Being Human—Season 2
(e one)
A vampire, ghost and werewolf
continue to pass themselves off as “regular folks” in a so-so show that
piggybacks off the romantic fantasies of recent monster/horror stories: damn you,
Stephenie Meyer! The cast is game—especially Meaghan Rath as the ghost Sally—but
the material isn’t original enough or given decent enough twists to make one willing
to stay with it over the long haul. The hi-def image looks excellent; extras
include an hour-long making-of featurette, a 45-minute Comic Con conference and
interviews.
(MPI)
Don DeLillo wrote the ultimate
Unfilmable Novel: naturally David Cronenberg leapt at a chance to deal with its
compression of time, plot, characterization and locale. But he fails miserably:
what DeLillo describes on the page looks ridiculous literalized onscreen; the
metaphor-symbolism-allegory of a young Manhattan exec in a limousine has no dramatic
impetus. Lead Robert Pattinson is dull, while Juliette Binoche and Samantha
Morton are reduced to ciphers in short scenes that must encompass whole
characters. The Blu-ray image is good; extras comprise interviews and a
making-of documentary.
(Fox)
So the third movie’s the charm,
as the addition of a time-honored sidekick—a dog, of course—makes this a decent
time-filler for anyone but the most resistant curmudgeon. Anyone under 13 will definitely
have fun; their parents might also remain interested, thanks to talented young Zachary
Gordon and his canine friend. The hi-def image is good; extras include a director
commentary, animated Class Clown,
featurette, gag reel.
(Sony)
Timothy Oliphant returns as the
crusading U.S. marshal who plays by his own rules: this time against a villain named
Limehouse…and even his own father. The storylines stretch credulity, a cancer for
most television series—ah, for the good old boring shows of yesteryear!—but a
good cast and precisely rendered atmosphere make it worthwhile viewing. The
Blu-ray image looks tremendous; extras include commentaries, featurettes, deleted
scenes, interviews and outtakes.
(IFC)
Writer-director-actor Josh Radnor
is no triple threat a la Woody Allen or Albert Brooks—to name just two more
insightful comic filmmakers—but closer to the overrated Judd Apatow. This
self-indulgent character study boasts the lovely presence of Elizabeth Olsen as
a level-headed college student who messes up an older teacher’s head, but since
Radnor plays the teacher so whiningly, it’s hard to see why she likes him. Nicely
turned support from Richard Jenkins and Allison Janney is also too little to
help. The Blu-ray image is good; extras include a commentary, deleted scenes
and short promo.
(Sony)
Rian Johnson’s convoluted sci-fi
flick about time-traveling hitmen has an obvious “smartass” factor like Inception, but it quickly palls when attempting
to explore characters we have no empathy for, then completely falls off the
rails with a subplot about a woman and her young son. Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt and Jeff Daniels can’t do much with their flimsy
roles, and the special effects are as random as the scattershot script and end
up ineffective. The Blu-ray image looks great; extras include a commentary, deleted
scenes and featurettes.
(Sony)
To some, Paul W. S. Anderson is
an auteur, but he’s really just another director of mindless action flicks with
a flamboyant visual sense. This fifth go-round in the increasingly weak R.E. series has stunning action, but also
Anderson’s ludicrous (and risible) use of slow-motion. Milla Jovovich has an intense
physical presence, but she has literally nothing interesting to do. The Blu-ray
image looks terrific; extras include commentaries, deleted/extended scenes, gag
reel and featurettes.
(IFC)
With little originality, Mike
Birbiglia and three other writers—including NPR’s Ira Glass—conjure up this
non-story about a man afraid of commitment who tries his hand at standup, keeping
his increasingly frustrated girlfriend (a charming Lauren Ambrose) at arm’s
length. This might have been funny or insightful if the leading man was interesting;
Birbiglia is the exact opposite. The Blu-ray image looks pretty good; extras
include Birbiglia and Glass’ commentary and Q&A, outtakes, featurettes,
interviews.
The Well-Digger’s Daughter
(Kino Lorber)
Actor Daniel Auteuil’s
directorial debut, old-fashioned in the best sense, is based on Marcel Pagnol’s
humane story set in his beloved Provençal countryside before World War II. Auteuil—who
starred in two Pagnol adaptations, Jean
de Florette and Manon
of the Spring, in the mid-‘80s—creates a moving drama that sidesteps
soap opera. How parents respond to the loss of children due to war or social
disgrace is marvelously dramatized by Auteuil with appropriate understatement,
particularly in his own performance; Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, as the title
character sublimely blends teenage naïveté and mature womanliness. The Blu-ray
image superbly displays the luscious Provencal visuals.
(Sony)
In the annals of writer movies,
this rates near the bottom: though writers/directors Brian Klugman and Lee
Sternthal might consider this a touching, involving story of stolen
manuscripts, lying authors and relationships among living people and fictional
characters, but it wastes a genuinely attractive cast. Literally: Bradley
Cooper and Zoe Saldana are one couple, Olivia Wilde is on hand and exquisite newcomer
Nora Arnezeder is a most ravishing Frenchwoman. The Blu-ray image looks fine;
extras include brief featurettes.
Gandu
(Artsploitation)
“Gandu” means “asshole” in Hindu slang,
and director Q’s boldly expressionist study of the title jerk makes for—when not
gleefully diving into a deep pool of over-the-top visual and musical mush—a truly
unique experience, for better and worse. For those so inclined, there’s even a
bit of hardcore sex, which probably makes this a rarity in mainstream Indian
cinema. Extras include a making-of featurette.
(Cinema Guild)
Portuguese director Miguel Gomes
plays with narrative tropes to increasingly less interesting degrees in this overlong
pseudo-documentary about rural Portugal: after an hour or so of chronicling
everyday existence—which includes ubiquitous August music festivals—the movie
switches gears, as Gomes and his producer enter to steer the real-life people into
a fictional plot. It sounds better than it plays; extras include several Gomes
short films and a making-of featurette.
(Anchor Bay)
This shallow character study
follows Morris Bliss—get the title?—a 30-ish loser who still lives with his
father while messing around with a former classmate’s 18-year-old daughter:
when a married neighbor comes onto him, things start to really go awry. As
usual in this kind of film, the characters are less real than quirky—isn’t
anyone ordinary any more? Brie Larson is a bright light as the precocious teen,
but Michael C. Hall does indifference too indifferently. Extras include a Hall
interview and deleted scenes.
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