DVD and Blu-ray Releases 9/28/10

Babies - #
Frozen - #
Get Him to the Greek - #
Good - #
Iron Man 2 - #
The Killer Inside Me - #
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence - #
Suck - #
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse - #

Click below for this week's Blu-ray releases

King Kong - *
The Thin Red Line - (Criterion) - **

# - also on Blu-ray
* - Doctor approved
** - Best movie ever

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Best Films of the 90s - 65-61

65. The Hunt for Red October - (1990)

John McTiernan's follow up to Die Hard spectacularly juggles dozens of characters and many subplots as a CIA agent (a perfectly cast Alec Baldwin) tries to make contact with a Russian submarine commander (Sean Connery) during the Cold War. The characters on the US submarine (Scott Glenn, Courtney Vance) are more interesting than the Russian ones (Sam Neill, Tim Curry) but every scene with Baldwin (in his star-making role) works due to his energy and intelligence. The film actually speeds up the pacing as it approaches the climactic battle. Truly amazing how they condensed this from the complex novel.

64. Babe - (1995)
This charming fable about a pig who thinks it's a sheep dog has all kinds of things to say about pride and prejudice. There's plenty of laughs and director George Miller places and moves the camera with consistent confidence. James Cromwell plays the reticent farmer perfectly. Throw in themes about friends, expectations, courage, & endurance and you've got a classic family film.

63. Braveheart - (1995)

Make no mistake, Mel Gibson is certifiably crazy - but he's also a genius. No one else has envisioned and created such an epic film since (though Ridley Scott gave a valiant effort with Gladiator). There's no question that the political talk drags and seems ridiculously simple, especially for any scholar of modern politics. But the set-piece action scenes get my blood boiling like no other. I'm ready to jump on the screen and follow Mel into battle. The homophobic and racist accusations seem misplaced - Mad Mel goes after everyone without impunity.

62. Searching for Bobby Fischer - (1993)
A boy discovers "speed" chess during a family trip to Central Park and his natural talent becomes apparent as those around him (parents, teachers, friends) struggle to make sense of it. His competitive father (Joe Mantegna) pushes him to the level of exploitation while his mother (Joan Allen) protects his sensitivity and thoughtfulness. The last third is the best, beginning with the prodigy's reconciliation with Vinnie (Laurence Fishburne). The film champions education, hard work, and good sportsmanship.

61. Bottle Rocket - (1996)

Owen Wilson's "Dignan" persona has all but evaporated these days (now that he co-stars with canines) but his debut here is still as impossibly original as it was on day one. He interacts perfectly with his brother Luke and Robert Musgrave as 3 inept thieves trying to make the big-time. Their sincerity strengthens the uniqueness of that special Wes Anderson feeling. The climactic heist is hilarious, especially because of Kumar who, when he's not lost in the freezer, has trouble remembering friends or how to crack a safe. "Did you ever have a touch to lose, man!?"

100. Glengarry Glen Ross
99. Dead Again
98. Ed Wood
97. True Romance
96. The Commitments
95. Bound
94. Die Hard 2
93. In the Line of Fire
92. Affliction
91. Shakespeare in Love
90. In the Company of Men
89. Short Cuts
88. Copland
87. The Hudsucker Proxy
86. The Last Seduction
85. The Apostle
84. Burnt by the Sun
83. The Godfather Part III
82. Good Will Hunting
81. Speed
80. Reversal of Fortune
79. Forest Gump
78. American Beauty
77. Dazed and Confused
76. True Lies
75. Nixon
74. Malcolm X
73. Red Rock West
72. Hearts of Darkness
71. Wag the Dog
70. Thelma and Louise
69. Hoop Dreams
68. Quiz Show
67. Reservoir Dogs
66. Total Recall

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Sufjan; Jamey Johnson

For the Sufjan Stevens fans out there (which should include anyone who's taken the time to listen to his work), his much-anticipated new album is streaming over at the NPR. Hear it here.

For fans of "Outlaw Country" (aka, the good stuff. Waylon. Jennings. Nelson. Kristofferson.), Jamey Johnson is the real deal. Think Bad Brad from Crazy Heart, but not as simple and way more honest. His new album is a double. Check out some of it on his myspace page here.

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Catfish - B+

In theaters. Rated PG-13, 94 minutes. Trailer.

An amateurish documentary about a long distance relationship on Facebook, Catfish may be a one-trick pony, but its a trick worth seeing. The film follows Nev, a 24 year old photographer in Manhattan, and his relationship with an 8 year old girl that paints things and meets him on Facebook. The documentarians are Nev's roommate and brother and they convince him to let them follow him as the relationships begin developing. The film is funny, suspenseful, sad, and challenging. Part of the interest and experience of the film is not knowing more than what is shown in the trailer before you see it, so, don't click to read the rest of this review until you've seen it (click below for more on Catfish, including SPOILERS):

Again, don't read on unless you want the movie's secrets to be revealed. Nev's relationship with Abby leads to a substantial relationship with her very attractive sister Megan. They text, email, facebook and she even sings him songs. After several months and a suspicious occurrence, the boys decide to drive to Michigan to meet Megan. When they arrive they see that Megan is an elaborate construct of Abby's mom, Angela. Angela is the painter in the family, not Abby, and Angela quickly comes up with a flimsy explanation for why Megan is gone. But, as the guys stay and talk with her, she slowly opens up and admits almost all of the secret.

That a savvy New Yorker like Nev could fall for something like this is interesting. The impact on him appears to be negligible, but the viewer is reminded of the viper pit that the internet is. Those elements are enough to push the film to a B, but for me the real nut of the film is Angela. She is a semi-talented, decently intelligent person stuck in hell on earth. She is a stay at home caregiver to 2 profoundly retarded adult men that are her stepchildren. The "boys" cannot feed, bathe or handle bathroom duty (they wear diapers) and they self-harm. Her husband isn't retarded, but he's close......and she's stuck. The scene where she breaks down to Nev about not realizing the cost of the marriage and caregiving and resigning from her life is heartbreaking and universal. I felt pity for Angela and even though her fake network isn't excusable, it is understandable.

I believe that nearly everyone on Facebook or on their blog does some of what Angela does to some degree. Everyone posts a good picture of themselves, and some people glamorize their life almost as a commercial even though it is extremely mundane. The film artfully renders an analysis of this facet of the digital age.

Worth your time.

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Song of the Day - Supersonic, Oasis

I posted about this particular version of this song nearly a year ago, but its back on Palladia (best channel on TV) so I owe it another post since I've watched/listened to it at least 150 times. I found the version that I've been watching here. From 4:18 to 4:38 is about as close to heaven as I'll ever get.

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True Grit's First Trailer

Shades of There Will Be Blood merged with Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? music. It's the Coens' first Western, so it could really go either way. Their first "remake" (The Ladykillers) is their least accomplished film.

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Weekend Box Office: 9/24-9/26/10

Title/Gross/%Change/Total

1. Wall Street 2: 19 mil / NEW
2. Legend of Guardians: 16.3 mil / NEW
3. The Town: 16 mil / -33% / 49 mil
4. Easy A: 10.7 mil / -40% / 33 mil
5. You Again: 8.3 mil / NEW
6. Devil: 6.5 mil / -47% / 22 mil
7. Resident Evil 4: 4.9 mil / -51% / 52 mil
8. Alpha & Omega: 4.7 mil / -48% / 15 mil
9. Takers: 1.7 mil / -46% / 55 mil
10. Inception: 1.2 mil / -37% / 287 mil

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Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps - B

In theaters. Rated PG-13, 133 minutes. Trailer.

Director Oliver Stone returns to Wall Street for the sequel to his seminal 1987 film. Michael Douglas revisits his most famous character, Gordon Gekko, with Shia Lebouf, Carey Mulligan, Frank Langella and Josh Brolin along for the ride. We rejoin Gekko leaving prison in 2001 and then immediately flash forward to 2008 before the collapse of the financial markets. Lebouf is Jake Moore, a young investment banker on the come in the new Wall Street; his live-in girlfriend is Gekko's daughter, Winnie a successful "lefty blogger." As the financial markets near collapse in the Fall of 2008, Jake looks to his mentor, Louis Zabel (Langella) for direction but finds none. Click below for more on an interesting film:

Zabel is a stand-in for the real life Robert Fuld at the sacrificial lamb Lehman Brothers (the film assumes the viewer is conversant in the financial meltdown and the way it has been unraveling). As Jake's mentor and his firm melts down, he lashes out at billionaire big wig Bretton James (Brolin) whom he blames for the problem. He and James eventually reconcile for a time. The film pivots around the relationships and along the way reveals several facets of the characters and the nature of greed.

I thought Lebouf would ruin the film, but I thought he was great as the 'new capitalist'. Brolin is his predictable genius as the brash billionaire Bretton James - he oozes cockiness and excess while he explains his art collection and says his 'walkaway number' is "more". Douglas returns to respectable work after Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and nails the weary but still scheming Gekko, especially in the closing portions of the film. Mulligan is obviously a great actress and nails the highs and lows her character experiences, but she is not remotely attractive which renders her character unbelievable in that world. The 95 year old Eli Wallach is superb as the eery wise man.

The film is uneven, soaring to an A in some places and annoying and boring me in others. I loved all of the scenes portraying the actual meltdown and especially, especially the scenes inside the Fed as the fate of the world's financial system fell to a few well-heeled souls around a conference table. Those scenes are an exhilirating imagining of what had to have happened. As with Stone's W., I was very surprised by the restrained tone and even-handed political bias of the film. Bretton James is a 'bad guy', but his discussion during the conference scenes with the Henry Paulson stand-in shows the predicament the government was in - bail out and socialize and reward those that should suffer or risk a global crisis.

Stone's direction is exceptional. The Manhattan skyline is so prevalent that it nearly becomes a character in the film.

Worth your time, especially if you read the business section.

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Best Films of the 90s - 70-66

70. Thelma and Louise - (1991)

Ridley Scott's tale of 2 Arkansas woman on the lam has a perfectly structured screenplay (by Oscar winner Callie Khouri) and terrific cinematography. But the film is owned by the characters. Rare for Hollywood, there are not 1 but 2 incredibly strong female characters that go through changes. As Thelma, Geena Davis is perfect in her innocence, but Susan Sarandon shows uncommon depth with Louise. Her entire life is right there with one look in her eyes. Brad Pitt became an instant star as Thelma's seducer. Michael Madsen and Harvey Keitel are equally impressive.

69. Hoop Dreams - (1994)
Director Steve James had unbelievable patience documenting the young lives of basketball prodigies Arthur Agee and William Gates over the transformative 5 year period of late junior high to high school. Their lives take unexpected turns and their fortunes (or misfortunes) change at a moment's notice. The games capture the excitement of high school sports. But the social commentary gives the film its resonance. The more important things in life (like a middle aged woman finally graduating from high school) are shamefully ignored while young sports stars are inexplicably over-celebrated. Transient physical ability over lasting education? Nice choice, America.

68. Quiz Show - (1994)

Not exactly the film to watch with a group since a bunch of elites talk and talk in every scene but I find writer Paul Attanasio's exquisitely worded screenplay supremely intelligent as he deconstructs celebrity, academia, and closet anti-Semitism. Rob Morrow carries the film pretty well but he's just the backbone for the talented supporting cast to bounce off. Director Robert Redford does the film justice by staying out of the way and pacing it well. My favorite moments include the cameos of fellow directors Barry Levinson and Martin Scorsese.

67. Reservoir Dogs - (1992)
Quentin Tarantino changed cinema immediately with his first film. Talkative characters over-referencing pop culture are now common place but it hasn't been done any better or funnier than here or in QT's subsequent film. The film is too bloody by half and is obviously too casual with its cop-killing. But the Mr. Orange sequence toward the end is as exciting as filmmaking gets, especially the heist set-up scene with the priceless Lawrence Tierney. It probably should be higher from a writing-directing standpoint but nihilism isn't quite as cool as it once was. 2 years later, QT was smart enough to give an inspiring message.

66. Total Recall - (1990)

In 2084, a construction worker on Earth dreams of traveling to Mars, but since he can't afford it, decides to have a fake memory of Martian trip implanted in his head. Then everything goes very, very wrong. The visuals and special effects are impressive, even by today's CGI standards. The violence does go over the top and the queasy have been warned. Director Paul Verhoeven can't seem to create a scene without giving us something we've never seen before. Arnold Schwarzenegger is at his very (non Jim-Cameron) best. The film almost gets profound by discussing the nature of dreams and reality.

100. Glengarry Glen Ross
99. Dead Again
98. Ed Wood
97. True Romance
96. The Commitments
95. Bound
94. Die Hard 2
93. In the Line of Fire
92. Affliction
91. Shakespeare in Love
90. In the Company of Men
89. Short Cuts
88. Copland
87. The Hudsucker Proxy
86. The Last Seduction
85. The Apostle
84. Burnt by the Sun
83. The Godfather Part III
82. Good Will Hunting
81. Speed
80. Reversal of Fortune
79. Forest Gump
78. American Beauty
77. Dazed and Confused
76. True Lies
75. Nixon
74. Malcolm X
73. Red Rock West
72. Hearts of Darkness
71. Wag the Dog

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Harry Brown - D

The worst film of the year for me usually combines wasting talented people with morally reprehensible material. Former worsts include Towelhead, The Mist, Kansas City, and Hannibal. Harry Brown opens with a gang initiating a new member with crack cocaine who then shoots a mother in the head as she walks her newborn in a stroller. Then things start to get ugly. An elderly member in the neighborhood (Michael Caine as the titular character) doesn't like what he sees but is not inclined to help. After his long-suffering wife dies a painful death due to cancer and his best friend is stabbed to death by the gang, he's got nothing to lose; but the audience does . . .

The most unwatchable sequence occurs when Harry tries to buy an illegal handgun at a drug dealer's place. A woman near overdose is repeatedly raped on film and the scene drags on (and on) until Harry finally dispatches the bad guys. Vengeance done well can get the blood pumping (see Braveheart), but when Harry starts his (brief) vigilante spree, it feels amoral and voyeuristic. Harry loses his way pretty quickly which is not very believable for an older, wiser man. Things aren't helped by the ineffectual cops (one played by Emily Mortimer) who are powerless, helpless, and clueless. Gritty is one thing; depressing and hopeless are something else. Worst film of the year, easy. D

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The Kings Speech Trailer

Major Oscar bait.....looks good.

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Best Films of the 90s - 75-71

75. Nixon - (1995)

Oliver Stone's surprisingly fair take on the 37th president's life reached for and achieved Shakespearean proportions as the complicated man is undone by greed and paranoia. Anthony Hopkins is somewhat miscast, but gives a terrific performance anyway. Everyone else (including Joan Allen, Ed Harris, Paul Sorvino, James Woods, and Powers Boothe) is more suited for their roles. The back and forth editing actually builds something emotionally complex as Nixon's Quaker upbringing informs everything during his presidency. Lots of great lines, but the one I use every few months or so is, "Only when you've been in the deepest valley will you know what it's like on the highest mountain."

74. Malcolm X - (1992)
Spike Lee's epic tribute to the slain, militant civil rights leader successfully follows him from young punk through his conversion to his rise as influential preacher. The period sets and costumes are terrific, but Lee captures the attitudes of his characters just right. Denzel Washington gives one of the decade's best performances, showing vulnerability, charisma, anger, ambition, and everything in between. It would be all downhill for Mr. Lee from here. Except for Inside Man. That was pretty good.

73. Red Rock West - (1994)

John Dahl's second and last film on the list has Nicolas Cage as a Texas drifter who's wrongly assumed to be a hitman by a man who wants his wife dead. Things get complicated when he warns the wife of her husband's intentions and the real hitman (played by the maniacal Dennis Hopper) shows up. It's basically a perfect noir film set in the desolate Rocky Mountains for the majority of the film. Unfortunately, it paints itself into the corner toward the end when it really should be expanding. But Dahl closes the film extremely well both with Cage's exit and dialogue.

72. Hearts of Darkness - (1991)
The greatest filmmaker of the 70s lost his mind in the jungle filming Apocalypse Now with production delays, casting changes, and an unfinished script. Francis Ford Coppola's unusual process is fascinating to watch as he develops the script and inspires his talented cast between takes. The behind the scenes footage is fascinating, especially seeing Dennis Hopper and Marlon Brando both half in-character, half-out of character.

71. Wag the Dog - (1997)

Just prior to his reelection, the president is caught in a sex scandal. One of his advisors (Robert de Niro) teams with a Hollywood producer (Dustin Hoffman) to fake a war and save the president's candidacy. A terrific satire about so much that is wrong with the political system, the film (scripted by David Mamet and directed by Barry Levinson) flies by pushing all the implausibilities to the side to make room for more. The actors are clearly having a great time. The attempt at profundity toward the conclusion ends with mixed results at best, but I'm not sure how this super cynical film could have ended any differently.

100. Glengarry Glen Ross
99. Dead Again
98. Ed Wood
97. True Romance
96. The Commitments
95. Bound
94. Die Hard 2
93. In the Line of Fire
92. Affliction
91. Shakespeare in Love
90. In the Company of Men
89. Short Cuts
88. Copland
87. The Hudsucker Proxy
86. The Last Seduction
85. The Apostle
84. Burnt by the Sun
83. The Godfather Part III
82. Good Will Hunting
81. Speed
80. Reversal of Fortune
79. Forest Gump
78. American Beauty
77. Dazed and Confused
76. True Lies

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DVD and Blu-ray Releases 9/21/10

Collapse - #
The Experiment - #
Ondine - #
Robin Hood - #
Secret of Moonacre - #
El Secreto de Sus Ojos - #
Stomp the Yard: Homecoming - #

Click below for this week's TV and Blu-ray releases.

TV:
Being Human - #
Bored to Death - 1st Season - #
Castle - 2nd Season
Community - 1st Season
Desperate Housewives - 6th Season
How I Met Your Mother - Season 5
Human Target - 1st Season - #
Law & Order SVU - Year 11
The Mentalist - 2nd Season
Modern Family - 1st Season - #
Spartacus: Blood and Sand - 1st Season
30 Rock - Season 4 - *
2 1/2 Men - 7th Season

Blu-ray:
American Beauty - *
Charade - (Criterion) - *
The Peacemaker
The Third Man - *
Vigilante

# - also on Blu-ray
* - Doctor approved

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Song of the Day - Hard Enough, Brandon Flowers featuring Jenny Lewis

A good song from Flowers' new album - this is posted because of Priest's affection for Lewis, who adds a great dimension to this song.

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Last of the Mohicans - A

On DVD. Rated R, 117 minutes. Climactic scene.

Rarely have a story, actor, director and score come together so well. Like There Will Be Blood, The Last of The Mohicans features my favorite actor (Daniel Day Lewis) and one of my favorite directors (Michael Mann) and features a transcendental score. DDL's portrayal of Hawkeye is one of my favorite performances of all time in its physicality and rawness. SThe film also features solid supporting work from Madeline Stowe and Wes Studi and a muscular script and direction from Mann that studies the conflict and conquering of America with restraint and nuance. The film belongs in the same canon as Chariots of Fire for the soul stirring visuals and music. (I'm interested to see where it ranks in Doc's top 100 of the 90's).

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The Town - B+

In theaters. Rated R, 123 minutes. Trailer.

The Ben Affleck reboot is a success. As the writer, director and star, Big Ben follows up the excellent Gone Baby Gone with a film that firmly establishes him as a director. The film tells the story of Doug McCray (Affleck), an old school "townie" from the hard-scrabble Charlestown neighborhood in Boston. He leads a team of bank robbers on a series of heists and falls for a witness along the way. His nemesis in the FBI is Adam Frawley (Jon Hamm), an aggressive out of towner who is just ruthless enough to be effective. Click below for more on The Town:

The film opens with a well-staged bank robbery that ends up with a hostage (Rebecca Hall) being taken and let go unharmed. McCray is quickly shown to be the most mature and wise member of the group, with Jeremy Renner playing the loose cannon wild man. McCray grabs the task of watching Hall to make sure she isn't helping the FBI and accidentally on purpose starts a relationship with her under false pretenses. This creates tension among the team and gives Frawley the opening he needs to bring the thieves down.

The relationship between Renner and Affleck as well as the class issues with Hall are explored well, but not to great effect. I enjoyed everything about the film, but it fell short of the A- by a longshot. The shots of Boston are great but the story fails to resonate beyond being a simple parochial crime story. Blake Lively's character was clumsily edited out of the film (unfortunately), and McCray's back story doesn't get enough attention to render the conclusion all that meaningful. Others have raved about the Cooper/Affleck scene - I found it unmoving and disjointed at best. Hamm is truly awesome in his performance - I loved his portrayal of the rough and tumble Frawley.

The cast and crew of this film is top notch - Rebecca Hall, Pete Postlethwaite, Jeremy Renner, Blake Lively, Chris Cooper, not to mention frequent Paul Thomas Anderson collaborators Dylan Tichenor (editor) and Robert Elswit (cinematography). The film is based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan, which ultimately proves weaker source material than the Dennis Lehane novels set in Boston that have yielded better films (Gone Baby Gone, Mystic River).

Gone Baby Gone's conclusion and realistic performances were so great it lifted it almost to an A- (I gave it the infamous B++). This is a good film I plan on buying and watching a lot even though it doesn't reach those same heights.

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Best Films of the 90s - 80-76

80. Reversal of Fortune - (1990)

Jeremy Irons gives a brilliant performance as Claus von Bulow, a New York socialite who was convicted for the attempted murder of his wife Sunny (Glenn Close). Alan Dershowitz (effectively played by Ron Silver) is hired to overturn his conviction. Some of Dershowitz's speeches (to his law students) explain the mindset of a lawyer better than I've ever heard or seen. Director Barbet Schroeder juggles the flashbacks and unusual narration (by the comatose Sunny) judiciously. But it's the Oscar-winning Irons who runs off with the film, delivering each line with droll perfection.

79. Forrest Gump - (1994)
Not nearly as bad as its detractors want it to be, director Robert Zemeckis seamlessly tracks one man's journey from the mid-50s to the early 80s, hitting the important milestones and making Americans feel good about it. Alan Silvestri's score is appropriately touching and epic when the moment necessitates. It has a great sense of humor about itself, acknowledging the ridiculousness of the story while drawing tears from the audience. This is no small achievement from Zemeckis. And Tom Hanks. Those who feel Hanks's performance is one-note need to take another look at the scene where he meets his son and the one at Jenny's grave.

78. American Beauty - (1999)

It doesn't even crack the top ten in the remarkable film year of 1999, but this best picture winner still has enough great moments to outweigh the lapses in story. First and foremost, Conrad Hall's cinematography is staggering - every shot as beautiful as the one that preceded it. Next, Kevin Spacey is hilarious in his mid-life crisis. Last, the writing in the paper bag scene and Spacey's closing narration is genius in its vagueness, allowing the viewer to apply just about anything to the film. On the bad side, Chris Cooper, great as he is, can't outact his cliched, ridiculously written character. And Annette Bening wears you out more with each viewing.

77. Dazed and Confused - (1993)
70s potheads got their own American Graffiti when director Richard Linklater wrote this all-night party that happens after the last day of school. The cast of unknowns are suitable for their roles and many of the smaller parts (Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, Milla Jovovich, Adam Goldberg, Parker Posey, Renee Zellweger) went on the bigger things, for better or worse. The "message" of the movie - just have fun and don't commit to anything - is certainly a dubious one, but Linklater's writing is so assured and real that nearly every scene is memorable. Every high school has characters like these.

76. True Lies - (1994)

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tom Arnold are government spies hot on the trail of Muslim terrorists who've stolen a nuclear bomb. But Arnold gets sidetracked when he discovers his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) may be cheating on him. The film goes misogynist in the middle as the duo interrogate Curtis, but writer-director James Cameron more than makes up for it by turning his macho tough-guy movie into a woman empowerment movie by the end (this should have come as no surprise to people who saw T1, Aliens, and T2). Tom Arnold got the role of lifetime as the wisecracking partner and is hilarious throughout.

100. Glengarry Glen Ross
99. Dead Again
98. Ed Wood
97. True Romance
96. The Commitments
95. Bound
94. Die Hard 2
93. In the Line of Fire
92. Affliction
91. Shakespeare in Love
90. In the Company of Men
89. Short Cuts
88. Copland
87. The Hudsucker Proxy
86. The Last Seduction
85. The Apostle
84. Burnt by the Sun
83. The Godfather Part III
82. Good Will Hunting
81. Speed

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Weekend Box Office: 9/17-9/19/10

Title/Gross/%Change/Total

1. The Town: 23.8 mil / NEW
2. Easy A: 18.2 mil / NEW
3. Devil: 12.6 mil / NEW
4. Resident Evil 4: 10 mil / -62% / 44 mil
5. Alpha & Omega: 9.2 mil / NEW
6. Takers: 3 mil / -47% / 52 mil
7. The American: 2.7 mil / -51% / 33 mil
8. Inception: 2 mil / -28% / 285 mil
9. Other Guys: 2 mil / -40% / 115 mil
10. Machete: 1.7 mil / -60% / 24 mil
11. Eat Pray Love: 1.7 mil / -42% / 78 mil
12. Expendables: 1.4 mil / -57% / 101 mil

Ben Affleck's new film took the weekend over a high school comedy and an elevator-horror movie. Inception, in its 10th week, keeps hanging around and The Expendables has crossed the 9 figure level.

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Snap Judgments - A Quick Review of 5 Movies

Chloe
Catherine (Julianne Moore), a gynecologist, thinks her professor husband (Liam Neeson) is cheating on her so she hires Chloe, a local hooker, to approach him and see if he flirts with her. Chloe (played very seductively by Amanda Seyfried) begins to tell Catherine of their progressive encounters. Moore is shockingly good. It's good to see her doing more character work than big budget crap. Neeson is mostly pushed to the side, but is serviceable. Seyfried gives her best performance to date. Director Atom Egoyan infuses the film with mirror and window symbolism and gets the upscale Toronto locations exactly right. The twist is easy to spot, but it doesn't matter when you're in the hands of talented pros like Egoyan and Moore. B

Cop Out
Overly maligned while in theaters, there's a lot to like in Kevin Smith's 1st director-for-hire job. Since Smith didn't write the screenplay, there's an actual plot (farfetched though it is) involving Mexican drug gangs, infidelity, and a stolen baseball card. Smith gives his actors (especially Seann William Scott and Tracy Morgan) plenty of room to improvise. But Morgan isn't nearly as funny as he thinks he is. As Morgan's cop partner, Bruce Willis looks bored and delivers each line either with arrogance or condescension. But the throw-back to the 80s-cop movie style works, strongly aided by Harold Faltermeyer's syncopated synthesizer score. C+

She's Out of My League

A TSA agent (Jay Baruchel) meets a hot events planner (Alice Eve) when she leaves her phone at security. She finds him funny and keeps inviting him places. His friends and family convince him that's she's too good for him which messes with his head and their relationship. There's not 1 realistic conversation in the entire movie which wouldn't necessarily be bad in a comedy if it were funnier and less mean-spirited. The duo's best friends (T.J. Miller and Krysten Ritter, respectively) are very funny in support, especially with their hatred for each other. But the Hall and Oates stuff goes on too long and the "lessons" learned are obvious to the average 2nd grader. C

Whip It
In a small Texas town, a former beauty queen (Marcia Gay Harden) gets her daughters into pageants, but the oldest (Ellen Page) wants none of it. When her and a friend (Alia Shakwat) travel to Austin, they discover ladies' roller derby and Page finds her new hobby. Director Drew Barrymore juggles the humor, action, and drama fairly well, and while the reconciliations and revelations are certainly telegraphed, they are effective nonetheless, mostly because of the terrific acting. Surprisingly, this one works more often than not. B-

Big Fan

Comedian Patton Oswalt got lots of critical praise playing an obsessed New York Giants fan who writes his thoughts and one-liners down at his toll booth job so he can call into talk radio when he gets home. After he has an altercation at a club with a star player, the player is suspended and Oswalt's family wants to sue. It's unpleasant, frustrating, and nearly unwatchable. Oswalt is certainly different than his stand up routine but it's neither entertaining nor insightful. D+

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More on 9/11

This type of thing needs to be more well-known. It is sad that this happens in America.

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Best Films of the 90s - 85-81

85. The Apostle - (1997)

Robert Duvall's performance is one of the decade's very best, all the more impressive since he directed himself. The film meanders a bit but Duvall's character eventually finds some spirituality with a face off with Billy Bob Thornton. The preaching scenes are electric.


84. Burnt by the Sun - (1994)

A Best Foreign Language Film Oscar Winner, this Russian drama has a hero of the 1917 Revolution being quietly pursued 20 years later by the new Stalinist guard during the Great Purge. Writer-director Nikita Mikhalkov lulls you during the first half with beautiful summer country sights and sounds. Then it becomes incredibly tense as the young thugs make their intentions known.

83. The Godfather Part III - (1990)

I don't blame Francis Ford Coppola for the bad parts of the film - I blame the Paramount suits for declining to pay Robert Duvall and refusing to postpone production 3 months so Winona Ryder could play Mary. As it stands, yes, Sofia Coppola gives a distracting, stiff performance. The film's structure is exactly the same as the first film, which is a pretty good start. Pacino gives a terrific performance, Talia Shire turns into Lady MacBeth, and Andy Garcia has never been better. Coppola handles the operatic climax exceptionally well. Of course it doesn't come close to its predecessors - only a handful of films - including Coppola's own Apocalypse Now - have been in the same ballpark.

82. Good Will Hunting - (1997)

The Minnie Driver scenes are borderline embarrassing, the Affleck parts are almost juvenile (except the classic "you owe it to me" scene), but every moment with Stellan Skarsgard and Robin Williams is perfectly written, performed, and executed. I don't think Mr. Damon and Mr. Affleck deserved the Oscar over, say, Paul Thomas Anderson (either Hard Eight or Boogie Nights), but it sure is a showy, wordy screenplay that frequently soars.

81. Speed - (1994)

The on-screen chemistry of Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves still kills as does the breakneck pace of the film. All the great action scenes wouldn't mean nearly as much without the expert characterizations, including from the multi-cultural passengers. As the crazy bad-guy, Dennis Hopper makes the most of his last great role.

100. Glengarry Glen Ross
99. Dead Again
98. Ed Wood
97. True Romance
96. The Commitments
95. Bound
94. Die Hard 2
93. In the Line of Fire
92. Affliction
91. Shakespeare in Love
90. In the Company of Men
89. Short Cuts
88. Copland
87. The Hudsucker Proxy
86. The Last Seduction

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The Fighter Trailer

Looks great. Boxing/Redemption story with Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams directed by Three Kings' David O. Russell.

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DVD and Blu-ray Releases 9/14/10

Boogie Woogie - #
Just Wright - #
Letters to Juliet - #
Prince of Persia - #

Big Bang Theory: 3rd Season - #
Fringe: 2nd Season - #
Glee: 1st Season - #
Grey's Anatomy: 6th Season

Click below for this week's Blu-ray releases

Breathless (Criterion) - *
Bloodsport/Timecop
Charade - *
Invasion of the Body Snatchers - *
Jacob's Ladder - *
Lord of the Rings Trilogy - *
Mercury Rising
Monster House
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - *
The Proposition
Return of the Living Dead
Seven - *
The Third Man - *
Unleashed

# - also on Blu-ray
* - Doctor approved

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Tillman Story - C

In theaters. Rated R, 94 minutes. Trailer.

What a waste. This documentary could have been really good, but director Amir Bar-Lev could not structure the story correctly. Pat Tillman was an eccentric Californian atheist pro football player that quit the NFL to join the Army in the Winter of 2002. After his death in Afghanistan, the Army covered up the actual facts of his combat death (which was by friendly fire in a non-combat situation) and told the family and the nation that he was killed by an al quaeda ambush. Tillman's contradictions are interesting and so is the Army's deception. But Bar-Lev chooses to make the movie as uninteresting as possible. Click below for more on TS:

I thought I was in for an annoying but interesting anti-Bush documentary, but the film starts very slowly with Pat's background. No one interviewed does a good job describing Pat, who nevertheless seemed like a fascinating guy. His family seem like Californian weirdo's on a grief mission that is basically pointless. The underlying premise of the film is that any inconsistency in the Army's account of his death is a tantamount to the failure to find WMD's in Iraq - this renders the whole film a little overdramatic in addition to being boring.

Bar-Lev should've told the story of who Pat was better, and then switched to the differing accounts of Tillman's demise. The how and why of the Army's deception should have been more interesting than it was, but it got lost in the presentation. The film is also weakened by a total lack of any other perspective - surely someone in the Army could present a plausible explanation - whether true or not. Josh Brolin provides good narration.

Skip it.

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Weekend Box Office: 9/10-9/12/10

Title/Gross/%Change/Total

1. Resident Evil: Afterlife: 28 mil/ NEW
2. Takers: 6.1 mil / -44% / 48 mil
3. American: 5.9 mil /-55%/ 27 mil
4. Machete: 4.2 mil / -63% / 20.8 mil
5. Going Distance: 3.8 mil / -44% / 14 mil
6. Other Guys: 3.6 mil / -32% / 112.7 mil
7. Last Exorcism: 3.5 mil / -53% / 38 mil
8. Expendables: 3.3 mil / -51% / 98.5 mil
9. Inception: 3 mil / -34% / 282 mil
10. Eat Pray Love: 2.9 mil / -40% / 75 mil

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Best Films of the 90s - 90-86

90. In the Company of Men - (1997)

This misanthropic and sexist journey through the modern workplace plays better than Glengarry Glen Ross by being more focused on one unforgettable character: the seductive and charismatic Chad, a sociopath played by Aaron Eckhart. Director Neil Labute would try his vitriolic brand of observation again and again to diminishing returns. His first, low-budget film got to the point much quicker and more powerfully. "I'll see ya later!"

89. Short Cuts - (1993)
Robert Altman is an acquired taste since his films frequently dump the plot in favor of characters' behavior. He'll settle for small truths about people over entertaining the audience. He is a one of a kind, which I'll sometimes take, and Lawyer will always leave. This story about 20-30 Los Angelenos' intersecting lives works mostly since it's based on a series of short stories by Raymond Carver that were woven together. This is the blueprint for both much better (Magnolia) and much worse (Crash) movies. And there is enough expert acting (particularly by Julianne Moore and Jack Lemmon) for even the most Altman-phobic viewer to get through.

88. Copland - (1997)
Sylvester Stallone plays a small town cop in New Jersey who has the easy job of policing a town full of NYC cops. After an accidental murder, Stallone must unravel and expose tons of corruption and crimes. He's aided by Robert De Niro as an internal affairs agent and Ray Liotta as a semi-corrupt cop who finds his conscience. Writer-director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma) has a terrific set-up and plot, but his dialogue isn't quite memorable enough and his direction, while perfunctory, lacks any kind of panache or trademark. But the unbelievable cast is the main attraction and they all feed off each other and make each scene vibrant.

87. The Hudsucker Proxy - (1994)
The Brothers Coen worst film of the decade still makes it on the list not because of the mannered over-acting by Tim Robbins and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Nor by the over-produced special effects, which while effective seem out of place in a Coen film. No, their screenplay (as per usual) is exquisitely deliberate and considerate. Every line has meaning and connects to something else earlier or later. Fans of older movies like His Girl Friday will appreciate their effort more.

86. The Last Seduction - (1994)

Linda Fiorentino would have probably won the Oscar had this one not been shown on pay cable TV prior to its theatrical run. She plays a smart femme fatale who is miles ahead of everyone in the film, especially Peter Berg, whose lovesick, country bumpkin is no match for Fiorentino's big-city girl. Director John Dahl had a great career going when he stuck to his own scripted, smaller crime films.

100. Glengarry Glen Ross
99. Dead Again
98. Ed Wood
97. True Romance
96. The Commitments
95. Bound
94. Die Hard 2
93. In the Line of Fire
92. Affliction
91. Shakespeare in Love

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9 Years Ago

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