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Reviews for DVD Releases

The Strangers
Alex Florez
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By

2008/10/21 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

The Strangers

10.21.2008 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: R for violence, terror and language.
Release Date: 2008-05-30
Starring: Bryan Bertino
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.thestrangersmovie.com/

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The Strangers is a chilling horror film about a home invasion. This movie doesn’t break any new ground on a plot level, but its interesting cinematography suffuses the production with an overpowering combination of paranoia and claustrophobia. This is one of those rare horror movies that concentrates on suspense and terror rather than on gore and a high body count. By keeping the premise simple and making the small group of characters seem like genuine human beings, Bertino sets the audience up for a tense and uneasy 85 minutes.

 

It’s 4:00 am when Kristen (Liv Tyler) and James (Scott Speedman) arrive at his cabin in the woods. It has not been a good night for them – Kristen turned down his wedding proposal – but it’s about to get much worse. As they’re preparing for bed and trying to figure out how to bridge the gulf that has suddenly opened between them, there’s a knock at the door. This is the first of many such interruptions of the still night, and it isn’t long before harassment develops into something darker and more dangerous. The woods, normally empty and serene, now hold the promise of terror and death.

 

The Strangers (there are three of them) wear masks. They are simple masks but, as we know from the lesson taught by Michael Myers, even a blank white covering of the face can be terrifying in certain circumstances.

The Strangers is not a perfect motion picture, but it’s one of the horror genre’s rare recent standouts. The melodrama at the beginning is weak, failing to connect us to the characters to the degree Bertino intends, and the final shot is a bit of a cheat. 

 

The Strangers is so effectively produced that if you arrive home after a night showing to find the electricity off, you will have misgivings about going inside. Horror movies come in two categories: those that deal in supernatural creatures and those that have their roots in very real dangers. The escapism that often categorizes and distances viewers in the former is absent in productions like this. There’s pain and blood in The Strangers, but the movie is more about psychological torture than the physical variety. It’s intense but not necessarily fun and may disappoint less sophisticated horror fans. However, for die-hard supporters of unsettling peeks into the dark side of human nature, this is a welcome excursion.

The Incredible Hulk
Alex Florez
0

By

2008/10/20 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

The Incredible Hulk

10.20.2008 | By |

Rating: 3.5

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some frightening sci-fi images, and brief suggestive content.
Release Date: 2008-06-13
Starring: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://incrediblehulk.marvel.com/

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For five years, Marvel has been trying to figure out what to do with one of the biggest potential franchises of its universe. Ang Lee’s Hulk proved to be a dud with fans and producing a direct sequel was as unlikely an alternative as altogether forgoing additional Hulk movies. So the decision was made to “re-imagine” the character, which is a nice way of saying that the 2003 feature would be ignored. The Incredible Hulk is a more traditional superhero movie than its predecessor and should please those who want their not-so-jolly green giant served with helpings of action. This film provides less talk and more smashing.

 

Structurally, The Incredible Hulk is a fairly straightforward superhero movie. While it is not an “origin story” in the strictest sense, it functions as one in the way it must introduce characters, establish situations and relationships, and open a series. As a result of so much backstory, there’s not a lot of room for a complex plot. So the principal villain remains half-formed and the storyline as a whole revolves around three confrontations between the Hulk and this nemesis.

 

The film opens with a re-telling of how Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) entered his Jekyll and Hyde state. This allows the 2003 Hulk to be “erased” from the record for those who care about such things. As we join the story, Banner is in South America, on the run from himself and the military, trying to keep a low profile while he searches for a cure to what plagues him. A mishap at a factory alerts General Ross (William Hurt) to Banner’s location. A tactical team, led by the amoral Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), goes in to capture Banner. After turning into the Hulk, he escapes and heads back to the United States, where he is reunited with his former love, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). Meanwhile, the General and Emil plot a “foolproof” method of capturing Banner – one that involves injecting Blonsky with a serum that makes him superhuman.

 

The Incredible Hulk takes place in the same “universe” as Iron Man (a point that is driven home by a Robert Downey Jr. cameo), but the movies aren’t on quite the same level. Iron Man was rightfully described as a “comic book movie that you don’t have to be a comic book fan to like.” The same is not true of The Incredible Hulk. This film’s appeal, while not as narrowly focused as Sex and the City, is designed primarily with fanboys in mind. Director Louis Leterrier’s approach lacks the wit and sophistication of Iron Man. While The Incredible Hulk has some emotional resonance, it’s built on a foundation of action. When Lou Ferrigno (providing the main character’s voice) shouts “Hulk Smash!”, it encapsulates the attraction.

 

As Banner, Edward Norton takes over for Eric Bana but there’s little apparent difference in the way the character is interpreted. Banner is still the same tortured soul he was in 2003. Liv Tyler’s version of Betty Ross is surprisingly awkward and at times unconvincing, but maybe that has a lot to do with her dialogue. It’s as if George Lucas was brought in to ghost write her lines. At least there’s a real sense of affection between Banner and Betty; that goes a long way toward redeeming weaknesses in Tyler’s performance. As Blonsky, Tim Roth is at his badass best, even if all he really has to do is sneer a lot. William Hurt is fine, if a little bland, as Ross. Then there’s Downey, who’s on-screen for about 30 seconds, but steals the movie and brings down the house. That says a lot about the popularity of Iron Man and indicates how big Iron Man 2 will be.

 

The Incredible Hulk pays homage in many ways to the popular late-’70s/early-’80s TV show of the same name. In addition to providing the little-used voice of the Hulk, Ferrigno reprises his role from the 2003 movie as a nameless security guard. Bill Bixby gets a little face-time via some archival footage that’s inserted in such a way that anyone not looking for it won’t be bothered by it. There’s also a brief snippet of the TV show’s theme tune, a character named “Jack McGee,” and an iconic shot of Banner walking alone, hitchhiking. Plus, Stan Lee makes his obligatory cameo. (He and Ferrigno are the only two to appear in both Hulk and The Incredible Hulk.)

 

After a slightly protracted introduction that puts all the pieces in place, The Incredible Hulk stays action-oriented for the remainder of its running time, pausing occasionally for some exposition or to advance the Banner/Betty relationship. Granted, a lot of the action consists of chase scenes with soldiers running after Banner, but whenever the Hulk appears, things get interesting. The final battle, bits of which have been shown in TV commercials and trailers, recalls one of those Japanese monster-a-thons where giant creatures collide. And it’s a lot more kinetic (and shorter) than the climactic conflict in Transformers. The Incredible Hulk builds to this, and it doesn’t let us down.

 

The special effects used to create the Hulk aren’t flawless but they’re good enough. The CGI is evident mainly during the final battle, when it’s apparent that a lot of what we’re seeing was crafted in a computer. The word “cartoonish” comes to mind but, considering that this is adapted from a comic book, that’s not an inappropriate descriptor. The work here passes muster, and the Hulk is no longer the bright green of the 2003 feature. Letterier has rendered him in a grayish-green.

 

The Incredible Hulk provides Marvel with its second superhero hit of the summer. For comic book fans, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk represent a solid one-two punch. If the former movie was a triple, the latter is a solid single, and good enough to drive the earlier one home. Now, the wait is on for The Dark Knight, to see whether D.C. can hold its own. Certainly, Marvel has succeeded in wiping away the hangover from last summer’s crop of superhero movies and revising the future look more promising.

The Happening
Mack Chico
0

By

2008/10/07 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

The Happening

10.7.2008 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated:
Release Date: 2008-06-13
Starring: M. Night Shyamalan
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:NULL
Official Website: http://www.elincidente.es/

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M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie, The Happening, is not merely bad. It is an astonishment, so idiotic in conception and inept in execution that, after seeing it, one almost wonders whether it was real or imagined. It’s the kind of movie you want to laugh about with friends, swapping favorite moments of inanity: “Do you remember the part when Mark Wahlberg … ?” “God, yes. And what about that scene where the wind … ?”

The problem, of course, is that to have such a conversation, you’d normally have to see the movie, which I believe is an unreasonably high price to pay just to make fun of it. So rather than write a conventional review explaining why you should or shouldn’t see The Happening (trust me, you shouldn’t), I’m offering an alternative: A dozen and a half of the most mind-bendingly ridiculous elements of the film, which will enable you to marvel at its anti-genius without sacrificing (and I don’t use that term lightly) 90 minutes of your life. 

The single most absurd element of The Happening, the wellspring from which all other absurdities flow, is its conceit: Across the Northeastern United States, people are succumbing to a toxic airborne agent that makes them commit suicide, often gruesomely. At first it hits major population centers, followed by smaller towns, and on down to groups of even just a handful of people. Initially, it’s assumed to be some kind of terrorist attack. But as we learn pretty early in the film, it’s not. It’s trees. Yes, the trees (and perhaps some bushes and grass, too, the movie’s never too clear on this point) have tired of humankind’s ecological despoilment and are emitting a complicated aerial neurotoxin that makes us kill ourselves en masse. I bet you wish you were the one who came up with this blockbuster idea.

The Visitor
Alex Florez
0

By

2008/10/07 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

The Visitor

10.7.2008 | By |

Rating: 4.0

Rated: PG-13 for some strong language.
Release Date: 2008-04-11
Starring: Thomas McCarthy
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.thevisitorfilm.com/

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It’s a pleasant thing to encounter occasionally a movie in which people are portrayed as decent (if flawed) individuals. In The Visitor, there are no human villains. No one wears a black hat. The antagonist is The System – the nameless, faceless arm of a bureaucracy that flexes its muscles and crushes whoever happens to be in its grip at the time. In this case, it’s the Immigration Department, but it might be any of thousands of government and private organizations where the “human element” has been eliminated in favor of procedures. However, while the struggle against The System forms an important aspect of The Visitor, this is much more about the growth of one man who discovers that the island of solitude is a cold and lonely place.

We all know Richard Jenkins even if we don’t recognize the name. He’s a character actor who has appeared in supporting roles with increasing regularity since the early ’80s. The Visitor, written and directed by The Station Agent‘s Thomas McCarthy, gives Jenkins a rare lead part and he brings to it a mixture of pathos and wit. The chief pleasure of The Visitor is in watching Jenkins’ character, Walter Vale, grow. Jenkins never overplays the role, opting for a low-key approach that makes the one scene where Walter boils over all the more effective. A lot of heart goes into the performance; when Walter encounters something that gives him a brief flurry of happiness, we smile with him.

Walter lives alone in a suburban Connecticut home. He’s a widower and all the passion left his life with the death of his wife. He gets no joy from his work as a university professor and his attempts to find a hobby that will engage him are fruitless. He is sent to New York to present a paper and that’s where his safe, compartmentalized existence takes an unexpected turn. Entering his rarely used city apartment, Walter finds it to be lived-in. Two squatters, Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Gurira), have moved in. In the wake of a confrontation that entails much discomfort and embarrassment on both sides, Walter invites them to remain in the apartment for as long as they need to find a new place to live. And, while Zainab keeps Walter at arm’s length, the gregarious Tarek befriends him. But Tarek, who was born in Syria, and Zainab, who comes from Senegal, are in the United States illegally and, when a minor infraction lands Tarek in jail, he is scheduled for deportation.

We know how the Hollywood version of this movie would end. Al Pacino, playing Walter, would show up at the deportation hearing and give a big speech that ends with a gutsy “Hoo ha!” The Visitor, however, seeks to drain some of the fantasy element from the situation. People in real life don’t give Pacino-like speeches and, on those rare occasions when they do, those orations rarely cause any change. That’s because The System doesn’t care about pretty words or flowery speech. Terry Gilliam had it right in Brazil.

Music is an important element. It forms the initial bridge between Walter and Tarek and becomes a critical element of Walter’s re-birth. Tarek plays African drums and he gives lessons to Walter, who has been haltingly trying to play the piano. Some of Walter’s early attempts to practice provide a few chuckles but he develops into a surprisingly adept pupil. We learn that Walter’s late wife was an accomplished pianist and now he has rediscovered the joy of living through another form of music. He gives up the past, as represented by the piano, and embraces the future, as represented by the drums. The symbolism is simplistic but effective.

The Visitor might easily be called The Awakening of Walter Vale. As the movie progresses and Walter becomes more embroiled in Tarek’s cause, the film gives us longer and more frequent glimpses of the man he must have been before his wife’s death. His quasi-romantic relationship with Tarek’s mother (Hiam Abbass), which takes up the bulk of the production’s second half, is a little forced and doesn’t always ring true, but it aids in the protagonist’s revival. The Visitor ends on an ambiguous, bittersweet note, but the last scene offers a portrait that is tinged more with hope than sadness. This is a simple story of human drama that provides an incentive to spend a couple of hours in a movie theater during a spring that has not provided many such reasons.

Sleeping Beauty
Mack Chico
0

By

2008/10/07 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Sleeping Beauty

10.7.2008 | By |

Rating: 4.0

Rated:
Release Date: 2008-10-07
Starring: NULL
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: NULL

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Releasing from the Disney vault at last… and marking the first-ever Disney Classic Animated feature in high definition, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment proudly awakens Walt Disney’s original Sleeping Beauty with a spectacular 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition– on October 7, 2008, only for a limited time. Debuting on 2-Disc Blu-ray™ Hi-Def and an a 2-Disc Platinum Edition DVD, the highly-anticipated release heralds the beginning of an exciting new era for Disney’s “Platinum Edition” series allowing viewers to see more than ever before in an all-new edition that will never be seen again, and launches the all-new Disney BD-Live Network. It provides the chance for viewers to combine some of today’s most popular interactive communications platforms – chat, video messages, online interactivity, communal gaming and more – along with their most treasured home entertainment experiences. *

The royal debut of Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray also marks an industry first, as the 2-disc Blu-ray release includes a bonus standard definition DVD of the classic animated film, in the same package. This allows fans of all ages who have anxiously awaited the Platinum Edition DVD release to own the beloved family favorite on standard def DVD while they are preparing to upgrade to spectacular 1080p Hi-def Blu-ray and experience the exciting Disney BD-Live Network.

The must-own home entertainment event of the year–the Blu-ray hi-def debut of Sleeping Beauty is accompanied by the awakening of the timeless classic on a 2-disc DVD, also in a 50th Anniversary Platinum Edition. Both exciting releases are loaded with magnificent all-new bonus features for the whole family that capture the magic, fun and history of one of Walt’s greatest achievements.

Restored to dazzle new fans with its pristine picture and sound quality, the final fairy tale to be produced by Walt Disney himself, the Sleeping Beauty Platinum Edition is a spectacular widescreen event that transports viewers to a magical kingdom. Filled with romance, adventure and humor, the beloved animated classic’s 50th Anniversary release celebrates the exhaustive work of The Walt Disney Studios Restoration and Preservation team who have successfully mastered the meticulous processes of creating stunning technologically-advanced Hi-Def productions from classic footage created by Walt Disney and his team in the first golden age of animation.

One of the studio’s most ambitious undertakings, Walt Disney’s original animated Sleeping Beauty features an Academy Award® nominated score adapted from the incandescent music of Peter Tchaikovsky. Its breathtaking action sequences and extravagant musical production numbers charm adults and children as they delight at the antics of Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, the bubbly and bumbling fairy godmothers, and cheer the gallant Prince Phillip in his quest to save Princess Aurora.

An all time favorite with movie fans and animation connoisseurs, Sleeping Beauty’s original release was greeted by extraordinary reviews and packed movie theaters. Featuring the voice talents of renowned opera singer Mary Costa (as Sleeping Beauty/Aurora) and Disney stalwart Eleanor Audley (as the evil fairy, Maleficent), the film’s vibrant visuals were created by a team that included Milt Kahl and Ollie Johnston, two of Disney’s legendary Nine Old Men.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall
Mack Chico
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By

2008/10/01 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

10.1.2008 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: R for sexual content, nudity and strong language.
Release Date: 2008-04-18
Starring: Jason Segel
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.forgettingsarahmarshall.com/

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Deception
Alex Florez
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2008/09/23 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Deception

09.23.2008 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: R for brief violence and sexuality.
Release Date: 2008-04-25
Starring: Mark Bomback
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.deception-movie.com/site/index.html

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Leatherheads
Mack Chico
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By

2008/09/23 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Leatherheads

09.23.2008 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: PG-13 for some strong language.
Release Date: 2008-04-04
Starring: Duncan Brantley, Rick Reilly
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.leatherheadsmovie.com/

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Baby Mama
Mack Chico
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By

2008/09/09 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Baby Mama

09.9.2008 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated:
Release Date: 2008-04-25
Starring: Michael McCullers
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:NULL
Official Website: http://www.babymamamovie.net/

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Redbelt
Alex Florez
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By

2008/08/28 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Redbelt

08.28.2008 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: Rated R for strong language
Release Date: 2008-05-09
Starring: David Mamet
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.sonyclassics.com/redbelt/

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