VIDEO RELEASES 6/23/09
All capsule reviews are excerpts from Dennis Willis' forthcoming book Flick Nation.
CODE, THE (2009)
Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas, Radha Mitchell, Robert Forster, Rade Serbedzija
SCR: Ted Humphrey
DIR: Mimi Leder
R / 1:39 / DVD RELEASE: 6/23/089
Experienced art thief Freeman recruits Banderas to steal two mysterious antique Faberge eggs to help him repay a Russian mobster. Forster is the dogged police lieutenant who has been trying to nab Freeman for twenty years. And of course there is a girl (Mitchell) who complicates matters. Everything leads to a break-in sequence into the kind of impenetrable high-tech fortress you only see in movies but the sequence is a doozy. From there, I hope you were paying close attention because the reveals and double-crosses come fast and furious. A second viewing is a completely different experience. The performances are mostly solid with expected gravitas from Freeman, Forster and Serbedzija. Banderas is a little twitchy during tense scenes but he’s always been. Director Leder held the record for the largest box office opening for a female director (Deep Impact) and a decade later, watched her movie go straight to video. Someone please explain to me how a twisty adult thriller with the venerable Freeman bypasses theaters but movies based on video games to out to 3,000 screens? Released internationally as Thick as Thieves.
PINK PANTHER 2, THE (2009)
Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina, Emily Mortimer, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Andy García, Yuki Matsuzakim, Johnny Halliday, Molly Sims, Lily Tomlin, John Cleese
SCR: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, Steve Martin
DIR: Harald Zwart
PG / 1:32/ RELEASE: 2/6/09
BOX: $35,410,000
www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepinkpanther2
Mercifully, the underwhelming box office performance of this silly offshoot of Peter Sellers’ classic series killed it for good. Martin is a brilliant talent, but he’s not Inspector Clouseau, especially not the arch, zany Clouseau from his two Panther films. On the bright side, this is an attractive and sunny film with some nice comic beats and a solid cast. But again, it just feels wrong. PINK PANTHER, TOO: As an aside, I recently saw Inspector Clouseau (1968), the non-canon entry with Alan Arkin replacing Sellers and Blake Edwards nowhere to be found – and you know what? Even though that film has a horrible reputation and is never included in “official” collections, Arkin comes closer to capturing the essence of Clouseau – stubborn, righteous, convinced he’s brilliant even while causing disaster at every turn -- than anyone other than Sellers -- Martin especially. WATCH INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU FOR FREE(Sony)
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC (2009)
Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Krysten Ritter, John Lithgow, Kristen Scott Thomas
SCR: Tim Firth, Tracey Jackson;
based on the novels by Sophie Kinsella
DIR: P.J. Hogan
PG / 1:44 / RELEASE: 2/13/09
BOX: $44,138,582
bluefly.com/media/promotions/flash/shopaholic/main/shopaholic.html
Candy-colored comedy based on the popular series of Kinsella books. Fisher is awfully charming as the titular shopaholic who finds employment solace at a magazine called Successful Saving but still can’t curb her expensive ways. This is a nice vehicle for her, but the movie just reminded me of Legally Blonde with lessons about credit abuse. Let’s hear it for awesome timing! Despite some quick reshoots to make the film more sensitive to economic woes, Shopaholic was released at a time when everyone’s finances are in the toilet. (Buena Vista)
INKHEART (2009)
Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis, Jim Broadbent, Jennifer Connelly
SCR: David Lindsay-Abaire, Gary David Goldberg
DIR: Iain Softley
PG-13 / 1:46 / RELEASE: 1/23/09
BOX: $16,652,499
www.inkheartmovie.com
Fraser is known as the Silvertongue. When he reads, characters from the stories are "read" into this world and someone from our world disappears into the text. That's what happened to his wife 12 years ago. My question: Is there a way to “read” some great story into this world and have this movie disappear? There are severe logic gaps and the movie never really slips into a groove – it’s goofy, and then it’s serious. And how about that cast? They have three Oscars among them! All I have to say is somebody owed somebody else a favor. (New Line Cinema)
WALTZ WITH BASHIR (2008)
Ari Folman
SCR/DIR: Ari Folman
R / 1:26 / RELEASE: 12/26/08
BOX: $2,271,483
waltzwithbashir.com
Folman meets with a friend from his army service period (early 80’s during the Lebanon War) and is stunned to realize he cannot remember a single thing about it. Eventually, he seeks out other people who were in Beirut at that time to understand what went down and to remember it. But Bashir is no mere talking head documentary – it’s lovingly and sumptuously rendered by way of a combination of Flash animation, classic animation and 3D technologies (not rotoscoping, in which live action footage is traced over). The result isn’t just stirring; it’s downright hypnotic at times. The movie made scores of Top Ten lists and notched a whopping 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. (Sony Pictures Classics)
CODE, THE (2009)
Morgan Freeman, Antonio Banderas, Radha Mitchell, Robert Forster, Rade Serbedzija
SCR: Ted Humphrey
DIR: Mimi Leder
R / 1:39 / DVD RELEASE: 6/23/089
Experienced art thief Freeman recruits Banderas to steal two mysterious antique Faberge eggs to help him repay a Russian mobster. Forster is the dogged police lieutenant who has been trying to nab Freeman for twenty years. And of course there is a girl (Mitchell) who complicates matters. Everything leads to a break-in sequence into the kind of impenetrable high-tech fortress you only see in movies but the sequence is a doozy. From there, I hope you were paying close attention because the reveals and double-crosses come fast and furious. A second viewing is a completely different experience. The performances are mostly solid with expected gravitas from Freeman, Forster and Serbedzija. Banderas is a little twitchy during tense scenes but he’s always been. Director Leder held the record for the largest box office opening for a female director (Deep Impact) and a decade later, watched her movie go straight to video. Someone please explain to me how a twisty adult thriller with the venerable Freeman bypasses theaters but movies based on video games to out to 3,000 screens? Released internationally as Thick as Thieves.
PINK PANTHER 2, THE (2009)
Steve Martin, Jean Reno, Alfred Molina, Emily Mortimer, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Andy García, Yuki Matsuzakim, Johnny Halliday, Molly Sims, Lily Tomlin, John Cleese
SCR: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber, Steve Martin
DIR: Harald Zwart
PG / 1:32/ RELEASE: 2/6/09
BOX: $35,410,000
www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepinkpanther2
Mercifully, the underwhelming box office performance of this silly offshoot of Peter Sellers’ classic series killed it for good. Martin is a brilliant talent, but he’s not Inspector Clouseau, especially not the arch, zany Clouseau from his two Panther films. On the bright side, this is an attractive and sunny film with some nice comic beats and a solid cast. But again, it just feels wrong. PINK PANTHER, TOO: As an aside, I recently saw Inspector Clouseau (1968), the non-canon entry with Alan Arkin replacing Sellers and Blake Edwards nowhere to be found – and you know what? Even though that film has a horrible reputation and is never included in “official” collections, Arkin comes closer to capturing the essence of Clouseau – stubborn, righteous, convinced he’s brilliant even while causing disaster at every turn -- than anyone other than Sellers -- Martin especially. WATCH INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU FOR FREE(Sony)
CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC (2009)
Isla Fisher, Hugh Dancy, Krysten Ritter, John Lithgow, Kristen Scott Thomas
SCR: Tim Firth, Tracey Jackson;
based on the novels by Sophie Kinsella
DIR: P.J. Hogan
PG / 1:44 / RELEASE: 2/13/09
BOX: $44,138,582
bluefly.com/media/promotions/flash/shopaholic/main/shopaholic.html
Candy-colored comedy based on the popular series of Kinsella books. Fisher is awfully charming as the titular shopaholic who finds employment solace at a magazine called Successful Saving but still can’t curb her expensive ways. This is a nice vehicle for her, but the movie just reminded me of Legally Blonde with lessons about credit abuse. Let’s hear it for awesome timing! Despite some quick reshoots to make the film more sensitive to economic woes, Shopaholic was released at a time when everyone’s finances are in the toilet. (Buena Vista)
INKHEART (2009)
Brendan Fraser, Eliza Bennett, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Andy Serkis, Jim Broadbent, Jennifer Connelly
SCR: David Lindsay-Abaire, Gary David Goldberg
DIR: Iain Softley
PG-13 / 1:46 / RELEASE: 1/23/09
BOX: $16,652,499
www.inkheartmovie.com
Fraser is known as the Silvertongue. When he reads, characters from the stories are "read" into this world and someone from our world disappears into the text. That's what happened to his wife 12 years ago. My question: Is there a way to “read” some great story into this world and have this movie disappear? There are severe logic gaps and the movie never really slips into a groove – it’s goofy, and then it’s serious. And how about that cast? They have three Oscars among them! All I have to say is somebody owed somebody else a favor. (New Line Cinema)
WALTZ WITH BASHIR (2008)
Ari Folman
SCR/DIR: Ari Folman
R / 1:26 / RELEASE: 12/26/08
BOX: $2,271,483
waltzwithbashir.com
Folman meets with a friend from his army service period (early 80’s during the Lebanon War) and is stunned to realize he cannot remember a single thing about it. Eventually, he seeks out other people who were in Beirut at that time to understand what went down and to remember it. But Bashir is no mere talking head documentary – it’s lovingly and sumptuously rendered by way of a combination of Flash animation, classic animation and 3D technologies (not rotoscoping, in which live action footage is traced over). The result isn’t just stirring; it’s downright hypnotic at times. The movie made scores of Top Ten lists and notched a whopping 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. (Sony Pictures Classics)
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