Royal Deceit is a period piece taking liberties with Shakesepeare but does feature a great cast that includes Christian Bale, Helen Mirren, Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Byrne and Andy Serkis in his feature film debut.
Ford v Ferrari is probably one of my favorite movies of the year, a great mix of high-adrenaline racing and excellent acting by both Matt Damon and Christian Bale.
The Dark Knight Rises might be a slight step down from its predecessors in terms of story, but the performances from Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Anne Hathaway were all top notch and it was a satisfying enough conclusion to the trilogy.
The Dark Knight might just be the closest to superhero movie perfection as they come and although it might be mostly remembered for Heath Ledger’s amazing performance which garnered him an Oscar posthumously, the script is expertly written by Jonathan and Christopher Nolan.
Batman Begins is perhaps one of the best superhero origin movies ever made, maybe slightly behind Superman but ahead of Iron Man. The performances from (most) of the cast is solid and Bale was genius casting helped by a legendary supporting cast.
3:10 to Yuma is one of the best modern westerns that features precision direction from James Mangold and includes a stellar cast by Russell Crowe, Christian Bale and Peter Fonda not to mention Ben Foster, Alan Tudyk and Logan Lerman in supporting roles.
The Big Short was easily my favorite movie of 2015. The strong cast helped but the writing by Adam McKay and Charles Randolph was sharp and in conjunction with Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling’s performances made for one fun yet thoughtful flick that worked so well from beginning to its bitter end.
Exodus: Gods and Kings had the best of intentions especially in the technical departments from costumes, construction and visual effects, but for all the talk and lengthy running time, it all feels empty, void of any interesting actors not to mention some unintentional humor. The Blu-ray release offered by Fox is pretty basic with an OK commentary track and selection of deleted scenes, but little else given the bulk of features were reserved for the 3D Blu-ray combo pack.
Henry V is yet another fine Kenneth Branagh Shakespearian drama with great performances all around including future Dame Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and Emma Thompson while Christian Bale makes an appearance in one of his early roles. The Blu-ray released by Shout Factory has good audio, merely acceptable video but sadly no features.
American Hustle might be a tad overrated and certainly director David O. Russell took influence from Martin Scorsese and maybe a bit of Oliver Stone in terms of tone and style, but the movie’s success lies squarely on an all-star cast who mostly give great performances headlined by Christian Bale and Amy Adams.
Out of the Furnace never quite took advantage of a tremendous cast, especially Christian Bale, with a story that’s not very compelling and although I get the symbolism Cooper was going for, it didn’t gel for one reason or another. However, is it worth seeing? I don’t think you’ll regret at least giving it a rental as there are some solid performances and a couple truly good scenes.
Howl’s Moving Castle may not be considered one of Miyazaki’s greatest works but I enjoyed the movie for its splendid visuals, interesting storyline and well cast voice actors for both the Japanese and English-dubbed versions.
This “High-Powered Action Pack” might not have the greatest movies – Equilibrium and The Lookout are the best – but at a low SRP of $30, it comes to $5 per movie and maybe less depending on which store you go to (i.e. Best Buy had it for $10), so if you’ve enjoyed any of these and don’t care about features or average audio/video transfers, then by all means check it out.
Check out our reviews of the May 2011 Echo Bridge Home Entertainment Blu-ray catalouge titles. Movies include: The Crow: City of Angels, Equilibrium starring Christian Bale and Emily Watson; Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers; Hellraiser: Bloodline; Texas Rangers with James Van Der Beek, Dylan McDermott and Ashton Kutcher; Duplex/My Boss’s Daughter Double Feature with Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Kutcher and Tara Reid and The Yards/The Lookout Double Feature starring Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels.