Best Picture Essentials 10 Movie Collection (Blu-ray + Digital) (Blu-ray) by Ryan Keefer The Movie: Since there has been a lack of volume when it comes to big studio releases over the last year for obvious reasons, it made a certain level of sense to see a repackaging of some catalog content to put everything under one release. And Paramount decided to go whole hog, releasing a mammoth ten-title, fourteen-disc release called, easily enough, "Best Pictures Essentials," which I'll dive into in no particular order. The Godfather: I mean, we can all agree that The Godfather is perfect, or just about close to perfection, right? The viewer is brought into the concept of La Cosa Nostra early on, as Don Vito (Marlon Brando, Apocalypse Now) entertains a variety of people that offer their congratulations, but mostly they ask for offers of business assistance, on the day of his daughter's wedd...Read the entire review »

Happy Times (Blu-ray) by Ryan Keefer The Movie: When it comes to special event/dinner movies, the formula seems to be pretty standard; get everyone together, introduce their backstories and their tensions with one another, and let things go as they may. Though I would admit I didn't know what would be coming in Happy Times, the latest effort from Michael Mayer (Out in the Darks), the talented Israeli director. Mayer also wrote the script with Written by Guy Ayal, about a Shabbat dinner/Havdalah celebration, where a family comes together. Ido Mor (Iron Man) is Yossi, host of the dinner in a multimillion dollar house in California, with his wife Sigal (Liraz Chamami). Yossi's friend in business Avner (Alon Pdut) is looked down on by many, including his wife Hila (Iris Bahr, Good Girls...Read the entire review »