THE FILM:

Over a decade in the making, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is a meticulous, accomplished dramatization of the Great Emancipator's push to enact the Thirteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution before the end of the Civil War. Daniel Day-Lewis again totally transforms into his role, this time adopting the surprisingly modest voice of the sixteenth president. Lincoln is Spielberg's best film in some time; dense, expertly staged, historically accurate and rarely dull. The screenpla...Read the entire review

In 10 Words or Less
A short, yet amusing holiday special

Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Animation
Likes: Madagascar
Dislikes: Most non-Christmas holiday specials
Hates: Single-serving DVDs

The Show
Whomever at Dreamworks thought up the idea of creating holiday specials out of their popular animated movie franchises hopefully has been rewarded well, as it obviously has been a successful venture. After all, why would we keep getting them on a regular basis if they weren't making the studio money? The latest brings back the now-seemingly ubiquitous animal empire of Madagascar, to celebrate the somewhat less-exploited holiday of Valentine's Day with an original animated special.

Set before the days of ...Read the entire review

The Show:

Kung Fu Panda Holiday has just been released on this Blu-Ray/DVD set, but it originally aired in 2010 on the NBC network (with its annoying onscreen logo and more than five minutes of commercials) so this would place it before the movie Kung Fu Panda 2. The holiday in question here is not Christmas (despite a label on the outside of the package saying "New for Christmas") or Life Day for that matter, but the Winter Feast at the Jade Palace. Master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman, as in the movies) calls on Po the Panda (Jack Black) to be the host of the Winter Feast, to be attended by all the "masters of kung fu". However Po is torn when he wants to invite his "dad" Mr. Ping (James Hong) and Shifu tells him the event is only for the masters. Meanwhi...Read the entire review

Sometimes a writer freezes at the outset. It's not writer's block, it's not the mythical "fear of the blank page." It's just there is no one clear way to get going. It reportedly took Steven Spielberg twelve years to bring Lincoln to the screen? He didn't know where to start, and neither do I. And though I doubt I'll end up in any place even remotely of the same quality as his film, I'll do what Se or Spielbergo eventually did and just get going.

There have been many Abraham Lincoln films recently. In this one, he doesn't fight the undead, nor is it about the men who killed him. Lincoln is about the man himself, a...Read the entire review

THE MOVIE:

Please Note: The stills used here are taken from the bonus DVD included in this combo, not the Blu-ray edition under review.

When People Like Us opens, we see Chris Pine performing in a role he seems born to play: a salesman. The Star Trek actor stars here as Sam, a hustler who works for a company that basically takes trash from different companies, calls it surplus, and moves it around the world for fun and profit. Sam is closing a big deal, but what he thinks is going to be a killer day becomes a killer for a bunch of reasons he didn't anticipate. First, he discovers a deal he made to ship some soup south of the border has gone the wrong w...Read the entire review

The Film:

In 10 Words or Less
Animated adventure with a hint of humor

Reviewer's Bias*
Loves: Good animation, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis
Likes: Action comedy, Antonio Banderas, the Shreck franchise
Dislikes: Wasted talent
Hates: Humpty Dumpty

The Movie
Though your humble reviewer has watched all four Shrek films, and enjoyed them to various degrees, outside of the first one, none would demand repeat viewings. However, those three sequels brought us the one character that escaped the franchise with a positive reputation: Puss in Boots, the feline Antonio Banderas avatar. So it made perfect sense for Dreamworks to take his boots and walk them over to a film of his own.

But instead of ma...Read the entire review

I guess you could call Steven Spielberg's War Horse "old fashioned," but I wouldn't deploy it as a compliment. Handsomely mounted and utterly sappy, it's the filmmaker's least successful picture since The Lost World: Jurassic Park; it has its moments, but they are undercut by inexplicable choices and the project's utter solemnity about itself. And it is almost entirely undone by the comically overwrought work of composer John Williams, whom Spielberg has allowed to go completely out of control.

The film is based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, which also inspired the current Broadway play. It's the story of Joey, the titular steed, and Albert (Jeremy Irvine), the boy who raises him, trains him, and loves him. The film certainly takes its time getting said hor...Read the entire review

It's pretty fair to say that we all knew that the fourth Shrek film, occasional "Final Chapter" subtitle or not, was not going to mark the end of a franchise that gave DreamWorks animation the opportunity to just print money every couple of years; how in blazes were they going to walk away from that? Never mind that the story had long run out of steam--indeed, there wasn't enough juice for one sequel, let alone three. But that first sequel worked for one reason and one reason only: the introduction of Puss in Boots, a sly dandy of a feline, voiced by Antonio Banderas and played as a kind of cross between Zorro and Pepe LePew. Whatever life was to be found in Shrek 2 was because of his introduction into it, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that this was...Read the entire review

Real Steel is a movie about robot boxing. I don't know what kind of pictures that premise puts in your mind, but I can tell you that personally, I don't envision lame father-son melodrama. Directed by Shawn Levy, the man behind the triumphant Night at the Museum franchise and the miraculously mediocre Steve Carell/Tina Fey vehicle Date Night, Real Steel is manipulative, uninspired, and occasionally obnoxious over the course of its 127 minutes.

Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a world-class deadbeat who scrapes together the minimum amount of living from whatever fights he can get. When the movie opens, Charlie is having his robot awkwardly fight a live steer, which distracted me momentarily while I thought of how many weird animal abuse laws a fight like that might be breaking. When his ro...Read the entire review

Director Jon Favreau has quite a playground with "Cowboys & Aliens," permitting the filmmaker a big-budget opportunity to stage classic western encounters while banging away with large-scale sci-fi elements. Although it lacks an extraordinary pace that would normally accompany the collision of two disparate genres, the picture is a comfortably entertaining slice of summer escapism, blasting away with a blissful discharge of six-guns and lasers.

Waking up in the middle of nowhere, Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) finds himself wounded, without his memory, and in possession of a metal laser gun strapped to his wrist. Making his way to the nearest town, Jake mixes it up with the locals, incurring the wrath of cattle baron Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). Before the two can successfully...Read the entire review

THE FILM:

Birthed as human insurance policies for the rich and famous, clones Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta live and work in a futuristic compound kept orderly by the fictitious threat of a pathogenic atmosphere outside. Everything is going swimmingly for the corporation selling these live donors, until Lincoln begins questioning his existence and rattling cages. Director Michael Bay adds some substance to his usual mayhem in The Island, a slick, entertaining thrill ride unfairly dismissed by critics and moviegoers when released in summer 2005.

The Island questions how far humans are willing to go to extend their lives. How much would you pay, and, if necessary, could you take ...Read the entire review

Unless I managed to miss one, there are zero -- count 'em, zero! -- references to any current pop culture phenomena in Kung Fu Panda 2. Can this really be a "2" by the same studio that labored to bring us the second Shrek film? It seems impossible, but it's true: despite the abundance of "DreamWorks Face" plastered on the posters, the film, taken as a sequel or by itself, is exceptional, Pixar-caliber entertainment on every level.

On the surface: like most animated movies these days, both Pandas feature an all-star voice cast of celebrities from all over the globe. It's certainly unique to hear Angelina Jolie sharing a scene with Seth Rogen, or Jackie Chan acting opposite David Cross, and it would be easy for the film to coast on its marquee names, but first-time...Read the entire review

2008's "Kung Fu Panda" was such an unexpected delight, merging furious martial art action and a traditional hero's journey narrative to create a quirky, spirited comedy, making ideal use of star Jack Black's verbal idiosyncrasies and playful heft. The development of a sequel wasn't the most welcome news, threatening to sink a sublime feeling of creativity through cash-happy repetition. It's a relief to report that "Kung Fu Panda 2" isn't only superb, but matches the original picture in terms of scope and sentiment, once again following Po as he seeks to attain peace in his special bumbling manner.

Now a kung fu master, Po (voiced by Jack Black) is thrilled to be given a chance to protect his homeland, fighting evil alongside Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Crane...Read the entire review

Hey, I'm a cheap date. You show me a trailer with Natalie Portman writhing around half-nekkid, and I'll at least give the movie a look on Blu-ray. I had to brace myself for this one, though. No Strings Attached is a romantic comedy, after all, and that's a genre that doesn't always play that nicely with that pesky Y chromosome of mine. There's also the whole thing with Ashton Kutcher being on the bill, and his filmography's not exactly teeming with winners. Turns out, though...? I kinda like it.

You know the story. Boy Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=47044 Mon, 04 Apr 2011 06:05:51 PDT Highly Recommended

THE MOVIE:

Please Note: The screengrabs used here are from the standard-definition DVD released in 2002, not from the Blu-Ray.

It probably shouldn't have worked. It was certainly hotly debated at the time. Cinephiles were divided about the idea of Steven Spielberg carrying on for Stanley Kubrick after the great director's death. In many ways, they were polar opposites: Kubrick labored for years on a project, working it to perfection, distancing himself from business concerns and ticket sales; Spielberg worked fast and with great technical acumen, and though for many years he had been pinging between artier dramas and the populist entertainment that his career had been built on, he was the king of the box office and had been for quite...Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=48151 Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:26:06 PST Rent It

Doomed planet.

[click on the thumbnail to enlarge]

Desperate scientists.Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=46576 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 04:38:08 PST Recommended

THE FILM

"Dinner from Schmucks" is the type of comedy that doesn't understand the proper time to take a bow and exit the stage. It's a funny picture that pays careful attention to the rituals of dumb guy cinema, but if there ever was a film that could've been a miracle at 80 minutes, it's this movie. Instead, matters meander for nearly two hours, diminishing a pure expression of stupidity, carried out by a prepared, skilled ensemble.

Tim (Paul Rudd) is a financial wizard looking for his big corporate break. Hoping to impress his boss (Bruce Greenwood), Tim finds the perfect opportunity to join the inner managerial circle, asked to prove his worth at a monthly dinner where the suits bring idiots as their guests, encouraging a night of mockery. Tim's sensitive girlfriend, Julie (Stephanie Szostak), disapproves, but the lackey can't turn down the invitation, especially af...Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=47088 Thu, 09 Dec 2010 04:45:24 PST Highly Recommended

Watching animated flicks as a kid, there was a single motto that I lived by - If it isn't Disney, it isn't worth my time. Of course, that was when Disney had been producing such classics as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King. The films that followed were a different story. Bland and boring, they left me to feel somewhat disenchanted. The 'code' I lived much of my life by had failed me, and I was forced to begin looking elsewhere for my fill of adventurous, animated fun. Just as I was ready to jump ship however, Disney and Pixar teamed up and started delivering the goods, this time in computer animated form. Once again I found myself clinging to the 'code', thinking that Disney was indeed the only company that could produce quality family entertainment. Yet in 2001, DreamWorks ended up freeing me from my closed-minded stipulation with Shrek, as...Read the entire review

]]> Theatrical http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=46537 Thu, 04 Nov 2010 18:07:07 PDT Rent It

With this gifted cast and production team, it's a crime that "Megamind" isn't a funnier, livelier picture. A flaccid superhero satire fashioned with stunning animation, the picture feels like a runaway farce that barely wheezes out of the starting gate. The ingredients are there to make something uproarious, especially in the CG-animated realm where superhero business can assume an epic form, but there's a distinctly deflated ambiance to the shenanigans, leaving the picture serious eye-candy on the prowl for bellylaughs it infuriatingly never finds.

An infant alien sent to Earth after his home world was destroyed, Megamind (voiced by Will Ferrell) was raised in the comfortable confines of prison, taught to loathe good and practice evil, using his massive intellect as a weapon....Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=46173 Mon, 25 Oct 2010 06:59:10 PDT Highly Recommended

THE FILM

This is a wonderful motion picture. Perhaps DreamWorks, in their frantic need to push the movie to every demographic, has lost sight of the film itself. Abysmal marketing efforts aside, "How to Train Your Dragon" is a rousing success; a soaring, endearing adventure feature that plays smart and fierce.

On the island of Berk, a community of Vikings spend their days training for war against waves of aggressive dragons. For pipsqueak Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), life as the son of stern leader Stoick (Gerard Butler) demands that he join the dragon-killing squad, but he just doesn't have the heart for it. Discovering a fallen dragon that's missing part of its tail, Hiccup befriends the rare creature, using his artisan skills to help the sleek black beast off the ground. Nicknaming the dragon "Toothless," Hiccup realizes he has a way with the so-called enemy, tak...Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=44663 Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:00:59 PDT Highly Recommended

THE FILM

When clich s are put into the right hands, spun with the proper velocity, they turn into Christmas presents. "The Peacemaker" is not a considerate, measured look at global terrorism or Eastern European woes. It's an action movie, first and foremost, using a certain jig of political awareness to provide a fitting backdrop for breathless chase sequences and wrecking ball heroics. Though it hides under the guise of global commentary, the picture is best approached as a rocket sled experience, diligently pulling together mayhem while tiptoeing around sensitive cultural issues.

When a collection of nuclear warheads is stolen in rural Russia, the U.S. Government takes careful notice of the situation, putting nuclear expert Dr. Julia Kelly (Nicole Kidman) on the case, despite her limited field experience. Anchoring her knowledge is Lt. Col. Thomas Devoe (George Cloone...Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=45572 Sat, 28 Aug 2010 04:57:26 PDT Highly Recommended

THE MOVIE:

Adam McKay's Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy has become such a beloved and oft-quoted picture ("I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly..." "You are a smelly pirate hooker." "Dorothy Mantooth is a saint!" "I don't know how to put this, but I'm kind of a big deal." "I love lamp." "You stay classy, San Diego." And so on...) that we might easily forget what a peculiar little movie it was when it hit theaters in summer of 2004. Film comedy had become an ugly soup of Wayans Brothers abortions (yes, 2004 was the year of White Chicks), lesser Stiller vehicles, and quickly-declining Sandler pictures. But that summer, two comedies came right out of left field--the low-budget indie oddity Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=43568 Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:00:24 PDT Highly Recommended

The Film:

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After Sam Mendes' heavily-lauded success with his debut feature American Beauty, a visually-inventive drama that wrestles with the psychology of domestic life, it'd comes as a bit of a surprise that he'd follow it up with a Great Depression-era gangster film. Thankfully, that's not what Road to Perdition is really about. Adapted from a graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, this story doesn't rely on cunning gunplay, testosterone-driven posturing, or any semblance of glorification for organized crime. Instead, this sophomore effort from Mendes focuses again on a similar family-centered core as a father and son cope with tragedy, painted against a dangerous backdrop as honor's complexity swarms about them. Beautifully shot, elegan...Read the entire review

]]> Theatrical http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=44960 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 15:00:46 PDT Recommended

River Phoenix once starred in a movie called Dogfight, in which soldiers about to ship out for Vietnam, looking for a last hurrah, competed to see who could bring the ugliest date to a party. Given that this was a Hollywood movie, audiences were expected to believe that Lili Taylor was the worst Phoenix could do. Try harder, kid, she's lovely.

Jay Roach's Dinner for Schmucks is a new riff on the concept. In this film, Paul Rudd plays Tim, a morally conflicted but well-meaning financial analyst whose promotion at work is riding on him attending a dinner where the top brokers are expected to bring the biggest loser they can find. The catch is, of course, that the losers think they are coming to a meal wher...Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=43684 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 17:32:54 PDT Recommended

THE FILM

A charmer from the school of Apatow, "She's Out of My League" takes a fantasy dating situation and tries to tilt it toward a sense of realism while retaining all the required silly business. Without reinventing the wheel or resisting the lure of lazy gross-out jokes, the picture gets by on a funky, winning cast and the occasional, ever-so-faint, squint-to-see-it moment of emotional truth the genre typically treats like a nasty infection. As goofball as it is, "She's Out of My League" shows a surprising conscience to go along with its frat-house humor.

A TSA officer working a Pittsburgh airport with his buddies (Nate Torrence, and T.J. Miller and Mike Vogel from "Cloverfield"), Kirk (Jay Baruchel, "Knocked Up") is a geeky guy with zero self-confidence due to a nasty break-up with his ex-girlfriend, Marnie (Lindsay Sloane). Helping Molly (Alice Eve, "Crossing O...Read the entire review

]]> Blu-ray http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=42562 Fri, 28 May 2010 04:05:21 PDT Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Steven Spielberg's 2005 version of The War of the Worlds is an intelligent and engrossing updating of the original H.G. Wells book, delivered with an intensity seen in few recent science fiction movies. It seems to have been produced because of the timeliness of its war theme -- the new script makes numerous references to the idea of a technologically advanced society attempting to militarily occupy another country and take its natural resources. We don't need anything more pointed to see the parallels with the then-hot war in Iraq.

It's always good news when Hollywood remakes a Sci Fi classic and doesn't ruin it. 1986's Invaders from Mars and 1988's The Blob either miss the mark by a mile or are fair...Read the entire review

]]> Theatrical http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=43850 Fri, 21 May 2010 04:39:47 PDT Recommended

It's been nearly a decade since the release of the original "Shrek." A monster hit with audiences eager to watch the fine art of Disney fairy tale storytelling receive a vigorous spanking, "Shrek" hit a nerve that carried over to an even more successful 2004 sequel, and a less admired 2007 installment. "Shrek Forever After" (a.k.a. "Shrek: The Final Chapter," or whatever Dreamworks happens to be calling it this week) promises a last dance for the profitable ogre, and while it's a modest affair that barely exerts itself, it's a charming, humorous closer that reunites the viewer with old pals in an extremely agreeable fashion.

Now a father, husband, and beloved community ...Read the entire review

]]> Theatrical http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=43841 Fri, 21 May 2010 04:39:47 PDT Skip It

It has been nine long years now since Shrek rolled into theaters and become a surprise smash for the then-upstart animation division of Dreamworks SKG; they'd had some minor success with Antz and The Prince of Egypt, but the tale of the not-so-rotten ogre became their first unquestionable box-office bonanza, and the first indication that the young studio might serve as genuine competition for Disney and Pixar. In fact, for grown-ups, part of the fun of that first film was in its blatant raspberries at the myt...Read the entire review

]]> Theatrical http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=42820 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:42:12 PDT Highly Recommended

This is a wonderful motion picture. Perhaps Dreamworks, in their frantic need to push the movie to every demographic, has lost sight of the film itself, but abysmal marketing efforts aside, "How to Train Your Dragon" is a rousing success; a soaring, endearing adventure feature that plays smart and fierce. Now stop giving your money to Tim Burton's wheezy imagination and see something with genuine magic. An actual, effective, multi-dimensional wonderland.

On the island of Berk, a community of Vikings spend their days training for war against waves of aggressive dragons. For pipsqueak Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), life as the son of stern leader Stoick (Gerard Butler) demands that he join the dragon-killing squad, but he just doesn't have the heart for it. Discovering a falle...Read the entire review

]]> Theatrical http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=42826 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:42:12 PDT Recommended

Dreamworks Animation tends to get treated like a second-class citizen by connoisseurs of computer animation, and not without reason. While their rivals at Pixar are turning out pictures that transcend the limitations of the form and rank among the best of all recent cinema, Dreamworks has turned out a steady stream of profitable but formulaic efforts like Bee Movie, Shark Tale, and the endless, witless Shrek and Madagascar franchises. But their latest effort, How to Train Your Dragon, is a...Read the entire review

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