Alice in Wonderland Blu-ray Review

Alice in Wonderland has made a return in a new 2010 remake starring none other than Johnny Depp and company in this great Disney film.

I was not sure what to expect from Alice in Wonderland, and was uncertain at first to see how Johnny Depp would be able to fit into all of this.

The age-old story though has been reborn yet again in what ends up being a very dark, and somewhat violent rendition of this great story.

Disney has done a fantastic job of allowing the project to really take on a mind of its own here and not have to rely on that family-friendly Disney touch you would expect.

Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, and the rest of the crew did a great job with this one, the new Alice in Wonderland is fantastic.

The film looks and sounds absolutely phenomenal on Blu-ray. The video quality is superb, presented in full 1080p with some amazing detail in each and every scene. The artistry of the film with all of the colors come off nicely.

The audio is presented in a DTS-HD Master Audio track that is equally as impressive, with nice use of the front and rear channels to create a nice theater atmosphere.

The release is a 3-disc combo pack as you get the film on DVD, Blu-ray and in digital form.

The Blu-ray ha ssome great extras including a Making Wonderland featurette that is broken up into various areas, as well as Wonderland Characters.

The DVD release also has a few extras tacked onto it to add to the value.

The featurettes focusing on the characters are a lot of fun as you really get to learn and get a more in-depth feel of the characters from the film. Alice in Wonderland on Blu-ray is a great buy as the film has been remade very nicely, the collaboration of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp was brilliant.

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Movie review: 'Sex and the City 2' is just too much

There's a character in "Sex and the City 2" named Erin. She's Irish. She prefers not to wear a brassiere. Several scenes exhibit her brogue and her breasts, eventually leading to a one-liner where she's dubbed "Erin Go Braless."This so-called joke is the movie in microcosm: naughty, desperate, indulgent, groan-worthy, working too hard and too long for a crummy joke. Once an exciting and bubbly HBO series known for its spicy dialogue and progressive depiction of modern urban women, "Sex" now resorts to setting up and executing flaccid puns more worthy of Bazooka Joe than a major summer cineplex tentpole.

You'd think all the lousy double-entendres would comprise most of "Sex and the City 2's" obscenity, but no. Writer/director Michael Patrick King drenches the production in vile opulence, from the absurdly lush, exotic locations to the kajillion costume changes -- the fashionista franchise's signature -- to Liza Minnelli's ironic cameo, during which she sings Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)." Too. Much.

Is there a plot beyond the frocks? Sort of. The first third of the movie finds Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) resisting settling into a rut with Mr. Big (a charisma-free Chris Noth) on the eve of their second wedding anniversary. Charlotte (Kristin Davis) is exasperated with raising her two daughters and fretting if her braless nanny Erin (Alice Eve) might tempt hubby Harry (Evan Handler). Stressed-out lawyer Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) impulsively quits her job. And Samantha (Kim Cattrall) is invited to stay in a luxurious Abu Dhabi hotel, which may employ her public-relations firm.But Samantha won't venture to the Middle East without her girls. So off they go, for a series of wacky adventures in the desert (the movie was shot in Morocco), including a camel ride over sun-drenched dunes, for which they change their outfits thrice.

There are, of course, complications: The confiscation of Samantha's vitamins and supplements, which stave off her menopausal hot flashes. Charlotte falls off her camel. And Carrie bumps into her former beau Aidan (John Corbett) in the Abu Dhabi street market. Uh huh.

The narrative takes a vacation from the New York City plots, which are mostly dropped as the women wallow in the hotel's swank indulgences, including their own cars and personal butlers. But what happens when these fashionably urbane, liberated Manhattanites encounter a sexually conservative culture? This is where King's laziness as a writer is prevalent; he eschews the opportunity for social commentary for the kind of silly culture-clash hijinks more appropriate for "National Lampoon's Middle Eastern Vacation."

Two moments stand out: When Charlotte and Miranda bond over their frustrations with motherhood, and when Carrie struggles to comprehend how her butler Guarau (Raza Jaffrey) can only see his wife every three months. But sincere moments are rare. Characters once sympathetic are now rendered annoying and unlikeable, and the screenplay strains too hard to be clever.

King intends to create a feather-light tone, but sucks the fun out the movie by making it a big, mastodonic trudge laden with lame turns-of-phrase, superficial triteness and gobs of visual vulgarity. Like the old box of Wheat Thins in the back of your pantry, "Sex and the City" was once light, crispy and toothsome, but is now old, stale and nearly indigestible.

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'Kites' takes Bollywood to the West - Movie Review

Kites was specifically made to appeal to Western sensibilities it’s not the first Bollywood film to try to crossover, but it is the first to succeed at it, and it does so while remaining true to the essence of Hindi cinema. Kites looks like an American film, but it feels like an Indian one.

It’s not the best Bollywood movie—not by a long shot—but by stripping itself of the typical trappings of Hindi films (and making itself stylistically familiar to Westerners), it reveals the heart of Bollywood—a beating, bleeding operatic heart. Hindi cinema is ultimately not about language or culture or musical numbers; it’s about exalted melodrama that draws you in despite yourself and affects you with life’s corniness and agony.

The story is set in Las Vegas; the actors speak a combination of Hindi, English, and Spanish; there is only one dance scene; and the plot follows a single sequence of events—all of which help make the film accessible to non-Indian audiences. Director Anurag Basu was the perfect choice for this project as his style naturally lends itself to the objective. Had his previous film, Life in a…Metro (2007), been marketed abroad as aggressively as Kites has been, it would have garnered the same critical praise in the U.S that his latest film has. Cinematographer Ayananka Bose produces sharp, gorgeous shots of the glitz of Las Vegas, the desolation of the desert, and the beauty of the leads, Indian superstar Hrithik Roshan and Mexican actress Barbara Mori.

Roshan and Mori play struggling immigrant hustlers Jay and Linda, who are about to marry into money—they are engaged to sister and brother Gina (Kangana Ranaut) and Tony (Nick Brown), the children of a ruthless crime boss/casino owner (Kabir Bedi). The night before Linda’s wedding to Tony, she and Jay stay up until dawn drinking champagne, sharing their tales of woe in a broken hodgepodge of languages, and dancing in the rain. And after one brief, trembling, feel-it-in-your-toes, forbidden kiss, they foolishly, nobly chuck their gold-digging schemes for each other.

Even in love scenes devoid of explicit sex, Roshan is expert at appearing to teeter on the edge of control, and his precarious desire is hotter than bared skin could ever be (see his performances in Dhoom 2 and Jodhaa Akbar for more examples)—although bare his skin he does—at least, his eye-popping torso—in between exciting stunts and car chases, as the lovers flee Tony, who’s hell-bent on murderous revenge, and adorably struggle to communicate along the way. Kites proves it is possible to fall in love—with people or films—even when you can’t understand their language.

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Mass Effect gets to be a movie

Not only is Mass Effect a big hit on the Xbox 360 but now it's going to be a major Hollywood production. According to IGN, the producers of The Dark Knight and Spider-Man are teaming up to produce a Hollywood movie version of Mass Effect.

Legendary Pictures has procured the rights to the ME movie and are working alongside Avi Arad (and his son Ari), formerly of Marvel studios, to produce the movie. BioWare co-founders Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk along with ME's executive producer Casey Hudson will be executive producers for the movie. Negotiations with scriptwriter Mark Protosevich (I Am Legend and Thor being his latest pieces) are in the works to get a script penned. "Mass Effect is a tremendous property ripe for translation to the big screen," said Chairman and CEO of Legendary Pictures Thomas Tull, who will be working as a producer on the movie.

"Mass Effect is a prime example of the kind of source material we at Legendary like to develop; it has depth, compelling characters and an engaging back story. This coupled with Avi and Ari producing and the skills of a great team adapting the screenplay, are the start of turning this smash videogame based property into a successful feature film.

"At BioWare, we've always thought of Mass Effect as having the depth, emotion and plot twists perfectly suited for an adaptation to a motion picture," said Casey Hudson. "With Legendary and Avi and Ari Arad attached, we believe that the Mass Effect movie will be an extraordinary entertainment event that realizes our vision for the franchise and thrills fans."

This is good news for fans of Mass Effect and even for those of us who haven't had the pleasure of playing the game. If you don't want to wait for the movie to hit theaters (there is no date set yet, as the movie is still in pre-production at this time), you can head on over to any of these stores around Anoka County and pick up Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 to get caught up on the story behind the movie.

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Indian hunk sizzles in Bollywood movie Kites

Filmmaker Anurag Basu has struck an outlandish tone with "Kites" with his over-the-moon, operatic approach that fits the film just right. "Kites" cracked the top 10 at the weekend box office after earning about $1 million from more than 200 screens (the widest release of any Hindi film to date).

A 130-minute Hindi-language cut of the film was screened for critics. A 90-minute "international" English version, edited by Brett Ratner, sounds promising.

J (Hrithik Roshan), a cocky, larcenous young Indian-American man, and Mexican hottie Natasha (Barbara Mori) each have a naughty streak. They meet while on parallel tracks to seduce a wealthy brother and sister (strongly played by Indian model Kangna Ranaut and Australian actor Nicholas Brown), but soon realize that despite the fact that they don't speak a common language, their love is the real thing, worth more than money.

Meanwhile, a ruthless Vegas crime boss, Bob (Kabir Bedi), happens to be the father of the brother-sister pair, and he'll stop at nothing to block J and Natasha.

What makes the movie pop is a standout performance by Roshan, one of Indian cinema's treasures. Blessed with near-divine good looks and a chiseled form (not to mention an auspicious extra right thumb), the green-eyed actor also happens to be Bollywood's most accomplished dancer. Despite the extremes of Basu's script and producer Rakesh Roshan's story, Roshan anchors the film with a solid, believable performance and a palpable chemistry with his co-star that will remind audiences just how hot a good Bollywood romance can be.

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James Franco to star in Rise of the Apes

James Franco has his damn dirty paws on the lead role in "Rise of the Apes," a prequel to the "Planet of the Apes" franchise. The Fox feature focuses on a scientist (Franco) who has been testing a cure for Alzheimer's on apes. The test subject named Caesar starts to evolve rapidly, and the scientist takes him home and protects him from cruel doctors.

The story is designed to be show the modern-day event that set in motion the eventual dominance of apes over humans seen the classic 1960s and '70s movies. It is unclear how much of the movie will focus on the ape inciting an ape revolution, but given that Peter Jackson's WETA effects house is on board, the monkey play could be significant.

The apes will not be actors in costumes but rather rendered digitally to be photo-realistic by New Zealand-based WETA, employing certain of the groundbreaking technologies developed for "Avatar."

The movie will shoot this summer in British Columbia. Rupert Wyatt is on board to direct. Franco's credits include the "Spider-Man" films and "Milk."

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Badmaash Company reviews - good story of 4 youth trying to make it big

Badmaash Company movie reviews the story progresses as the four friends discover a way to fight the system and became the king of their business. But as the climax approaches they decide to shut it down until they come up with yet another plan.

the film has great music by music director Pritam weaved in well written songs by Anvita Dutt. The film also stars Meiyan Chang of the Indian Idol fame for the first time and sees Shahid Kapoor in yet another role different from his lover boy image and promises to be a welcoming change after Kaminey. This is Anushka Sharma’s second movie project after Rab Ne Bana De Jodi.

Badmaash Company is second movie for Anushka Sharma after Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi. Also she will be seen in totally glamorous image rather girl next door image in her previous movie. Anushka Sharma has 3 lip lock kissing scenes with Sahid Kapoor in the movie Badmaash Company.

Badmaash Company is claimed to be more realistic and less funny for smart ideas and roles around them. Its claimed to be more believable film. The film shows that you need a great idea rather money or gun or crime to become big. The movie is a story of 4 youth in 1990s who want to make it big in life. Vir Das is intersted in making movie, Meiyang Chang is interested to open a bar, Sahid Kapoor want to start a business with a big idea and Anushka Sharma want to become a model.

Badmaash Company title seems to be inspired from Kaminey which was hit move by Sahid Kapoor. The movie is directorial debut of Parmeet Sethi. The movie is surely is based on unique and interesting plot.

According to director Parmeet Sethi “The film is completely original and has nothing to do with any film Indian or Western the only similarity being the genre.” He also added “it is very difficult to compare Badmaash Company to any film.”

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Review - The Back-Up Plan

Last week, I had the opportunity to go and see the latest Jennifer Lopez romantic comedy The Back-Up Plan at Sony’s fantastic facilities deep in the heart of London’s Soho. The film marks J-Lo’s first film for nearly four years – the actress/ singer has not graced our screens since El Cantante in 2006.

In The Back-Up Plan, a return to the familiar climbs of the rom-com, Lopez plays Zoe, a hugely successful single woman and former internet executive who quit it all to run her own pet shop in the middle of Manhattan, New York. She has it all. Money, greats friends and a great job, but one thing is missing from her life — children, and more importantly, the right man to give her them…

With her biological clock ticking, Zoe attends her doctor to look at getting artificially inseminated, which in the opening scenes of the film she does and successfully falls pregnant, but little does she know, a surprise is around the corner — the man of her dreams — Stan, played by Alex O’Loughlin

I went into the pristine screening room at Sony with a very open mind. Despite it all, I am indeed a lover of the chick flick, and will have no qualms with rolling up to the latest release, lady present or not (no sexism intended). Not in this case. I saw the film alone, with a bunch of other film critics (mostly male) on a very warm Monday evening in April. Now, I have read a few other reviews by critics who have absolutely SLATED this movie.The worst film I have ever seen.”

“Totally unfunny.”

Two quotes regarding the film that I have read in the past few minutes. I will disagree to both of the quotes from two other websites that will remain nameless, but I will not go as far to saying that this is the best film of its type that I have ever seen.

The main premise to the film is that everything Zoe does, is done in reverse. Get pregnant, find the right man, fall in love and then get married. The problem with this movie is that it’s all so damn predictible, and some of the gags you can see coming from a mile off. J-Lo is funny, but the chemistry between her Zoe and the character Stan (played by O’Loughlin) is just not that beliveable. They are not given the screen time and story development for their characters to be seen to fall madly in love, and I didn’t buy it. It all happens too quickly. As I said, there are a few laugh out loud moments, and I for one could not control my giggling during a few scenes in the movie. I loved Zoe’s disable dog and the bits of the film in which he features, he absolutely steals, and I dug the O’Louglin’s interaction with Anthony Anderson’s unnamed playground father during the scenes in the park — but then there’s the very corny, cliched women-giving-birth scene, which we are still expected to find funny, the crashing-of-car-scene-when-girl-is-checking-out-hot-guy-on-tractor and other such stuff, where I just turned off.

Lopez and O’Louglin do have a chemistry, and granted they are very easy on the eye, but their characters are, as I previously mentioned, not given that screen time to develop and form a bond. The film tries to pack too much into its 98 minutes and each scene looks like its just setting itself up for the next gag, which when it finally comes along, is rather unfulfilling.

Jennifer Lopez makes the best of the material, and newcoming Alex O’Loughlin deserves more (I truly think that he is on to watch in the future and I loved him in The Shield) and Anthony Anderson is a great watch once again.

It just seemed that something was missing. Seeing the film was like going out for dinner and enjoying it, but leaving the restaurant and feeling immediately hungry afterwards. I have no doubts that it will find its audience, and thousands of couples will go out and see it and probably enjoy it on its opening weekend, but it really is just a run-of-the-mill romantic comedy and in the days where we have such gems as Knocked Up, a film with a similar theme, it just doesn’t measure up or even begin to compete.

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