Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 review

The one thing that I always expected from the Harry Potter movies is that it basically takes place in Hogwarts. This was the first one where I don't recall ever seeing Hogwarts. This was one series that has taken me by surprise. When I saw the first two Harry Potter movies, I didn't really expect much. I saw it more as going to Hogwarts and going on an adventure each year, I didn't really expect them to tie together, like the Lord of the Rings movies. But ever since Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, things sort of changed, not too much just then but I started to realize there was going to be a big arc altogether, trying to stop Voldemort. It was always the kind of movies where I would just see it once, and be satisfied. Ever since the last one, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, things started to change for me, I really started to appreciate the movies more and really wanted to watch them all again and see what I might have missed. And with the last one, when it ended, I was really excited to see the next one, while the earlier ones I wasn't that excited. Well, after this movie, obviously I am beyond excited to see the next one, and can't wait till July 15 of next year (note: that is the same date that Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince came out). Things have really changed for the characters, things have gotten much darker, and figuring out things has become more interesting. Enjoyed seeing old characters again. Everything in this movie was superb. I want to go see it again as soon as possible. Highly recommended.

If you can't see it this weekend because it sells out or something, then here are a couple of other recommendations. First off, Unstoppable, it was enjoyable and really good. Another is Morning Glory, had a few good laughs in it. And for families, Megamind, really funny. Hope you enjoy the weekend. I will fill you in on other movies that come out.

Blu-Ray and DVD release Schedule Christmas 2010

Here is a list of movies that you can expect within the next two months:

November 2

Toy Story 3 – The biggest animated movie this year, and probably exceeded many expectations, for sure mine. I would probably consider it the best out of the Toy Story movies, yeah the first one was for sure a mind blower, since it did something that was new, but this one was developed well for a family movie, a lot of emotion in it. A must have.

The Goonies (Blu-Ray) – The classic 1985 adventure involving a bunch of teenagers going out trying to find One Eye Willie’s treasure. It is not a cheap buy, and from what I have read, the audio and video quality don’t differ much from the DVD, and not many new extras added to this release, more of a board game and some duplicates of articles promoting the film. Huge fan, then I am sure you have bought it, if not, the DVD is fine I’m sure.

November 9

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World – This movie stands out over a bunch of the others that were released this summer, one of two movies that I can think of that were very original (Inception being the other). Very funny and very creative. Highly recommended for those that are fans of comic books, video games, and anime. I hear the video and audio quality on this disc is very good.

Grown Ups – A summer comedy that involves a huge cast of famous comedy actors like Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider. While many would disagree, I thought there were a few good laughs in this movie, and had a decent story to it.

Charlie St. Cloud – Never saw it, heard mixture from the movie, but I am sure it would be a good rental. Zac Efron plays a teenager who just lost his younger brother.

November 16

A Christmas Carol – If you don’t remember this movie, it was released last year in November, it was computer animated and had Jim Carrey. I actually really liked this movie, it is a lot darker than many of the other incarnations of this beloved classic tale, but I think it’s worth checking out. There is a 3D Blu-Ray release of it for those that have 3DTVs and a 3D Blu-Ray player. The 3D was good when I saw it last year, and I am sure it would be great for those who have that capability. If not, I am sure the regular Blu-Ray will be just great too.

Avatar: Collector’s Edition – Yeah, It did come out on Blu-Ray and DVD back in April, but it was a release that didn’t include any extras. For those that are interested in learning about how the movie was made, or want multiple versions of the movie (this release includes versions that have new footage added back into the movie), then this will be a perfect version to buy. And no, there is no 3D release, but for those who have a Panasonic 3DTV, you could somehow get the exclusive version of this movie in 3D. However, with a bunch of solid extras, I couldn’t see any reason why not to get this release.

The Last Airbender – Probably one of the worst movies to be released this summer. I will be honest, I didn’t think it was the worst I have seen, but it was very poorly done. Where does the fault lie? I am not going to point fingers, but this movie will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray for those that did enjoy it, and also 3D Blu-Ray that is exclusively available at Best Buy, but I don’t think there is anything special with the 3D in this movie.

3D movies – There will be many different 3D movies for 3D Blu-Ray released from Warner Bros., like Polar Express and Clash of the Titans. Again, I think the 3D for Clash of the Titans was awful, but I am sure the 3D for Polar Express will be good.

November 23

The Expendables – Big action movie with just about every big action hero from the past two decades. I didn’t see it, but I am sure for those who are interested or liked it, will look for this one, either as a rental or a purchase.

Eat, Pray, Love – I don’t know what to say about this, I am sure there are those that enjoyed it, I never bothered seeing it. But you can find it on Blu-Ray and DVD on this date.

November 30

Knight and Day – For those who missed it in theaters, check it out. Seriously, it has plenty of action and it is very funny. Stars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, Tom Cruise is a secret agent that falls in love with Cameron Diaz and they end up on a crazy adventure. Yeah, it didn’t do too hot at the box office, but seriously, check it out.

Sorcerer’s Apprentice – One of Jerry Bruckheimer’s big blockbusters for Disney, this one didn’t do too hot, but I found it entertaining that I think is worth checking out. Nicholas Cage is an old sorcerer that finds the one that will become a great sorcerer that will destroy an evil force, and brings him in as his apprentice. It also has a sequence that is based off the Mickey Mouse cartoon of the same name, you can find it on Fantasia. Speaking of which, look for Fantasia on Blu-Ray that day as well.

Twilight: Eclipse – Yep, sometime that week, you Twilight fans can look for Edward and Jacob and Bella in their new movie on Blu-Ray and DVD. I heard this one was better, but honestly it isn’t enough to make me get into the series, but it does have its fans, and if you are a fan, then I am sure you will be buying this the first day it arrives.

December 7

Inception – The new Christopher Nolan movie that blew everyone’s minds arrives a few weeks before Christmas. In case you haven’t seen it or don’t even know what it’s about, it involves going into dreams and there are different levels of dreaming, a dream within a dream. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Leavitt, and many others. If you haven’t see, you must, it is a must see. It does require thinking throughout the movie, but for sure the smartest movie that I have seen this summer. In fact, Christopher Nolan is for sure one of the top directors of all time now.

Shrek Forever After – If there was one sequel that I believed wouldn’t be any good but was surprised that it was actually good, this was it. I saw Shrek The Third, and wasn’t very impressed, and when I heard about this new one, actually the first trailer arrived when Avatar arrived last Christmas, and the first thoughts in my mind was, “Why?” We didn’t need another Shrek movie. But when I saw, I was pleasantly surprised. It had a good story, and while the humor wasn’t like the humor with the first two movies, this one did have some good laughs attached to them. I recommend checking it out.

Alice in Wonderland 3D – This is suppose to have a separate 3D release for those with 3D equipment, it isn’t my first choice for 3D, but honestly, it is still a good movie, and the 3D is still good.

December 14

The A-Team – Another big action movie that was kind of ignored that I think deserved much more attention. Stars Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, and Jessica Biel. In case you don’t know, it’s based on a popular 80s TV show, I never watched it, but I absolutely loved this movie, highly recommended.

Despicable Me – A really funny animated movie, it will also be available in 3D Blu-Ray for those with 3D equipment, and this movie is really good in 3D. For others, it is also available on Blu-Ray and DVD. Steve Carrell plays a super villain that tries hard to be a bad guy but has a real soft side to him, and it really starts to come out as he adopts 3 orphan girls, which was for one of his master plans. I highly recommend this one.

The Other Guys – I really don’t know what to say about this, it was one of those popular buddy cop movies this summer, but first off I really didn’t think it was that funny. There were a few parts that I was really laughing, but that was about it. If you are a huge Will Ferrell fan, then I am sure you will enjoy it anyway.

December 17

Legend of the Guardians – Came out about a month and a half ago, really didn’t get much returns from the box office. I will be flat out honest, the story wasn’t very well developed, quite a few plot holes, but the animation was incredible and beautiful. I do think that this movie is very much worth checking out at least once, even if there were problems with the story development. As well, the 3D is great.

December 21

Salt – This was one of those action movies that was quite enjoyable. It stars Angelina Jolie as a CIA agent, she encounters a man that tells her that she is a Russian spy that will kill the President. There were a ton of interesting twists in the movie, some that you really don’t expect, and there is plenty of action. Out of anything, I do think it is totally worth a rental.

Step Up 3 – Again, another one of those that will also be available in 3D Blu-Ray, so those with 3D equipment will have plenty of choice in the 3D realm this Christmas. I never bothered seeing this, in fact, I haven’t bothered seeing any of the Step Up movies, but I am sure if you like the movies you will enjoy this.


Keep in mind that this list isn't complete, these are ones that stuck out to me, and the ones that will probably grab the most attention. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Dark Knight Rises

This is big news today, and I find this funny talking about it because I remember April Fools last year, I posted a joke about the next Batman movie with unappealing changes taking place, just go to my post in April 1, 2009 to refresh on what I am talking about. Anyway, the new Batman movie will be called The Dark Knight Rises, which seems like a good title. The other big news attached to it is that The Riddler will not be the villian, as many were speculating. I thought it would have been a good possibility, but whatever Christopher Nolan has in mind, it will work. Some of the other news bits that I heard was that Tom Hardy was attached to play a role in it, if you don't know who he is, he was in Inception this summer, he was Eames who was also known as the Forger in the team. Once again, if you haven't seen Inception, go see it. As well, this movie will not be in 3D. And again, it will have IMAX filmed sequences like the last movie. I will continue to share updates as they are released.

In other news, Halloween is almost here. There are many ways to celebrate it. One of the ways I have been doing it is watching Halloween themed movies, like Watcher in the Woods, What Lies Beneath, Nightmare Before Christmas, Beetlejuice, and others. I also went through a Haunted House, which was the first time for me, besides school made haunted houses when I was younger.

As for recommendations of movies that are out in theaters. The big one I would recommend is The Social Network. I worried about the movie at first because I saw it as a movie about the history of Facebook, and I really didn't care to learn of the history of Facebook, but what I learned was a bit deeper than that, it has to do about friendships and how you can easily destroy them. I feel this is one movie that can easily be nominated for many Oscars. The performances were also great. Jesse Eisenberg was superb as the main character, and Andrew Garfield was also excellent. Another movie I would also recommend is Red, it was a fun movie to watch, lots of action and humor, very enjoyable. I am sure many of you will probably look for scary films this weekend, but those are my recommendations, I am also going to try to check out Hereafter and Secretariat soon.

Next month will be a great month for movies, mainly for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, I am very excited for the movie. Other ones I want to check out is Morning Glory, yes it looks like it could be predictable, but it should be entertaining and funny, it has Rachael McAdams, Harrison Ford, and Diane Keaton. I also want to see Unstoppable, probably will be a not so good action flick, but could have some entertaining moments in it. It also has a decent cast, like Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. Megamind might also be entertaining. Another one I really do want to see is Tangled, it looks like it could be really funny and good. Some other ones that are more political are Fair Game, with Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, and then there is The Next Three Days, with Russell Crowe and Liam Neeson. That is what I can think of right now, but of course Harry Potter will make the biggest difference for the month, with the others helping the holiday season. Then the next month should have some really good movies as well.

Oh yeah, one more thing, Back to the Future hit the Blu-Ray this week, for fans of the movie, go pick it up, from what I have heard, the quality is really good, especially for the first movie, and there are a lot of good special features. As well, if you want any other Blu-Ray recommendations, pick up How to Train Your Dragon, seriously, it is a great movie, and the quality is excellent. I will soon post up some big releases that are coming out this Christmas on Blu-Ray and DVD.

Reboot coming out

This really isn't movie news, but this was a favorite TV show from my childhood, that I really couldn't resist but share the news. I don't know how many are familiar with the TV show Reboot, it was the first computer animated TV show, it was released in the early 1990s. I watched it when I was growing up in Canada and we had a channel called YTV, and it would air on there. That was one TV show I really got into. Well, a company called Shout Factory got the rights to the TV show and they will be releasing the entire series on DVD next year, I don't know exactly when unfortunately, but I consider this great news that the whole series will be available on DVD. That is one of the greatest things about DVD, old TV series end up on DVD and many can go back and rewatch their favorite shows.

For those who don't know what ReBoot is, here is a link to the opening of the show.

Stay tuned for when I give the forecast of movies to look forward to this holiday season, and probably the DVD and Blu-Ray movies to keep your eyes pealed for.

The Future of 3D

I thought of talking about 3D again, as we have a lot of 3D TVs coming out before the holidays. It is amazing to see how the technology has advanced, where 3D use to be these paper glasses with red and green lenses and it was only about things jumping out at you, but now it is more about depth when you watch a movie. I will be honest though, it still has a bit to go before it is even closer to perfect, but still is amazing.

I heard the Playstation 3 now has a 3D feature where you can play games that were made in 3D. And Nintendo is making a portable device called Nintendo 3DS where you can play games in 3D without wearing 3D glasses (now that would be really cool). From how things were years ago, 3D is now starting to become big.

Even Blu-Ray companies are starting to sell 3D Blu-Ray equipment and software. In fact, just the other day, Universal Home Entertainment announced Despicable Me to be released on 3D Blu-Ray on December 14, of course it will also arrive on regular Blu-Ray and DVD, but the 3D Blu-Ray will also include the 2D version, so for those that don't have 3D yet but plan to upgrade in the future, there you go. Just like the same idea with when Blu-Ray was starting to become big, they would (and still) sell Blu-Ray movies that would include the DVD version with it, which is in my opinion one of the best ways to sell your product.



Of course, there are other 3D Blu-Ray releases for those who are interested in 3D and have a machine. Like Disney's A Christmas Carol, Clash of the Titans (which was really bad in 3D), and Alice in Wonderland. There is also releases of Avatar (James Cameron, Not The Last Airbender) and How to Train Your Dragon coming as well. Right now, they will only be included in special bundle deals, so you have to purchase a 3D TV from a certain company to get it. For example, you can get How to Train Your Dragon if you buy a starter kit from Samsung. So yeah, that will restrict those who really want to get into 3D because of these movies, but I am sure as time goes on, probably in less than a year, these movies will be available to buy separately. Of course, you can still enjoy How to Train Your Dragon in 2D on Blu-Ray October 15 (so excited). I will be honest though, all this technology is cool, but I will wait a few years till the prices come down a bit and they handle any technology issues that might be present right now. But of course, when the time comes, I do look forward to investing in 3D. If anyone wants a 3D TV right now and not spend thousands of dollars, there is one TV by Samsung that is $999, it is only in 720P and it is plasma, but it is 50", but with 3D TVs costing about $3000, that isn't too bad, but like I said, I will wait. For those interested, the technology is out there, and you can find it.

But for those that want to enjoy 3D without having to pay for all this home equipment, you can go to the theater this weekend and go see Legend of the Guardians, which looks really cool. There are also many different movies that will be released in 3D before this year ends, there is Megamind, Tangled, Tron Legacy, and Gulliver's Travels. Since 3D became popular with Avatar last Christmas, there are also movies that were filmed in 2D but certain companies decided to convert to 3D, those are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (very excited) and Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Keep in mind, if you still don't like 3D or can't handle it, there is still 2D versions of these movies coming out in theaters as well. While I wasn't impressed with the 3D conversion of Clash of the Titans, I may give Harry Potter a shot in 3D as the decision was made around the same time when they decided to convert Clash to 3D, and Clash was only given 2 months to convert in 3D (which probably explains why it didn't turn out so well) but Harry Potter has had more time to work on a 3D conversion (hopefully), so maybe it will be a bit better. But nonetheless, a really good live action 3D movie is when the companies decide from the start to do their movie in 3D, like with Avatar. That is a decision that many companies has gone with in pre-production lately, so they turn out good and not as sloppy as Clash of the Titans. One of these movies is Transformers 3, before they started production, they decided to film in 3D, so there is one live action movie that should look good in 3D.

So yeah, 3D has a bright future, of course there isn't anything wrong with 2D movies, they are still good movies, in fact this weekend look for Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps as well. There is a lot coming out in the next while, both in theaters and in the home. I will continue to keep you updated.

Summer Review 2010

Summer Review 2010

As we wrap up another great summer, I go through what I saw this summer in theaters and pick the ones that stuck out to me, ones that I enjoyed, and the ones I wish I didn't see.


Top Movies

-Inception: Obviously one of my big picks. Smart movies are starting to become bigger thankfully, I don’t mind the dumb ones every so often, but when they are smart and make you think, they are more fun, and they are even more fun as you go back and watch the film again. This was one movie that gave us so much to think about, and so many different possibilities. If you want to read some of my guesses and other opinions, go a couple of posts back.

-Toy Story 3: A really big surprise. I didn’t expect it to be this great. Obviously the biggest movie this summer, having crossed $400 million, even becoming the highest grossing Toy Story, and is in fact my favorite out of the three.

-Iron Man 2: A great follow up to the biggest surprise of 2008. I was totally entertained, it was easily one movie I could go see so many times. Robert Downey Jr. was of course great again, and the expansion of the Marvel universe was great, so many different surprises in the movie.

-A-Team: Very entertaining. I was really surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this movie. Really disappointed that it didn’t do any better. A must watch in my opinion.

-Despicable Me: A great family movie to watch. So many funny moments, especially with the minions, and a very cute story. For those that missed it, hopefully you will make an effort to catch it in the future.

-Knight and Day: I am not a Tom Cruise fan, but when he chooses to have fun with his role, then his movies can be a lot of fun to watch. There were a lot of really fun moments in the movie, and I scratch my head wondering why this one didn’t do any better.


Other great mentions:

-Prince of Persia: I enjoyed this one a lot. A good story behind it and a ton of action that totally kept me entertained.

-Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: A video game like movie….. what a great way to make a movie, it was a ton of fun to watch. Totally original idea, and some of the references to comic books and video games were totally fun to catch. There were also many other movie and TV references as well. Anyone catch the reference from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome? Worth watching if you love comic books and video games.

-Salt: I saw this more times than I was really planning to, but I enjoyed it every time though. A ton of action with quite of few twists and turns in the movie, with some that you don’t really expect.

-Karate Kid: I am a fan of the original 1984 classic, so when I heard about it, I didn’t fully accept the idea of a remake. Once I heard the great reviews of the movie, that totally brought up my interest in the movie, and decided to check it out. I actually enjoyed it. It was basically the same story and same movie with certain changes made to it, and they were all good. A movie totally worth it.

-Grown Ups: This was entertaining enough to enjoy at least once. This wasn’t a greatly reviewed movie this summer, but I enjoyed it and there were some fun moments in the movie.

-Shrek Forever After: I probably would put this one in watch once and you are good, but honestly this one was a big surprise to me, I was totally expecting to hate this one, the last one wasn’t really that good at all, and a fourth one after that, I was thinking, "come on, we don't need another one." Well, I went in, and I found myself laughing and enjoying this one a lot more than I was expecting. I would have no problem recommending this one. At least see it once.

-Robin Hood: It was still a very entertaining movie, but it felt like one of those that they could have done a little better with in my opinion. It’s been a movie that I still have a hard time pinpointing what didn’t totally satisfy me with this movie. It had all the right elements that makes a good movie, action, good character development, and great cinematography. Maybe I was expecting an even better movie than what I got. Still worth watching though.


See it once and you will be good:

-The Sorceror's Apprentice: It was a fun one to watch, but I will totally be honest, once should be enough. There were some really good moments in this movie that made it fun to watch. Not as memorable as the National Treasure movies, but still enough fun that you shouldn't be bored from it.

-Dinner For Schmucks: First off, I didn’t like the very crude humor that made it into the movie, however I did find there were a lot of very funny parts in the movie. The story was good and there were some very good moments in the movie. If you like really crude movies, I think you will enjoy it. For others, I would wait for an edited version, but once it comes out, I recommend checking it out.

-The Other Guys: I will be honest, I expected this one to be a lot better, I thought it could have been a little funnier, or funnier in a different way instead of what they put in trying to make it funny. I think the crude language and everything could have been toned down, it wasn’t the kind of movie that I was expecting that kind of humor, nor really needed it, I know it has Will Ferrell, but we all know that he can still be funny without all that crude humor.

-Letters To Juliet: This wasn’t one of the movies I really wanted to see, but I went with one of my cousins and saw it. I will be honest, it was alright, but nothing about it made me want to go see it again. But for those that enjoyed movies like Leap Year, this might be worth watching.


Don’t even bother:

-The Last Airbender: I will be honest, this was totally a big letdown, especially for huge fans of the show. This totally left a bad taste in everyone’s mouths for M Night Shyamalan, especially the fact that the last few movies have failed to capture the attention of audience. This movie was totally flawed in the script and the acting was flat out bad. However, the set designs were pretty cool, and so were the special effects. So if you keep your expectations low, then this movie won’t be that bad of an experience.

-Jonah Hex: It showed up in theaters and was gone very quick. I am sure the basic reasons were clear to everyone. Megan Fox was totally there for show and nothing else. A very short movie with no real purpose behind it. Not worth your time whatsoever.

-Takers: Wow, if there was one more that had so many plot holes and so many illogical situations, this was it. The script was so bad, there wasn’t really any story, nothing connected, and you didn’t care for anyone, and I mean no one. I found myself laughing throughout the movie, especially the last thirty minutes, not because it was suppose to be funny, but because everything was so bad you couldn’t help but laugh. Parts of it felt like a complete rip off of The Italian Job. Let me put it this way, if you want to see a really bad movie, go see Takers.


This was actually a pretty solid summer for movies, obviously there were some poor choices this summer, but some of the great movies made up for it. This coming Fall will have some pretty solid choices in which I will look forward to, as well as this Holiday season. I will try to keep you updated on what to look for.

Blu-Ray reviews

I wanted to write this up to give you an idea of some of the Blu-Ray movies that I have checked out and some of them that have stood out to me. Remember, your list may be different, but this may help you in finding titles that you want to show off your HDTV or your Home Theater. When choosing good Blu-Ray movies, choose ones that you are willing to watch again and again. Here are some of my top Blu-Ray movies that I have:

-Avatar – Easily a very stunning movie to watch and the world that is created is gorgeous. You want to show off very nice visuals on your HDTV, this is a must have on Blu-Ray. Yes, there are no extra features, and it isn’t available in 3D yet, it is still worth owning.

-Dark Knight – One of the very first movies that really got me into Blu-Ray, this is still a great demo disc. The sequences that were shot using IMAX cameras (which fill up the whole screen) are very amazing to look at, and the sound is very good. It also has some cool special features, while it would have been great to see some more on this release, the movie is what really counts.

-Transformers – It is a very good looking Blu-Ray, and it sounds very good as well. Of course the sequel is a great demo as well, but I would rather recommend the first one over the second, for various reasons (I’m sure a lot of us know those reasons), but the first one is worth having.

-Star Trek – One movie that was a surprise hit last summer, is a very good Blu-Ray demo. I am not a Star Trek fan, but this one blew me away, and was a lot of fun to watch.

-Up – One of my top movies of last year, and Pixar does not let you down the quality of their presentations. This looks and sounds great on Blu-Ray, totally worth having.

-Terminator Salvation – I put this one up because it is an incredible sounding Blu-Ray. You want to show what your sound system is capable of, then put this one in and you can blow them away. It’s a pretty decent movie as well.

-Harry Potter movies – While I haven’t watched the first three on Blu-Ray yet, I have seen the latter three on Blu-Ray, and they look and sound great. They are great movies to watch, especially as the series progresses.

-Alice in Wonderland – The new Tim Burton movie is for sure a great Blu-Ray demo, looks and sounds great. It is also a very entertaining movie.

Older movies remastered:

-The Dark Crystal – I am a big Dark Crystal fan, I am very excited for the new movie to arrive in theaters (hopefully next year). I picked this one up and the video presentation was great, looked very stunning for a movie released almost 30 years ago, and it sounded pretty good too.

-Labyrinth – A childhood favorite of mine, again this looks very good and sounds very good on Blu-Ray, while it won’t knock down doors or blow people away, it is still a very good presentation, and a fun movie to watch as well.

-2001: A Space Odyssey – Probably one of the most bizarre movies that I have ever seen, but yet it looks and sounds very good on Blu-Ray, this was made back in 1968 (no, it wasn’t made in 2001) and it really doesn’t look that old here, very good looking.

-Karate Kid – One old movie that never really got the best treatment on any of it’s previous DVD releases. The first release was just available in full-frame, and it didn’t look that great, and it almost was like they took a VHS tape and ported it over to DVD, although a minor improvement. The second DVD was available in widescreen, with some extra features, a big improvement. But the Blu-Ray has better video quality, and the sound is now in 5.1, and it actually has some pretty good power in the sound.

-Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – Made back in 1937, the classic Disney movie actually looks very good for it’s age. The colors do stand out, and yes the age does show in how it’s done, but come on, the very first full length animated movie looking this good, that’s extremely impressive. Pinocchio is another good one to get before it goes back into the Disney Vault.

Concerts on Blu-Ray:

-U2 360 – I picked this one up because the 360 concert fell through this year (huge disappointment) and this one came out, so I decided well I can’t see them live, I will instead watch a recorded live concert of them on Blu-Ray. This sounded very good, and it was a great performance by U2.

-The Killers – While I really haven’t watched the concert all the way through at home on Blu-Ray (I did watch it in theaters when they had it) the song I have listened to has quite a punch on the bass and it sounds awesome, and the video is very good as well.

Anime on Blu-Ray:

-Evangelion 1.11 You Are Not Alone – This was my first experience of the Evangelion universe. It was a great way to start, and definitely the best place to start for these new movies. The picture and sound on this Blu-Ray are great, pretty close to demo worthy.

-Ponyo – I love Miyazaki’s movies, they are very beautiful to watch. They are weird, but great to watch. This is no exception. The video on the Blu-Ray release is very beautiful. I can’t wait for the other Miyazaki movies to make it here on Blu-Ray, especially Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away.

-Evangelion 2.22 You Can Not Advance – It was recently announced that Funimation (who also has Evangelion 1.11) had acquired the rights to selling this movie in the US, so we should be able to find it in the States soon. I decided to import the Blu-Ray version from Hong Kong because it was region A and it had English subtitles, and I heard very good things out of it. I was definitely blown away, the sound quality is very close to demo quality, and the video is also good. Can’t wait for the Funimation release. And I also can’t wait to see the next entries in the series.

Other ones worth checking out:

-9 – Came out last year, but was dismissed fairly quickly. While it isn’t a classic, it is still worth a look, the visuals are cool and the style is pretty nice. The Blu-Ray presentation is also very good.

-Quantum of Solace – The latest entry in the Bond series has some very nifty action sequences. Especially the beginning sequence, and it sounds very good.

-The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus – A very bizarre movie to watch, but yet I found it to be very enjoyable, not easily understood within one watch. This was Heath Ledger’s last role, even though it was only partially completed and they needed three other actors to help make the rest of the movie work. While the public didn’t fully accept the movie, I do believe that the movie is worth a rental.

-State of Play – I actually enjoyed this movie, pretty suspenseful and you have to think through to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. The video and audio on the Blu-Ray are also great.

-Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl – The audio and video on this Blu-Ray are great. Of course, it’s also a great movie to watch.

-Fantastic Mr. Fox – Very different movie than what you would normally be use to, however I found the movie to be very enjoyable. The presentation is also great here.

-Taken – Another great movie that I believe is worth watching, plus the quality of the Blu-Ray is great.


There are a ton of great Blu-Ray movies out there. If you want to find out if a certain movie you want to have is in good shape on Blu-Ray, there are a few sites that you could check out where they review Blu-Ray movies, one is DVD Talk, High-Def Digest, and Blu-ray.com
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