It’s been a busy few weeks, dealing with some rather
nasty salmonella poisoning of me and my younglings.
But if there is any bright side to be taken from all of
that blech-ness, it’s that movies and DVDs are a real life saver at times like
that.
And I’ve been getting lost in a number of films lately. So
here’s a look at what has captured my eye from what I’ve received the past few
weeks.
The main new flick out there is from director McG, which is
at times a bro-mance, an action-buddy comedy, as well as a rom-com.
This Means War stars Chris Pine, Tom Hardy and Reese
Witherspoon. Now, as any good reviewer should, time to reveal my own personal
biases. First, I have a man-crush on Tom Hardy. I think the guy is one of the
best actors of his generation and I’ve yet to see a film with him in it where I
wasn’t impressed by his performance. Second, I really don’t much care for
Witherspoon. I don’t find her sexy or attractive in the least, so two guys
fighting over her makes about as much sense as two guys battling over a copy of
Vanity Fair.
And finally, McG … I have a love-hate thing with him. I
love Supernatural, which he produces, as well as We Are Marshall and Terminator
Salvation, which he directed. But I detested the two Charlie’s Angels movies
and the completely unnecessary TV reboot of Nikita.
OK, there. Biases revealed.
This Means War features a pretty basic plot. Hardy plays
Tuck, a divorced, absentee dad. Pine (best known for his role as Kirk in the
Star Trek reboot) plays FDR, a lover of all things female. Tuck and FDR are CIA
agents and best friends.
When some bad guy targets the duo, the agency tells them
to take a break for a bit. Tuck decides to post a profile on a dating website,
which catches the eye of Witherspoon’s Lauren. They meet, have chemistry and
agree to meet again.
FDR, meanwhile, bumps into Lauren at another time and
hits on her. She’s intrigued. She wants to see him again.
The boys find out they’re both after the same woman. Out
of respect, they agree to let her choose. But their competitive nature drives
them to start using their training and gadgets to monitor the other’s dates and
sabotage him whenever possible.
And then, of course, there’s that bad person who wants
them both dead.
Like I said, basic plot.
This is one of those cult of personality movies, where
how much you like the characters goes a long way to determining whether you’re
going to enjoy your 99 minutes with this trio. And to me, the movie works best
when Hardy and Pine are working together or against one another. Thankfully,
that’s a large section of the movie. The plot-necessary stuff with Witherspoon
is predictable and moves by relatively quickly. Give McG credit for knowing
what an audience is really interested in.
Hardy and Pine have great chemistry between them … far
better than either does with Witherspoon, although Pine and Witherspoon do seem
to click a little more than Hardy and the blonde actress do.
The action scenes are crisply shot and there are some fun
comedic moments as the boys try to destroy one another’s date nights.
Overall, This Means War is a decent buddy flick with a
little rom-com thrown in, making it a date night movie that both sexes can get
beside.
* * *
Here’s a quick look at some other DVDs now available:
* The War: Ken Burns absolutely brilliant documentary
about the Second World War comes to Blu-ray.
And while the film itself has been given the high-def
treatment, there are no new extras and the extras that are carried over from
the low-def version are all in standard 480p.
If you don’t already own this amazing 15-hour set, which
features personal stories, letters and stirring voiceovers read by the likes of
Keith David, Tom Hanks, Samuel L. Jackson, Josh Lucas and Bobby Cannavale, then
I would say rush out and get this set if you’re at all interested in learning
about the U.S. involvement in WWII.
But if you already have the standard-def set, I don’t see
much reason to upgrade. It’s still the same great documentary, just at a lower
resolution.
* Ray Romano: 95 Miles to Go: Part road trip, part comedy
show, this documentary features a slightly stunned Romano learning that his
opening act and friend, Tom Caltabiano, has hired a film student to shoot their
seven-day, eight city comedy tour through the southern U.S. Caltabiano points
out that Romano refused to have a big film crew shoot his tour so this was his
solution.
The result is a mixed bag, with some truly hilarious bits
between the buddies in the car as they banter back and forth, along with some
tedious Ray’s an everyday-kinda-guy stuff.
Of course, any ‘reality’ TV or documentary always has to
be viewed with some skepticism as people do play to the camera and hold back
their true nature most of the time. But what film student Roger Lay Jr.
captured here is more often than not funny – if you like Romano. If you’re not
a fan, then there’s not much in this 79-minute doc that will convert you.
Extras include more than two hours of extra question and
answer sessions, commentary tracks, Romano’s Kansas City stand-up show, as well
as deleted and extended scenes.
* Breaking Bad: The Complete Fourth Season: Stars Bryan
Cranston and Aaron Paul take their drug-making characters through another
gut-churning, intense 13 episodes that sees them dealing with a growing
animosity between them, as well as issues with Walt’s (Cranston) estranged
wife, his DEA Agent brother-in-law and the drug lord calling all the shots,
played by the brilliant Giancarlo Esposito.
Extras include more than 15 hours of cast and crew commentaries,
eight featurettes, video podcasts, five uncensored episodes, deleted and
extended scenes, a gag reel and an extended version of the season finale.
Available on standard def DVD and Blu-ray.
* Route 66: The Complete Series: This massive 24-disc set
would be an ideal father’s day gift for the grampas out there who remember this
popular series, which ran from 1960-64.
Featuring Martin Milner, George Maharis and later Glenn
Corbett, the show focused on a pair of guys driving across the U.S. Route 66 in
their corvette, doing good and righting wrongs wherever they stopped along the
way.
The show ran for 116 episodes and featured some top-name
guest stars, including Buster Keaton, Robert Duvall, Robert Redford, Martin
Sheen, Boris Karloff, Burt Reynolds and Gene Hackman.
Extras include a look at vintage commercials, a
documentary about the Corvette, as well as a 1990 TV panel featuring Maharis,
writer/producer Herbert Leonard and directors Arthur Hiller and Elliot Silverstein.
* G.I. Joe: Renegades: Season One, Volume One: Duke,
Scarlett, Roadblock, Snake Eyes and the rest of the Joes do battle against
Cobra and another group called the Falcons in this 2010 animated series. The regular
voice cast includes Charles Adler, David Marsden, Kevin Michael Richardson and
Matthew Yan King, as well as spot performances from Clancy Brown, Peter MacNicol,
Lee Majors, Nika Futterman, James Arnold Taylor, Corey Burton and Phil LaMarr.
* Transformers Super-God Masterforce: Part two of the
rare Japanese TV trilogy, this five-disc set features 52 episodes of the robots
in disguise wrapping up their battle on Earth against the Decepticons. A small
group of Autobots remain behind to help protect the planet, while the rest of
the crew head off-planet. However, a new force of Decepticons (called Destrons
here) come calling, the outnumbered Autobots will need to find help if they’re
to win this battle.
Extras include the original Japanese language tracks,
English subtitles and an art gallery.
* Victorious: The Complete Second Season
* Cat Dog: Season Two, Part One
*Hey Dude: Season Three
* Hazel: The Complete Third Season
* The Walking Tall Trilogy: Contains all three feature
films.
* Drop Dead Diva: The Complete Third Season
* * *
Next week, watch for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and
a new Asian film called Accident.
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