So, here we are in the future. Twenty fourteen.
This time we’ve got some interesting work including the directorial debut of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, a few great genre additions and a couple that definitely should be skipped altogether.
Fire up that queue and prep that shopping cart. It’s that time of the week!
Don Jon
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| 20th Century Fox / Released 12/31/13 |
Jon Martello (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a handsome, good old-fashioned guy known as Don Jon for his ability to bed beautiful women at will. But ironically, even the finest fling doesn’t compare to the bliss Jon finds alone-watching porn on his computer. Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) is a gorgeous, good old-fashioned girl raised on romantic movies, and she’s determined to find her Prince Charming. Wrestling with expectations of the opposite sex, Jon and Barbara struggle against false fantasies to find true intimacy in this unexpected comedy written and directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Extras include featurettes, shorts, and making of.
Last Word: Solid performances from a wonderful cast that also includes Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly and Brie Larson, Gordon-Levitt directorial debut is solid, albeit suffers from an uninspired script. It’s not particularly a bad film, it’s just a little too cartoonish in tone to take these characters seriously, at times feeling like a parody of The Jersey Shore and the style seemed to be strongly influenced by Mark Webb’s (500) Days of Summer which starred Gordon-Levitt. Certainly worth a rental. Recommended.
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| 20th Century Fox / Released 1/7/14 |
Who’s playing who? Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck star in this high-stakes crime thriller where the lure of easy money is the riskiest bet of all. When Princeton grad student Richie Furst (Timberlake) believes he’s been swindled by an online poker site, he heads to Costa Rica to confront gambling tycoon Ivan Block (Affleck), the man he thinks is responsible. But Richie will soon face the ultimate power play as he finds himself caught between Block’s promises of unlimited wealth and the zealous FBI agent (Anthony Mackie) trying to bring him down. Extras include deleted scenes and featurette.
Last Word: As an actor, Ben Affleck sometimes gets a raw deal, but in the otherwise forgettable Runner, Runner, he commands the screen throughout his entire performance (which in itself feels like an homage to his role in Boiler Room). Runner, Runner is sloppily constructed from dozens of other movies and despite this, it’s fairly watchable. Not good, per se, but the kind of movie you can shut your brain off and watch and will likely forget as soon as it ends.
Except for Affleck. Remember, he was the bomb in Phantoms.
Ninja II
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| Millennium / Released 12/31/14 |
Shadow of a tear. Fight everyone and trust no one: it’s the code of survival practiced by martial arts master Casey Bowman (Scott Adkins) after his life of domestic bliss is shattered by a savage act of violence. With the help of his friend Nakabara (Kane Kosugi), the fearless American retrains his responses and elevates his battle skills to seek justice for his wife’s murder. Casey stealthily tracks the man responsible on his mission of vengeance, but just when he has his prey cornered, an unexpected twist forces him to see even those closest to him as enemies. In the ultimate confrontation, Casey must reflect on his teachings to become an invisible warrior worthy of the title Ninja. Extras include interviews and behind the scenes.
Last Word: Reminiscent of the action movies I grew up with, Ninja II is a tremendously entertaining film. Twenty five years ago, star Scott Adkins could have easily been a star on the level of Van Damme or certainly Jeff Speakman. And like many films of the Eighties, it’s familiar plot offers not much more than a basic revenge plot, but it’s execution is top notch. A definite must see for both action and genre fans who grew up patrolling cable and video stores. Recommended.
Sweetwater
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| Millennium / Released 12/31/14 |
In the late 1800’s, a beautiful former prostitute (January Jones) is trying to build an honest life with her husband in the rugged plains of New Mexico. When she catches the eye of a sadistic and powerful religious leader (Jason Isaacs), her life is violently turned upside down. She embarks on a bloody course of vengeance with the assistance of a renegade sheriff (Ed Harris) who has violent tendencies of his own. Extras include featurette, music video and trailer.
Last Word: Reminiscent of The Quick and the Dead with a female gunslinger in the lead, Sweetwater’s major stumble is the casting of emotionally distant January Jones as the lead. Fortunately, the strong supporting cast makes up for it a bit, ultimately making Sweetwater a bit of a love letter to Quentin Tarantino and ultimately the Western itself. Recommended.
Hellbaby
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| Millennium / Released 12/31/14 |
Rob Corddry and Leslie Bibb star in Hell Baby, a horror comedy about an expectant couple forced to enlist the help of the Vatican’s elite exorcism team after they move into a haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans. This hilariously zany feature is the co-directing debut of writing-acting duo Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. Extras include deleted scenes and gag reel.
Last Word: A cast of likeable (and often very funny) actors somehow take a tired plot and spin it into mediocre. Which is a shame. Hell Baby is a film that I really wanted to like, but it just never comes together, often feeling like the Wayans Brothers did a rewrite of The Exorcist and then have the Farrely Brothers rewrite that over lunch. It’s just a tired concept, delivered with an exhausted execution. Skip it.
Sanitarium
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| Image Entertainment / Released 12/31/13 |
Sanitarium is an anthology that consists of three tales based on particular patients of a mental institution. Each tale begins with Dr. Stenson (Malcolm McDowell), the primary physician at the Sanitarium, commenting on the recent arrival of a new patient. As Dr. Stenson speaks, the individual’s story begins. Sanitarium explores the different narratives of the insane patients – tales which led to their crazed states of minds. Starring Malcolm McDowell, Lou Diamond Phillips, John Glover, David Mazouz, Lacey Chabert, Chris Mulkey and Robert Englund.
Last Word: Anthology films can often be a crap shoot; notoriously uneven. The one genre, however, that always seems to work better is horror, and Sanitarium unfortunately is one film that doesn’t. Coming off as a lame homage to The Twilight Zone, the three tales within are graced with some solid character actors and production values, but otherwise is a bit of a mess. And a boring one at that.
Duck Dynasty Season 4
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| Lionsgate / Released 1/7/14 |
Hold on to your hunting hats! The Robertsons are back in Season 4 of Duck Dynasty and they’ve have never had so much Southern charm. This season, it’s a family affair as everyone comes together to throw a surprise wedding party for Phil and Kay. And when the guys and their wives realize Martin is forgoing poker for a date, they all take turns coaching him for romance. Meanwhile, Phil tries to teach his granddaughters how to fish, but the girls outsmart him and have him doing all the work. Later, he and Kay teach Sadie and John Luke how to make May Haw jelly. And, as always, the guys’ antics continue as they attempt to make duck jerky, and as a series of “gentlemen’s bets” leads them to the ultimate challenge of helping Phil get a wheelbarrow down from a tree.
Last Word: What happens when a family of wealthy opportunists get a make-over by a cable network that sells them as bearded television personalities who then later make anti-homosexual, sexist and pro-gun comments? There’s a fourth season that promotes that now available.
