Race to Witch Mountain (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment / 2009 / 98 Minutes / Rated PG
Street Date: August 04, 2009
Genres: Adventure, action, family
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, AnnaSophia Robb
Directors: Andy Fickman
Plot Synopsis:Loosely based on Alexander Key's novel Escape to Witch Mountain, Race to Witch Mountain is not so much a remake of the 1975 film Escape to Witch Mountain as an entirely new film based on some key plot points from the former film. When two innocent-looking teens appear in Jack Bruno's (Dwayne Johnson) cab and tell him that "we must travel in that direction," Jack thinks it's a bit strange, but shrugs it off and starts driving. Soon they're being followed and chased off the road, but is it Jack's past catching up with him or something much larger? Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig) reluctantly confess that they are aliens from another planet, but Jack refuses to accept their statement until Sara starts moving things with her mind and Seth slips through the body of the car and deflects the SUV that's pursuing them. Sara and Seth tell Jack that they must recover their crashed spaceship in order to save earth from being taken over by aliens, so Jack takes them to see Dr. Alex Friedman (Carla Gugino); a scientist who he met by chance and who believes in the possible existence of extra-terrestrials. While the four are initially wary of one another, Dr. Friedman provides some valuable contacts and they begin trusting one another out of sheer necessity. Soon they're battling secret government agencies, heavily armed personnel, and even a cybernetic Siphon (that looks a lot like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica) in a desperate attempt to gain access to the heavily fortified Witch Mountain and the crashed spacecraft. Action-packed car chases dominate the film (a bit excessively, in this reviewer's opinion), but the acting and chemistry between actors is good as is the suspense and intrigue. Rated PG due to sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, and some thematic elements.
Disc Features:
- Deleted Scenes (SD, 23 min)
- Blooper Reel (SD, 4 min)
- Which Mountain? (HD, 8 min)
Obsessed [Blu-ray]
Columbia/Tristar / 2009 / 108 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: August 04, 2009
Genres: Thriller
Starring: Beyoncé Knowles, Idris Elba, Ali Larter, and Jerry O'Connell
Directors: Steve Shill
Disc Features:
- Playing Together Nicely (HD, 15 min) - A look at the making of the film, from concept to script, character ideas and motivations, and onward to recapping the tale, in a sense.
- Girl Fight! (HD, 11 min)
- Obsessed: Dressed to Kill (HD, 9 min)
- Previews - A generic BD promo, plus trailers for 'Not Easily Broken,' 'Cadillac Records,' 'The Da Vinci Code,' 'Lakeview Terrace,' 'The Pursuit of Happyness,' 'Stomp the Yard,' 'First Sunday,' and 'Seven Pounds.'
The Soloist [Blu-ray]
DreamWorks / 2009 / 117 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: August 04, 2009
Overall Grade 
RecommendedGenres: Drama
Starring: Jamie Fox, Robert Downey Jr.
Directors: Joe Wright
Plot Synopsis: Sometimes people randomly cross paths, and forever will be changed. That's the subtle, yet profound, message of The Soloist, a deeply moving and deeply human film about people and what, and whom, they connect with. Robert Downey Jr., who is effortlessly charismatic, plays Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, whose job it is to report on the character and characters, of Southern California. But even a (slightly) jaded reporter can be profoundly touched by a story he reports on, and then allows to unfold in real time. The subject of Lopez's column is Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx, also in a stellar turn), a homeless street musician whose lovely music--played on a battered two-string violin--Lopez hears one day on a walk not far from the Times office. Lopez learns Ayers once attended Juilliard before mental illness sent him into a spiral, and the column detailing Ayers' journey touches the community--as well as both men. The film (based on Lopez's book, follows the halting journey of their friendship, and how sometimes people's lives can't be fixed. Director Joe Wright (Atonement) cast real homeless Angelenos in the many street and social services scenes, giving the film an even more heart-wrenching and realistic patina. If the film doesn't always live up to its high aspirations (the trippy effects, which supposedly show what Ayers sees when he hears Beethoven, are straight out of a 1968 light show), it nonetheless has a big heart. And in an era in which newspapers are struggling to survive, it's heartening to see a contemporary story about a newspaper that can still affect change.
Disc Features:
- Audio Commentary
- An Unlikely Friendship: Making 'Soloist' (HD, 19 min)
- Kindness, Courtesy, and Respect: Mr. Ayers + Mr. Lopez (HD, 5 min)
- One Size Does Not Fit All: Addressing Homelessness in Los Angeles (HD, 10 min)
- Julliard: The Education of Nathaniel Ayers (HD, 4 min)
- Beth's Story (HD, 2 min)
- Deleted Scenes (SD, 10 min)
No comments:
Post a Comment