New out on DVD/Blu-ray this week

New out on DVD/Blu-ray for Tuesday July 9.

     Dead Man Down

Victor (Colin Farrell), a rising gangland player, has infiltrated the crime empire run by ruthless kingpin Alphonse (Terrence Howard), with the single purpose of making Alphonse pay for destroying his once happy life. As he meticulously orchestrates his vengeance from his high-rise home, Victor is watched by Beatrice (Noomi Rapace), a mysterious young woman who lives in the apartment across from his. On the surface a fragile woman, Beatrice seethes with rage of her own. When she uncovers Victor's dark secrets, she threatens to expose him unless he helps her carry out her own campaign of retribution. Each fixated on avenging the past, they devise a violent and cathartic plan that could change their worlds forever.

Dead Man Down is the American debut of Danish filmmaker Niels Arden Oplev, who made the fabulous Swedish thriller The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It has a strong cast which also includes Dominic Cooper, F. Murray Abraham, and Isabelle Huppert.

I wasn't blown away by this film at all. I found it fairly predictable, and even though it featured decent performances, I felt like it just meandered along at a slow pace and didn't really contain enough excitement and suspense. It wasn't a truly bad film, just mediocre I would say.

Dead Man Down does have a little bit of action here and there, but overall it seemed like the director was attempting to create a more noirish type of thriller. He unquestionably achieved far greater success with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo though, that's for sure.

     Admission

Straight-laced Princeton University admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) is caught off-guard when she makes a recruiting visit to an alternative high school overseen by her former college classmate, the free-wheeling John Pressman (Paul Rudd). Pressman has surmised that Jeremiah (Nat Wolff), his gifted yet very unconventional student, might well be the son that Portia secretly gave up for adoption many years ago. Soon, Portia finds herself bending the rules for Jeremiah, putting at risk the life she thought she always wanted - but in the process finding her way to a surprising and exhilarating life and romance she never dreamed of having.

Tina Fey and Paul Rudd are both pretty likable people, so it's not really surprising that there are some engaging elements in this romantic comedy. Directed by Paul Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy), Admission is a fairly standard, somewhat cutesy film that should make for a decent choice for couples on date night.

The film has a supporting cast that includes the likes of Lily Tomlin, Michael Sheen, Wallace Shawn, and Gloria Reuben.

Even though some of the situations are fairly forced, I did appreciate the fact that the film strayed from overly silly comedy and had a bit of heart to it. It's light, watchable schmaltz, if that's what you are in the mood for. You could do worse.

     Spring Breakers

Brit (Ashley Benson), Candy (Vanessa Hudgens), Cotty (Rachel Korine) and Faith (Selena Gomez) have been best friends since grade school. They live together in a boring college dorm and are hungry for adventure. All they have to do is save enough money for spring break to get their shot at having some real fun. A serendipitous encounter with rapper "Alien" (James Franco) promises to provide the girls with all the thrills and excitement they could hope for. With the encouragement of their new friend, it soon becomes unclear how far the girls are willing to go to experience a spring break they will never forget.

There was quite a bit of hype surrounding Spring Breakers, mostly due to the fact that it showcased Disney type actresses shedding their squeaky clean image to get down and dirty in this crime drama. While there is certainly no shortage of lurid behaviour on display, it wasn't enough to keep me interested in the movie the whole way through.

I was somewhat disappointed in the film because I could never really connect with any of these characters and barely anyone is even remotely likable. Most of them exhibit pretty deplorable behaviour throughout the film, and I suppose that director Harmony Korine is trying to make some sort of point with all of this and provide some semblance of social commentary, but I felt like it was just glamorizing and celebrating violence and hedonistic activity. 

I have to give credit to James Franco though for creating a memorably slimy character in his portrayal of Alien. This is definitely a different role for him and one that people aren't likely to forget once they see it.

This is easily the most mainstream film that Korine has shot to date given that he's responsible for bizarre oddities such as Gummo and Julien Donkey-Boy, and it looks really good for the most part. This isn't a truly bad movie at all, it just wasn't really my cup of tea.

If you are interested in witnessing young adults acting crazy and destroying any shred of decency that they may have had then Spring Breakers might be a film you will want to check out.

Also out this week is the latest adaptation of a novel from Twilight author Stephenie Meyer, The Host, the charmingly offbeat coming-of-age film from New Zealand called Boy, the acclaimed documentary about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, The Gatekeepers, the latest Tyler Perry movie, Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor, and Robot Chicken: DC Comics Special.

     Blast From the Past

In Bruges - This brilliantly funny British film is a darkly comic gem starring Colin Farrell, the star of this week's release, Dead Man Down. Farrell has done some pretty good work over the years, but In Bruges stands out as a career highlight for the Irish born actor and it's a film I highly recommend you seek out. Farrell and the always outstanding Brendan Gleeson play a couple of hitmen who are hiding out in the Belgian city of Bruges after a botched job. The amazing Ralph Fiennes plays their nasty boss who is none too happy about the whole situation, and he tracks them down to Bruges, whereby mayhem and all manners of craziness ensue. Writer/director Martin McDonagh's debut feature is a sharply written and clever film that will make you laugh and cringe at the same time. Yes, it's quite violent and profane, but it's also highly entertaining and very funny at times. If you haven't already seen this one, skip Dead Man Down and check out In Bruges instead. It's a heck of a lot better.

Kids - This highly controversial film was the one that put Harmony Korine's name on the map and despite the critical buzz surrounding his latest film, Spring Breakers, I think that it's this movie that still remains his best work. Korine wrote the screenplay when he was 19-years-old and one has to wonder if he grew up in this type of environment surrounded by these type of degenerate youths because the film feels very authentic. Kids is centered on a day in the life of a group of sexually active teenagers in New York City and their unrestrained behaviour towards sex and substance abuse (alcohol and other drugs) during the era of HIV in the mid-1990s. Upon its release in 1995, the film caused quite a stir and even fostered much public debate over its artistic merit, which resulted in the MPAA slapping it with the commercially dreaded NC-17 rating. Director Larry Clark refused to compromise his vision though and the film was released unrated, going on to gross about 13x its budget. This film is also noted for featuring the debut performances of Rosario Dawson and Chloë Sevigny. Kids is definitely not going to be a film that appeals to everyone. Some may find it uncomfortable to witness such young people acting in such a disrespectful and often times despicable fashion. It contains very frank and explicit sexual dialogue and depicts these teenagers engaging in all manners of deplorable activities. I think where Kids separates itself from a film like Spring Breakers, however, is that it doesn't glorify the debauchery and make it look cool. Kids is a raw and uncompromising look at what happens to many of our youth in the absence of love, affection and proper parental guidance. It's a disturbing and scary tale.

New out on DVD/Blu-ray is brought to you by Leo's Videos, 2680 Pandosy St. (250) 861-8437

 

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.