Blu-Ray Round Up: Fox!

Fox has a more than a few new and upcoming releases hitting Blu-Ray so we thought we'd take some and feature them for you. After the jump we'll tell you about five upcoming releases including three films and two TV shows.

We'll be featuring a classic film that spawned a television series, a military thriller, a teen comedy, and two dramatic television series from both network and cable television.

All pretense aside, click the Rawr! for our quick takes on M*A*S*H, High Crimes, The Girl Next Door, Lie To Me Season One, and Sons of Anarchy Season One.



M*A*S*H
Written by: Ring Lardner, Jr.
Based on the book by: Richard Hooker
Directed by: Robert Altman
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Tom Skerritt, Sally Kellerman, Gary Burghoff, Jo Ann Pflug, Rene Auberjonois, and Robert Duvall

Special Features: The Complete Interactive Guild To M*A*S*H, Commentary from Robert Altman, AMC Backstory: M*A*S*H, Documentaries: Enlisted: The Story of M*A*S*H and M*A*S*H: History Through the Lens, Remembering M*A*S*H: 30th Anniversary Cast & Crew Reunion, Original Theatrical Trailer, Portuguese Trailer, Still Gallery

The classic 1970 film M*A*S*H arrives on Blu-ray with a disc that is loaded with special features. While I didn't love this film, (I'm not a particularly huge fan of the show either) I can see its importance. Especially, now a days. The film sits at #56 on the AFI Top 100 Movies list and it's well deserved of the position. It is a great film in terms of history and quality with some really funny scenes and great acting, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would.

Still, I would say the film warrants watching, especially with its message and themes and most especially given the state of the world and the country right now. It has something important to say.

Fans of the film should be well satisfied with the large amount of features on the disc making it a nice value for its $20.99 price tag.

High Crimes
Written by: Yuri Zeltser and Cary Bickley
Based on the book by: Joseph Finder
Directed By: Carl Franklin
Starring: Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Jim Caviezel, Amanda Peet, and Tom Bower

Bonus Features: Commentary from Carl Franklin, featurettes including Liar Liar (How to Beat a Polygraph), and A Different Kind of Justice (Military Vs. Civilian Law), Original Trailer

Next up is the military thriller High Crimes starring what someone apparently thought would end up being the Tom and Meg of the thriller genre: Ashley Judd and Morgan Freeman. The two of them being the only saving grace for this flick. High Crimes also stars the relentlessly boring Jim Caviezel as Judd's husband who is charged with a fifteen year old murder and faces court martial. Judd works with Freeman to try and clear his name, exposing a government cover up in the process.

High Crimes is a rather convoluted movie that I pretty much had to force myself through. I enjoy both Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd but even they couldn't save this one.

The blu-ray is featurette heavy and honestly I didn't care enough to watch them all. There really isn't anything else of note on this release, it's pretty bare bones especially for a Blu-ray. If Judd and Freeman ever reunite after this, let's hope it's worthy of their talents.

The Girl Next Door
Written by: Stuart Blumberg, David T. Wagner, and Brent Goldberg
Directed by: Luke Greenfield
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant, James Remar, Chris Marquette, and Paul Dano

Bonus Features: Commentary from Luke Greenfield, Scene specific commentary from Emile Hirsch and Elisha Cuthbert, The Eli Experience Featurette, A Look Next Door Making-of Featurette, Gag Reel, Deleted and Extended Scenes including the Original Ending.

The Girl Next Door is a charming and hilarious little film that is pleasantly served on Blu-ray with some great features. I'd been looking forward to seeing the movie again as I hadn't seen it since it was released on DVD a few years ago.

Emile Hirsch (who really owns this movie) stars as a kid who falls in love with his new neighbor who, unknown to him, is a porn star. Hilarity ensues.

Luke Greenfield delivers a really great film here. Lots of laughs, great characters, and some great performances from the cast. It's part coming of age, part teen sex comedy and a great example of both.

The film is nice addition to my Blu-ray collection and is really presented well on the format, in terms of picture, sound, and features. It helps an already great move seem even better.

Out of the three movies reviewed here this is my favorite.

The Girl Next Door is a film you're sure to enjoy and definitely deserves a home on your shelf.

Lie To Me: Season One
Starring: Tim Roth, Kelli Williams, Brendan Hines, Kristen Ariza, and Monica Raymund

Bonus Features: The Truth About Lies featurette and Deleted Scenes

Lie To Me is a new drama from Fox about a group of scientists specializing in facial expressions and body language who help various law agencies with cases. Basically, they can tell when people are lying.

The first season arrives on Blu-ray with all thirteen episodes that feature the crew dealing with murder, rape, affairs, suicide, and more. To be honest, I thought the show would be a bit over the top but it's actually pretty well done and enjoyable.

Tim Roth leads a great cast and it's easy to see why he has the cult following that he does. He carries this show well and seems to effortlessly slip into his character. The show really is captivating and each episode has a clever and quite riveting story.

Lie To Me was a mid-season replacement so season one only has thirteen episodes but it is returning for its second season on September 28 which gives you plenty of time to catch up on this surprising show.

Sons of Anarchy: Season One
Starring: Charlie Hunnam, Katey Sagal, Ron Perlman, Theo Rossi, Maggie Siff, Johnny Lewis, Tommy Flanagan, Kim Coates, and Mitch Pileggi

Bonus Features: Commentary on Selected Episode, Featurettes The Making of Sons of Anarchy Season One, Casting Sons of Anarchy, The Ink, The Bikes, Deleted Scenes, Anarchy On The Set

I decided to save the best for last with Sons of Anarchy. If you read this post and decide to pick one of these things to buy and watch please let it be Sons of Anarchy. It's wild, it's crazy, it's over the top, but it is oh so good.

Sons of Anarchy is a perfectly casted gem of a show with some amazing performances and extremely well written episodes. Admittedly, I did not expect much from the show. When I first saw commercials for it I thought, "Why would anyone want to watch a show about a bunch of white trash bikers?" The show is indeed about bikers but it's the relationships and the situations that drive the stories. It's about family and brotherhood and it is a helluva lot of fun to watch.

Each episode of the 13 episode first season is fantastic. I was hooked after the pilot and watched half the show in one sitting, and the other half in another. The show, the writing, the casting, the acting, everything is near perfect. I am completely hooked.

It's violent, cringe worthy, funny, touching, exciting, and many other adjectives that I won't bore you with. It's also one of the shows I am most looking forward to returning this fall. Tomorrow, Tuesday September 8, to be exact.

Sons of Anarchy is definitely a must own, can't miss show that is extremely worth catching on Blu-ray. It's well supported with some good features that make an already addicting show even more interesting.

Each one of these releases are presented with spectacular picture and sound. Fox seems to take great care in their releases and these are no exception. They all have perfect pristine picture and sound that is crisp and clear.

If I had to tell you which ones to settle on? I'd of course again say Sons of Anarchy and The Girl Next Door but, with the exception of High Crimes, you can't go wrong with any of them.

M*A*S*H, High Crimes, The Girl Next Door, Lie To Me Season One, and Sons of Anarchy Season One are available on Blu-ray now.