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Ender’s Game

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  • Title: Ender’s Game
  • IMDB: link

Ender's GameA longtime fan of Orson Scott Card’s book, I was pleased enough with the recent adaptation of Ender’s Game to the big screen to find a spot for it on my Top 13 Movies of 2013. The movie holds up well on Blu-ray as we follow young Ender Wiggin‘s (Asa Butterfield) story as child prodigy sent to Battle School to transform him into to humanity’s best hope in their war against the ant-like race known as Formics.

Adapted and directed by Gavin Hood, the script streamlines Ender’s journey while ignoring large subplots from the book including that of Ender’s siblings (Abigail Breslin, Jimmy ‘Jax’ Pinchak) on Earth after his departure. What the film does deliver on is the complicated character study of a child genius striving to understand the aggression both in himself and the enemy he will be ordered to destroy, all set inside a collection of amazing effects and production design. For more on the film check out my original review.

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Sherlock – The Complete Third Season

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  • Title: Sherlock – Series Three
  • wiki: link

Sherlock - The Complete Third SeasonSherlock Holmes‘ (Benedict Cumberbatch) return from the dead, the marriage of John Watson (Martin Freeman) to Mary (Amanda Abbington), and a new evil enemy in Charles Augustus Magnussen (Lars Mikkelsen) at the three major storylines to dominate the show’s Third Season. The season’s first episode deals primarily with Holmes attempting to repair his relationship with Watson as he returns to London to stop a terrorist attack. It’s the season’s middle episode, however which is the real standout not only for the humor that is offered by Watson’s wedding (and bachelor party), but also because its the only episode that centers on a real mystery.

Sadly the season ends on a down note with the weakest episode of the series to date involving a twist for Mary and a new adversary who actually is proven smarter than Holmes. Ending on a cliffhanger by teasing the possibility of a return of Moriarty (Andrew Scott) from the dead for as well, the Third Season is a bit of a mixed bag containing only a couple of short featurettes on Sherlock’s return and the villains of the series.

[BBC Home Entertainment, DVD $29.98 / Blu-ray $39.98]

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Notting Hill

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  • Title: Notting Hill
  • IMDB: link

Notting HillRecently re-released on Blu-ray as part of Universal Studios “Best of the Decade Series,” 1999’s Notting Hill romatic comedy featuring the unlikely pairing of a Hollywood star (Julia Roberts) and British book store owner (Hugh Grant) is a watchable, but not always entertaining, piece of romcom fluff helped by the performances of its two leads (but not always the script by Richard Curtis).

Asking an interesting question of what happens when a celebrity falls for a nobody, the film rather quickly gives up any attempt to say anything original while falling back on the clichéd romcom roller-coaster template complete with a final act break-up and ridiculous last moment romantic gesture to bring the lovers back together. In comparison with other movies of this genre (see the filmogprahy of Kate Hudson or Katherine Heigl), Notting Hill isn’t awful but it’s far from one of the best films of this decade.

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2004 – Million Dollar Baby

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  • Title: Million Dollar Baby
  • IMDB: link

Million Dollar BabyNo matter how many times I’ve seen the film, there’s a moment in Million Dollar Baby that hits me like a jab straight to the gut, far harder than any thrown inside the ring in this film about boxing, life, death, and balancing the consequences of all three. Even ten years later with the movie now available in a new Tenth Anniversary Blu-ray release I find myself reluctant to give away the twist for those who have not yet seen the film.

The movie is never about what you think it’s about. While borrowing aspects of your run-of-the-mill sports film, the script by Paul Haggis travels a winding road of subtle and abrupt turns, much like life. Earning near universal praise, Million Dollar Baby took home Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director for Clint Eastwood, Best Actress for Hillary Swank, and Best Supporting Actor for Morgan Freeman. The film has aged well and, along with Sideways, The Incredibles, and Before Sunset, it remains one of my favorite films of 2004.

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Europa Report

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  • Title: Europa Report
  • IMDB: link

Europa ReportPieced together from found footage of the crew of the Europa One who lost contact with Earth halfway through their 22-month mission to Jupiter’s moon, the pseudo-documentary from director Sebastián Cordero includes a look at the problems which led to the missions success and failures at the fates of the various members of the crew (Daniel Wu, Christian Camargo, Karolina Wydra, Anamaria Marinca, Michael Nyqvist, and Sharlto Copley).

Not told in chronological order, and inter-spliced with interviews from those at NASA (Embeth Davidtz, Dan Fogler) both before and and after Europa One’s disappearance, the storytelling takes a while to get used to. Also troubling is Cordero’s over-reliance on glitches, light flashes, static, and the like which are meant to frame the “real story” as documented by the crew.

What the story does have going for it are the various mysteries which slowly unfold involving what happened to the crew and what they found on Jupiter’s moon.

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