The Mask on blu-ray

For a film heavily dependent on special effects, the best effect going in this 1994 comedy is the ever-expressive star, Jim Carrey, playing a shy bank teller who stumbles across an ancient mask that turns him into a green hepcat with extraordinary powers. Cameron Diaz plays the love interest, but the real purpose of the movie is to bring cartoonish energy and effects into a live-action production. Toward that end, director Charles Russell does the job, but the gimmick wears out quickly for those easily bored by this sort of pseudo-animation. Lots of kids adore the film, though, and why not? The hero gets to be a whirlwind of mischief and still get the girl.

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Shrek the Third on blu-ray

It’s not easy being an ogre, but Shrek finds it doubly difficult for an ogre like himself to fill in for a king when his father-in-law King Harold of Far, Far Away falls ill in this third Shrek movie. Shrek’s attempts to fulfill his kingly duties play like a blooper reel, with boat christenings and knighting ceremonies gone terribly wrong, and to say that Shrek (Mike Myers) is insecure about his new role is a gross understatement. When King Harold (John Cleese) passes away, Shrek sets out with Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and Puss-in-Boots (Antonio Banderas) to find Arthur (Justin Timberlake), the only heir in line for the throne besides himself. Just as Shrek sets sail to find Artie (as Arthur is more commonly known), Fiona (Cameron Diaz) shocks Shrek with the news that she’s pregnant.

Soon after, Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) sends Captain Hook (Ian McShane) in pursuit of Shrek and imprisons Fiona and her fellow Princesses as part of his plan to install himself as King of Far, Far Away. Shrek finds an awkward Artie jousting with his high school classmate Lancelot (John Krasinski) and, while Artie is certainly no picture of kingliness, Shrek is determined to drag him back to Far, Far Away to assume the throne. Mishaps and comedy abound, including a spell gone wrong that locks Donkey and Puss-in-Boots inside one another’s bodies.

While Fiona and the other Princesses prove they’re anything but helpless women, Artie and Shrek battle their own fears of inadequacy in a struggle to discover their own self-worth. In the end, Shrek, Artie, and Fiona each learn a lot about their individual strengths and what truly makes each of them happy. Of course, it’s the pervasive humor and wit that make Shrek the Third so side-splittingly appealing. Rated PG for some crude and suggestive humor, but appropriate for most families with children ages 6 and older.

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What Happens in Vegas on Blu-ray

What Happens in Vegas is a comedy waiting to happen. It takes an old premise (drunk strangers regretting their decision to get married in Las Vegas) and adds in a dilemma (a $3 million slot machine win) that could’ve been easily resolved. But then again, there would’ve been no movie if the unhappily wedded couple figured out that splitting the money in half and getting their marriage annulled would’ve been quick and effective. Cameron Diaz plays uptight clean-freak Joy, who has just been dumped by her fiance. Ashton Kutcher is Jack, a slacker furniture maker who has been fired–by his own dad. Each goes to Vegas to let off some steam. And while they have nothing in common (except being exceptionally good looking) they make out, get married, and fight over the money Jack wins with Joy’s quarter.

Instead of letting the couple get divorced, a judge sentences the odd couple to half a year of marriage. What happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas, but extends into New York where Jack and Joy live. Both actors have fared well in comedies, especially Diaz in My Best Friend’s Wedding. And while Kutcher still has to live down Dude, Where’s My Car?, he showed a lot of comedic flair and charm in A Lot Like Love. But the two face an uphill battle here with inane dialogue and a premise that not only is unbelievable, but unlikeable. The two are so incompatible (and immature) they can’t even control bathroom time and, in Jack’s case, his bladder.
By Jae-Ha Kim

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Gangs of New York on Blu-ray

Gangs of New York may achieve greatness with the passage of time. Mixed reviews were inevitable for a production this grand (and this troubled behind the scenes), but it’s as distinguished as any of director Martin Scorsese’s more celebrated New York stories.

From its astonishing 1846 prologue to the city’s infernal draft riots of 1863, the film aspires to erase the decorum of textbooks and chronicle 19th-century New York as a cauldron of street warfare. The hostility is embodied in a tale of primal vengeance between Irish American son Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his father’s ruthless killer and “Nativist” gang leader Bill “the Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis, brutally inspired), so named for his lethal talent with knives.

Vallon’s vengeance is only marginally compelling; DiCaprio is arguably miscast, and Cameron Diaz (as Vallon’s pickpocket lover) is adrift in a film with little use for women. Despite these weaknesses, Scorsese’s mastery blossoms in his expert melding of personal and political trajectories; this is American history written in blood, unflinching, authentic, and utterly spectacular.
By Jeff Shannon

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