Filling the shoes of John Wayne is an impossible task, but Bridges did the best he could do and still doesn't measure up to Wayne's Oscar-winning portrayal of the gruff Cogburn. Having watched the original less than six months ago I couldn't help compare each of the respective roles and other than Bridges impossible undertaking, the other two main characters (Damon and Steinfeld) more than make up the difference.

Based very loosely on a 2001 story of a runaway train in Ohio, writer Mark Bomback jazzes it up for the sake of entertainment and action. As in real life, the adventure begins when an idiotic engineer jumps from the slowly moving train in order to reposition a switch before the train can damage it. Successful in this task, he then tries to reboard the moving train as it gains speed, but to no avail.

From this point on, the facts go out the window as the fictional train loaded with toxic chemicals hurtles toward Scranton, PA, where an elevated curve in the track will cause the train to derail, creating an environmental catastrophe and costing many lives. Despite its best attempts, the rail company can't slow the train down, and two unlikely heroes emerge to hopefully save the day. Along the way, we witness a few narrow escapes, corporate incompetence, and one hell of a thrill ride.

The marketing for this film wasn't very enticing, but the story has a lot of heart and is very entertaining. Director Zach Snyder (300, Watchmen) makes his animation debut with this fantasy adventure based on the beloved books by Kathryn Lasky.

How do you top one of the greatest sequels ever made? Screenwriter Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) somehow captures lightning in a bottle for the third time by taking our heroes and mixing them up with a new cast of characters that include Ken (Michael Keaton), a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton), and the evil pink teddy bear Lotso (Ned Beaty), who sentences the new toys to the toddlers' room.

Every Pixar release has been a demo showpiece, and this one is no exception. The 1080p video encode is perfect, and the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack features reference-quality dynamics, frequency response, and surround envelopment.

Adapting a video game into a feature film is a challenging task, but producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Mike Newell actually pull it off here. Sure, the story isn't very thought-provoking, but there's plenty of action and enough comic relief from Alfred Molina to entertain the family for a couple of hours. The demo-worthy DTS-HD MA soundtrack features everything you'd want from an action movie—impressive dynamics, ample bass, and 360-degree envelopment.

As long as you check your brain at the door, The Losers provides a lot of entertainment, laughter, and adventure. It's based on a DC comic series, and while the plot is hardly original, the cast members never take things too seriously and seem to be enjoying themselves. Furthermore, the movie depicts a lot of violent action, but it doesn't spatter brain matter all over the screen, and I applaud the director's choice to aim for the PG-13 rating. I wouldn't call this a family-friendly picture, but it's not nearly has graphic as it could have been.

I'm a huge fan of director Tim Burton and was eager to see his take on the classic tale. The theatrical reviews were mixed, but the box-office take ($332 million) makes it Disney's fourth-highest-grossing film of all time. Despite the bizarre second act, it's very entertaining, and the amazing sets and costumes certainly helped draw me in. While not perfect, the 1080p encode boasts some amazingly detailed scenes, and the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack is just as impressive with a plethora of discrete effects.