Review: Gran Torino bluray
Clint Eastwood has filled a career with tough, uncompromising characters, and his Walt Kowalski in Gran Torino is no exception.
In fact, Walt – a bigoted Korean War veteran who lives isolated in a racially diverse, rundown Detroit – can be seen as a coming together of so many of Eastwood’s past classic roles.
The grunt and charisma Eastwood brings to the role steals the show, and reasonable support performances are supplied by Bee Vang (Thao) and Ahney Her (Sue). As the story progresses the audience is exposed to something of a thawing process. The extroverted, bold friendship Sue gives to Kowalski is his first step towards reintegrating with society.
Kowalski’s own grandkids are selfish ingrates, and the calibre of people that Sue and Thao reveal themselves to be is a real turning point for him.
The name of the film is taken from the classic 1972 car that Kowalski idolises and spends so much time polishing.
Clint Eastwood has said this role will be his final one, and he will now look to continue his highly successful directorial career.
Although Eastwood has recorded Academy Award wins for two movies he directed (Million Dollar Baby and Unorgiven), he is yet to score one as an actor.It is difficult to believe he won’t act again if the right role comes up.
The Gran Torino bluray is available now.
Review: Goldfinger bluray
The recent revitalisation of Ian Fleming’s classic James Bond series with Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace has also seen interest pick up in older Bond films.
The Goldfinder bluray movie is no exception, and the 1964 Sean Connery classic has been selling like hotcakes.
Goldfinger was only the third Bond film to hit cinemas, following on from Dr. No and From Russia With Love.
By this stage screenwriter Richard Maibaum had identified the elements of the previous movies that audiences really enjoyed, and this is why Goldfinger is so choc full of the iconic Bond components such as gadgets, pretty women, fast-paced action and one-liners.
A memorable fight sequence occurs between 007 and that famous henchman, Oddjob, and a long car chase sees Bond’s Aston Martin using every trick up its sleeve to tear baddies apart.
Sean Connery comes to this Bond film for the third time in the role that made him famous, and his trademark charm and wit pervade the film.
For younger generations of Bond fans who may have seen recent versions but who are not familiar with the ‘golden’ era of Bond films in the 1960s, Goldfinger is a must see.
The Goldfinger bluray is widely available.
DVD vs Bluray: make the switch?
May 19, 2009 by admin
Filed under Blu-ray Information
Those of you thinking of upgrading to bluray are looking for the answer of one fundamental question: what are the advantages of DVD vs bluray?
Advantages of Bluray:
The image quality is vastly superior. You will see a more detailed image, for example more clearly defined strands of hair, sharper light reflecting off glass and a twinkle in characters’ eyes. Technically speaking, the maximum bluray resolution is 1080p, and the maximum DVD resolution is 480p. Bluray has superior contrast and richer colours.
Audio is also better. High-resolution soundtrack formats like Dolby TrueHD are basically as good as the cinema experience. You will hear sounds exactly as they are intended.
Advantages of DVD:
DVD is cheaper. Bluray is still a little bit expensive, but its costs will greatly reduce over the next two years as the technology spreads.
Load times on DVD are much faster than Bluray. The reason for this is that Bluray players have a lot more data to load, and can sometimes take about a minute and a half to get to the actual movie.
There are more titles available on DVD. Currently there are about 1000 titles available on Bluray, compared with more than 90000 on DVD.
On the whole, Bluray provides a superior viewing and audio experience. If you can make the switch it is worth it in the long run.
Review: Bolt bluray
Bolt would almost have certainly been the runaway success of 2008 animated movies if it wasn’t for the remarkably popular Wall-E.
Sitting in stark contrast the recent swathe of too clever, smart alec animated films is this simple, loveable comedy.
While other recent cartoon movies have depended on pop culture references to get cheap laughs, Bolt slowly sucks in the audience with its warm charm and friendly approach.
Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) is an excitable dog who works on the set of a TV action series and believes that he has superpowers.
When Bolt becomes confused and thinks his owner Penny (Miley Cyrus) has been kidnapped, he sets out to save her but gets lost in New York City.
The rest of the story is something of an awakening for Bolt, who with the help of his friends Rhino (an energetic hamster in a plastic ball) and Mittens (a wise alley cat) begins to learn that you don’t have to have superpowers to be a real hero.
Production values were clearly emphasised in the making of Bolt, as clear and crisp animation and fast-paced scenes are well put together.
Bolt is not going to win any awards for originality of thought, but it is an entertaining film that is sure to delight kids.
The Bolt bluray will be available in 2009.