Days of Thunder on blu-ray

With Days of Thunder, director Tony Scott tried to do for the Indy 500 what he did for the U.S. Air Force with Top Gun. But without Top Gun’s go-go soundtrack and visual feats, Scott merely ends up with a Tom Cruise vehicle that’s out of gas.

Cruise plays (what else?) a cocky, upstart stock-car racer who faces down ruthless racing opponents. Nicole Kidman, Robert Duvall, Cary Elwes, and Randy Quaid do the laps around this movie’s tiresome track with Cruise, while director Scott attempts to propel the action along with his trademark visceral, gritty but glamorous visual style.

Days of Thunder is notable, however, as a turning point in Cruise’s then one-dimensional career. After this film–having tired even his most devoted fans by playing a bartender, an air force pilot, and a stock-car driver–Cruise was forced to take on real character parts.

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Event Horizon on blu-ray

Lawrence Fishburne and Sam Neill head up a strong cast as the reluctant leaders of a rescue mission sent to find out just what in the hell (literally) happened to the crew of a long-vanished experimental spacecraft in this dark and thundering descent of a horror film. Although this extremely stylish haunted spaceship movie may be guilty of ripping off half a dozen better films (including Don’t Look Now, Hellraiser, and especially Andrei Tarkovsky’s great Solaris), it’s difficult to deny the gothic razorblade effectiveness of the end result. Not a “fun” film by any stretch of the imagination, but a thrillingly ruthless shocker that may leave more susceptible viewers in need of a long shower and a high-voltage night-light. For the full effect, watch it with all the lights off and the volume cranked up to 11.

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Wedding Crashers on blu-ray

With Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson as a pair of brazen wedding crashers, this buddy/romantic comedy milks a few big laughs from its foolproof premise. Under the direction of David Dobkin (who previously worked with Wilson on Shanghai Knights), the movie ranges from bawdy romp to mushy romance, and that tonal identity crisis curtails the overall hilarity. But when the well-teamed costars are firing on all pistons with fast-paced dialogue and manic situations, belly laughs are delivered at a steady clip. Things get complicated when the guys infiltrate the family of the Treasury Secretary (Christopher Walken), resulting in a romantic pair-off between Vaughn and the congressman’s oversexed daughter Gloria (Isla Fisher) while Wilson sincerely woos another daughter, Claire (Rachel McAdams), who’s unhappily engaged to an Ivy League cheater (Bradley Cooper).

Walken is more or less wasted in his role, but Jane Seymour and Henry Gibson make amusing appearances, and a surprise guest arrives late in the game for some over-the-top scene-stealing. It’s all a bit uneven, but McAdams (considered by some to be “the next Julia Roberts”) is a pure delight, and with enough laughs to make it easily recommended, Wedding Crashers will likely find its place on DVD shelves alongside other flawed but enjoyable R-rated comedies that embrace a naughtier, nastier brand of humor with no need for apologies.

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Serenity on blu-ray

Serenity offers perfect proof that Firefly deserved a better fate than premature TV cancellation. Joss Whedon’s acclaimed sci-fi Western hybrid series was ideally suited (in Browncoats, of course) for a big-screen conversion, and this action-packed adventure allows Whedon to fill in the Firefly backstory, especially the history and mystery of the spaceship Serenity’s volatile and traumatized stowaway, River Tam (Summer Glau). Her lethal skills as a programmed “weapon” makes her a coveted prize for the power-hungry planetary Alliance, represented here by an Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who’ll stop at nothing to retrieve River from Serenity’s protective crew.

We still get all the quip-filled dialogue and ass-kicking action that we’ve come to expect from the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but Whedon goes a talented step further here, blessing his established ensemble cast with a more fully-developed dynamic of endearing relationships. Serenity’s cast is led with well-balanced depth and humor by Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds, whose maverick spirit is matched by his devotion to crewmates Wash (Alan Tudyk), Zoe (Gina Torres), fun-loving fighter Jayne (Adam Baldwin), engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite), doctor Simon (Sean Maher), and Mal’s former flame Inara (Morena Baccarin), who plays a pivotal role in Whedon’s briskly-paced plot. As many critics agreed, Serenity offered all the fun and breezy excitement that was missing from George Lucas’s latter-day Star Wars epics, and Whedon leaves an opening for a continuing franchise that never feels cheap or commercially opportunistic. With the mega-corporate mysteries of Blue Sun yet to be explored, it’s a safe bet we haven’t seen the last of the good ship Serenity.

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During the last days of 2008 32 blu-ray movies are released, here’s the list.

Serenity
Wedding Crashers
Event Horizon
Ghost
Days of Thunder
The Truman Show
An American Carol
Surfer, Dude
Last Holiday
The Flock
The Sensual Massage Kit: Massage for Men and Women Instructional Video
Baby Massage Therapy: Newborns, Infants & Toddlers Instructional Video
Sensual Couples Massage: Pleasure Your Woman Instructional Video
Sensual Couples Massage: Pleasure Your Man Instructional Video
Pregnancy Massage: Taking care of mother and baby Instructional Video
The New Family Massage Pack: Pregnancy Massage & Baby Massage Instructional Video
Basic Massage Therapy Instructional Video
Massage for Professionals Instructional Video
Batman & Robin
Love Guru
Cass
Batman Forever
Bangkok Dangerous
King Lear
Batman Returns
Serenity
Guardpost
Battle of Wits
Death Proof
Planet Terror
Strangers
Batman

Bobby Z on blu-ray

One Man. Two Lives. Countless Enemies. Marked for death by a biker gang, ex-Marine convict Tim Kearney (Paul Walker,Into the Blue) just got one last chance to walk out of jail alive. A scheming DEA agent (Laurence Fishburne, Mission: Impossible III) needs somebody to impersonate recently deceased druglord Bobby Z… and Tim happens to be a dead ringer. It’s a risky proposition, but if Tim plays his part right, he may be able to claim Bobby Z’s smoking hot ex-girlfriend (Olivia Wilde, Alpha Dog) and a cool fortune in illegal profits. Unfortunately, taking on Bobby Z’s name also means taking on his bloodthirsty enemies. Caught in the crossfire, Tim runs for his life as he tries to find a way out of his deadly masquerade. Also starring UFC Light Heavyweight Champ Chuck Liddell.

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Death Sentence on blu-ray

James Wan (Saw) brings the ultra-violence to this gritty story of a suburban father (Kevin Bacon) who discovers the consequences of revenge after his son is murdered. The perpetrators of this senseless killing are a multi-ethnic (and highly visible) gang of drug dealers and cutthroats led by the psychotic Billy Darley (Garrett Hedlund); when the case is thrown out on a technicality, Bacon takes a page from Charles Bronson’s book (no surprise, as this is based on author Brian Garfield’s 1975 follow-up to Death Wish) and pursues a vigilante course to avenge his boy. Things do not go according to Bacon’s plan, which cues a series of frantic and well-executed action set pieces, most notably a parking structure chase that unfolds in a nearly unbroken take.

Death Sentence breaks no new ground in the action-thriller department, and its characters and dialogue are nearly indistinguishable from any violent crime movie of the last few decades (in its weakest moments, it resembles grindhouse fare like The Exterminator); however, Bacon is excellent (as always) as the mild-mannered architect who discovers his inner killer the hard way, and Wan’s knack for screen mayhem and unsettling atmosphere are well used here. The DVD includes both the theatrical version and an unrated cut (which offers 10 additional minutes), as well as two making-of featurettes that originally aired on the Fox Movie Channel, and several webisodes that focus on director Wan, his cast, and the film’s elaborate stunts and fight scenes.

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Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas on blu-ray

The original cowriter and director of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was Alex Cox, whose earlier film Sid and Nancy suggests that Cox could have been a perfect match in filming Hunter S. Thompson’s psychotropic masterpiece of “gonzo” journalism. Unfortunately Cox departed due to the usual “creative differences,” and this ill-fated adaptation was thrust upon Terry Gilliam, whose formidable gifts as a visionary filmmaker were squandered on the seemingly unfilmable elements of Thompson’s ether-fogged narrative. The result is a one-joke movie without the joke–an endless series of repetitive scenes involving rampant substance abuse and the hallucinogenic fallout of a road trip that’s run crazily out of control.

Johnny Depp plays Thompson’s alter ego, “gonzo” journalist Raoul Duke, and Benicio Del Toro is his sidekick and so-called lawyer Dr. Gonzo. During the course of a trip to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, they ingest a veritable chemistry set of drugs, and Gilliam does his best to show us the hallucinatory state of their zonked-out minds. This allows for some dazzling imagery and the rampant humor of stumbling buffoons, and the mumbling performances of Depp and Del Toro wholeheartedly embrace the tripped-out, paranoid lunacy of Thompson’s celebrated book. But over two hours of this insanity tends to grate on the nerves–like being the only sober guest at a party full of drunken idiots. So while Gilliam’s film may achieve some modest cult status over the years, it’s only because Fear and Loathing is best enjoyed by those who are just as stoned as the characters in the movie.

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Sold Out at Madison Square Garden on blu-ray

Aventura celebrates KOB’s triple platinum RIAA certification with this exciting Blu-ray release of the group’s landmark, sold-out performance at the greatest venue in the world: Madison Square Garden completely unrated. The explicit version lets you partake in every exciting moment of their performance without missing a single detail. Watch their playful interactions with their fans and their exclusive guest performers as you haven’t seen them before. The Blu-ray commences as Anthony flies from the rafters into the Arena, driving thousands of ecstatic fans wild in the true Aventura fashion. For those new to Aventura, the nature of the group’s fans will be blatantly evident; there is no fan like an Aventura fan, except maybe Beatles fanatics back in the 60’s. The same humongous heart seen at the band’s stellar performance at Premio Juventud descends onto the stage with Anthony on board; later on, the heart is auctioned off and the proceeds donated to a worthy cause.

The roster of guest artists includes Miri Ben-Ari, the virtuoso “Hip Hop Violinist” featured on “José” a social commentary song about the sad effects of war on normal people; Wisin & Yandel on their hit “Noche de sexo,” Don Omar on chart-topper “Ella y yo,” Olga Tañon featured on the ASCAP awarded song, “No, no, no” which was originally recorded by Thalia w/ Romeo; El Torito singing his cover of Aventura’s hit “Me voy”; Toby Love in a duo with Mikey on a rap selection; and the Bachatero Anthony Santos in a duo with Romeo on “Ciego de amor.” This mix of genres is titillating and, as in the past, demonstrates Aventura’s well-deserved reputation as innovators. This program includes a video introduction to “José” narrated by Anthony, interviews, fascinating B-Roll and some bonus selections from Altos de Chavón, Dominican Republic and the 2006 Madison Square Garden performance.

Blu-ray Disc Tracklisting
1.Intro feat Gerry Grimaud Jr. aka Bombin’ Gerry
2.Los Infieles
3.Angelito
4.Hermanita
5.Ensename A Olividar feat Toby Love
6.Amor De Madre/ Mi Nina Cambio/Un Chi Chi Medley; Amor De Madre\Mi Nina Cambio\Un Chi Chi
7.La Pelicula
8.Lloro
9.9:15
10.Voy Malacostumbrado
11.Me Voy feat El Torito
12.Ella Y Yo feat Don Omar
13.Iraq Soldier Tribute Lament
14.Jose feat Miri Ben-Ari
15.Todavia Me Amas
16.El Perdedor
17.Te Invito
18.Noche De Sexo feat Wisin & Yandel
19.Medley Old School Aventura; Alexandra\ No Lo Perdona Dios\ Amor Bonito\ Cuando Volveras?
20.Mujeriego
21.Comedy Skit feat Ruperto Vanderpool
22.Ciego De Amor feat Anthony Santos
23.Un Beso
24.Mi Corazoncito
25.Wanna Make You Mine feat Toby Love
26.K.O.B. Live: Behind The Scenes
27.Up Close With Romeo

Bonus Features
Behind the Scenes Concert Footage
Interview with “Romeo”

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Ghost Town on blu-ray

Ricky Gervais is brilliant in Ghost Town, playing an unnervingly rude dentist, Bertram, who dies for a few minutes during surgery and acquires the unwanted ability to see ghosts. Chased throughout Manhattan by a gaggle of restless spirits begging him to take care of their unfinished business on Earth, Bertram turns them all away except Frank (Greg Kinnear). The latter, a rogue who cheated on his archaeologist widow, Gwen (Téa Leoni), wants Bertram to intervene in a romance between Gwen and a starchy activist (Bill Campbell). Misanthropic Bertram has to polish his relationship patter, but ends up sounding a lot like Gervais’ infamous character in the original The Office, unable to complete a sentence without making others uncomfortable. In time, of course, Bertram falls for the wonderful Gwen, setting up a bunch of overlapping conflicts.

Cowritten and directed by David Koepp (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Ghost Town walks a fine line between comic freshness and a story idea with elements that have become overly familiar in movies and on television. Kinnear and Leoni have never been better on screen, but Ghost Town is well worth seeing because no one like Gervais has previously played the hapless hero in a high-concept film such as this one. With Gervais doing his familiar, hilariously discomfiting thing, it really doesn’t matter what kind of movie Ghost Town is. Happily, it’s a pretty good film in every respect.

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