The Mist on DVD

The Mist: The most fascinating aspect of The Mist is how all of the town people unanimously refer to the hazy cloud as “the mist!” Not one person veers from the consensus and argues that it should be called “a fog”. I myself would use “smog”, “fog”, “haze”, or even “the vapor” to describe the phenomenon before dubbing it “The Mist”. Oh well. The story comes to us from Stephen King - The Master of Horror (using his full title). After a wicked storm runs through a small east coast town, a strange “vapor” or “mist" if we must, rolls in. At this time, most of the people in the town (or the ones we care about) are at the local supermarket stacking up on your typical Y2K items. Now the mist is scary, but what lurks inside the mist is even scarier! In between some good frightening jolts, the story focuses on how fear affects people’s psyche especially in a religious sense as one of the ladies in the supermarket is a holy roller. As with a lot of these monster movies, the film has a little bit of a b-movie feel. If you are really into this genre of film I would tell you to Pick it Up, but for the rest of us….

“Kick it to the floor”

Queue Rating Top { 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 } Bottom

Lars and the Real Girl DVD

Lars and The Real Girl: This is a tough movie to explain – so stick with me. Lars (Ryan Gosling) is clearly not playing with a full deck of cards. Early on in the film you are not sure exactly what is wrong, just that something is…..wrong. He is a young man that lives by himself in a garage behind his brother and sister-in-law. One day he announces he is dating someone – the strange thing being “that someone” is a sex doll he ordered on line. He takes the doll everywhere (Parties, dinner, church) as he sees her as being real. The psychologist he is seeing thinks it is best if his family and friends act as if she were real as well. The whole town goes along with it, hoping that Lars can work out and find the source of his mental delusion. The story could have gone wrong very easily. However thanks to great direction and another outstanding performance from Ryan Gosling, we are treated to a very heartfelt and whimsical film with REAL emotion!!!!

“Pick it Up”

Queue Rating Top { 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 } Bottom

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead: I saw this during its theatrical run and did not have time to review it then. Now on DVD I want to highlight this twisted tale. Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke star as brothers who concoct a plan to rob a jewelry store. What makes this idea perverse? The jewelry store is owned by their parents. The movie is split up to show each character’s perspective leading up to and during the robbery. Of course nobody makes a movie about a robbery that goes off without a hitch. The plans go very bad and then get worse. This is a nervous, but very fun watch that will keep you engrossed to the very end!

“Pick it Up”

Queue Rating Top { 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 } Bottom

Rendition on DVD

Rendition: A suspenseful thriller that takes a look at the secret measures the U.S. government takes to obtain “intelligence”. After a terrorist bombing that takes the life of an American agent, a man of Egyptian decent is detained on his way home to the states. By all accounts he is an innocent family man (married to an American woman) with no connection to the Egyptian terrorist group, but what we find out is just how thorough the U.S. government is of their detainees. The film walks the “believability line” a couple of times and Reese Witherspoon was clearly miscast. However the film has great structure amid the storylines and was able to slip a twist in that made it that much more enjoyable.

“Pick it Up"

Queue Rating Top { 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 } Bottom

Bee Movie on DVD

Bee Movie: Jerry Seinfeld makes his animated movie debut as a Bee named Barry B. Benson. The great news for you Seinfeld fans is the humor throughout the movie is pure “Seinfeld”. This should be no surprise as he not only stars, but also wrote the movie. The animation is done in a fun way, using the perspective from a bee for some good laughs. The story however is silly and near the end actually becomes absurd (…and I am taking in the fact that this is an animated film). Listen close to hear such talents as Chris Rock, Oprah, John Goodman, Michael Richards and even David Puddy! The humor is more in the witty observations that Jerry makes (from the point of view of being a bee) than from being in comical situations. The buzz on this movie………good enough to almost earn a grade of …….a……Bee

“Pick it up”

Queue Rating Top { 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 } Bottom

I am Legend DVD

I am Legend: Will Smith stars as the last man on earth. The premise sounds intriguing, so intriguing that this is actually the 3rd film adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel (The Last Man on Earth). Unfortunately the filmmakers did not know what they wanted to do with this latest spin on the story. I felt they tried to fiddle with too many different genres. They should have either focused on making an interesting sci-fi story or fully cop-out and make a scary zombie movie. Instead they dibbled around in both and tried to layer it with an inspiring message – the result was a bit boring. I sat there waiting for the film’s “big moment”…..I was still waiting for that moment as the credits rolled 1 hour and 40 minutes later. The movie had the production value to be very good, but missed its mark!

“Kick it to the Floor”

Queue Rating Top { 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 } Bottom