Tuesday, September 22, 2009

New DVD Releases: September 15 & 22

Last week, when I was at the film festival, I obviously did not have time to do one of these entries, so this week, I’m catching up. Not that it really mattered, as the only movie that came out last week was Wolverine. But between the two weeks, there are several good movies to choose from.

New Releases
Easy Virtue ***
- Jessica Biel stars in this Oscar Wilde adaptation as an American girl who marries a young, upper class Brit, who brings her home to meet his folks. His father, Colin Firth, thinks she’s wonderful, but he has long since stopped caring about just about anything. His mother, Kristen Scott Thomas, is horrified by the American, her brass ways, the fact that she was divorced. The movie is light and breezy, and starts out quite funny, before taking a more serious turn in the last act. The performances are fine, with the exception of Scott Thomas who is divine. An enjoyable drawing room comedy. For my original review please see: http://davesmoviesite.blogspot.com/2009/06/movie-review-easy-virtue.html

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past * ½ - Yet another terrible romantic comedy with Matthew McConaghey as a womanizer who learns the error of his ways. McConaghey’s brother (Breckin Meyer) is getting married, and the Maid of Honor is the love of McConaghey’s life that he let get away (Jennifer Garner), and has spent the last decade trying to forget by fucking anything with a pulse. The only bright spot in this horrific movie is the delightful Emma Stone as McConaghey’s geeky, old high school girlfriend who comes back as a ghost (still dressed like it’s the 1980s) to show him where he went wrong. The rest of the movie is nearly unwatchably bad. For my original review please see: http://davesmoviesite.blogspot.com/2009/05/movie-review-ghosts-of-girlfriends-past.html

Lymelife ** ½ - A family is in crisis in this 1970s set indie dramedy. Alec Baldwin is the patriarch, who has been cheating on his wife (Jill Hennessy) for years, the latest time with their neighbor (Cynthia Nixon) who is married to Timothy Hutton, who has gone crazy since contracting lyme disease. Meanwhile, Baldwin and Hennessey has one son in the army (Kieran Culkin) and the other (Rory Culkin, or perhaps it’s reversed, all I know is that neither is Macauly) suffering in high school and in love with Hutton and Nixon’s daughter (Emma Roberts). The performances are charming, especially the young Roberts who finally impressed me, but the movie is a by the numbers indie film that indulges in one cliché after another. For my original review please see: http://davesmoviesite.blogspot.com/2009/05/movie-review-lymelife.html

O’Horten * ½ - This Finnish comedy/drama about a man on his last day as a train engineer was seen by many critics as endearing, comic and charming. I simply found the film long, dull and boring. The lead performance is effective, but he is forced to go through a lame brained sequence of events. For my original review please see: http://davesmoviesite.blogspot.com/2009/06/movie-review-ohorten.html

Observe and Report *** ½ - Jody Hill’s follow up to the terrible The Foot Fist Way was this hilarious, dark comedy about a mall security guard (Seth Rogen), who believes that he is a hero, when in actual fact he is a delusional psychopath. The movie is in line, and almost on par, with Scorsese’s masterpiece The King of Comedy, as Rogen gets continously rejected by everyone around him but never seems to realize it. Anna Farris is brilliant as the mall’s resident hottie. The controversial “date rape” scene is in my mind not really date rape at all. One of the best comedies of the year. For my original review please see: http://davesmoviesite.blogspot.com/2009/04/movie-review-observe-and-report.html And for my take on the “date rape” scene in and of itself please see: http://davesmoviesite.blogspot.com/2009/04/movie-comment-observe-and-report-and.html

X-Men Origins: Wolverine *** - This X-Men prequel is a fun, entertaining action movie that features Hugh Jackman in his fourth time as the most famous X-Man. By this time, he knows the character inside and out, and he plays it quite well. Liev Schreiber is equally good as Sabretooth, who starts out as a friend, and becomes an enemy. The action sequences are fun, and the movie is overall entertaining and well made - although the special effects need improvement, and the huge build-up of finally seeing my personal favorite Gambit was a HUGE letdown. Still, I enjoyed it. For my original review please see: http://davesmoviesite.blogspot.com/2009/05/movie-review-x-men-origins-wolverine.html

Older Releases
Visitor Q *** - The very strange Takahasi Miike who specializes in extreme horror films, makes this very strange comedy? Satire? Perverted family drama? I’m not quite sure, except that this incestuous little movie is disturbing and unforgettable. I would never actually want to watch it the film again, but for people who want extreme films, this is a must see.

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