It should be easy to hate Imagine That. As a kids movie, it concerns the trials of an investment banker looking to move up in his firm, played by Eddie Murphy. Scenes of Murphy dabbling away at his computer, crunching numbers, and presenting ideas to clients are impossibly boring for a small child, let alone the adults.

For the older audience, there isn’t much either. The story concerns Evan Danielson (Murphy) who spends too much time at work, straining his marriage to the point of divorce and ignoring his only child. The outcome is apparent from the opening scenes, and the utter disaster that is Thomas Haden Church playing an Indian is far too painful to discuss here.

But, you can’t hate this movie. It has a bright spot, that centerpiece that just barely holds Imagine That together just long enough: Yara Shahidi as Olivia. She is Evan’s daughter, seven years old with a “magic blanket” that can foretell the future of major corporations.

She is adorable, and her interactions with Murphy are undeniably sweet. She immediately brightens the film, and while she has little complex work, everything she does feels genuine. As Olivia brings her father into her fantasy world for the first time, they playfully romp around the apartment. Murphy has a chance to perform his usual goofball routine, and Yara has a chance to be a kid.

That scene works, along with almost any involving Yara, which makes this painfully unoriginal and unimaginative (ironic, no?) script from Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson that much more of a disappointment. How are kids going to understand that the little girl can imagine stock forecasts, when their own imagination is filled with vibrant playful images? Olivia’s head is apparently filled with a calculator.

Movie ★★★☆☆ 

This is a fine AVC encode from Paramount, certainly one that immediately jumps out at the viewer with its deep, rich black levels. Unfortunately, they are too deep, causing significant crush and eliminating shadow detail. The same goes from the whites, typically bleached out and flat.

Nearly everything else about Imagine That looks fine, with a strong level of color saturation, accurate flesh tones, and superb details… when the latter are not crushed. Sharpness is routinely strong, with marginal softness. There are no instances of artificial enhancement, and the grain structure is held together by a bit rate hungry encode.

Video ★★★★☆ 

A TrueHD audio presentation has little to do other than process dialogue and occasional musical cues. The front soundstage is hardly used, and the rear channels are left to their own devices. Dialogue is fine, with a general crispness one should expect from any modern film. Perfectly acceptable.

Audio ★★★☆☆ 

The extras menu looks quite expansive, but devolves into a series of short (in some cases quite short) featurettes. The commentary from director Karey Kirkpatrick and Yara Shahidi is fun if lacking in terms of its informational value.

The longest of the featurettes barely breaks the nine-minute mark titled Playground of the Mind, detailing the imaginations of the various cast members when they were children. Shahidi takes the viewer on a set tour, while in another featurette Kirkpatrick tells how she was cast. A piece on Kirkpatrick himself follows, along with another on the Indian legend that spurred the blanket concept for the film.

Outtakes from the various newscasters are followed by additional flubs from Murpy and Shahidi. Five deleted scenes include an alternate ending.

Extras ★★☆☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Imagine That Review

Much of the film’s (attempted) humor comes from Murphy’s robot character, inadvertently named Dave Ming Chang. Despite the aliens being human, having the knowledge to design an anthropomorphic robot, fly across space, and being able to speak our language, the concept of making their robot creation walk is beyond them. Wouldn’t they have tested something like that before coming to Earth to conquer us all?

The film opens with an asteroid falling to Earth, the object is in actuality sent to suck up all of our water/salt for the aliens to take back with them. When it misses its target, the aliens come down in their Daveship (as it will be referred to from here on out) three weeks later. The question is why didn’t the aliens just bring the object down with the Daveship instead of sending it separately? The object can obviously be handled, shown to the audience by the end of the film.

Ignoring the gaping holes in the script that destroy all sense of logic in the sci-fi aspects, Meet Dave is devoid of humor or charm. Eddie Murphy is playing the same character twice, as both the Daveship and his Number 1 character are both static and robotic. An easy paycheck for him, and a way to take a paycheck from moviegoers.

Lacking in humor, Meet Dave falls back on a series of repetitive jokes, such as the Daveship drinking, washing out a crew of aliens in the mouth. This is done twice. Hand gestures, foreign to these aliens, are dealt with three times. The Daveship’s bowels emptying? Yeah, that’s done more than once as well.

There is no flow, pacing, or movement to this story. The Daveship moves around New York to one location after another, learning about human behavior. The scenes feel disjointed, with poorly handled edits and even less entertainment value. Director Brian Robbins has delivered some truly awful comedies before, even one with Eddie Murphy, Norbit. This is a new low, and yes, possibly worse than Good Burger.

This review could go on for a few thousands words, discussing the awfulness of Elizabeth Banks performance, the failure of the Old Navy sequence, or one of the worst gay characters in recent memory, but it’s the definition of beating a dead horse. At the end of the film, Dave (or Number 1), flies off into space to return home. One would think that’s where Eddie Murphy’s mind is these days to take a role like this.

Movie ★☆☆☆☆ 

Despite a sharp look, some excellent fine detail, and bold, saturated color, Meet Dave suffers from a variety of problems on Blu-ray. Contrast blots out detail in every outdoor scene, and at the worst, almost makes characters appear glowing. Bronzed flesh tones are tough to look at.

Some light banding is evident in the opening sequence as the asteroid heads to Earth. Also, while close-ups are impressive, anything in the mid-range or at a distance lacks the expected level of detail for a modern film. Black levels are strong and consistent in creating depth. This is far from awful, but there is potential for a substantial live action effort the film fails to reach.

Video ★★★☆☆ 

A powerful, deep DTS-HD Master mix offers some impressive audio cues. Right from the opening scene as the asteroid heads to Earth, deep, rumbling bass creates wonderful low end thumps. The Daveship’s brief assault on the police station is fun for its surround work and meaty explosions. However, New York is rather flat as Dave walks around adventuring, with little or no ambient noise to speak of.

Audio ★★★★☆ 

A general making of seems more like a series of excuses after watching the film, although it is somewhat more in-depth than the usual promotional piece. It runs about 22 minutes. A short gag reel offers an actual laugh or two, something the actual movie fails to do. Four deleted scenes and a separate alternate ending (which is more of an extension) only mean having to watch more of this stuff.

A section called Crew Profiles is a slow to load area that has each member of the Daveship discussing their roles in character. Three featurettes for the Fox Movie Channel were used to promote the film.

Extras ★★☆☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Meet Dave Review

Director John Landis may have taken a slow dive in terms of his movie quality recently, but almost everything he helmed in the 1980s was golden. Starting with The Blues Brothers in 1980, nearly all of these were hits, ending with Coming to America in 1988. While not a brilliant comedy, nor one of the all time classics, the chemistry between Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy is unforgettable.

Playing an heir to an African throne, Eddie Murphy is tired of his extravagant lifestyle and yearns for something more than an arranged marriage. Off to New York he goes, along with his servant played by Hall, to find the right woman in the middle of Queens. Obviously, they know little of what they’re up against, and their misadventure is sheer hilarity.

Coming to America takes some time to get started. It’s over 20 minutes before Murphy arrives in America, and there is little in the way of necessary character development past the opening moments (and the non-existent wedding). When they arrive, the story begins down a predictable path which oddly isn’t the focus.

The story here is a cast of characters who make this romance work. Murphy and Hall are incredible in various stages of make-up, handled by Hollywood master Rick Baker. It’s unreal to believe Murphy plays an old white Jewish man, as the make-up job is flawless. The characters become the story, at times almost turning this into skit comedy.

Much of the banter at the local barber shop is fluff, but it’s incredibly entertaining fluff. Never does the audience realize that so little of this content advances the story. It’s impossible not to laugh to the point of tears at times.

Shari Headley and John Amos also play critical roles, with Amos taking his share of comedic lines as well. James Earl Jones brings his stature as the king of fictional country Zamunda with class, giving the film an unexpected dramatic boost at the end.

Loaded with zippy one liners, Coming to America epitomizes everything that was right with Eddie Murphy’s career in the 1980s. Arsenio Hall also shows his legs here, and it’s a shame he never did more movies. John Landis brings his trademark timing and style, and it all combines into this hilarious comedy that’s worth revisiting regularly.

Movie ★★★★☆ 

Coming to America may have been released in 1988, but it doesn’t look like it. This is an impressive, clean, sharp transfer. Colors are bursting off the screen, and the fine layer of grain is left intact. Detail is surprising and while the occasional shot may look soft, it’s rarely noticeable, or it’s too brief to care.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Sadly, the audio doesn’t have much of an impact (or an opportunity to do so). Other than a fireworks display in the early going, the rear speakers have no activity. There is some noticeable front separation in terms of city background noise and a little dialogue.

Audio ★★★☆☆ 

A couple of featurettes highlight a small assortment of extras. Prince-ipal Photography is a 25 minute retrospective piece with interviews of the filmmakers. Character Building picks apart the makeup work done by Baker for the film for 12 minutes.

Fit for Akeem is a look at the Oscar nominated costume design. Composing America is a piece on Nile Rodgers, music producer. A Vintage Sit Down with Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall is a promotional interview from 1988 done for promotion of the film. Trailers and a photo gallery are all that remain.

Extras ★★★☆☆ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Coming to America Review

There’s not much like a John Landis late ’70s or ’80s comedy. Animal House, Blues Brothers, Coming to America, and of course Trading Places all fall into that category. The latter is fondly remembered for many a reason, though it doesn’t comes off perfectly. This is still one of the better comedies of the era.

Eddie Murphy is in top form here as Billy Ray Valentine, playing the smart-mouthed character he used to specialize in. His scenes as a street bum are few as he’s forced to adjust to a life of style, replacing a yuppie Dan Aykroyd at the top of a company due to a bet. In Trading Places, there simply isn’t enough of the loud, arrogant, cocky Murphy to go around. His transformation from bum on the street to executive happens in two scenes before it’s complete.

Aykroyd is forced to take the slower route, losing all of his money and learning life lessons in a way only movies can allow. His downfall is also entertaining, while changing his performance from intentionally over acted to natural. This is definitely the harder of the two roles acting wise, and even for a light comedy, Aykroyd handles the material with care.

The various gags throughout all hit their mark. Landis paces the material without running out of possible laughs for the final few chapters. In fact, that’s when the movie comes in full force, with a finale loaded with great lines and sight gags that undoubtedly make this a Landis comedy. Supporting roles from Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Ameche, and Ralph Bellamy don’t hurt. They’re all charismatic and entertaining, taking things to the extreme with great effect.

While the eventual payback that gains Murphy and Aykroyd’s characters millions can be confusing as it comes with little explanation, the audience is too involved to care. Trading Places is amongst the best of the Landis comedies. It hits enough of its gags, and never stops pacing itself. There isn’t a dull moment to be had.

Movie ★★★★☆ 

This isn’t a movie that looks like it was shot in 1983. Not only is the print in remarkable condition for its age, the transfer is beautiful. It’s sharp and clear, while colors remain consistent throughout. Black levels can appear murky and details are somewhat flat. Most notable is the final shot on the beach, which can rival a modern film. If the entire movie looked like that, this would flawless.

Video ★★★★☆ 

Obviously, there’s not much surround action here. The compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 track remains in the front channels for most of the running time. A few scenes, two of which contain rain, do manage to produce some decent ambience with their surround work. This is a flat, low fidelity, unmemorable experience otherwise.

Audio ★★☆☆☆ 

Released in a special edition across all formats, the disc provides a decent selection of extras. Insider Trading is an excellent making of piece with numerous interviews. It’s a shame it only runs 18 minutes. Trading Stories are a collection of interviews produced for promotional purposes that last eight minutes.

One deleted scene comes with a commentary. The scene is shown on TV typically to make up for the time lost due to content editing. Dressing the Part is a look at the costumes for six minutes.

The Trade in Trading Places interviews various traders and what they do. Industry Promo Piece starts with an introduction from Landis, and is a last minute ad done for Show West when the film was only half done. Plenty of improv in included here during its four minute run. Finally, a trivia track can be run alongside the film.

Extras ★★★★★ 

Blu-ray Movie Review from : DoBlu.com

Trading Places Review