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Steve Rogers is a 90 lbs weakling, but he has the heart and guts of a warrior. He keeps getting rejected at recruitment centers trying to join the fight in World War II. Chris Evans, who has experience playing superheroes, as he was the Human Torch in the FANTASTIC FOUR films, is an excellent choice to play this hero in the making before and after a super serum is injected into his veins to turn him into Captain America.

Evans is made the bullied Steve Rodgers through some remarkable visual effects. His heart and passion is what attracts the eye of Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci, THE LOVELY BONES), who is working on the U.S.’s super soldier program with Col. Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones, MEN IN BLACK) and investor/entrepreneur Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper, MAMMA MIA!). But instead of going to the frontlines, he is used as a propaganda tool to sell war bonds. But on an USO tour, he discovers that his best friend James “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan, BLACK SWAN) has been taken prisoner and goes it alone to save him.

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Michael Jackson announced that he was going to do one last tour. Sadly he never got that far. The “This Is It” tour had just finished prepping when the King of Pop died. This documentary was culled from behind-the-scenes footage of the rehearsals. The film provides a compelling look at a dedicated performer working out his latest, and unexpectedly last, spectacle.

So what does the film say about Michael Jackson? He was a perfectionist, who was the artistic drive behind the epic show. He would rerun parts over and over until they were just right. While doing it, he comes off as patient and grateful of the people working with him. And in turn they seem happy to be working with and learning from him. But first and foremost, he is presented as an amazing performer. He knows music and what he wants. And he can certainly dance, keeping up with the back-up dancers that are half his age. If this is a 50-year-old drug addict, he’s on some amazing stuff.

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Limitless

Check out my LIMITLESS review.

Neil Burger’s smart drug thriller comes to Blu-ray is a sharp AVC encoded 1080p transfer. As the main character goes from loser to genius, the color palette changes and the disc never misses the mark. Whether it’s the desaturated world of the character off the drug or the bright vibrant world of him on the drug, the colors are always spot on, even black level stay consistent over the style change. Details pop throughout the film, especially in the “on the drug” moments, which is perfectly suited for the subject matter where the drug enhances the user’s perception. Some minor aliasing is the only problem I witnessed, but like I said it was minor and pops up in the usual kinds of places.

The presentation gets really amped up in the sound department. The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is a bombastic experience. The LFE track is used dynamically during the action sequences. Directionality and atmospherics are quite impressive, giving the viewer a portal into the locations. Dialogue is always clear and balances with the other elements perfectly. The sonic bombs that hit us in the title sequence are just the start of an audio experience that grabs attention.

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What if you could take a pill and it unlocked the vast potential of your mind? That’s what this film purposes. The problem is that writers not on the drug have a hard time representing what a person with a four digit IQ is really like. I highly doubt that someone that smart would end up in a thriller, but that’s what the film is.

Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper, THE HANGOVER) is a struggling writer who has a book deal, but can’t really deal with writing it. Pretty much at rock bottom, he has a run in with his former brother-in-law Vernon (Johnny Whitworth, EMPIRE RECORDS), who was also is former drug dealer. He’s now pushing NZT, the drug that unlocks your mind’s full potential. But as with any too good to be true venture, there are side effects. Eddie gets addicted to the drug and starts running out of his supply. In the process, he gets mixed up with gangster Gennady (Andrew Howard, TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN) and high-stakes investor Carl Van Loon (Robert DeNiro, RAGING BULL). It’s questionable who is shadier.

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So what does the Bible say about homosexuality? The verse thrown out most often is Leviticus 20:13 — “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.” An abomination that’s some strong language. But what else does the Bible call an abomination? Even before homosexuality, Leviticus 11:10-11 says, “But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you. They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination.” Holy cow, stop the church retreat and clambake!

Director Daniel G. Karslake looks at the conflict between conservative Christians and the LGBT community. He does so by interviewing families of gay children, as well as clergy and religion professors. One of the interviewees is Dick Gephardt, the former Democratic House Majority Leader, who talks about the coming-out of his daughter Chrissy and how that played into his run for president. Gene Robinson is the first openly gay bishop of the Episcopal Church. The film looks into the waves his nomination as bishop caused and the backlash he had to deal with.

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With so many prisoner confessions concerning the murders of Tupac Shakur and the Notorious B.I.G. surfacing lately, it seemed a good time to check out Nick Broomfield’s 2002 documentary on the crimes. The explosive documentary argues that Death Row Records head Suge Knight orchestrated the hits. Broomfield talks to the rap mogul in prison. Broomfield is a ballsy guy.

If you don’t know Broomfield he’s a British filmmaker who makes documentaries like an investigative journalist. His AILEEN WUORNOS: THE SELLING OF A SERIAL KILLER shows how the subject of the fictional film MONSTER was manipulated by money-grubbing lowlifes to make money off her crimes. His HEIDI FLEISS: HOLLYWOOD MADAM tells the tale not of a notorious sex worker, but a naïve woman manipulated by others. His KURT & COURTNEY made the sensational claims that Courtney Love had something to do with the death of her husband Kurt Cobain.

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Bruce Willis plays a retired black ops agent who develops a crush on the telephone operator (played by Mary-Louise Parker) that manages his government pension. It’s a cute little set up for a romantic spy thriller. He devises an excuse to be in her hometown so they can meet. The only problem is that there are people out to kill him and they come along for the trip. I really liked this part of the film. Now that we got that out of the way, we’ll talk about the rest of the film.

Willis plays Frank Moses, who is labeled R.E.D., which stands for Retired: Extremely Dangerous. He knows things that others, like gun smuggler Alexander Dunning (Richard Dreyfuss, JAWS), don’t want getting out. He has connections with the government, which sends young agents like William Cooper (Karl Urban, LORD OF THE RINGS) with their high tech ways after the old codger. The new guys don’t stand a chance.

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Casual sex in romantic comedies is never just that. There is an inevitability to how things will turn out. Love affairs have to end in love. Is the Hays morality code still in effect? Or is it just that a real story about casual sex would be too difficult to write?

Emma and Adam had a camp crush when they were young. Years later they meet again at a party looking like Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. Neither is looking for a committed relationship, but they are ripe sexual specimens and it would be a shame to let that fruit spoil. They have separate reasons for wanting to stay casual. Emma is a medical student and she doesn’t want romance to get in the way of her career goals. Adam has just been dumped by his girlfriend Vanessa (Ophelia Lovibond, NOWHERE BOY). Making matters worse is that she dumped him for his father Alvin (Kevin Kline, A FISH CALLED WANDA), a fading movie star.

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Jason Bateman is the only reason to watch this film. He is given good moments and he brings them alive with conviction. Even the bad moments he makes enjoyable. The undoing of this romcom is everything else around him. Bateman’s honest performance loses credibility when it’s surrounded by such fakery.

Bateman plays Wally Mars, a neurotic man who can’t seem to find the right girl. Something is always wrong. He’s best friends with one of his exes, Kassie Larson (Jennifer Aniston, THE GOOD GIRL). She’s getting to the point in her life that if she doesn’t have a baby soon she’ll never have one. She wants Wally to help her find a suitable sperm donor. He doesn’t like the idea at all.

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When I reviewed PART 1, I said that it wasn’t a complete film and that everyone needed to check back to see how I really liked it when I’d seen the whole film. I’m happy to report that the conclusion of the HARRY POTTER series is epic and ultimately satisfying. And unlike PART 1 it works as a stand-alone film too.

The film picks up where the last one left off and the more familiar one is with PART 1 the easier it will be to follow this one. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliff) strikes a deal with the goblin Griphook (Warwick Davis, RETURN OF THE JEDI) to sneak into the Gringotts bank to search the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter, SWEENEY TODD) for one of the horcruxes, which hold a piece of the soul of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes, THE ENGLISH PATIENT). Destroying them is the key to defeating You Know Who.

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