“Tron”

DVD, Blu-Ray Review

Directed by Steven Lisberger, Written by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird, 96 minutes, Rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

“Tron” isn’t necessarily known or remembered for its plot. The story of a man sucked into a video game, where he fights and plays Frisbee with anthropomorphic computer programs, is probably the least dazzling part of the film. Bridges stars as Flynn, but his character acts as a mere vehicle for the striking and creative visual effects to shine.

In order to prove that he is the rightful designer of a popular video game, Flynn (Jeff Bridges) heads off to the evil ENCOM headquarters to hack their mainframe for evidence. However, he accidentally triggers a human-to-computer transporting laser, which sends him into the program. Inside, he encounters a fluorescent light-based city and plays the games he designed for real.

Steven Lisberger’s script really doesn’t do much justice to the inventive special effects, but it’s as good an excuse as any to get us into this world. And it’s a good thing it works. The various settings and chases of “Tron” thrive with life thanks to the impressive and only occasionally hokey effects. The neon light schemes and Space Invaders-inspired sets only heighten its '80s charms in the best possible way.

If only those effects were enough to sustain the movie throughout it’s 97 minutes, though. “Tron” certainly has its place, but its plot loses hold soon after the film begins. As Flynn takes his time getting into the mainframe, Lisberger bounces between Flynn arguing with his old partners Bruce and Cindy and Flynn’s enemy, Ed Dillinger, playing a game of technical semantics with the computer system, Master Control. The first act drags on these two points for far too long.

When we finally make it into the world of “Tron” there’s a dramatic disconnect between the cool visuals and the boring plotting. Using the qualities of a medieval epic, the plot of “Tron” works in service of navigating us around the different landscapes of ENCOM’s mainframe but, like a computer, treats its user with cold indifference. There’s just not much to care about here.

“Tron” almost never reaches dramatic climax, but it’s still fun enough trip into the past as it showcases some of the early computer-generated wizardry that’s commonplace in theaters today. Much like “Avatar,” “Tron”’s plot is an excuse to let us experience a glorified laser-light show, and it’s a show most wouldn’t trade for the world.

Grade: B

“Tron”

DVD, Blu-Ray Review

Directed by Steven Lisberger, Written by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird, 96 minutes, Rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

“Tron” isn’t necessarily known or remembered for its plot. The story of a man sucked into a video game, where he fights and plays Frisbee with anthropomorphic computer programs, is probably the least dazzling part of the film. Bridges stars as Flynn, but his character acts as a mere vehicle for the striking and creative visual effects to shine.

In order to prove that he is the rightful designer of a popular video game, Flynn (Jeff Bridges) heads off to the evil ENCOM headquarters to hack their mainframe for evidence. However, he accidentally triggers a human-to-computer transporting laser, which sends him into the program. Inside, he encounters a fluorescent light-based city and plays the games he designed for real.

Steven Lisberger’s script really doesn’t do much justice to the inventive special effects, but it’s as good an excuse as any to get us into this world. And it’s a good thing it works. The various settings and chases of “Tron” thrive with life thanks to the impressive and only occasionally hokey effects. The neon light schemes and Space Invaders-inspired sets only heighten its '80s charms in the best possible way.

If only those effects were enough to sustain the movie throughout it’s 97 minutes, though. “Tron” certainly has its place, but its plot loses hold soon after the film begins. As Flynn takes his time getting into the mainframe, Lisberger bounces between Flynn arguing with his old partners Bruce and Cindy and Flynn’s enemy, Ed Dillinger, playing a game of technical semantics with the computer system, Master Control. The first act drags on these two points for far too long.

When we finally make it into the world of “Tron” there’s a dramatic disconnect between the cool visuals and the boring plotting. Using the qualities of a medieval epic, the plot of “Tron” works in service of navigating us around the different landscapes of ENCOM’s mainframe but, like a computer, treats its user with cold indifference. There’s just not much to care about here.

“Tron” almost never reaches dramatic climax, but it’s still fun enough trip into the past as it showcases some of the early computer-generated wizardry that’s commonplace in theaters today. Much like “Avatar,” “Tron”’s plot is an excuse to let us experience a glorified laser-light show, and it’s a show most wouldn’t trade for the world.

Grade: B

"A.I. Artificial Intelligence"

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Written and directed by Steven Spielberg, 145 minutes, rated PG-13.

By Christopher Smith

After an intriguing opening that lays the foundation for the story of David (Haley Joel Osment), a robotic boy who longs to be human, Steven Spielberg’s uneven collaboration with the late Stanley Kubrick, “A.I.,” becomes a fascinating mess.

Technically strong yet emotionally sterile, it raises a handful of questions about the meaning of love and our responsibility to those high-tech toys we’ll one day create in our own images, but it ultimately finds Spielberg reaching too hard to honor Kubrick’s vision--not to mention his own.

The film is comprised of three acts--the first nicely captures the chill of Kubrick, the second gives in to the sap of Spielberg, and the last is a weird hybrid of each director’s personal style.

In the best part of the film, the first third, David is introduced to Monica and Henry Swinton (Frances O’Connor and Sam Robards), an unlikable couple whose terminally ill son, Martin (Jake Thomas), is being cryogenically preserved until a cure can be found to heal him. Desperate to fill the hole left in their son’s absence, the Swinton’s turn to David, a walking, talking doll who has been programmed to love.

But when David is abandoned by Monica, whom he is certain is his mother, Spielberg breaks from his canny imitation of Kubrick’s style to employ all the tricks for which he himself is known--rousing action, teary-eyed sentiment, innocence threatened, the search for home, love lost and found. It’s a jarring transition, but Spielberg, ever the entertainer, can’t help himself.

Now, with David lost to the wilds of the world, the rest of the film demands that we invest ourselves in a machine whose love isn’t real and never can be real. It’s artificial, the work of transistors, battery packs, animatronics. But does the artificiality of David’s love make it any less valid simply because he’s a robot? As "A.I." presses into its second hour, Spielberg struggles to find an answer that wouldn’t just please Kubric, but also himself.

With Jude Law in an astonishing performance as Gigolo Joe, a polished robot who takes David to the evil city as the wolf did to Pinocchio, “A.I.” builds to an inevitable ending. Spielberg wants us to weep, but Kubrick wants us to think. Audiences will find a middle ground, but it won’t be one that satisfies.

Grade: C+

"A.I. Artificial Intelligence"

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Written and directed by Steven Spielberg, 145 minutes, rated PG-13.

By Christopher Smith

After an intriguing opening that lays the foundation for the story of David (Haley Joel Osment), a robotic boy who longs to be human, Steven Spielberg’s uneven collaboration with the late Stanley Kubrick, “A.I.,” becomes a fascinating mess.

Technically strong yet emotionally sterile, it raises a handful of questions about the meaning of love and our responsibility to those high-tech toys we’ll one day create in our own images, but it ultimately finds Spielberg reaching too hard to honor Kubrick’s vision--not to mention his own.

The film is comprised of three acts--the first nicely captures the chill of Kubrick, the second gives in to the sap of Spielberg, and the last is a weird hybrid of each director’s personal style.

In the best part of the film, the first third, David is introduced to Monica and Henry Swinton (Frances O’Connor and Sam Robards), an unlikable couple whose terminally ill son, Martin (Jake Thomas), is being cryogenically preserved until a cure can be found to heal him. Desperate to fill the hole left in their son’s absence, the Swinton’s turn to David, a walking, talking doll who has been programmed to love.

But when David is abandoned by Monica, whom he is certain is his mother, Spielberg breaks from his canny imitation of Kubrick’s style to employ all the tricks for which he himself is known--rousing action, teary-eyed sentiment, innocence threatened, the search for home, love lost and found. It’s a jarring transition, but Spielberg, ever the entertainer, can’t help himself.

Now, with David lost to the wilds of the world, the rest of the film demands that we invest ourselves in a machine whose love isn’t real and never can be real. It’s artificial, the work of transistors, battery packs, animatronics. But does the artificiality of David’s love make it any less valid simply because he’s a robot? As "A.I." presses into its second hour, Spielberg struggles to find an answer that wouldn’t just please Kubric, but also himself.

With Jude Law in an astonishing performance as Gigolo Joe, a polished robot who takes David to the evil city as the wolf did to Pinocchio, “A.I.” builds to an inevitable ending. Spielberg wants us to weep, but Kubrick wants us to think. Audiences will find a middle ground, but it won’t be one that satisfies.

Grade: C+

"Skyline" (2010)

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review


Directed by Colin and Greg Strause, Written by Joshua Cordes and Liam O'Donnell, Rated R, 92-minutes.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimokowitz

For a movie that warns of the dangers of shiny objects, "Skyline" sure makes us look at a lot of them. Though never trying to be anything more than a fun invasion flick, the film's very apparent similarities to other, better movies weigh it down. What’s more, its lack of logic and convincing characters will frequently keep your brain on Earth, no matter how hard this thing tries to suck your brain out of you.

Just out on DVD and Blu-ray disc, "Skyline" is about a special effect gone awry. Terry (Donald Faison in a role that plays to the actor’s every weakness), a Hollywood visual effects designer, invites Jarrod (Eric Balfour) to LA to offer him a job on a "Transformers"-type movie.

Jarrod is unsure. Can he give up his stable life of photography and scrapbooking? He has a wife and, despite being an artist, he doesn’t know how he could be of any use to a graphic designer. That is until an army of brain-stealing, squid-looking aliens attack and abduct the human race by attracting them with what no human can resist--blinding rays of blue light.

It’s funny that Jarrod is making a scrapbook early on, because that’s what this movie is. From "Independence Day" to "The Matrix" to "Cloverfield," "Skyline" borrows ideas from just about every big-budget sci-fi film of the last 15 years. It uses these familiar sights as a crutch, but the fun of these past films is to see something otherworldly. By boldly going where so many movies have gone before, "Skyline" comes off as too familiar to be alien.

Most importantly, "Skyline" misses what made those movies successful--likeable characters and an exciting plot. Here, the story is too convenient and its character too illogical. They have no rules to follow, but it wouldn’t matter anyway, because the aliens foil their every move with some new weapon or power they suddenly have. It’s the type a movie that splits characters up just so there are more cars to smash and where aliens can’t see through blinds simply because the writers didn’t see "Predator."

In all of the film's familiarity, the movie expects our allegiance, but without a decent plot or believable characters, the film has no hope of abducting our attention. It’s never boring and it has an array of stunning effects, but "Skyline" isn’t original enough to stand out as something memorable.

Grade: C

"Skyline" (2010)

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review


Directed by Colin and Greg Strause, Written by Joshua Cordes and Liam O'Donnell, Rated R, 92-minutes.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimokowitz

For a movie that warns of the dangers of shiny objects, "Skyline" sure makes us look at a lot of them. Though never trying to be anything more than a fun invasion flick, the film's very apparent similarities to other, better movies weigh it down. What’s more, its lack of logic and convincing characters will frequently keep your brain on Earth, no matter how hard this thing tries to suck your brain out of you.

Just out on DVD and Blu-ray disc, "Skyline" is about a special effect gone awry. Terry (Donald Faison in a role that plays to the actor’s every weakness), a Hollywood visual effects designer, invites Jarrod (Eric Balfour) to LA to offer him a job on a "Transformers"-type movie.

Jarrod is unsure. Can he give up his stable life of photography and scrapbooking? He has a wife and, despite being an artist, he doesn’t know how he could be of any use to a graphic designer. That is until an army of brain-stealing, squid-looking aliens attack and abduct the human race by attracting them with what no human can resist--blinding rays of blue light.

It’s funny that Jarrod is making a scrapbook early on, because that’s what this movie is. From "Independence Day" to "The Matrix" to "Cloverfield," "Skyline" borrows ideas from just about every big-budget sci-fi film of the last 15 years. It uses these familiar sights as a crutch, but the fun of these past films is to see something otherworldly. By boldly going where so many movies have gone before, "Skyline" comes off as too familiar to be alien.

Most importantly, "Skyline" misses what made those movies successful--likeable characters and an exciting plot. Here, the story is too convenient and its character too illogical. They have no rules to follow, but it wouldn’t matter anyway, because the aliens foil their every move with some new weapon or power they suddenly have. It’s the type a movie that splits characters up just so there are more cars to smash and where aliens can’t see through blinds simply because the writers didn’t see "Predator."

In all of the film's familiarity, the movie expects our allegiance, but without a decent plot or believable characters, the film has no hope of abducting our attention. It’s never boring and it has an array of stunning effects, but "Skyline" isn’t original enough to stand out as something memorable.

Grade: C

“Paul”

Movie Review

Directed by Greg Mottola, Written by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, 100 minutes, Rated R.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

It’s high time for Hollywood’s geeks these days. With studios pouring thousands of dollars into fanboy appeasement, it’s safe to say that the inmates are now happily running the asylum.

“Paul” is the product of this practice, but, because of its obvious Fanboy pandering, probably won’t speak to everyone. The Sci-fi fun and highly referential humor will make genre fans feel right at home, leaving the vast majority of moviegoers feeling a bit, well, alienated. “Paul” is a love letter to the Spielberg '80s, but slightly misses the sentiment that made the period such a hit.

On a trip to Comic-Con and America’s top UFO hotspots, Graeme and Clive (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), have a close encounter with a crude little green man named Paul (Seth Rogen). After escaping a nearby military base, Paul heads to meet his Alien friends and asks Graeme and Clive to help him get to his ship before the FBI (Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, and Jo Lo Trugilo) tracks him down.

The plot to “Paul” might seem familiar, because it is -- this Christ-like alien on a race to his spaceship was popular stuff in the '80s, starting with film’s prime influence “E.T.” Its close parody of such a popular film seems like easy fodder for the masses, but Pegg and Frost’s characters and script might be too involved in geek culture to connect with them.

That’s not to say they won’t enjoy it. Rogen offers his everyman persona to an otherworldly character -- and it works like a charm. He infuses his character with every bit of Seth Rogen-ness that viewers have embraced in recent years. Rogen’s foul mouth and slacker attitude make Paul something entirely his own. Most importantly, his laid back style keeps Paul funny, approachable, and a joy to watch.

Pegg and Frost may pander to fanboys, but their heartfelt chemistry makes their strange journey a believable one. Like “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” before it, their dough-eyed friendship and loyalty to it carries the film’s emotional weight, and as they set off with the likes of Kristen Wiig, playing a converted religious fanatic, their lack of growth may not turnoff non-geeks in the theater. However, a couple of 30-something comic book geeks aren’t as relatable as, say, children and their alien friend.

“Paul” might not connect with everyone, but it’s certainly funny and heartfelt enough to please those brave enough to see it. But given that high-concept, R-Rated comedies struggle at the box office, it seems destined for a cult following rather than a legion of converted geeks.

Grade: B

“Paul”

Movie Review

Directed by Greg Mottola, Written by Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, 100 minutes, Rated R.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

It’s high time for Hollywood’s geeks these days. With studios pouring thousands of dollars into fanboy appeasement, it’s safe to say that the inmates are now happily running the asylum.

“Paul” is the product of this practice, but, because of its obvious Fanboy pandering, probably won’t speak to everyone. The Sci-fi fun and highly referential humor will make genre fans feel right at home, leaving the vast majority of moviegoers feeling a bit, well, alienated. “Paul” is a love letter to the Spielberg '80s, but slightly misses the sentiment that made the period such a hit.

On a trip to Comic-Con and America’s top UFO hotspots, Graeme and Clive (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), have a close encounter with a crude little green man named Paul (Seth Rogen). After escaping a nearby military base, Paul heads to meet his Alien friends and asks Graeme and Clive to help him get to his ship before the FBI (Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, and Jo Lo Trugilo) tracks him down.

The plot to “Paul” might seem familiar, because it is -- this Christ-like alien on a race to his spaceship was popular stuff in the '80s, starting with film’s prime influence “E.T.” Its close parody of such a popular film seems like easy fodder for the masses, but Pegg and Frost’s characters and script might be too involved in geek culture to connect with them.

That’s not to say they won’t enjoy it. Rogen offers his everyman persona to an otherworldly character -- and it works like a charm. He infuses his character with every bit of Seth Rogen-ness that viewers have embraced in recent years. Rogen’s foul mouth and slacker attitude make Paul something entirely his own. Most importantly, his laid back style keeps Paul funny, approachable, and a joy to watch.

Pegg and Frost may pander to fanboys, but their heartfelt chemistry makes their strange journey a believable one. Like “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” before it, their dough-eyed friendship and loyalty to it carries the film’s emotional weight, and as they set off with the likes of Kristen Wiig, playing a converted religious fanatic, their lack of growth may not turnoff non-geeks in the theater. However, a couple of 30-something comic book geeks aren’t as relatable as, say, children and their alien friend.

“Paul” might not connect with everyone, but it’s certainly funny and heartfelt enough to please those brave enough to see it. But given that high-concept, R-Rated comedies struggle at the box office, it seems destined for a cult following rather than a legion of converted geeks.

Grade: B

"Battle: LA"

Movie Review

Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, Written by Christopher Bertolini, 116 minutes, PG-13.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

If the recent slew of apocalyptic invasion pictures teaches us one thing, it's that they make better trailers than movies.

The bleakest example of this, "Battle: LA," is also among the most disappointing. This loud, jingoistic picture starts strong but quickly slows as the film grows more epic than personal. The film’s hardened marines, cliché speeches, and crazed camera work would make for a great video game and probably already has.  That said, less can be said for its cinematic qualities.

Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), a decorated but dishonored Staff Sargent who is just one day away from retirement, gets called into duty when a group of robotic, colonizing aliens invade Earth's major cities. However, his team--which includes the brother of one of the fallen soldiers from Nantz’s final, controversial campaign--remains skeptical of their leader's skills. Attempting to hold his squad together, Nantz leads them across the decimated Los Angeles cityscape to the alien control center with hopes of ending the invasion.

"Battle: LA" starts with its best foot forward. Eckhart, the disgraced and tortured Sergeant, takes the reins and leads the film on a character-focused war movie. The doubt of Nantz and his squad makes their fear real, as they wander the city’s abandoned interiors. It’s maddening in the best way possible, if only because it takes its subject seriously.

However, this changes as soon as director Jonathan Liebesman's manic handheld camera work takes over. The tight framing and the camera’s whirlwind movements disorient the viewer and disserve the scope of Liebesman’s vision. As he tries and to get back to the characters in Act III, his cast grows and becomes a vehicle for big guns and bigger explosions.

The more epic Bertolini makes his script, the further we get from the heart of the story. Nantz and his company search out new ways to blow things up, when they should be searching for some humanity. They approach each mission with heart, but end in a cold display of violence. In the end, Liebesman never finds the characters, and "Battle: LA" becomes the mindless shooter it shouldn't be.

The trailer may look like "Black Hawk Down" with aliens, but the result is more like a mini-game in “Call of Duty” that loses its luster after a few minutes of gameplay.

Grade: C+

"Battle: LA"

Movie Review

Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, Written by Christopher Bertolini, 116 minutes, PG-13.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

If the recent slew of apocalyptic invasion pictures teaches us one thing, it's that they make better trailers than movies.

The bleakest example of this, "Battle: LA," is also among the most disappointing. This loud, jingoistic picture starts strong but quickly slows as the film grows more epic than personal. The film’s hardened marines, cliché speeches, and crazed camera work would make for a great video game and probably already has.  That said, less can be said for its cinematic qualities.

Michael Nantz (Aaron Eckhart), a decorated but dishonored Staff Sargent who is just one day away from retirement, gets called into duty when a group of robotic, colonizing aliens invade Earth's major cities. However, his team--which includes the brother of one of the fallen soldiers from Nantz’s final, controversial campaign--remains skeptical of their leader's skills. Attempting to hold his squad together, Nantz leads them across the decimated Los Angeles cityscape to the alien control center with hopes of ending the invasion.

"Battle: LA" starts with its best foot forward. Eckhart, the disgraced and tortured Sergeant, takes the reins and leads the film on a character-focused war movie. The doubt of Nantz and his squad makes their fear real, as they wander the city’s abandoned interiors. It’s maddening in the best way possible, if only because it takes its subject seriously.

However, this changes as soon as director Jonathan Liebesman's manic handheld camera work takes over. The tight framing and the camera’s whirlwind movements disorient the viewer and disserve the scope of Liebesman’s vision. As he tries and to get back to the characters in Act III, his cast grows and becomes a vehicle for big guns and bigger explosions.

The more epic Bertolini makes his script, the further we get from the heart of the story. Nantz and his company search out new ways to blow things up, when they should be searching for some humanity. They approach each mission with heart, but end in a cold display of violence. In the end, Liebesman never finds the characters, and "Battle: LA" becomes the mindless shooter it shouldn't be.

The trailer may look like "Black Hawk Down" with aliens, but the result is more like a mini-game in “Call of Duty” that loses its luster after a few minutes of gameplay.

Grade: C+

"Robinson Crusoe on Mars"

DVD Movie Review

By our guest blogger, Jeremy Wilkinson

The 1964 film “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” does not have the eponymous protagonist being abducted by aliens from his island (although, that would have been funny for at least five minutes). Rather, this is a science fiction update of the classic with a new protagonist (here played by Paul Mantee) and a new setting.

Christopher ‘Kit’ Draper’s (Mantee) spaceship must take evasive action to avoid a planetoid hurtling toward them. He is caught in Mars’ gravitational pull while trying to avoid being hit and does not have enough fuel to pull away. So, he jettisons from his ship, landing on the hostile surface of Mars, and, along with a monkey named Mona, must find a way to survive a world he knows little about.

Aside from the transplantation to the red planet, this adaptation is fairly true to the spirit of the original book, flaws and all. It occasionally drags as Draper goes about his day and some of the special effects shots are reused one too many times later in the movie, including effect that have not aged well. The spacecraft looks unimpressive, the red skies of Mars are unnaturally saturated, and the pastel coloring for certain geological features are garish. Still, there are some great sets to be seen; especially considering it’s been 40 years since the film’s debut. The rocks without the pastel colors are a sight to see. Draper’s cave is a fun little set piece, with splashes of color breaking up the drab greys. It’s really the long shots with Draper and Mona isolated from all other life that punctuate the difficulties they have to face. Granted, even those that are done well are still clearly fake to those used to modern CG. However, it’s endearing rather than repulsive.

Mantee deserves a lot of credit for his role in this. For the most part, it’s either just himself or Mona in the scene, yet he’s able to play the part convincingly even without someone else to bounce off of. Particularly tense are scenes where he struggles to get more oxygen in the thin atmosphere and his battle with isolation. Like Crusoe before him, Draper uses everything in the environment that can help him and shows genuine adaptability and resourcefulness, even when he accidentally stumbles upon a revelation.

“Robinson Crusoe on Mars” could have been a far bigger schlock-fest than it was. With a title like that, this reviewer expected it to be incredibly silly. It dashes these expectations by coming off like a great story from the pulp era--one cannot ignore some level of goofiness, but it supersedes mediocrity and can actually be taken seriously rather than being ‘just another sci-fi movie.’

"Robinson Crusoe on Mars"

DVD Movie Review

By our guest blogger, Jeremy Wilkinson

The 1964 film “Robinson Crusoe on Mars” does not have the eponymous protagonist being abducted by aliens from his island (although, that would have been funny for at least five minutes). Rather, this is a science fiction update of the classic with a new protagonist (here played by Paul Mantee) and a new setting.

Christopher ‘Kit’ Draper’s (Mantee) spaceship must take evasive action to avoid a planetoid hurtling toward them. He is caught in Mars’ gravitational pull while trying to avoid being hit and does not have enough fuel to pull away. So, he jettisons from his ship, landing on the hostile surface of Mars, and, along with a monkey named Mona, must find a way to survive a world he knows little about.

Aside from the transplantation to the red planet, this adaptation is fairly true to the spirit of the original book, flaws and all. It occasionally drags as Draper goes about his day and some of the special effects shots are reused one too many times later in the movie, including effect that have not aged well. The spacecraft looks unimpressive, the red skies of Mars are unnaturally saturated, and the pastel coloring for certain geological features are garish. Still, there are some great sets to be seen; especially considering it’s been 40 years since the film’s debut. The rocks without the pastel colors are a sight to see. Draper’s cave is a fun little set piece, with splashes of color breaking up the drab greys. It’s really the long shots with Draper and Mona isolated from all other life that punctuate the difficulties they have to face. Granted, even those that are done well are still clearly fake to those used to modern CG. However, it’s endearing rather than repulsive.

Mantee deserves a lot of credit for his role in this. For the most part, it’s either just himself or Mona in the scene, yet he’s able to play the part convincingly even without someone else to bounce off of. Particularly tense are scenes where he struggles to get more oxygen in the thin atmosphere and his battle with isolation. Like Crusoe before him, Draper uses everything in the environment that can help him and shows genuine adaptability and resourcefulness, even when he accidentally stumbles upon a revelation.

“Robinson Crusoe on Mars” could have been a far bigger schlock-fest than it was. With a title like that, this reviewer expected it to be incredibly silly. It dashes these expectations by coming off like a great story from the pulp era--one cannot ignore some level of goofiness, but it supersedes mediocrity and can actually be taken seriously rather than being ‘just another sci-fi movie.’

"Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D"

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review 

Written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, 90 minutes, rated R.

By Christopher Smith

Paul W. S. Anderson's movie, "Resident Evil: Afterlife," features one scene that's memorable, if only because it's so comical. You were looking for more than one memorable scene? Wrong movie.

The scene takes place on a rooftop. On it is Alice (Milla Jovovich), who returns to this fourth installment in the franchise with her poreless skin and vicious death moves in an effort to take down the Umbrella Corporation. Those who follow the franchise will know that the Umbrella Corp. is responsible for creating a virus that has turned most of the world's human population into a scrambling, unattractive herd of the hissing undead.

In this particular scene, Alice is pitted against thousands of them, all of which are closing in on her in an effort to eat her, because that's what zombies do. Since Alice is resourceful, she tricks them into chasing her off the building's roof just as she drops a bomb in her wake.

The movie was shot in 3-D, which allows Anderson a unique opportunity to embrace a perspective. Not unlike the writing itself, the undead in these movies are dumb and so they naturally follow Alice off the roof without hesitation, thought or question. What we're left with is a funny shot that allows the viewer to look up at the undead as they pinwheel through the air (and presumably to their undead deaths) with their tinker-toy arms and legs. When the bomb explodes, it catches bits and pieces of them on fire. Meanwhile, the ever-resourceful Alice is swinging like Tarzan on the rope she attached to her body before jumping. She lands on the ground, where the falling zombies are popping like pinatas--and where more zombies await. Gunfire ensues. Cut. Print.

What's refreshing about this scene is how it uses 3-D technology--it's safe to say you've never seen zombies tumbling at you quite like this. Unfortunately, everything that comes before and after this moment is just what you expect--a convoluted scattershot of hyper editing best served for fans of the franchise or for junkies of the computer games on which they're based. Those who enjoy their horror movies with a trace of story and a measure of dialogue to boost character development will be left wanting.

After all, the lot of it is plot. This time out, Alice is up against Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who wears sunglasses at night and who is determined to take down Alice and her posse. Said posse includes loads of Alice dopplegangers, Ali Larter as Claire, Wentworth Miller as a handy inmate (because, you know, he's comfortable in such a role after starring in "Prison Break") and Boris Kodjoe as Luther West.

Making a heroic return from the last movie, the misleadingly titled "Resident Evil: Extinction," is a young lass named K-Mart (Spencer Locke), whose name redefines the way Hollywood markets corporate America in movies (fight the real evil, Alice!)--and which is where you likely will find this movie on DVD soon enough.

Grade: D+

"Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D"

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review 

Written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, 90 minutes, rated R.

By Christopher Smith

Paul W. S. Anderson's movie, "Resident Evil: Afterlife," features one scene that's memorable, if only because it's so comical. You were looking for more than one memorable scene? Wrong movie.

The scene takes place on a rooftop. On it is Alice (Milla Jovovich), who returns to this fourth installment in the franchise with her poreless skin and vicious death moves in an effort to take down the Umbrella Corporation. Those who follow the franchise will know that the Umbrella Corp. is responsible for creating a virus that has turned most of the world's human population into a scrambling, unattractive herd of the hissing undead.

In this particular scene, Alice is pitted against thousands of them, all of which are closing in on her in an effort to eat her, because that's what zombies do. Since Alice is resourceful, she tricks them into chasing her off the building's roof just as she drops a bomb in her wake.

The movie was shot in 3-D, which allows Anderson a unique opportunity to embrace a perspective. Not unlike the writing itself, the undead in these movies are dumb and so they naturally follow Alice off the roof without hesitation, thought or question. What we're left with is a funny shot that allows the viewer to look up at the undead as they pinwheel through the air (and presumably to their undead deaths) with their tinker-toy arms and legs. When the bomb explodes, it catches bits and pieces of them on fire. Meanwhile, the ever-resourceful Alice is swinging like Tarzan on the rope she attached to her body before jumping. She lands on the ground, where the falling zombies are popping like pinatas--and where more zombies await. Gunfire ensues. Cut. Print.

What's refreshing about this scene is how it uses 3-D technology--it's safe to say you've never seen zombies tumbling at you quite like this. Unfortunately, everything that comes before and after this moment is just what you expect--a convoluted scattershot of hyper editing best served for fans of the franchise or for junkies of the computer games on which they're based. Those who enjoy their horror movies with a trace of story and a measure of dialogue to boost character development will be left wanting.

After all, the lot of it is plot. This time out, Alice is up against Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who wears sunglasses at night and who is determined to take down Alice and her posse. Said posse includes loads of Alice dopplegangers, Ali Larter as Claire, Wentworth Miller as a handy inmate (because, you know, he's comfortable in such a role after starring in "Prison Break") and Boris Kodjoe as Luther West.

Making a heroic return from the last movie, the misleadingly titled "Resident Evil: Extinction," is a young lass named K-Mart (Spencer Locke), whose name redefines the way Hollywood markets corporate America in movies (fight the real evil, Alice!)--and which is where you likely will find this movie on DVD soon enough.

Grade: D+

“Tron: Legacy”

Movie Review

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, 127 minutes, rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Joel Crabtree

In 1982, Disney released “Tron,” a visually groundbreaking risk that didn’t pay off at the box office, but has lingered around for nearly 30 years as a cult classic among a particular brand of nerd. Somewhere, somehow, someone at the studio decided it was time for a “Tron” sequel. Thus, “Tron: Legacy” was born. All I have to ask is this--what took you guys so long?

On the verge of a major breakthrough in The Grid, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), the head of Encom, goes missing, thus tarnishing his business reputation and leaving behind a son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund, finding his footing as a leading man), who has inherited his father’s rebellious nature -- and his share of the company.

A mysterious page (yes, a page) from Flynn’s abandoned arcade office sends Sam on a quest to find his father. After being sucked into the grid, he discovers a totalitarian cyber world ruled by the iron fist of Clu (also Jeff Bridges), who is a program with the likeness of Kevin Flynn that was assigned to create “the perfect system.”

Only, it isn't perfect.

Sam is forced into a gauntlet of dangerous games, only to be rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde), who whisks the young Flynn away safely off The Grid, where his father has been hiding out for years. And he’s changed. No longer the hotshot, risk-taking programmer, Flynn is a tranquil god among programs.

Sam’s impulsive behavior clashes with his father’s passiveness when Sam leaves the safe house to put an end to Clu from outside The Grid, leaving Quorra and Kevin with no option but to follow.

“Legacy” more directly addresses the idea of man playing God with technology than its predecessor, and it even presents some pretty serious religious symbolism (Flynn, a creator, and his son, a saviorlike figure). It’s all a bit heavy-handed, but it’s kept dormant under the pounding Daft Punk score (awesome) and neon-infused action scenes. As breathtaking and as enjoyable as the action is, it comes at the sacrifice of many unexplored story arcs and ideas in the “Tron” universe.

The film does find time to delve into the duality of Kevin Flynn and his out-of-control alter ego Clu, with Bridges having a lot of fun portraying both the tyrant and the aging zen master. His performance lends “Legacy” some clout, but it’s topped by Michael Sheen’s brief turn as Zuse, a frosty-haired David Bowie-inspired program whose fanciful dance moves are almost straight out of a cartoon.

Everything in the movie, however, takes a back seat to the effects. Like the original movie, “Tron: Legacy” was made to push the boundaries of technology in cinema. It succeeds. The film is a special effects spectacle to behold, and it's deserving of Academy Award nominations in art direction, costume design and visual effects.

As with any movie that's so dependent on state-of-the-art technology, you have to wonder how it will hold up over time. Maybe we’ll find out in, say, 28 years? But for 2010?  "Tron: Legacy" is quite an achievement.

Grade: B

View WeekinRewind.com's video preview of the movie below.

“Tron: Legacy”

Movie Review

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, 127 minutes, rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Joel Crabtree

In 1982, Disney released “Tron,” a visually groundbreaking risk that didn’t pay off at the box office, but has lingered around for nearly 30 years as a cult classic among a particular brand of nerd. Somewhere, somehow, someone at the studio decided it was time for a “Tron” sequel. Thus, “Tron: Legacy” was born. All I have to ask is this--what took you guys so long?

On the verge of a major breakthrough in The Grid, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), the head of Encom, goes missing, thus tarnishing his business reputation and leaving behind a son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund, finding his footing as a leading man), who has inherited his father’s rebellious nature -- and his share of the company.

A mysterious page (yes, a page) from Flynn’s abandoned arcade office sends Sam on a quest to find his father. After being sucked into the grid, he discovers a totalitarian cyber world ruled by the iron fist of Clu (also Jeff Bridges), who is a program with the likeness of Kevin Flynn that was assigned to create “the perfect system.”

Only, it isn't perfect.

Sam is forced into a gauntlet of dangerous games, only to be rescued by Quorra (Olivia Wilde), who whisks the young Flynn away safely off The Grid, where his father has been hiding out for years. And he’s changed. No longer the hotshot, risk-taking programmer, Flynn is a tranquil god among programs.

Sam’s impulsive behavior clashes with his father’s passiveness when Sam leaves the safe house to put an end to Clu from outside The Grid, leaving Quorra and Kevin with no option but to follow.

“Legacy” more directly addresses the idea of man playing God with technology than its predecessor, and it even presents some pretty serious religious symbolism (Flynn, a creator, and his son, a saviorlike figure). It’s all a bit heavy-handed, but it’s kept dormant under the pounding Daft Punk score (awesome) and neon-infused action scenes. As breathtaking and as enjoyable as the action is, it comes at the sacrifice of many unexplored story arcs and ideas in the “Tron” universe.

The film does find time to delve into the duality of Kevin Flynn and his out-of-control alter ego Clu, with Bridges having a lot of fun portraying both the tyrant and the aging zen master. His performance lends “Legacy” some clout, but it’s topped by Michael Sheen’s brief turn as Zuse, a frosty-haired David Bowie-inspired program whose fanciful dance moves are almost straight out of a cartoon.

Everything in the movie, however, takes a back seat to the effects. Like the original movie, “Tron: Legacy” was made to push the boundaries of technology in cinema. It succeeds. The film is a special effects spectacle to behold, and it's deserving of Academy Award nominations in art direction, costume design and visual effects.

As with any movie that's so dependent on state-of-the-art technology, you have to wonder how it will hold up over time. Maybe we’ll find out in, say, 28 years? But for 2010?  "Tron: Legacy" is quite an achievement.

Grade: B

View WeekinRewind.com's video preview of the movie below.

"Skyline" (2010)

Movie Review


Directed by Colin and Greg Strause, Written by Joshua Cordes and Liam O'Donnell, Rated R, 92-minutes.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimokowitz

For a movie that warns of the dangers of shiny objects, "Skyline" sure makes us look at a lot of them. Though never trying to be anything more than a fun invasion flick, the film's very apparent similarities to other, better movies weigh it down. What’s more, its lack of logic and convincing characters will frequently keep your brain on Earth, no matter how hard this thing tries to suck your brain out of you.

"Skyline" is about a special effect gone awry. Terry (Donald Faison in a role that plays to the actor’s every weakness), a Hollywood visual effects designer, invites Jarrod (Eric Balfour) to LA to offer him a job on a "Transformers"-type movie.

Jarrod is unsure. Can he give up his stable life of photography and scrapbooking? He has a wife and, despite being an artist, he doesn’t know how he could be of any use to a graphic designer. That is until an army of brain-stealing, squid-looking aliens attack and abduct the human race by attracting them with what no human can resist--blinding rays of blue light.

It’s funny that Jarrod is making a scrapbook early on, because that’s what this movie is. From "Independence Day" to "The Matrix" to "Cloverfield," "Skyline" borrows ideas from just about every big-budget sci-fi film of the last 15 years. It uses these familiar sights as a crutch, but the fun of these past films is to see something otherworldly. By boldly going where so many movies have gone before, "Skyline" comes off as too familiar to be alien.

Most importantly, "Skyline" misses what made those movies successful--likeable characters and an exciting plot. Here, the story is too convenient and its character too illogical. They have no rules to follow, but it wouldn’t matter anyway, because the aliens foil their every move with some new weapon or power they suddenly have. It’s the type a movie that splits characters up just so there are more cars to smash and where aliens can’t see through blinds simply because the writers didn’t see "Predator."

In all of the film's familiarity, the movie expects our allegiance, but without a decent plot or believable characters, the film has no hope of abducting our attention. It’s never boring and it has an array of stunning effects, but "Skyline" isn’t original enough to stand out as something memorable.

Grade: C

"Skyline" (2010)

Movie Review


Directed by Colin and Greg Strause, Written by Joshua Cordes and Liam O'Donnell, Rated R, 92-minutes.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimokowitz

For a movie that warns of the dangers of shiny objects, "Skyline" sure makes us look at a lot of them. Though never trying to be anything more than a fun invasion flick, the film's very apparent similarities to other, better movies weigh it down. What’s more, its lack of logic and convincing characters will frequently keep your brain on Earth, no matter how hard this thing tries to suck your brain out of you.

"Skyline" is about a special effect gone awry. Terry (Donald Faison in a role that plays to the actor’s every weakness), a Hollywood visual effects designer, invites Jarrod (Eric Balfour) to LA to offer him a job on a "Transformers"-type movie.

Jarrod is unsure. Can he give up his stable life of photography and scrapbooking? He has a wife and, despite being an artist, he doesn’t know how he could be of any use to a graphic designer. That is until an army of brain-stealing, squid-looking aliens attack and abduct the human race by attracting them with what no human can resist--blinding rays of blue light.

It’s funny that Jarrod is making a scrapbook early on, because that’s what this movie is. From "Independence Day" to "The Matrix" to "Cloverfield," "Skyline" borrows ideas from just about every big-budget sci-fi film of the last 15 years. It uses these familiar sights as a crutch, but the fun of these past films is to see something otherworldly. By boldly going where so many movies have gone before, "Skyline" comes off as too familiar to be alien.

Most importantly, "Skyline" misses what made those movies successful--likeable characters and an exciting plot. Here, the story is too convenient and its character too illogical. They have no rules to follow, but it wouldn’t matter anyway, because the aliens foil their every move with some new weapon or power they suddenly have. It’s the type a movie that splits characters up just so there are more cars to smash and where aliens can’t see through blinds simply because the writers didn’t see "Predator."

In all of the film's familiarity, the movie expects our allegiance, but without a decent plot or believable characters, the film has no hope of abducting our attention. It’s never boring and it has an array of stunning effects, but "Skyline" isn’t original enough to stand out as something memorable.

Grade: C

“Splice”

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Vincenzo Natali, written by Natalie, Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor, 104 minutes, rated R.

By Christopher Smith

Well, then, now we have the happy  horror movie “Splice,” just available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.  It's about the perils of science and egos and bad childhoods and abuse, and how they all culminate in a film that has a provocative beginning, but which soon shoots off the rails to pick up a few dust balls of disgust.

Be forewarned--after watching it, some might feel dirty upon leaving their television screens. And I’m pretty sure that’s the point. So, um, good for the fimmmakers!

Director Vincenzo Natli co-wrote the script with Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor, and what they created is a movie that unnerves for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is that its subject plunges into the hazy depths of genetic engineering, where cells and DNA are fused together in an effort to create all sorts of things that probably shouldn’t be, but suddenly are. And then what are we to do with them?

Throughout, parallels from James Whale’s 1931 film “Frankenstein” to David Cronenberg’s 1986 film “The Fly” to Roger Donaldson’s 1995 movie “Species” abound, but Natali goes a step farther in that he doesn’t make his leads at all likable, which might be an additional cautionary comment on all that occurs in his movie.

The film follows Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley), who enjoy a working relationship as well as a romantic one. They are scientists at some vague laboratory that hopes to get rich by creating new, slimy creatures that possess the correct sort of proteins that will help cure all sorts of ills. Like cancer. That sort of thing.

Sounds noble until you catch a glimpse of what they’ve kept secret from the public, and that would be the poor creatures apparently here to help save mankind. Secrecy is, in fact, part of what this movie is about. What goes on behind the locked doors of certain labs? As consumers, are we fully aware of the questionable choices some make in an effort to sustain life?

Presumably, we have government watchdogs for that, but does the general public really know how our prescription drugs are created? Maybe. Maybe not. What is true is that the scientists behind them know, and here’s the thing--what if key elements of those drugs came from the juices of some freak creature composed in a lab? Would you knock back a pill if you knew it came from some genetically engineered, breathing blob? Maybe. Maybe not. So, best to package that pill neatly and market it properly.

Trouble is, when ambitious Elsa decides to mix her own DNA with the DNA of any number of animals, we get something altogether different. At first, Elsa’s creation looks like a plucked capon with a human-like head, three fingers and a barbed tail nobody wants to mess with.

Quickly, the creature grows, and as it does, its more human elements are emphasized. The conundrum rests there. The more human the creature appears, the more blurred the lines become about how Elsa and Clive choose to treat it.

At first, Clive is repelled by what Elsa created--he questions her ethics. But Elsa isn’t having any of it. Soon, she names the creature Dren, which is “Nerd” spelled backwards (how clever), and look, before you know it Dren is wearing a party dress and peeping like a bird in Elsa’s arms. Cue the mother-daughter issues. Hell, cue the human-interspecies issues, because when Dren grows up, she’s got legs up to here, kisses down to there, and in spite of her chicken hooves and magnificent wingspan, she’s kind of hot in a Sinead O’Connor kind of way.

What unfolds is all too much to fathom and bear, mostly because of the cruelty Dren endures when Elsa becomes the mother from hell and decides to mistreat Dren when Dren is caught having sex with Elsa’s man. Think that’s weird? Oh, the weirdness doesn’t stop there. There are all sorts of other crude twists the movie takes, the lot of which we’ll leave for the screen to reveal, but each step Natali takes down this cinematic rat hole of his leads him further away from what’s plausible to what’s just a bloody rush of science fiction.

In the end, “Splice” becomes a circus of the insane, and with nobody here to root for save for Dren, a confused thing whose biggest and most repellent surprise is revealed at the end, the movie crosses too many lines and morphs into something of a morbid curiosity. It’s not Dren’s fault that we’re pushed away from it, but we are, and in the face of that, this initially promising movie falters.

Grade: C+

View the movie trailer for "Splice" below. What are your thoughts of the film?

“Splice”

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Vincenzo Natali, written by Natalie, Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor, 104 minutes, rated R.

By Christopher Smith

Well, then, now we have the happy  horror movie “Splice,” just available on DVD and Blu-ray disc.  It's about the perils of science and egos and bad childhoods and abuse, and how they all culminate in a film that has a provocative beginning, but which soon shoots off the rails to pick up a few dust balls of disgust.

Be forewarned--after watching it, some might feel dirty upon leaving their television screens. And I’m pretty sure that’s the point. So, um, good for the fimmmakers!

Director Vincenzo Natli co-wrote the script with Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor, and what they created is a movie that unnerves for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is that its subject plunges into the hazy depths of genetic engineering, where cells and DNA are fused together in an effort to create all sorts of things that probably shouldn’t be, but suddenly are. And then what are we to do with them?

Throughout, parallels from James Whale’s 1931 film “Frankenstein” to David Cronenberg’s 1986 film “The Fly” to Roger Donaldson’s 1995 movie “Species” abound, but Natali goes a step farther in that he doesn’t make his leads at all likable, which might be an additional cautionary comment on all that occurs in his movie.

The film follows Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley), who enjoy a working relationship as well as a romantic one. They are scientists at some vague laboratory that hopes to get rich by creating new, slimy creatures that possess the correct sort of proteins that will help cure all sorts of ills. Like cancer. That sort of thing.

Sounds noble until you catch a glimpse of what they’ve kept secret from the public, and that would be the poor creatures apparently here to help save mankind. Secrecy is, in fact, part of what this movie is about. What goes on behind the locked doors of certain labs? As consumers, are we fully aware of the questionable choices some make in an effort to sustain life?

Presumably, we have government watchdogs for that, but does the general public really know how our prescription drugs are created? Maybe. Maybe not. What is true is that the scientists behind them know, and here’s the thing--what if key elements of those drugs came from the juices of some freak creature composed in a lab? Would you knock back a pill if you knew it came from some genetically engineered, breathing blob? Maybe. Maybe not. So, best to package that pill neatly and market it properly.

Trouble is, when ambitious Elsa decides to mix her own DNA with the DNA of any number of animals, we get something altogether different. At first, Elsa’s creation looks like a plucked capon with a human-like head, three fingers and a barbed tail nobody wants to mess with.

Quickly, the creature grows, and as it does, its more human elements are emphasized. The conundrum rests there. The more human the creature appears, the more blurred the lines become about how Elsa and Clive choose to treat it.

At first, Clive is repelled by what Elsa created--he questions her ethics. But Elsa isn’t having any of it. Soon, she names the creature Dren, which is “Nerd” spelled backwards (how clever), and look, before you know it Dren is wearing a party dress and peeping like a bird in Elsa’s arms. Cue the mother-daughter issues. Hell, cue the human-interspecies issues, because when Dren grows up, she’s got legs up to here, kisses down to there, and in spite of her chicken hooves and magnificent wingspan, she’s kind of hot in a Sinead O’Connor kind of way.

What unfolds is all too much to fathom and bear, mostly because of the cruelty Dren endures when Elsa becomes the mother from hell and decides to mistreat Dren when Dren is caught having sex with Elsa’s man. Think that’s weird? Oh, the weirdness doesn’t stop there. There are all sorts of other crude twists the movie takes, the lot of which we’ll leave for the screen to reveal, but each step Natali takes down this cinematic rat hole of his leads him further away from what’s plausible to what’s just a bloody rush of science fiction.

In the end, “Splice” becomes a circus of the insane, and with nobody here to root for save for Dren, a confused thing whose biggest and most repellent surprise is revealed at the end, the movie crosses too many lines and morphs into something of a morbid curiosity. It’s not Dren’s fault that we’re pushed away from it, but we are, and in the face of that, this initially promising movie falters.

Grade: C+

View the movie trailer for "Splice" below. What are your thoughts of the film?

"Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D"

Movie Review

Written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, 90 minutes, rated R.

By Christopher Smith

The new Paul W. S. Anderson movie, "Resident Evil: Afterlife," features one scene that's memorable, if only because it's so comical. You were looking for more than one memorable scene? Wrong movie.

The scene takes place on a rooftop. On it is Alice (Milla Jovovich), who returns to this fourth installment in the franchise with her poreless skin and vicious death moves in an effort to take down the Umbrella Corporation. Those who follow the franchise will know that the Umbrella Corp. is responsible for creating a virus that has turned most of the world's human population into a scrambling, unattractive herd of the hissing undead.

In this particular scene, Alice is pitted against thousands of them, all of which are closing in on her in an effort to eat her, because that's what zombies do. Since Alice is resourceful, she tricks them into chasing her off the building's roof just as she drops a bomb in her wake.

The movie was shot in 3-D, which allows Anderson a unique opportunity to embrace a perspective. Not unlike the writing itself, the undead in these movies are dumb and so they naturally follow Alice off the roof without hesitation, thought or question. What we're left with is a funny shot that allows the viewer to look up at the undead as they pinwheel through the air (and presumably to their undead deaths) with their tinker-toy arms and legs. When the bomb explodes, it catches bits and pieces of them on fire. Meanwhile, the ever-resourceful Alice is swinging like Tarzan on the rope she attached to her body before jumping. She lands on the ground, where the falling zombies are popping like pinatas--and where more zombies await. Gunfire ensues. Cut. Print.

What's refreshing about this scene is how it uses 3-D technology--it's safe to say you've never seen zombies tumbling at you quite like this. Unfortunately, everything that comes before and after this moment is just what you expect--a convoluted scattershot of hyper editing best served for fans of the franchise or for junkies of the computer games on which they're based. Those who enjoy their horror movies with a trace of story and a measure of dialogue to boost character development will be left wanting.

After all, the lot of it is plot. This time out, Alice is up against Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who wears sunglasses at night and who is determined to take down Alice and her posse. Said posse includes loads of Alice dopplegangers, Ali Larter as Claire, Wentworth Miller as a handy inmate (because, you know, he's comfortable in such a role after starring in "Prison Break") and Boris Kodjoe as Luther West.

Making a heroic return from the last movie, the misleadingly titled "Resident Evil: Extinction," is a young lass named K-Mart (Spencer Locke), whose name redefines the way Hollywood markets corporate America in movies (fight the real evil, Alice!)--and which is where you likely will find this movie on DVD soon enough.

Grade: D+

New on DVD and Blu-ray disc

Recommended:


"American Beauty" Blu-ray

Sam Mendes’ Academy Award-winning “American Beauty” recalls Ang Lee’s “The Ice Storm” in tone, Todd Solondz’s “Happiness” in content and Alexander Payne’s “Election” in its biting depiction of a woman who will do anything to succeed. The film, which won Best Picture at the 72nd Academy Awards, follows Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a horny, boozy, 42-year-old frump of disillusionment primed to drop out of life. Physically exhausted and emotionally dead, Lester is a bitter piece of work whose brittle smile conveys poison, rage, frustration and sadness. He’s been forced out of his job of 14 years; his wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), has worn a hole in their marriage by scratching and clawing her way to the bottom of the real estate business; and his teen-age daughter, Jane (Thora Birch), hates him for losing interest in her. Unloved, unsung, unhappy and unwilling to do much about it, Lester buys bags of pot from the boy next door (Wes Bentley) and sinks into a fantasy life that’s so rich, it would make Walter Mitty swoon. He quits his job, ignores his wife’s torrid affair with the self-described “king of real estate” (Peter Gallagher) and starts pumping weights in an all-out effort to reclaim his youth and to get his daughter’s best friend (Mena Suvari) into bed. Daring and brash, Mendes uses his cinematic debut to get to the core of the American experience. That he succeeds is one triumph, but there are others. He mines an excellent performance from Spacey, who took the prize for Best Actor, and he brought Bening’s career back on track by recognizing her strengths. Just as she proved in 1991’s “Bugsy,” the actress is best when throwing a fist, a barbed insult or firing a gun. In “American Beauty,” she does all three. Rated R. Grade: A

Avoid:

"The Amityville Horror" Blu-ray
When the first "Amityville Horror" appeared in 1979, possession was still a pop-culture darling--you could announce at a cocktail party that you were the anti-Christ and, depending on the room's mood, people either would consume you in festive or earnest banter. So it's good news for this sexier, slighter version that interest in cheap thrills remains high. The movie is exactly what you expect from a modern-day horror film--an assorted bag of assembled cliches, this one with bits of “The Shining,” “In Cold Blood,” “The Exorcist,” “Misery” and any number of those “Ring” movies tossed in for box office curb appeal. In this case, a few weeds need to be plucked. As George Lutz, Ryan Reynolds looks good behind the ax as he turns on his family--but he's no Jack Nicholson or, for that matter, even James Brolin from the original. As Kathy Lutz, Melissa George shrieks on cue, but in her, you sense more motherly worry than outright terror, which is what the film needs. As for the demonic flies that made such a chilly addition to the original film, here they make a brief, thrill-ride appearance and then they are gone--not unlike this movie was just weeks after its 2005 theatrical release. Grade: C-

"Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D"

Movie Review

Written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, 90 minutes, rated R.

By Christopher Smith

The new Paul W. S. Anderson movie, "Resident Evil: Afterlife," features one scene that's memorable, if only because it's so comical. You were looking for more than one memorable scene? Wrong movie.

The scene takes place on a rooftop. On it is Alice (Milla Jovovich), who returns to this fourth installment in the franchise with her poreless skin and vicious death moves in an effort to take down the Umbrella Corporation. Those who follow the franchise will know that the Umbrella Corp. is responsible for creating a virus that has turned most of the world's human population into a scrambling, unattractive herd of the hissing undead.

In this particular scene, Alice is pitted against thousands of them, all of which are closing in on her in an effort to eat her, because that's what zombies do. Since Alice is resourceful, she tricks them into chasing her off the building's roof just as she drops a bomb in her wake.

The movie was shot in 3-D, which allows Anderson a unique opportunity to embrace a perspective. Not unlike the writing itself, the undead in these movies are dumb and so they naturally follow Alice off the roof without hesitation, thought or question. What we're left with is a funny shot that allows the viewer to look up at the undead as they pinwheel through the air (and presumably to their undead deaths) with their tinker-toy arms and legs. When the bomb explodes, it catches bits and pieces of them on fire. Meanwhile, the ever-resourceful Alice is swinging like Tarzan on the rope she attached to her body before jumping. She lands on the ground, where the falling zombies are popping like pinatas--and where more zombies await. Gunfire ensues. Cut. Print.

What's refreshing about this scene is how it uses 3-D technology--it's safe to say you've never seen zombies tumbling at you quite like this. Unfortunately, everything that comes before and after this moment is just what you expect--a convoluted scattershot of hyper editing best served for fans of the franchise or for junkies of the computer games on which they're based. Those who enjoy their horror movies with a trace of story and a measure of dialogue to boost character development will be left wanting.

After all, the lot of it is plot. This time out, Alice is up against Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who wears sunglasses at night and who is determined to take down Alice and her posse. Said posse includes loads of Alice dopplegangers, Ali Larter as Claire, Wentworth Miller as a handy inmate (because, you know, he's comfortable in such a role after starring in "Prison Break") and Boris Kodjoe as Luther West.

Making a heroic return from the last movie, the misleadingly titled "Resident Evil: Extinction," is a young lass named K-Mart (Spencer Locke), whose name redefines the way Hollywood markets corporate America in movies (fight the real evil, Alice!)--and which is where you likely will find this movie on DVD soon enough.

Grade: D+

New on DVD and Blu-ray disc

Recommended:


"American Beauty" Blu-ray

Sam Mendes’ Academy Award-winning “American Beauty” recalls Ang Lee’s “The Ice Storm” in tone, Todd Solondz’s “Happiness” in content and Alexander Payne’s “Election” in its biting depiction of a woman who will do anything to succeed. The film, which won Best Picture at the 72nd Academy Awards, follows Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a horny, boozy, 42-year-old frump of disillusionment primed to drop out of life. Physically exhausted and emotionally dead, Lester is a bitter piece of work whose brittle smile conveys poison, rage, frustration and sadness. He’s been forced out of his job of 14 years; his wife, Carolyn (Annette Bening), has worn a hole in their marriage by scratching and clawing her way to the bottom of the real estate business; and his teen-age daughter, Jane (Thora Birch), hates him for losing interest in her. Unloved, unsung, unhappy and unwilling to do much about it, Lester buys bags of pot from the boy next door (Wes Bentley) and sinks into a fantasy life that’s so rich, it would make Walter Mitty swoon. He quits his job, ignores his wife’s torrid affair with the self-described “king of real estate” (Peter Gallagher) and starts pumping weights in an all-out effort to reclaim his youth and to get his daughter’s best friend (Mena Suvari) into bed. Daring and brash, Mendes uses his cinematic debut to get to the core of the American experience. That he succeeds is one triumph, but there are others. He mines an excellent performance from Spacey, who took the prize for Best Actor, and he brought Bening’s career back on track by recognizing her strengths. Just as she proved in 1991’s “Bugsy,” the actress is best when throwing a fist, a barbed insult or firing a gun. In “American Beauty,” she does all three. Rated R. Grade: A

Avoid:

"The Amityville Horror" Blu-ray
When the first "Amityville Horror" appeared in 1979, possession was still a pop-culture darling--you could announce at a cocktail party that you were the anti-Christ and, depending on the room's mood, people either would consume you in festive or earnest banter. So it's good news for this sexier, slighter version that interest in cheap thrills remains high. The movie is exactly what you expect from a modern-day horror film--an assorted bag of assembled cliches, this one with bits of “The Shining,” “In Cold Blood,” “The Exorcist,” “Misery” and any number of those “Ring” movies tossed in for box office curb appeal. In this case, a few weeds need to be plucked. As George Lutz, Ryan Reynolds looks good behind the ax as he turns on his family--but he's no Jack Nicholson or, for that matter, even James Brolin from the original. As Kathy Lutz, Melissa George shrieks on cue, but in her, you sense more motherly worry than outright terror, which is what the film needs. As for the demonic flies that made such a chilly addition to the original film, here they make a brief, thrill-ride appearance and then they are gone--not unlike this movie was just weeks after its 2005 theatrical release. Grade: C-

“Lost in Space”

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Stephen Hopkins, written by Akiva Goldsman, 130 minutes, PG-13.

By Christopher Smith

Danger! Danger, William Hurt! Danger, Matt LeBlanc! You’re lost in a bad film! You’re speaking unspeakable dialogue! Your pecs can’t possibly be that large! Danger! Danger! Danger!

It was inevitable. The big-screen version of the campy 1960s television series, “Lost in Space,” is now available on Blu-ray, a fact that will undoubtedly leave some cheering, and others--those who actually see the film--weeping in dim, colorless rooms for all that was lost in the translation.

Danger, moviegoers. “Lost in Space” is a great big intergalactic mess of a film featuring a brilliant, never-ending barrage of special effects that cut through your senses like the rat-a-tat-tat of a machine gun and are used, with some success, to divert your attention from the film’s many black holes, not the least of which are its poorly written script and its thin, grade school-quality acting.

Opening with a terrific--and hastily explained--space battle that stuns with the sheer audacity of its special effects, “Lost in Space” is, of course, about the Robinson family--Prof. John Robinson (Hurt), his wife, Maureen (Mimi Rogers), their daughters, Judy and Penny (Heather Graham and Lacey Chabert), and their son, Will (Jack Johnson)--who leave our troubled Earth with ace pilot, Don West (LeBlanc), to find Alpha Prime, the only other planet in the solar system known to support human life.

Along the way, they are undermined by the evil Dr. Smith (Gary Oldman), helped and hindered by a rebellious robot, chased after by a ferocious band of space spiders, marooned on an unknown planet--and forced to confront, of all things, their inadequate family values.

Unfortunately, while all of this does make for a film that is a wonder to look at, none of it makes for a story that is a wonder to watch unfold. Why? Because we don’t care for this family. These people aren’t the Robinsons we remember, but dull, puffed-up cast-offs in bondage gear who look as though they belong more in a porno movie than they do in a film based on an admittedly silly piece of '60s nostalgia.

Is this really the movie audiences expected? A film featuring a bunch of grunting, unlikable characters used not so much to deepen the film as they are to set up the next spectacular explosion?

As a television series, “Lost in Space” was bad in a way that made it deliciously good. In its cardboard sets, its tinfoil costumes and its over-the-top acting, it never took itself seriously, which was part of its charm.

But “Lost in Space,” the film, loses the point because it does take itself too seriously. Far too seriously. The evening news isn’t this serious. You don’t sense the actors winking at the audience as you did in the television series. Instead, what you sense is humiliation from Hurt, false bravado from a bulked-up LeBlanc and acute indigestion from Rogers, who is incapable of building any romantic tension between herself and Hurt, a crucial element to the film’s success.

Lost in space, indeed.

Grade: C-

“Lost in Space”

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Stephen Hopkins, written by Akiva Goldsman, 130 minutes, PG-13.

By Christopher Smith

Danger! Danger, William Hurt! Danger, Matt LeBlanc! You’re lost in a bad film! You’re speaking unspeakable dialogue! Your pecs can’t possibly be that large! Danger! Danger! Danger!

It was inevitable. The big-screen version of the campy 1960s television series, “Lost in Space,” is now available on Blu-ray, a fact that will undoubtedly leave some cheering, and others--those who actually see the film--weeping in dim, colorless rooms for all that was lost in the translation.

Danger, moviegoers. “Lost in Space” is a great big intergalactic mess of a film featuring a brilliant, never-ending barrage of special effects that cut through your senses like the rat-a-tat-tat of a machine gun and are used, with some success, to divert your attention from the film’s many black holes, not the least of which are its poorly written script and its thin, grade school-quality acting.

Opening with a terrific--and hastily explained--space battle that stuns with the sheer audacity of its special effects, “Lost in Space” is, of course, about the Robinson family--Prof. John Robinson (Hurt), his wife, Maureen (Mimi Rogers), their daughters, Judy and Penny (Heather Graham and Lacey Chabert), and their son, Will (Jack Johnson)--who leave our troubled Earth with ace pilot, Don West (LeBlanc), to find Alpha Prime, the only other planet in the solar system known to support human life.

Along the way, they are undermined by the evil Dr. Smith (Gary Oldman), helped and hindered by a rebellious robot, chased after by a ferocious band of space spiders, marooned on an unknown planet--and forced to confront, of all things, their inadequate family values.

Unfortunately, while all of this does make for a film that is a wonder to look at, none of it makes for a story that is a wonder to watch unfold. Why? Because we don’t care for this family. These people aren’t the Robinsons we remember, but dull, puffed-up cast-offs in bondage gear who look as though they belong more in a porno movie than they do in a film based on an admittedly silly piece of '60s nostalgia.

Is this really the movie audiences expected? A film featuring a bunch of grunting, unlikable characters used not so much to deepen the film as they are to set up the next spectacular explosion?

As a television series, “Lost in Space” was bad in a way that made it deliciously good. In its cardboard sets, its tinfoil costumes and its over-the-top acting, it never took itself seriously, which was part of its charm.

But “Lost in Space,” the film, loses the point because it does take itself too seriously. Far too seriously. The evening news isn’t this serious. You don’t sense the actors winking at the audience as you did in the television series. Instead, what you sense is humiliation from Hurt, false bravado from a bulked-up LeBlanc and acute indigestion from Rogers, who is incapable of building any romantic tension between herself and Hurt, a crucial element to the film’s success.

Lost in space, indeed.

Grade: C-

“Splice”

Movie Review

Directed by Vincenzo Natali, written by Natalie, Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor, 104 minutes, rated R.

By Christopher Smith

Well, then, now we have the happy new horror movie “Splice,” which is about the perils of science and egos and bad childhoods and abuse, and how they all culminate in a film that has a provocative beginning, but which soon shoots off the rails to pick up a few dust balls of disgust.

Be forewarned--after watching it, some might feel dirty upon leaving the theater. And I’m pretty sure that’s the point. So, um, good for the fimmmakers!

Director Vincenzo Natli co-wrote the script with Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor, and what they created is a movie that unnerves for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is that its subject plunges into the hazy depths of genetic engineering, where cells and DNA are fused together in an effort to create all sorts of things that probably shouldn’t be, but suddenly are. And then what are we to do with them?

Throughout, parallels from James Whale’s 1931 film “Frankenstein” to David Cronenberg’s 1986 film “The Fly” to Roger Donaldson’s 1995 movie “Species” abound, but Natali goes a step farther in that he doesn’t make his leads at all likable, which might be an additional cautionary comment on all that occurs in his movie.

The film follows Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley), who enjoy a working relationship as well as a romantic one. They are scientists at some vague laboratory that hopes to get rich by creating new, slimy creatures that possess the correct sort of proteins that will help cure all sorts of ills. Like cancer. That sort of thing.

Sounds noble until you catch a glimpse of what they’ve kept secret from the public, and that would be the poor creatures apparently here to help save mankind. Secrecy is, in fact, part of what this movie is about. What goes on behind the locked doors of certain labs? As consumers, are we fully aware of the questionable choices some make in an effort to sustain life?

Presumably, we have government watchdogs for that, but does the general public really know how our prescription drugs are created? Maybe. Maybe not. What is true is that the scientists behind them know, and here’s the thing--what if key elements of those drugs came from the juices of some freak creature composed in a lab? Would you knock back a pill if you knew it came from some genetically engineered, breathing blob? Maybe. Maybe not. So, best to package that pill neatly and market it properly.

Trouble is, when ambitious Elsa decides to mix her own DNA with the DNA of any number of animals, we get something altogether different. At first, Elsa’s creation looks like a plucked capon with a human-like head, three fingers and a barbed tail nobody wants to mess with.

Quickly, the creature grows, and as it does, its more human elements are emphasized. The conundrum rests there. The more human the creature appears, the more blurred the lines become about how Elsa and Clive choose to treat it.

At first, Clive is repelled by what Elsa created--he questions her ethics. But Elsa isn’t having any of it. Soon, she names the creature Dren, which is “Nerd” spelled backwards (how clever), and look, before you know it Dren is wearing a party dress and peeping like a bird in Elsa’s arms. Cue the mother-daughter issues. Hell, cue the human-interspecies issues, because when Dren grows up, she’s got legs up to here, kisses down to there, and in spite of her chicken hooves and magnificent wingspan, she’s kind of hot in a Sinead O’Connor kind of way.

What unfolds is all too much to fathom and bear, mostly because of the cruelty Dren endures when Elsa becomes the mother from hell and decides to mistreat Dren when Dren is caught having sex with Elsa’s man. Think that’s weird? Oh, the weirdness doesn’t stop there. There are all sorts of other crude twists the movie takes, the lot of which we’ll leave for the screen to reveal, but each step Natali takes down this cinematic rat hole of his leads him further away from what’s plausible to what’s just a bloody rush of science fiction.

In the end, “Splice” becomes a circus of the insane, and with nobody here to root for save for Dren, a confused thing whose biggest and most repellent surprise is revealed at the end, the movie crosses too many lines and morphs into something of a morbid curiosity. It’s not Dren’s fault that we’re pushed away from it, but we are, and in the face of that, this initially promising movie falters.

Grade: C+

View the movie trailer for "Splice" below. What are your thoughts of the film?

“Splice”

Movie Review

Directed by Vincenzo Natali, written by Natalie, Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor, 104 minutes, rated R.

By Christopher Smith

Well, then, now we have the happy new horror movie “Splice,” which is about the perils of science and egos and bad childhoods and abuse, and how they all culminate in a film that has a provocative beginning, but which soon shoots off the rails to pick up a few dust balls of disgust.

Be forewarned--after watching it, some might feel dirty upon leaving the theater. And I’m pretty sure that’s the point. So, um, good for the fimmmakers!

Director Vincenzo Natli co-wrote the script with Antoinette Terry Bryant and Doug Taylor, and what they created is a movie that unnerves for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is that its subject plunges into the hazy depths of genetic engineering, where cells and DNA are fused together in an effort to create all sorts of things that probably shouldn’t be, but suddenly are. And then what are we to do with them?

Throughout, parallels from James Whale’s 1931 film “Frankenstein” to David Cronenberg’s 1986 film “The Fly” to Roger Donaldson’s 1995 movie “Species” abound, but Natali goes a step farther in that he doesn’t make his leads at all likable, which might be an additional cautionary comment on all that occurs in his movie.

The film follows Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley), who enjoy a working relationship as well as a romantic one. They are scientists at some vague laboratory that hopes to get rich by creating new, slimy creatures that possess the correct sort of proteins that will help cure all sorts of ills. Like cancer. That sort of thing.

Sounds noble until you catch a glimpse of what they’ve kept secret from the public, and that would be the poor creatures apparently here to help save mankind. Secrecy is, in fact, part of what this movie is about. What goes on behind the locked doors of certain labs? As consumers, are we fully aware of the questionable choices some make in an effort to sustain life?

Presumably, we have government watchdogs for that, but does the general public really know how our prescription drugs are created? Maybe. Maybe not. What is true is that the scientists behind them know, and here’s the thing--what if key elements of those drugs came from the juices of some freak creature composed in a lab? Would you knock back a pill if you knew it came from some genetically engineered, breathing blob? Maybe. Maybe not. So, best to package that pill neatly and market it properly.

Trouble is, when ambitious Elsa decides to mix her own DNA with the DNA of any number of animals, we get something altogether different. At first, Elsa’s creation looks like a plucked capon with a human-like head, three fingers and a barbed tail nobody wants to mess with.

Quickly, the creature grows, and as it does, its more human elements are emphasized. The conundrum rests there. The more human the creature appears, the more blurred the lines become about how Elsa and Clive choose to treat it.

At first, Clive is repelled by what Elsa created--he questions her ethics. But Elsa isn’t having any of it. Soon, she names the creature Dren, which is “Nerd” spelled backwards (how clever), and look, before you know it Dren is wearing a party dress and peeping like a bird in Elsa’s arms. Cue the mother-daughter issues. Hell, cue the human-interspecies issues, because when Dren grows up, she’s got legs up to here, kisses down to there, and in spite of her chicken hooves and magnificent wingspan, she’s kind of hot in a Sinead O’Connor kind of way.

What unfolds is all too much to fathom and bear, mostly because of the cruelty Dren endures when Elsa becomes the mother from hell and decides to mistreat Dren when Dren is caught having sex with Elsa’s man. Think that’s weird? Oh, the weirdness doesn’t stop there. There are all sorts of other crude twists the movie takes, the lot of which we’ll leave for the screen to reveal, but each step Natali takes down this cinematic rat hole of his leads him further away from what’s plausible to what’s just a bloody rush of science fiction.

In the end, “Splice” becomes a circus of the insane, and with nobody here to root for save for Dren, a confused thing whose biggest and most repellent surprise is revealed at the end, the movie crosses too many lines and morphs into something of a morbid curiosity. It’s not Dren’s fault that we’re pushed away from it, but we are, and in the face of that, this initially promising movie falters.

Grade: C+

View the movie trailer for "Splice" below. What are your thoughts of the film?

DVD, Blu-ray Review

"Dune"

Directed by David Lynch, Written by Lynch, 137 Minutes, Rated PG-13.

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

Whoa. What a mess.

You go into literally any David Lynch film, and you'll have a unique experience. Most of the time that's a positive thing--"Mulholland Drive," "Eraserhead," or even the more straightforward "The Straight Story" are very original, intriguing and ultimately fascinating films. But in the case of "Dune," Lynch's take on the epic science fiction fantasy novel by Frank Herbert, its uniqueness lies in how utterly baffling, convoluted and disastrous it is.

The plot--man, the plot, is there even a way to put it to words? Quite a ways into the future--10,000-something according to a woman's floating head at the start of the film--several planets are in conflict over a mystical and consciousness-altering resource known as "spice." It originates only on a planet known as Dune, likely named for its endless desert landscape and nary a drop of rain. A young man named Paul Atreides (Lynch regular Kyle MacLachlan, far out of his element) is targeted for political assassination because he may or may not be the messiah prophesied to rid the universe of evil and take control of the planet Dune. There's a cavalcade of villains, whose various motivations and personalities all sort of blur together--there's Jose Ferrer as an evil Emperor of the Universe who wants control of the spice, there's Kenneth McMillan as an obese, repulsive flying baron who wants Paul dead and Brad Dourif as his right hand man, and of course there's Sting as Feyd-Rautha, son of the baron and who I suppose one could call the main villain.

They all come together on Dune, where epic battles are staged between the several conflicting groups and alliances are forged and broken, giant worms are killed and tamed, and sand blows around a lot. At some point in there we also get some romance, some typical Arthurian "rise of a chosen one" stuff, and a lot of weird dubbed voices. How it all relates to each other and why any of the characters want what they want I really couldn't tell you, because the film is as incomprehensible as they come. It's odd, really--where something like Lynch's "Inland Empire" can thrive in its confusion and nightmarishness, "Dune" just frustrates. It feels like in an effort to fit in as much of Herbert's story as possible, Lynch just shoved everything together and tossed shoddy exposition into poorly-implemented narration. This not only makes the film impossible to completely understand, it also harms the pacing of the film and eliminates any possibility of relation to any of the characters, especially Paul, because MacLachlan's mediocre performance certainly doesn't help on that front.

Some stuff certainly works. For one, Lynch's more terrifying and surreal tendencies come through in some of the more trippy and dreamy moments, or scenes with the film's villains, especially the Baron, who has some of the most devilishly funny and disturbing scenes in the film. I suppose the fact that they're funny is incidental, but I'll count it as a plus, because this film desperately needs one. The acting also isn't all that bad from most of the cast--MacLachlan aside, some of Lynch's regulars make solid appearances, Jack Nance being the best, and folks like Max von Sydow and pre-"Star Trek" Patrick Stewart pop up for a few minutes every so often. And in a different film, perhaps a Lynch one that's actually good, Sting's over-the-top performance would be right at home.

I think what it comes down to is that Lynch just can't work with a film of this magnitude. Don't get me wrong, he covers epic material with stuff like "Inland Empire" and "Twin Peaks," but those are "epic" more in their ability to cover so many facets of the human mind than in staging huge, grand action setpieces and covering dozens of characters in a deeply mythological story that is not his own. I don't expect Lynch really put his all into it, not to mention he wasn't given control over the final cut, so it all just comes out as an artificial, muddled disaster.

I think the only really great thing to come out of "Dune" is the fact that it allowed Lynch to fund "Blue Velvet." Otherwise, there's not much to recommend here.


Grade: D

DVD, Blu-ray Review

"Dune"

Directed by David Lynch, Written by Lynch, 137 Minutes, Rated PG-13.

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

Whoa. What a mess.

You go into literally any David Lynch film, and you'll have a unique experience. Most of the time that's a positive thing--"Mulholland Drive," "Eraserhead," or even the more straightforward "The Straight Story" are very original, intriguing and ultimately fascinating films. But in the case of "Dune," Lynch's take on the epic science fiction fantasy novel by Frank Herbert, its uniqueness lies in how utterly baffling, convoluted and disastrous it is.

The plot--man, the plot, is there even a way to put it to words? Quite a ways into the future--10,000-something according to a woman's floating head at the start of the film--several planets are in conflict over a mystical and consciousness-altering resource known as "spice." It originates only on a planet known as Dune, likely named for its endless desert landscape and nary a drop of rain. A young man named Paul Atreides (Lynch regular Kyle MacLachlan, far out of his element) is targeted for political assassination because he may or may not be the messiah prophesied to rid the universe of evil and take control of the planet Dune. There's a cavalcade of villains, whose various motivations and personalities all sort of blur together--there's Jose Ferrer as an evil Emperor of the Universe who wants control of the spice, there's Kenneth McMillan as an obese, repulsive flying baron who wants Paul dead and Brad Dourif as his right hand man, and of course there's Sting as Feyd-Rautha, son of the baron and who I suppose one could call the main villain.

They all come together on Dune, where epic battles are staged between the several conflicting groups and alliances are forged and broken, giant worms are killed and tamed, and sand blows around a lot. At some point in there we also get some romance, some typical Arthurian "rise of a chosen one" stuff, and a lot of weird dubbed voices. How it all relates to each other and why any of the characters want what they want I really couldn't tell you, because the film is as incomprehensible as they come. It's odd, really--where something like Lynch's "Inland Empire" can thrive in its confusion and nightmarishness, "Dune" just frustrates. It feels like in an effort to fit in as much of Herbert's story as possible, Lynch just shoved everything together and tossed shoddy exposition into poorly-implemented narration. This not only makes the film impossible to completely understand, it also harms the pacing of the film and eliminates any possibility of relation to any of the characters, especially Paul, because MacLachlan's mediocre performance certainly doesn't help on that front.

Some stuff certainly works. For one, Lynch's more terrifying and surreal tendencies come through in some of the more trippy and dreamy moments, or scenes with the film's villains, especially the Baron, who has some of the most devilishly funny and disturbing scenes in the film. I suppose the fact that they're funny is incidental, but I'll count it as a plus, because this film desperately needs one. The acting also isn't all that bad from most of the cast--MacLachlan aside, some of Lynch's regulars make solid appearances, Jack Nance being the best, and folks like Max von Sydow and pre-"Star Trek" Patrick Stewart pop up for a few minutes every so often. And in a different film, perhaps a Lynch one that's actually good, Sting's over-the-top performance would be right at home.

I think what it comes down to is that Lynch just can't work with a film of this magnitude. Don't get me wrong, he covers epic material with stuff like "Inland Empire" and "Twin Peaks," but those are "epic" more in their ability to cover so many facets of the human mind than in staging huge, grand action setpieces and covering dozens of characters in a deeply mythological story that is not his own. I don't expect Lynch really put his all into it, not to mention he wasn't given control over the final cut, so it all just comes out as an artificial, muddled disaster.

I think the only really great thing to come out of "Dune" is the fact that it allowed Lynch to fund "Blue Velvet." Otherwise, there's not much to recommend here.


Grade: D

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

"Cocoon"

Directed by Ron Howard, Written by Tom Benedek, 117 Minutes, Rated PG-13

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Cocoon," like a lot of other films directed by Ron Howard, is often pretty meandering and inconsequential, but unlike other Ron Howard films, it's really a good bit of fun.

The film follows a few separate stories that intersect here and there. One follows a group of extraterrestrials called Antareans (their leader is played by Brian Dennehy) returning to our planet after thousands of years absent to bring back some of the folks they left behind. They rent a boat captained by Jack (Steve Guttenberg), who believes they're on a simple archaeological expedition. Meanwhile, three elderly men, Ben, Joe and Arthur (Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn and Don Ameche, who won an Academy Award for his performance) trespass onto the property the Antareans are using and start swimming in the pool they've energized to hold their cocooned brethren. The power of the pool acts as a sort of fountain of youth for the men and they come into some conflict with the Antareans and with other people at their nursing home when they start taking advantage of it.

The film is driven almost entirely by its excellent performances. Even when very little is going on and the film just sort of wanders through its light plot, there's always entertainment in the smart banter between the three leads and the other characters at the old folks home. Guttenberg, a total '80s staple if there ever was one, is used pretty much just to take a break from the elderly characters every so often. He does his job well enough. Dennehy brings a lot of grace and nuance to what could've been a very obvious and cliched role. He's soft-spoken but powerful when need be.

Unfortunately, everything good about the film is eventually marred to a certain degree by the writing and direction. It's funny that one of the film's taglines is "It is nothing you expect," because there's very little in the film that you couldn't figure out from the first 20 minutes or so and as science fiction movies come, you couldn't get more straightforward and traditional than this. Partially, this has to do with the script, which is generally formulaic and sub-par and only works because of the performances. But Ron Howard's direction tends to be a tad on the dull side, even in stuff that could be very stylish like this, so that doesn't help matters either. Nor does the fact that "Cocoon" is a product of the '80s, so all of the synthesized music and occasionally goofy fashion rings a bit false now. But that can hardly be blamed on the film, I suppose, even the best stuff to come out of the '80s suffers from that sort of thing.

It's a simple affair, and it's far from perfect, but "Cocoon" is probably one of the most outright fun Ron Howard films out there, and despite having very little going on thematically, it's a pretty sweet film about coping with age and mortality. Not a bad way to spend some time.

Grade: C+

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

"Cocoon"

Directed by Ron Howard, Written by Tom Benedek, 117 Minutes, Rated PG-13

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Cocoon," like a lot of other films directed by Ron Howard, is often pretty meandering and inconsequential, but unlike other Ron Howard films, it's really a good bit of fun.

The film follows a few separate stories that intersect here and there. One follows a group of extraterrestrials called Antareans (their leader is played by Brian Dennehy) returning to our planet after thousands of years absent to bring back some of the folks they left behind. They rent a boat captained by Jack (Steve Guttenberg), who believes they're on a simple archaeological expedition. Meanwhile, three elderly men, Ben, Joe and Arthur (Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn and Don Ameche, who won an Academy Award for his performance) trespass onto the property the Antareans are using and start swimming in the pool they've energized to hold their cocooned brethren. The power of the pool acts as a sort of fountain of youth for the men and they come into some conflict with the Antareans and with other people at their nursing home when they start taking advantage of it.

The film is driven almost entirely by its excellent performances. Even when very little is going on and the film just sort of wanders through its light plot, there's always entertainment in the smart banter between the three leads and the other characters at the old folks home. Guttenberg, a total '80s staple if there ever was one, is used pretty much just to take a break from the elderly characters every so often. He does his job well enough. Dennehy brings a lot of grace and nuance to what could've been a very obvious and cliched role. He's soft-spoken but powerful when need be.

Unfortunately, everything good about the film is eventually marred to a certain degree by the writing and direction. It's funny that one of the film's taglines is "It is nothing you expect," because there's very little in the film that you couldn't figure out from the first 20 minutes or so and as science fiction movies come, you couldn't get more straightforward and traditional than this. Partially, this has to do with the script, which is generally formulaic and sub-par and only works because of the performances. But Ron Howard's direction tends to be a tad on the dull side, even in stuff that could be very stylish like this, so that doesn't help matters either. Nor does the fact that "Cocoon" is a product of the '80s, so all of the synthesized music and occasionally goofy fashion rings a bit false now. But that can hardly be blamed on the film, I suppose, even the best stuff to come out of the '80s suffers from that sort of thing.

It's a simple affair, and it's far from perfect, but "Cocoon" is probably one of the most outright fun Ron Howard films out there, and despite having very little going on thematically, it's a pretty sweet film about coping with age and mortality. Not a bad way to spend some time.

Grade: C+

Movie Review

"Repo Men"

Directed by Miguel Sapochnik, Written by Eric Garcia and Gerret Lerner, 111 minutes, Rated R

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Repo Men," like so many science fiction films in this day and age, isn't particularly original. It takes pieces of "Blade Runner," "Minority Report," "Brazil," and oddly enough, "Repo! The Genetic Opera," jumbles them all together, and then plops in numerous action cliches to form its crazy, inconsistent whole. Where it does differ from a lot of modern science fiction films, though, is that it's actually pretty good.

The film takes place in the near future and follows Remy (Jude Law), a repo man for a pharmaceuticals corporation known as The Union who specialize in creating artificial organs for transplants. But like any business, they're in it more for the money than the people--they charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for their products and when their customers fall behind on their payments, they send in the repo men to take back their property. If you think the idea of your house or car getting repossessed is frightening, just imagine getting a knock on your door from someone who has come to take back your kidneys.

So, Remy and his partner Jake (Forest Whitaker) go around town performing their amateur surgeries, and they're good at their job. But Remy's wife, tired of Remy's late nights and rather amoral position in life, wants him to consider a change of career. But before he even gets the chance, a defibrilator goes bad one night and Remy takes a big shock. He wakes up a few days later, a bit beat up and equipped with a new artificial heart and monthly payments he can't begin to afford. It's not long before Remy realizes he's on the wrong side of the knife and sees the errors of his ways.

Based on the plot alone you'd think the film might be dead serious--a brutal cautionary tale about the dangers of the privatization of healthcare (and how appropriate in the current political climate)--but while it does have some smart things to say, it's actually more of a dark comedy than anything else, and it doesn't take itself that seriously. The film was originally called "Repossession Mambo," after all. Law and Whitaker are both hysterical and charismatic in their roles--you can especially tell that Whitaker is having a lot of fun with his performance--and they're joined by Liev Schreiber, who's consistently amusing as their boss, Frank. Even the most serious moments of the film are clearly to be taken with a grain of salt, and the film is pretty enjoyable once you realize it's not such a grim affair.

The direction is especially impressive. "Repo Men" is the feature debut of Miguel Sapochnik, but you'd never know it given how assured his direction is. As the "Mambo" in the film's original working title would suggest, the action (and even the more quiet moments, on occasion) move with a precise and fluid motion like a sophisticated dance, and the action combined with the music makes from some very impressive setpieces, especially one fight scene near the end that takes place in a hallway and seems to have been inspired by the epic one-shot fight sequence in "Oldboy."

Unfortunately, the film really starts to take a nosedive in the last third or so. The plot begins to drag quite a bit, the tone jumps around a bit too much, and the last few scenes in the film are really quite ridiculous, and it puts quite a damper on the film as a whole.

Overall, "Repo Men" could have been great, but it settles for decent. But for 90 minutes of solid, clever entertainment, that works for me.

Grade: C+

View the trailer for "Repo Men" below.  What are your thoughts?

Movie Review

"Repo Men"

Directed by Miguel Sapochnik, Written by Eric Garcia and Gerret Lerner, 111 minutes, Rated R

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Repo Men," like so many science fiction films in this day and age, isn't particularly original. It takes pieces of "Blade Runner," "Minority Report," "Brazil," and oddly enough, "Repo! The Genetic Opera," jumbles them all together, and then plops in numerous action cliches to form its crazy, inconsistent whole. Where it does differ from a lot of modern science fiction films, though, is that it's actually pretty good.

The film takes place in the near future and follows Remy (Jude Law), a repo man for a pharmaceuticals corporation known as The Union who specialize in creating artificial organs for transplants. But like any business, they're in it more for the money than the people--they charge hundreds of thousands of dollars for their products and when their customers fall behind on their payments, they send in the repo men to take back their property. If you think the idea of your house or car getting repossessed is frightening, just imagine getting a knock on your door from someone who has come to take back your kidneys.

So, Remy and his partner Jake (Forest Whitaker) go around town performing their amateur surgeries, and they're good at their job. But Remy's wife, tired of Remy's late nights and rather amoral position in life, wants him to consider a change of career. But before he even gets the chance, a defibrilator goes bad one night and Remy takes a big shock. He wakes up a few days later, a bit beat up and equipped with a new artificial heart and monthly payments he can't begin to afford. It's not long before Remy realizes he's on the wrong side of the knife and sees the errors of his ways.

Based on the plot alone you'd think the film might be dead serious--a brutal cautionary tale about the dangers of the privatization of healthcare (and how appropriate in the current political climate)--but while it does have some smart things to say, it's actually more of a dark comedy than anything else, and it doesn't take itself that seriously. The film was originally called "Repossession Mambo," after all. Law and Whitaker are both hysterical and charismatic in their roles--you can especially tell that Whitaker is having a lot of fun with his performance--and they're joined by Liev Schreiber, who's consistently amusing as their boss, Frank. Even the most serious moments of the film are clearly to be taken with a grain of salt, and the film is pretty enjoyable once you realize it's not such a grim affair.

The direction is especially impressive. "Repo Men" is the feature debut of Miguel Sapochnik, but you'd never know it given how assured his direction is. As the "Mambo" in the film's original working title would suggest, the action (and even the more quiet moments, on occasion) move with a precise and fluid motion like a sophisticated dance, and the action combined with the music makes from some very impressive setpieces, especially one fight scene near the end that takes place in a hallway and seems to have been inspired by the epic one-shot fight sequence in "Oldboy."

Unfortunately, the film really starts to take a nosedive in the last third or so. The plot begins to drag quite a bit, the tone jumps around a bit too much, and the last few scenes in the film are really quite ridiculous, and it puts quite a damper on the film as a whole.

Overall, "Repo Men" could have been great, but it settles for decent. But for 90 minutes of solid, clever entertainment, that works for me.

Grade: C+

View the trailer for "Repo Men" below.  What are your thoughts?

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

"Surrogates"

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, Written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, 88 Minutes, Rated PG-13.

 
By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Surrogates," adapted from the comic book miniseries of the same name by Robert Venditti, tells the story of society circa 2017, where nearly everyone lives in isolation and only go about their daily activities through surrogates, robotic, remote-controlled bodies fashioned after how you wish you looked instead of how you really do. Wish you were younger? You can be, thanks to your surrogate. Want to be taller? Thinner? A different race altogether? Anything you want to be, you can.

Bruce Willis is Tom Greer, an FBI agent who, along with his partner Jennifer Peters (Radha Mitchell), is investigating the death of the son of the surrogates' inventor, Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell). Somehow, the boy died when his surrogate did, which everyone thought impossible. As Greer comes closer and closer to finding the culprit, the dark underside of this new, technologically enhanced world begins appearing.

"Surrogates" is another action film in the long tradition of cautionary tales regarding the excessive use of technology in everyday life. Seeing people use fake bodies as their own is a pretty accurate depiction of the way some use technology even today, as many people use the Internet to communicate and a lot of the time people hide behind their anonymity to do and say basically anything they want.

Who knows who's really behind those screen names on message boards?

Almost immediately "Surrogates" draws comparison to Alex Proyas' 2004 Will Smith vehicle "I, Robot." The lead characters in both are demoralized by their technology-based new worlds, the respective technologies (robots in "I, Robot," surrogates in "Surrogates") are suspected to be more than meets the eye, and both technologies are invented by a character played by James Cromwell. Alright, so that last comparison is pretty shallow, but otherwise the two films have a lot alike and it's difficult not to make the connection.

Obvious comparisons can also be drawn with "Avatar," albeit very simplistic ones, especially since "Avatar" holds a much more positive outlook on the subject of living vicariously through technology.

Similarities to other films aside, "Surrogates" is definitely an entertaining film. Bruce Willis is always a joy to watch, and CGI effects used to make him look younger early in the film are pretty top-notch, almost eerie. Though the plot gets a bit obvious and predictable, it never really gets boring, and the social commentary is implemented in a very refreshing and less blatant way than many films like it.

Director Jonathan Mostow, previously known for the oft-disregarded third "Terminator" film, seems to have improved drastically here, maintaining a solid tone throughout, and outside of a couple sloppy chase sequences, most of the action scenes are excellent.

"Surrogates" is far from anything brilliant, but Willis' performance, a lot of great set-pieces, and an overall plot that doesn't take itself too seriously, it's certainly a great way to pass the time, especially if you're interested in its brand of sci-fi cautionary fiction.


Grade: C+

View the trailer for "Surrogates" below.  What are your thoughts?

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

"Surrogates"

Directed by Jonathan Mostow, Written by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, 88 Minutes, Rated PG-13.

 
By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Surrogates," adapted from the comic book miniseries of the same name by Robert Venditti, tells the story of society circa 2017, where nearly everyone lives in isolation and only go about their daily activities through surrogates, robotic, remote-controlled bodies fashioned after how you wish you looked instead of how you really do. Wish you were younger? You can be, thanks to your surrogate. Want to be taller? Thinner? A different race altogether? Anything you want to be, you can.

Bruce Willis is Tom Greer, an FBI agent who, along with his partner Jennifer Peters (Radha Mitchell), is investigating the death of the son of the surrogates' inventor, Dr. Lionel Canter (James Cromwell). Somehow, the boy died when his surrogate did, which everyone thought impossible. As Greer comes closer and closer to finding the culprit, the dark underside of this new, technologically enhanced world begins appearing.

"Surrogates" is another action film in the long tradition of cautionary tales regarding the excessive use of technology in everyday life. Seeing people use fake bodies as their own is a pretty accurate depiction of the way some use technology even today, as many people use the Internet to communicate and a lot of the time people hide behind their anonymity to do and say basically anything they want.

Who knows who's really behind those screen names on message boards?

Almost immediately "Surrogates" draws comparison to Alex Proyas' 2004 Will Smith vehicle "I, Robot." The lead characters in both are demoralized by their technology-based new worlds, the respective technologies (robots in "I, Robot," surrogates in "Surrogates") are suspected to be more than meets the eye, and both technologies are invented by a character played by James Cromwell. Alright, so that last comparison is pretty shallow, but otherwise the two films have a lot alike and it's difficult not to make the connection.

Obvious comparisons can also be drawn with "Avatar," albeit very simplistic ones, especially since "Avatar" holds a much more positive outlook on the subject of living vicariously through technology.

Similarities to other films aside, "Surrogates" is definitely an entertaining film. Bruce Willis is always a joy to watch, and CGI effects used to make him look younger early in the film are pretty top-notch, almost eerie. Though the plot gets a bit obvious and predictable, it never really gets boring, and the social commentary is implemented in a very refreshing and less blatant way than many films like it.

Director Jonathan Mostow, previously known for the oft-disregarded third "Terminator" film, seems to have improved drastically here, maintaining a solid tone throughout, and outside of a couple sloppy chase sequences, most of the action scenes are excellent.

"Surrogates" is far from anything brilliant, but Willis' performance, a lot of great set-pieces, and an overall plot that doesn't take itself too seriously, it's certainly a great way to pass the time, especially if you're interested in its brand of sci-fi cautionary fiction.


Grade: C+

View the trailer for "Surrogates" below.  What are your thoughts?

By Christopher Smith

Note: If one day you plan on making the switch from standard-definition DVDs to high-definition Blu-ray discs but aren’t quite ready to commit, some studios have recently started to make it easier for consumers with “Combo Packs,” which includes the movie’s DVD and Blu-ray versions, and in some cases, a digital copy of the film for your computer. Several of the latest titles are reviewed below. Since Warner recently jumped on the trend and are gearing up for their roll-out, expect many more to follow.

“The Marine 2” DVD, Blu-ray
On the surface, it’s easy to dismiss a movie such as this, but in 2009, Hollywood pumped out a lot worse than "The Marine 2,” even if it didn’t receive a theatrical release. The story, which has almost zip to do with the 2006 original, is filled with assembly-line nonsense set in tropical locales, but few coming to it will give a hoo-rah that it offers nothing new. What will matter most to its target audience are whether the ammo, action and attitude are in good supply. The short answer is yes. The film comes from World Wrestling Entertainment, with Vince McMahon serving as the movie’s executive producer. That either will excite you or leave you wanting to spend a long time surrounded by art and books, as will the idea that the Marine in the title is played not by John Cena, as in the first film, but by Ted DiBiase Jr., the WWE superstar known for his swagger and, well, other attributes. The movie is a cartoon, but it’s reasonably entertaining, it accomplishes its low goals with a measure of menace and humor, and DiBiase and company work hard to infuse the film with its likeably cheap, movie-of-the-week feel. Hardly great, but also hardly awful. Rated R. Grade: C

“Doom” Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
Trash sci-fi that achieves a lean center and final act that’s admirable in the tension it creates. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is Sarge, a tattooed beast leading an elite core of Marines on a rescue mission to Mars, where a mysterious 24th human chromosome is wreaking havoc on what’s left of the planet’s residents. Should one come in contact with it, the results are monstrous. With the film’s genesis steeped in computer code--the movie is based on the popular video game, which started a revolution--“Doom” predictably lacks soul, but it does generate the raw, sketchy rhythm of a B-movie, which gives it its modest gross-out jolts. Rated R. Grade: C+




“8 Mile” Blu-ray/DVD Combo PackThe title of Curtis Hanson's "8 Mile” comes from the stretch of highway that divides the racially mixed inner-city of Detroit from its predominantly white, middle-class suburbs. On a map, it’s an area about the size of a postage stamp, but economically, it might as well be a continent away. On the surface, "8 Mile" seems to promise a story that will transcend that gap, but it doesn’t, at least not completely. This is a rap movie designed to appeal to a specific demographic--the white, suburban audience on the privileged side of the tracks. As such, it’s generic and unthreatening without being boring, a slick, claustrophobic drama that pretends to be edgy but actually isn’t. It homogenizes the rap scene and offers zero insight into hip-hop culture. That it goes out of its way to push as few buttons as possible is the film's biggest surprise and its greatest shortcoming, especially since it was billed as the semi-autobiography of its once-controversial star, Eminem. Here, he's a poor, scrappy twentysomething nicknamed Bunny Rabbit who aspires to get away from his boozy mother (Kim Basinger) and become a rap star. As unlikely as that seems, and as angry as Bunny Rabbit is at his situation, the movie oddly fails to mine the intensity of Eminem’s best songs. As an actor, Eminem has presence to spare, but the film doesn’t allow him to fully capture the rage that defines so much of his early work. It makes him almost approachable, which proves especially disappointing, sort of as if Madonna had released her “Sex” book without the sex. Rated R. Grade: C


“End of Days” Blu-ray/DVD Combo PackProtect your daughters! Break out the chastity belts! Get thee to a nunnery! Set on the eve of the millennium, this 1999 throwback finds Satan popping the Viagra and going on the prowl for sex, particularly between the hours of 11 p.m. and midnight, when the great horned one himself will rise from hell to have sex with a woman who not only will give birth to the anti-Christ, but who also will bring about the end of days. The movie pits Arnold Schwarzenegger against the devil (Gabriel Byrne), with director Peter Hyams delivering tense moments of action amid not-so-subtle choices for character development. To wit: In an effort to strike the big bell of masculinity early on, Hyams has his suicidal police detective, Jericho Cane (Schwarzenegger), begin his day with coffee, a piece of moldy pizza pealed off a filthy floor and other unmentionables liquefied in a grimy blender. Delicious! So yes, Jericho is a butch, action-adventure stereotype, but he’s also a sensitive softy, as revealed when he clutches a ballerina music box and weeps openly for his dead wife and daughter while the box warbles its thin ribbon of treacly music. If these decisions push “End of Days” straight to the brink of cinematic hell, Hyams eventually settles down to the real business at hand: Satan is randy and he wants a mate. The unlucky soul chosen at birth to bear his child is Christina York (Robin Tunney), a neurotic yet likable piece of work who, as an infant, was suckled with snake’s blood in one of the film’s more bizarre sequences. Now aware of her fate, Christina fights Satan with Cane, a man whose faith was once shattered but which suddenly is renewed--rather predictably--just when he needs it most. Rated R. Grade: C+


ER: Complete Twelfth Season”The melodrama escalates to a fever pitch, but then it had to, didn’t it? This is the twelfth season of "ER," and the producers aren't willing to allow fans to move away from the water cooler quietly. As such, we get 22 episodes laced with chaos and disorder, with romance and broken hearts hurtling through the doors of Chicago's County General Hospital almost as frequently as the injured and the dying. In this season, with Noah Wyle’s Dr. Carter now off the show in the maelstrom of moist melodrama that ended the eleventh season, “ER” there’s a whiff of desperation about the show, which features those in suddenly waking from comas, people getting struck by lightning, others getting knifed, burn victims abounding. And so on. With this show, it’s all becoming rinse and repeat, especially since Wyle himself makes a return. Grade: B-


“Jarhead” Blu-ray/DVD Combo PackTakes us back to a past that feels oddly like the present. In the film, we’re in the Middle East and we’re fighting a war that few seem to understand. The difference? It’s the Gulf War that’s being fought, the senior Bush is in office, and Saddam Hussein is in power. Jake Gyllenhaal is Swofford, who is recruited by Sykes (Jamie Foxx) to become a sniper along with Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), his sketchy partner with the unfavorable past, and a group of other men. With no action to be had on the ground in Saudi Arabia, the men find themselves fighting the war unraveling in their heads. The Gulf War was fought mostly by air and these men are on foot. It’s the mounting frustration that comes with the dawning realization that their time in the desert may have been for nothing that gives “Jarhead” its greatest, ugliest complexity in ways not to be revealed here. Rated R. Grade: B

By Christopher Smith

Note: If one day you plan on making the switch from standard-definition DVDs to high-definition Blu-ray discs but aren’t quite ready to commit, some studios have recently started to make it easier for consumers with “Combo Packs,” which includes the movie’s DVD and Blu-ray versions, and in some cases, a digital copy of the film for your computer. Several of the latest titles are reviewed below. Since Warner recently jumped on the trend and are gearing up for their roll-out, expect many more to follow.

“The Marine 2” DVD, Blu-ray
On the surface, it’s easy to dismiss a movie such as this, but in 2009, Hollywood pumped out a lot worse than "The Marine 2,” even if it didn’t receive a theatrical release. The story, which has almost zip to do with the 2006 original, is filled with assembly-line nonsense set in tropical locales, but few coming to it will give a hoo-rah that it offers nothing new. What will matter most to its target audience are whether the ammo, action and attitude are in good supply. The short answer is yes. The film comes from World Wrestling Entertainment, with Vince McMahon serving as the movie’s executive producer. That either will excite you or leave you wanting to spend a long time surrounded by art and books, as will the idea that the Marine in the title is played not by John Cena, as in the first film, but by Ted DiBiase Jr., the WWE superstar known for his swagger and, well, other attributes. The movie is a cartoon, but it’s reasonably entertaining, it accomplishes its low goals with a measure of menace and humor, and DiBiase and company work hard to infuse the film with its likeably cheap, movie-of-the-week feel. Hardly great, but also hardly awful. Rated R. Grade: C

“Doom” Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack
Trash sci-fi that achieves a lean center and final act that’s admirable in the tension it creates. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is Sarge, a tattooed beast leading an elite core of Marines on a rescue mission to Mars, where a mysterious 24th human chromosome is wreaking havoc on what’s left of the planet’s residents. Should one come in contact with it, the results are monstrous. With the film’s genesis steeped in computer code--the movie is based on the popular video game, which started a revolution--“Doom” predictably lacks soul, but it does generate the raw, sketchy rhythm of a B-movie, which gives it its modest gross-out jolts. Rated R. Grade: C+




“8 Mile” Blu-ray/DVD Combo PackThe title of Curtis Hanson's "8 Mile” comes from the stretch of highway that divides the racially mixed inner-city of Detroit from its predominantly white, middle-class suburbs. On a map, it’s an area about the size of a postage stamp, but economically, it might as well be a continent away. On the surface, "8 Mile" seems to promise a story that will transcend that gap, but it doesn’t, at least not completely. This is a rap movie designed to appeal to a specific demographic--the white, suburban audience on the privileged side of the tracks. As such, it’s generic and unthreatening without being boring, a slick, claustrophobic drama that pretends to be edgy but actually isn’t. It homogenizes the rap scene and offers zero insight into hip-hop culture. That it goes out of its way to push as few buttons as possible is the film's biggest surprise and its greatest shortcoming, especially since it was billed as the semi-autobiography of its once-controversial star, Eminem. Here, he's a poor, scrappy twentysomething nicknamed Bunny Rabbit who aspires to get away from his boozy mother (Kim Basinger) and become a rap star. As unlikely as that seems, and as angry as Bunny Rabbit is at his situation, the movie oddly fails to mine the intensity of Eminem’s best songs. As an actor, Eminem has presence to spare, but the film doesn’t allow him to fully capture the rage that defines so much of his early work. It makes him almost approachable, which proves especially disappointing, sort of as if Madonna had released her “Sex” book without the sex. Rated R. Grade: C


“End of Days” Blu-ray/DVD Combo PackProtect your daughters! Break out the chastity belts! Get thee to a nunnery! Set on the eve of the millennium, this 1999 throwback finds Satan popping the Viagra and going on the prowl for sex, particularly between the hours of 11 p.m. and midnight, when the great horned one himself will rise from hell to have sex with a woman who not only will give birth to the anti-Christ, but who also will bring about the end of days. The movie pits Arnold Schwarzenegger against the devil (Gabriel Byrne), with director Peter Hyams delivering tense moments of action amid not-so-subtle choices for character development. To wit: In an effort to strike the big bell of masculinity early on, Hyams has his suicidal police detective, Jericho Cane (Schwarzenegger), begin his day with coffee, a piece of moldy pizza pealed off a filthy floor and other unmentionables liquefied in a grimy blender. Delicious! So yes, Jericho is a butch, action-adventure stereotype, but he’s also a sensitive softy, as revealed when he clutches a ballerina music box and weeps openly for his dead wife and daughter while the box warbles its thin ribbon of treacly music. If these decisions push “End of Days” straight to the brink of cinematic hell, Hyams eventually settles down to the real business at hand: Satan is randy and he wants a mate. The unlucky soul chosen at birth to bear his child is Christina York (Robin Tunney), a neurotic yet likable piece of work who, as an infant, was suckled with snake’s blood in one of the film’s more bizarre sequences. Now aware of her fate, Christina fights Satan with Cane, a man whose faith was once shattered but which suddenly is renewed--rather predictably--just when he needs it most. Rated R. Grade: C+


ER: Complete Twelfth Season”The melodrama escalates to a fever pitch, but then it had to, didn’t it? This is the twelfth season of "ER," and the producers aren't willing to allow fans to move away from the water cooler quietly. As such, we get 22 episodes laced with chaos and disorder, with romance and broken hearts hurtling through the doors of Chicago's County General Hospital almost as frequently as the injured and the dying. In this season, with Noah Wyle’s Dr. Carter now off the show in the maelstrom of moist melodrama that ended the eleventh season, “ER” there’s a whiff of desperation about the show, which features those in suddenly waking from comas, people getting struck by lightning, others getting knifed, burn victims abounding. And so on. With this show, it’s all becoming rinse and repeat, especially since Wyle himself makes a return. Grade: B-


“Jarhead” Blu-ray/DVD Combo PackTakes us back to a past that feels oddly like the present. In the film, we’re in the Middle East and we’re fighting a war that few seem to understand. The difference? It’s the Gulf War that’s being fought, the senior Bush is in office, and Saddam Hussein is in power. Jake Gyllenhaal is Swofford, who is recruited by Sykes (Jamie Foxx) to become a sniper along with Troy (Peter Sarsgaard), his sketchy partner with the unfavorable past, and a group of other men. With no action to be had on the ground in Saudi Arabia, the men find themselves fighting the war unraveling in their heads. The Gulf War was fought mostly by air and these men are on foot. It’s the mounting frustration that comes with the dawning realization that their time in the desert may have been for nothing that gives “Jarhead” its greatest, ugliest complexity in ways not to be revealed here. Rated R. Grade: B

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

“9”

Directed by Shane Acker, written by Pamela Pettler, 81 minutes, rated PG-13.

By Christopher Smith

Ever since its captivating and beautifully rendered trailer first hit theaters and the Internet earlier last year, Shane Acker’s “9” became one of the among the top films to see in 2009.  

Given that the movie is based on Acker’s Academy Award-nominated 11-minute short, which you can watch on YouTube by searching for “9 short movie,” everything about the trailer spoke to something fresh and exciting, only broadened to a full-length feature film.

For those who have seen the short, the questions were obvious. What would the additional 70 minutes offer? How would Acker and writer Pamela Pettler improve upon a story whose strength is in how much it holds back? The fact that Tim Burton was attached to the movie as one of its producers was another cause of interest. What would he bring to the table?

Since all of these questions generated a sense of excitement, it’s disappointing to report again, now that the movie is available on DVD and Blu-ray disc, that while it's terrific to look at and rousing in parts, it isn't the movie it could have been.

There is plenty to admire here, most of it visual--all of it of the postapocalyptic variety. Massive landscapes are created with impressive detail, as are nine doll-like creatures composed of various parts who have been infused with the soul of their creator and must make their way through a ruined world determined to undo them.

As the advertising slogan notes: “In the final days of humanity, a scientist gave his nine creations the spark of life. It’s up to them to protect the future.”

Against what? In this case, an evil onslaught of machines who turned against the world, destroyed it, and who are designed to capture and literally suck the souls from the nine little ones in question. Before 9 (voice of Elija Wood) joins the eight others (voiced by Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Crispin Clover, John C. Reilly and others), the M.O. was to hide. But 9 is feistier than that, and his charge to the group is to stand up to the machines, fight back and fight hard.

As such, battles ensue, all of which are so impressively mounted, the movie’s potential for mining emotional heft is diminished in the face of them. And that’s the real problem with “9.” The action doesn’t stop, true, but your heart isn’t beating at a break-neck pace because of it. The movie is too short on story, which doesn’t help. You pull for the nine characters whose lives are at stake because, frankly, it’s a classic case of the little guy against the big guy.

Throughout the movie, you never really come to know these oddities. They are intriguing enigmas with wide eyes and cute faces (for the most part)--but little more. We know they were gifted with a “spark of life” from a human, but they themselves are not human. And so what are we to make of them? If humanity as we know it no longer exists, how will they protect the future--and for who? Themselves?

It’s not enough.

Grade: C+

View the trailer for "9" here:

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

“9”

Directed by Shane Acker, written by Pamela Pettler, 81 minutes, rated PG-13.

By Christopher Smith

Ever since its captivating and beautifully rendered trailer first hit theaters and the Internet earlier last year, Shane Acker’s “9” became one of the among the top films to see in 2009.  

Given that the movie is based on Acker’s Academy Award-nominated 11-minute short, which you can watch on YouTube by searching for “9 short movie,” everything about the trailer spoke to something fresh and exciting, only broadened to a full-length feature film.

For those who have seen the short, the questions were obvious. What would the additional 70 minutes offer? How would Acker and writer Pamela Pettler improve upon a story whose strength is in how much it holds back? The fact that Tim Burton was attached to the movie as one of its producers was another cause of interest. What would he bring to the table?

Since all of these questions generated a sense of excitement, it’s disappointing to report again, now that the movie is available on DVD and Blu-ray disc, that while it's terrific to look at and rousing in parts, it isn't the movie it could have been.

There is plenty to admire here, most of it visual--all of it of the postapocalyptic variety. Massive landscapes are created with impressive detail, as are nine doll-like creatures composed of various parts who have been infused with the soul of their creator and must make their way through a ruined world determined to undo them.

As the advertising slogan notes: “In the final days of humanity, a scientist gave his nine creations the spark of life. It’s up to them to protect the future.”

Against what? In this case, an evil onslaught of machines who turned against the world, destroyed it, and who are designed to capture and literally suck the souls from the nine little ones in question. Before 9 (voice of Elija Wood) joins the eight others (voiced by Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Crispin Clover, John C. Reilly and others), the M.O. was to hide. But 9 is feistier than that, and his charge to the group is to stand up to the machines, fight back and fight hard.

As such, battles ensue, all of which are so impressively mounted, the movie’s potential for mining emotional heft is diminished in the face of them. And that’s the real problem with “9.” The action doesn’t stop, true, but your heart isn’t beating at a break-neck pace because of it. The movie is too short on story, which doesn’t help. You pull for the nine characters whose lives are at stake because, frankly, it’s a classic case of the little guy against the big guy.

Throughout the movie, you never really come to know these oddities. They are intriguing enigmas with wide eyes and cute faces (for the most part)--but little more. We know they were gifted with a “spark of life” from a human, but they themselves are not human. And so what are we to make of them? If humanity as we know it no longer exists, how will they protect the future--and for who? Themselves?

It’s not enough.

Grade: C+

View the trailer for "9" here:

Movie Review

“Avatar”

Written and directed by James Cameron, 166 minutes, rated PG-13.

By Christopher Smith

The year’s most ambitious and visually arresting film is James Cameron’s “Avatar.” You’ve never seen anything quite like this, which works in its favor since the film’s sheer beauty is enough to detract you from the fact that Cameron, a competent writer, is not a great writer. Many of his characters are caricatures. Too much of the dialogue is stock.

The good news? Not a lick of it matters here.

Budgeted at nearly $270 million, “Avatar” spends every cent to create a world so rich and lush, so textured, real and surreal, you give yourself over to it and then lose yourself in it. Computers long have driven films, but not at this high a level and not with Cameron’s legions of gifted artists working behind the screens.

At nearly three hours, the movie is long, but the trick is that the storytelling is brisk, with Cameron focusing the bulk of his film on Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former marine paralyzed from the waist down and now confined to a wheelchair.

How a team of scientists get him out of that chair and on his feet is unconventional, to say the least, but the year is 2154, after all, and apparently anything is possible. Besides, getting Jake mobile is critical to the movie. Doing so involves the use of a scientifically created, 10-foot-tall avatar modeled after the Na’vi, an alien race that lives on the planet Pandora, which has the misfortune of possessing a mineral called Unobtainium that could save Earth from its dwindling energy reserves if enough of it is mined.

And so it will be mined--by force, if necessary, though the idea behind these manufactured Na’vi is to allow for assimilation in an effort to move this race to another part of Pandora, where the Unobtainium isn’t present.

Through sleep and science, Jake becomes his avatar--long and blue and lithe of limb, it’s a thrill to watch him run again--and soon he’s off to Pandora with Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, nicely channeling Ripley from Cameron’s “Alien” franchise) and a handful of others. Once there, the beauty of Pandora shields a wealth of dangers. Anything can and does happen, with Jake eventually being separated from his crew and stumbling upon the cat-like Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), who mocks him, nearly kills him, and whose parents lead the Na’vi. Naturally, in spite of all her hissing, Jakes falls for her.

Since the film’s pleasures go beyond the brilliance of its visuals--Cameron’s strength always has been his ability to mount one mother of a climax, which he does here--it would be a mistake to reveal more. Safe to say that the supporting cast (Stephen Lang, Giovani Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez) is solid; our own sorry, bloody history is evoked via the Na’vi, who recall the American Indian; and the love that grows between Jake and Neytiri is heartfelt and real.

But the movie isn’t perfect. The problem? Cameron’s use of 3-D technology.

For the most part, the effect works seamlessly, particularly along Pandora’s stellar landscapes, which are breathtaking not just in their complex, colorful realization (the set design will win the Academy Award), but in the depth of field Cameron achieves. When Jake and Neytiri take flight on their winged beasts and soar down and around a hive of floating mountains, you’ll feel each plummet in your gut. But when Cameron sandwiches his camera into tight quarters, focus issues occur and images warp to the point of distraction. This is a quibble, but it still was an annoyance and it should be noted.

So, consider it noted. Now, if you haven’t already done so, go and see one of the year’s most exhilarating films.

Grade: A-

View the trailer for "Avatar" below. Thoughts?

Movie Review

“Avatar”

Written and directed by James Cameron, 166 minutes, rated PG-13.

By Christopher Smith

The year’s most ambitious and visually arresting film is James Cameron’s “Avatar.” You’ve never seen anything quite like this, which works in its favor since the film’s sheer beauty is enough to detract you from the fact that Cameron, a competent writer, is not a great writer. Many of his characters are caricatures. Too much of the dialogue is stock.

The good news? Not a lick of it matters here.

Budgeted at nearly $270 million, “Avatar” spends every cent to create a world so rich and lush, so textured, real and surreal, you give yourself over to it and then lose yourself in it. Computers long have driven films, but not at this high a level and not with Cameron’s legions of gifted artists working behind the screens.

At nearly three hours, the movie is long, but the trick is that the storytelling is brisk, with Cameron focusing the bulk of his film on Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), a former marine paralyzed from the waist down and now confined to a wheelchair.

How a team of scientists get him out of that chair and on his feet is unconventional, to say the least, but the year is 2154, after all, and apparently anything is possible. Besides, getting Jake mobile is critical to the movie. Doing so involves the use of a scientifically created, 10-foot-tall avatar modeled after the Na’vi, an alien race that lives on the planet Pandora, which has the misfortune of possessing a mineral called Unobtainium that could save Earth from its dwindling energy reserves if enough of it is mined.

And so it will be mined--by force, if necessary, though the idea behind these manufactured Na’vi is to allow for assimilation in an effort to move this race to another part of Pandora, where the Unobtainium isn’t present.

Through sleep and science, Jake becomes his avatar--long and blue and lithe of limb, it’s a thrill to watch him run again--and soon he’s off to Pandora with Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver, nicely channeling Ripley from Cameron’s “Alien” franchise) and a handful of others. Once there, the beauty of Pandora shields a wealth of dangers. Anything can and does happen, with Jake eventually being separated from his crew and stumbling upon the cat-like Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), who mocks him, nearly kills him, and whose parents lead the Na’vi. Naturally, in spite of all her hissing, Jakes falls for her.

Since the film’s pleasures go beyond the brilliance of its visuals--Cameron’s strength always has been his ability to mount one mother of a climax, which he does here--it would be a mistake to reveal more. Safe to say that the supporting cast (Stephen Lang, Giovani Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez) is solid; our own sorry, bloody history is evoked via the Na’vi, who recall the American Indian; and the love that grows between Jake and Neytiri is heartfelt and real.

But the movie isn’t perfect. The problem? Cameron’s use of 3-D technology.

For the most part, the effect works seamlessly, particularly along Pandora’s stellar landscapes, which are breathtaking not just in their complex, colorful realization (the set design will win the Academy Award), but in the depth of field Cameron achieves. When Jake and Neytiri take flight on their winged beasts and soar down and around a hive of floating mountains, you’ll feel each plummet in your gut. But when Cameron sandwiches his camera into tight quarters, focus issues occur and images warp to the point of distraction. This is a quibble, but it still was an annoyance and it should be noted.

So, consider it noted. Now, if you haven’t already done so, go and see one of the year’s most exhilarating films.

Grade: A-

View the trailer for "Avatar" below. Thoughts?