Terri looked like the type of movie I was going to really like. It’s a quirky story of an introverted, overweight High School student befriending his assistant principal, played by John C. Reilly. Oh, and Creed Bratton from The Office is in it. Yeah, this looked like my kind of movie.

Well, after seeing the amazing Win Win recently, I can’t help but feel like Terri was just ok, and not great like I was hoping it would be. That’s not to say I didn’t like it or it was a bad film, I just had higher hopes for it.

The Movie

Terri is played by new-comer Jacob Wysocki, and he totally embodies the character, who lives at home with his aging, eccentric, this-is-probably-what-Creed-Bratton-is-like-in-real-life uncle James.. He starts wearing his pajamas to school because they’re comfortable, but his poor attendance force him into some one-on-one time with John C. Reilly’s character, Mr. Fitzgerald.
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This is a good week for Batman fans. Like most of you I’ve been playing through Batman Arkham City and loving every minute of it, but this week saw the release of the animated adaption of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One as well.

Has it really been over a year since I reviewed a DC Animated Universe movie? The last DC U animated Blu-ray I reviewed was Batman: Under the Red Hood, and it was surprisingly good. Since then, I’ve seen a few more, but didn’t feel they were worth posting on the site. Green Lantern: Emerald Knights was a decent collection of stories, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse was just kind of interesting, and All-Star Superman was weird because I didn’t know the source material.

Even though I haven’t read Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, I thoroughly enjoyed the animated adaptation and feel like it is an impressive addition to Batman’s already awesome animated film history.
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When I was growing up there were a few movies that I used to rent all the time from the video store. I (read: my parents) never bought them. They were like old standbys; always there when I needed them, ready for me to take their little dangly cardboard tags off the hooks and up to the counter in exchange for a VHS tape in clear-plastic and a “Be Kind Rewind” sticker.

Captain America was one of those movies for me growing up. I wasn’t crazy about comic books per se, but I loved Superheroes, as most kids do. Obviously, I watched plenty of cartoons, but in a time where live-action Superhero movies were rare you had to take what you could get. Besides, you could only watch the Batman and Superman movies so many times.

Because it went direct to video, seeing the 1990 Captain America movie at the video store for the first time was a surprise. Where did this movie come from? Who is this man dressed as Captain America? Why is the Red Skull Italian? In those days there was only one way to find out, and that was to rent the video.
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I want to tap into Zack Snyder’s brain and figure out what the true vision for Sucker Punch really was. The man has been on the verge of something perfect and revolutionary ever since he broke in the director’s chair. Sucker Punch has flashes of brilliance, beauty, and awe-inspiring style that demonstrates why a trip to the big screen is still worth it. However, if your trip to theater requires more motivation than to see the latest special effects spectacular, you may be better served testing out your home theater with a Sucker Punch rental down the road.

After the initial voice-over, the introduction to Sucker Punch sets up the main character, Baby Doll played by Emily Browning (Lemony Snicket’s), and her trip to the insane asylum with absolutely no dialog. A haunting remake of “Sweet Dreams” kicks off the consistently strong soundtrack while Baby Doll’s hopeless journey unfolds before our eager eyes. Snyder’s knack for visual flare is on full display even when setting up a much more reality based scene than his recent films. I found the tragic setup to be the strongest piece of storytelling in the entire film, and a fantastically subtle delivery of his constant camera movement and dramatic angles. Unfortunately, the strong start begins to crumble when the character’s start opening their mouths to speak.
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I’m an excellant driver.

I’m sure you’ve all seen Rain Man. It was on TV constantly when I was growing up and I was always aware of it. You might own in on VHS or DVD. Luckily I didn’t because now I have the Blu-ray and can watch Dustin Hoffman talk about buying his suits at K-Mart in full 1080p HD.

Rain Man won an impressive 4 Oscars in 1988, including Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Actor (Dustin Hoffman), and Best Original Screenplay.

We definitely need more classic movies like Rain Man on Blu-ray, so I was pretty excited to hear it was being released. Here’s a quick review of of the Rain Man Blu-ray if you’re thinking about adding it to your collection.
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