HollywoodChicago.com Blu-Ray Reviews

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Burn After Reading’ Hilarious Movie, Horrible Blu-Ray

Burn After Reading2

CHICAGO – It’s impossible for a critic to thoroughly defend something he finds funny but fully realizes that a large majority of the audience may not. Sometimes a film just hits your funny bone in right way. “Burn After Reading” does so for me, but may not for audiences without a little bit of a mean streak.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Casablanca’ is a Blu-Ray Gift Set For the Ages

Casablanca2

CHICAGO – An edition of The Hollywood Reporter in January of 1942 announced that Warner Brothers was moving forward with a film called “Casablanca” and that it would star Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan and Dennis Morgan.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Traitor’ Betrays With Exploitation Over Genuine Drama

Traitor

CHICAGO – “Traitor” walks a fine line between escapism and exploitation and essentially falls in the cracks in between, working as neither a thriller nor a topical drama. Great performances from Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, and Jeff Daniels almost make Jeffrey Nachmanoff’s film worth a rental, but the lackluster Blu-Ray presentation doesn’t help a film that already had some serious problems become more than a marginal recommendation.

Blu-Ray Round Up: ‘Into the Wild,’ ‘Old School,’ ‘Tommy Boy,’ More

Into the Wild

CHICAGO – Paramount Home Video has scheduled two waves of catalog titles making their debut on Blu-Ray for the holiday season and the first set hits this week, just in time for you to finish up your Christmas shopping.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Mamma Mia!: The Movie’ Makes Musical Magic

Mamma Mia

CHICAGO – To some people, a “Sing-Along” version of “Mamma Mia!: The Movie” might sound like a threat. “No, Timmy, you can’t watch The Dark Knight for the hundredth time and if you don’t do your chores, I’m going to make you sing along with Pierce Brosnan again.” But “Mamma Mia!” has a very specific, very satisfied audience and they will be giddy with ABBA glee at the Blu-Ray release of their favorite movie of 2008.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Horton Hears a Who’ a Playful Movie, Average Blu-Ray

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CHICAGO – Fox animation tries to keep pace with DreamWorks and Disney with their high budget, extras-packed release of “Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who”, an entertaining animated adventure but a Blu-Ray release that does nothing to rise above average.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’ an Awful Movie, Great Blu-Ray

Mummy 3

CHICAGO – The divide between the quality of a film itself and the Blu-Ray presentation it has been given has arguably never been wider than with Universal’s “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”. The special features are as comprehensive as any released this over-crowded holiday season and the transfer is one of Universal’s best of the year but the film itself is a complete disaster, one of the most excruciating theatrical releases of 2008.

Blu-Ray Review: Special Edition of ‘JFK’ Still Captivates

JFK Blu Ray

CHICAGO – As the 2008 awards season kicks into high gear, it’s a good time to catch up with one of the most acclaimed and nominated films of seventeen years ago, Oliver Stone’s “JFK” in a classy and well-packaged Blu-Ray edition from Warner Brothers.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Austin Powers Collection’ Asks You to Behave

Austin Powers

CHICAGO – There wouldn’t be a second and third “Austin Powers” movie if it wasn’t for the massive success of the first film on Home Video, so it seems appropriate that all three have been released in a Blu-Ray box set called the “Shagadelic Edition: Loaded with Extra Mojo” but Warner Brothers missed an opportunity to do anything more than a technical upgrade.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘The Dark Knight’ Excels Technically But Misses Special Features

Dark Knight BD

CHICAGO – The most highly anticipated movie of the summer was also the most highly anticipated Blu-Ray release of the year and that was before the film had even hit theaters. The hype paid off in critical acclaim and commercial success, and audiences should be satisfied with “The Dark Knight” on Blu-Ray, if not quite as blown away as they were at the multiplex.

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TV, DVD, BLU-RAY & THEATER REVIEWS

  • Manhunt

    CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.

  • Topdog/Underdog, Invictus Theatre

    CHICAGO – When two brothers confront the sins of each other and it expands into a psychology of an entire race, it’s at a stage play found in Chicago’s Invictus Theatre Company production of “Topdog/Underdog,” now at their new home at the Windy City Playhouse through March 31st, 2024. Click TD/UD for tickets/info.

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