"The A-Team," "Despicable Me," "The Town" DVD Reviews

It was a big week on DVD and Blu-Ray. Three movies I really enjoyed in theater, all available this week to own. Let's start with The A-Team. For my theater review, click here. As far as the Blu-Ray goes, there's some cool stuff. You get an extended cut for starters. One of things I touched on in my review was that there were 5 significant action scenes in the film, rather than the standard 3. The Blu-Ray offers up one more, just for good measure!

There's also some cool behind-the-scenes material, along with deleted scenes and a gag reel. Here's all the details from Amazon.com:

The Devil's in the Details: Inside the Action with Joe Carnahan

Deleted Scenes

Gag Reel

A-Team Theme Mash-Up Montage

Plan of Attack

Character Chronicles

Visual Effects Before and After with Commentary by Visual Effects Supervisor James E. Price

Theatrical Trailer

The next big movie to hit video shelves this week was Despicable Me. The movie was sooo good. I was really looking forward to getting the Blu-Ray on this one. In my original review, I mentioned how visually stunning the movie is, the Blu-Ray is out-stand-ing. A ton of goodies, including 3 mini movies featuring the adorable Minions. There are a lot of extras that are a bit different from what you're used to. There's games and recipes, as well as the standard making of footage. Below is the full detail from Amazon.com:

Disc 1 (Blu-ray)

Exclusive on Blu-ray and Double-Pack DVD: 3 All-New Mini-Movies Featuring the Minions

The World of Despicable Me

Despicable Beats

Gru's Rocket Builder

A Global Effort

Despicable Me Game Previews

Commentary with Directors Chris Renaud & Pierre Coffin Featuring the Minions

The Voices of Despicable Me

Super Silly Fun Land

Blu-ray Exclusive Features

Gru-Control - see the making of the film with behind-the-scenes footage and cast interviews with a PIP window

Miss Hattie's Top Secret Cookie Recipe

pocket BLU - featuring the 'Minion Me' and 'Minion Dominion' apps for iPhone & iPad

uHear - Never miss another line of dialogue when you're watching Despicable Me with this feature that instantly skips back a few seconds on your Blu-ray disc and turns on the subtitles

Disc 2 (DVD)

DVD of Despicable Me

Disc 3 (DVD)

Digital Copy of Despicable Me (expires 12/31/11)

Finally we have The Town. From the first time I saw the trailer, I was hooked. Then I watched it and reviewed it, and then I sat and waited for the Blu-Ray. The extras here are nice, but I really wanted more to be honest. There is an extended cut of the film, which is great. But I don't know if this happens to you, but I usually can't remember the original cut frame by frame to notice the extras. But there is SOME behind the scenes stuff. One cool feature is "Ben's Boston" where there's a lot of talk about the various locations in the film.

I wish there was a bit more detail and discussion about the characters and what their various motivations were. Especially Jon Hamm and Chris Cooper's characters! Here is the rest of the goodies from Amazon.com:

Includes theatrical version
Extended cut not seen in theaters
Commentary on both versions by Ben Affleck
Ben's Boston
Segments include: The Cathedral of Boston; Nuns with Guns: Filming in the North End; Pulling Off the Perfect Heist; The Town and more.


Three great movies, three great Blu-Ray discs. I spent some serious money this week and next week should be no different. That's when Salt comes out on Blu-Ray and the third chapter in the Family Guy Star Wars parody. Til then, keep your DVD players on and watch some behind the scenes awesomeness.

"The Company Men" Trailer

The Company Men stars Academy Award Winners: Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper and Kevin Costner. The film is about our jobs, and how much we dedicate to them here in the United States. It deals with unemployment and its affects on us and our families. This trailer especially touched my heart, as I am dealing with unemployment like so many Americans. Enjoy the trailer.

Ben Affleck's "The Town" Looks Incredble!

Holy Moly! Ben Affleck in a movie I REALLY want to see? I never thought I'd use those words all in the same sentence in my life. The movie is called The Town, and Affleck is writer/director/star. The screenplay is based on a novel the Chuck Hogan. The movie co-stars Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper and Rebecca Hall.

Watch the trailer and look below for my thoughts.

I love this trailer. The story looks so compelling and so enticing. I have to admit when it comes to the acting roles, Ben Affleck's best buddy Matt Damon gets all the good ones. But on the directing side, Affleck's got his number. I really liked Gone Baby Gone, Affleck's directorial debut. And in this film, I think Affleck has captured Boston, the characters and the overall tone necessary to make this movie successful. I am really looking forward to this one, folks.

FattMatt Review: "Remember Me"

Last night my girlfriend and I watched Remember Me.
Of course, she was super excited about the fact that it stars the handsome "Edward" of Twilight fame. I was just excited to watch a movie that, from the trailer, didn't look like your typical love story.
And I was right.

It was more than just an excuse for teenage girls to drool over Robert Pattinson. The story was very well developed and quite deeper than I expected. It set up all the characters very well, and very much made us a part of their lives. The movie also has a big surprise that I won't give away, but it truly got to me at the end. I actually walked out of the theater quite contemplative over all the events that culminate in a sad, twisted ending. The entire film ends up playing out like a vignette on life. It stuck true to its tag line, "every life has a meaning..."
Very good stuff there.

The performances were pretty good, too.
Pattinson gives a strong lead performance, all the while retaining his charm.
Emilie de Ravin, who is probably best known for her role as "Claire" on the television series LOST, makes for a delightful leading lady.
Pierce Brosnan, the man who portrayed the most famous spy "James Bond" in 5 films, really did a great job in his role as the uncaring father who is always too busy with his job.
Chris Cooper does a fine job as usual.
But the real standout performance for me came from the 11 year-old Ruby Jerins, who was nothing short of brilliant in her performance. You may have seen her before as the little girl in Shutter Island. Move over, Dakota. Ruby is the new little girl to look out for, folks.

Basically, this is a film to watch purely for the story and the performances. It delivers on both ends. I walked in expecting another teenage love story, but I walked out with so much more. The entire time I was truly interested in the life of all the characters.
The only overly-cliche part for me was when the 2 main stars start to fall for each other. At least it wasn't a montage.

The only thing that I found unusually funny was how the 3 main actors in the film were not Americans but English, Australian and Irish, respectively. You'll see what I mean once you watch it. I can't say much without ruining the ending.

Overall, I say go watch Remember Me.
You won't be disappointed.