Blu-Ray Review: Oblivion

From Universal Pictures comes Oblivion.  The Tom Cruise/Morgan Freeman sci-fi epic arrives on blu-ray on August 6.  Is it worth your hard earned cash?

 From the box:

This groundbreaking cinematic event stars Tom Cruise as Jack Harper, the lone security repairman stationed on a desolate, nearly0ruined future Earth.  When he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft, her arrival triggers a nonstop chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows, and leaves humanity's fate in his hands.  Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman joins Cruise in this "visually stunning" (Pete Hammond, MOVIELINE), explosive story from the director of TRON: Legacy and the producer of Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Let's get a couple things out of the way pretty quick.  Oblivion isn't exactly epic in scale and Morgan Freeman is in it for about fifteen minutes, if that. That said, Oblivion is a pretty fun flick with some unexpected twists and turns along the way. 

The story revolves around Cruise's Jack Harper who spends his days flitting about the area fixing damaged security robots.  He spends his nights living with his partner who maintains communications with their mysterious employers.  As he is out and about he comes across a downed space ship and collects the only survivor.  From there, everything begins to change and Jack Harper realizes that nothing in his life is what it appears to be.

That's about all I can tell you without spoiling the twists that this movie delivers and it's these twists that elevate Oblivion from the standard sci-fi fare.  The action is strong the direction solid.  It is gorgeously filmed and very well acted by the minimal cast.  If you aren't a Tom Cruise fan then you're gonna want to look elsewhere as he is in pretty much every single scene in this movie.  He carries the entire film pretty much as the basis of the story revolves entirely around him and he carries it very well.  Tom Cruise is able to bring the strength and emotional range to make what eventually occurs believable.  This is yet another strong performance for Cruise, who even at this late stage in his career continues to deliver top of his game performances.  The same goes for the rest of the cast.  everyone was really great.  Morgan Freeman of course was great but he's only in it for a very short time.

As for the blu-ray, the picture is gorgeous.  The landscapes of the abandoned earth look stunning and the effects are top notch.  The special features include featurette on the stunts, the Bubble Ship, the visual effects, and the music, deleted scenes, commentary, and interestingly enough an isolated score track where you can watch the entire film accompanied by the score done by M83.

Overall, Oblivion is a pretty great action packed sci-fi film.  Is it epic?  I don't know about that.  I feel like the scale is a little restrained to really be considered an epic but it's still worth your time and will make a worthy addition to your shelf!  Or your hard drive I guess if you are into that.

Oblivion arrives on Blu-ray and DVD on August 6!

Oblivion 

8 out of 10 Bubble Ships!

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Another Earth Blu-Ray Review

Another Earth is one of those movies that intrigued me when I saw the first trailer. I was really interested in seeing it and expected something sci-fi and mind-blowing like Moon or Primer. Instead, the concept of a second Earth seemed like a sub plot buried beneath a Lifetime-esque main plot. That isn't to say that it wasn't a good film, but it just fell short of my expectations, which may have to do with the marketing.

The film involves a young girl, Rhoda (Brit Marling), who has received a scholarship to MIT and celebrates with her friends. On her way home, she wrecks into another car killing a woman and her child and putting the husband, John (William Mapoter), in a coma. She is sentenced to some jail time for drunk driving and John never finds out who killed his family since Rhoda was a minor. Afterwards she becomes a janitor and cleaning lady and seeks out John, who is now living at home. They begin to have a friendly relationship all the while reports of another Earth known as Earth-2 come into play. Rhoda enters a contest to travel to the mysterious Earth-2.

John and Rhoda's relationship is the main focal point of the movie, which really diminishes the Earth-2 story line. Like I said, the sci-fi is the backdrop of the film, but it was very well made.

The Blu-Ray combo pack has a slew of features including deleted scenes and the Science Behind Another Earth. The movie itself is well worth the watch, just don't expect a full blown sci-fi film. Another Earth is available now on Blu-Ray/DVD Comb PAck

I give Another Earth 6 out of 10 Earths!

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The Vampire Chronicles return!

Hats off to Bloody-Disgusting for scoring this information. It looks like Universal is planning to reboot the Vampire Chronicles franchise, based on the novels by Anne Rice, and are even talking to a very interesting actor to take over the role of Lestat Du Lioncort, formerly played by Tom Cruise in the brilliant Interview With The Vampire and Stuart Townsend in the atrocious Queen of the Damned.

Want to know who Universal is talking to for this part?

You just may be surprised. Click the Rawr to find out.





It's Robert Downey Jr!!! If this comes to fruition it could make for some pretty interesting films.

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DVD Review: Valkyrie

Valkyrie
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie & Nathan Alexander
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Carice van Houten, Thomas Kretschmann, Terence Stamp, and Eddie Izzard

It's interesting to think about the effect that hype has on a person's enjoyment of a film. It seems to have gotten almost to the point of making one question their own feelings. Did I like this film because it was reviewed so poorly? Did that lower my expectations? Would my feelings toward the film be different if it had been reviewed more positively? I've mentioned that phenomena before in my reviews and again, it just might be in play with Valkyrie. At some point, as a critic, you just need to let go of the hype and admit to yourself that no mater what the general consensus on a film turns out to be, yours may be different.

The consensus on Valkyrie is that it is a terrible, awful film.

I just so happen to disagree.

Click the Rawr! for the full review.

Valkyrie is the story of a group of men who plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in the hopes of saving their country. For me, it was an extremely interesting and at times tense film about a historical event I had never heard of before. Admittedly, my knowledge of World History is woefully lacking, and it is stories like the one presented here that makes me want to take another look at the past.

Sure, it's not perfect but I can't deny my enjoyment of the film. The performances were solid, although no German accents is a bit distracting at first but if you let that slide it isn't a big deal. The main cast is for the most part British and they all kept their accents intact for this. I don't know if that was a creative choice or what but there is some amazing actors in the group who I have no doubt could have pulled off the accent. Maybe it was Tom Cruise who put the kibosh on that?

That nitpick aside, there really isn't too much to complain about. The dialogue is a little weak at times and the plot seems a little thin. It made me think there was a lot of other events surrounding this that we didn't get to see. Beyond that the film for me was pretty suspenseful and entertaining. I wouldn't say edge of my seat but I was definitely captivated by what I was watching.

As far as special features go, the two-disc set is a tad light. There is a really interesting documentary of the actual events depicted in the film as well as a making of featurette. We also get two audio commentaries. Disc two is the now seemingly standard digital copy of the movie. This is something I really wish would go away. It's being used to jack up prices of DVDs and make them seem to be more of a value than they really are.

Overall, Valkyrie is an entertaining World War II drama that tells the story of some really brave individuals. While the film isn't a masterpiece, it is certainly not deserving of the negativity that seems to surround it.

Check it out for yourself. You'll enjoy it, despite your expectations.

Valkyrie is available on DVD and Blu-ray now.

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DVD Review: Tropic Thunder

Tropic Thunder
Directed by: Ben Still
Written by: Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller, and Etan Cohen
Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr, Brandon T. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Nick Nolte, and Tom Cruise.

I'm going to make this a quick review only because there isn't much to say other than this is probably the funniest movie of the year and everyone should buy it.

Tropic Thunder is the hilarious movie directed by Ben Stiller about a group of actors dropped into the jungle to film a movie about Vietnam only to find out that the events happening around them aren't a movie at all.

The cast is beyond brilliant. Robert Downey Jr. is simply hysterical. Every word out of his mouth is laugh worthy. He is certainly the stand out here playing an Australian actor who has treated his skin so that he can play a black character. With heavyweights like Stiller, Black, and Downey Jr. it must have been nerve wracking for relative newcomers Brandon T. Jackson and Jay Baruchel but they handled their own quite well. They both go toe to toe with the big boys and handle themselves well, providing a lot of laughs of their own.

I hesitate to talk about Tom Cruise here. You'll just have to see him in action for yourself.

The unrated director's cut just adds more laughs to the mix with a few scenes that just improve a near perfect movie. The movie is extremely smart with a first class script and great directed from Stiller.

The DVD is packed with extra features. Extended takes, alternate scenes, deleted scenes, extended scenes, numerous featurettes, commentary, the works.

I do have a couple complaints though. First no gag reel. The outtakes from this shoot must have been the stuff gag reel dreams are made of but we weren't treated to one for some reason. Second, no Simple Jack trailer. It seems like the studio just gave in to the protests and quietly just dropped the clip. The other faux trailers still appear at the beginning of the film but no Simple Jack. Those two minor quips aren't enough to keep me from telling you to buy this DVD though.

So do that. Buy it. You'll laugh till you hurt and then laugh some more.

Tropic Thunder is in stores now.

RAWR(for more)

New Valkyrie Poster

An internet exclusive trailer is scheduled to premiere tonight at Yahoo along with an exclusive featurette "Based on a True Story." Both are expected to premiere around 9pm Pacific this evening!

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Valkyrie Trailer

Bryan Singer directs Tom Cruise in this WWII film coming next year.

Have a look at the trailer:

Valkyrie Official Trailer
Uploaded by mamouang

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Lions for Lambs

Lions for Lambs

Directed by: Robert Redford

Written By: Matthew Michael Carnahan

Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Robert Redford, Andrew Garfield , Derek Luke, and Michael Pena
MGM and United Artists

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are delicate subjects. Both igniting a maelstrom of debate and polarizing an entire country. Who's to blame for past mistakes? Be it the media, the president, ourselves. Lions for Lambs examines facets of the debate in ways we haven't really seen in mainstream American cinema. It is not a liberal antiwar movie. It is not a conservative pro war message. It's a human movie. A movie about people, about convictions. A movie about honor and courage and taking a moment to step up and do something.

It does not present an agenda. It gives options. It presents two sides of a fiercely battled coin. Yes it points fingers, but it points them equally at both sides.

Robert Redford has crafted a taut political piece of art told through three simultaneous stories.

Robert Redford and Andrew Garfield play teacher and student. Redford a professor desperately trying to show Garfield that he is gifted and can make a difference in his world if he only decides to do so. Garfield plays a cynical student who has all but given up on doing anything meaningful in his life. He is content to ride the coat tails and live the good life while the world moves on behind him. These scenes are expertly performed. At times I'd forget I was watching a movie at all. The words and the rhythm was so natural, so real. Redford delivers a subtle, enthralling performance and Garfield stands right there with him. Toe to toe with a legend and it seems like he didn't break a sweat to do it.

The second story is stars Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. Streep, a reporter who had praised Cruise's character in a previous article. Cruise plays a Senator with plans for victory in Afghanistan who is using Streep to sell his plans to the public. Cruise took this low key performance and ran with it. He played it perfectly. Almost too perfect, at one point I thought I was looking at John Edwards on the screen.

It is Meryl Streep who again shines. She plays a stoic reporter chosen to be the messenger of the Senator's new master plan. She can take such a simple character and turn it into a complex mix of emotions. Whether pointing out mistakes in the war or arguing with her boss about how the media rolled over and sold the war in the first place.

I would really love to see Streep and Cruise together again. They play great against each other.

The final story is that of two soldiers who are part of Cruise's characters new plan played by Derek Luke and Michael Pena. Best friends who went to war as a way of doing something. A way to be apart of the biggest thing happening in the world. They felt they had to do this so that when they return home they can truly make a difference. They're both former students of Redford's character and they flash back to scenes in the class room showing how they took a school project and turned it into something meaningful in their lives. The courage and commitment of these characters is inspiring. They put their lives on the line with no question. They believe it is right. They believe it is something they need to do for themselves and their country in order to make a difference later on.

I won't give details about what else happens in the movie. It is a journey you will need to take should you decide to see it (and you should).

Overall though, the movie leaves the ball in your court. It leaves it up to you to create the message you want to take from this movie. Whether you feel the need to take action, to stand up and make your voice heard.

It's a truly brilliant accomplishment and one of the most important movies of the year. A true political Tour De Force that should not be missed. A movie that succeeds where all other political movies this year have failed. It makes you feel something and it makes you think. A movie like this, you can't ask for much more.

Lions for Lambs is in theatres November 9, 2007.

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