Darren Aronofsky has made a darker version of THE RED SHOES. From a screenplay by Andres Heinz, Mark Heyman and John McLaughlin, he takes the basic premise of the famed ballet Swan Lake and brings it to this psychological thriller. In trying to become the White Swan, a ballerina becomes the Black Swan.

That ballerina is Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman, CLOSER), a naive and insecure dancer who dances with perfection, but lacks that passionate spark. Her company's impresario Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel, READ MY LIPS) is casting a new version of Swan Lake and is looking to replace the aging prima ballerina Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS). Nina desperately wants the role, but Thomas doesn't think she has what it takes to play the sensual side of the Black Swan. Could that be the new tattooed tough girl Lily (Mila Kunis, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL)?

This is one first rate Blu-ray. The MPEG-4 AVC 1080p picture captures Tony Scott's unique visual style wonderfully. The deeply saturated colors just pop. The red of the runaway train. The blue of the "good" locomotive. The yellow of Will's jacket. The inky blacks that dominated the highly contrasted image. Details are rich in closeups where pores stand out to wide shots where the fall foliage is defined even when the camera is racing by. Grain levels are not consistent, but I chalked that up to the varying cameras used. To find anything like aliasing or shaky edge definition, one has to be looking for it.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is one to show off the sound system with. The LFE track shakes the floor, literally, as the trains roar by. The directionality is perfect as trains, helicopters and trucks race across the entire entire soundscape. In the midst of the chaos, the dialogue is always crisp. There is a reason this film was nominated for an Oscar for Sound Editing.

Terrence Malick’s THE TREE OF LIFE filled me with joy. It’s an affirmation of life and a reminder that film is still an artform. When so many films today seem to be done by people who do not even understand the basics of the filmic language, here is a film that reminds us how elegant and transformative it can be when spoken so fluently. Malick communicates so much in a single image where some films would only dare to convey something so deep in their entirety. Malick isn’t shy to take on the big issues and here he takes on the biggest issue of all – life. And I’m talking about life on a cosmic level.

Malick begins his film about life with the revelation of a death. Mr. O’Brien (Brad Pitt, 12 MONKEYS) and Mrs. O’Brien (Jessica Chastain, THE DEBT) receive word that their son has died. They struggle with the news and go through the stages of grief as everyone does. Malick intercuts this with how the death has affected their oldest son Jack (Sean Penn, DEAD MAN WALKING), who is now a successful businessman, but is lost in his life.

Mostly filmed using natural light, this Oscar nominated film benefits greatly from the detail of this 1080p transfer. Andre Turpin's cinematography could have come off dim and murky in a bad transfer or heaven forbid DVD, but this first rate job has keep its visual integrity. The color palette is natural and the black levels are solid. The natural lighting does dampen the crispness of the image, but that doesn’t mean details don’t pop.

The soundtrack is presented in French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. The film is a dialogue driven film, but there are moments where war takes over the soundspace. Gunfire whizzes across the sound field. A burning bus rages in the back speakers. Street scenes bring an immersive quality to the scenes. For the most part, the elements are balanced nicely. The Radiohead song used seems to be overpowering at times though.

Read my review of A SERBIAN FILM

Invincible Pictures isn't a top distributor, but one wouldn't know that from the picture quality of this release. As ugly as the subject matter of the film is, the AVC encoded 1080p transfer is not ugly at all. The flawless RED camera cinematography is captured with striking clarity. Details pop to the point of giving the picture increased depth. Desaturation of color is intentional to go along with the grim subject matter. So when it gets bloody the crimson reds are striking.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 soundtrack is less impressive because it's not 5.1. However, for 2.0, it does the job. It's hard to say exactly how clear the dialogue is because it's Serbian. The metal score and brutal sound effects are aggressive. The soundscape does a good job shaking the viewer just as much as the disturbing imagery.

Unfortunately the disc has no special features at all. If any film calls for some comment from its director this is one. Srdan Spasojevic has defended his sick opus at film festivals around the world. I would have liked to see hear it as well. This is an angry film and it would be insightful to hear from Spasojevic about what inspired him.

This is a movie for fans. While I haven't read the books it feels like every detail is here, because it's a slog to move through. If you don't care about these characters going in, it's not really going to change your opinion. For non-fans it really is like getting invited to a stranger's wedding.

An exorbitant amount of time is spent at the beginning preparing and celebrating the wedding of Bella (Kristen Stewart, THE RUNAWAYS) and Edward (Robert Pattinson, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS). We are introduced to a host of new and old characters that have no meaning to those who have not memorized Stephenie Meyer sacred tome. Hey why is Shannon from LOST or The Ice Truck Killer from DEXTER on the guest list? But I guess this will make more sense in PART 2. Or maybe not because this isn't a series interested in developing the enormous amount of supporting characters.

It was a surprise when Brendan Gleeson was announced as a Golden Globe nominee for his role as a corrupt, drug using, foul mouthed cop. Once you've seen it you'll know why. He owns the role. The best statement said about his character is he's either really stupid or really smart.

Gleeson plays Gerry Boyle, a north Ireland police officer who is investigating a recent murder when FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle, HOTEL RWANDA) comes to town on a mission to stop an international drug ring. When Everett shows the local officers pictures of the suspects, Boyle wonders to the African-American agent how they could be drug dealers when their white. Everyone knows all drug dealers are black or Mexican. Boyle's defense for his racism is that he is Irish and it is part of his culture.

Read my original SHUTTER ISLAND review

Martin Scorsese’s psychological thriller comes to Blu-ray in a rich transfer. The color range is quite impressive as muted dank colors mix with vibrant flashes. This is never more evident then when Leonardo DiCaprio’s Teddy Daniels first arrives at the prison where the grays of the patients’ uniforms are in stark contrast to the lush greens of the yard and deep purples of the flowers. Likewise, in the dream sequences, the bright colors of Michele Williams’ dress radiate off the screen, spotlighted by the dark ash raining down. The blacks are crisp especially in the scenes in Ward C where Robert Richardson’s shadowy cinematography meets its peak. The clarity of the picture brings out the lines on DiCaprio’s face more fully as he sinks deeper into the labyrinth of the story.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack shows off Scorsese’s mastery of sound and music. The LFE track vibrates as ominous tones set the stage as the marshals arrive at the institution. As the storm descends on the island, the audience is enveloped in the torrential rain. Good use of directionality comes into play during the Ward C moments as well. What violent patient might be lurking in shadows? The dialogue is clear throughout, which is absolutely essential for the closing scenes.

For any film fan this release needs to be on your holiday wish list. Visually, both films are presented flawlessly in 1080p. In FANTASIA, the live-action sequences have never looks so rich. The silhouetted musicians are more dynamic because the blacks are so deep. As for the animated sequences, they look marvelous. There isn’t a hint of dirt or dust to be found. And unlike some restorations of Disney animated films, the cel painted frames retain their handmade quality. The landmark visual effects particularly stood out to me. The glow of the fairies in the “Nutcracker Suite” section felt more luminous than in previous presentations. The colors are rich and the true achievement of the film’s artistry has never been so crystal clear in a home entertainment release. The only slight issue is some color bleeding in the live-action sequences, but I’d argue that was from the negative.

The same praise can be heaped on FANTASIA/2000’s picture quality as well. The film looks slick in the way that modern animation looks. The “Rhapsody in Blue” sequence, my favorite, just pops with its deep purples and clean design. I’ve read in some places of fleeting moments of banding, blocking and aliasing, but the key word is fleeting. You have to be looking for it. I only noticed some very, very, very minor banding during some transitions, particularly when the whales enter the clouds in the “Pines of Rome” sequence. But it is so minor.

So if you're one of nine superpowered aliens from a destroyed world hiding out on Earth when the creatures that wiped out your kind are in hot pursuit, what do you do? If you're John Smith in this film, you stop to develop a roll of film with your Earthling girlfriend. You really can't make this stuff up.

John Smith is played by the up-and-coming hunk Alex Pettyfer (BEASTLY). He is an alien hiding out on Earth with his guardian Henri (Timothy Olyphant, TV's JUSTIFIED), who poses as his father. The evil Mogadorians are hunting the nine superpowered aliens in numerical order. The numbering system is never explained. Number 3 has just been killed and John is Number 4.