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Contagion

  • Title: Contagion
  • IMDB: link

contagion-blu-rayDirector Steven Soderbergh puts together an ensemble cast (Marion Cotillard, Elliott Gould, Demetri MartinKate WinsletGwyneth PaltrowJennifer EhleEnrico Colantoni) to give us his take on a worldwide pandemic that sweeps over the world in a matter of days. Sadly, it turns out he doesn’t have anything new to say. Contagion isn’t a bad film, but it’s exactly what you expect from this genre, nothing more.

Half of the film, centered around the search for the cure, plays out very much like Outbreak or The Andromeda Strain as the rest of the story centers the constant threat of violence as society self-destructs and devolves into anarchy (like The Road, 28 Days Later, or any number of post-apocalyptic films in recent years).

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Glee: The Concert Movie

  • Title: Glee: The Concert Movie
  • IMDB: link

glee-the-concert-film-blu-rayConcert films are tricky beasts. Not only do you have to make hard decisions in how the performances are shot, especially when you have a stage full of performers to showcase, but there’s also the question of how much behind-the-scenes and backstage footage to show. For Glee: The Concert Movie there’s the added challenge when dealing with characters from a popular television show as to whether you allow the actors to be themselves or stay in character throughout the entire performance.

With footage taken from the concert in East Rutherford, New Jersey, during the group’s Glee Live! In Concert! tour the movie includes 24 songs (including several numbers chosen just for the concert series) performed by the Glee cast as well as backstage moments with the show’s cast (in character). Sprinkled throughout the movie are short interviews and mini-documentaries of selected Glee fans.

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Catch .44

  • Title: Catch .44
  • IMDB: link

catch-44-dvdI’m not sure if writer/director Aaron Harvey is attempting to give us nothing more than B-movie along the lines of 2 Days in the Valley or (God help us) Smokin’ Aces or if he aspires to something more like early Tarantino. Whatever his intentions, what Catch .44 delivers is a trio of attractive actresses, short skirts, a couple loving butt shots, and a movie not nearly as smart as it wants to be.

Our story begins with a theft of a drug shipment gone wrong. Our would be robbers are a trio of women working for a local drug trafficker (Bruce Willis). After the opening shootout the movie resets to the beginning of the night as Tes (Malin Akerman), Kara (Nikki Reed), and Dawn (Deborah Ann Woll) while away the hours together before their job goes horribly wrong.

Tes is the leader of the pack, or “the smart one.” A waitress in a seedy strip club who gets kicks by stealing customers wallets, she takes the job as a drug runner as much out of boredom as anything else.

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Midnight in Paris

  • Title: Midnight in Paris
  • IMDB: link

midnight-in-paris-blu-rayThe latest from writer/director Woody Allen stars Owen Wilson as a Hollywood screenwriter and struggling novelist who takes a trip to Paris with his fiance (Rachel McAdams) and her parents (Kurt FullerMimi Kennedy). Although he is in love with the city. Gil (Wilson) feels stifled by his conservative in-laws to-be and lacks patience for his fiance’s friends, most notably the pedantic Paul (Michael Sheen).

Then one night, while wandering through the city, Gil somehow finds himself transported to the Paris of the early 1900’s where he meets a collection of his artist idols including Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll) and his wife Zelda (Alison Pill), Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates), Pablo Picaso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo), T.S. Elliot (David Lowe), and Cole Porter (Yves Heck). Every night Gil sneaks away, spending time in the Paris of his dreams, discussing art with the greats, and falling more and more for the lovely Adriana (Marion Cotillard).

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Blackthorn

  • Title: Blackthorn
  • IMDB: link

blackthorn-blu-rayWe all know that in 1908, alongside the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy died in Bolivia in 1908. But what if that isn’t the case? Several people believe Cassidy survived Bolivia and there are several accounts of his movements decades later.

Blackthorn centers around an elderly Butch Cassidy who has been hiding in Boliva for decades as a horse trader named James Blackthorn (Sam Shepard). As the movie opens Blackthorn has decided to return to the U.S. but an expected encounter with a thief (Eduardo Noriega) in possession of $50,000 puts Cassidy on the path for one final adventure.

The script by Miguel Barros is passable, but nothing special, relying on late twists and old adversaries to spice up a story without much to say. Blackthorn isn’t a bad film, but it’s far too close in themes and story to the immensely superior Unforgiven.

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