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Drive

  • Title: Drive
  • IMDB: link

drive-blu-rayBased on James Sallis‘ 2005 novel, adapted for the screen by Hossein Amini, Drive stars Ryan Gosling as a getaway driver with no name who finds himself in a sticky situation when he breaks his own rules. If this sounds a little like The Transporter franchise, well it is, but director Nicolas Winding Refn decides to treat a rather ordinary action tale as an art house film drawing comparisons to dramatic action films of the late 60’s and 70’s like Steve McQueen‘s Bullit.

The Driver has everything he needs. His evident skill gets him consistant stunt car work and the far more lucrative (though far less legal) jobs no one else can do. His business partner (Bryan Cranston) has just closed a deal with a mobster (Albert Brooks) to buy a stock car which will allow the Driver to finally hit the big time. But when the Driver allows himself to be sucked into the troubles of an attractive neighbor (Carey Mulligan) and her young son (Kaden Leos) by agreeing to help her husband (Oscar Isaac) pull off a big score things go horribly wrong.

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Happy Happy

  • Title: Sykt lykkelig
  • IMDB: link

happy-happy-blu-rayAfter his wife (Maibritt Saerens) has an affair with a another man, Sigve (Henrik Rafaelsen), moves his family and their adopted Ethiopian son Noa (Ram Shihab Ebedy) into the Norwegian countryside. The couple’s only neighbors are the perky Kaja (Agnes Kittelsen) whose sunny disposition is matched only by her husband’s (Joachim Rafaelsen) grumpy disinterest of everything to do with his wife.

Happy Happy, or Sykt lykkelig (it’s original Norwegian title which translates more exactly into “insanely happy” – which can have both a positive and negative conotation) reveals its secrets through Kaja’s intense loneliness and the brave smile under which she hides it.

Kaja’s affair with Sigve reveals both couples’ dysfunction. It’s obvious Sigve would rather spend his nights with Kaja, Elisabeth (Saerens) may have been better off with the man she was having an affair with, and Eirik’s (Rafaelsen) week long trips into the woods have far more to with his closeted urges than hunting game.

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50/50

  • Title: 50/50
  • IMDB: link

50-50-blu-rayWhen a 27 year-old journalist (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) wakes up to discover he has a rare form of cancer he’s unprepared for how much his life will change in the coming months. He’s afraid to tell his overprotective mother (Anjelica Huston), his girlfriend (Bryce Dallas Howard) tries but fails to handle the situation, and his best friend (Seth Rogen) thinks he should use his situation to try and pick up chicks.

Director Jonathan Levine and screenwriter Will Reiser deliver a story that balances humor and the drama of the situation well for most of the film’s 100 min. running time. Sure the film goes for laughs, but its also surprisingly frank about the emotion of the situation (which is not surprising given the story was adapted from Reiser’s own experiences).

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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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