Tag Archives: dvd

X-Men: Days of Future Past

DAYS OF FUTURE PAST has a perfectly convoluted plot that unites the X-Men universes of the first three movies and Matthew Vaughn’s FIRST CLASS which was set back in the early 1960’s. Thus we have Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan back as the originals, along with their earlier counterparts, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, in the roles of Professor X and Magneto. The movie begins in a hellish future ruled by the Sentinels, killing machines capable of hunting down anyone with even slightest trace of the mutant gene, where there is a handful of surviving mutants led by a now reconciled Professor X and Magneto.

They devise a plan that calls for Kitty Pryde to use her power to send Wolverine’s consciousness back into his 1973 body and then try to prevent Mystique from assassinating Bolivar Trask, the inventor of the Sentinels. It is Mystique’s capture following this crime that allows the Sentinel makers to use her DNA to build indestructible machines capable of neutralizing any mutant’s power. But back in the Vietnam era 70’s, with its lava lamps and water beds, Wolverine has his work cut out for him: Charles Xavier is a bitter alcoholic living in the now shuttered Xavier Institute (under the care of Hank McCoy/Beast) and Magneto is imprisoned below the Pentagon for killing JFK (there is a nice twist on this later).

The best part of this is that it puts Hugh Jackman’s Logan back front and center in the story as he goes about getting Xavier to care again and busting Magneto out of his cell so they can rewrite history and save the future.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

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Guardians of the Galaxy

The Galaxy’s Fate in the Balance

While the plot of GUARDIANS is a comic book staple-ragtag group of misfits must band together to keep an all powerful McGuffian (an orb containing an Infinity jewel) from falling into the hands of a super villain-it is the cast and the characters, more than anything, that make GUARDIANS not just another big screen comic book epic.

I think we really needed a film like this to remind us of how much great, loose fun the genre can still be. In fact, even calling it a superhero movie may be something of a stretch – it spans a number of different classes, plucking fitting elements from each and packing them down into a beautifully odd, curious, colorful bouquet.

Must have, looks great, my favorite comic book movie ever. The bonus features are a nice touch because I was going to buy the blu-ray at first since I was interested in the extras,.

Guardians of the Galaxy

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Game of Thrones: Season 4

Game of Thrones is one of HBO’s signature series and a huge runaway hit for the network.

What a fantastic season of Game of Thrones this was! So much happened. Every season has one really big episode that everything builds up to, but this one had several. The acting was top notch, maybe the best since the show started. At first I didn’t think Game of Thrones would have a chance at this year’s Emmys since they’re competing against last year’s Breaking Bad finale, but then I saw Tyrion’s trial. WOW, the emotion, the betrayal, the hurt, is all palpable. The Mountain vs the Red Viper fight was amazing, and the ending just as shocking as it was in the book. Arya and the Hound absolutely stole the show this season by the way. If they made a separate show just about them wandering the countryside murdering people, I would watch that show. The battle for the Wall was every bit as epic as the Blackwater, and let’s not forget Daenerys and her ever more difficult to control dragons.

Game of Thrones is a well balanced show, between complex characters, violence, compassion, love, hate, scheming, sex and other human factors that belong to life and a great show. It is the most luring show I have ever seen in my life. I just got the first book, but somehow I feel like I have to save reading it, for fear of loosing something after I read the series. I know I will get just as lost in the book as i do in the show. I want to relish in it like I do watching it and never let go until I die. I just don’t want it to end.

Game of Thrones: Season 4

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Big Hero 6 DVD

Big Hero 6 is Pure Adulterated Superhero Fun

Set in the futuristic city of San Fransokyo, a hybrid of Tokyo and San Francisco, “Big Hero 6” tells the story of Hiro Hamada, a young robotics mastermind who participates in illegal robot fighting games. After Hiro’s surprising win in a fight, he gets in trouble and is rescued by his older brother, Tadashi. Tadashi, who is studying robotics, takes Hiro to his lab at the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology to persuade him to use his knowledge for better purposes. In the lab, Hiro is introduced to Tadashi’s friends. Hiro also meets Baymax, an inflatable healthcare robot developed by his brother, and Professor Callaghan, the head of the robotics program at the university.

This is a Marvel-type comic action flick. Dripping with emotion, this film is actually more about grief than altruism but the lessons get learned along the way regardless.

Big Hero 6 DVD

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Masterpiece: Downton Abbey Season 5

This year’s Downton Abbey treat takes us to 1924 and is set against the background of the UK’s first socialist government having just been elected and Lord Grantham rightly suspects that they have no sympathy for him and his ilk. Many of the story lines of Series 4 and earlier are immediately picked up and Downton certainly hits the ground running.

The incomparable Maggie Smith continues to dominate whenever she appears, her caustic and witty comments superbly delivered. The good news is that she makes plenty of appearances in this series and more of the story lines involve her. Julian Fellowes, the writer, clearly appreciates how important she is to Downton.

Masterpiece: Downton Abbey Season 5

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