New on DVD
Oh, heck yes! It’s Tuesday, and that means that you, yes you, the happy reader of RazorFine Review, gets to read a brand new installment of New on DVD! Is it even remotely possible to contain the excitement? I think not.
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Welcome to a week of commercial hits. With the excetption of American Dreamz, all of the titles in this week’s column either grossed over $50 million in theaters, or lasted on television for eight years.
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Film:
The Break-Up – I don’t have many actors that I can’t stand. When I announced my anticipation for Marie Antoinette to my friends, I was met by a barrage of hatred for Kirsten Dunst; when I see the covers of tabloids, I just can’t understand why everyone loves to hate Lindsay Lohan. But there is one starlet of Hollywood who I can’t find any favor in – Jennifer Aniston. She was great in The Good Girl, but in any other movie she fails to prove any ability to act. All she seems to do in any movie (including The Break-Up,) is recite lines while looking perky and as adorable as ever. I couldn’t sympathize with her at all throughout all of her trials through the movie because I never saw her character, all I saw was the super-star known for two things: Friends and Brad Pitt. Having said that, Vince Vaughn is charmingly funny as usual in this film, and it never hurts in my book to feature an alum of Arrested Development (Jason Bateman,) but thanks to Aniston the movie just never works. Alan wasn’t too fond of it either, as made evident in his review of the film.
Over the Hedge – I never thought I would say this, but the best computer animated film this year so far wasn’t from Pixar. No, Cars was fun but flat, giving DreamWorks the opportunity to steal the show with its simple but delightful Over the Hedge. It did everything right – it had an all-star cast (with names like Bruce Willis, Steve Carell and even Captain Kirk,) a family friendly script that anyone could enjoy and, most importantly, it was funny. It was funny on multiple levels, from Carell’s sugar junkie squirrel Hammy to the over the top direction found in the third act, it’s impossible not to give off a loud laugh at least a dozen times during the movie. The animation might have failed to bring anything new to the table, but other than that there are no complaints to be had in this movie. Alan was a believer too, as his review demonstrates.
American Dreamz – Too be honest, I walked out of American Dreamz disappointed. As a believer that About a Boy is easily one of the most over-looked classics of the past ten years, I was excited to see this promising next film for Paul Weitz. It was the first to lampoon the easily lampoonable American Idol, and featured Dennis Quaid with a hilariously spot-on impersonation of an American President who might or might not be a reflection of George W. Bush, American Dreamz had the potential to be a great satire on today’s America. But the final product isn’t what could have been – what we get instead is a jumbled effort that makes it seem as though Weitz couldn’t decide if he wanted to make a serious, political film or a solid knee-slapper. Still, American Dreamz should be commended for trying something most comedies try to steer clear of: having an intelligent message. Alan, on the other hand, found more appeal in the film as you can read in right here.
The Omen – You know, The Omen wasn’t that good, but at least it was exciting (which in itself makes it several thousands times more watchable than The Grudge 2) Sure, it was made obvious from its theatrical campaign that the only reason it was greenlit was so that 20th Century Fox would have a scary movie to release on 6/6/06; but hey, it wasn’t too bad. It was watchable and, though rarely scary, was often intense. There are better horror films out there to rent this Halloween; but I’ll be honest, after seeing The Grudge 2 last week (you can read my review of that stinker here,) even White Noise sounds like a fun-filled fright-fest. Although Alan didn’t exactly agree with me on the issue, obvious from his one-star review of the film.
Television:
That ‘70s Show: Season 5 – Who buys these DVDs? Seriously, who cares enough to pay money for an okay show that is already run, rerun and overrun through syndication . The show is a testament of how there’s always going to be an audience out there for crappy television. Still, if you need a fix for your Fez infatuation, then by all means run out there and throw Fox some more money.
Charmed – The Complete Sixth Season – Rejoice Charmed fans, although the death of the WB may have destined the show for the same fate, you get the sixth of the show’s eight seasons today! The show was by no means great, but still a fun enough way to pass an hour by. Some even tried to claim that, in a post-Buffy world, it was a semi-worthy heir to the show. Of course, no show of its kind has come even close to matching the genius Buffy the Vampire Slayer since it ended three years ago, but you get the idea.
We’ve seen this done before, and done better. Man of the Year doesn’t come close to Levinson’s direction of David Mamet’s wickedly humorous satire 
Sex is a compelling subject in film, books, and television. In discussing, and showing, sex you know you’ve got the audiences attention. Shortbus knows how to grab us early, but soon fails to perform to expectations as it blows it’s wad in the first eight minutes.