Please enable javascript to view this site.

Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image Image
Select a Page

Reviews for DVD Releases

Body of Lies
Mack Chico
0

By

2009/02/17 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Body of Lies

02.17.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: R for strong violence including some torture, and for language throughout.
Release Date: 2008-10-10
Starring: William Monahan, David Ignatius (novela)
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://bodyoflies.warnerbros.com/

 Go to our film page

Three years ago, Ridley Scott‘s ill-conceived epic Kingdom of Heaven implicitly asked the question, “What would a movie about the Crusades look like if everyone in it had a 21st-century ideological outlook?” (The unsurprising answer: It would look nothing at all like the Crusades.) With Body of Lies, Scott once again turns his eye to conflict in the Middle East, though this time he wisely keeps his moral and historical frames in present-day alignment. The result is a film that, while far less muddled, still doesn’t have much new to say.

 

A former journalist Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) injured in the Iraq war is hired by the CIA Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe) to track down an Al Qaeda leader in Jordan. The movie jumps from London to Iraq to Washington to Amsterdam to Jordan, Dubai, Turkey, and Syria with box-checking diligence. There are betrayals and kidnappings and rogue operations and collateral damage. Things are not infrequently blown up. The elements of the film, in other words, will be reasonably familiar to anyone who saw Syriana or The Kingdom or Traitor or Spy Game.

 

The script, adapted by William Monaghan from a novel by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, shrewdly sticks to shades of gray; those waiting for a stark double cross that will reveal the movie’s true villain will wait in vain. DiCaprio and Crowe deliver their customary quality, even if neither shows us anything terribly fresh. (I, for one, look forward to the next role in which DiCaprio doesn’t feel a scruffy goatee is needed to confirm his postpubescence.) But the movie’s true revelation is Syriana vet Strong, who plays head of Jordanian intelligence Hani Salaam. Trim and elegant in narrow pinstripes, Salaam is crafty, charismatic, and sophisticated, with an odd but charming insistence on referring to male colleagues as “my dear.” He is a man capable of brutality when it is required, but glad to avoid it when it is not. A scene in which he administers a carrot to an al Qaeda suspect in place of the anticipated stick is perhaps the best in the film.

 

Scott directs with characteristic panache–the rapid editing and varied camera speeds, a delight in aerial surveillance shots evidently inherited from brother Tony’s Enemy of the State— but as in Kingdom of Heaven his aesthetic and political purposes are in tension: How upset can we be about a deadly explosion when Scott has labored so mightily to make it look cool? Though evidently intended to straddle the divide between action thriller and geopolitical fable, when pushed, Body of Lies tumbles into the former genre. (Its chief bid at seriousness, a confrontational colloquy with the top terrorist near the end of the film, comes across as the awkward regurgitation of a hastily swallowed subscription to The Economist.) In the end, it is an above-average entertainment, though not a terribly memorable one. By contrast, a sequel following the exploits of spymaster Hani Salaam, the George Smiley of Jordan–now that, my dear, would be something to see.

Blindness
Ted Faraone
0

By

2009/02/10 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Blindness

02.10.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: R for violence including sexual assaults, language and sexuality/nudity.
Release Date: 2008-10-03
Starring: Don McKellar
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://blindness-themovie.com/

 Go to our film page

Anyone who has problems with cinematic squalor should avoid “Bilndness”, helmer Fernando Meirelles vehicle for Julianne Moore released via Miramax.  Much of it is set in a detention center for the newly blind, a facility lacking doctors, nurses, and even janitors.  After what appears to be a couple of months, judging by Moore’s roots, it — and the cast – get pretty filthy.
 
An unexplained epidemic of blindness overcomes a deliberately unidentified cosmopolitan city.  Authorities quarantine the blind, surrounding them with trigger-happy guards.  Among the first to suffer blindness are an eye-doctor (Mark Ruffalo) and a wealthy Japanese (Yusuke Iseya).  When police arrive to arrest the eye-doctor, his wife (Julianne Moore), who can see, feigns blindness and insists on joining him in detention.  There follows a sort of Milgram Experiment in human depravity among the detainees.  Hierarchies develop.  Villains are totally villainous.  Good guys, including the characters played by Ruffalo and Moore, are at turns fearful, courageous, smart, stupid, hopeful, hopeless, resentful, and angry.  Meanwhile, the outside world collapses as blindness spreads.  We know this because an old man with an eye patch (Danny Glover) has smuggled in a radio.
 
The bad guys commandeer the food, holding it for ransom.  Once the good guys run out of valuables, the bad guys demand their women.  Moore’s character (nobody has a name) leads a revolt in a sort of perverted Lysistrata without the jokes – foreshadowed by repeated shots of a sharp scissors.
 
Meirelles directs with a sort of moral neutrality. The asylum of the blind, like much of the rest of the picture, is shot with multiple cameras to good effect. One feels more like a voyeur than part of a theater audience.  Moore gets kudos for portraying a sighted person who has to act blind to fool her captors.
 
In the final reels the captives escape detention only to find the entire city, if not the world, has succumbed to blindness.  The electricity failed, shops are looted, trains no longer run, and hungry dogs eat the dead.  Yet amid a sudden rainstorm a sort of community develops as blind people, weeks without clean water or sanitary services strip and wash in nature’s shower.  It presages an ambivalent conclusion, almost holding the mirror up to the audience.
 
“Blindness,” an adaptation of Portuguese author José Saramago’s novel by Don McKellar (who also plays a blinded thief) is not easy to watch.  Because most trappings – backstory, names, a recognizable setting, an explanation for the epidemic – in other words most of the context – are stripped away – attention is focused on a compelling if unpleasant story, which feels shorter its 120 minute length.
 
Tech credits are excellent.  Lensing by César Charlone and editing by Daniel Rezende shine.  Special mention goes to production designers Matthew Davies and Tulé Peak.  Pic is rated R due to nudity (the blind can’t see each other naked), sex, and violence.

Nights in Rodanthe
Ted Faraone
0

By

2009/02/10 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Nights in Rodanthe

02.10.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: PG-13 for some sensuality.
Release Date: 2008-09-26
Starring: Ann Peacock, John Romano, Nicholas Sparks (novela)
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA, Australia
Official Website: http://nightsinrodanthe.warnerbros.com/

 Go to our film page

“Nights in Rodanthe” could have been a world class chick flick on the order of “Now Voyager.”  It has everything going for it:  Beautiful photography, a tear-jerker plot, and a great cast.  Instead it barely makes the “Lifetime Original Movie” cut.  The adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ eponymous novel (by Ann Peacock and John Romano) squeezes every moment of angst and despair until the audience cries “uncle.”
 
Diane Lane as Adrienne Willis, mother of two, separating from womanizing Jack (Chris Meloni), delivers a nuanced performance that aspires to Vanessa Redgrave’s territory.  Richard Gere as middle-aged Dr. Paul Flanner neatly captures the emotional disconnection, impatience, and intellectual arrogance of many successful careerists.  Viola Davis (Jean) as Adrienne’s sexy best friend steals her every scene.  Lensing by Affonso Beato is top notch, and a hurricane, which marks pic’s turning point, is so real that one wants to run for higher ground.
 
A coincidence puts Adrienne and Paul together as sole residents of a beachfront inn on the island of Rodanthe on the outer banks of North Carolina.  Adrienne gave up a promising career as an artist to marry Jack.  Paul abandoned surgery after losing a patient on the table.  He’s at the inn because of a summons to the island from the dead patient’s husband (Ted Manson).  She’s there because she promised to spell Jean, who is off to Miami.  His family has fallen apart.  Hers is in danger of doing so.  The pair fall for each other.  Paul heads to South America to re-connect with his son, a physician, who runs a clinic for the poor – after a contrived emotional showdown with Adrienne over his handling of the widower.
 
The rest of the story is told through love letters and another contrived scene:  Paul misses a dinner date with Adrienne on his return from South America.  The next morning she answers her door to find Paul’s son (James Franco) with a box of his dad’s belongings.  Franco’s voiceover of sepia tinted scenes of dad working with him in the mountain clinic (culminating in a fatal mudslide) could have ended the flick.  Instead, it goes on for another agonizing reel, in which Adrienne’s despair is milked dry.  Blame helmer George C. Wolfe and editor Brian A. Kates.  Not even Lane can lift the platitudinous dénouement off the ground.  All main characters are redeemed, but at what a cost!  And it is borne by the audience.
 
But wait!  There’s more!  A final scene appears to have been tacked on in the interest of a happy ending.  It is set up by a couple of script references to wild horses on Rodanthe.  They appear not a moment too soon.
 
The 97 minute Warner Bros. release carries a PG-13 rating due to some sexual content.

The Lucky Ones
Jack Rico
0

By

2009/01/27 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

The Lucky Ones

01.27.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.5

Rated: R for language and some sexual content.
Release Date: 2008-09-26
Starring: Neil Burger, Dirk Wittenborn
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.theluckyonesmovie.com/

 Go to our film page

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, and probably never will again, but this is one of those rare times that I found a soldier film to be ‘delightfully lovable’. Yes, I said it. It is due in part to an endearing story concocted by director/writer Neil Burger and a great group of actors who turned on the charm.

In ‘The Lucky Ones’, three wounded soldiers come back from the war cherishing to return to a life of normalcy, or at least what is left of it. With flight delays threatening to hinder their plans, they rent a car to St. Louis where they hope the city’s airport will have a batch of planes ready to depart to Las Vegas. The road trip back home is where the true journey begins for these three servicemen.

Tim Robbins is a wonderful every-man’s actor. He manages to capture the reality of daily living in all his characters. Michael Peña continues to deliver solid performances demonstrating a range of emotion in his roles, even if they are confined in lawmen and soldier characters. I mustn’t dismiss though, the unexpectedly comical, yet solemn performance of Rachel McAdams, who in my mind, was the star of the film. I would dare say, this is an Oscar nominated performance. She is not known for her comic timing, nor delivering amusing lines with deadpan expressions, but McAdams not only proved she is actually funny, she showed she can carry and steal a movie from under the nose of a proven veteran actor such as Robbins.

If you are feeling lucky and in the mood for a small, independent, but very good film in the tradition of Little Miss Sunshine, do yourself a favor and see ‘The Lucky Ones’.

Pride and Glory
Jack Rico
0

By

2009/01/27 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Pride and Glory

01.27.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: R for strong violence, pervasive language and brief drug content.
Release Date: 2008-10-24
Starring: Joe Carnahan, Gavin O’Connor
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.prideandglorymovie.com/

 Go to our film page

 

‘Pride and Glory’ is one of the better cop films to come out in a long time. It’s still not as good as the films from the 70’s, but it can sure pack a punch in the drama and acting department. The choice of using the streets of Washington Heights and a large urban latino cast, gave the film its grit and authenticity. The film even gave us a return to Spanish speak for Ed Norton since his early work in ‘Keep the Faith’.

This story is centered around a family of New York City Police officers. The family’s moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney (Edward Norton), investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law (Colin Farrell). For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora’s Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.

The last two good cop films I saw were ‘Narc’ with Ray Liotta and ‘Gone Baby Gone’ starring Casey Affleck, Ed Harris and Morgan Freeman. Yes, I’m not mentioning ‘The Departed’ since it wasn’t that good and you know it. Since then, every film of that nature has been monotonous, recycled and just plane ol’ stale. They just don’t make them like they used to back in the 70’s. Movies such as Bullit, Serpico, The French Connection, have stood the test of time and set the measuring bar way too high for any to reach, just ask Pacino who has not been able to replicate his own successes.

Nevertheless, Pride and Glory is darn good, I wouldn’t call it great just because I can’t see Ed Norton being a bad ass cop. As great an actor as he is, there are just somethings I can’t see him in and this is one of them. Jon Voight does his typical solid work and Farrell does his best job in years.

The performances of the Latino cast in the film composed of John Ortiz, Manny Perez, Ramon Rodriguez, Rick Gonzalez and Max Hernández were credible and sound. I particularly like the work of John Ortiz who keeps on getting better with time.

‘Pride and Glory’ is worth your time and money at the movies this weekend. It’ll remind you of a time when cop movies were something to be excited about. Let’s hope Hollywood keeps them coming.

RocknRolla
Jack Rico
0

By

2009/01/27 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

RocknRolla

01.27.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: R for pervasive language, violence, drug use and brief sexuality.
Release Date: 2008-10-31
Starring: Guy Ritchie
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:England
Official Website:

 Go to our film page

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Alex Florez
0

By

2009/01/27 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

01.27.2009 | By |

Rating: 3.5

Rated: PG-13 for mature thematic material involving sexuality, and smoking.
Release Date: 2008-08-15
Starring: Woody Allen
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA, Spain
Official Website: http://vickycristina-movie.com/

 Go to our film page

Not so long ago, New York based director (at that time, anyway) Woody Allen once confessed to us that the reason there are never any prominent hispanic characters in any of his films is because he sticks to what he knows.  Meaning of course, old Jewish families, upper class Manhattanites and chaotic love affairs that usually flirt with death.  So what does Allen now know about Catalonia and Spanish culture in general that prompts him to set his latest film on the mediterranean coast? Other than that they will finance his films?

To answer my own question, I think the appeal for Allen has been the idea that such sexual promiscuity and emotional confusion also exists outside the realm of New York and in practically every single corner of the globe.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona, his first and most likely last film to be set in Spain, pits Scarlett Johansson (Cristina) and Rebecca Hall (Vicky) as two American friends who decide to spend their summer in Barcelona.  Cristina, more of a wandering spirit, is always on the lookout for adventure, while Vicky on the other hand, is much more sensible and committed to her fiance back home.

But their radically different attitudes towards love are tested when they meet Spanish painter Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) and his volatile ex-wife Maria Elena (Penélope Cruz).

A case can be made that Allen has made this same film 35 times over (excluding the ‘early funny ones’). As usual, you’ll find plenty of sarcasm, infidelity and yes, a few rounds fired from a gun.  But the plot only sizzles when Penelope Cruz joins the cast.  Her turbulent behavior is wildly reminiscent of Judy Davis’ brilliant performance in Allen’s Deconstructing Harry (1997). 

Unfortunately, in this film, Cruz is the catalyst for an event that never arrives. The sense that something absurd, tragic and utterly hilarious would take place in the end, the way it did in Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) for instance, kept building throughout the film. Instead, it moves right along, one lustful scene after another, wondering what sort of statement it wants to make about ‘love’ that it hasn’t already.

 Then there’s the mysterious voice over which threads the film together. Totally unnecessary given that it doesn’t really explain anything nor does it provide any insight from an omniscient point of view.

The movie’s funniest moments, without question, rely on the chemistry between Bardem and Cruz, giving way to the little momentum the film manages at times – making Johansson and Hall seem out of touch with the whole ‘Woody Allen genre’.

Hispanics however, will marvel at how well Allen’s neurotic language translates in Spanish. While most of the film is spoken in English, the few scenes where Bardem and Cruz exchange a few words in, are hysterical.  More evidence that these days, the international community seems to get Woody more than we do.

Lakeview Terrace
Mack Chico
0

By

2009/01/27 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Lakeview Terrace

01.27.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: PG-13 for intense thematic material, violence, sexuality, language and some drug references.
Release Date: 2008-09-19
Starring: David Loughery, Howard Korder
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/lakeviewterrace/

 Go to our film page

Lakeview Terrace is the latest thriller from Neil LaBute. LaBute began his filmmaking career with the scathing In the Company of Men, but his previous effort was the deservedly reviled remake of The Wicker Man. While Lakeview Terrace isn’t as horrendous as The Wicker Man, it’s nowhere close to the level LaBute attained with his debut. The first two-thirds of Lakeview Terrace offer a little more subtlety and complexity than the seemingly straightforward premise would afford, but the climax is loud, dumb, generic, and over-the-top. Those hoping for something more interesting will be disappointed by the level to which the filmmaker stoops to get an unearned visceral rush. In pandering to Hollywood standards about how stories like this should unfold, LaBute has lost his edge.

The story goes like this: a young couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their interracial relationship. A stern, single father, this tightly wound LAPD officer (Samuel L. Jackson) has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly harassing to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives ultimately turn tragic when the couple decides to fight back.

The film’s last fifteen minutes are so over-the-top that they’re almost impossible to take seriously and Abel’s motivation during a critical sequence near the conclusion is difficult to fathom. It’s the kind of thing that results from a screenwriter not knowing how to end a movie. Considering that the screenwriter in question is David Loughery, the man who was in part responsible for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising. Meanwhile, Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are okay as the couple in the crossfire but, in comparison to Jackson, they’re boring. That’s the problem with sharing the screen with a man who’s a force of nature.

There are times when Lakeview Terrace seems to be striving for something more interesting than the basic “cop from hell” movie, but any pretensions it may have of escaping this orbit come crashing down as the script veers more and more into generic territory. Going in, you might think you know how it’s going to end, and you’d probably be right. If LaBute sews some doubts along the way, it’s a testament to the way the first half of the film is constructed. It’s too bad the movie’s moderately intriguing qualities are buried under the final half-hour’s avalanche of predictability.

Max Payne
Mike Pierce
0

By

2009/01/19 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Max Payne

01.19.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: PG-13 for violence including intense shooting sequences, drug content, some sexuality and brief strong language.
Release Date: 2008-10-17
Starring: Sam Lake, Shawn Ryan
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.maxpaynethemovie.com

 Go to our film page

Well, I went to the movies over the weekend. Hmmmm, what can I say about Max Payne?
 
It was a PAINNNN to watch!
 
Don’t get me wrong…I am a huge fan of Mark Wahlberg…I see everything he is in…I think Mila Kunis is hot…but…come on now…when I saw the preview…I was so pumped…I was like, “Oh yeah – Marky Mark’s going to kick some demon angel ass!!!”
 
I WAS WRONG!!!
 
Hmmm…it started off slow…then you think it’s going to get going…then it slows down…it did that a lot. I hated the fact that I saw all the good parts on the TV commercials. I hate when movie’s do that. (Total bummer!) Bastards! I thought it was going to be like Constantine…now that was a kick butt flick! I mean, didn’t it seem like there was going to be some kick ass angels in it? Yessssss…but….noooooooooo…that’s not what you get!!
 
Another thing that killed it for me was…Ludacris. I don’t think he belonged in that role. I didn’t believe his acting. It was actually kind of cheesy. Would anyone agree?
 
There were a few things I liked about it. Miss Mila – she’s hot – I know I said it before…but, she kept me watching the movie. I wish she would have kicked a little more butt though. The special EFX were dope. But, that’s about it.
 
If you haven’t seen it yet – just wait to Netflix it. Don’t bother wasting your cash.

Saw V
Jack Rico
0

By

2009/01/19 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Saw V

01.19.2009 | By |

Rating: 2.0

Rated: R for sequences of grisly bloody violence and torture, language and brief nudity.
Release Date: 2008-10-24
Starring: Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.saw5.com/site/index.html

 Go to our film page

 

SAW V is the worst film in the franchise’s history, yet it’s disturbing, gory, parody of itself maintains an appeal like no other in its ilk. Bad acting, a ‘horror’ of a script dialogue, all add to the mystique of why we as a collective mass of movie goers flock to films of this nature.

Jigsaw is dead and Detective Strahm is trying to get to the bottom of who is continuing his deranged games.

SAW movies are no longer frightening, they are just living off of their reputation from the first two. Director David Hackl reduces the bloodshed compared to it’s previous incarnations and in this fifth installment he delivers more of a character driven feature, leaving us more time to be engaged by the actor’s skills – why would you put us through such a thing!?

Nevertheless, the inventiveness of how to kill people is amped in this sequel; from homemade nail bombs to guillotine contraptions.

If you’re looking for a fright, save your money on SAW 5 and rent The Strangers on DVD. That has more of what you’re looking for. It was created to scare the skin off of you through a slow build of suspense that keeps you screaming to the very end.

Follow SBC

Select a Page