DVD Reviews

Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.0
IBattlestar Galacticai is a series that isnt afraid to change. While Im not about to go into spoiler territory and openly admit how this half of the season ends, its sufficient enough to say that its a paradigm shift that overshadows the revelation of the hidden Cylons, the brewing civil war, and all other dynamic changes the series has undergone.

Mamma Mia! The Movie (2-Disc Special Edition)
The songs are the real reason the movie and play exists so anyone who isnt already a fan will find themselves in musical hell with 22 ABBA numbers sung by actors of various musical abilities. The plot doesnt have much going for it other than to align the action close enough that the ABBA numbers make sense.

Burn After Reading
The Coens definitely take a step back from what they accomplished with INo Country For Old Meni with this movie, and IBurn After Readingi is nowhere near the pinnacle of their accomplishments in quirky comedy. Its no IHudsucker Proxyi or IBig Lebowskii. It is, however, a much more satisfying ride than IThe Ladykillersi.

Hamlet 2
A movie like Hamlet 2 only comes around so often, and this is a movie youll want to share. Its got the man-down theme from IIts a Wonderful LifeI, the surprise happy ending from IMiracle on 34th St.I and the quirky cool one liners from IElfI. Lets just go ahead and call it an honorary Christmas movie.

Beethoven's Big Break
They decide to make a movie about Beethoven called.IBeethovenI. Thats right, they are making the original IBeethovenI movie from 1992. This allows them to repeat all the classic hijinks from that film, either on set or around Eddies house. Most of the movie then consists of slapsticky stunts youve seen...

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (Special Edition)
The whole movie is just Melody doing what Ariel did, only this time its Ariel taking on the role of King Triton. Morgana not only behaves like Ursula, using magic powers to give Melody fins in exchange for Melody taking King Tritons triton, but is voiced by the same actress.

Space Chimps
ISpace ChimpsI takes a basic plot premise, throws in some basic CG animation, adds a few basic monkey jokes and puns, and comes up with a basic animated film that a basic six-year old might enjoy. Everyone else will think it sucks.

The Dark Knight [Blu-ray]
Its not fair to lump IThe Dark Knighti into the comic book movie category. The movie transcends that genre immeasurably. IThe Dark Knighti is a cinematic masterpiece, assembled on the shoulders of giants of every aspect of filmmaking.

The Dark Knight (Single-Disc Widescreen Edition)
I have IThe Dark KnightI sitting next to me. Its bizarre, really, having spent the last 6 months thinking about the movie as a cultural phenomenon, seeing it in theaters three times and writing about it constantly, trying to wrap my mind around it. Now here it is, packaged in plastic, ready to join the others on my shelf.

Tropic Thunder (2-Disc Director's Cut)
Of all the comedy subgenres, satire is the most difficult to pull off. Too often the target is too wide and the humor lacks bite. iTropic Thunderi avoids these pitfalls by clearly playing the story for comedy and by centering the satire on a specific target: the pretensions and empty values of Hollywood.

Hancock (Single-Disc Unrated Edition)
I will be the first to admit that I am a fan of Will Smith. Whether hes playing a martian-killing agent in a black suit or fighter pilots uniform, kissing men and lying about being the illegitimate child of Sydney Poitier, or playing an iconic athlete, Smith is one of the most talented actors out there. I will also admit that I liked iHancocki... for about 25 minutes.

Wanted (2-Disc Special Edition)
From this point on, the movie just turns into a teenage boys wet dream. Theres gun porn galore, of course, but also car porn, torture porn, and, thanks to Jolies naked back, a little porn porn. We get the obligatory training montage where Wesley goes from being raw loser with no skills to the most kick-ass ass kicker from kick-ass town that ever kicked ass.

Meet Dave
IMeet DaveI is a movie made for children, period. If you are a full on adult, you should only watch IDaveI with this in mind. If you are a cinephile parent who is bitter about having to watch horrible childrens films, stay away from IMeet DaveI and rent IWall-EI.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (3-Disc Collector's Edition)
IPrince CaspianI misses certain qualities that infused its predecessor, IThe Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.I Its a bit darker and the sense of wonder isnt present. It does have better special effects, solid performances at every level, and a lot of pretty cool battles. It works more as a good adventure film...

Star Wars: The Clone Wars
iStar Wars: The Clone Warsi represents a turning point in the George Lucas Empire. From pandering to the graying generation of iStar Warsi fans to outright pandering to their children, iThe Clone Warsi isnt exactly what youd consider terrible, but only if you think of it strictly as an adventure for kiddies