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New on DVD

New on DVD

The Last House on the Left
Rated R for sadistic brutal violence including a rape and disturbing images, language, nudity and some drug use
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Warning: This review contains limited spoilers.
This remake of the not-so-great 70’s John Carpenter film follows an escaped convict and his gang as they kidnap two girls when they don’t know what else to do with them.  Upon believing that both girls are dead, the gang ends up at one of the girl’s houses where the parents must systematically find a way to take them all out.  This is a violent, disturbing, and sickening film that didn’t have to be what it was.  The acting here is first rate with terrific performances by Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter and Garret Dillahunt, but the acting and believability are not the problem here.  First off, the rape scene could have merely been implied rather than graphically shown.  This would have still added the emotional punch in the gut intended without the need to vomit during the film.  Secondly, the tail end of the movie was out of place and a little silly.  Sorry, but I’d prefer a good climactic death scene to torture any day of the week.  If the filmmakers weren’t so determined to make the audience uncomfortable, they might have had a bigger one to watch the movie to begin with.  C+

Hannah Montana: The Movie
Rated G
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
When celebrity life becomes too much for Miley Stewart (aka Hannah Montana), her father decides it’s time to take her back to the Tennessee farm to get a dose of reality.  For me, this was worse torture than The Last House on the Left.  To be fair, I am obviously not the target audience.  It’s not that there’s not talent here.  I can fully appreciate all of the hype.  I’m sure girls and maybe even families will love this movie and watch and enjoy it numerous times.  I just hope that I’m not around when it happens.  C–

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District 9

District 9

Starring Sharlto Copley
Directed by Neil Blomkamp
Rated R for bloody violence and pervasive language
Appropriate for ages 15+

    Twenty years ago in Johannesburg, South Africa, a giant space ship parked itself above the city.  After several months of not knowing why it was there, humans decided to cut their way in to see what was inside.  What they found were a million malnourished alien drones without any form of central leadership.  Without a home to go to, the government took it upon themselves to set up a refugee camp for the aliens directly below the ship.  But over the last twenty years, their numbers have vastly increased, and so have the tensions with the human population.  When Wikus Van De Merwe (Copley) is charged with peacefully evicting the massive population of dangerous aliens, he comes across a secret that will have a deep effect on both the human and alien races. 

    Original film making is so hard to find and this is truly one of the most original films in years.  The movie looks like an incredibly expensive studio film, but in reality, it is a $30 million pseudo-independent pic, produced by none other than Peter Jackson.  Regardless, the effects are truly eye-popping, with a world that actually looks like humans and insect-like aliens co-exist together.  So just for the aesthetics alone, this is a stunning picture.

    But the film is so much more than effects.  The script toys with social issues like apartheid and morality, and then switches into full action modes seamlessly.  What could have been a preachy sci-fi film only hits days after you’ve had time to reflect.  After all, it’s hard to dwell on racism and social injustices too long when you are being so thoroughly entertained.

    As for the acting, I find it hard to believe that this is Copley’s first feature film as he is remarkable throughout.  I can’t imagine a A-lister that could have turned in a better performance in this role. 

    Likewise, this is writer/director Neil Blomkamp’s first feature as well, and he performs like a seasoned veteran.  Hollywood could have butchered a movie like this had they gotten their hands on it, and we are truly fortunate as an audience to see his vision come to life here, untainted by outside hands.

    My strongest desire is that this movie makes a killing at the box office.  I hope that if films like District 9 and The Hangover succeed, that a strong message would be sent to the powers that be that there is an audience that wants smart, original material and will pay good money to see it.  A

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New on DVD

New on DVD

The Class
Rated PG-13 for language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
French with English Subtitles
This winner of the 2008 Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival and Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film follows the life of a French teach in Paris as he guides his young students in class over the period of a school year.  The style feels like a documentary, but is really just an amazingly acted, thoughtful, and powerful drama that shows not only what life is like in a French school, but also the consequences of one’s decisions, no matter how small they may seem when made.  I absolutely loved this film, and had I seen it last year when it was released in theaters, it would have been in my top 10.  It makes me wish I had made more time in my schedule for sure.  A

I Love You, Man
Rated R for pervasive language, including crude and sexual references
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
When Paul Rudd gets engaged, he discovers that he really doesn’t have any male friends worthy of being called a best man.  So he sets out on a mission to find a best friend through a series of man dates and develops a bromance with a crazy bachelor played by Jason Segel.  Watching this film again brought back to memory how funny this movie really is.  Not only is the premise pretty darn brilliant, but they follow through with terrific writing and performances as well.  The disc contains some very funny deleted and extended scenes, but you can stay clear of the gag reel.  A-

17 Again
Rated PG-13 for language, some sexual material and teen partying
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
When Matthew Perry finds that he regrets the decisions he has made in life, he jumps into a vortex and comes out as Zac Efron, a younger version of himself, ready to do it all over again.  The first act just plain stinks, but the film does get going once the second kicks in and I even found myself laughing on several occasions.  Stealing the show was sidekick Thomas Lennon who you might know from Reno 911.  You don’t know where he’s coming from at first, but by the end he manages to take you by surprise and I found that he provided by far the most laughs.  The DVD is bare-boned, but the blu-ray has tons of special features including a nice segment where the castmates recount their own teen years.  B-

Flight of the Conchords: Season 2
Available on DVD
In this season two of HBO’s cult classic musical comedy, the two boys from New Zealand had a challenge: how to do it all over again.  After all, it took them years to write much of the music for the first season, and for the second, they only had less than a year.  So OK, the tunes weren’t as good, but in my mind, the comedy was better.  It definitely was more creative.  Whether it be charity for epileptic dogs or a crazy parody of West Side Story, this was another great season from Bret and Jemaine.  I just hope that with that ending, they weren’t trying to say goodbye to TV.  That would truly give me hurt feelings.  A

Alien Trespass
Rated PG for sci-fi action and brief historical smoking
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Eric McCormack stars in this loving parody of 1950’s alien invasion films such as The Blob and It Came from Outer Space.  In the film, a craft has crashed in a small town and the local astronomer has been possessed by an alien trying to save the planet from a hideous monster.  This film is not for everyone and certainly wasn’t for me.  I think that there is an audience that will really appreciate the humor and the way the genre was preserved, but most will probably wonder what the heck they just rented or bought.  C-

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Julie & Julia


Julie & Julia

Starring Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, and Stanley Tucci
Directed by Nora Ephron (You’ve Got Mail)
Rated PG-13 for brief strong language and some sensuality
Appropriate for ages 10+

    A young modern-day woman named Julie (Adams) is tired of her life not having meaning, so she decides to start a blog that will lead her through every recipe of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child in a year’s time.  Simultaneously, the movie explores the life of Julia Child (Streep) through her memoir My Life in France.

    As you can tell from the description, this film is made up of two very different stories, told at the same time.  This makes for an interesting approach to the script for a couple of reasons.  First, it shows the modern day obsession with cooking and then the person responsible for making cooking popular on television.  Secondly, the story of Julie alone would not have been enough to tell a compelling story, especially for a feature length film.  The addition of the Julia Child storyline was much needed in order to make the film interesting enough to sit through. 

    A mutualistic relationship is not seen here though.  It probably goes without saying that while Julie needs the Julia tale, the story of Julia would have been just fine without Julie.  In fact it would have probably been better.  It’s not that the modern tale is bad – it’s just that it pales in comparison.  The performance by Adams is good enough, and while the strain in the relationship with her husband was a little forced, and some of her stresses were overly dramatic, it’s still bearable.  The memorable part of the movie, however, is the world of Julia Child in 1950s France.  The performance by Streep could very well earn her another Oscar nom and I have to admit that I ran right out to buy the book, and well, let’s just say I devoured it.  Every part of the French story was entertaining and enthralling.

    My sincere hope is that this film finds an audience as it is not a pic made for your typical movie-goer.  If you consider yourself a food lover, travel lover, or a Streep lover, this is a must see film and will most likely make you a very satisfied customer.  A-

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Legislators for Sale

    While this is a movie blog, I figure that since my day job is in health care, I can occasionally throw in something fascinating when I see it. 

    I don’t mind that people do or do not want a public health care plan, as long as they know why and they desire to learn all of the facts.  I hate that so many folks, especially in the conservative movement, sheepishly do what they are told, thinking that it is for their best interest, even when it is not.  This is insane.  I knew that an argument such as “the public health care plan wants to kill all the old people” would have to arise just because stupid arguments like this work so well on the weak-minded.  I don’t know for sure that the new plans being proposed are in this country’s best interest, but I want to hear the debate – not listen to closed-minded ignorant people that should be keeping their mouths closed.  A discussion needs to take place, but it’s hard to discuss when ears and minds aren’t open. 

    I do find it very interesting that supposedly the government can’t run anything well, but yet the managed care organizations are spending millions upon millions of dollars to keep them from even having a chance to try.  What are they scared of?  If the government really can’t do a good job, then it will fail, or maybe they know something we don’t…

    The following is from Keith Olbermann on MSNBC.  Some call him a liberal.  He calls himself an American.  I could care less.  I just think he has some very valid points.  Some very scary points also.

 

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

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Funny People

Funny People

Starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, and Adam Sandler
Directed by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up)
Rated R for language and crude sexual humor throughout, and some sexuality
Appropriate for ages 18+

    When famous actor/comedian George Simmons (Sandler) discovers that he has a terminal illness, he takes a young comedian under his wing (Rogen).  As his condition worsens, he faces the harsh reality that he doesn’t really have any friends or anyone to love.  But as his condition improves, he must decide if the lessons he thought he had learned were really that important. 

    Upon hearing that Judd Apatow was going to make a film about comedy, I couldn’t wait to see what he was going to do with it.  Then I heard that he was bringing lymphoma into it and I had to do a double take.  How can you make that funny?  The answer is you can’t.  Even when visiting the doctor, and Sandler and Rogen are trying to joke with the European physician, there is such an air of discomfort that it is hard to laugh without a tear trying to make its way out.  The fact is, this film is very funny, but because of the gravity of both the illness and Simmons trying to deal with his wasted life, the laughs aren’t big, but rather more heartfelt and emotional. 

    Each of the performances here is really terrific, especially Sandler’s.  I didn’t think he could top Punch Drunk Love, and I’m still not certain he did, but he really knocks this one out of the park and Rogen comes in right behind him.  It was also great to see Leslie Mann get a chance to be in a less light-hearted role as well.

    As it happened with 40-Year-Old-Virgin and Knocked Up, as well as countless other hits he has produced over the last few years, the real star here is Apatow who seems to have put together an almost perfect combination of drama and comedy with a huge dose of reality.  It also helps that not only is his writing as strong as ever, but his directing and storytelling skills are maturing.    I’m sure we’ll see a lot more silliness coming from him in the future, but surprises like this are always welcome.

    The only weak links in the film are a couple of sequences involving Andy Dick, and then Eminem and Ray Romano that felt really out of place and should have been left out of the film entirely, and instead should have been positioned prominently on the DVD special features.  A-

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New on DVD


New on DVD

Race to Witch Mountain
Rated PG for sequences of action and violence, frightening and dangerous situations, and some thematic elements
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a struggling Vegas cabbie whose life is on auto-pilot until he picks up two kids that turn out to be aliens trying to get to their ship so that they can escape back to their home planet.  With the government and an alien assassin both trying to stop them, he must find a way to get the kids to their ship alive without getting himself killed in the process.  While it’s not a terrific film by any stretch of the imagination, it does provide lots of good action, great stunts, decent comedy, and not much time to think about how bad the acting and script are.  So while I wouldn’t have recommended it for the theaters, for home video you could do a lot worse.  B-

Fragments
Rated R for violent content, sexuality and language
Available on DVD
This straight to DVD film follows a group of intersecting lives after they have been deeply affected by a gunmen that kills several innocent people in a small town diner.  Kate Beckinsale, Forest Whitaker, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, and Guy Pearce lead this impressive all-star cast in what should have at least been afforded the chance to be a box-office dud.  It’s not that it’s a bad film.  Far from it.  The performances, script, and direction are all decent enough.  Where the film will lose its attraction for most audiences is in the tone.  This is a dark film with zero sense of humor or even a chance to take a breath.  For much of the film it’s one either dark or depressing scene after another and any sign of hope given is quickly stripped away.  B-

Obsessed
Rated PG-13 for suggestive material including some suggestive dialogue, some violence and thematic content
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Beyonce Knowles is the jealous wife of a man whose secretary has begun stalking him.  As far as I can tell the only real point of this film was to set up a cat fight between the hot black chick and the hot white chick.  I’ll admit that it’s a good fight, but you have to get through 90 minutes of bad film to get there.  Obviously this ploy worked at the box office.  In case you think I’m joking, the special feature they tout on the back of the jewel box is “Girl Fight! An Inside Look of the Cinematic Fight Sequence Between Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter.”  D

The Soloist
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some drug use and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx star in this true story about a Los Angeles newspaper reporter who befriends a homeless street performer that once attended Julliard.  While the film itself is way too preachy and real for my taste, the performances by Downey Jr. and Foxx are both remarkable.  I also enjoyed getting to meet the real life characters the film was based on in the special features section.  B

Mutant Chronicles
Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Thomas Jane (Hung) stars in this futuristic thriller about a group of mercenaries that attempt to destroy a machine that turns man into monsters.  This is B movie all the way with campy dialogue, bad acting and lots and lots of digitized blood.  But what the film lacks in acting and script, it more than makes up for in production and creativity.  I’m assuming that the movie had a minute budget, and although much of it did look very green-screened, the minds or mind that thought up the world and especially the level of details should be commended.  The steam powered ships looked remarkable and the weapons were all very original even if they didn’t exactly do the trick with the enemy they were fighting.  C

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Cape No. 7

Cape No. 7

Mandarin/Taiwanese/Japanese/English with English Subtitles
Showing at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston July 30 and 31
Contact the museum for more details (www.mfah.org/films)

    In order to prepare for the performance of a famous musician in a small Taiwan town, they put together a rock band led by a moody postal worker captivated by a stolen cache of unopened love letters from 1940s occupied Taiwan written from a Japanese man to a Taiwanese woman he was forced to leave behind.  As the letters begin to change the guitarist’s life, he begins his own romance with the band’s Japanese organizer. 

    While this is one of the most successful films to have ever come from Taiwan, I feel that the cultural rift might be a little too much for some.  I’m not saying the film is bad, but I can’t say I would recommend it highly either.  I can blame much of the confusion of the film on the bad subtitles for which I’m certain that much is lost in translation.  After all, I don’t think a love song about Skywalker would whip the crowd into a frenzy of excitement, but if it would have, then I probably just have a clear lack of cultural understanding. 

    What is most impressive about the film was the beautiful cinematography and production.  I’ve never seen Taiwan look like such a lovely tourist destination in my life.  The beaches, the people, and the street life all look incredibly enticing.  B-


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New on DVD

New on DVD

Battlestar Galactica: Season 4.5
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
I find it amazing, yet not surprising, that this spectacular series from the Sci Fi Channel was all but snubbed in the major Emmy categories this year.  I fully believe that were the exact same show aired on HBO instead of basic cable, it would have swept the nominations, but that’s a scenario that lies in an alternate universe, just as the setting for the show.  Regardless, Battlestar ended strongly with these last episodes and a finale blew its fans away.  Over the course of the last several years the series has challenged many social issues such as race, religion, gender, torture, freedom, and class in a way that no other show on television has dared.  Sure it’s science fiction, but this is not your normal brand of sci fi and has truly gathered a loyal group of followers.  Along with this season 4.5 is a new complete series set, both on blu-ray and regular dvd that will allow anyone to discover for the first time, or catch up on what they might have missed.  The blu-ray contains a special tease of the upcoming movie “The Plan,” as well as a six part retrospective of the show.  A

Fast & Furious
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexual content, language and drug references
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This fourth film in the franchise brings the team together for only the second time.  This time around Vin Diesel and Paul Walker team up to bring down a heroin kingpin, and of course race cars.  Just like the other flicks in the series, the plot is thin, the acting is weak, but the action is big.  Before you watch the movie, check out the original short film Los Bandoleros which was written and directed by Vin Diesel.  It shows that Diesel actually does have some talent hidden away in there, and not only is it a better film than Fast & Furious, but it sets the movie up so that it makes more sense in the beginning.  C

Prison Break: The Final Break
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
After the fourth and final season of Prison Break aired on Fox, they decided to make a two hour movie to tag onto the end, with one more break.  This time, Michael’s new wife Sarah is put into prison and the gang needs to get her out before she and her unborn baby die inside.  When this show first started, it was such a great program.  An architect who tattoos the blue prints of a prison on his body and gets arrested so that he can help his innocent brother escape?  It was a seriously cool premise filled with colorful characters and great plot twists.  But over four seasons and now this final soiree, the show has become a parody of itself.  The Final Break came an entire season too late.  D

Big Man Japan
Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and crude humor
Available on DVD
Japanese with English Subtitles
This mocumentary follows the life of Masaru Daisato, a not-so-normal human that has the ability to grow to an enormous size in order to protect Japan from giant monsters.  The problem is that he is lonely and depressed and unwilling to put his life on the line for his country.  His wife has left him and he is not allowed to see his child.  The people of Japan hate him for the destruction he leaves in his wake.  To make matters worse, he’s kind of a coward.  This is truly one of the weirdest films I have ever seen.  The special effects are super-cheesy, yet hysterically funny at the same time.  I found myself laughing throughout, all the time thinking that I wasn’t supposed to be.  But once I got to the random ending, I realized that the laughter I experienced was planned by the filmmakers all along.  What a strange and wonderful ride.  B