Category: DVD Review

He’s Just Not That Into You
Rated PG-13 for sexual content and brief strong language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This set of interconnecting stories tells stories of love, loss, cheating, loneliness, desperation and revelation.  The main thrust of the story revolves around a young girl named Gigi (Gennifer Goodwin) who is bluntly told by a bartender (Justin Long) about the signs that guys give when they are and aren’t into women.  Upon this realization, she attempts to play dating by a different set of rules that may or may not work out for her.  I’ll freely admit that I liked this romantic comedy and consider it one of the better ones of the last couple years.  It tries to be Love Actually, and never comes close, but is still witty, funny, and engaging.  The women are written a little more dense and shallow than the men, but then again, the basic idea of the movie is taken from the point of view of a man, not a women, so that makes sense in this situation.  The huge cast including Jennifer Aniston, Ben Affleck, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Scarlett Johansson and many others worked well as an ensemble and each has their own memorable moments.  B

Revolutionary Road
Rated R for language and some sexual content /nudity
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet are just your normal 1950’s suburban couple in love.  They have a young family and seem to be living the American dream.  But when life starts to get in the way of their plans and both of them start to become regretful, the whole thing begins to fall apart.  This is really a great movie, but like Winslet’s other recent film The Reader, this one is very hard to watch.  It’s a punch in the gut that becomes very unsettling.  To make the audience more uncomfortable is the Oscar-nominated performance of Michael Shannon as a mentally disturbed man that comes into their lives and sees through their masquerade of happiness.  A-

Defiance
Rated R for violence and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
During World War II, the Bielski brothers (Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber, and Jamie Bell) create a village consisting of hundreds of Jews in the Belarussian Forest in order to protect them from the encroaching Nazi forces.  While the history of this movie is fascinating, the script has some real problems.  It attempts too hard to be Braveheart meets Schindler’s List instead of merely telling this amazing true story.  The special features on the disc are better than the movie this time around, with featurettes on the survivors and descendants of this event.  Also of note is the beautiful score by James Newton Howard and violinist Joshua Bell.  It is truly one of the most beautiful pieces of music to come from Hollywood last year.  C+

Valkyrie
Rated PG-13 for violence and brief strong language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Tom Cruise is Colonol Claus von Stauffenberg, the German military leader that almost assassinated Hitler during World War II (sorry for the spoiler about Hitler not getting killed).  Based on yet another amazing true story, this film plays more like an adventure thriller and focuses very little on the actual war.  While the lack of violence and cruelty surrounding the Nazi party represented by the film bugged me at first watch, I found it less annoying the second time around.  I would have still preferred the film to be a Rated R, more dramatic and realistic approach to the war.  Historically, it’s not too far off and the performances by the very talented cast are terrific.  The disc contains two commentaries as well as several featurettes and a documentary.  B

New on DVD

Powder Blue
Rated R for sexual content, nudity, language and some drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Four lonely souls living in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve (Jessica Biel, Ray Liotta, Forrest Whitaker, and Eddie Redmayne) try to find what might make them complete in this straight-to-dvd title with marquee names.  This is being sold as Jessica Biel’s first nude scene, but in reality, it is a waste of time.  The story is simply a mess.  Everyone is acting depressed and needy and not only are the scenes poorly directed, but the film doesn’t seem to have a foothold in reality.  I’ll admit, some of the characters are interesting, such as Patrick Swayze’s slimy strip club owner and Lisa Kudrow’s lonely diner waitress, but they are not in the film long enough to really get a feel for them.  So how did this film get all the big names?  My guess is that the cast thought it was going to be the next Crash, and by the time they figured out it wasn’t – it was too late.  D

History Channel Megasets
If you have a lot of time on your hands, the History Channel is releasing some massively impressive 14-DVD boxed sets this week.  First there is Military Combat which follows over 39 battles brought to life with computer animation and archival footage.  The set includes Battle 360: The Complete Season One, Dogfights: The Complete Seasons 1 & 2, as well as my personal favorite – Dogfights of the Future.  Next there is America at War, which contains over thirty hours of documentaries ranging from the Revolutionary War to the war in Iraq.  Finally, there is American Originals containing the entire first seasons from the very popular shows Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men, and Tougher in Alaska.  All three sets are reasonably priced on amazon.com and would make pretty phenomenal Father’s Day gifts.

New on DVD

True Blood: The Complete Season 1
Unrated but contains gory violence, strong sexual content, nudity, drug usage and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
HBO had a huge feat in replacing it’s most recent hit dramas The Sopranos, Rome, and Deadwood.  With Showtime nipping at its heals with Dexter and The Tudors – HBO needed a hit.  And this year they got it with this inventive vampire series by Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball.  In world of True Blood, the Japanese have invented a synthetic blood, making it possible for vampires to not have to feed off of humans any longer, thus allowing them to come out of the coffin.  When a virginal waitress (Anna Paquin) from rural Louisiana falls in love with a vampire (Stephen Moyer), she must decide whether to live a normal, boring life, or set off on an exciting journey full of danger.  Once again, HBO has hit it out of the park.  More like a twelve-hour movie than a TV show, True Blood proves that it can still keep the creativity coming and keep its audience fully engaged.  While I would normally suggest getting a set like this on blu-ray, I was disapointed that the special features easily found on the menu of the DVD could only be located within the enhance viewing mode of the actual episodes on blu-ray.  While this mode can be entertaining, I think it’s annoying to not have the ability to watch all of the features at the touch of a button.  A-

Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Rated PG for some violence, mild crude and suggestive humor, and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Kevin James is Paul Blart, an overweight mall security guard that takes his job very seriously.  When he finds himself in the way of a dangerous band of thugs determined to steal millions of dollars from his mall, he sets out to stop them.  Let me start by saying that I really like Kevin James.  I think he is funny, smart, and talented.  I also think he is far above the brainless level of this film.  While there are a few occasional laughs, this movie is an unintelligent mess full of moronic humor and bad jokes.  To make matters worse, the x-games bad guys were insulting to watch as they stuntworked their way to try to stop the painfully inept Blart.  I don’t know what’s more painful – that the film was made or that the film made $150 million at the U.S. box office.  D

New on DVD

New on DVD

The Wrestler
Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity, language and some drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Mickey Rourke is Randy “The Ram” Robinson, a professional wrestler who was once on top of the world, but is now down and out and barely scraping by.  He lives in a beat up old trailer home that he can’t afford, has a daughter that hates him, and to make matters worse – has a serious heart condition.  How director Darren Aronofsky turned those depressing story elements into a work of inspirational art is a testament to his talent as a director, as well as the abilities of his three main stars: Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood.  There is so much more than 80’s metal, steroids, strippers, and wrestling in this film.  It’s about hope and love and loneliness and a man’s journey to redeem himself and live in glory again.  The special features include a great making-of doc as well as a round-table with several ex-wrestlers discussing the film, their lives, and the similarities between the two.  Missing is a director’s commentary.  I would have really enjoyed that with this film.  A

Nothing but the Truth
Rated R for language, some sexual material, and a scene of violence
Available on DVD
Writer/director Rod Lurie (The Contender) brings us this political drama about a reporter that outs a CIA agent and refuses to reveal her source, even though it may take her to prison.  The cast, including Kate Beckinsale, David Schwimmer, Matt Dillon, Alan Alda, and Vera Farmiga, is top notch and each turns in great performances.  It feels a little movie-of-the-week at times, which is probably why it didn’t see much of theatrical release.  It should do much better on DVD and cable though.  B

The Uninvited
Rated PG-13 for violent and disturbing images, thematic material, sexual content, language and teen drinking
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
After losing her dying mother in a fire, a disturbed young girl is put away in a mental hospital for attempting suicide.  Upon release, she goes home to her sister, father and her father’s new girlfriend who used to be her mother’s nurse.  Convinced that the girlfriend started the fire to get to her father, she sets out to prove her guilt.  Along the way she starts to see scary images of murdered children telling her to watch out.  I have to say that this film is more silly than scary, until you get to the ending.  There is a nice twist that I didn’t see coming that might make a second viewing more interesting (not that I’m in a hurry to watch it again).  C+

New on DVD

New on DVD

Tell No One
Not Rated but intended for ages 17+
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
French language with English subtitles (contains English-dubbed version as well)
This French thriller, based on the novel by Harlan Coben, tells the story of a Pediatrician that is haunted by the death of his wife.  Eight years after the murder, however, he discovers that she might still be alive.  This is a twisty, fast-paced pic that even for all its clues, you still won’t be able to figure things out.  I loved everything about this film.  The directing is first-rate and the acting is award-worthy.  And even though the story is a bit trippy, it was my one of my favorites of last year.  While Slumdog will be getting the most attention this week, you owe it to yourself to check out this equally entertaining film.  A

Slumdog Millionaire
Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
I’m sure that when they picked the DVD release date for this Oscar-winning blockbuster, they didn’t expect it to still be making tons of money at the box office.  Sure enough, it will be on DVD this week, while it is still making millions in its theatrical run.  For those of you that haven’t seen or heard about this film, Slumdog follows Jamal, a young man from Mumbai that makes it to the final question on the Indian version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  While he doesn’t know much, it just so happens that every question asked tells a relevant part of his life’s story, which we get to watch unfold over two hours.  It really is everything people say it is, and it deserves all of the attention it has gotten over the awards season.  A+

Marley and Me
Rated PG for thematic material, some suggestive content and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
When Jennifer Grogan (Jennifer Anniston) wants a baby, her husband John (Owen Wilson) gets her a puppy instead, hoping that this might curb her maternal appetite for at least a few years.  This movie tells the life-story of a dog, Marley, and the lasting effect he had on his family.  You can’t tell, but I am tearing up just writing this.  Yes I’m a dog person.  I married a Vet, so we are both dog people.  The theater I saw this film in was hard to hear the movie at times due to the sniffles.  There were people audibly sobbing.  This is a well-made film and the best performance to date by Owen Wilson.  Once you get past all the comedic trailer moments, you find a painfully honest film that will stay with you forever, if you should be fond of man’s best friend.  A-