What Men Want is a film which comes directed by Adam Shankman who some may know as the director of Rock Of Ages (2011) or Bedtime Stories (2008). The film stars Taraji P. Henson, Josh Brener and Aldis Hodge.

What Men Want is a film about a female executive named Ali, who works in a sports agency. She’s quite good at her job, but often finds that the males around her keep beating her out for a promotion. But all of this changes when she gets bumped on the head one night after seeing a psychic and gains the power to read men’s minds. The film is a sort of remake of What Women Want (2000) although, it has genders reversed this time with a female main character hearing men’s thoughts rather than a male character hearing women’s thoughts.

I had seen this film release in the cinema not long ago and did not get the chance to see it. Actually it disappeared from cinemas around me so fast, I never got the chance to get out there and watch it. Although, at the time, I must admit it wasn’t my highest priority as it didn’t really look like something I’d want to see. But now that it’s out on Blu-Ray, I got the chance to take a look.

I must say, that this film did surprise me. I thought it was actually rather funny and much better directed and written than I was expecting. Each of the actors were rather pleasant and I enjoyed Taraji P. Henson’s performance in the film quite a bit. The tone of the film is rather light and nothing at all is really done with any seriousness. Somehow Adam Shankman did manage to make something pretty entertaining. Now watching this at the cinema probably isn’t worth it, but renting it or buying it on whim to see it at home just might be. Especially if you really just want a comedy to watch this weekend.

The Blu-Ray disc actually comes with quite a bit of special features. To be honest much more was there than I expected, with many of the special features containing quite a bit of content within them. The special features do take a while to get through, which is good as there’s a lot of content there.

Special Features include

• Commentary with director Adam Shankman
• Deleted and extended scenes with introduction by director Adam Shankman
• Gag reel with introduction by director Adam Shankman
• The Dream Team
• Flipping the narrative What do men want?
• Poker Night
• Ali + Athletes
• Sister spills the tea informercial

If you were a fan of this film, the special features on the disc would be rather good to have. But if you didn’t see it at the cinemas and you want to see a comedy film this week, What Men Want isn’t the worse choice you could make and it could be worth taking a look at.

Instant Family was a film which I really enjoyed back when I saw it at the cinema during its initial release. Back then I said “Instant Family is a very good comedy/drama film about a young couple starting to become parents. The character development for the parents, but also for the kids, especially Lizzy is very good and I did feel for the characters by the end of the film. As both a comedy and a drama it works well and Sean Anders did a great job directing this one. The actors in this are excellent, with Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne delivering good performances, but Isabela Moner was very impressive in this film. Definitely go and see this one if you’re looking for a comedy this week or a family drama.” If you would like to read my full review for the film you can find it here.

Instant Family is a film which comes directed by Sean Anders who some may know as the director of Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) or Daddy’s Home (2015). The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Rose Byrne, Isabela Moner, Gustavo Quiroz, Julianna Gamiz and Octavia Spencer.

The Blu-Ray of the film actually does come with quite a few good extras to watch. More than actually I expected for a film of this genre. Mainly I was just expecting to see maybe a few deleted scenes or some funny moments, but we got a lot more than that.

What I like about the special features included on this Blu-Ray, was some of the extra care from the director. For example the deleted scenes all have an introduction from the director before them explaining the scene a little and why it was cut. This is so much better than some Blu-Ray’s I see, which simply included a bunch of deleted scenes as a viewer watching them you have no idea what the context or idea for them were.

The Instant Family Blu-Ray special features include:

• Commentary by Director/Writer Sean Anders and Writer John Morris
• Mr. And Mrs. Fix It
• Kid Power
• I Need Some Support
• Order In the Court
• The Families Behind The Fair
• Crew Inspiration
• The Anders Family
• Gag Reel
• Isabela Moner Ïll Stay” promotional music video
• On set proposal
• Deleted and Extended scenes

For me this was more than enough extras. Mr. And Mrs Fix It and Kid Power provided some nice insights into the film and I particularly liked all the insights into the casting process. I would have never known that Isabela Moner auditioned for this film via a Skype call. I thought this was all done in person! I also enjoyed watching the music video and the deleted and extended scenes were great to see.

Apart from the special features, I did like listening to the music on the Blu-Ray disc menu. It reminded me a lot of the music in The Sims.

Overall I enjoyed revisiting Instant Family at home this week and if you enjoyed the film as much as I did, then I’m happy to recommend taking a look at this Blu-Ray release.

Spy movies certainly aren’t dead, but they aren’t what they used to be. The Bond films today are practically dramas, with the fun and loose attitude of the Sean Connery and Roger Moore films almost nonexistent. Matthew Vaughn was bothered by this, and Kingsman is the product of that nostalgic thought. Vaughn and his crew’s sensibilities of the spy films of yesteryear created a film that encompasses the spirit and class of those films in the present day perfectly.

I loved Kingsman when I saw it back in February, and that love doesn’t look like it’s going to die. My second viewing of Kingsman was a blast. The action may be a little stiff, but it’s also chaotic and violent as hell so I’m not complaining. Roxy deserved more love as a character with Matthew Vaughn even saying that they had to cut out a lot of her, but the other characters are so well realized that I’m willing to turn the other cheek. The tone may be a little all over the place, but the film always kept this fun-loving energy that makes it hard not to love. Kingsman isn’t perfect, but it’s still well worth your time if you’re a spy and action movie fan.

Kingsman boasts an absolutely stellar presentation on Blu-ray. While some scenes come off a little soft, the picture is mostly crystal clear. The colors are what steal the show. The soft greens and browns of the tailor shop, the sky’s roaring blues during a parachute jump midway through the film, and a quite colorful final act make for a visually stunning experience. Audio is great as well, with Matthew Vaughn’s wonderful song selection bursting in the background only to be overcome by the frenetic action that annihilates the foreground. Your senses are in for a treat.

The Bonus Features on the Kingsman Blu-ray are:

• “Kingsman: The Secret Service Revealed” (1:31:41) is a complete behind the scenes look at the creation of the film, from the comic-book origins to the editing room. Fans of the movie will be pleased with the pre-visual effects footage as well as seeing Matthew Vaughn direct his cast and crew to the tune of some solid interviews with said cast and crew.
• Galleries of pictures from “Behind the Scenes” as well as closeups of “Sets” and “Props”.
• “Theatrical Trailer” (2:22). The one below to be exact.

What’s offered in the Kingsman extras is greatly appreciated, but there’s plenty of room for more. The hour and a half long set of interviews with the behind the scenes footage was great and the photos were nice, but the lack of a commentary is a bummer as well as no deleted scenes. Matthew Vaughn said that they had to cut about 40 minutes. Why couldn’t that make its way on the Blu-ray?

Everything that’s on the Kingsman Blu-ray is great. The film is delightful, the presentation is beautiful, and there’s a great hour and a half long bonus feature as well as a batch of images to flip through. Those fans will be disappointed though to find an absence of deleted scenes and a commentary track. That extra push would have made this a top notch Blu-ray. Still, there’s still plenty to love here and fans of the film will be generally happy with what they find.

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