Carrie-Anne Moss

Rating: 1.0/5.0

CHICAGO – It’s always risky for a screenwriter to craft a film about a family of writers in that when the result is a script so generically awful as that for “Fireflies in the Garden” it’s going to stick out even more prominently. After sitting on the shelf for years (it played festivals in 2008 and was supposed to be released that year) and reportedly undergoing some reshoots, this stale drama is finally getting a limited release and will prove just how limited it is to the poor saps who pay to see it.

CHICAGO – Now’s the time that a lesser writer would make some plot-related pun related to ask if you remember “Memento,” one of the best films of the ’00s that also happens to feature a protagonist suffering from memory loss. One thing fans of writer/director Christopher Nolan would like to forget is how cruel the Academy has been to their favorite filmmaker over the last decade, failing to nominate him yet for Best Director and never giving him an Oscar. For shame.

CHICAGO – Samuel L. Jackson is an A-list actor stuck in the persona of a B-movie crowd-pleaser. His preference for schlock has made it difficult for viewers to take him seriously in roles that aren’t intended to be quoted by fanboys at Comic-Con. When his formidable interrogator in “Unthinkable” declares, “What I have to do, Agent Brody, is…unthinkable,” the line hits the exact wrong note of credibility-killing cheese that has marred Jackson’s career.

Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0

CHICAGO – Like a lot of movie fans, one of the first DVDs I owned in the early days of the technology was the revolutionary “The Matrix,” starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Joe Pantoliano from directors Andy and Larry Wachowski. Not only was this sci-fi action extravaganza an easily re-watchable film but it looked amazing with DVD quality. Of course, HD was developed for movies like “The Matrix,” now available as a stand-alone Blu-Ray release for the first time.