Thirteen Ghosts on blu-ray

Thirteen Ghosts, Steve Beck’s feature debut, is the second recent remake (following The House On Haunted Hill) of a film by 1950s and 60s camp horror king, William Castle. Arthur Kriticos (Tony Shalhoub) is a financially strapped widower struggling to raise two children, Kathy (Shannon Elizabeth) and Bobby (Alec Roberts), after losing his wife in a house fire. A stroke of apparent luck arrives when Arthur learns he has inherited a mansion from his mysterious Uncle Cyrus (F. Murray Abraham). Ecstatic, Arthur whisks the kids and nanny, Maggie (Rah Digga) off to their new home, a bizarre glass and steel structure with strange Latin inscriptions carved on the walls. The family is thrilled, until a psychic and former employee of Cyrus’, Rafkin (Matthew Lillard), reveals that Arthur’s departed uncle was a power hungry ghost collector who captured twelve spirits in the house. Arthur is skeptical. But when his children disappear, and Rafkin gives him a pair of special glasses that allow him to view the house’s gruesome inhabitants, he believes. In Beck’s special effects-laden gore-fest, the two men race against time to find the children as the house’s strange internal mechanism begins sealing off the exits and freeing the angry ghosts.

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Slither on blu-ray

Prepare yourself for this terrifying twisted and chilling film that critics are calling “the most entertaining horror movie in years” (Joe Williams St. Louis Post Dispatch).From the writer of 2004’s Dawn of the Dead comes the deliciously demented story of an unnamed evil wreaking havoc on a small town. Intent on devouring all life on Earth this dark force is infecting anyone in its path. Now it’s up to the local sheriff Bill Pardy (Nathan Fillion Serenity) and his team to stop the spread of rampant devastation - and shocking mutilation - before it’s too late.

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American Pie on blu-ray

Jim is your average healthy re-blooded virgin — he’s desperate to “make it” with a woman. The stakes are raised when his parents catch him with his pants down watching porno films in his bedroom, his one experience with a beautiful exchange student turns into an online disaster and his friends make a pact that by the day of their high school graduation, none of them will be virgins. Pressure’s on, but will Jim rise to the occasion?

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I Am Legend (Ultimate Collector’s Blu-ray Edition)

Will Smith stars in the third adaptation of Richard Matheson’s classic science-fiction novel about a lone human survivor in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by vampires. This new version somewhat alters Matheson’s central hook, i.e., the startling idea that an ordinary man, Robert Neville, spends his days roaming a desolated city and his nights in a house sealed off from longtime neighbors who have become bloodsucking fiends. In the new film, Smith’s Neville is a military scientist charged with finding a cure for a virus that turns people into crazed, hairless, flesh-eating zombies. Failing to complete his work in time–and after enduring a personal tragedy–Neville finds himself alone in Manhattan, his natural immunity to the virus keeping him alive. With an expressive German shepherd his only companion, Neville is a hunter-gatherer in sunlight, hiding from the mutants at night in his Washington Square town house and methodically conducting experiments in his ceaseless quest to conquer the disease.

The film’s first half almost suggests that I Am Legend could be one of the finest movies of 2007. Director Francis Lawrence’s extraordinary, computer-generated images of a decaying New York City reveal weeds growing through the cracks of familiar streets that are also overrun by deer and prowled by lions. It’s impossible not to be fascinated by such a realistically altered cityscape, reverting to a natural environment, through which Smith moves with a weirdly enviable freedom, offset by his wariness over whatever is lurking in the dark of bank vaults and parking garages.

Lawrence and screenwriters Mark Protosevich and Akiva Goldsman wisely build suspense by withholding images of the monsters until a peak scene of horror well into the story. It must be said, however, that the computer-enhanced creatures don’t look half as interesting as they might have had the filmmakers adhered more to Matheson’s vampire-nightmare vision. I Am Legend is ultimately noteworthy for Smith’s remarkable performance as a man so lonely he talks to mannequins in the shops he frequents. The film’s latter half goes too far in portraying Smith’s Neville as a pitiable man with a messianic mission, but this lapse into bathos does nothing to take away from the visual and dramatic accomplishments of its first hour.

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Jet Li’s Fearless on blu-ray

A moving and inspiring story of redemption and personal triumph in the face of great odds, Jet Li’s Fearless is the based-on-facts story of Chinese folk hero Huo Yuanjia (Jet Li). The son of a martial-arts master whose greatest strength was his restraint, Huo grows into an unbeatable fighter whose pride and thoughtlessness lead to a chain of tragic losses. After a classic wanderer-in-the-wilderness penance, Huo reinvents himself as a mature instructor of Wushu, a martial arts system that embraces all forms of fighting without preference or pre-judgement. He also becomes a populist symbol, at the dawn of the 20th century, of China’s refusal to entirely capitulate to the boot of Western colonialists. Taking on whatever European, American, or Japanese fighter the outsiders bring in to demoralize the natives, Huo becomes a legend that, in real life, is still revered. Thrillingly directed by Ronny Yu (Warriors of Virtue), Jet Li’s Fearless is a dazzling action movie that transcends its breathless fight sequences with Huo’s sportsmanship virtues, i.e., knowing when you’ve won by example, rather than by the fist. Jet Li is superb in the role.

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The Mask on blu-ray

For a film heavily dependent on special effects, the best effect going in this 1994 comedy is the ever-expressive star, Jim Carrey, playing a shy bank teller who stumbles across an ancient mask that turns him into a green hepcat with extraordinary powers. Cameron Diaz plays the love interest, but the real purpose of the movie is to bring cartoonish energy and effects into a live-action production. Toward that end, director Charles Russell does the job, but the gimmick wears out quickly for those easily bored by this sort of pseudo-animation. Lots of kids adore the film, though, and why not? The hero gets to be a whirlwind of mischief and still get the girl.

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Dumb and Dumber on blu-ray

Delivering exactly what its title promises, this celebration of stupidity was Jim Carrey’s 1994 follow-up to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask. The film pairs the rubber- faced wacky man with Jeff Daniels as the not-so-dynamic duo of Lloyd and Harry, dunderheads who come into the possession of a briefcase containing ransom money that is intended for Mob-connected kidnappers. Lauren Holly costars as the woman who lost the briefcase, and with whom Carrey falls in love (both in real life and as his moronic on-screen character). As Lloyd and Harry make a mad dash to return the briefcase (never aware of its contents), the bumbling buddies attract Mobsters, cops, and trouble galore. This lowbrow laugh-a-thon scores some solid hits for hilarity, but with gags involving ill-fated parakeets, buxom bimbos, and an overdose of laxatives, be prepared to put your brain–and good taste–on hold.

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Horton Hears a Who! on blu-ray

Dr. Seuss’s classic 1954 book Horton Hears a Who has entertained generations of children and served as the inspiration for a 26-minute, 1970 television special Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who and the 2000 Broadway musical Seussical: The Musical. This 2008, full-length animated movie features the voice talents of Jim Carrey as Horton, Steve Carell as the Mayor of Whoville, Carol Burnett as the Kangaroo, and Jesse McCartney as JoJo and promises to delight a whole new generation of children and their parents and grandparents.

The technological wonders of computer animation have allowed 20th Century Fox Animation to bring to life the wacky, colorful Whoville with its minute inhabitants and the lush Jungle of Nool with its host of distinctive animals and the result is a rich, fantastical world of wonder worthy of Dr. Seuss’ own imagination. All the major plot elements of Dr. Seuss’ book are present, with Horton hearing the faint cry for help from a tiny dust speck atop a small clover and doing his best to protect the inhabitants of that small civilization of Whoville despite the disbelief, disdain, and persecution of his fellow animals. The feel of Dr. Seuss’ original rhyming prose is partially preserved in the sparse narration by Charles Osgood that’s interspersed throughout the film’s dialogue and the overarching themes of staying true to one’s convictions and the celebration of the power of perseverance, imagination, and kindness come through loud and clear. Horton Hears a Who is a fun rendering of a classic Dr. Seuss story that’s sure to entertain viewers of all ages.

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The Dark Knight on blu-ray

The Dark Knight arrives with tremendous hype (best superhero movie ever? posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger?), and incredibly, it lives up to all of it. But calling it the best superhero movie ever seems like faint praise, since part of what makes the movie great–in addition to pitch-perfect casting, outstanding writing, and a compelling vision–is that it bypasses the normal fantasy element of the superhero genre and makes it all terrifyingly real. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham City’s new district attorney, charged with cleaning up the crime rings that have paralyzed the city. He enters an uneasy alliance with the young police lieutenant, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), and Batman (Christian Bale), the caped vigilante who seems to trust only Gordon–and whom only Gordon seems to trust. They make progress until a psychotic and deadly new player enters the game: the Joker (Heath Ledger), who offers the crime bosses a solution–kill the Batman. Further complicating matters is that Dent is now dating Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, after Katie Holmes turned down the chance to reprise her role), the longtime love of Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne.

In his last completed role before his tragic death, Ledger is fantastic as the Joker, a volcanic, truly frightening force of evil. And he sets the tone of the movie: the world is a dark, dangerous place where there are no easy choices. Eckhart and Oldman also shine, but as good as Bale is, his character turns out rather bland in comparison (not uncommon for heroes facing more colorful villains). Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Memento) follows his critically acclaimed Batman Begins with an even better sequel that sets itself apart from notable superhero movies like Spider-Man 2 and Iron Man because of its sheer emotional impact and striking sense of realism–there are no suspension-of-disbelief superpowers here. At 152 minutes, it’s a shade too long, and it’s much too intense for kids. But for most movie fans–and not just superhero fans–The Dark Knight is a film for the ages.

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Week 50 has the following 30 new blu-ray releases.

The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight: Limited Edition with Batpod
Lost: The Complete Fourth Season
Horton Hears a Who!
Sin City
Dumb and Dumber
The Mask
Jet Li’s Fearless
Super Troopers
I Am Legend (Ultimate Collector’s Edition)
Gunbuster vs. Diebuster: Aim for the Top! - The Gattai
From Dusk Til Dawn
Live at Montreux 1997
Live at Montreux 1991 & 1992
The Strat Pack: Live in Concert
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Look Alive
Red Cliff (Hong Kong Version)
Gunbuster: The Movie
Diebuster: The Movie
Thirteen Ghosts
Am: Sonar
American Pie
Gundam Wing
Slither
A Battle of Wits (A Jacob Cheung Film)
Live at Elland Road
The Rundown (aka Welcome to the Jungle)
Mika - Live Au Parc Des Princes