CINEMAN VIDEO FOR 09-MAY-2008
DVD GUIDE FOR TUESDAY, MAY 13, 2008
*BY CINEMAN SYNDICATE*
Mini Reviews of movies available on DVD
NEW RELEASES -
THE GREAT DEBATERS
"Glory Road" set in the hard-knocks world of college debating rather than on the
basketball court, this fact-based movie conveys a message that's impossible to
dispute. In 1935, a dedicated professor (Washington) leads the team from an all-black
college in Texas to victory over Harvard, despite the romantic tribulations of his
student rhetoricians and other distractions. Washington's second directorial effort
is long-winded yet benefits from a stark depiction of injustice. It would be even
more persuasive if not every resolution debated had a racial angle and if the
oratorical skills were allowed to inspire without the aid of so many Hollywood
embellishments. (PG-13) FAIR DRAMA Dir-Denzel Washington Lead-Denzel Washington
RT-123 mins.
MAD MONEY
Three women steal greenbacks destined for the shredder in a heist comedy that argues
crime does pay. Working menial jobs at the Federal Reserve branch in Kansas City, the
pilferers--Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, and Katie Holmes--use gender, race and
class discrimination to justify lining their pockets. Money makes the world go 'round
and, apparently, multiple montages set to obvious pop songs are the lifeblood of
frothy mainstream movies. Holmes stands-out on the female side of the ledger, while
Ted Danson excels while voicing scruples as Keaton's husband. The crime may be
victimless, but any profit this film makes won't be. (PG-13) FAIR COMEDY Dir-Callie
Khouri Lead-Diane Keaton RT-104 mins.
UNTRACEABLE
Regardless of its title, it's easy to trace the influences of this derivative serial
killer thriller. An FBI agent (Lane) in the Cyber Crimes division is tasked with
catching a fiend who broadcasts his victims' demises on the Internet, and makes the
rate of their death correlate to the number of people visiting his website. The film
grazes up against some interesting ideas about our voyeuristic interest in tragedy
and the chilly disconnect one feels from online material. Yet these topics are
ultimately buried beneath rote set pieces and techno-babble, which Lane spouts with
more conviction than is warranted by the mildly diverting, instantly forgettable
B-movie. (R) FAIR THRILLER Dir-Gregory Hoblit Lead-Diane Lane RT-96 mins.
YOUTH WITHOUT YOUTH
Francis Ford Coppola dramatizes Mircea Eliade's Mittleuropean novella about the
twinned pursuits of knowledge and desire. Possessing visual if not narrative
lucidity, it unspools like an opus written by Thomas Mann or Milan Kundera, then
injected with south-Asian mysticism. In 1938, an elderly Romanian professor
(adequately limned by Roth) is struck by lightening. He gains extraordinary powers,
plus a doppelganger and delusions of being able to satisfy romantic longings and
complete his life's work--developing a unified theory of language. Though not for
everyone, the ambitious film has many lovely qualities, including those lent by
co-star Alexandra Maria Lara. (R) FAIR DRAMA Dir-Francis Ford Coppola Lead-Tim Roth
RT-126 mins.
TOP DVD RENTALS -
27 DRESSES
At its best, this picture has the tart, flirtatious energy of a screwball comedy from
the 1930s. At its worst, it's a predictable chick flick with the frilly sexual
politics of a Doris Day-Rock Hudson vehicle--despite having been written and
directed by two women. June, a perennial bridesmaid obsessed with weddings and their
trappings, plans the nuptials of her younger sister (Malin Akerman) and her boss
(Edward Burns), whom she secretly adores. The statuesque Heigl gets upstaged by the
fashions, as well as by James Marsden, playing a cynical journalist covering the
marriage beat, and Judy Greer limning her oversexed best friend. (PG-13) FAIR
ROMANTIC-COMEDY Dir-Anne Fletcher Lead-Katherine Heigl RT-107 mins.
THE GOLDEN COMPASS
The glossy screen version of book one will leave fans of Philip Pullman's "His Dark
Materials" trilogy unsatisfied yet hopeful, neophytes intrigued but far from
captivated. Teeming with exposition about animal daemons, parallel worlds, dust and
authoritarianism, the generic fantasy follows tomboy Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue
Richards) north to frozen climes in search of kidnapped children. The action builds
to nothing more than a polar bear smack down and an anti-climactic setup for the
next installment. Nicole Kidman makes for a ravishing villainess, yet it remains to
be seen if anything meaningful can be squeezed from an ice sculpture and if Lyra's
spunkiness translates into soulfulness. (PG) FAIR ACTION-FANTASY Dir-Chris Weitz
Lead-Nicole Kidman RT-114 mins.
CLOVERFIELD
This is the monster movie remade for the 21st-century, post-9/11 world. Collapsing
buildings blowing out huge gusts of dust. Dazed and dirty people wandering in the
streets helplessly. Some people said the things we saw on 9/11 looked like a movie.
Here's a movie that looks like 9/11. A giant "thing" is rampaging through Manhattan
in a frenzy of killing and destruction, but how we view it--entirely through the
lens of camcorder--is intimate and believable. Reeves has crafted the perfect hoax,
one frustrating--in a good, keep-you-in-suspense way--and tantalizing, if not
always in a pleasant way. (PG-13) GREAT HORROR Dir-Matt Reeves Lead-Michael
Stahl-David RT-84 mins.
JUNO
Despite all the verbal pyrotechnics and well-chosen music, the quiet moments in this
teen pregnancy dramedy are the best. Ellen Page may never find a role superior to the
whip-smart sixteen-year-old Minnesotan who chooses to give the baby fathered by her
buddy (Michael Certa) to childless yuppies (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner). Juno
is too flip for her own good, yet she and the movie are saved by their fundamental
decency. Diablo Cody's script offers an idealized portrait of America's youth as
simultaneously shrewd and sappy, wicked and precious. It's hard to contradict when
presented in such a hilariously humane, albeit showy package. (PG-13) GOOD
COMEDY-DRAMA Dir-Jason Reitman Lead-Ellen Page RT-91 mins.
CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR
"You're a very easy man to like, Congressman." Ditto this fact-based comedy about the
hard-partying Texas representative (Hanks) who--together with a CIA agent (Philip
Seymour Hoffman) and a conservative fundraiser (Julia Roberts)--covertly supplied
arms to Afghanistan after the Soviets invaded in the early 1980s. The movie doesn't
know quite where to go with its blend of Nicholsonian farce and writer Aaron Sorkin's
trademark sarcastic political commentary. Reveling in private peccadilloes while
urging a pragmatic foreign policy, it implies American civil servants could benefit
from less self-seriousness and more drinking and womanizing. Being licentious and
wonkish at the same time is a fun trick. (R) GOOD COMEDY Dir-Mike Nichols Lead-Tom
Hanks RT-97 mins.
DVD TOP TITLES
For the week ending MAY 4, 2008
TOP RENTALS - Last Week
1. 27 DRESSES (FOX) - New
2. THE GOLDEN COMPASS (NL) - New
3. CLOVERFIELD (PAR) - 1
4. JUNO (FOX) - 2
5. CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR (UNI) - 3
6. ALIENS VS. PREDATOR: REQUIEM (FOX) - 4
7. THERE WILL BE BLOOD (PAR) - 5
8. ONE MISSED CALL (WAR) - 7
9. BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOUR DEAD (THINK) - 6
10. HERO WANTED (SONY) - New
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JPM 8:17 AM 5/9/2008
