VIDIOTS
This months DVD relases
PICK
OF THE MONTH |
 The Diving Bell & the Butterfly- It’s safe to say there’s never been another film quite like director Julian Schnabel’s adaptation of former French ELLE editor Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir. After suffering a stroke and being paralyzed by “locked in syndrome” at age 43, Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) could only communicate by blinking his eye, dictating his story to a string of gorgeous women. Using first-person perspective and the genius cinematography of Janusz Kaminski, Schnabel captures the wonderland inside Bauby’s mind, where dreams and consciousness blur and collide and past and present merge, all of narrated by Bauby’s life-affirming monologues. Don’t let the subtitles scare you away! –B. Love
 I’m Not There- The biopic needed writer/director Todd Haynes to come along with I’m Not There, slap it across the face, and say, “Hey! You want to show some respect? Watch and learn.” Haynes realized with his study of Bob Dylan that it’s not necessarily about improvisation, but internalization. And with a man as rich and complex as Dylan, you need six actors and six stories to honestly explore the depths of a man known as a radical, poet, joker, thief, drifter, outlaw and more (or less). Even if Haynes’ experiment hadn’t paid off, it was an effort worthy of Dylan. –Matt Goldberg
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Cassandra’s Dream- Brothers Ian (Ewan McGregor) and Terry (Colin Farrell) are normal men who come into dire circumstances. In past Allen films it was women, but this time around it’s money. Their rich uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson) has a proposition for them: kill an innocent man so he can’t testify against Howard and, in turn, he’ll grant them happy futures. Thus the conflict we’ve seen before: is your life worth more than another’s? And if you’ve seen the previous two Woody Allen films using this plot, you already know how the morality play will turn out. (D) –MG
Charlie Wilson’s War- Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) was a real-life congressman who, when he learned of the mujahadeen fighting the Russians in Afghanistan, saw a way to help by covertly supplying them with weapons. His resolve is strengthened when he visits the war-ravaged country and realizes this isn’t just some nebulous fight of Capitalism versus Communism, but a war hurting innocent people. With the help of a powerful neo-conservative Texan (Julia Roberts) and a no-bullshit CIA agent (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) he starts a chain of events that lead to the fall of the USSR. For Aaron Sorkin fans, Charlie Wilson’s War is a must– a highly enjoyable movie that proves you don’t have to appeal to the lowest common denominator to engage everyone’s hearts and minds. (B+) –Matt Goldberg
The Great Debaters- Denzel Washington’s heartwarming directorial follow-up to Antwone Fisher, The Great Debaters treks deep into Marshall, Texas, and finds the true story of the Wiley College debate team coach (Washington) and his three courageous black students, played by Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett and Denzel Whitaker. With the stench of racial injustice rampant in 1935, the pupils stand up to oratory challenges from the likes of Harvard. Some will discount this family drama as a mere follow-up to Glory Road, Pride or other predictable period pictures, but we haven’t ached so hard for characters to overcome obstacles and emerge victorious in years. (A-) –DeMarco Williams
Mad Money- Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton), the wife of a once-successful businessman (Ted Danson), is a flat-broke socialite trying to keep her family together after hubby loses his job. Nina (Queen Latifah) is a hard-working single mom, while Jackie (Katie Holmes) is a free-spirited woman up for anything. When money woes relegate Bridget to being a janitor at the Federal Reserve in Kansas City, their partnership in crime begins. Bridget’s ploy to rob the joint of used-up bills the government was going to shred has more holes in it than the Chiefs’ offensive line, but the movie ultimately finds a way to make it work. (C+) –DW
National Treasure: Book of Secrets- Benjamin (Nicolas Cage) and Patrick (Jon Voight) Gates are giving a friendly lecture about their ancestor when Ed Harris tells everyone he has proof that Thomas Gates was possibly the mastermind of the Lincoln assassination. The hunt to clear Ben’s great-grandfather’s name produces a chain of clues leading to a city of gold. While its history may never be 100% true and there’s a sickening amount of product placement, everyone is clearly having a lot of fun (they could give Helen Mirren, as Ben’s mom, more to do) and comic relief Justin Bartha once again steals scenes as the lovable Riley Poole. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turtletaub know exactly what makes this franchise work, and there’s a clear set-up for a third movie. It may not be better than the other two, but when the films are this fun, it doesn’t have to be. (B) –MG
Over Her Dead Body- Kate (Eva Longoria) and Henry (Paul Rudd) are about to be married, but on their wedding day Kate is crushed by an ice sculpture of an angel. One year later, Henry still isn’t over the loss, so his sister Chloe (Lindsay Sloane) decides to take him to a psychic in an attempt to help Henry move on with his life. The psychic, Ashley (Lake Bell), ends up falling for Henry, much to the chagrin of ghost-Kate, who proceeds to torment Ashley in an attempt to “protect” Henry. It’s not that Over Her Dead Body is a bad movie: Eva Longoria is funny and Paul Rudd is, as always, the greatest. Unfortunately, while you and your significant other may be amused during the movie, you’ll forget what you just saw the moment the DVD stops spinning. (D) –Matt Goldberg
Rambo- Twenty years later, the Vietnam vet is back in Burma and fed up with the world. Only with the convincing of a pretty missionary (Julie Benz) can he begrudgingly take them from Thailand to Burma where the missionaries encounter problems, and Rambo has to save the day. Sylvester Stallone, who also co-wrote and directed the film, has no reservations about showing genocide at its most haunting. The film is at its strongest when it focuses on men-on-a-mission, as Rambo and a group of mercenaries attempt to rescue the missionaries. But the writing is painfully bad at times, and Stallone’s skill at filming violence doesn’t carry over to anything that doesn’t involve bloody carnage. (C) –MG
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