Colm Feore

CHICAGO – This summer saw the release of two movies that were basically just appetizers for next year’s full meal in Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers” — “Thor” and “Captain America: The First Avenger.” Both were surprisingly well-received although both fall short of being considered among the best Marvel movies (“Iron Man,” “X-Men: First Class,” “Spider-Man 2”) in part by virtue of so obviously being set-ups for something yet to come. “Thor” works best when one considers where this franchise will go in “Thor 2” and “The Avengers” but is merely average when judged on its own. It’s a decent movie with a decent Blu-ray release that promises more-than-just-decent material to come.

CHICAGO – Power, royalty, sex, corruption — Is this “Camelot,” “The Kennedys,” or “The Borgias”? There’s an odd number of tales of royal families on TV this weekend and the best belongs to Showtime with an instantly-striking performance from the Oscar-winning Jeremy Irons.

CHICAGO – The standard DVD season sets for “24” have long been setting the bar for what TV on DVD “should be”. Winning awards for their technical transfers and detailed, copious special features, the producers of “24“‘s home releases took it a step further this year by changing the game yet again with the Blu-Ray release of “24: Season Seven”.

CHICAGO – Toby Logan (Craig Olejnik) is a 25-year-old paramedic who can hear other people’s thoughts. The telepath is the lead character on NBC’s frustrating new “The Listener,” a show that the network is clearly burning off this summer and that I don’t need psychic powers to predict won’t be on the schedule for too long.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – I usually don’t agree with suggestions that certain movies need to be seen twice to be appreciated. If a movie doesn’t work on first viewing, then it simply doesn’t work. Having said that, watching Clint Eastwood’s “Changeling” a second time on Blu-Ray made me appreciate the final product significantly more than my disappointed reaction to it in theaters.

CHICAGO – The world has changed significantly since Kiefer Sutherland and the rest of the team behind Fox’s “24” were forced to save it repeatedly over the first six seasons of one of the most popular shows of the last decade. Will “24” still be relevant with controversy over real-life torture dominating the headlines and a new regime getting ready to take office?