Toronto Thumbs

Review
Glee: The Concert Movie

I don’t think you can review the Glee: The Concert Movie without admitting whether or not you’re a fan of the show. You’ve got to lay your bias on the table. Glee polarizes people. Like Twilight, Kanye West, or Jorge’s Movember Moustache* — you either love it or hate it. Well, I’ll admit to being a lapsed fan. The musical theatre nerd in me never stopped liking the numbers, but the plots got a little thin in season two and I got tired of it. But while I came in jaded as I sat down to watch this, the movie won me back; I thought it was great. Don’t get me wrong: if you hate Glee, this movie is not going to grow your Grinchy heart three sizes. But if you are a fan (or you were a fan once upon a time), you’ll dig this.

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Posted in Blu-ray, DVD, Reviews | 3 Comments »

Winning!
Batman: Year One – Limerick Contest

Batman really needs a hug. He’s practically leaping out of the screen to give you one.

Our friends at the WB were kind enough to send us a copy of Batman: Year One (Blu-Ray + DVD + Digi) to give away on our site (so big hugs go out to them and their peeps). Of course, it is always a challenge trying to come up with a giveaway idea; our friend Alex Bethke -via Twitter- suggested that “#ThunderdomeSolvesAllProblems”.

So with that in mind, we are inviting you to write a limerick that somehow involves Thunderdome. Just leave it in our comments field, and after the deadline our team will judge which one is the best one and that person will win the prize (which I will deliver relatively soon thereafter). Contest is now closed..

Give ‘er!

Posted in Blu-ray, Contests, DVD | 2 Comments »

Review
Batman: Year One (Blu-Ray + DVD + DC)

I have a shelf in my office dedicated to graphic novels (and a few actual comic books). Relative to your average comic book collector, the shelf holds relatively few titles. Next to Kingdom Come, Batman: Year One is one of my all-time favourite; in fact, I would go so far as to say that it is probably one of the most inspirational stories in comic book history. At what some would consider to be a great risk, the folks at DC Showcase have given this title the DVD/Blu-Ray treatment; a risky proposition, mostly because Batman: Year One is a very important title to a lot of people – the adaptation would have to be nothing short of spectacular to ensure absolute enjoyment. So, does this video measure up to the print?

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Posted in Blu-ray, DVD, Film, Reviews | No Comments »

Ricky, Don’t Lose That Blu-Ray
X-Men: First Class

With the recent release of X-Men: Destiny for the PS3 and Xbox 360 you may have X-Men on the brain. After playing through the game, check out X-Men: First Class on Blu-Ray and DVD. I have always said that the X-Men are one of the greatest franchises that Marvel owns; First Class really cements that idea in my head. It is perhaps the most cerebral superhero films to come out in a long time; it really focuses more on relationships and internal struggle than huge battles. This emphasis on the inward focus makes First Class a film that is well worth your time and money. It allows you to actually feel for the characters and understand why they have turned out the way they did. It also allows all you comic junkies to see relationships and conflicts from classic X-Men stories played out alongside some new relationships.

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Posted in Blu-ray, Byte-Size Reviews, DVD | No Comments »

Byte-Size Review
Dragon’s Lair II – Time Warp

Over the last week I’ve been struggling to find the right approach with regards to From Software’s Ninja Blade – a game that uses quick-time events as a heavily integrated game-play feature. And oddly enough, I’ve also had the opportunity to review the upcoming Blu-ray release of Dragon’s Lair II – Time Warp – a game that is entirely composed of a series of quick-time events. The Don Bluth series of games has often given rise to an argument questioning whether that single mechanic actually constitutes game-play. At my simplest, my vote would be that the requirement of input from the player to receive visual outputs as a response to actions means that it is at least a video game in the two word sense.

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Posted in Blu-ray, Byte-Size Reviews | 5 Comments »