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Reviews for DVD Releases

Dinner for Schmucks
Karen Posada
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2011/01/06 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Dinner for Schmucks

01.6.2011 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of crude and sexual content, some partial nudity and language.
Release Date: 2010-07-30
Starring: David Guion, Michael Handelman
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.dinnerforschmucks.com/

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One thing I can say about Dinner for Schmucks is that it was well developed. It is not sloppy in a way a lot of comedies tend to get, but it is a bit too long for a comedy. It was funny although its humor is not clever, it is more ridiculous and idiotic than anything. Nonetheless, it will make you laugh and maybe even crack up a few times. I wouldn’t rush to the movie theater to watch it, waiting for it on DVD would be the smarter option. It is inspired by a French comedy Le Dîner de Cons, which was quite successful.

The movie develops with Tim Conrad (Paul Rudd) who is working hard to get a promotion and making his almost perfect life completely perfect. He steps to the plate when one of the main guys at his office is fired and he is offered his position after a bold presentation; the catch is that he has to join his boss and the other big shots at a secret dinner to get the new position. This isn’t just any dinner, everyone must bring an extraordinary person a.k.a schmuck meaning idiot and whomever brings the most strangest specimen wins; while their idiot gets a trophy and is “released back into the wild”. Tim’s better half, whom he’s proposed to several times Julie (Stephanie Szostak) is appalled when Tim tells her what he has to do and she puts some sense into him. Unfortunately, by a chance encounter Tim is blessed with one of these rare people, Barry Speck (Steve Carell) and he is not able to turn away from this easy opportunity. Barry is an amateur taxidermist, he uses dead mice to create art pieces and his naivety pushes him over the edge to idiocy.

Barry takes over Tim’s life, he’s trying to help him but he ends up destroying every aspect of Tim’s life and plans. The more Barry “helps” the worse things get for Tim. The easy promotion is not so easy anymore. Barry forces his friendship upon Tim and teaches him that nothing is more important that sticking to one’s values and appreciating someone for who they are.

I don’t believe Steven Carell to be one of the funniest comedians of today, in this role he is the same character as in Anchorman and a bit less clever than his character in The office. The same goes for Rudd, he’s always the passive aggressive guy with a girlfriend that has to put up with the dummy. Although these are not refreshing roles for them they do fill the shoes well, Carell does a great innocent idiot. Another comedian that appears here and always does a great psycho is Zach Galifianakis. Finally, Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Concords completes the movie with his wild character.

If you’ve seen director Jay Roach‘s work such as Meet the Parents and the Austin Powers movies then you probably know what to expect. It is not a hilarious movie, except for a couple of scenes/jokes but it will give you a good giggle all throughout with its silliness and absurdity. If you want to watch a witty comedy then this would be the wrong movie to choose.

Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D
Jack Rico
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2010/12/28 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D

12.28.2010 | By |

Rating: 2.5

Rated: R for sequences of strong violence and language.
Release Date: 2010-09-10
Starring: Paul W.S. Anderson
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/residentevilafterlife/

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I have seen some really putrid films in my life (i.e: Punisher: War Zone, Miss March, All About Steve, I Love You Beth Cooper, Year One, to name just a few). ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’ is not one of them. It is a highly stylized movie that borders on the absurd, yet it has moments of pure entertaining 3D sci-fi action bliss.

This time around, Alice (Milla Jovovich) fights off mean deadheads and continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to Arcadia, a safety zone somewhere in the Arctic.

This is the fourth installment of the Resident Evil series and it can still deliver a good dose of action. This one, unfortunately, didn’t indulge as much in that department as the previous efforts. We got more dialogue than needed. The 3D experience was top notch though and it made up for the sluggish and sedate middle act. It was definitely the highlight. If you are still interested in seeing the film after this review and were wondering on spending a few more extra dollars to see it in 3D, I say go for it. It is money well spent.

As for the rest of the film, let’s be honest – you don’t go see these films for their cinematic achievement. You go see it to laugh with your buddies at the ridiculous over the top posing done by B and C list actors (obviously requested by the B director). Oh and yes, how could I continue without mentioning the obligatory relentless mass killings, death defying jumps, inconceivable far-fetched escapes and slow motion backflips. A great example of those delicious and ludicrous, cheezy, risible scenes include Ali Larter’s character Claire Redfield. She flees a giant wielding axman to only do a backflip at the last second, against a wall, and land perfectly on the floor with a smile as if she was posing for a Maxim magazine cover – oh wait, didn’t she already do one of those? Nevertheless, that scene alone merited a hearty laugh out loud moment on my behalf. There were a plethora of those scenes throughout the film that doomed it from being the best of the four. But alas, this is the type of movie that Paul W.S. Anderson creates. Interestingly enough, he was the director of the first Resident Evil film.

 

Perhaps one of the most laughable characters of the film was Albert Wesker – the villain. I’m not sure if actor Shawn Roberts was deliberately trying to do his best Agent Smith impression from the Matrix movies or what, but it was embarrassing. Once again, I laughed, laughed, laughed every time he came on the screen. Be original for christ sakes! Then there is the issue with the token Latino (Sergio Peris-Mencheta) and black guy (Boris Kodjoe). From those two, I dare you to take a wild guess at who dies and who lives. Most likely your first gut answer is right.

Yes, most of this review harps on the bad. But as you can tell, the bad is adjoined with laughter, good laughter that serves a purpose – to escape reality for a bit and share the lampooning with your friends. ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’ is a good bad movie. Go see it and stay for the credits – there is a surprise if you’ve seen the previous three parts.

Salt
Karen Posada
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2010/12/21 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Salt

12.21.2010 | By |

Rating: 4.0

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action.
Release Date: 2010-07-23
Starring: Kurt Wimmer, Brian Helgeland
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/salt/

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Salt is THE summer’s action flick. No other actress can do an action film like Angelina Jolie, she gives an amazing performance in this one. We haven’t seen a movie by her since Wanted and that was pretty much a preview to what you can expect from her in Salt. The script was made originally for a male lead, it is rumored that Tom Cruise turned it down, which is a good thing because I doubt a male lead would have made it as successful. The movie will keep you guessing the entire running time up to the end. The one question running through your mind at every turn of the movie is: how will she get out of this one?

Since the beginning we realize that CIA officer Evelyn Salt (Jolie) is a tough female, the movie begins with her capture by the North Korean government, they try to beat the loyalty out of her, but can’t. We shortly meet Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber)her boss at the CIA and friend, he’s along on her side throughout most of the movie trying to help her. After we get a brief backstory on Salt’s life both the private and professional sides of it, we are in Washington D.C. in CIA headquarters where we meet Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor). As a CIA counter-intelligence agent he is not sympathetic to anyone specially to Salt after she is accused of being a sleeper Russian spy and she runs away to avoid being captured. This is when the action begins and where we are left to wonder: ‘who is Salt?’

Salt is married to an entomologist who is fully aware of her career path and the risks that are involved. He is one of the few reasons we ever see this character be soft, the rest of it is all tough CIA training from the fights to her assertive actions.In fact, this female character is the one that carries all the action of the movie, the other two secondary characters Winter and Peabody do very little physical work. Salt’s independence and kick-ass attitude is what keeps her going.

Jolie prepared for this character by talking to former CIA agents such as Melissa Boyle Mahle who worked for the force for 16 years. She spoke of Jolie’s relentlessness of getting every aspect of the character right, asking her how she felt and what she went through; she learned how spies live. Although Mahle says Jolie in the film makes it look way more fun and glamours than it really is. Oleg Kalugin a former KGB member and spy said Salt is very real, and she is tough like a Russian spy. Tom Ridge former Secretary of Homeland security spoke of the realities of the film as seen by current events and how the government has dealt with it since the Cold-War.

If you are into action films this one is for you, it is pure entertainment. There’s bits and pieces of romance in the way but it doesn’t disrupt the action. You can compare it to current events but remember this is hollywood, which means that nothing is to be taken to heart. The main subject here is loyalty, towards family, country, beliefs etc; which is what keeps the movie going and will keep you wondering.

Devil
Jack Rico
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2010/12/21 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Devil

12.21.2010 | By |

Rating: 3.5

Rated: PG-13 for violence and disturbing images, thematic material and some language including sexual references.
Release Date: 2010-09-17
Starring: M. Night Shyamalan, Brian Nelson
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.thenightchronicles.com/devil/

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Last night I had the chance to see the first screening of ‘Devil,’ written and conceptualized by M. Night Shyamalan, the same guy who everyone seems to be laughing at nowadays. The movie in my mind was entertaining, suspenseful, freaky at times, thrilling and what I think to be, a wonderful and captivating premise.

Five strangers (Logan Marshall-Green, Geoffrey Arend, Bojana Novakovic, Jenny O’Hara, Bokeem Woodbine) in Philadelphia begin their day with the most commonplace of routines. They walk into an office tower and enter an elevator. As they convene into this single place, they are forced to share a confined space with strangers. Nobody acknowl- edges anybody else. They’ll only be together for a few moments. But what appears to be a random occurrence is anything but coincidental when the car becomes stuck. Fate has come calling. Today these strangers will have their secrets revealed, and face a reckoning for their transgressions. Slowly, methodically, their situation turns from one of mere annoyance to sheer helplessness and abject terror. Terrible things begin to happen to each of them, one by one, and suspicion shifts as to who among the five is making it all happen…until they learn the unspeakable truth: one of them is the Devil himself. As those on the outside try in vain to free them, the remaining passengers realize that the only way to survive is to confront the very wickedness that has led them to today.

Devil is the first installment of The Night Chronicles, a series of terrifying stories conceived by Mr. Shyamalan that he now turns into movies with up-and- coming filmmakers. The man chosen for his fist foray into the series is John Erick Dowdle, who displayed a natural sensibility for camera placement and pacing.

Perhaps one of the most delightful experiences of the film was accomplished Spanish composer, Fernando Velázquez’ Hitchcockian score. It was an obvious throwback to the classic Hitchcock scores of Rope, The Man Who Knew Too Much, etc.

The movie is also sprinkled with a plethora of superstitious Latino legends and myths about the devil that I remember hearing ever since I was a kid. Shyamalan did great work in incorporating that Latino theme into the film via Ramirez the security guard (Jacob Vargas), a devout Catholic, recent immigrant who is superstitious and the first to realize the demonic aspects of what is happening in his building. He’s trying to convince the others that the events taking place are supernatural. Vargas played the part innocuously somber, but peppered with a touch of unintentional humor.

The acting by the cast was very solid and not at all deserving of criticism. There was really no blunders to speak of, which is why I can’t write about a bad film. 

I’ve seen all of Shyamalan’s films and I have to say to those who think his films are deplorable, then you haven’t seen ‘Vampires Suck’ or ‘Miss March’. Devil serves its purpose as entertaining escapism and it does it well. It will make you cringe and twinge all while still subtly humoring you. The quality to scare people is a difficult task for any director and Devil manages to do it without misstep. Devil serves up the scares, the screams and the creepiness. Is it the best horror film of the year? No, but you will get your money’s worth.

The Town
Jack Rico
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2010/12/14 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

The Town

12.14.2010 | By |

Rating: 4.0

Rated: R for strong violence, pervasive language, some sexuality and drug use.
Release Date: 2010-09-17
Starring: Chuck Hogan, Ben Affleck
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://thetownmovie.warnerbros.com/

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In his second effort as a director, actor Ben Affleck tackles another Boston theme film in ‘The Town,’ about a romance that stems from a bank heist. This sophomore project is not as enthralling as his first film ‘Gone Baby Gone,’ yet, it is perhaps one of the better films of the 2010. Come Oscar time, it wouldn’t surprise me if it is elected to the ten best films of the year. The acting is wonderful yet again, the story is as interesting as any other this year and its entertaining enough to keep you from ever thinking of ‘Gigli’.

On the surface, ‘The Town’ is a bank heist film and a darn good one too, but at its core, it is about a guy who’s trying to get out of the slum, and more importantly, the life of crime he’s inherited from his father. The premise follows Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck), a ‘good guy’ bank robber who is the leader of a crew of ruthless bank robbers, who pride themselves on taking what they want and getting out clean. However, everything changed on the gang’s last job when Jem (Jeremy Renner) briefly took a hostage: bank manager Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). Doug unfortunately crosses the line and becomes romantically involved with the hostage. Yes, he’s crazy, but it’s part of the thrill of the tension-filled film. Don Draper (cough), I mean Jon Hamm, decides he’s Melvin Purvis and Eliot Ness combined and is on a mission to get Doug and Jem. So what’s it going to be Doug? Betray your friends or lose the woman you love?

Compared to other recent crime dramas, like Brooklyn’s Finest or Pride and Glory, this one stands higher because the characters feel more real, like they could exist in real life, except of course, Don Draper who is a walking comic book.

Affleck co-wrote, directed and acted in this film, which is not an easy task for anyone, just ask Woody Allen and Quentin Tarantino. He is establishing he has a skilled and adroit hand at the camera, emotional depth as an actor with each passing film and a keen and intuitive sense for story selections.

The film has very good entertaining value. It has sequences full action and suspense worthy of knots in your stomach. If you like bank heist films this will definitely be on the top of your list along with ‘Inside Man,’ but without the rapid cutting, loud thumping explosions helicopter scenes. This is slower paced, the characters are more thoroughly developed, almost methodically. The Town is a fantastic selection for this weekend and any other time you want to see a film that is a bit better than the rest.

The Other Guys
Ted Faraone
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2010/12/14 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

The Other Guys

12.14.2010 | By |

Rating: 4.0

Rated: PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, violence and some drug material.
Release Date: 2010-08-06
Starring: Adam McKay & Chris Henchy
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.theotherguys-movie.com/

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“The Other Guys,” like almost every good pic in which Will Ferrell has starred, is  a vehicle for his comic genius.  The plot is preposterous.  There is adequate vulgarity to please teenage boys.  The jokes are broad — so broad that they are farcical, and several of them are running gags.  Pic marks the first pairing of Ferrell with Mark Wahlberg.  It’s a happy combination.  The pair have the chemistry of classic comedy teams such as Laurel & Hardy, Abbot & Costello, and Martin & Lewis.  Ferrell and Wahlberg are NYPD detectives Allen Gamble and Terry Hoitz.  They are an unlikely pair, even for a buddy-pic comedy.  Gamble is a forensic accountant.  Hoitz is best known as the cop who shot Derek Jeter by mistake (who appears in a cameo) and cost New York a World Series.  The punchline is, “You couldn’t have shot A-Rod?”  Hoitz is the little macho sparkplug, full of anger at himself and embarrassed to be partnered with Gamble, whose chipper attitude annoys him.  Michael Keaton is the precinct captain, who works nights as a manager at Bed Bath and Beyond to pay his bi-sexual son’s tuition at NYU.  What the heck are these two doing in a precinct?  What the heck are these two doing as cops in the first place?  They are the buffoons of the precinct, dumped on by the other cops.  They are “the other guys” to the PD’s stars.

 

Pic has roots in sketch comedy, and it shows.  Ferrell and helmer Adam McKay, who shares screenwriter credit with Chris Henchy and Patrick Crowley, are veterans of TV’s “Saturday Night Live.”  Plot strings together the sketches.  Ribbon on the package is narration by Ice-T which borrows heavily from TV’s “Law & Order” franchise.

 

Premise is simple.  Hoitz itches to redeem himself by cracking a big case.  Gamble would rather do paperwork, run numbers, and track down permit violations.  The diminutive Wahlberg holds his much taller partner in contempt.  The pair are overshadowed by New York’s hero cops, Highsmith and Danson (Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson in parodies of other action hero roles they have played).  Highsmith and Danson are sort of Starsky and Hutch on steroids.  In the first two reels they wreck two 1971 Chevelle SS muscle cars which had been in perfect condition — as well as countless other automobiles.  The swaggering pair are got out of the way by a bizarre suicide:  They jump off a 20 storey building chasing bad guys.

 

Hoitz determines to replace them — even with Gamble as his partner.  Gamble stumbles on missing scaffolding permits which he ties to a Bernie Madoff sort (David Ershon played by British actor Steve Coogan).  What he doesn’t know when he arrests Ershon on the permit violations is that he has just walked into a $32 billion scam involving a hot blonde (Anne Heche), Chechens, Nigerians, and a mean security man with an Australian accent (Roger Wesley played by Ray Stevenson) who is very tall and very deadly.  Rest of pic hinges on Gamble and Hoitz’s ill-starred attempts to crack the bigger case.  This sets up pic’s running jokes, including references to a couple of bands popular in the 1970s (The Little River Band gets significant time on pic’s soundtrack) and Gamble’s odd irresistibility to extraordinarily hot women.  Helping drive the latter point home is the stunning Eva Mendes as his loving wife, Dr. Sheila Gamble, a cameo in which Brooke Shields hits on Gamble, a bit with Natalie Zea as Gamble’s ex-girlfriend, Christinith, a name which sets up yet another joke, and a walk-on by smoking hot newcomer Pilar Angelique.  Zea’s bit is actually a real plot twist in solving the crime.  One has to give McKay credit for keeping pic’s surreal 107 minutes on track while maintaining the screwball farce.

 

Pic also benefits excellent stunts and special effects, flawless timing from the principals, fine screenwriting for its genre, and editing by Brent White which is as disciplined as Ferrell’s comedy.  A word on the latter:  Will Ferrell off screen is not a funny guy.  He works at comedy the way Lucille Ball did, the way Fred Astaire worked at dance.  He succeeds.  Other tech credits shine.

 

Pic’s PG rating is largely due to today’s obligatory vulgarity and to one of the funniest scenes ever filmed since Alan Arkin and Peter Falk teamed for “The In-Laws.”  (Anyone remember “Serpentine, serpentine!”?)  While the bad guys are watching his house, Gamble hides outside and phones in an attempt to reconcile with Dr. Sheila, who has thrown him out.  Their go-between is her mother, Viola Harris as Mama Ramos, who relays unbelievably steamy messages between the pair regarding three days of make-up sex.  That scene is so funny that one initially ignores its utter implausibility.  “The Other Guys” is a laugh a minute.  Take the kids.  They’ll fail to understand why the foregoing scene is so funny, but they won’t be exposed to anything that will corrupt them.

Cyrus
Jack Rico
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2010/12/14 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Cyrus

12.14.2010 | By |

Rating: 4.5

Rated: R for language and some sexual material.
Release Date: 2010-06-18
Starring: Mark Duplass & Jay Duplass
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/cyrus/

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If you are looking to laugh heartily, I recommend an incredibly funny film called Cyrus in limited release.

The comedy style is not like Get Him To The Greek, but rather a psychological and black. The plot revolves around a recently divorced man, wonderfully played by John C. Reilly, who finally finds the woman of his dreams, played by the seductive Marisa Tomei. What our hero did not expect was having to face her 22 year old son Cyrus, played by Jonah Hill, who will do everything possible to ruin their romance.

 

Reilly’s performance is what makes Cyrus one of my favorite comedies of the year. He is truly one of the great comic actors we have in Hollywood due to the dry and serious take he brings to comedic roles. Hill on his part needs to be applauded for comprehending his range and not stretching beyond his acting limits. His role here is a good representation of it.

If you are looking for a unconventional and clever comedy with superb performances, ‘Cyrus’ will not disappoint.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Jack Rico
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2010/12/14 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole

12.14.2010 | By |

Rating: 5.0

Rated: Not available
Release Date: 2010-09-24
Starring: John Orloff, Emil Stern
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: www.legendoftheguardians.com

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Micmacs
Jack Rico
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2010/12/13 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Micmacs

12.13.2010 | By |

Rating: 3.0

Rated: R for some sexuality and brief violence.
Release Date: 2010-05-28
Starring: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Guillaume Laurant
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:France
Official Website: http://www.lovefilm.com/micro/micmacs.html

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Nanny McPhee Returns
Jack Rico
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2010/12/13 at 12:00am

DVD ReviewsReviews

Nanny McPhee Returns

12.13.2010 | By |

Rating: 4.0

Rated: PG for rude humor, some language and mild thematic elements.
Release Date: 2010-08-20
Starring: Emma Thompson
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:UK | France | USA
Official Website: http://www.nannymcphee.co.uk/

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In today’s Hollywood spectrum it seems that the best family films are animated. There are some live action fare that reached critical praise such as Percy Jackson and the Olympians and The Karate Kid, but none can be compared to what I believe to be the best family film of 2010 so far – ‘Nanny McPhee Returns’ starring Emma Thompson.

In this sequel, Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) arrives once again to help a harried young mother, Mrs. Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal), with running the family farm while her husband is away at war. With Mrs. Green’s children waging a personal war with their two spoiled rich cousins, Nanny McPhee comes to the rescue using her magical cane to teach the kids five important new lessons.

It might not seem that difficult to the novice eye, but blending in comedy, action, drama and special effects to create a family film with an affecting message is tougher than one might think. The original film, though sweet and endearing, was much more targeted to seven year olds while dismissing adults. Not so in this follow up where director Susanna White and screenwriter Emma Thompson delve death into the parameters of the story with panache and care.

It cannot go unsaid how remarkable the cast is, in particular the child actors Eros Vlahos and Rosie Taylor-Ritson who play the spoiled, rich cousins from London. Their acting skill is leagues apart from the rest of the young cast, which you could argue, might be a detriment to the picture. Nevertheless, it is rare to see actors this young being this good. It is a rare treat to see and enjoy. Maggie Gyllenhaal on her part, who is a true blue American, makes us forget she is from the States with an uncanny authentic British accent. It is perhaps better than Gwyneth Paltrow’s. Ewan McGregor is barely seen in the film but his scene is perhaps the most moving.

‘Nanny McPhee Returns’ is a delightful experience, but different than the original film, I believe adults will be able to indulge a bit more in the story. Leave no bones about it, kids are going to like this charming sequel.

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