JAM Reviews The Whistleblower from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

The Whistleblower: Blu-Ray: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

Rachel Weisz plays Kathryn Bolkovac, a female police officer out to do the right thing, whether for her daughter soon to be moving away or the lost souls she encounters in a trip far overseas. This desire to help others is a fault that will push and test her to no end.

In the middle of a divorce, Kathryn faces the fact that her ex-husband and her daughter are soon to move away while she cannot find a transfer away from her current position. Given an opportunity to make a lot of money in a short time, she takes a chance at becoming a UN peacekeeper with Democra Security where she finds a chance to do the job she was born to do, and a whole lot of people that truly want her to not do her job.

Caught in a web of deceit in a world that treats women as objects, she finds herself caught into an even worse place as she encounters a human smuggling ring that seems to have ties to some of these UN peacekeepers themselves, using their diplomatic immunity to ensure no fear of prosecution. Fighting for what is right in the middle of everything wrong, Kathryn finds herself in a fight she may not be able to win.

JAMS Ink on The Whistleblower

Rachel Weisz is a big part of why this movie can work. It is a hard story to watch as it is raw and emotional both in storyline and in filmmaking itself. The director works well on keeping the story going in a sort of scattershot manner that works well with such a convoluted story. The viewer never really feels comfortable in the story, which only works because of the uncomfortable story and because of Rachel Weisz’s performance. She is an force to watch and even against such odds you find yourself pulling for and ready to work alongside her to do the right thing.

BLU-RAY Aspects

This is the kind of movie that stands on the strength of its acting performance and story, so that the question of Blu-ray versus DVD is not as clear-cut necessary. The film itself takes place in a dingy dark environment which does not require the enhancements of Blu-ray to maintain clarity. Also, the action tends to be convoluted and dizzy without the screen being the cause. So for this I would recommend the movie itself, in whatever manner you would like to watch it.

EXTRAS

Just one extra on this one as there is a single feature on the real life Whistleblower Kathy Bolkovac. It is an interview with the cast, crew, and real life participants in the story and gives a reality based background for the viewer to attach to. It runs about five minutes so allows quite a bit of information to be shared.

Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at http://jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.

JAM Reviews Shark Night from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Shark Night: Blu-Ray with Digital Copy: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

Long forgotten secrets lie beneath the waves of a daughter’s return home to a place she had been long running from in this enjoyable bloody romp through a college retreat in the saltwater bayou.



Sara Paxton stars as Sara Palski, the college girl who invites her friends over for a weekend of fun and frolicking at the family’s house on the lake. Little does any of them know that her past is coming back to haunt them all. Dustin Milligan plays Nick plays the one kid who wouldn’t care about what her past threw at them as he seems to be relatively infatuated with her as he prepares himself for medical school. Otherwise we have the typical Final Destination group of characters, the jock with the amazing future (Sinqua Wells), his soon to be fiancee (Alyssa Diaz), the comedy relief (Joel David Moore), the hot tattooed coed (Katharine McPhee), and the artistic nude model (Chris Zylka). Throw in the evil masterminds who have filled this salt water lake with many species of sharks (not really a spoiler since the movie is called Shark Night!) and you have a classic B-movie matinee type movie.

JAMS Ink on Shark Night

With a PG-13 rating, the blood and gore is toned down and the nudity is nearly non-existent (Chris Zylka’s character show his bare buttocks in a art class scene for some reason, otherwise just bikinis galore) which allows it to keep a campy feeling without going too far overboard. Characters die through a variety of shark attacks, the masterminds of the attacks are relatively transparent from the beginning, and the survivors are the ones you expected. Yet this movie entertains throughout. You feel the sharks around you, you know they’re coming, yet you find yourself waiting for that final attack out of nowhere.

Katharine McPhee, thank you for your death scene. That sounds morbid, but the scene stood out a bit, maybe as much for its campiness as the death itself, but glowing sharks, a defiant McPheever, and a well choreographed death scene all added up to a memorable portion of this movie.

BLU-RAY Aspects

If you are looking for clarity of color with your Blu-ray copy, you will be sorely disappointed. Much of the movie is done in a brown dusky palate to simulate the dark dankiness of the bayou, and that feeling is conveyed in the scenes in the movie. I do like the Blu-ray though for the clarity in a few sped up scenes, allowing for brake light/daylight colors to shine well and for the shark scenes. The animation of the added sharks remains strong in the copy so I recommend BLU-RAY YES on this one.

EXTRAS

Some fun extras are included on this one, maybe especially fun since they involve sharks and kill scenes. Speaking of which, the Shark Attack! Kill Machine is basically a combination of the shark scenes from the film including the attacks. The Fake Sharks, Real Scares is a cool look at the ways they brought the sharks of this movie to life, both with animatronically and with digitized versions. You want to know some fun facts about sharks? The Survival Guide shares factoids after kills to satisfy your morbid curiosity. And finally we have Ellis Island, the chance for the director to shine a bit and get his moment in the sun. Oh yeah, and you get the chance for this movie to travel with you anywhere as you get a digital copy as well. Sharks on the phone! Woohoo!

I forgot to mention one more extra that is not listed on the packaging. At the end of the credits, the cast has put together an music video for the movie. It's awesome. It's campy yet cool, interesting and odd, just the perfect combination to go with this fun shark attack movie.

Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at http://jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.

JAM Reviews In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

In the Name of the King 2:Two Worlds: Blu-Ray: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

Long ago in a land faraway, a common man led his people in revolt against an evil sorcerer in a video game adaptation that had moments of coolness mainly due to Jason Statham playing the common man promoted to the throne. The action stunts were fun as in any Statham movie, it had Ray Liotta playing a crazy sorcerer (overplaying actually) and Burt Reynolds as the king attempting to hold his land together. It was fun and over the tip with fairly well choreographed stunts and fight scenes. Well, they decided to make a sequel with Dolph Lungren as the long lost son of the king sent away.

Starting in present day Earth, Dolph Lungren plays Granger, an old soldier tired of the game, teaching self-defense to kids when he is interrupted by two sides of an other-world war in search for him. Accosted by darkly clad warriors, Granger of course follows the beautiful sorceress (Natalia Guslistaya) sent for him into a dark world waiting for their “Chosen” one. Between the death of the sorceress, the meeting with the now appointed king (Lochlyn Monroe), and an attempt on his life, Granger finds himself drawn into a conflict he thinks not his own as he is directed to end the life of the Holy Mother. Lines are blurred between good and evil as dragons, death, and destruction reign supreme.

JAMS Ink on In the Name of the King 2: Two Worlds

Rustic locales and a sword and sorcery epic always go well together. Add in an 80s icon like Dolph Lungren and you have the aspects of a B movie classic. I don’t know if this makes the classic level like Hobo with a Shotgun, but it has its moments. If there was one thing for me to gripe about it would be that many of the more intriguing characters seem underused. The doctor (Natassia Malthe) equipped with poison to take out an entire village with a plague, who is also Granger’s love interest, gets tossed aside as a seemingly unused plot element for a time. The daughter of the Holy Mother (Heather Doerksen), promoted to queen in Granger’s place, is barely introduced and given the throne. It just seemed to suffer from underdeveloped plot issues that could have made it a more fun movie.

BLU-RAY Aspects

The local looks beautiful as Granger explores the lands he was from. The rustic hills and valleys, the dark forests, and the shadowy castle all ensure the beauty of the backdrop to the story. The CGI Dragon fits fairly well into the picture as well. I personally enjoyed the Blu-ray aspect of the film, and being as the film comes from a video game background I would recommend BLU-RAY YES on this one.

EXTRAS

Dual commentaries start off the extras on this disc as the director and writer join us on separate commentaries with their thoughts on the movie. Uwe Boll focuses mainly on the creative process and working with the actors in question while Michael Nachoff the writer tells about what was changed in the film from his vision to its transition to the screen. There is also a behind the scenes featurette with Uwe and the actors with some on set insight and a featurette with Nachoff discussing how his script tied in with the original movie and a shared look at his writing process.

Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at http://jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.

JAM Reviews Archer: Season Two from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Archer: Season Two – Blu-Ray : Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

Take on neurotic secret agent with mommy issues, a reluctant partner who shares a past history, and an inept agency involved with top secret spy work and you have FX’s Archer, a fun 60s styles animated series set in modern day. Sterling Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) is the most dangerous secret agent in the world in more ways than one. Dangerous to his foes, dangerous to his friends, and often dangerous to himself, he lives life on the edge alongside Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler) his field partner and ex-girlfriend and the rest of the ISIS crew. Overly charged on the libido this is definitely not for kids even with the simplistic animation involved, but Archer is definitely good for a few adult mannered laughs. So take a look at this James Bond/Spies Like Us combo and have a few laughs.

Archer also uses the amazing vocal talents of the hilarious Judy Greer, Chris Parnell, and Jessica Walter along with creator Adam Reed.

JAMS Ink on Archer

I am a fan of secret agents. Whether it is James Bond, Jason Bourne, or Austin Powers saving the world from the ultimate evil, the secret agent movies appeal to me. And Sterling Archer may have found a place beside them now. The animation is kind of trippy as it truly feels like a 60s style animation with stiff walking, and backgrounds that stand out as different behind the characters themselves. It reminds me some of the late 60s super hero cartoons or the Scooby Doo episodes with how the movement seems, and that is alright with me. It lends a fun campy feel to a show that does not attempt to take itself seriously at all.

Best episode is “Swiss Miss” which is actually the first episode of the season that shows Archer actually having to control himself as a nubile young lady throws herself at him nonstop. Normally the comedy lies in the escapades of Archer where as in this episode the comedy lies in the control. As the agency is in dire straits financially, Archer was sent to protect this daughter of a German dignitary against his will and the fact that it backfires on him is a lot of fun..

Remember check out this review and more from JAM at www.hollywoodteenzine.com for teens and tweens, and at www.jammoviereviews.blogspot.com for movies of all genres and ages.

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