, while still maintaining the integrity of the Middle-earth timeline as a whole.

Next on the disc, ?Home of the Horse Lords? discusses the numerous horses onscreen and how the horse work was achieved. While it?s cool the prestigious horses worked via voice commands, this segment is one of the less exciting in the set. Rounding out the disc is an interactive atlas with multiple paths (fun to trace, but kind of finicky) and spotlights on the areas where different scenes were filmed in New Zealand to produce the look of Middle-earth.

Disc 4 is the big one in the Return of the King set. It features seven documentaries, and each is more emotional than the last. This is the big farewell to The Lord of the Rings series. On the other Extended Edition film bonus features, everyone involved in the film is still looking forward to the upcoming work that must be done. This time around, the commentaries are more relaxed and the documentaries are retrospective, and occasionally a little emotional. On Disc 4, a lot of the segments have names like ?The Passing of an Age,? or ?Post Production: Journey?s End.? They probably won?t make you tear up, but 9 years after the final film hit theaters, they will probably still make you feel as if you are at the end of an era.

Disc 4 features some of the best moments from the post-production of the last film, including Jackson cornering New Line Cinema to force them to do the world premiere of the film in Wellington, New Zealand. Fun facts from some of these segments include there were almost 2 million feet of film shot for this movie and Jackson never saw the final cut of The Return of the King before the world premiere. To make things even more surreal, awards season came right after the premieres, and fantasy got a unique nod for the first time.

If fans felt like The Lord of the Rings was an epic journey, those involved with the production were invested even more deeply. Countless relationships were jeopardized, people were tired, and work was never-ending, but everyone on set became very close and it is clear filming the trilogy was the experience of a lifetime. If you have the time to get through the set, even if you are a casual fan, it?s well worth it. I?ve never felt so close to a film, or so invested in its production prior to this set, and I doubt I will again?at least until The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey gets a Blu-ray release.

LOTR: The Return Of The King Extended Edition 5 Disc Set [Blu-ray] DetailsStarring: Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Viggo Mortensen, Andy Serkis, Ian McKellanProduced by: Peter Jackson, Barrie M. Osborne, Fran WalshWritten by: Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens

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Resident Evil: Retribution

Paul W.S. Anderson?s Resident Evil: Retribution may be one of the most incoherent, stupid movies that I have ever seen. While I admittedly walked into the film as a neophyte, having never seen any of the other titles in the franchise or played any of the video games, the whole thing is so cacophonous, poorly structured, and badly put together that it?s hard to see how even die-hard fans would be able to make any sense of it.

And it?s not like the movie is made confusing by an intricate plot, because it's a head-scratcher from the very first scene. The story begins with the protagonist, Alice (Milla Jovovich) imprisoned and tortured in an underwater facility owned by the villainous Umbrella Corporation. She is then finds herself inexplicably freed by a woman named Ada Wong (Bingbing Li) and Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) ? the latter of who we were told in the opening narration was the man in charge of the Umbrella Corporation and who Alice apparently killed in a previous movie (and she doesn?t seem to be all too surprised to see him alive). Wong and Wesker inform Alice that there is a group of resistance fighters coming to meet them ? none of whom are given a proper introduction ? and that she has to escape the facility. And that?s the entire plot. There are no side stories, there are no bigger character motivations, and the larger mission ? dismantling Umbrella ? is barely broached.

What we get instead of plot is action sequences. And by that I mean about 50 of them. The whole thing plays like Anderson is completely terrified of his core audience?s low attention span, so he makes the movie operate in a way that the characters can?t move more than 20 feet at a time without having to kill some kind of biohazard in an over-stylized, bullet-and-blood ridden confrontation, featuring enough slow-motion and speed ramping to give Zack Snyder just cause for a lawsuit. This may sound great on paper, but the scenes rarely last more than two minutes, and because the script doesn?t bother with any kind of character development you really don?t care if any of the characters survive or die. Anderson actually tries to remedy this by giving Alice a fake deaf daughter who was created in a virus outbreak simulation ? have I mentioned how inscrutable this movie is? ? but rather than feeling like Ripley and Newt?s relationship from Aliens it just feels ham-fisted and stupid. Naturally the action sequences don?t take long to get tedious, and because there?s no story the movie ends up having nothing to hold the viewer?s attention. Needless to say, I was regularly checking my watch and waiting for the whole thing to wrap up.

Beyond the gaudy action, Retribution is just a poorly directed movie. Despite the fact that Anderson has digital maps and displays flashing at the audience constantly and 90% of the movie is set in one location, it?s impossible to get any sense of the size or shape of the world and the characters? location within it. Alice and the resistance fighters are apart for most of the movie, and given the amount of time it takes them to meet up you get the sense that the facility is absolutely massive, but once they actually find each other the whole place shrinks exponentially and they find their way to the exit elevator in mere moments ? though not without a monster/Umbrella attack to greet them, of course.

Look, I get it: by the time you reach the fifth movie in a franchise you?re mainly appealing to the core fan base, but that?s no excuse for wholly disregarding every other audience member on the planet. And even if it is a movie just for the fans, you're only punishing them with sloppy, awful, plot hole-filled storytelling. If you?re looking to get into the Resident Evil franchise I would most definitely not recommend this as a starting point, but based on the quality of this sequel I highly doubt it would be worth it at all.

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October Baby [Blu-ray]

October Baby is like three movies shoved into one. It?s a romance, a spring break movie, and the story of a young woman who finds out she was adopted after an attempted abortion. More of a focus is on the latter, but the film may have been a whole lot better with a little more of either of the former.

The Movie:

There are a lot of themes in the film that are about growing up as well as the choices people make that define who they become. In particular, scenes between newcomer actress Rachel Hendrix, who plays Hannah, and John Schneider, who plays her adoptive father, really resonate. There?s a lot of pain in many of their scenes, but an underlying tenderness and deep care for one another as the two are forced to forge new bonds after Hannah learns about her past.

There are a lot of broken moments and relationships that need a little fixing in October Baby, and, in many instances, this slows down the plot. Hannah?s in love with her best friend Jason (Jason Burkey), but despite his girlfriend being a total headcase, he just keeps dating her. Since Hannah isn?t aware at first of her unusual birth story, there are several random family and doctor scenes thrown in to address the ?facts?. Finally, once Hannah finds the emotional fortitude to search for her mother, there are a lot of filler scenes leading up to the climactic moment.

To attempt to lighten the mood, Andrew and John Erwin throw in some comedic relief featuring American Idol?s Chris Sligh as an over-the-top automobile owner without a filter and James Austin Johnson as his hapless sidekick. He and the rest of a spring break crew are heading toward the town where Hannah?s birth mom supposedly lives and thus, extend a spot for her in their journey. Lively conversations from topics as diverse as tofu and the ramifications of drinking fill up the time Hannah spends with the goofball vacationers. I would have been content to watch these characters for a couple of hours.

Instead, the movie shoehorns away from its initial direction in order to spend more time with Hannah as she constantly verbalizes her mental issues. Yeah, Hendrix is good at playing Hannah, but watching a teen in crisis mope for most of an hour and a half can be a little much. If October Baby had cut down on the melodrama, not only from Hannah, but from some of the other characters, too, the film may have come across as a way more careful endeavor.

Because October Baby relishes in some of its most melodramatic moments, it?s harder to let some of the smaller issues slide. October Baby has some trouble figuring out the script?s direction and features some scenes where the background music overwhelms whatever is going on visually onscreen. These things might normally be forgotten in a more investing film, but they just keep on nagging in this one.

October Baby works best when Hannah is simply hanging out with people and learning to be a regular teenager. In the spring break moments and the time she spends with Jason, she is a more compelling college student working her way through some unusual hardships. In those moments, it?s easy to forget all of the political and emotional messages the story is trying to send out to its viewers and to just relish in a teen making her way in the universe the best she can. October Baby needed the whole ?survivor of an abortion? idea to gain as much traction as it did, but it could have been better if it gave us a reason to really invest in the story and not simply sympathize with its heroine.

The Disc:

Usually the bonus features don?t lead off with the bloopers, but October Baby was smart enough to let it happen. ?October Bloopers? are way better than the average bloopers on a disc. Actually, I?ll go so far as to say these are the best bloopers I?ve ever seen. These guys generally seem like they were up for anything and really had fun shooting on the set. Next, there are some deleted scenes, which mostly help to clarify stuff and add details to the plot, however, cutting most of these scenes seems to have somewhat streamlined the movie and cut out some of the unnecessary side plots.

The next segments, ?Finding Hannah? and ?Shari?s Story,? focus on some of the casting decisions and the way the actors who played Hannah and her birth mother were able to come to life onscreen. These, as well as the story behind the script, ?Gianna Jessen: The Inspiration,? help viewers to understand the intent and direction of the film.

?Singing the Praises of October Baby? follows a slew of musicians, producers, and even Fireproof director Alex Kendrick as they show up to talk about what they loved about the film. A few people talk about how nice the film was and how it took a totally unique plot and turned it into a great film. It?s a little indulgent, but if you liked the movie a lot, you?ll probably find a viewpoint or two to agree with, which is what October Baby is shooting for, anyway.

The last few segments aren?t throwaways, but they are less exciting than the other bonus features on the disc. A Q&A, a short artsy segment and the ?Life is Beautiful? music video by The Afters (a band I am guessing has scuttled from bad name to bad name during the tenure of its existence) round out the special features. There are way more extras on this disc than your average low budget film and most of them are enjoyable. It isn?t perfect, but I was suitably impressed with the quality.

October Baby [Blu-ray] DetailsStarring: Rachel Hendrix, John Schneider, Jason BurkeyDirected by: Jon, Erwin, Andrew ErwinProduced by: Dan Atchison, Jon Erwin, Cecil Stokes, Justin TolleyWritten by: Jon Erwin, Theresa Preston

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The Cabin In The Woods [Blu-ray]

If Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon set out to demonstrate just how fun the horror genre can be when they made Cabin in the Woods, they succeeded admirably. Those looking for a full-on horror film will be surprised (and possibly disappointed) by what Cabin has to offer, but fans of the genre and of Whedon's clever style of writing are likely to appreciate what they've done with this film, which is as much a tribute to horror films as it is a scary movie.

The Movie:

Written by Goddard and Whedon, and directed by Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods begins in standard horror fashion, as a group of college friends take a trip into the woods to spend their weekend hanging out. Little do they know, they're in for a really bad time. As Cabin is a film best watched without knowing too many specifics on the plot, I'm going to pause here for a spoiler warning. If you haven't seen the movie yet, the spoiler-free version of this review is that Cabin is a clever take on the horror genre, with equal parts humor and scares, great characters and a plot that offers a few surprises and numerous payoffs in its final act. If you're expecting something really scary and gory, you may be in for a disappointment, but Cabin is about so much more than blood, scares and violence. If you're looking for a more in depth spoiler-free take on the film, check out our theatrical review here.

And this is the official spoiler line. Read on at your own risk!

The Cabin in the Woods was promoted as a horror movie with a twist, and the movie delivers on that from the start, as there are two sides to this story. We're introduced to college students Dana Polk (Kristen Connolly), Curt Vaughan (Chris Hemsworth), Jules Louden (Anna Hutchison), Holden McCrea (Jesse Williams) and Marty Mikalski (Fran Kranz). They set off to embark on a fun weekend at a secluded cabin in the woods and end up unknowingly wandering directly into their very own horror movie-scenario, where each of them plays a pre-determined scary movie archetype. The stage is set well for those of us who know how this formula works. And we know it's just a matter of time before some horrible thing is unleashed upon them. We just don?t know what.

While the college kids are goofing off and partying, we see that they're being observed and manipulated by a group of technicians below ground, who are treating the whole situation like one huge and organized operation. Enter the lab coat wearing Wendy Lin (Amy Acker), and the head honchos (Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) running the branch. Some of what's going on underground is explained to us, thanks to Daniel Truman (Brian White) being new on the job and observing the operation from an outside perspective. However, trying to understand what's happening is part of the appeal.

Found footage is the current trend for horror, and having written Cloverfield, Drew Goddard has some experience in that area. Cabin takes a different approach to the classic formula involving young people being picked off one by one by some kind of monster. Rather than taking the found-footage approach, the film's lab experiment-like operation offers a more refreshing view on an intentional formulaic horror scenario. The format often pulls us out of the fray, making it a bit harder to stay in scared-mode, but that's sort of the point. It's not a parody of horror movies, but there is a steady trickle of humor woven into the plot that comes at the expense of the tension. Cabin isn't trying to be the scariest movie you've ever seen. If anything, it's more of a tribute to scary movies than an all-out bloodbath, with a few surprises lurking around every corner, and a third act that delivers the goods. It's evident that Goddard and Whedon are horror fans and are trying to celebrate horror.

When I saw Cabin in the theaters, I left with a five-star impression of the film. I loved it. I loved the characters and the writing. I loved the humor. I loved the scary moments and I loved the ending. And I immediately wanted to watch it again, wondering how the film would hold up in a second pass. Would knowing the "twist" change my impression of it? I'll admit, it does lose a little something in the re-watch, which is why I wouldn't give it a full five stars. For those who like this movie, the film may not be as good as it was the first time through. But it does hold up really well, and the final act is particularly great in repeat viewings. Cabin in the Woods ranks up there with some of the best movies to hit theaters in 2012, and it's well worth owning.

The Disc:

The Cabin in the Woods Blu-ray doesn't disappoint. It comes packaged in a cardboard sleeve with a hologram cover featuring the Rubik's-cube-like cabin art, that, when turned, reveals a monster in each cube. The Blu-ray comes with a digital copy and Ultraviolet for those who want to download or stream the film to their computer or compatible portable devices. Bonus content includes a commentary featuring Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon, "It's Not What You Think: The Cabin in the Woods Bonus View Mode," the Wondercon Q&A panel, and various ?Making Of? featurettes, which look at the production of the movie. Those interested in seeing what went into the making of this movie, from numerous angles (writing, casting, visual effects, etc) should be more than satisfied by what the Blu-ray has to offer.

"We Are Not Who We Are" is more of a general behind-the-scenes look at the movie, and features Whedon and Goddard talking about developing the project together. There's also a segment that has the cast hanging around on set, and another that features Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins giving us a little tour of the control room. Those interested in a few more amusing details about Marty's habitual pot smoking will appreciate Fran Kranz in the "Marty's Secret Stash" feature. The amount of thought that went into Marty's pot smoking is amazing. Then again, it did prove to be a pretty notable plot point in the movie, so I suppose it warrants its own bonus feature on the Blu-ray. This feature also includes the "Hi My Name Is Joss" featurette, which has Whedon giving us a tour of the cabin.

"An Army of Nightmares: Makeup & Animatronic Effects" and "Primal Terror: Visual Effects" both offer some interesting looks on the process of designing the monsters, working on the special effects make-up and the puppets, as well as the visual effects, which are a mix of CG and practical effects. The visual effects featurette offers some great behind-the-scenes looks at the creature moments, and obviously plenty of trivia on the elevator bank scene and the carnage in the final act.

And finally, the commentary and "It's Not What You Think" Bonus View mode offer two alternative ways to watch the movie. Goddard and Whedon are both amusing guys and they converse well with one another, so the commentary is great and full of interesting anecdotes about the making of the movie, including the decision for Goddard to direct, casting people they love (Amy Acker, Tom Lenk) and finding the right people for the lead roles. As for the BonusView feature, I'm not a huge fan of picture-in-picture features. I have a much easier time watching something and listening to something else (via a commentary) than trying to watch two different things happen on screen.

There?s a wishlist of things I would have liked to see (like an interactive monster app), but overall, what the Cabin Blu-ray does offer is more than satisfying for those of us who loved the movie and want to know as much as the cast and crew are willing to reveal.

The Cabin In The Woods [Blu-ray] DetailsStarring: Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Jesse Williams, Chris Hemsworth, Fran Kranz, Kristen Connolly, Anna Hutchison, Brian J. White, and Amy AckerWritten by: Drew Goddard, Joss Whedon

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Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures [Blu-ray]

If you grew up in the 80s, you grew up with Indiana Jones, whether you knew it or not. Elements of all three of the movies were everywhere in pop culture, from "Why did it have to be snakes?" to the rolling boulder to the monkey brains, and you didn't even have to watch the movies to know and revere the man with the hat and the whip. But watching the films themselves, especially as an adult, is like pulling apart all the pieces that make up the legend-- does he still stand so tall when you spend 8 hours watching him onscreen?

The Movie:

Lucky for anyone going through The Complete Adventures, it all starts with Raiders of the Lost Ark, still one of the most fully satisfying and well-executed adventure movies of all time. From the opening scene on it's pure myth-making, introducing us to a man who knows how to get out of every problem, who shows strength in the face of certain death, and who isn't afraid to admit he's a badass who can't deal with the sight of a snake. The thing moves forward like a bullet, hopping across continents and through one obstacle after another; there's no time to pause for character development or emotion, so they toss it right in there with the action, a combination that makes every scene in the movie unmissable.

We think of Raiders as the template for the entire franchise, but what's surprising about revisiting Temple of Doom is how eager it is to shake that off; when it matches the Paramount logo to a mountain, just like in the first one, it's a metal mountain on a gong in a nightclub. Instead of kicking things off with an action scene, it's a giant tap-dancing number (well, the action starts up not much later). And while Raiders was all about on-the-ground fighting and scrapping, Temple of Doom's opening act culminates in the most physically improbable escape imaginable, our heroes going from a crashing plane to a raft in raging rapids without a scratch. But the eagerness to distance the second movie from the first also results in some colossal missteps, like the irritating kid sidekick and Kate Capshaw's love interest-- you never miss Marion Ravenwood more than you do an hour into Temple.

Last Crusade, on the other hand, arrives like the jolly half-brother of the original Raiders, with enough of the same DNA to feel familiar but a more cheerful and energetic spirit that makes it feel new. Watching it soon after Raiders points out how similar the movies are, but Crusade does improve on the original in parts, especially with the ending that plays like the grown-up version of the Raiders opening. You probably need the Temple interlude to be so grateful for the return to form in Crusade, but the third film is still the one I'm most likely to return to over and over-- what can I say, given the choice, I'll take the Sean Connery one.

And then, of course, there's Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the 2008 late-arriving sequel that nobody really asked for, and that has so many godawful moments that it's far too easy to forget the parts of it that work. Watching the opening scene it's easy feel the same high hopes you had in the theater, and then Indiana Jones shares a moment with a CGI gopher, and wheels start to fall off. There's just too much in the movie, and in a series never exactly known for minimalism, that's surprisingly damaging. Every time Crystal Skull pulls off something that works, it finds five more things that don't; luckily on Blu-ray, you can just fast-forward through the parts of the movie that are awful and make it the Indiana Jones sequel you actually wanted.

The Disc:

All three of the original films have been meticulously restored, not unlike the process that went into the stunning recent Jaws release. It's impressive how much the effects in the original three films hold up in HD, and equally dismaying to see how much the Crystal Skull effects have aged in 4 short films-- that one is the least likely to hold up in the bunch. The outdoor scenes in all three films benefit the most from the transfer-- scenes like the Egyptian marketplace in Raiders or young Indy's train battle in Crusade are spectacular on Blu-ray.

The set is laid out like a book, with each film on an individual disc within a cardboard "page," and a fifth disc containing the extras. The individual discs contain only the film and some original trailers, and the fifth disc, to be honest, is pretty disappointingly short on bonus features. Pretty much all of the good stuff is crammed into a series of documentaries, with "On The Set Of Raiders of the Lost Ark" being the only new one. Luckily it's also fantastic, containing a bunch of behind-the-scenes footage from the set shown in the order of the film's action, with lots of insight into Spielberg and Ford's process of working together. At the end, somewhat incongruously, there's a reel of bloopers and deleted scenes from all four films, though shown in a montage with the score as the only sound. Why they didn't split up all that stuff into its own feature, I have no idea.

There are also separate "Making Of" documentaries for all four features, including one made in 1981 about Raiders-- all were released previously, but hey, if you've never seen it, it's new to you. All of the docs are crammed with information, of course, but it's always nice on a splashy disc release like this to be able to skim the info on your own time, rather than watch a series of docs that may or may not feel redundant, depending on your level of Indy fandom. The "Behind the Scenes" section contains even more info on all the technical elements, but again feels a bit like a jumble-- there had to be a better way to arrange and guide us through this wealth of information.

To own all of the Indiana Jones films on Blu-ray is enticement enough to pick up this set, and to be fair, there's a lot of information on that bonus disc, even if it's not especially well organized. The films have definitely never looked better, and since the films themselves are infinitely rewatchable and bonus features wear out, owning the set is worth it to just be able to travel to Indy's world, in beautiful HD and on demand.

Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures [Blu-ray] DetailsDistributor: Paramount PicturesStarring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Sean Connery, Denholm Elliott, Shia LaBeouf, Kate Capshaw, John Rhys-Davies, Cate BlanchettWritten by: Lawrence Kasdan, Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz, Jeffrey Boam, David Koepp

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Titanic [Blu-ray]

There's no way I could ever review Titanic the way I review movies now, constantly taking steps back and figuring out what works and what doesn't, asking questions about dramatic structure and authenticity and the value of certain scenes. I fell hard for Titanic on its opening day 15 years ago, and I wouldn't be a movie critic without it; as I wrote on the film's 10th anniversary, it was the first movie that got me thinking about film as a global industry, and set me on a path that led me directly, well, right here.

The Movie:

Even now it's still hard to look at the movie removed from the giant phenomenon that surrounded it. It remains the second-highest grossing movie of all time (fifth if you adjust for inflation), and grossed another $57 million with a 3D re-release this spring. 15 years later Titanic remains a powerful beast, an earnest and unabashedly romantic movie that, even after years and years of backlash and mockery, draws you in like nobody's business.

Rewatching Titanic on Blu-ray wasn't exactly a chance for me to revisit parts of the movie I had forgotten-- I know it by heart, and watch at least parts of it yearly-- but to see it sharper and more beautiful since probably the very first time I saw it in theaters. Titanic played for more than six months at my local theater, and the 35 mm print was in pretty rough shape by the seventh time I saw it in May of 1998; I missed the 3D re-release earlier this year, so seeing Titanic in impeccable Blu-Ray on my home TV was a thrill. That HD quality is also a litmus test for the film's ability to stand the test of time, not just in terms of effects-- which look remarkably good if not perfect-- but how the stilted dialogue and occasional melodrama work when you don't have the filter of an "old-looking" film to see it through.

There's no denying that there is some excruciating dialogue in Titanic-- the scene in which Rose grabs Jack's portfolio and first sees his drawings is one of very few in the movie I've been able to judge more harshly as I've gotten older. And the way characters fall along lines of good or bad, with Billy Zane's sniveling lip standing in for all of his character development, helps make Titanic feel more like a big cardboard diorama than a living, breathing story. But dammit, Titanic works so hard to make none of that matter. You wouldn't get the spectacular effects and perfect action scenes if you didn't also let James Cameron write all the hamfisted dialogue. You wouldn't get Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio's finely measured and passionate performances if you didn't have their characters taking all the unlikely steps to be at the center of the action. Titanic is the behemoth that it is, for better or for worse, and its rewards outweigh the pitfalls tenfold.

Yes, I'm biased. But I bet a lot of people who don't like Titanic-- who were the wrong age or in the wrong place to fall for it in the 90s, who remember all the bad parts and choose to ignore the good ones-- would be as sucked into rewatching this film as I always am, if they sat down and gave it the proper chance. Like it or not, it's a crucial part of our film culture, a big bloated mirror that reflects us-- even if it reflects James Cameron and his maniacal ambition a bit more. You don't have to love Titanic like I do, but you've got to respect it, and this Blu-ray release is the best opportunity yet to do kiss the gaudy ring of recent American film history.

The Disc:

I don't have a 3D TV or 3D Blu-ray player, but the 2D Blu-ray is gorgeous anyway, without taking away from the deliberately old-timey feel of the movie-- there are soft halos over lights and a polish to the film that are beautifully intact even in HD. The movie comes in a four-disc set, and despite the opulent reputation of the ship itself, it's thankfully a no-frills affair, the four discs tucked logically inside the case with no extra paper or other gewgaws. Two of the discs are devoted to the 3D Blu-ray, which is kind of a neat reminder of when I picked up the VHS copy of the film in 1998 and it was on two tapes. The third disc contains the regular 2D version, as well as three commentaries held over from the 2005 DVD release-- one from James Cameron, one from an assortment of cast and crew including producer Jon Landau and Kate Winslet, and one from historians Don Lynch and Ken Marschall.

All three are fun glimpses into a massive production, but Cameron's is indispensable. He practically goes through the film shot by shot and explains how all of them were done, describing where CGI and models and the massive sets met, acknowledging the historical details he fudged (you can tell one inaccurate door really grates on him), and even revealing some of his famous on-set temper, like when he squabbled with a costume designer and threw one of Rose's hats overboard.

The fourth disc is crammed full of all the other bonus features, though somewhat disappointingly, only two of them are new, the documentaries "Reflections on Titanic" and "Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron." Running over an hour long, "Reflections on Titanic" weaves together fascinating on-set footage-- the camera guys are all wearing scuba tanks!-- with cast and crew interviews, but given the level of access, you might wish for a little more nuts-and-bolts detail instead of the constant back-patting that goes on here. The second doc, "Titanic: The Final Word with James Cameron," is strictly for those interested in the ship itself-- it documents his research into the ship's actual sinking, including visits to the wreck.

The details missing from "Reflections on Titanic" are much more visible in the older "Behind the Scenes" series of doc vignettes, included in the massive "Production" section. There you can find all kinds of other treats, like time-lapse photography of the set being built in Mexico, and an incredibly silly video made by the film's crew that's the closest this set comes to including bloopers.

Finally, an incredible 30 deleted scenes are also included, and they're color-corrected and scored as if they were in the final film. Some are insignificant, some are massive (like a fight scene between Jack and Cal's manservant, or an entire alternate ending), but in pretty much every case they would make for a worse movie. Watching the scenes one after another honestly made me like the movie less, so you might be better off flipping through them with Cameron's predictably insightful commentary.

Having owned behind-the-scenes books about Titanic written when the movie came out, this disc was a gold mine for me, crammed with content I'd never seen before about a movie I love. But with paltry additional features from the 2005 DVD release, it might not be as much of a draw for someone who's already seen this stuff. At the same time, if you've never seen Cameron's commentary, that in combination with the HD quality film is worth it alone.

Distributor: Paramount PicturesStarring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Billy Zane, Bill Paxton, Gloria Stuart, Victor Garber, Frances Fisher, Kathy Bates and Suzy AmisProduced by: James Cameron, Jon Landau

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