DVD Releases for January 20, 2009
The Express
Rated PG-13 for thematic content, violence and language involving racism, and for brief sensuality
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Based on the true story about Ernie Davis, the first black college football player to win the Heisman Trophy, The Express follows Ernie’s life from his childhood to its sad conclusion. While there are some good moments as well as an inspirational story, the writing and directing are pretty weak. Off the field, we learn about Ernie and his struggle. On the field, we get stereotyped fans, poorly directed by someone who needs to read a book about shooting sports films. C-
Barack Obama: The Man and His Journey
Unrated
Available on DVD
With the inauguration looming, I wanted to check out one of the documentaries about our future leader. Unfortunately, this one is just a bunch of volunteers and folks that knew Obama telling the camera how awesome and incredible he is. The film lacks credibility and the journey mentioned in the title is not shown to a great extent. This is the kind of film that George W. could put together after he leaves office, hoping that maybe people would be convinced if his volunteers said he was great awesome over and over again. Just like Dubya couldn’t do, Barack is going to have to prove that he representents the hope of America. Then, and only then, can we decide if the journey was worth lacing up the shoes for. All this documentary does is make you wish you could trade it out for his 30 minute television commercial he ran before the election. D+
Jurrassic Fight Club: The Complete Season One
Unrated but viewer discretion advised due to graphic violence
Available on DVD
Last year the History Channel jumped into the dinosaur game with this high-octane documentary that attempts to both educate and enterain by teaching the audience about dinosaurs, and then watching how they fight. The CGI work here is fantastic, especiallly in light of how low budget this sort of program is and how expensive it looks. While the look of the show could be called Dinosaurs for ADD suferers due to its incrdibly fast pace and quick visuals, I think that most kids and adults will love this scientific thriller. B+