JAM Reviews Black Death from Magnolia Home Entertainment

Black Death: Blu-Ray & Digital Copy: Magnolia Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

Death comes in many forms in this new Blu-ray release from Magnolia Pictures as Sean Bean headlines this medieval thriller dealing with plague, witchcraft, and lost love.

Sent on an expedition to root out heresy and witchcraft for the church, church sanctioned knight Ulric (Sean Bean) is in search of a small village within the desolate forests and marshes of a place untouched by the plague. Visiting a remote monastery in search of a guide, Ulric’s group find the young monk Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) quick to offer to guide them into the forest and marshes themselves, holding the secrets of a forbidden love from his brothers at the monastery.

Osmund finds that not everything is as it seems as his journey commences. The knights are not as virtuous as he would have expected, his love is seemingly lost to the wilds, and the ensorcelled town is too peaceful for words and hides its secrets underneath a façade of lies and mistruths.

Drawn in by the leader of this town, the beautiful witch (or at least deceiver played by Carice van Houten), the men find themselves tempted and destroyed by the forces which they oppose. Free from disease, seemingly able to raise the dead, and renouncing their Christianity to a hidden evilness inside that they hide behind a Pagan façade, the village and its leader find death themselves through deception and deceit as well, leaving none untouched by this evil time of plague and pestilence and witchcraft.

Black Death also has some amazing performances by Ulric’s band of soldiers including John Lynch, Emun Elliot, and Andy Nyman.

JAMS Ink on Black Death

This is dark. Any movie named Black Death that deals with the Black Death should be of course, but this was medieval gruesomeness at its rawest form. No CGI, no in your face 3D effects, just harsh reality of sword fights, torture, and the putrid pestilence of the Black Death. This was probably as true as we could imagine a film in this medieval setting with no trick arrows or thrown scimitars, no fancy stunts and staged sword fight. This was gritty, grimy, and deadly for anyone involved and the movie shares this feeling with you as you get drawn into the story. You see that things seem just not right throughout the film as villages pure and uncorrupt are determined to be influenced by outside forces, noble knights are killers in the name of the Lord yet have a hidden and necessary nobility, and true love is questioned, corrupted, and tainted all by one who may or may not have been a witch. It is a GREAT look at medieval historical actions, unless you are not a fan of bloody realistic combat, death, and dismemberment.

Blu-ray wise, the release is impeccable. The coloration and the sharp quality of imaging gives the feel of being in a medieval setting, especially during their times of travel through the lush green countryside of England (or Germany filling in for England at least). The graininess that is detected now and again often comes in the darker parts of the movie while your senses seem to be confused slightly and things don’t seem as clear, whether in battle for your life or preparing for torture and death. Overall the Blu-ray release paints a pretty picture of a horrid Black Death.

EXTRAS

The extras provided are fairly typical for a Blu-ray release with pieces that relatively enhance the release. The deleted scenes are really just extra portions of the film, neither necessary nor trash. Bringing Black Death to Life is the introspective look at the making of type documentary while the Interviews with the cast and crew is a cool insight into the film and its look at religious fanaticism and more. There are also behind the scenes footage, a HDNET promo for the film, the trailer, and upcoming trailers as well.

Bonus Features

Deleted Scenes
Bringing Black Death to Life
Interviews with Cast and Crew
Behind the Scenes Footage
HDNET: A Look at Black DeathTheatrical Trailer

Death, sword fights, and the Bubonic Plague fill the Magnolia Home Entertainment release with awesome Sean Bean goodness. Grab a copy on May 10, 2011 and enjoy the medieval aspects of a hunt for witchcraft, retribution, and more.

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 Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief - 20th Century Fox

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief – Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital Combo: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Review by JAM

Swords and mythology, gods and goddesses, action, adventure, and lightning bolts, all of these and more come to you in a little blue package marked Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. Take the son of Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), the daughter of Athena (Melina Kanakaredes), and a satyr protector in-training and you have a really awesome movie for teens, adults, and everyone in between.

Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) seems to be a lost soul, finding himself at a seeming crossroads as high school seems to be testing him beyond what he would expect. Besides the typical homework and testing he faces, dyslexia and mythological creatures masquerading as teachers come out of nowhere. Oh yeah, Zeus (Sean Bean) the king of the gods thinks he is a thief and he finds out his best friend Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) on crutches is actually a mythological creature known as a satyr.

As he gets help from others along the way including his mother Sally (Catherine Keener), Athena’s daughter Annabeth (Alexandra Daddario), and Chiron (Pierce Brosnan) the centaur who had masqueraded previously as one of Percy’s wheelchair bound instructors, Percy searches for the true thief of Zeus’ thunderbolt and learns more along the way about his heritage. The movie also stars some big name actors in small yet important roles, including Uma Thurman as Medusa, Rosario Dawson as Persephone, Steve Coogan as Hades, and Jake Abel as Luke, the true thief of the thunderbolt.

JAMS Ink on Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief

Awesome!!!

That’s my word to describe this movie, even if you compare it to the book and nitpick details. The graphics are amazing, the story is tons of fun, and the characters are accessible and likeable. Mythology and modern day are sewn together in a masterful way, blending the past and present together to make a story that works for all. The character of Percy is a young man searching for himself, who has never really known his father, and feels like the world is against him. In a way, it is as the gods search for him in order to eradicate the son of one of the big Three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) who had banned themselves from relations with the humans of our world. Percy’s search is much the same as almost any high school age kid who is trying to find out who they really are, and what they are destined to do.

The special effects are well done, reminding me of Lord of the Rings type effects with the monsters and the Olympians. When this had first hit the theaters, I went and found the first book so I knew the story behind it, and in my personal opinion they did a good job keeping the emphasis of the story complete even as they had to cut areas out. The Medusa scenes were a personal favorite, along with the climactic fight with Luke.

Having the director of the original Harry Potter, Chris Columbus, lends strength to a mythological epic like Percy Jackson while also keeping in grounded in the characters. I for one am hoping that this can lead to a sequel. That would definitely give me a reason to buy the next books to read (I am probably going to anyway, but I would love to see them as movies).

EXTRAS

I love deleted scenes, but I have to admit that there wasn’t much that was lost by taking out the scenes from this movie. It did show Grover acting like a teenage boy, in search of a second chance after failing Zeus’ daughter. Secrets of the Gods shares information on the Gods that people may not know, though for someone like me who had studied mythology for years did not need it. The Book Comes to Life is really good, allowing us to hear from the author and the director about the transition from book to film and background. It was interesting to hear Chris Columbus talk about his daughter’s dyslexia and the chance to bring a hero on screen that has the same issues but works to overcome it.

Blu-ray Special Features:
● 10 Extended and Deleted Scenes
○ The Museum – Grover Photographs Aphrodite
○ The Infirmary – Percy Meets Annabeth
○ Aphrodite’s Daughters – Grover Jumps Into Spa
○ Int. Bus – Percy Looks At The Map
○ Auntie Em’s – Medusa Chases Percy
○ Int. Pickup Truck – Grover Talks About Zeus’ daughter
○ Lotus Land Casino – Grover Dances
○ Lotus Land Casino – Percy Meets 50’s Guy
○ Lotus Land Casino – Percy, Annabeth and Grover Fight The Guards
○ Hades’ Mansion – Hades Talks To Percy
● Secrets of the Gods
● Discover Your Powers Quiz
● The Book Comes To Life
● Inside Camp Half-Blood
● On Set With Brandon T. Jackson
● Meet The Demigods
Single-Disc DVD Special Features
● 5 Extended and Deleted Scenes
○ The Museum – Grover Photographs Aphrodite
○ Int. Pickup Truck – Grover Talks About Zeus’ daughter
○ Lotus Land Casino – Grover Dances
○ Lotus Land Casino – Percy, Annabeth and Grover Fight The Guards
○ Hades’ Mansion – Hades Talks To Percy
● Discover Your Powers Quiz
● The Book Comes To Life

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is about to explode onto shelves on June 29, 2010 and it come HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by JAM. Grab your copy before the gods come for you!

PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS: THE LIGHTNING THIEF
Street Date: June 29, 2010
Screen Format: Widescreen
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio (BD) / English 5.1 Dolby Digital (DVD)
Subtitles English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Spanish, French (BD/DVD)
U.S. Rating: PG
Total Run Time: 118 minutes
Closed Captioned: Yes

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.