CINEMAN VIDEO FOR 07-AUG-2009

DVD GUIDE FOR TUESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2009

*BY CINEMAN SYNDICATE*

Mini Reviews of movies available on DVD

NEW RELEASES -

ALIEN TRESPASS

A riff on '50s sci-fi films that's neither silly enough to be a parody nor serious enough to be a straight homage, "X-Files" producer Goodwin's faux-B-Movie spends most of its runtime wandering about in search of a coherent tone. In 1957, a UFO crash lands in the Mojave Desert and its alien pilot, known as Urp, promptly possesses the body of a local astronomer (McCormack) in order to stop the man-eating monster that's escaped from his ship. The director's replication of his cherished genre's aesthetic and pacing is reasonably accurate. Unfortunately, such mimicry isn't enough to overcome the material's corny humor and inert suspense. (PG) FAIR DRAMA Dir-R.W. Goodwin Lead-Eric McCormack RT-88 mins.

THE CLASS

This engrossing French film never leaves the campus of a Paris high school where a dedicated teacher endeavors to educate his multiracial students over the course of one term. Patterned after the autobiographical novel by Francois Begaudeau, who plays himself, it plunges the viewer into a familiar yet revelatory blackboard jungle. The push-and-pull between teacher and pupil gains counterpoint during fly-on-the-wall visits inside the faculty lounge and during administrative meetings. A sterling example of verite filmmaking, it asks whether the student-teacher dynamic promotes a beneficial respect for authority or necessitates a kind of humiliating submission. The answer, along with viewer sympathy, keeps shifting. Subtitled. (N/R) GREAT DRAMA Dir-Laurent Cantet Lead-Francois Begaudeau RT-128 mins.

I LOVE YOU, MAN

To know the premise of this bro-mantic comedy is to know the whole story. Upon getting engaged, a mild-mannered real estate agent (Paul Rudd) realizes he doesn't have a close friend he can ask to be his best man. While embarking on "man dates" to find a platonic soul mate, he meets an uninhibited beach bum (Jason Segel) who coaxes him out of his shell. Rudd's a likable guy, and he clicks with Segel. But this is a movie of set-ups that forgets to deliver a payoff. As expected, it's more interested in generating Apatow-lite laughs than honestly venturing into uncomfortable emotional territory. (R) FAIR COMEDY Dir-John Hamburg Lead-Paul Rudd RT-110 mins.

PARIS 36

This musical from the director of "The Choir" is comparable to a French pastry oozing with vanilla cream. Viewers lacking a sweet tooth will feel like force-fed ducks, yet instead of a savory delicacy such as fois gras, the end product is syrupy in the extreme. If such stereotypically Gallic metaphors don't offend, then by all means go watch members of a prewar theater troupe behave indelicately in hopes of keeping their music hall afloat during turbulent times. The lavishly produced movie asks whether the show really should go on no matter what. Nostalgic souls who concur that it must will be won over. Subtitled. (PG-13) FAIR MUSICAL-DRAMA Dir-Christophe Barratier Lead-Gerard Jugnot RT-120 mins.

17 AGAIN

This Zac Efron vehicle shamelessly scrambles elements of "High School Musical," "It's A Wonderful Life" and "Big," to name three relevant antecedents. With his career and marriage in shambles, Mike O'Donnell magically assumes his 17-year-old shape and gets what amounts to a do-over on the pivotal event in his life--a basketball game. He attends school with his teenaged kids (awkward) and almost turns his wife (Leslie Mann) into a cougar (even more awkward). Efron's tween admirers will be satisfied; more mature moviegoers will immediately cry foul. As Mike's friend, a rich fantasy-film nerd, Thomas Lennon supplies the funniest bits in the recycled shenanigans. (PG-13) FAIR COMEDY Dir-Burr Steers Lead-Zac Efron RT-94 mins.

TOP DVD RENTALS -

FAST and FURIOUS

The fourth installment in this street-racing franchise knows its limits and doesn't try to be anything it's not. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker reunite to bring down a drug lord who uses hotrods to ferry poison across the U.S.-Mexico border. The hard drives of the design team must've been spinning at warp speed to create the virtual racing effects and cool stunts. Nothing in the motorized melodrama is meant to engage the brain however. It's as though director Lin, who was behind the wheel of "Tokyo Drift," wants the audience to peak under the movie's hood and laugh at how empty it is in there. (PG-13) FAIR ACTION Dir-Justin Lin Lead-Vin Diesel RT-100 mins.

WATCHMEN

Lurid and violent like his "300," Zack Snyder's treatment of the watershed graphic novel lives up to, without exceeding, the hype. The multi-layered saga concerning masked vigilantes who resurface after one of them is murdered in 1985 should satisfy fanboys and more detached moviegoers. Its thematic ambition recalls "The Dark Knight," while its technical clarity and competence are arguably without equal. There are weaknesses to be sure. Considered in strictly cinematic terms, the ensemble actioner qualifies as a different superhero movie in degree rather than kind. What matters is that viewers are entertained for the better part of two-and-a-half hours. And that goal is achieved. (R) GOOD ACTION Dir-Zack Snyder Lead-Malin Akerman RT-160 mins.

KNOWING

The promise Alex Proyas showed with 1998's "Dark City" is only sporadically evident in this sci-fi saga about an MIT professor (Cage) whose son receives, from a time capsule unearthed after fifty years, a piece of paper covered in numbers that seem to predict global disasters--including three that have yet to occur. Prone to overact, Cage is unusually tempered here (if not especially captivating) and Proyas thrives in the movie's earlier, quieter moments. Unfortunately, though his foreboding tableaus are in line with the story's themes of randomness and determinism, the director eventually indulges in the type of unchecked cheesiness usually dispensed by his leading man. (PG-13) FAIR THRILLER Dir-Alex Proyas Lead-Nicolas Cage RT-121 mins.

CORALINE

It's one thing not to coddle children; it's another to creep them out. From a craft perspective, this rendering of Neil Gaiman's book, by the director of "The Nightmare Before Christmas," should be admired. But the story is quite dark and sinister, falling somewhere between "Psycho" for kids and a hallucinogenic "Mommie Dearest." Upon moving into a rambling Oregon house, the young heroine enters an alternate reality populated by unpleasant versions of her parents and eccentric neighbors. Although stop-action animation is ideal for 3D, this material isn't crowd-pleasing enough to warrant all the effort Hollywood studios are devoting toward making the projection format more commonplace. (PG) FAIR ANIMATION Dir-Henry Selick Lead-Dakota Fanning RT-100 mins.

PUSH

You have to be clairvoyant to follow the particulars of this overly complicated, unconvincing thriller about folks with paranormal abilities. You have to be really lonely to care. In Hong Kong, two second-generation psychics from America (Evans and Dakota Fanning) are hunted by government baddies seeking another gifted woman (Camilla Belle) in possession of a special drug. There are various paranormal types in this tedious movie world. For example, Movers move objects with their thoughts; Watchers see into the future; Stitches heal wounds; Wipers erase memories; and Pushers plant ideas in other people's heads. Audience members will kill for one who�s able to speed up time. (PG-13) BORING ACTION-THRILLER Dir-Paul McGuigan Lead-Chris Evans RT-121 mins.

DVD TOP TITLES

For the week ending AUGUST 2, 2009

TOP RENTALS - Last Week

1. FAST and FURIOUS (UNI) - New

2. WATCHMEN (WB) - 1

3. KNOWING (SUMMIT) - 2

4. CORALINE (UNI) - 3

5. PUSH (SUMMIT) - 5

6. THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (LG) - 4

7. GRAN TORINO (WB) - 7

8. STREETS OF BLOOD (ANCHOR) - New

9. DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION (FOX) - New

10. THE UNBORN (UNI) - 6

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JPM 8:23 AM 8/7/2009