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David Mamet takes the critically disreputable genre of the
martial arts thriller and transforms it into a modern day samurai drama.
Chiwetel Ejiofor (all quiet dignity and modesty) is the poor but proud jujitsu
instructor, the honorable warrior pulled into the dishonorable world of
Hollywood deal-making and pay-per-view fight events manipulated for big ratings.
For all the terrific fight sequences, the screenplay is pure Mamet and the cast
members (troubled attorney Emily Mortimer, shady agent Joe Mantegna,
self-loathing actor Tim Allen, unscrupulous event promoter Ricky Jay)
practically live in his dialogue and his conflicts. It's glorious pulp fiction
elevated to genre art, full of Mamet's cynicism about the corruption of big
business and his romantic ideals of men dedicated to a higher purpose, and
defined by Mamet's trademark dialogue and his distinctive take on the machismo
of the fight film genre: the confidence of strength, the courage of modesty, and
the professional grace of a fighter who uses the least amount of effort and
movement to achieve his goal. The commentary by director/writer Mamet and
co-star/UFC champion Randy Couture, no surprise, ends up talking a lot about
martial arts history and philosophy -- you can tell that's a bond between these
two guys. The 19-minute "Behind the Scenes of Redbelt," featuring most of the
stars and many of Mamet's behind-the-scenes collaborators, is much more focused
on the film and Mamet's working style and philosophy. "If I can't write better
than they can ad lib," he remarks, "I should just go home." The "Q&A With
David Mamet" is from an onstage interview moderated by Kent Jones, with a
thoughtful Mamet allowing himself to get a little more cerebral. The balance of
the supplements focus on the martial arts culture: the 19-minute "Inside Mixed
Martial Arts"; video "Fighter Profiles" on the featured fighters in the film;
and "An Interview With Dana White," the president of the UFC. Also available on
Blu-ray format, which gives a little more clarity to the crisp wide-screen
photography.
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| Son of Rambow |
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Two unlikely schoolboy buddies, a wide-eyed naïf in a repressive
religious sect (Bill Milner) and a belligerent troublemaker (Will Poulter), team
up to shoot a wildly imaginative sequel to "First Blood" on a home video camera,
circa 1982, in Garth Jennings' fanciful, funny tale. Jennings captures the
innocent ecstasy of youthful imagination unleashed and the elemental power of
cinema: the violent war movie inspires an expression of affectionate fantasy and
friendship . Writer/director Jennings and producer Nick Goldsmith are joined by
the adolescent stars Milner and Poulter for the commentary, and they don't let
having fun get in the way of really delving into the film. Their chummy
chemistry, and the boys' genuine excitement revisiting their filmmaking
adventure, also carries the 26-minute "Boys Will Be Boys: Making Son of Rambow,"
as fun and enjoyable a behind-the-scenes portrait as you'll ever see. The
archival find: the disc "Aron," the real-life "Rambo"-inspired short that
Jennings made as a boy.
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| What Happens in Vegas |
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"What Happens in Vegas" is that high-strung broker Cameron Diaz
and happy-go-lucky slacker Ashton Kutcher go on a bender, end up in a quickie
marriage, and win a jackpot while legally wed. Now they're stuck with one
another because the first one to bail leaves behind a small fortune. You know,
of course, that this means war. Variety critic Joe Leydon writes that the film
recalls the "screwball comedies of the '30s and '40s. The big difference --
well, OK, one of several big differences -- between 'Vegas' and those fast-paced
comedy classics is that 'Vegas' actually becomes more enjoyable as it tamps down
the over-the-top helter-skelter of its early scenes." Rob Corddry and Lake Bell
play the respective best buddies, and Treat Williams, Dennis Farina and Queen
Latifah co-star. The disc comes with all the usual accoutrements: commentary
(with director Tom Vaughan and editor Matt Friedman), a breezy staged interview
between Diaz and Kutcher, a few light featurettes, and the interactive drinking
game "Bottoms Up." Skol! Also available in Blu-ray.
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| Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? |
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Morgan Spurlock leaves the Big Macs of "Super Size Me" behind
(not to mention a pregnant wife) to hunt down public enemy No. 1 -- with a
camera crew in tow -- in his new high-concept docutainment comedy. Variety
critic John Anderson writes that Spurlock "serves up a rehash of others' 9/11
reportage, bin Laden biography, Islamic theology and suicide-bomber psychology,
in a tone so aghast you'd assume he knew nothing about the War on Terror," and
has "about as much documentary credibility as 'Borat'." The DVD features bonus
interview footage with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Egyptian democracy
activist Saad Ibrahim and former IRA leader Martin McGuinness, bonus scenes, an
animated history of Afghanistan, and an alternate ending.
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| Postal |
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Uwe Boll (or Dr. Uwe Boll, as he prefers) has been called the
worst director in the world for his unending feature film versions of video
games. So he embraces the title, and the sheer amorality of the third-person
shooter game "Postal," for this aggressively, recklessly, fearlessly and
foolishly tasteless comedy. Boll turns every figure into a racial stereotype and
slaughters the cast for hollow laughs. It's irresponsible and inexcusable, but I
can't help but give it props for sheer audacity. The disc offers commentary by
the doctor ("90 minutes of commentary for the best movie ever made," in his own
words); a featurette; and "Uwe Boll Boxes His Critics," footage from the
infamous 2006 event in which Boll took on his critics in the ring. All this and
a bonus PC video game "Postal 2."
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Sean Axmaker is a film critic for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, a DVD
columnist for MSN Entertainment and a contributing writer for GreenCine.com,
Turner Classic Movies Online, Parallax View and Asian Cult Cinema, among other
publications. Find links to all of this and more on his shamelessly
self-promoting blog.
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Get Smart! Please!In honor of bumbling Maxwell
Smart, a brief history of our favorite clueless detectives On the RocksWith 'Iron Man' and 'Hancock' featuring
heavy-drinking protagonists, we reflect on the most memorable drunks in movie
history UnclassicsThough they may be listed among the
greatest films of all time, these 10 movies deserve to be
downgraded | |
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