Author: crunchonthis

New in Home Entertainment

June 19, 2012

Wanderlust
Rated R for sexual content, graphic nudity, language and drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
When a married couple (Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston) lose their source of income while living in New York City, they decide to move in with family in Atlanta.  Along the drive they encounter a commune full of colorful characters that invite them in but expect them to live by their rules of peace and free love.  The story here is absolutely ridiculous but fortunately the jokes are strong.  Consisting of more improv than you would expect from a cast like this, the material was almost good enough for two movies, as is shown in the extra features.  Keep an eye out for Justin Theroux who not only turns in a great performance here as Seth, but is also becoming a major Hollywood player.  One of the many special features is a very original Bizarro Cut which takes practically the same story, but fills it in with completely different scenes and performances.  I would not advise watching the Bizarro Cut first, but it is a rather enjoyable 80 minute feature that you will want to watch after.  B

Jeff Who Lives at Home
Rated R for language including sexual references and some drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Fueled by his obsession with the movie Signs, Jeff (Jason Segel), a pot-smoking loser that lives at home (thus the title), attempts to find out the real reasons behind mundane events believing everything to be interrelated and part of a much bigger picture. It’s easy to believe that you are getting a good comedy here with the likes of Segel and The Hangover’s Ed Helms, but don’t expect to laugh too much.  The film does a great job of keeping you engaged but you probably won’t be slapping your knee here.  Even though it’s not terribly funny, the indie writing/directing duo Mark and Jay Duplass do an excellent job of creating a quirky, interesting and heartwarming film.  B

The Sarah Silverman Program: The Complete Series
Available on DVD
From Comedy Central and Shout Factory come all 32 episodes of the different but extremely funny Sarah Silverman Program.  Playing a perverse version of herself (or maybe just playing herself) Sarah, her sister and their friends get into all kinds of situations that will leave you uncomfortable and, well, kind of icky.  But the sewers is where her comedy works the best and if you have a perverse sense of humor (and much of the time I do) and you don’t get easily offended at people trying to offend you, you’ll find the show to be absolutely hysterical.  B+

New in Home Entertainment

June 12, 2012

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some drug material
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In this latest adventure of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, as told by the visual virtuoso director Guy Ritchie, Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) are back and this time out they join forces to do battle with an old nemesis played by Mad Men’s Jared Harris.  Just as in the first one, the movie and production are wonderfully shot and very nicely directed.  The problem here is that the script is far less of a mystery and much more of an action adventure film.  At least their last outing wasn’t just eye candy but gave you something to chew on as well.  This film is the least mysterious mystery movie I’ve ever seen.  Unfortunately this makes for sort of a dull picture that does nothing but serve up mindless entertainment, which is one thing a film like this shouldn’t do.  C

Harold and Maude: The Criterion Collection
Rated PG (but would nowadays be a strong PG-13)
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This quirky masterpiece by Hal Ashby just might be the strangest romantic comedy ever made.  After all, the thought of a death-obsessed young man falling in love with an eccentric senior citizen doesn’t exactly sound like a film recipe made in heaven.  And yet it ends up being an hysterical yet dark comedy that becomes impossible to take your eyes off of.  And with the music of Cat Stevens in the back ground the film comes off as light and airy.  This new Criterion set is packed with great features including a new digital restoration, new audio commentary, new interview with Cat Stevens and more.  A

In Darkness
Rated R for violence, disturbing images, sexuality, nudity and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Polish with English Subtitles
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, In Darkness tells the true story of a Polish Catholic man who saves a group of Jews from being slaughtered during the holocaust by hiding them in the sewers that he and a friend use for smuggling.  The story itself is nothing new as it steals from many of the other various films of this genre.  Fortunately, little facts from the true story pop up making the tale watchable.  As you would expect, the film is dark (largely takes place in a sewer) and uncomfortable.  As you wouldn’t expect, it is very sexual.  The movie plays on physical relationships almost as much as it does on fear, suffering and redemption.  B-

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, and language
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
Nick Cage is back as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider, a man whose deal with the devil forced him to become a hellblazing bounty hunter.  Now in Eastern Europe, Johnny teams up with a rebel monk in order to protect a boy from the devil.  I remember enjoying these comics as a kid and while the characters are right, the story and the writing just isn’t.  Just like Cage’s last 3D hellish adventure, Drive Angry, the 3D is gimmicky but humorous.  If you don’t have a 3D set then you will miss out on some of what the filmmakers included in order to make the film bearable.  As it is, this new Ghost Rider turns in a mediocre super hero film that could have been much better under different direction and scribe.  C

Falling Skies: The Complete First Season
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Steven Spielberg has had his fingers in a lot of television pies this last year but perhaps the best of all of them is this TNT original series about an Alien invasion.  Beginning after the invasion has already begun, what survivors are left on Earth are now gathering for support and retaliation.  Noah Wyle leads the cast of Earthlings and the show has a very nice groove to it.  Capturing the spirit of shows like The Walking Dead and the short-lived-but-excellent Jericho, Skies grabs a hold of you and forces you to be interested in their lives and their futures.  A-
 

New in Home Entertainment

June 12, 2012

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, and some drug material
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In this latest adventure of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, as told by the visual virtuoso director Guy Ritchie, Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) and Watson (Jude Law) are back and this time out they join forces to do battle with an old nemesis played by Mad Men’s Jared Harris.  Just as in the first one, the movie and production are wonderfully shot and very nicely directed.  The problem here is that the script is far less of a mystery and much more of an action adventure film.  At least their last outing wasn’t just eye candy but gave you something to chew on as well.  This film is the least mysterious mystery movie I’ve ever seen.  Unfortunately this makes for sort of a dull picture that does nothing but serve up mindless entertainment, which is one thing a film like this shouldn’t do.  C

Harold and Maude: The Criterion Collection
Rated PG (but would nowadays be a strong PG-13)
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This quirky masterpiece by Hal Ashby just might be the strangest romantic comedy ever made.  After all, the thought of a death-obsessed young man falling in love with an eccentric senior citizen doesn’t exactly sound like a film recipe made in heaven.  And yet it ends up being an hysterical yet dark comedy that becomes impossible to take your eyes off of.  And with the music of Cat Stevens in the back ground the film comes off as light and airy.  This new Criterion set is packed with great features including a new digital restoration, new audio commentary, new interview with Cat Stevens and more.  A

In Darkness
Rated R for violence, disturbing images, sexuality, nudity and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Polish with English Subtitles
Nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, In Darkness tells the true story of a Polish Catholic man who saves a group of Jews from being slaughtered during the holocaust by hiding them in the sewers that he and a friend use for smuggling.  The story itself is nothing new as it steals from many of the other various films of this genre.  Fortunately, little facts from the true story pop up making the tale watchable.  As you would expect, the film is dark (largely takes place in a sewer) and uncomfortable.  As you wouldn’t expect, it is very sexual.  The movie plays on physical relationships almost as much as it does on fear, suffering and redemption.  B-

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, and language
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
Nick Cage is back as Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider, a man whose deal with the devil forced him to become a hellblazing bounty hunter.  Now in Eastern Europe, Johnny teams up with a rebel monk in order to protect a boy from the devil.  I remember enjoying these comics as a kid and while the characters are right, the story and the writing just isn’t.  Just like Cage’s last 3D hellish adventure, Drive Angry, the 3D is gimmicky but humorous.  If you don’t have a 3D set then you will miss out on some of what the filmmakers included in order to make the film bearable.  As it is, this new Ghost Rider turns in a mediocre super hero film that could have been much better under different direction and scribe.  C

Falling Skies: The Complete First Season
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Steven Spielberg has had his fingers in a lot of television pies this last year but perhaps the best of all of them is this TNT original series about an Alien invasion.  Beginning after the invasion has already begun, what survivors are left on Earth are now gathering for support and retaliation.  Noah Wyle leads the cast of Earthlings and the show has a very nice groove to it.  Capturing the spirit of shows like The Walking Dead and the short-lived-but-excellent Jericho, Skies grabs a hold of you and forces you to be interested in their lives and their futures.  A-
 

New in Home Entertainment

June 5, 2012

John Carter
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action
Available on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD
John Carter, based on A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, is one of the oldest and most famous sci-fi tales of all time, which bears mentioning since it has taken Hollywood almost a century to try to bring it to the big screen.  This might be because the story, about a Civil War soldier who finds himself in the middle of a war on Mars, is a very difficult adaptation.  It could also be because Disney’s vision was all wrong.  Whatever the problem is, the film blew it at the box office big time.  Granted, while it only made 72.5 million in the states, it grabbed another 200 million overseas.  But with the amount of money Disney spent on this film, they will be counting heavily on a strong home entertainment release to hopefully break even.  Is it a bad film?  Not terribly.  The special effects are stellar and the overall production is very good.  The acting is a little rough and the film’s pacing makes it seem like a three-hour picture when in actuality it’s only a little over two.  From the special features in this set, you can tell a lot of love went into the making of it and that is worth something.  B-

Safe House
Rated R for strong violence throughout and some language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Ryan Reynolds is a young CIA agent who is forced to protect Denzel Washington who plays a fugitive wanted by both the CIA and terrorist groups around the world.  This really could have been a good film if it wasn’t based on a hugely absurd premise.  I was fine with the bad guys coming into the safe house to kill Washington, but being forced to keep him safe for the length of time asked of him, and then the actions he takes, make the film more and more unbelievable as it goes on.  Sure the movie is full of action, but overall its senseless.  The acting is good enough by this very talented cast, but the movie itself needed another rewrite.  C+

Breaking Bad: The Complete Fourth Season
Rated TV-MA
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
The first season of AMC’s hit show Breaking Bad played like a slightly more serious version of Showtime’s Weeds.  The second season played like a fantastic crime drama.  The third season started to develop into something big.  And now this fourth season turned out to be television’s answer to The Godfather.  Forced to work for a drug kingpin, Bryan Cranston goes up against one of the most evil of characters with not only his but his family’s life on the line as well.  If you’ve missed out on this season, I can’t think of a better way to spend a weekend than to watch all of the episodes back-to-back, ending with one of the best season finales I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing.  A+

Curb Your Enthusiasm: The Complete Eighth Season
TV-MA   
Available on DVD
It’s hard to imagine that we have put up with eight seasons now of the obnoxious Larry David and the show still finds a way of looking fresh.  Living in New York now, Larry manages to offend the entire city in one way or another, ending in an hysterically funny season finale after trying to take on Michael J. Fox.  A-

New in Home Entertainment

May 29, 2012

Goon
Rated R for brutal violence, non-stop language, some strong sexual content and drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
I love a pleasant surprise and this one hit me fast and hard.  Goon follows the life of a super nice loser (Seann William Scott) who discovers he has a great talent: he just might be the best fist fighter in hockey.  Quickly recruited and moved up the ranks, he not only discovers his calling, but falls in love with a nice Canadian cutie as well.  With the screenwriting team of Jay Baruchel (star of How to Train Your Dragon) and Evan Goldberg (writer of Superbad), I had high hopes, but with such a poor showing at the box office, I was prepared for disappointment.  I love being wrong about movies in this way.  I found myself laughing from start to finish.  The movie might be a little predictable and the plot is definitely forced, but the characters are fun to watch and the indie vibe helps the film work.  If you are easily offended or put out by violence and bad behavior, you may want to stay away.  As for me, the violence made me laugh hysterically and the bad behavior kept me entertained.  A-

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
For years Andrew Lloyd Webber has been writing a sequel to his hit Broadway smash Phantom of the Opera.  Beginning in London a couple of years back, the show was a critical and box office dud.  Reworked and relaunched in Australia, and presented here, the show has turned out to be much more successful.  Set a decade after the events of the first Phantom in Coney Island, Christine, her husband Raoul and their son have another run in with the mysterious Phantom.  The story is not the greatest, but just like any Lloyd Webber musical, the music and the spectacle are well done.  As a big Phantom fan, I rather enjoyed the musical, although I probably won’t be listening to the soundtrack as often as I do the original.  If you too are a Phantom fan, you should check it out.  As an aside, if you want a deeper look at these characters in a beautifully written book, check out Susan Kay’s Phantom.  I’ve read it twice and now I just might crack it open again.  B-

Coriolanus
Rated R for some bloody violence
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Not all of Shakespeare’s works are gold, but in the right hands, most of them can be very impressive.  Case in point is his little-known work Coriolanus.  This story about the Roman General (Ralph Fiennes) who is rejected by his own people and forced to join with his sworn enemy (Gerard Butler) in order to get revenge was first a stage production directed by Fiennes who then decided to bring it to the big screen.  While the writing isn’t the best of the famous bard, what Fiennes has done here is exceptional.  The production is fantastic and the acting by the terrific cast including Fiennes, Butler, Jessica Chastain and Venessa Redgrave is superb.  B-

True Blood: The Complete Fourth Season
Rated TV-MA
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
I never thought I’d ever get into watching soap operas, but HBO’s True Blood has proven me wrong.  What started out as a beautiful macabre love story has turned into a melodramatic monster mess, but I still can’t look away.  After tackling vampires, demons, shapeshifters and werewolves in the first three seasons, Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Pacquin) and gang are now up against one heck of an evil witch who wants to see all vampires dead.  As cheesy as this show is, it is still very entertaining and after rewatching this latest season on blu-ray (which is loaded down with tons of features might I add), I am jonesing for season five starting on June 10.  B+

New in Home Entertainment

May 22, 2012

The Secret World of Arrietty
Rated G
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Based on Mary Norton’s famous children’s book “The Borrowers,” the award-winning Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli, tells the story of a sick young boy who befriends a four-inch-tall girl who hides behind his walls.  I was a little bit worried about how much I’d enjoy Studio Ghibli’s new toon when I noticed that the Oscar-winning director Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle) wasn’t directing and the incredible composer he typically works with, Joe Hisaishi, wasn’t providing the music.  After all, there are many, including myself, that consider these two to be the Japanese versions of Spielberg and Williams.  But fears aside, this new pic is another great example of masterful storytelling with fantastic hand-drawn animation you would expect from this group.  My two-year-old son was bored to tears but I can concede the fact that this might be a better picture for little girls and/or lovers of this art form.  A-

Chronicle
Rated PG-13 for intense action and violence, thematic material, some language, sexual content and teen drinking
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
With the success of found-footage films such as Paranormal Activity and Blair Witch, it makes sense that studios would attempt more than just horror films.  Chronicle is an extremely clever little film that does just that with the super hero genre.  When 3 friends wander near something that has crashed into Earth from space, they start to develop super powers.  While I loved the actual story and the acting by the talented cast, I was disappointed that they had to use the “found footage” as a gimmick.  I wonder what the film would have looked like if they had just ignored this and simply made a film about 3 friends who developed powers.  If they had done this I think we would be watching a very good film without all the cheese.  B

The Woman in Black
Rated PG-13 for thematic material and violence/disturbing images
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Susan Hill’s classic ghost novel about a lawyer who discovers the vengeful ghost of an evil woman has haunted readers and audiences for years.  This newest adaptation stars Daniel Radcliffe in his first post-Harry Potter role as the young lawyer.  Relying on thrills and chills rather than graphic violence, the film provides a fairly scary experience that you won’t mind if your teenager watches with their friends on a summer night.  The performances are a little melodramatic and the entire picture is filmed with a sense of dread (which I think gets in the way of it being a classic horror film), but even with its faults, I still got a ton of goosebumps on my neck throughout.  B-

 

New in Home Entertainment

May 15, 2012

The Grey
Rated R for violence/disturbing content including bloody images, and for pervasive language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In this modern tale of man vs. wild, a group of oil workers and a skilled huntsman are left to fend for themselves in remote Alaska when their plane crashes.  Dealing with both the bitter cold and the loss of many on board the plane, the group discovers that they might have crashed near a pack of ravenous wolves.  Normally I really like these kinds of films.  Liam Neeson is an extraordinary actor and writer/director Joe Carnahan (Narc) is a master of the gritty action drama.  But for some reason, I just couldn’t connect.  There is a hopeless feel in the air from the first moments of the film that permeate throughout.  It’s almost as if each character can’t wait to die and they are moving on out of sheer stubbornness.  There are some very good scares to found here and the acting is decent enough, but I wasn’t invested in any of their lives.  Honestly, I was completely apathetic to their plight.  The directing was strong enough, but the writing had too much of a dark indie tone that said to it’s audience “I dare you to like me.”  C+

Albert Nobbs
Rated R for some sexuality, brief nudity and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In her sixth Oscar-nominated role, Glenn Close does her best Clay Aiken impression as she pretends to be a male butler in 19th century Ireland.  This is a film stuffed with great performances.  While Close and Janet McTeer were the only Oscar nominees, there are many other small yet powerful performances here.  Also the dialog is very clever and well-written and the production is first-class.  The problem is that the story is just not that great.  While the secret world of Lesbians in this time period makes for an interesting subject, I think that most folks would side with me that the the movie is just a tad boring.  Unfortunately this film really doesn’t have the potential to be too compelling for most audiences, which leaves it as a small niche film for a very select audience that might treasure it.  B-

Being John Malkovich: The Criterion Collection
Rated R for language and sexuality
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
I can imagine the time when people first got a look at Picasso’s first cubist paintings and what their thoughts might have been.  Some might have been repelled while others were excited and inspired.  The latter is the feeling that came over me when I first saw Being John Malkovich.  The film explores a world where John Cusack discovers a portal in an office building that puts you in the head of the actor John Malkovich for 15 minutes.  It’s so random, yet so perfectly conceived and executed but writer Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze.  It is both hysterically funny and incredibly deep at the same time.  This new Criterion treatment gives a brand new restored digital transfer and audio commentary by director Michel Gondry (who directed Charlie Kaufman’s Oscar-winning script Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) as well as several other new featurettes.  I know the word brilliant gets thrown around way too much in film criticism, but there is really no other word to describe this work.  A+

Astros: 50th Anniversary – The Essential Games of the Houston Astros and Astros Memories
Available on DVD
While the good ol’ Astros have proven to be pretty mediocre so far this season, in their 50 year history, there has been a lot of sports history made.  This very reasonably-priced box sets takes a look at many of the greatest games the Astros played in during this time as well as a ton of bonus features.  At almost 12 hours, this is a well-produced set that could be a nice Father’s Day gift if the father in question has a closet full of starred clothing and hats.  B+

New in Home Entertainment

May 8, 2012

Underworld: Awakening
Rated R for strong violence and gore, and for some language
Available on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D
Desperate to keep this franchise alive, Michael Sheen’s Lucian is out and Kate Beckinsale’s Selene is back in as she leads a battle against humans who have finally discovered the existence of Vampire and Lycan clans.  The film itself is pretty week in the writing department, but Kate does her best to make the movie as entertaining as possible in spite of its limitations.  Her beautiful yet deadly Selene prances around in tight leather to the extent where you almost feel the film could be rescued if that’s all they showed.  The special effects are also a vast improvement over the three previous films, and were it not for the fact that the tale has worn itself thin, you would think the movie has some real potential for entertainment.  C+

Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie
Rated R for strong crude and sexual content throughout, brief graphic nudity, pervasive language, comic violence and drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
With the help of Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, John C. Reilly, Will Forte and many others, comic actors Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim star in this sketch comedy-like movie about two idiot filmmakers that lose everything and are forced to run a mall that has been rundown.  One of the stores in the mall sells “used toilet paper.”  When asked if that was a big market for this mall, the shopkeeper responds “it’s more of a gourmet operation.”  Well that precisely describes the movie.  It’s definitely not a film for everyone and I would suspect it would be a huge turn-off for most audiences.  As for me, I sat through 90 minutes without laughing.  I found it to be peculiar and unique, but the comedy it has been billed as was nowhere to be found.  I expected Mr. Show and instead got a strange and quirky amateur film.  The cameos are everywhere you look, but the performances are completely uninspired.  Since this is a Funny or Die film, I’d have to pick “die” but I can appreciate that some will click the other button.  C-

The Big C: The Complete Second Season
Available on DVD
In the first season of Showtime’s hit show, Laura Linney discovered she had cancer.  Now in the second season, she has finally shared her diagnosis with her family and is learning to live with the disease.  It’s tough to laugh at such a subject, but the writing and acting here are so strong that it’s hard not to.  And having the ability to know when to make you laugh and when to cry, the show really excels at toying with your emotions as it puts you right there in her world.  A-