- Widescreen
Bruckheimer, the action genius behind the likes of the Pirates of the Caribbean, Con Air, The Rock, Armageddon, and many more, here teams with visual effects maestro Hoyt Yeatman, who writes and directs. The combo is potent, and the fact that they str! eamed their blow-'em-up vision through a film about tiny roden! ts savin g the world makes the whole confection a hilarious family-friendly experience as well as a satisfying action adventure. The premise isn't earth-shattering: oddball, unexpected heroes are called on to save the day (Men in Black, Underdog, etc.). But the lowly guinea pig has been long overdue to get its moment in the spotlight. And now the free world knows whom it can really trust. The film mixes the animated heroes with real-life actors, including the sardonic British character actor Bill Nighy, who plays an evil mogul out to take over and/or destroy the world. The U.S. government, it turns out, has been nurturing a special squad for occasions just such as this. It's just that it's been nurturing them in small pens with wood shavings on the floor and running wheels for exercise. Will Arnett, deadpan and spot-on, plays the human agent who has the unenviable task of wrangling the guinea pig G-Force, and is a deft foil for the bad guys as well as for the mini-h! eroes.
But the true powerhouse acting belongs to those giving voices to the guinea pig agents, including Sam Rockwell, Penélope Cruz, Steve Buscemi, and, as the voice of a domesticated layabout, Jon Favreau. The film's standout, though, is Tracy Morgan, whose Agent Blaster is bellicose, fearless, and as full of malapropisms as Morgan's character on 30 Rock. (In fact, the viewer keeps half-expecting Blaster to turn to Cruz's female agent, Juarez, and yell "Liz Lemon!") G-Force is full of belly laughs for kids, as well as their action-film-fan parents. --A.T. Hurley
Stills from G-Force (Click for larger image)
Breakfast of Champions is a slippery, lucid, bleakly humorous jaunt through (sick? inhumane?) America circa 1973, with Vonnegut acting as our Virgil-like companion. The book follows its main character, auto-dealing solid-citizen Dwayne Hoover, down into madness, a condition brought on by the work of the aforementioned Kilgore Trout. As Dwayne cracks, then crumbles, Breakfast of Champions coolly shows the effects his dementia has on the web of characters surrounding him. It's not much of a plot, but it's enough for Vonnegut to air unique opinions on America, sex, war, love, and all of his other pet topics--you know, the only ones that really count.
Besides the Supremes comparison, one can't talk about Dreamgirls now without revisiting its notorious Oscar snub; though it received ! eight nominations, the most for any film from 2006, it was shut out of the Best Picture and Director races entirely. Was the oversight justified? While Dreamgirls is certainly a handsomely mounted, lovingly executed and often vibrant film adaptation, it inspires more respect than passion, only getting under your skin during the musical numbers, which become more sporadic as the film goes on. Writer-director Bill Condon is definitely focused on recreating the Motown milieu (down to uncanny photographs of Knowles in full Diana Ross mode), he often forgets to flesh out his characters, who even on the Broadway stage were underwritten and relied on powerhouse performances to sell them to audiences. (Stage fans will also note that numerous songs are either truncated or dropped entirely from the film.) Condon has assembled a game cast, as Knowles does a canny riff on the essence of Diana Ross' glamour (as opposed to an all-out impersonation) and Rose makes a peripheral char! acter surprisingly vibrant; only Foxx, who never gets to pour ! on the c harisma, is miscast. Still, there are two things even the most cranky viewers will warm to in Dreamgirls: the performances of veteran Eddie Murphy and newcomer Jennifer Hudson. Murphy is all sly charm and dazzling energy as the devilish Early, who's part James Brown, part Little Richard, and all showman. And Hudson, an American Idol contestant who didn't even make the top three, makes an impressive debut as the larger-than-life Effie, whose voice matches her passions and stubbornness. Though she sometimes may seem too young for the role, Hudson nails the movie's signature song, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going," with a breathtaking power that must be seen and heard to believe. And for those five minutes, if not more, you will be in Dreamgirls' thrall. --Mark Englehart
Beyond Dreamgirls
| Other Musicals on DVD | More Motown on DVD | The Soundtrack |
Special Features: Killer Commentary by director John Carl Buechler and actors Lar Park Lincoln and Kane Hodder
Jason's Destroyer: The Making of Friday the 13th Part VII - The New Blood
Mind Over Matter: The Truth about Telekinesis
Slashed Scenes Intro
Slashed Scenes
Makeover by Maddy: Need a Little Touch-Up Work, My A**A philosophical quandary: when we truly get a glimpse behind the mask, do we like what we see? This eternal question is directly addressed in chapter 7 of the famed Friday the 13th gross-out series. Here, indestructible killing machine Jason meets his match in the form of a telekinetic teenage girl. Yes, it's "Carrie Goes Camping," although the young lady with special powers might have picked a better vacation spot than Crystal Lake, which has an awful track record for young blondes in tight jeans. This installment is exactly no better or worse than the previous Jason-o-rama! s, with the added bonus of a climax in which the imperturbable! Mr. Voo rhees actually duels someone with supernatural gifts to rival his own. Yes, he does lose his hockey mask (the heroine mind-wills it to pop off), and the results ain't pretty--but then, neither is the Friday the 13th franchise. --Robert HortonA philosophical quandary: when we truly get a glimpse behind the mask, do we like what we see? This eternal question is directly addressed in chapter 7 of the famed Friday the 13th gross-out series. Here, indestructible killing machine Jason meets his match in the form of a telekinetic teenage girl. Yes, it's "Carrie Goes Camping," although the young lady with special powers might have picked a better vacation spot than Crystal Lake, which has an awful track record for young blondes in tight jeans. This installment is exactly no better or worse than the previous Jason-o-ramas, with the added bonus of a climax in which the imperturbable Mr. Voorhees actually duels someone with supernatural gifts to rival his own. Yes,! he does lose his hockey mask (the heroine mind-wills it to pop off), and the results ain't pretty--but then, neither is the Friday the 13th franchise. --Robert HortonOriginal Scores from the Motion Pictures: Friday The 13th, Part VII & VIII by Fred Molin
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Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood Movie Mask Knife Poster Print - 24x36
Away from Her chronicles a love story between Fiona and her longtime husband, Grant, played with bearlike stolidity by Gordon Pinsett, as the couple struggle with the onset and acceleration of Fiona's Alzheimer's disease. Moments of lucidity and wry observation pepper Fiona's decline, and Christie gives an unforgettable performance as a woman who is both ordinary and singular to those whom she's touched. The story is set against a frigid Canadian winter, with fields of snow as a background underscoring the bleakness of Fiona's diagnosis; yet life is constant and surprising, in the call of a meadowlark or the resurrected memory of a skunk lily. A sc! ene of Fiona out for her daily cross-country ski shows Christi! e's gorg eous, sensual face in closeup against the snow, framed by a babushka, reminding the viewer of a similar scene of the decades-younger Christie in Dr. Zhivago. It's impossible not to be touched by the gifts of this extraordinary actress, through the life of this everywoman, whose very presence is shot through with grace. --A.T Hurleydvd
