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J.J. Abrams sets out to make an ode to the 1970s-80s films of Stephen Spielberg. He does so without making overt references to the creator of E.T. and CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, but captures the feel and style. With its young protagonists, patient pacing in developing its characters and the crafty camera work, the film is like discovering a missing Spielberg production that somehow got lost in 1984 and is now being released with "special edition" visual effects.

Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) is a teen that has just lost his mom in a steel mill accident. He's trying to cope by continuing his life. Part of doing this is helping his best friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) finish his 8mm zombie film for a local film festival. Joe's father, Deputy Sheriff Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler, TV's FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS), however, wants him to go to baseball camp for the summer in order to meet normal kids. The depressed widower says its what both his son and he needs.

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I became a fan of comedian Bill Hicks when I caught one of his old HBO specials on late at night. I wondered why I hadn’t heard of this angry hilarious and provocative performer before, so I went to the Internet and looked him up. Turns out he has a highly influential comedian of the early ‘90s who on the cusp of breaking into the big time in the U.S. died at the age of 32. Now British filmmakers Matt Harlock and Paul Thomas have brought his story to film in this innovative documentary that combines archive footage and animation to bring Hicks’ story to life.

Bill Hicks started his career as a comedian while in high school. He and his friend Dwight Slade snuck out of their houses to audition for the new comedy club in Houston, Texas. By the time he moved to L.A. after graduating, he was already a veteran. At 19, he was playing the famed Comedy Store and was getting meetings with agents to pitch comedy scripts. But for the eager artist success wasn’t coming fast enough and the City of Angels wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be, so he returned to Houston, where he made a name for himself not only as a comedian, but as a man living on the edge.

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Working as a companion to the live-action feature GREEN LANTERN, this animated anthology feature focuses its stories on the lesser known Green Lantern Corps members. One overarching tale links the five vignettes, which are origin stories of sorts for five characters. It’s like a primer for the Green Lantern world.

The conceit for the film is that Green Lantern Hal Jordan (Nathan Fillion, TV’s FIREFLY) is showing a new recruit named Arisia (Elisabeth Moss, TV’s MAD MEN) the ropes. Meanwhile an epic threat is forming that will need all the Green Lantern Corps to work as a team.

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This 1080p/AVC-encoded disc is a handsome effort by Warner Premiere. One problem plagues the release though and that is color banding. Sadly the issue doesn’t just appear in backgrounds and lighting. Some can be seen on characters as well. But as is the case with these DC Direct titles, the colors are spectacularly vibrant. The balance is perfect and the blacks are inky. Outside of the banding, the Blu-ray doesn’t display any other digital anomalies.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track has the solid treatment that has come to signify these DC Direct titles. In the sound effects department, the film is first rate. From the rings powering up to the booming bass during fight sequences the soundscape erupts with action. For the most part the elements are balanced nicely and the directionality is well done. Once or twice I did notice the sounds lagging behind the fast images, but it was minor. The dialogue scenes are simply just that clear front heavy speech.

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Class is the key word in the title of this film. The series is back in the same class as the first two. The inherent issue with bringing the X-Men to the screen is the amount of characters. This film simplifies what has been addressed in the previous films by putting Professor X and Magneto at the forefront.

The story begins in the '40s. Erik Lehnsherr is a young Jew taken from his parents and forced by Nazi scientist Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon, FLATLINERS) to use his mutant powers to control metal objects with his mind. Meanwhile, a young Charles Xavier lives a privileged life in New England, which allows him to nurture his telepathic abilities. One night he finds his mother in the kitchen, but it turns out that it's not really his mother, but a blue shape-shifting mutant girl named Raven (Jennifer Lawrence, WINTER'S BONE). Charles takes in the mutant as a kid sister.

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This follow-up does what all follow-ups should do and that is to extend the story instead of simply trying to replicate it. In the original, Po the Panda, the greatest kung fu fanboy of all time, was astonishingly chosen as the legendary dragon warrior, the hero destined to save kung fu. In this chapter, with him finding his kung fu groove, he must save kung fu from a new weapon and its wielder, a vindictive peacock determined to take over China. Po must find inner peace to overcome this awesome threat.

Jack Black is back as Po, who is still in awe of the fact that he gets to hang with kung fu legends, the Furious Five. He begins having flashbacks to his youth and goes to his father Mr. Ping (James Hong, BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA) to learn more about where he came from. Turns out he was adopted. I would have thought the fact that his father is a goose would have clued him in much earlier. What Po doesn't know is that the evil peacock Lord Shen (Gary Oldman, HARRY POTTER) has something to do with why he was not raised by his panda parents.

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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.

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Following the bloated first two sequels in the PIRATES franchise, the fourth installment puts the ship back on course. The story rightfully puts Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow at the helm. The story throws many of the unneeded characters overboard and adds the right new shipmates to the crew. Penelope Cruz is the first mate the series needed for sure.

Rumors are spreading across London that Captain Jack is putting together a crew in search of the Fountain of Youth. Turns out that it’s an imposter, but Captain Jack actually does have a map to the famed waters. He’s not the only one in search. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush, THE KING’S SPEECH) is now working for the crown and is sans one leg. Jack’s old flame Angelica (Cruz, VANILLA SKY) wants to find the healing waters in order to save her father, the legendary pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane, TV’s DEADWOOD). There is also the Spaniard (Oscar Jaenada, THE LOSERS) who has his own agenda.

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Sony isn't new to conjuring up magical transfers to Blu-ray and THE ILLUSIONIST is no exception. This 1080p presentation exquisitely captures Sylvain Chomet's moody animated ode to French comedian extraordinaire Jacques Tati. The flawless visual dimension of this title gives the animation added depth and nuance. For instance, the fog and smoke effects come off natural, not smudges moving across the screen. The digital color palette, while muted, is crisp and clean. One can see the lines of the original hand-drawn artwork clearly. I found no digital anomalies at all in the release. It's pretty much perfect.

The performance doesn't falter in the DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack either. With so  little dialogue, the soundscape relies heavily on sound effects and music to communicate its story. The sound mix is never bombastic, which is the nature of the film, but it's filled with nuance. Rain seems to surround us. Traffic whizzes across the soundscape. Crowd scenes represent the size of the audience whether it's full of crazed teens or just a few spectators trying to enjoy the illusionist's act. What little dialogue there is is clear and presented exactly as it was meant to be, whether it's supposed to be understood or just there to work with the environment. The dialogue, effects and music are woven together perfectly with one never overpowering the most important element of the moment. The quality of the sound matches that of the picture wonderfully.

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Thor always seemed like he should be a DC comics character instead of a Marvel character. Now only the true geek might understand what I mean. DC characters, outside of Batman, were all all-powerful god-like heroes. Marvel’s characters were more human and thus flawed. With hammer in hand, Thor is virtually unstoppable. The battles of gods are less compelling than the struggles of humans. So I was delighted that Kenneth Branagh’s feature adaptation of the character brings humanity to both the drama of the gods and humans.

Thor (Chris Hemsworth, STAR TREK) is the arrogant son of King Odin (Anthony Hopkins, BEOWULF) of Asgard. When ice giants sneak into the castle to steal a powerful treasure, Thor seeks revenge, threatening the longstanding peace between Odin and ice giant king Laufey (Colm Feore, CHICAGO). Due to his ego, Thor is cast out, sent to Earth, where he is discovered by scientist Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, BLACK SWAN) and her colleagues Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN) and Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings, THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN).