One of the most iconic people and recognized faces, a lot thanks to one particular photo that has become a figure head for teens all over the world to symbolise their own revolution, is being brought back to life through the amazing acting skills of Benicio Del Toro. Director Steven Soderbergh has done a brilliant job in creating a movie with a quite documentary feel to it. Although there’s quite a bit of shooting, this should not be miss-taken for your average action or war movie; the tempo is slower and the action is shot more from afar to create a sense of objectivity.

This first of two parts focuses on the relationship between Che and Castro, and their fight towards the fight with Batista.  If your interested to learn more about the story and emergence of Che and Castor as political leaders – or just want to see a great movie – this is a must watch. Highly recommended.

Before putting on the Marley and Me bluray disc I was expecting a traditional romcom flick. Little did I know that this was a movie based on a true and very inspirational story. The plot follows the reporter John Grogan’s life as a dog owner which he chronicles in his very popular Florida newspaper column. Although not your traditional romcom, this movie is big on heart and laughs, and Owen Wilson, Jennifer Aniston and “Marley” have great chemistry and makes a lovely watch.

The bluray movie comes in the expected 1080p full hd with some very nice shots, and with crisp DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack. Marley and Me is a highly recommended for a cosy night in.

Dreamworks latest animated picture is a real bluray treat. The picture is extremely sharp and detailed with lustrous colours. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack is very powerful and making good use of all channels. And of course the movie in itself is both funny, sharp and an overall great family adventure.

The cast is doing a brilliant job in bringing the characters to life, most notably Jack Black as the main character Po the chubby noodle selling Kung Fu Master-wannabe, that eventually saves the day. The story is quite bog standard about the underdog that makes it in the end, but that doesn’t really matter as it’s very pleasantly delivered with lots of punch!

Kung Fu Panda Bluray is a highly recommended view, and a great addition to any bluray library.

Stanley Kubrik is a true master of film, and 2001 a Space Odyssey bluray is nothing short of visual masterpiece. The pictures are amazingly vivid and sharp and the soundtrack as haunting as ever. Unless you’ve lived under a rock you’re probably somewhat familiar with the plot; When a large black monolith is found beneath the surface of the moon, the reaction immediately is that it was intentionally buried. When the point of origin is confirmed as Jupiter, an expedition is sent in hopes of finding the source. And at the heart of the expedition is the computer HAL that controls the expedition space ship. It’s really a story about evolution, but I’ll leave it at that for you to explore.

2001 a Space Odyssey blu-ray comes as expected in 1080p full hd with a 2.20:1 aspect ratio, and PCM 5.1 and dolby digital 5.1 soundtrack.

Albeit a visually stunning movie which has been lovingly transferred to bluray, it’s still a little too slowly paced for my taste and being used to MTV speed of information, hence no top score for this 1968 sci-fi classic.

The Wrestler is a beautifully sad story about life after the glory days of a pro American wrestler. Mickey Rourke is brilliant in the role of Randy ‘the Ram’ Robinson and so is his love interest Marisa Tomei as the big hearted stripper who’s also over her peak and struggle to earn a few dollars doing lap dances.

Rourke’s character  is complex yet simple, a real one trick pony, that only find comfort in the ring fighting sweaty spandex clad muscle men and surrounded by shouting fans. Until watching this movie I have to admit I’ve never understood the thrill of American show wrestling, but watching the frenzied yet skillfully choreographed fights and the electric atmosphere you can’t avoid but getting sucked right into the world of Randy. Rourke is definitely the highlight of this movie and once you’ve watched the movie you won’t be surprised to hear that as an amateur boxer, he put together a knockout streak of 12 straight.

The Wrestler BluRay release is masterfully transferred, with a razor sharp picture and intense DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 or Dolby Digital 5.1. A highly recommended view.

Tarantino’s homage to old school action horror flicks is a brilliant watch if you like hot girls, fast cars, action and a bit of gore. Death proof is the second film from the Grind house project with fellow director friend Robert Rodriguez.

In Death Proof we’ll get acquainted with Stuntman Mike, played by Kurt Russell, who cruises around in his black old Dodge. He’s path is crossed by a gang of girlfriend out for a good time, and in one special scene Russell seem to enjoy the company quite well. I’ll better leave it at that to not spoil the plot.

The first part of the movie I found quite slow, but the one action scene makes it all worth it. The second part is a much faster and furious chapter with some brilliant car chases and wicked stunts.

The movie is presented in excellent  1080p with an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and the soundtrack is brilliantly delivered in either Dolby TrueHD 5.1 or Dolby Digital 5.1.

Growing up watching Mulder and Sculley investigate paranormal events, but being quite disappointed by the first movie, I was eagerly awaiting the latest outing of X-files on Blu-ray. In contrast to the first full length X-Files movie, X-Files I Want to Believe is not about aliens and UFOs, but paranormal activities in terms of a psychic. The main story revolves around the disappearance of an FBI agent, for which Mulder is called in to help save the day by managing the psychic priest.

The Xfiles psychic is played by non other than Scottish funny man Billy Connolly. His portrayal of a psychic priest with a rather dodgy past, is probably the strongest performance in the movie. Mulder and Sculley are pretty much what you expect – quite flat characters with Sculley swaying from belief to dissbelief whilst Mulder is always looking out for little green men. Although the Xfiles movie seem to try a different approach to past films, I thought the romantic relationship between the two main characters felt a bit like a filler with a real lack of chemistry. Although there’s a couple of scary scenes in the movie, it’s not enough to keep you on your toes or very intrigued about the overall story. It’s basically a long X-files episode, which is not necessarily a bad thing if you’re a fan.

The X-files I Want to Believe Blu-ray comes with both the original theatrical feature and a directors cut. Picture wise the blu-ray release is quite average, and although the sound is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 I was a bit dissapointed to that for me the soundtrack never really took off.

Overall X-Files I want to Believe is a rather average Blu-ray movie that I think is worth a rental for old fans of the series, and a purchase only for dire hard fans .

Three stars that deserves five stars

The combination of Martin Scorcese and Robert De Niro is simply unbeatable. And if you top it up with Joe Pesci as the uncontrollable violent tug, Sharon Stone as the  beautiful hustler, and James Woods as the sleazy pimp ex boyfriend, you’ve got yourself a piece of blu-ray movie history.

 Casino is based on the true story of the rise and fall of the Las Vegas casino Tangier, which was funded by mobsters and run by gambling genius Frank Rosenthal (De Niro). Everyone in the cast is absolute stellar in ther performances, and the story makes the movie feel very epic. It’s quite a long movie, but because of the many different twists and turns of the movie it always keep you on your toes.

The Blu-ray transfer is great with very fine detail and rich colours. There’s minimal noise and the blu-ray gives a much more cinematic experience than previous DVD releases.

The soundtrack is in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and although mostly dialogue, it is very well mixed with powerful music at certain scenes.

Casino is a must-have Blu-ray as it’s a total cracking package.

Being Bond is no walk in the park, more like a hike in the dessert

The 22nd Bond film has finally arrived on Blu-Ray, and having already raked in excess of £400 million at the box office this will undoubtedly be one of the biggest selling DVD/Blu-Ray releases of the year maybe even of all time, but is it worth the hype?

 Lets start with the film itself, its a crackerjack thriller more akin to Bourne than to the bonds of old. It starts off as Casino Royale ended with Bond on a revenge mission that takes in the usual exotic locations as he becomes embroiled in a plot to take over Bolivias water supply amongst other things. Its a breakneck film that jumps from one explosive scene to the next but unfortunately therein lies the film real problem (for me anyway) in that you never really get a second to take a breath, just when you think you have a moment to admire the scenery or take in a piece of dialogue then that peace is shattered by another gunshot or car chase. Its maybe a sign of the times that story and characterisation are being replaced by videogame violence, but if i want videogame violence ill play cod or gta on my 360, when i watch a film i want a little more. Other than that it is a very slick, well acted (Daniel Craig is again outstanding) and enjoyable piece of entertainment that just leaves you wishing for a bit more substance over the style.

Onto the disc itself, as expected Fox have not dissappointed with the picture or sound, both are outstanding. The DTS-HD master audio soundtrack in particular was stunning to hear on my THX system with every possible sound pin sharp, in fact i would say this is probably the best Blu-Ray i have heard so far! Picture was very impressive too with colours sharp and life-like, blacks well contrasted and no hint of motion blur on some of the more frenetic scenes. Extras wise things are a bit disappointing with only the usual making of, music vid, featurettes and trailers on the disc.

Overall a great disc to show of your set-up, just not a great film.

Q: What is the above star rating? a) Our Review Rating b) HotOrNot.com Rating

This film marks the 3rd collaboration between director Adam Mckay and star Will Ferrell having previously made Anchorman: The legend of Ron Burgundy and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby together. Now whilst the former was comedy genius, their second attempt was far more hit and miss.

So where does this one sit? well its somewhere in the middle though a little more Anchorman than Talladega. This is the tale of 2 grown men still living with their single parents, who are then forced to share a house (and bedroom!) when their respective mom and dad get it together is certainly far funnier than Talladega but it just misses Anchorman by virtue of the fact that Burgundy has just so many more quotable lines.

This movie does have a great casting too, Ferrell is great as usual and John C. Reilly (Walk Tall, Talledaga, Boogie Nights)  again proves he more than a match for Ferrell in the stupidity stakes, both are also ably supported Adam Scott,  Mary Steenburgen and Richard Jenkins. Oh and look out for producer Judd Apatows (Superbad, Knocked Up) long time cohort Seth Rogan’s cameo in what is probably the funniest scene in the film.

Overall then it is a very funny film and if a grown man rubbing his scrotum on another grown mans drum set tickles your ribs you will have plenty of fun with these dimwitted siblings.

Onto the Blu-Ray then and thankfully the disc is as good as the movie coming packed with featurettes, alternate scenes, gag reels and music videos. The pick of the bunch though is a great commentary track by Ferrell, Reilly and Mckay thats as funny as the film itself. Picture quality and the TrueHD soundtrack are both fine, but neither are reason you would watch this anyway.

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