DVD Releases This Week

Atonement – B (Original review here)

The story of a calculating, narcissistic bitch who ruins numerous lives, feels guilty, and pretends like she atones by writing a book and giving her victims a false happy ending. Of course, she can only write the book when she’s diagnosed with vascular dementia so no one will judge her and condemn her because she’s a sick old hag. I’m sorry, but she’s a total (offensive word found in Robbie’s letter).

That said, director Joe Wright keeps things interesting by changing perspectives, using religious symbolism, recurring motifs (most notably water) and a virtuoso (but kinda unnecessary) 5 minute uninterrupted shot showing the British army on a French beach. James McAvoy finally impresses me as an actor and Keira Knightley is as perfect as that already famous green dress she wears. The typewriter-as-percussion in the (Oscar-winning) score really worked for me. And the cinematography and settings are equally beautiful. Too bad it’s all wasted on a despicable character who insists on manipulating everyone else around her – including us, the viewing audience. B

(Click below for Southland Tales)

Southland Tales – C-
Lawyer was probably too kind in his original review. It’s a horribly edited, incomprehensible mess, incoherent with scenes that fail to connect. Director Richard Kelly obviously cast his main characters against type (except uber-whore Bai Ling) but this is more distracting than inspired. See many SNL cast members not be funny; see Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson snivel in the face of violence; see Justin Timberlake ugly with a huge facial scar. Speaking of Timberlake, I’m not sure if his relentless voice-over narration was in the original script, but it feels like it was put in late in the editing to explain what the hell is going on. I like Kelly’s taste in music, but he needs a collaborator to help him hone his (occasionally brilliant) ideas. And not have, you know, a white dude (who calls everyone “dog”) fire a surface-to-air missile into a zeppelin while riding a flying ice cream truck. Seriously, dog, WTF? C-