Watching The Incredibles and Incredibles 2 before my interview with director Brad Bird, I was reminded just how much I appreciate the filmmaker’s choices, not just in his stories, but with his style and the personalities of the characters. Bird has an amazing gift for giving these characters depth and heart, and a feeling of reality, that we sometimes don’t see in live action films.
Brad Bird
On an entertainment level, Incredibles 2 is the most satisfying major studio blockbuster of the summer movie season thus far. On a storytelling level, it’s a sequel that’s virtually on par with the original. And on a technical level, it’s Pixar’s most elaborate and gorgeous achievement to date.
Disney’s Tomorrowland recently arrived on Blu-ray and digital HD, and it’s one of the rare films in recent memory that personifies hope and a future that could be brighter and better. From the cast to the story, and even in some of the smallest details, hope seems ever-present, which is a message writer and director Brad Bird, and screenwriter Damon Lindelof, imagined from the beginning.
If your jaw doesn’t drop while you’re watching Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, then you’re not really paying attention. Between star Tom Cruise’s unbelievable stunts, including hanging from the tallest building in the world–a dangerous, challenging stunt that most actors would never dream of attempting–and his charm, I would go so far as to say that Cruise rarely gets the praise he deserves for going beyond what should be expected of him.
New releases this week on Blu-ray and DVD: Daniel Radcliffe stars in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1; Gwyneth Paltrow and Garrett Hedlund show off their singing skills in the musical drama Country Strong; and Pixar’s animated adventure The Incredibles lands on Blu-ray for the first time with a pile of features.