Lincoln
4-Disc Blu-ray l 2-Disc Blu-ray l DVD
DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg
WRITER: Tony Kushner
STARRING: Daniel Day-Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Bruce McGill, Peter McRobbie, Lee Pace, David Costabile, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson, Jared Harris, Jackie Earle Haley
DreamWorks
RELEASE DATE: March 26, 2013

“A compass I learnt when I was surveying, it’ll… it’ll point you true north from where your standing, but it’s got no advice about the swamps, deserts and chasms that you’ll encounter along the way. If in pursuit of your destination, you plunge ahead heedless of obstacles, and achieve nothing more than to sink in a swamp, what’s the use of knowing true north?”

We’re all familiar with Abraham Lincoln. We know he freed the slaves. We know his distinctive look. He’s even on our money. But how much do we really know? I for one can admit that I did not know much more than the basics, about the same as the average person would know (I fell asleep in history class a lot, what can I say), but as I’ve gotten older my interest in history has grown exponentially, and lessons via documentary or biopic and so on can be just as appealing as the latest popcorn flick.

With movies, however, we’re always wondering in the back of our brain just how historically accurate the story we’re being told really is. And this will happen no less while viewing Lincoln, the latest film from director Steven Spielberg which tells the story of our 16th president and his fight to pass the 13th Amendment, the amendment that aimed to put an end to slavery. [...]

Pawn
DVD | Blu-ray | Streaming
Directed by David A. Armstrong
Starring Ray Liotta, Nikki Reed, Forest Whitaker, Marton Csokas, Sean Faris, Michael Chiklis, Stephen Lang, Common, Max Beesley, Ronald Guttman
Anchor Bay Films
Originally Released: April 23, 2013

Pawn is one of those convoluted crime thrillers, told out of sequence, making up pieces to a puzzle that will cause you to keep guessing throughout the movie. Featuring Michael Chiklis and Ray Liotta among many other big names, and alongside a stellar performance by Sean Faris, this is one of those gangster/heist style mystery flicks that provides more questions than it does answers, though resonant of movies like Dog Day Afternoon.

Pawn is set in a small-town diner, which is taken over by three British gangsters planning a robbery of the location. The diner serves as a legitimate front for a big name in organized crime, and while the gangsters think they’re in the job for the money, their leader Derrick (Michael Chiklis) is after a very specific item: a hard drive with data that contains names of big players. [...]

Star Trek: The Next Generation
Season 3 – Blu-ray
Starring Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Gates McFadden, Wil Wheaton, Colm Meaney, Whoopi Goldberg
Paramount Home Entertainment
Release Date: April 30, 2013

Paramount is slowly but surely remastering and enhancing each season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and now sees the release of the Blu-ray for Season 3, which was the season when the series really took off. When TNG started coming out on DVD, Season 3 was the first box set I purchased, because while I’m a great fan of TNG, I’ve had difficulty sitting through some of those early episodes where the show was still finding its footing in the late 1980s (although, the pilot was awesome). Back in those days, people were used to one Star Trek and one Star Trek only. Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov – those were the characters who entered people’s living rooms each week and these are who viewers wanted to see. TNG was initially met with resistance, especially since it had a new Captain commanding a new Enterprise in the future. [...]

Zombie Flesh Eaters
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by Lucio Fulci
Starring Ian McCulloch, Tisa Farrow, Richard Johnson
Arrow Films
Release Date: December 3, 2012

Samsara
Blu-ray | DVD | Instant Video
Directed by Ron Fricke
Theatrical Release Date: August 24, 2012
Blu-Ray Release Date: January 8, 2013

From the creators of the 1992 award-winning documentary Baraka comes Samsara – a visual treasure beyond price. Both films are non-verbal and gather an overwhelming fund of thought and a very remarkable volume of rare images of locations on planet Earth that have the tendency to both startle and hypnotize. Baraka acknowledged our planet and the life that inhabits it. It was astonishing in its vast extent of novel images that have not been replicated since. The vivid freshness of that film’s imagination was once thought to be unparalleled. In 2012, Baraka’s director Ron Fricke and his production team released to our senses Samsara, which, uncannily, harbored the same eye-popping 70mm format its predecessor used and even discerning more distinctness this vast planet of ours tends to hide from us.

Samsara provides for its audience images that are more disturbing than the scenic, contemplative ones apparent in Baraka. This is clearly deliberate because Samsara is not concerned with meditating on the magnificence that earth supplies, rather it is a somewhat unsettling film that roams the vastness of this planet (25 countries filmed over the course of five years) with an intent on discovering images that coincide with the cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth within Hinduism and Buddhism [...]

Wreck-It Ralph
4-Disc 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital l 2-Disc Blu-ray/DVD l DVD
Directed by Rich Moore
Starring John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Mindy Kaling, Ed O’Neill, Dennis Haysbert
Walt Disney Pictures
Release Date: March 5, 2013

Get your head in the game. Disney’s best video game is not one you can play, but rather one you watch, as Wreck-It Ralph jazzes up the screen with pure fun and affection. Now the giant hit movie arrives on Blu-ray shelves. Press start for this Disney In Depth Blu-ray review of Wreck-It Ralph.

The bad guy doesn’t want to be a bad guy. Have we seen this plot before? Maybe to some respect, but Ralph takes this concept to a most pioneering level where puns and references a plenty do not interfere with sophisticated storytelling. Supposedly-villainous Ralph just wants some appreciation, so he ventures outside his ’80s-era game to prove his worth. He attains that value via unexpected means, meets some crazy folks along the way, and realizes his potential in who he has always been. [...]

Monsters Inc.
5-Disc Blu-ray/3D/DVD/Digital | 3-Disc Blu-ray/DVD
Directed by Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, David Silverman
Starring John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly, Frank Oz
Disney•Pixar
Release Date: February 19, 2013

Open the door to an exciting new way to experience Monsters, Inc. Pixar’s fantastic fourth film arrives on a new “Ultimate Collector’s Edition,” among Disney-Pixar’s finest releases.

Enter the monster world and forever be enraptured by the fun and heart of one of Pixar’s finest features. By chance you have never watched a frame of this buddy comedy, let me set up the story. Mike Wazowski and his best friend James P. “Sulley” Sullivan reside in Monstropolis, what seems to be your average city – with the exception that both of these beasts are charismatic monsters living in Monstropolis, the monster society. They are employed at Monsters, Inc., the energy factory where scarers like Sulley produce screams. How so? They generate this energy through frightening human children, accessing their worlds through opening doors. More screams equates to more energy. Simple, right? But when one child, which Sulley affectionately names “Boo” creeps into Monstropolis, chaos erupts. Humans are seen as toxic. They cannot exist here, so it seems. But what happens when you form a bond with a child? Tricky. [...]

Cosmopolis
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by David Cronenberg
Screenplay by David Cronenberg
Based on the novel by Don DeLillo
Starring Robert Pattinson, Paul Giamatti, and Juliette Binoche
Entertainment One
Release Date: January 1, 2013

With his sizable personal fortune – not to mention the future of his company – hanging in the balance after making a high risk bet on the Chinese yuan, 27-year-old billionaire asset manager Eric Packer (Robert Pattinson) just wants to get a haircut, and for some reason it requires a lengthy car trip across New York. Ensconced within the technologically-advanced interior of his stretch limousine, Eric’s journey is perennially delayed by traffic jams caused by the President’s visit to the city and riots being instigated by anti-capitalist revolutionaries waving dead rats and chanting “a specter is haunting the world – the specter of capitalism.” [...]

Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season
Blu-ray | DVD
CREATORS: David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R. R. Martin (author)
STARRING: Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Richard Madden, Emilia Clarke, Michelle Fairley, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Stephen Dillane, Conleth Hill, Aidan Gillen, Kit Harington, Maisie Williams, Iain Glen, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Jack Gleeson, Sophie Turner, Alfie Allen, Liam Cunningham, James Cosmo, Rory McCann, Gethin Anthony, Gwendoline Christie, Carice van Houten, Joe Dempsie, Charles Dance, Donald Sumpter, Kristian Nairn, John Bradley, Sibel Kekilli, Natalia Tena, Finn Jones, Oona Chaplin, Natalie Dormer, Nonso Anozie, Rose Leslie
HBO
RELEASE DATE: February 19, 2013

I’ve developed something of a young tradition, one that I hope to continue for the next handful of years or so…if the old gods and the new see fit. As someone who was introduced to George R.R. Martin‘s “A Song of Ice and Fire” universe by HBO’s adaptation of the books (I read, but not nearly as much as others), Game of Thrones, I, like many others—much to the chagrin of readers who had been singing its praises for years—instantly found myself obsessed with this incredibly detailed world, its unique and complex characters, and a long, rich history that could force many aspiring writers to retire their quills for the rest of their days. [...]

Peter Pan
3-Disc Blu-ray/DVD/Digital l 2-Disc Blu-ray/DVD
Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
Starring Bobby Driscoll, Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried
Paul Collins, Tommy Luske
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release Date: February 5, 2013

The boy who never grew up flies onto Blu-ray. Here’s my review of the Peter Pan Diamond Edition on Blu-ray.

Six decades ago Walt Disney released this classic feature, which has stood the test of time – Tick Tock the crocodile would agree with that statement – and represents one of the most enduring Disney animated films. Consider that presently Tinker Bell leads a whole series of direct-to-video films and that Jake and The Neverland Pirates is one of Disney Junior channel’s greatest hits. [...]

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry
Blu-ray | DVD | Instant Video
Directed by Alison Klayman
Starring Ai Weiwei
Theatrical Release Date: July 27, 2012
Release Date: December 4, 2012

Tumultuous times tend to inspire profound and great works of art. Cinephiles will instinctively recall Orson Wells’ wonderfully insightful monologue in The Third Man. In it he eloquently equates an era of peace with the invention of the cuckoo clock and a despondent era with the Renaissance. Wells’ comparison still resonates today. Art reveals a lot in a person or nation. It reveals a tenacity and an unerring resilience to not be forgotten by time. In Ai Weiwei‘s instance, presented in the documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, his art strives to achieve change and he hopes to capture the attention of Chinese citizens and hopes they are inspired by his works of art.

But that isn’t so easy to do. Weiwei, currently on house arrest and 24 hour video surveillance, had to endure many atrocities courtesy of Chinese government (bashed in the head by officers and forced into hard labor camp). To rise to prominence like he has done, one has to be able to turn anger into something positive. Other revolutionaries (yes, it is appropriate to label Weiwei as a modern day revolutionary) aren’t capable of bearing their anger nearly as we’ll as Weiwei is. [...]

Up
5-Disc 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital l 4-Disc Blu-ray l 3-Disc Blu-ray
Directed by Pete Docter
Starring Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer, Bob Peterson
Disney-Pixar
Release Date: December 4, 2012

Get ready to soar into Pixar’s tenth film, the studio’s first Oscar-nominated feature for Best Picture and quite possibly its most sentimental. Though Up already claims a place in our hearts – and on store shelves – now it has arrived on Blu-ray 3D. Is this new five-disc package worth the price? Let us hover toward a review of this emotional roller coaster.

Whether you caught Up in theaters or in its earlier home video release – or perhaps this may be your first screening – every viewing promotes laughs, tears, and much self-reflection. The most epically simple romance between balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen and his adoring wife Ellie is a testament to Pixar’s genius, in eliciting every emotion in the book in the span of ten minutes. Their darling story, which pervades past their marriage, transcends the medium of film. [...]

Finding Nemo
3-Disc Blu-ray/DVD l 5-Disc 3D/Blu-ray/DVD/Digital
Directed by Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich
Written by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson, David Reynolds
Starring Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, Brad Garrett, Allison Janney, Stephen Root, Geoffrey Rush, Vicki Lewis, Austin Pendleton, Joe Ranft
Disney-Pixar
Release Date: December 4, 2012

Ready to return to the Great Barrier Reef? Nearly one decade after its initial theatrical release, Finding Nemo 3D swam onto film screens, and now film fans can possess this in their Blu-ray libraries. Mine!

For my thoughts on the brilliant fifth feature from Pixar, read my original review of the movie here. This review is dedicated to all of the special features to be found on the latest version. [...]

Brave
Directed by Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
Starring Kelly Macdonald, Emma Thompson, Billy Connolly, Julie Walters, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane
Walt Disney Home Entertainment
5-Disc Blu-ray | 3-Disc Blu-ray | DVD
Release Date: November 13, 2012

The number 13. It is a bad one, often fraught with misfortune. Sadly that misfortune applies to Pixar’s unlucky 13th feature, Brave, a bold, well-intentioned and genuinely good film with many elements that regretfully do not work in its favor. Fortuitously, though, its Blu-ray release is among the best you can find this holiday season. So bear with me and embark on a Blu-ray review of Brave.

Film

After an intense prologue set in medieval Scotland, where it looks like King Fergus (voiced with gusto by Billy Connolly) will be slain by demon bear Mor’du, we think the film will strike a consistently dark tone. In one sense, yes, Brave heads down an intense path with some accomplished guidance. Yet it also wanders around a trail scattered by silliness and irrelevance. That is perhaps the most consistent issue with Brave, in that it holds a conflicting narrative, never knowing if it wants to be a forceful or relaxed picture [...]

Magical Mystery Tour
Blu-ray
Directed by The Beatles
Written by The Beatles
Starring: Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
Victor Spinetti, Jessie Robins, Mal Evans
Apple Corps
Not Rated | 52 Minutes
Release Date: October 9th

Magical Mystery Tour, the colorfully wild mess of a film by The Beatles, has been released on Blu-ray and it’s one of the few times in the bands illustrious and innovative career that the term “mixed bag” can be applied when summing up one of their projects.

But suffice to say, Magical Mystery Tour, while an absolutely charming and irresistible piece of delectable eye candy to gaze upon, and even more so now with the spit and polish of the Blu-ray remastering, still ultimately remains nothing more than a curio of The Moptops at their psychedelic peaks, still in the cosmic high of their Sgt. Pepper period, the idyllic peace, love carefree metaphoric lounging on eiderdowns in their native England. [...]