(2010)
* *1/2(B-)
Directedby Michael and Peter Spierig
StarringEthan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Claudia Karvan, Michael Dorman, VinceColosimo, Isabel Lucas
Lionsgate//RatedR//Horror//98 minutes
Availableon: DVD and Blu-Ray
In afuturistic world, vampires and corporate greed rule the roost. The story, heavyon atmosphere uses ghastly mayhem as a means of inducing bouts of conscience inits more sympathetic characters. Except for their love of '40s fashion andnocturnal hours, vampires behave humanly enough. The few remaining humans arefarmed for their blood by a corporation controlling the supply, under vampireCEO Charles Bromley (Sam Neill). Keeping vampires upright and cash flowstreaming, depends upon inventing a human blood substitute. Ethan Hawke playsdour hematologist Edward Dalton. He works for Bromley, but is sympathetic to thehuman cause. Subsisting on animal blood, Daltonis perilously close to becoming a monstrous bat-like creature prone to kill andconsume other vampires. Willem Dafoe appears as the only vampire to retake hishuman form and the only actor to infuse the film's dime store novel dialog,rife with social commentary, with the appropriate camp tone. The entire film isbathed in eerie greenish-blue, giving it a surreal quality. DVD or Blu-Rayfeatures: Making of featurette, commentary with the directors and specialeffects creator Steve Boyle, poster gallery, theatrical trailer, English orFrench language tracks, Spanish subtitles, widescreen. Blu-Ray exclusives:extended feature-length version of the Making of Daybreakers that spans the filmmaking process, a short film fromthe directors entitled "The Big Picture," Bonus View Storyboard,Animatics film comparison, digital copy.
Legion
(2010)
* * (C)
Directedby Scott Stewart
StarringPaul Bettany, Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black, Kevin Durand, Adrianne Palicki, CharlesS. Dutton, Tyrese Gibson, Kate Walsh, Willa Holland, Jon Tenney
ScreenGems//Rated R//Horror//100 minutes
Availableon: DVD and Blu-Ray
When Godorders his angels to destroy mankind, archangel Michael believes the supremebeing is just having a tantrum. Michael declares "I will give God what heneeds, rather than what he wants." Played by a straight-faced, no-nonsensePaul Bettany, Michael is more than proficient with a variety of human weaponsthat he will need to protect mankind's savior. In the middle of nowhere, ayoung man (Lucas Black) has visions of the devastation to come. He confesseshis anxiety and feelings for a pregnant waitress (Adrianne Palicki) whoadmonishes him not to concern himself with her plight. These potentiallovebirds aside, the script is lousy with disposable players. Dennis Quaidappears as the diner's grumbling owner, Charles S. Dutton plays a God-fearingshort order cook, and diner patrons include a quarrelsome family (Kate Walsh,Willa Holland, Jon Tenney) and a good-hearted thug (Tyrese Gibson). The filmdisplays a talent for humorous special effects -- a plague of flies andexploding boils -- but the story gives us no one to care about beyond Michael,and he's exasperating. He alone knows what must be done, but is reticent toshare that information with his handful of cohorts at the diner. Gung-hoarchangel Gabriel (Kevin Durand) fights Michael every step of the way, but inthis film largely overflowing with dull action sequences, their climacticshowdown is snoozefest designed to set up a sequel. DVD and Blu-Ray features:Creating the apocalypse - behind the physical effects, Humanity's last line ofdefense - the cast and characters, From pixels to picture - a look at thevisual effects, English or French language tracks, widescreen. Blu-RayExclusives: Bringing Angels to earth: Picture-in-picture, Movie IQ sync andBD-Live for real-time information on the cast, music, trivia during the movie.
Edge of Darkness
(2010)
* * (C)
Directedby Martin Campbell
StarringMel Gibson, Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic, Shawn Roberts, RayWinstone, Damian Young
Warner//RatedR//Thriller//117 minutes
Availableon: DVD and Blu-Ray
MelGibson appears as the proverbial loner determined to set things right in thisparanoid thriller that squirms uncomfortably. He's Boston police detective Thomas Craven, outfor revenge after his adult daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) is gunned down.Fixated on punishing the guilty, Craven barely notices the innocents harmed byhis clumsy investigation. He sees and speaks to Emma's ghost and relives hismemories of her childhood in flashbacks that help him to cope. UnderlyingEmma's murder is a conspiracy represented as plausible, but the plot slowlyspins out of control. Danny Huston appears as a greedy CEO producing illegalnuclear weapons with help from his partner, an unscrupulous U.S. Senator(Damian Young). We never understand their reasons for running the operation,but the pair quickly eliminate anyone posing a threat. Remaking a 25-year-old BBCmini-series, the slapdash update fails to complete an underwritten plot. Someof the film's weaknesses are less noticeable thanks to Ray Winstone'sperformance as government agent serving as judge, jury and executioner. Hecarries out his job so thoughtfully you wouldn't mind having this pleasantkiller for a neighbor. DVD features: additional/alternate scenes, English,French or Spanish language tracks, widescreen. Blu-Ray Combo Pack features:Past and Present of Edge ofDarkness, 9 Focus Point video pods:Scoring the Film, Revisiting the Edge ofDarkness Mini-series, Edge of YourSeat, Making a Ghost Character Real, Adapting the Edge of Darkness Mini-series, Director Profile of Martin Campbell,Boston as a Character, Mel's Back, Craven's War of Attrition, AdditionalScenes, DVD Version of film, Digital Copy, widescreen.
PENN & TELLER: BULLSH*T!: SeasonSeven
(2009)
* * *(B)
Createdby and Starring Penn Jillette, Teller
ShowtimeEntertainment//Not Rated//Comedy//251 minutes
Availableon: DVD or Blu-Ray
Seasonseven find Las Vegasmagicians, Penn and Teller, continuing to debunk myths, scams, and bad science.Nine episodes examine subjects ranging from the bad rap given to stress, andthe falsehoods surrounding pricey organic foods. Always provocative, the pairlook into charlatans claiming to know the secrets of orgasm, the reasons we'redrawn to astrology, and the belief that playing violent video games is aprecursor to becoming a killer. Penn narrates documentary footage incorporatingtalking heads, science geeks, puns galore and boatloads of profanity.Meanwhile, silent partner Teller, acts out his award-winning portion of themessage. The pair invariably sneak topless women into each show, whiledispensing information you are free to regard as pure B.S. 2-Disc DVD setfeatures: English or Spanish language tracks, widescreen.
DEADLIEST WARRIOR: Season One
(2009)
* (D)
Createdby Gary Tarpinian, Paninee Theeranuntawat
StarringMax Geiger, Dr. Armand Dorian, Geoffrey Desmoulin
Narratedby Drew Skye
Paramount//RatedTV-14//Documentary//387 minutes
Availableon: DVD
Aprogram designed for Spike TV, each 1-hour episode attempts to determine whichof two warriors, from different eras, would prevail in a match up. Contestsoccur between an Apache warrior and a Roman gladiator, a pirate against aknight, and Braveheart's William Wallace versus Shaka Zulu. Combatants' fightcultures are discussed and occasionally depicted by experts of various fightdisciplines. Weapons demonstrations are carried out on raw meat, liquid-filledplastic skulls, and torsos made from ballistic gel. A physician assesses whatthe damage to a living person would be, though the destruction is obvious.Finally, based upon the test data that uploaded to a computer by young MaxGeiger, a climactic CGI clip generates a fight to the death between the twowarriors. It's a drawn-out process meant to celebrate fighting skills, but itunintentionally makes the fights dull. 3-Disc DVD Features: 9 episodes, Theaftermath: 5 post-fight analyses, Producers' roundtables, Season one wrap-up,English language tracks, widescreen.
RAISING THE BAR: Season Two
(2009)
* * (C)
Createdby Steven Bochco
StarringMark-Paul Gosselaar, J. August Richards, John Michael Higgins, Gloria Reuben,Teddy Sears, Jane Kaczmarek, Melissa Sagemiller
Lionsgate//NotRated//Drama//654 minutes
Availableon: DVD
Thismiddling TNT series was created by Steven Bochco, revered for hisground-breaking work on "NYPD Blue" and "L.A. Law." Here hefollows the lives of public defenders, prosecutors and judges as they wranglethe legal system, their clients, and one another. Each show features one or twocases, the debate surrounding it and personal relationships between theplayers. The characters exhibit quirks meant to make them more interesting.Gosselaar is somewhat disheveled and prefers wearing hippie hair, Sears rejectsthe big bucks of daddy's corporation in favor of meaningful public service,Richards plays a zealous prosecutor criticized for colorblindness by some whobelieve he shuns his own minority status, and so on. This season is made betterby a pistol-packing judge (Higgins) giving attorneys no quarter for tardiness,delays, or lapses in courtroom decorum, including dress. This makes forinteresting social commentary as the series wonders whether any portion ofAmerican tradition should remain sacrosanct, or be altered by the changingtimes. 4-Disc DVD features: Deleted scenes. English language tracks,widescreen.
THE EDGE
(1997)
* * * *(A)
Directedby Lee Tamahori
StarringAlec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, Kathleen Wilhoite, Harold Perrineau, Jr., L.Q.Jones, Elle Macpherson
Fox//RatedR/Action//117 minutes
Availableon: Blu-Ray
An agingbillionaire (Anthony Hopkins), suspects his beautiful young wife (ElleMcPhearson) of having an affair with her photographer (Alec Baldwin).Nevertheless, he accompanies the interloper on a photo shoot in the remoteAlaskan wilderness. They are both lost and unarmed when their plane crashes inthe middle of nowhere. The billionaire retrieves survival knowledge from hiseidetic memory that they will need to survive the onslaught of a man-eatingKodiak bear. This film successfully incorporates the elements of both athriller and an action adventure yarn, delivering heart-stopping scenes of bearattacks. Hopkins is brilliant as the reservedeccentric while Baldwin paints a colorfulportrait of a deceitful rival, in this David Mamet screenplay. Blu-Rayfeatures: English, French or Spanish language tracks, Cantonese or Koreansubtitles, widescreen.
