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REVIEW: Sherwood Baptist Church, located in Albany, Georgia, has released its third film after “Facing the Giants” and “Flywheel”. Amazingly or miraculously this church’s third film, “Fireproof” has surprised Hollywood after being released in theaters and now on DVD with a very peculiar staff, volunteers including church members. The power of this group effort has resulted in a film that is set to reveal the secret of everlasting love.

The film is a bit slow and not interesting at the beginning posing a household problem between a couple, however the art of story telling begins to unravel the power of unconditional love through forgiveness, patience and devotion. Kirk Cameron as Caleb Holt is a firefighter who has forgotten the code of his job, “Never leave your partner behind”, in the most intimate of all relationships, his marriage. It is this man’s quest to save his marriage through faith that leads him to examine his life and venture into a spiritual journey of peace and love.

This is an inspirational story that will touch the hearts of many with laughter and tears spreading a clear message of faith. Sherwood productions will never again be underestimated after this third attempt, “Fireproof” meets its purpose.

DVD: The film is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ration, with a 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound in English and Spanish. It also includes a subtitle option for 5 languages. In terms of special features the DVD includes plenty. With the highlights being the deleted scenes, Firegoofs, the behind the scenes documentary and Marriage Matters, in which the director and the producer talk about what marriage means to them.

Release Date: January 27, 2009

DVD DETAILS
OWN DVD

REVIEW: Ray Tierney: When we were kids, all we ever talked about was being cops.
Two brothers, their father, and their brother-in-law are all NYPD, New York’s finest. Or are they? This is the story of a family of cops and their struggle between family and the law, right and wrong. It is a powerful movie, intense, exhausting, and real. It is a fast paced movie, especially in the beginning. You really need to pay attention because the dialogue is accelerated cop talk with a New York accent so it is easy to miss something. As the plot takes shape, the dialogue does too, which helps. The cast is amazing with stellar performances from Edward Norton, Colin Farrell, Jon Voight, and Noah Emmerich. Edward and Noah are the brothers, Ray and Francis Tierney Jr., sons of Francis Tierney Sr. (Jon), and they have a brother-in-law, Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell). Each of their performances was equally as good, which gave the movie balance. This film reminds me of, and is almost as good as, The Departed . . . almost. It is not for the meek, or weak-hearted. For example, there is an extremely strong, violent scene in this movie that would make anyone squirm. It was obvious by the reaction of the audience.

One of the worst things a police officer can hear over their radio is that a fellow officer is down. The funeral services are ceremonious and heavy. Very few things will motivate the police as much as investigating and finding the cop killer. As Ray gets pulled into the investigation, he finds that there is a lot more to the crime than just cop killing. Officers are playing with fire in the desert once they become corrupt. Playing both sides is stressful and overwhelmingly risky. The sad thing is that if you step back and grasp their motivation, it is almost understandable. It is their job to track down and bring to justice these millionaire criminals while they only make peanuts in comparison. It is inevitable that some will be tempted by the dark side in order to make an extra buck or two. It is a tangled web they weave as they risk family, career, and reputation just to make that extra buck. This movie explores these scenarios in a profound and realistic way, and what better place to set this story in than New York City. It seems as though New York is the default location for cop movies or pretty much any movie for that matter. It really is an appropriate and popular place and it adds to the overall mood of the film. Even though it is a typical storyline, good cop/bad cop, the other aspects of this film totally make up for that. Director Gavin O’Connor has done some decent work with Miracle and Tumbleweeds, for example. He has outdone himself with this production, no doubt. If you liked Departed or that kind of movie, you should give this one a try.

Film Review By Cine Marcos

DVD: The 2 Disc Digital Copy Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen with a 5.1 Dolby Digital audio track in English. The film can be subtitle in English and Spanish. In terms of special features, this edition includes an outstanding and comprehensive documentary, which takes viewers beyond the making of the film. The one hour and ten minutes documentary is divided in 12 parts covering everything from pre production to post production of this excellent film. A must see! The second disc includes a digital copy of the movie to play on either Windows Media Player or iTunes.

Release Date: January 27, 2009

DVD DETAILS
OWN DVD

Finally, after a very disappointing third volume Blood + begins to get it together in its upcoming release. Blood + Volume four, which is by far the best DVD of the first chapter in this series. This five episodes are filled with more action, drama, intrigue, and blood of course. Also this is the part in the series where most of the pieces begin to come together making the audience to come up with their own conclusions, As the series grows in intensity in all levels from the characters point of view to the settings. As it is already a custom for this series, it moves globally from one place to another, depicting beautifully all the aspects and characteristics of the regions. This time around it moves from the white, mysterious, and freezing lands of Siberia, to the gorgeous and magical city of Paris, and not only it changes setting geographical but the storyline does an extraordinary job linking the fiction with real events without distorting the time line, like the Chernobyl disaster, the war in Afghanistan and of course Vietnam. Unlike its predecessor this chapter introduces new characters and mixed them very well with the already known to create a fresh and exciting environment for the audience to enjoy, without delaying the course of the story.

Aside the animation and story, and I never get tired of stating this, another impressive point of the series is its sound, which has been produced by Academy Award Winner Hans Zimmer and equally talented composer Mark Manzina. This DVD is not the exception, each episode is full of excellent pieces that allows to create a pleasing atmosphere to the audience. If you are a fan of the series I got to tell you that this DVD is for you, even if you do not have the disappointing chapter three, but have follow the story in TV this will do nice in your collection since unlike the previous chapter each episode is full with excitement and adds something to the main story. Unfortunately the DVD ends in one of the most exciting parts of the series, leaving the audience (who has not seen the series) expostulating about what will happen next. Let us hope that for the fifth chapter to be released sooner and at the same time to be as exciting than this one. Volume Four brought Saya’s story from that uncertain place the third volume took this magnificent story.

Review By Milo

Release Date: January 27, 2009

DVD DETAILS
OWN DVD