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High Plains Drifter

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  • Title: High Plains Drifter
  • IMDB: link

High Plains DrifterRecently released on Blu-ray, High Plains Drifter is one of my favorite Clint Eastwood films. Eastwood stars as the nameless Stranger who wanders into the lawless western mining town of Lago. After dispatching three outlaws with relative ease, the town decides to hire the Stranger to deal with three gunfighters (Geoffrey Lewis, Anthony James, Dan Vadis) on their way back to the town which allowed, and then jailed, the outlaws for killing the town’s sheriff.

The Stranger agrees, but decides to take payment for his services in unusual ways, including raping own of the women folk (Marianna Hill) who gets in his way, making the town jester (Billy Curtis) the new sheriff, and ordering the entire town to paint every building in Lago bright red.

Although High Plains Drifter isn’t exactly subtle, the allegory of vengeance works well as the audience, but not the towns folk, will soon guess who the Stranger is and what brought him to Lago.

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Rush

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  • Title: Rush
  • IMDB: link

RushAlthough well-received by critics Ron Howard‘s last film chronicling the rivalry of Formula One drivers Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl) and James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) leading up to and during the 1976 Formula One season, the film grossed just over $90 million worldwide and has been shut out at most of the major awards this year. That’s a travesty. Aside from being an engrossing dramatic tale split equally between the two leads that found a spot on my Top Movies of 2103, Rush should easily have won Oscar nominations for visual effects, cinematography, and sound.

Brühl is the standout of the piece, but Hemsworth is used better here than any any film so far (including Thor). And Alexandra Maria Lara and Olivia Wilde lead a supporting cast as the women who love them. Two character studies for the price of one, and featuring some of the most amazing racing visuals every put to film, Rush is just as good on Blu-ray as it was in the theater. For more on the film read my original review.

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JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time

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  • Title: JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time
  • IMDB: link

JLA Adventures: Trapped in TimeAimed more to a kid-friendly all-ages audience than the much more publicized Justice League: War release, and available only at Target (as a tie-in to the store’s JLA toy line), JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time proves to be a hell of a lot of fun. Rather than adapting an existing mini-series or comic arc (which seems all that DC has been interested in lately), Trapped in Time offers an original adventure from screenwriter Michael Ryan and director Giancarlo Volpe that’s a bit of a throwback to the old Super Friends days.

The straight-to-DVD adventure begins with the Legion of Doom‘s latest plan of world conquest by expanding the polar ice caps which leaves Lex Luthor (Fred Tatasciore) stuck in ice for hundreds of years before his frozen remains are eventually discovered. Accidentally released by two junior members of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Lex uses the knowledge and technology of the future to return to the past with a plan to stop the Justice League from ever forming by attacking Superman while he was still an infant.

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20 Feet from Stardom

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  • Title: 20 Feet from Stardom
  • IMDb: link

20 Feet from Stardom

The Oscar-nominated documentary 20 Feet from Stardom is a great idea of showcasing those who spend their entire lives as back-up singers and dancers in the shadow of famous artists that doesn’t give audiences as much insight to these women as you might first expect. Primarily concerned with Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, and Táta Vega, the film also touches on several other artists including The Waters, Lisa Fischer, and Judith Hill.

Featuring interviews from several back-up singers, producers, artists, and even a few big names (Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Stevie Wonder, and former back-up singer turned star Sheryl Crow) praising the unknowns that add so much to their acts, director Morgan Neville is definitely worth viewing. But despite such a treasure trove of untapped potential and some terrific performances (both live and shared from a variety of video clips), 20 Feet from Stardom comes off as a very good, but somewhat limited, look at these women and lives of back-up singers over the years.

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Planes

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  • Title: Planes
  • IMDB: link

PlanesSet in the Cars expanded universe and originally planed as a straight-to-DVD release, Planes is admittedly a mixed bag. Produced and co-written by John Lasseter, the film is visually stunning with a nice message for kids and some enjoyable racing sequences. Sadly, the film’s script about a crop duster (Dane Cook) with a fear of heights competing in a worldwide race, isn’t exactly inspired. Mostly, it feels like Cars-light.

Lacking the heart of Cars, one of my favorite Pixar films, Planes has issues with tone, a large assortment of mostly forgettable supporting characters (voiced by Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Priyanka Chopra, and John Cleese among others), and a by-the-numbers script that holds no surprises. That means the film has to fall back on only its charm and beautiful design to get it through the various peaks and valleys our hero navigates over the 91-minute running time.

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