New on DVD
Date Night
Rated PG-13 for sexual and crude content throughout, language, some violence and a drug reference
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Steve Carell and Tina Fey are just your average boring married couple with average married problems when they spontaneously go out on a date in New York City. When two killers mistake them for another couple, they find themselves on the run, in severe danger, and on the most exciting night of their lives. This romantic comedy take on North by Northwest is actually a fairly clever little picture that waivers here and there, but serves up a pretty entertaining experience. The guest appearances are some of the best things about this film including a great scene where they interact with James Franco and Mila Kunis playing the couple they are being mistaken for. This scene alone is worth watching the film. While many women will like the Mark Wahlberg moments where he is shirtless in almost every scene he is in, the joke does get a little old, or maybe its me getting a little jealous. I’m not above admitting that. B
A Prophet
Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
French with English Subtitles
A Prophet tells the story of Malik, a 19-year-old Arab that is sentenced to a French prison and is forced to carry out missions for a Corsican gang leader in exchange for protection until his release. Having missed the film while it only spent a couple of weeks in theaters, I am now surprised that it only took home a nomination for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars this past year. This is one of the most original, gritty, well-acted, and well-written crime dramas I’ve scene in years. Evolving way past the prison drama genre, this feels like an epic, as powerful as The Godfather, where you grow with Malik as the scared kid in prison who must not only survive, but out-smart his fellow prisoners and eventually end up a potentially monstrous crime lord. If this script were around 30 years ago, and in English, Robert De Niro would have been the only actor capable of performing this role. That being said, Tahar Rahim has turned in what I can only sum up as a brilliant performance that you must see to believe. A
Multiple Sarcasms
Rated R for sexual references and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Timothy Hutton is a whiny man having a midlife crisis that decides that the best way to cope with said crisis is to write an autobiographical play about his life. The cast, which also includes Mira Sorvino, Dana Delany, Mario Van Peebles, and Stockard Channing sounds impressive at first for an indie until you see it and then you can’t figure out why they would have possibly signed on for such a script that wastes all of their talents. It’s pretentious, overbearing, and the exact opposite of entertaining – almost like a version of Californication that has been edited for the airlines. There is a moment where Hutton is talking about the play and exclaims “I don’t even care if anybody sees it.” You could tell that this was the screenwriter’s philosophy and a self-fulfilling prophecy. D