2012 Coriolanus Blu-Ray Movie Review

Coriolanus is a Roman warrior who dedicates his life and career to defending Rome from foreign invaders. He has it all: a beautiful wife and son, mother who is patriotic, loyal to the family (and controlling to say the least). Marcus Coriolanus has potential to become a powerful politician. But his patriotism is matched by his sense of entitlement of his class status for greater things, which in turn creates resentment from his political enemies. His enemies turn ordinary people against Corealanus and before long, Marcus' career comes to a screeching holt and Marcus Coriolanus finds himself in exile. Nations and people who were his enemies yesterday become his allies tomorrow and Marcus sets on a mission to get his revenge.....

The film is a classic tale of honor and betrayal. Those who are familiar with Shakespeare's tale would know exactly what this film is all about since its core premise is intact. It is about a man of honor; a man whose integrity feels so out of place in this world. Torn between his own principles and pride, the man chooses to be who he is, and the traditions and responsibilities of the world fall down on him. Fiennes' version of Shakespeare's creation is shot more like a war film that comes complete with bloody, intense gun battles and knife to knife combat. Fiennes knew what he was in for and handles everything with careful accuracy and heed. For a man on his directorial debut, Fiennes wields the story with precision to make the Shakespearean story as timely to modern times while resonating the political strife as only Shakespeare ever could.....

Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort in Harry Potter) comes out with an outstanding performance. He is very believable in his role as someone so proud that he would deny himself being subjected to the `nays' of an ungrateful bellowing crowd. Fiennes exhibited that power and intensity that made him so convincing as both a savior and a destroyer of men and nations. Butler is just as capable in his role, but he was easily overshadowed by Fiennes.

Fiennes does so well in modernizing this classic story. He directed with care and uses his own love for the material that he was able to capitalize on the story's key moments to drive the film's momentum. He was able to cut off the excesses of the play and what becomes is a tightly wound drama-thriller. As a performer in his own film, Fiennes was scary and intimidating; if a little enigmatic. Supported by a strong cast in Butler, Redgrave, Cox and Chastain, "Coriolanus " is a powerful film that is worthy of a look.

This film is brilliant, and most watchers will be pleasantly surprised.

Highly recommend it.



Actors: Ralph Fiennes, Gerard Butler
Directors: Ralph Fiennes
Studio: The Weinstein Company
Release Date: May 29, 2012

2012 Man on a Ledge Blu-Ray Movie Review

2012 Man on a Ledge Blu-Ray Movie Review: Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is an escaped, convicted diamond thief with an elaborate plan to clear his name. After checking into an upper-floor room at Manhattan's Roosevelt Hotel, he orders a hefty meal, then exits the window and positions himself on a ledge. People below notice him and soon the police are called in. When a cop attempts to talk him in, Nick asks to speak with a different negotiator, Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks).

Mercer has been ostracized by her peers recently because she lost a previous jumper. Her self-assurance has been tarnished, and she is perplexed as to why this potential suicide has requested her. The cops dust for fingerprints to identify the would-be jumper, but the room is clean. So Nick's identity remains unknown to them for quite some time....

As a thriller, "Man on a Ledge " works reasonably well. A large part of the movie involves an intricate caper that occurs as Nick teeters 25 floors above the street. The mystery unfolds as the police, Nick's family, a wealthy businessman (Ed Harris), dirty cops, and Nick himself converge in the film's denouement.

Actors: Sam Worthington, Ed Harris, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Anthony Mackie
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Summit Entertainment
DVD Release Date: May 29, 2012

Recommended Movie: The Bourne Trilogy [Blu-ray]

First, you know that the movies are amazing. The action starts strong and never lets up over the course of all three films. Aside from one or two quibbles (why does Mr super-spy who memorizes every license plate in a parking lot at one glance need to have something implanted in his hip to remind him of his bank account? Just in case he loses his memory?) the movies themselves are wonderful.

Here are the pros and cons of this particular edition of the films:
Pros:
-the blu ray transfer is good, with a fine picture and sound.
-the extras are fun.

Cons:
-These are the single-disk versions of the movies. No dvd or additional disks such as digital copy.
-At times the picture quality was not as good as I might have hoped. Still very good, but a bit off.

All in all, highly recommended. If you like Bourne, you will like this package. If you like action films, you will love Bourne.

If you don't like action films, then why are you reading this at all? 

• The Bourne Identity 
• The Bourne Supremacy 
• The Bourne Ultimatum

Harry Potter: The Complete 8 Film Collection [Blu-ray]

I'm actually very pleased with this product! It's very cheap, and very good quality. There are, however, a couple of things that I feel I should point out.

First, the case that it comes in is a standard mass production case that most multi-disc sets use. Don't expect a lavish collectable case, especially for the price. The case is still very durable, and allows all of the movies to be stored in a small amount of space.

Second, the films in this set ARE NOT THE SPECIAL EDITIONS. They are standard edition, as if the first disc from each movie was put in here. While there are some special features, there are not a lot.

Next, the discs themselves appear to be great quality. All of mine worked extremely well, and there were no defects whatsoever, save one thing. The disc that I received for Deathly Hallows Part 1 is missing a cover. The disc is all black, and the title and copyright information are on there, but there is not picture. This, however does not in any way affect the viewing of the movie, and is only an aesthetic concern.

Also, the box that the DVDs come in is not the absolute best quality, but it is sturdy. It serves it's purpose, and it looks very nice!

Please note, if you want something that's collectible, DO NOT BUY THIS SET. There are others out there that will better suit your needs. However, this set satisfies all of the casual viewers' needs. It presents the movies in an accessible, affordable manner, and is absolutely a great buy! I recommend this to all Harry Potter fans who wish to have all of the movies!

James Bond Complete 22 Film Collection [Blu-ray]

This review is about the item and its value. To put it simply, if you are going to buy the entire series of James Bond movies and you have a Blu-ray player, this is the bargain to buy. I have been picking the movies up individually from Amazon for between $9.49 to $9.99 each. A great deal. However, if I had known about this offer, I would have gone for the entire collection. 22 movies for $200.00 comes to about $9.10 each!

Each of the individual movies I have seen so far makes the Blu-Ray upgrade well worth it. The video quality of each is un-surpassed. Details, only guessed at, are impressive. The audio of each is, also, incredible. Each has the DTS HD Master 5.1 plus the original Mono or Dolby Surround soundtrack (there is a depth to Shirley Bassey's "Moonraker" openning that I found almost...moving).

I have about a dozen of the individually released movies. If you can't wait, maybe Amazon will have the others for the price mentioned above. If you CAN wait, this set is the best deal and well worth it.