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New on DVD

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.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Rated R for violence
Available on Blu-ray
Widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly makes its debut on Blu-ray in bold fashion.  This gritty spaghetti western teams Clint Eastwood, Eli Wallach, and Lee Van Cleef as an uneasy trio attempting to find a large stash of gold buried in a remote cemetery.  This new fully-restored extended version looks and sounds great and has loads of extra documentaries and even a commentary by noted cultural historian Christopher Frayling.  I especially loved the featurette on legendary composer Ennio Morricone.  A+

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New on DVD

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


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Rudo y Cursi

Rudo y Cursi

Starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna
Directed by Carlos Cuaron
Rated R for pervasive language, sexual content and brief drug use
Appropriate for ages 17+
Spanish language with English subtitles

    Two very competitive brothers working as banana farmers in rural Mexico get the opportunity of a lifetime when a Soccer talent scout discovers their skills and signs them up for the pros.  Tato (Bernal) is an excellent offensive player that gains a reputation for being an aggressive scorer.  Beto (Luna), on the other hand, is a goalie with a shut-out record on an opposing team.  When it comes time to face off against each other, they must decide which is most important: family or football career.

    In 2001, an independent film named Y Tu Mama Tambien put Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, director Alfonso Cuaron and writer Carlos Cuaron on the map.  Everyone involved in that film went on to much bigger and better things.  Bernal and Luna have went on to star in many big-budget American and international films.  Alfonso went on to direct Harry Potter 3 and Children of Men.  So no doubt it’s a big deal for the Latin world that the team was brought together again for another little independent film. 

    I’d like to say that this new film is as good as their last outing, but with expectations high, results came in low.  It most certainly is not a bad film though.  The acting is as good as can be expected and the deliveries bring many laughs and cringes at the appropriate moments.  With the part of the story that is most important – sibling rivalry – the script and directing are very good.  Where the writing and directing fail is almost everywhere else.  The relationships of the lead characters to the outside world are awkward at best.  The extras are poorly directed throughout and the pacing is off in way too many scenes.  The film almost feels undone or at least unorganized.  Also, I find it very funny that there is absolutely no sports action in this sports film.  Still, there is a strong chemistry between Bernal and Luna that makes the film at least a little entertaining.  C+

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New on DVD

New on DVD

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Rated R for bloody violence and some sexuality
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
This prequel to the original Underworld series sets up the story of the first half-werewolf half-human lycan named Lucian (Frost/Nixon’s Michael Sheen) and the war the lycans begin with their slave-master vampires lead by Viktor (Love Actually’s Bill Nighy).  I have the same criticism for this third film in the the series that I did for the first two: this would be a great movie with more money.  With a big studio to back these films, they could have something on a grand level.  The story is pretty good, and the actors are very talented.  More money would bring a better director and special effects worthy of this project.  Still, I think this film can still be appreciated for what it is.  B-

Taken
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence, disturbing thematic material, sexual content, some drug references and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Liam Neeson is an ex-CIA operative whose daughter has been kidnapped in Europe and forced into the sex trade.  Realizing that there is only a short amount of time before he loses her forever, he flies to Paris and kills everyone that has ever come into contact with her.  I believe that this film had real potential as a thriller.  After all, it’s about a father trying to save his little girl’s life and that can bring out some very strong emotions.  I was disappointed in the film primarily because it is a Rated R film posing as a PG-13 picture.  This really gets in the way of the film’s integrity.  Also, I thought that the involvement of the mother and stepfather was ludicrously absent throughout.  There were also some major script problems that I don’t want to discuss due to possibly spoiling it for some folks.  This film did make a lot of money though ($217 million world-wide) so audiences obviously found something in it that they liked.  C

The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin: The Complete Series
Unrated – Made for television
Available on DVD
This 1970’s BBC comedy tells the story of Reginald Perrin, an unhappy man going through a mid-life crisis.  He is deeply bored with work and hasn’t had a holiday in years.  He is in love with his wife, but dreams of an affair with his secretary.  One day he decides he has had enough, fakes his suicide, and disappears.  When he desires his old life again, he assumes a new identity and attempts to re-enter his old life through a new persona.  This very ambitious three season comedy had me in stitches with its dry British wit and off-the-wall sense of humor.  A-

Taking Chance
Unrated – suitable for all audiences
Available on DVD
Based on real events, Lt. Col. Michael Strobl (Kevin Bacon) volunteers to escort fallen marine Chance Phelps from Delaware to his home in rural Wyoming.  Along the way he sees an America that is touched by the sacrifice the marine has made and meets the many people whose lives were effected by this young man’s death.  There is no real drama here, but rather a simple, short story that almost feels like a nicely produced reenactment on what goes on behind the scenes when a soldier dies overseas.  While it is not a compelling feature film, it is a very moving, patriotic story that I am glad was told.  I will warn you, though, that it is an impossible feat to watch this film without crying.  And to make the tears fall even harder, check out the special features section with accompanying interviews from Chance’s family and fellow Marines.  A-

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Star Trek

Star Trek

Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and Eric Bana
Directed by J.J. Abrams (Mission Impossible 3)
Rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content
Appropriate for ages 10+ (but just try to keep a younger boy away from this)

    This prequel to the original Star Trek series and movies begins with Kirk and Spock (Pine and Quinto) both as children and as rivals when they come to work together on the USS Enterprise.  The enemy this time is Nero (Bana), a Romulan warlord from a different dimension determined to destroy Earth in order to avenge the destruction of his own planet.

    It was apparent that the life had been stripped out of the Star Trek series until JJ Abrams and crew decided to reinvent it.  While there had been ten movies before this one, none had ever been as successful as Star Wars, Close Encounters or other big-budget sci-fi films.  Star Trek was kind of considered a genre within the genre.  A sci-fi movie for nerds only (it’s ok – I’m a nerd – I can say that).  But this categorization is not what Abrams wanted, because he didn’t fit in that category.  So with this new reimagining, he is hoping to pull Star Trek out of that box-office graveyard and into true blockbuster status – and I think that he just might have done it. 

    The TV ad says proudly “This is not your father’s Star Trek,” and I, for one, agree.  The first difference you will notice, if you’ve seen the old films, is that the special effects and production design show a huge improvement.  That makes sense considering that the most expensive of the films was Nemesis, with a budget of $60 million, and this budget is estimated at a whopping $150 million.  The first ten films always had a cheap look to them compared to other sci-fi films of their days.  This new creation is truly state-of-the-art.  Everything about it is big and beautiful, and you could tell that the limits were pushed. 

    The next difference you will see is in the acting.  The original cast was iconic, and therefore the bad acting was somewhat forgivable.  With the Next Generation came a new crew with better actors, but it still felt like bigger budget TV.  This new cast brings with it much more talent and with that talent – a breath of fresh air.  Pine and Quinto make for a terrific Kirk and Spock, and adding John Cho (Harold and Kumar) as Sulu and Simon Pegg (Hot Fuzz) as Scotty was a touch of genius.  And I can’t think of a better Dr. McCoy than Karl Urban who managed to steal scene after scene.  Lastly, Eric Bana made for a truly terrifying baddie as Nero.  It might help that the writing here by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Transformers) is better than what the casts have had to work with in the past, but I’d still give a ton of credit to this cast and I can’t wait to see them in future installments. 

    One thing this new installment has in common with the others (at least the first couple of films) is a great score.  Composer Michael Giacchinno (Ratatouille) creates a grand original score that is sure to be one of the best-selling soundtracks of the year.  From the forceful french horns in the beginning to the homage to the original series at the end, this is one great piece of music. 

    The only slight criticism I have here is that there is just a little too much Leonard Nimoy in this film.  I was lead to believe he had a cameo, but his part is much larger than that description.  I realize that Abrams might have been trying to keep the Trekkies happy, but a little Nimoy could have gone a long way.

    Overall, while I admit to being a nerd, I have never been a Trekkie.  This film might have converted me.  A

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New on DVD

New on DVD

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Rated PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) is born into the world as an old man.  Over the course of a lifetime he ages in reverse, while all the while trying to connect with the people that come into his life.  This epic tale by director David Fincher (Fight Club) and screenwriter Eric Roth (Forest Gump) takes on so many genres that it’s hard to categorize.  It’s probably first and foremost a drama, but it is also very romantic, extremely funny, and it has a fantasy feel to it.  Everything about this film screams Oscar, however, with Slumdog Millionaire as its competition, the only trophies it took home on the big night were for make-up, visual effects, and art direction.  This, however, doesn’t make me adore the film any less.  After the dust has settled, I still consider it to be the best film of 2008, and a must own for 2009.  A+

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Starring Hugh Jackman, Liev Schriber, and Danny Huston
Directed by Gavin Hood (Tsotsi)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, and some partial nudity
Appropriate for ages 13+

    As you may recall from the first two X-Men films, Wolverine has a problem remembering his past, thus Marvel Comics has brought us this prequel to explain how Logan became Wolverine, one of the most famous of super heroes.  In the mid 1800s Logan (Jackman) and his brother Victor (Schriber) both discover that they have uncanny powers of self-healing and retractable claws.  Together they fight in war after war, decade after decade.  When they kill an officer in a skirmish and a military firing squad is unable to harm them, they are put into a special forces unit with other mutants, doing the dirty work for Uncle Sam.  When Logan refuses to act on an order and walks away from a mission, his brother (who is now called Sabretooth) sets out to destroy him.

    Going into the X-Men franchise almost a decade ago, the one hero comic fans wanted to see the most from the group was Wolverine, and much of the first two films was about him, so giving him his own origin movie is a good, if not profitable, idea.  In order to give Wolverine more depth, the filmmakers did something unusual by going to South African director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) who has never directed a tent pole picture.  While this has worked in the past with directors like Christopher Nolan and Peter Jackson, this film felt a bit sloppy at times, almost like Hood was in over his head a bit.  Too much of the film looked green-screened and the pacing was off in many of the scenes.  I’m sure Fox was in control of most of the big action sequences, and some of them are spectacular sequences, but it’s the slower scenes that stick out.  If you are seeing this just for the action, however, there is enough to keep you excited throughout.

    Looking at the amount of writers that have been assigned this project, it is apparent that Fox and Marvel had script issues also.  Too often did characters do or say things that they probably wouldn’t have done or said had the situations actually been happening (I can’t prove this point, but I’m working on it).  What I can say for sure is that the plot devices used here to maintain continuity between this film and the first X-Men could have and should have been different.  Due to spoilers, this is a conversation for after everyone in America has seen the film.

    What did work well in the film are the terrific performances from the lead actors.  Jackman and Schriber are incredibly gifted actors and they both are very fun to watch here.  Danny Huston also makes a weaselly good Stryker, although he wasn’t quite as strong in this role as Brian Cox was in X2.

    I usually don’t comment on this in my reviews, but I’d like to criticize Fox for their paranoia surrounding this film.  I have been doing this a long time and I’ve never seen this much defensiveness from a studio.  It is unfortunate that an unfinished copy of the film leaked before it was released, but to be this worried is ridiculous.  The studios claimed that when a copy of the Hulk got out a few years back, it cost the movie millions at the box office.  I call bull on that.  How about the fact that Hulk wasn’t a very good film.  I think that the recent successes of Spiderman, Batman, Iron Man, and X-Men prove that when Hollywood provides a quality product, people will come – in droves.  If the reviews of Wolverine come in strong, and the public likes it – it will make a lot of money.  If not, it won’t.  This much concern gives off the aroma of a bad film, and while it’s not brilliant, this movie is far from horrible.  C+

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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+

Notorious
Rated R for pervasive language, some strong sexuality including dialogue, nudity, and for drug content
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Notorious follows the life of Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, from his drug-dealing days on the streets of New York, to his super stardom in the hip hop world, to his death at the young age of 24.  The film plays like a reenactment of pop-culture history with huge production values.  First-time actor Jamal Woolard is phenomenal as B.I.G., bringing both empathy and disappointment upon a character I knew very little about till now.  The film could have shown how great the life was, but instead it showed how great it could have been – a message that I’m sure he wish he had gotten earlier.  B+

Sin City
Rated R for sustained strong stylized violence, nudity and sexual content including dialogue
Available on Blu-ray
This series of uber-violent vignettes from Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller finally gets the Blu-ray treatment with this two-disc set that includes both the theatrical and recut, extended, unrated version.  Of course the films look terrific in HD, but it’s the special features I love the most in this set.  Check out the ten-minute-long green screen version of the film as well as Robert’s cooking school where he teaches you how to make an amazingly tasty-looking breakfast taco from scratch.  A-

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Battle for Terra

Battle for Terra

Starring the voice talent of Evan Rachel Wood, Justin Long, and Luke Wilson
Directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas
Rated PG for sequences of sci-fi action violence and some thematic elements
Appropriate for ages 8+

    The native intelligent life forms of the planet Terra are peaceful beings with only the desire to learn and create.  When humans in search of a suitable planet show up, they bring war to the Terrians and the natives must learn to fight back against these aliens or be annihilated. When a rebellious teenager named Mala befriends one of the human soldiers, the two become the last hope for her species. 

    Being the sci-fi junkie that I am, I have to give this movie points for guts and originality.  The filmmakers here created a beautiful, strange world with eye-popping visual effects.  I found the life on the planet to be fascinating, although I would have liked to have seen more of the world than the few species and locales shown here.  Story-wise though, the premise was well-conceived and the tale well-executed.  Having humans as the villains in an alien invasion flick (and no, I don’t count The Day the Earth Stood Still) is a brilliant touch.  Not only does it send an eco-friendly message to the audience, but it is very believable as well, at least in regard to human nature. 

    I highly recommend that you watch this film in its 3D version rather than the 2D due to the immersive experience.  The 3D isn’t as stunning as Bolt, but works as well or better than Monsters Vs. Aliens.

    What doesn’t work for the film is its simplicity.  The film is roughly eighty minutes and while it packs a lot of story, it could have been a tad more complex.  The only Terrian you get to know well is Mala, and I am certain that more time with her world would have been a wise investment. 

    As for the kids, it’s a darker film than most of them are used to, but should be fine for most.  The thing I like about it is that the adults will enjoy this movie with or without the children.  If it weren’t an independent film, I’d predict it to be a contender for the animation Oscar at the end of the year, but we’ll see how much money Lionsgate puts behind it.  B+

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New on DVD


New on DVD

Frost/Nixon
Rated R for some language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
In 1977, three years after leaving office, President Richard Nixon agreed to sit down and air it out with little-known British TV personality David Frost.  Nixon thought that Frost would be an easy interview.  History shows he was was wrong.  Ron Howard’s Oscar-nominated film tells the fascinating story of this historic event.  With amazing acting, writing, and production, this is a film that is a must watch now that it is hitting DVD.  The history buffs out there will appreciate the hours of historical extras on the Blu-ray version, including archival interview footage not found on the DVD release.  A

Caprica
Unrated but intended for adults
Available on DVD
Now that the epic television series Battlestar Galactica is over with (and my how impressive it was), the folks responsible decided to make a prequel movie of sorts for the Sci-Fi Channel that looks at life on the planet Caprica more than 50 years before the events of the series.  This movie, starring Eric Stoltz, follows a scientist that tries to communicate with his daughter after she has been killed by a terrorist attack.  When he discovers that she still exists in a cyber world of her creation, he attempts to do anything he can to bring her back.  If you are fan of the show, you will most likely love this spin-off story.  It is well-written, well-acted, and the production values make it look much more expensive than it could have been.  While this is only the kick-off for a future series on the sci-fi channel, it plays well enough by itself in this format.  B