Larry Ratliff

Holiday week DVD debuts; aliens & 'Summer'

Sharlto Copley attempts to relocate the aliens of "District 9."  (Sony Pictures)

'Twas a few nights before Christmas.  And all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except for the gross looking aliens from "District 9."

Yes, nothing says the holidays quite like desperate, plotting extraterrestrials forced to live in ghetto shacks Mr. Potter wouldn't even dare impose on the less fortunate residents of Bedford Falls in "It's a Wonderful Life."

Yet "District 9," nominated by both the Hollywood foreign press (Golden Globe) and the Broadcast Film Critics Assoc. (Critics Choice Awards) for its screenplay, leads the buzz at your local DVD and video store today.  (Click here to read my "District 9" review.)

(Courtesy:  Fox Searchlight)

Personally, I'd go for the clever, entertaining romantic-comedy "(500) Days of Summer," which also debuts today.  Except my wife Suellen wants some holiday warm and fuzzy this week.  So we're going with "The Family Stone" (2005), a semi-new holiday chestnut, the offbeat classic "A Christmas Story" (She's never seen it all the way through.) and, on Christmas Eve, "It's a Wonderful Life."  (I'm afraid I insist on the Christmas Eve viewing of Jimmy Stewart's holiday classic.)

If you're not thinking holiday theme, aliens or "Summer" as you pull up to the vid store, might I suggest "It Might Get Loud," the excellent documentary spotlighting guitar gurus Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2)  and Jack White (The White Stripes).  (Click here for my review.)

Mike Judge's offbeat comedy "Extract" also sweetens the DVD and video pot today.  (Click here for the review.)

Just make sure you get as far away from the difficult-to-watch "romantic-comedy" "All About Steve" as you possibly can.  (Click here for the review.)

Sandra Bullock made two really entertaining films this year, "The Blind Side" and "The Proposal," and one half-baked turkey.

"All About Steve" = gobble, gobble.  

   

Visit 'Sin' city at the DVD/video store

 

Paulina Gaitan in "Sin Nombre." (Focus Features)

A big movie star competes with a big little-movie-that-could on the new arrival DVD shelves today.

Even though Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck and Rachel McAdams are on display in "State of Play," if I could just pick one new DVD release today it would be "Sin Nombre."

As I said in my review when the directing and cinematography winner from this year's Sundance Film Festival debuted on big screens in April, "Sin Nombre," or "Without a Name," is one of the most disturbing, soul-rattling movies I've seen in some time.

It's also one of the finest.  It's in Spanish with subtitles, but Cary Joji Fukunagas' epic dramatic-thriller mesmerizes as it follows Central American immigrants on a dangerous train trip through Mexico to the U.S.

Click here to read the full review.

Actually, "State of Play" is a fine choice as well, especially if you like the names in the cast:  Crowe, Affleck, McAdams and Helen Mirren.

I like Crowe in the role of an investigative newspaper reporter for several reasons.  The guy can act, for one thing.  Call it a guilty pleasure, but I like seeing a newspaper reporter's cubicle that's almost as messy as my desk.  (A bite of yesterday's sandwich, anyone?)

Click here to read my "State of Play" review.

Also debuting at the vid store today:  "Sugar," a coming-of-age baseball player immigration drama. 

Click here for the review.

Watching 'Watchmen' at home

 

 The "Watchmen" are back, including Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach, far right. 

 (Warner Bros. Pictures)

If you have a little more trouble than usual finding a close parking space at the neighborhood video store this week, that may be because the director's cut of "Watchmen," the comic-book fantasy adventure co-starring San Antonio's Jackie Earle Haley," has taken up residence.

When director Zack Snyder's transformation from graphic novel supreme to feature film hit big screens in March, I referred to the adaptation as "a smorgasbord of graphic novel-to-big-screen wizardry."  (Click here to read the full review.)

That's the good news and the not-so-good news.  The wacky alternate U.S. of 1985 comes at us fast and furious.  In the comfort of your living room, however, the close proximity to the eerie darkness might cast a slightly more hypnotic spell.  And, of course, you can rewind if things get too confusing.

Also on video shelves today:

"Coraline"-- In Henry Selick's animated family fantasy, a little girl named Coraline (voiced by Dakota Fanning) can't resist checking out what's behind a mysterious door in her house.

"The Great Buck Howard"-- Colin Hanks and Tom Arnold co-star, but rent this offbeat comic-drama for the mesmerizing performance by John Malkovich as the title character, an illusionist who keeps on performing past his prime.  (Click here for my review.)

  

Go ahead, punk, rent my 'Gran Torino' DVD

 

Look for veteran leading men Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford to line the New Release shelves at your local DVD emporium today.

Eastwood snarls like a junkyard dog with rabies in "Gran Torino," the legendary actor/director's first screen appearance since "Million Dollar Baby."  "Million Dollar Baby" earned Eastwood an acting Oscar nomination in 2004.

"Gran Torino" isn't just a leading man acting vehicle for Eastwood.  As I said in my review, it's a haunting drive through daunting territory.  Eastwood plays a retired Detroit auto worker fighting off youth gangs in his deteriorating neighborhood.  Click here to read the full review.

Harrison Ford, the longtime matinee idol known to millions as Indiana Jones in the fantasy-adventure franchise, opts for a reality-based drama in "Crossing Over."

Ford sputters along as a Los Angeles-based Immigration and Customs officer who becomes involved in the sad, but all-too-common plight of an illegal alien from Mexico working hard to support her young son back home.

Unfortunately, "Crossing Over" never matches on screen the intensity of the gritty world it portrays.

Click here for my "Crossing Over" movie review.

(Photos:  Clint Eastwood protecting his porch and his beloved vintage car in "Gran Torino."/ Warner Bros./Harrison Ford and Alice Braga in "Crossing Over."/The Weinstein Company)  

The 'Revolutionary Road' less traveled

If you appreciate extremely well-done cinematic drama and don't always require a happy-go-lucky story to go with it, I suggest that you hop in your car and motor on over to the video store today.

"Revolutionary Road," the searing period drama set in the 1950s, is the movie that six-time Oscar nominee Kate Winslet should have won for at the Academy Awards in February.  Instead, she took home the best actress golden statuette for "The Reader," which can't compare, at least from this aisle seat.

Debuting on DVD shelves today, "Revolutionary Road" is directed by Sam Mendes, Winslet's real-life husband and an Academy Award winner himself for helming "American Beauty" in 1999.

Winslet hits the "Revolutionary Road" with her old pal and "Titanic" co-star Leonardo DiCaprio, who has racked up three Oscar nominations (in case you're counting).

When "Revolutionary Road" scorched movie screens in late December, I said that Winslet and DiCaprio, both excellent actors, "ignite something several degrees hotter than special. It's white-heat internal combustion most filmmakers can only dream of."  Click here for the full review.

Also landing on DVD shelves today (June 2):

"Defiance" -- Daniel Craig (Mr. James Bond himself) and Liev Schreiber are out front as brothers herding up Jews and helping them survive after the Germans invade Poland in 1939.  It's based on actual events, but this World War II drama never quite engaged me fully in the compelling story like it should. 

"He's Just Not That Into You" -- Scarlett Johansson, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly, Justin Long, Ben Affleck and Drew Barrymore try to understand why guys do what they do in the comic-drama-romance based on the book.

(Photo:  Don't let this happy moment fool you.  April (Kate Winslet) and Frank Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio) are in for a very rough relationship ride in "Revolutionary Road."/Paramount Vantage)

Two very different guys on missions impossible

 

If you're looking for new DVD arrivals today (Tuesday, May 19), you'll find two very different movie actors on vastly different missions freshly planted on video store shelves.

In the mood for wacky comedy?  Then "Paul Blart:  Mall Cop" should be your first grab off the New Arrival shelves.

Looking back, I didn't fully appreciate the inspired buffoonery Kevin James has going on as a nice-guy mall security guard fighting off a gang of mall rat thieves.

It wasn't until later when I saw Seth Rogen in the utterly awful "Observe and Report," an unfunny variation on the same theme, that I realized that "Paul Blart" wasn't so bad after all.  (My full movie review)

Something else entirely bothered me about "Valkyrie," the "We must kill Hitler" World War II dramatic-thriller starring Tom Cruise.  At least it did going in.

I couldn't get past that eye-patch.  In short samples -- the trailer running on TV and even an expanded one in theaters -- it looked a little put-on to me.

Take it from me, that's not a problem in the actual movie, which is quite gripping most of the time. 

Cruise portrays Col. Claus von Stauffenberg, a German patriot determined to remove Hitler from power before the German dictator completely ruins the country Stauffenberg loves. 

Also debuting today:

"My Bloody Valentine" -- A gory re-imagining of the 1981 holiday-themed horror flick.  It should hold scream and gore fans until "Drag Me to Hell" opens in theaters May 29.

(Photos:  Kevin James having a little trouble dealing with a reluctant mall "speeder" in "Paul Blart:  Mall Cop"/Sony Pictures/and Tom Cruise as Col. Claus von Stauffenberg in "Valkyrie."/MGM Home Entertainment)

 

Tommy Cannes they hear you?

 

Well, guess what Tommy Lee Jones film is on the seller's block at the Cannes Film Fest this year?

If you guessed "In the Electric Mist," which went directly to video stores in the U.S. in early March, you'd be correct.  But only partially.

Actually, it was a bit of a trick question.  "In the Electric Mist" is screening at the Arcades 2 Theater in Cannes today in hopes of sparking international sales.

There's other Tommy Lee Jones-related activity in the South of France this week.  A second film is looking for funding, according to an item posted on the Hollywood Reporter Web site:

"On the prestige end of the spectrum is 'Mother and Child' -- which sees Rodrigo Garcia direct and Annette Bening and Naomi Watts star in an adoption drama -- and 'The Company Men,' John Wells' feature directorial debut about the lives of downsized employees played by Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones.

"The film, which CAA is repping for domestic, has just entered production and is splitting buyers, who are either attracted to or skeptical of the recession hook," according to the Hollywood Reporter piece.

Jones, San Antonio's resident Academy Award winning actor, is no stranger to the Cannes Film Fest.  He was there last year, looking for up-front money to fund "Islands in the Stream." Jones' pet project is a re-imagining of the 1977 drama based on Ernest Hemingway's novel.

Jones was the aw-shucks toast of Cannes in 2005.  I was in the house and in a rented tuxedo (although I forgot my shiny rented shoes) at the Grand Theatre Lumiere when the Texas-born Jones was noticeably moved by a frenzied scene upon his arrival and, later, a sustained standing ovation for "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada."

Jones' feature film directing debut also earned him Best Actor honors that year.

(Photo:  Tommy Lee Jones in "In the Electric Mist."/Image Entertainment)
 

Must dos for Tues.

 

Things that simply must get done today:

Run, don't walk -- better yet, hop in the car -- and get to the video store to rent "The Wrestler," which lands on DVD shelves today.

Mickey Rourke, when he's not clowning around with some WWE wrestler for a lame publicity stunt, can act.  Rourke's work as has-been wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a 1980s ring superstar gone to seed and seedy strip clubs, is a must-see for anyone who enjoys the power of excellent filmmaking amid lowbrow, squalid (physically and emotionally) settings.

Rourke lost out to Sean Penn ("Milk") in the best actor Oscar race.  From this aisle seat, Rourke was robbed. 

What else must be done today? 

Oh yeah, it should be two-fer Tuesday at your corner video store.  After you grab "The Wrestler," you'll want to pick up a copy of Ron Howard's "Frost/Nixon," which also debuts on DVD today.

If you're at all like me, you'll be a little skeptical going in:  How can a drama adapted from a theatrical piece about former President Richard Nixon and British talk show host David Frost possibly hold our attention?

It probably shouldn't.  But with Howard calling the shots and Frank Langella (as Tricky Dick) and Michael Sheen (Frost) in front of the camera, it just really works as compelling drama.

(Click here to read my full review of "Frost/Nixon.")

Anything else?

My wife Suellen has asked for a couple of things from the grocery store.

(Click here to read what I'll be picking up at the store.  Not really, just kidding.)

Not to worry, I'll handle that one.

(Photo:  Mickey Rourke as Randy the Ram in "The Wrestler."/Fox Searchlight Pictures)

'Reader' tops new DVDs, but 'Spirit' moves me

Two major Christmas '08 movies make their way to DVD and video shelves today (Tuesday).  "The Reader," featuring Kate Winslet's Oscar-winning performance, will no doubt draw the most attention.

"The Spirit," Frank Miller's stylized, sexy comic book crime caper, moves me closer to a trip to the video store, however.

Bluesy, bawdy and bad-boy fun, "The Spirit" granted comic book kingpin Frank Miller his first solo feature film directing assignment after sharing duties with Austin-based Robert Rodriguez on "Sin City" in 2005.

"The Spirit" is loaded in grunge and attitude and will remind some of the recent "Watchmen."  Gabriel Macht is out front as Denny Colt, a former cop who returns from the dead as The Spirit to battle scum-of-the-earth criminals. 

His No. 1 foe is The Octopus, played with just the right amount of menace and madness by Samuel L. Jackson.  Miller's fantasy ditty isn't lacking for beautiful women with attitude, either.  Fanboys are sure to notice Eva Mendes as Sand Saref, Jaime King as Lorelei Rox and Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss.

"The Reader," told in flashback and in post World War II Germany, is not a bad film.  It's just that  Ralph Fiennes, who stars as the adult version of a boy who has an affair with a lonely German woman (Winslet) with a secret past, isn't around all that much.

Winslet's real co-star (in overly gratuitous sex scenes, from this aisle seat) is David Kross, who portrays Fiennes' character as a teenager.

If I grab just one from the video shelves this week, it will definitely be "The Spirit."

(Photo:  Eva Mendes as Sand Saref in the "Spirit" poster./Lionsgate)  

It's almost 'Twilight' time at DVD/vid stores

  
 

  Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson in "Twilight." (Summit Entertainment)

That's the good news.  The bad news for teens and others who can't wait to get their hands on their very own copy of the first Stephenie Meyer teen romancer with bite will have to wait until Saturday.

I know, I know.  Tuesday is usually DVD release day. "Twilight" and some other highly anticipated titles appear to want to rock the boat a bit.

Here's what I wrote in my review when "Twilight" hit the big screens in late November: 

"Based on the first of Stephenie Meyer's best-sellers about the growing, perhaps deadly fascination between a mortal girl and a hunky teen vampire with James Dean hair and pout to match, 'Twilight' plays like what it is — a romance novel for girls.

Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward meet in biology class in tiny Forks, Wash. She's 17. He's 17 going on 70.

Both are outsiders. Bella, a sullen transfer student from Arizona, has come to live with her dad (Billy Burke) in the gloomy Northwest. Of course he's the police chief, and some kind of 'animal' is beginning to snack on the locals.

Don't blame Edward. The chalk-faced dreamboat with ruby red lips and a come-hither aura (especially to Bella) only drinks the blood of animals.

At least he does until Bella rocks his never-ending undead world.

'You're like heroin to me,' Edward confides at one point.

Frankly, the good-looking nonkid is a junkie in dire need of a fix.

'Twilight arrives with a pre-satisfaction appeal much like 'Sex and the City' brought to the moms of this movie's giggle-prone audience."

Click here for the full review.

It is what it is, and that was quite enough for two women — one 16, another 31 — I talked to on the way out. Both had read the book and loved the movie.

"Twilight's" appeal will likely dim somewhat for anyone not familiar with the book series or prepped by the hype.