Snowmageddon is your typical SyFy Original Movie with average visual effects (showing how far the industry has come), a lame story and shoddy acting. Even so, the movie isn’t terrible and might be fun for some, though I won’t be revisiting it any time soon.
Sweet Home Alabama is a fine romantic comedy that at least at times breaks the genre mold. Reese Witherspoon plays her usual role as a sassy character but she’s still charming and for his part, Josh Lucas serves as a suitable love interest.
Contagion has some things going for it, but mainly from an acting and technical level rather than the story. The cast is mostly good despite having a limited amount of screen time and Soderbergh’s visual style, while nothing new from what he’s done in the past, still looks stunning and gives the film a certain gravitas yet at the same time I felt like I was more or less a spectator versus becoming involved or entrenched with what was going on.
The Client is a fulfilling suspense-thriller propelled by three solid performances, adequate direction from Joel Schumacher (arguably his last ‘good’ movie) despite a predictable script.
The DreamWorks Spooky Stories has a nice collection of shorts that the entire family will enjoy. The Blu-ray offers up excellent audio and video transfers but the features have much to be desired.
Maximum Conviction doesn’t stray beyond a typical direct-to-video release from a stitched together plot, wooden acting and bad dialogue, but with the charms (i.e. ass-kicker-y) that come with Steven Seagal and Steve Austin, it’s at least worth a rental especially if you’re fan of either individual.
The Bonfire of the Vanities was a critical and financial flop when it was released back in 1990 and considering its cast with Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis, it should have been better. For me, I don’t think it was that bad though I’ve never read the novel it was based upon so taking at face value, it’s at least an average, and biting, satirical drama-comedy.
The Amazing Spider-Man certainly had opportunities to be a great movie and although I still enjoyed the film, sometimes even immensely, there are times the script could’ve been tweaked. Even so, the casting was pretty good starting with Andrew Garfield who will hopefully find more bearings with the sequel(s) while Emma Stone was a delight.
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” Season Four is a fun animated series with great action, incredible animation and well written stories (for the most part). Not sure how fanboys liked the show but for myself, as a modest fan of the franchise, I found each episode, and the season as a whole, to be enjoyable.
Disney’s latest installment in the Tinker Bell Faries line, Secret of the Wings, is a nice little movie that the entire family can watch, though it is still geared towards younger children – and Disney fans of all ages.
Chernobyl Diaries is a film that uses cheap scares to further a thin and lame story which puts some of the worst episodes of “Lost” to shame. In any case, to go along with a dumb plot and average performances, the Blu-ray doesn’t exactly have the greatest audio/video transfers and the features are paltry.
Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted is a fun, light-hearted, comedy-adventure flick that both parents and kids will enjoy.
The Raven has some interesting scenes and features fine performances from John Cusack, Alice Eve and, to a lesser extent, Luke Evans (but mainly because the character merely chases down leads).
247°F has its moments and the performance from Scout Taylor-Compton – who I hope continues to rise as she is a talented young actress – saves the film from being a complete dud. This isn’t going to be for everybody but I suppose if you enjoyed Open Water, it might be up your alley, and otherwise it’s at best a rental.
Big Top Scooby-Doo is probably in the middle of the pack compared with the other recent direct-to-video Scooby releases. The voice talents are the highlights to go along with a story that at least didn’t telestrate who the villain(s) is/were.