Extract
MIRAMAX
MOVIE C+
SPECIAL FEATURES D
DVD GEEK FACTOR 5
(OUT OF 10)
It broke my heart to not enjoy Mike Judge's latest film. I love Beavis and Butt-head and Office Space, and I really liked Idiocracy, the funny-as-shit movie that was mistreated by its studio and dumped onto video after a miniscule theatrical release.
However, this movie just never clicks. Jason Bateman plays the owner of an extract company who is having sex issues with his wife (Kristen Wigg) and problems at the office.
While you can't blame Judge for returning to the workplace, the home of his most infamous cinematic work, his writing this time out is just plain dull. Bateman seems bored off his ass, and we viewers are, too.
SPECIAL FEATURES: Mike Judge's ingredients for a classic Mike Judge film ... which this isn't.
(500) Days of Summer
FOX
MOVIE A-
SPECIAL FEATURES B
DVD GEEK FACTOR 7.75
(OUT OF 10)
Zooey Deschanel plays a guy's dream girl and his worst nightmare in this movie. She's the coolest, greatest woman on the planet, and no matter how hard the protagonist tries and believes she's The One, he can't have her.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt breaks hearts as Tom Hansen, who falls in love with Summer Finn (Deschanel). Summer doesn't believe that true love is realistic. She gets close, but not close enough for Tom, and this makes him progressively sad. They both love The Smiths, for God's sake!
This one ranks alongside Say Anything ... as one of the better "real" romantic comedies. The characters are not paint-by-the-numbers creations; they have some big flaws, and we buy the reasons for both their being together and their problems.
Director Marc Webb mixes in some truly fun stuff, including a dance number that's one of this movie year's most memorable moments. The film has a real fairytale quality, although it also contains some of the darker elements of the Brothers Grimm.
The most memorable element is the amazing, luminescent Deschanel. Kudos to Webb for picking the perfect subject for this painful love letter.
SPECIAL FEATURES: A fun commentary with Webb and Gordon-Levitt join many extended and deleted scenes that you can watch with or without commentary. Also, I really dug the pencil-sketch menus.
Gone With the Wind: Two Disc 70th Anniversary Edition
WARNER
MOVIE A
SPECIAL FEATURES B- (A+ ON THE ULTIMATE COLLECTOR'S EDITION)
DVD GEEK FACTOR 8 FOR REGULAR, 9 FOR ULTIMATE
(OUT OF 10)
One of the signposts of growing up is the day you watch this movie and say, "Hey, that was good!" instead of, "What a boring, overblown piece of shit!" Well, at least that was the case for me.
I saw this numerous times growing up. My mom loved it and watched it whenever it was on TV. Because I would rather watch television than sit in my room, I probably caught the story of Rhett and Scarlett five times before I was a teen, and each time, I sort of hated it.
Now I can't get enough of the damn thing. It truly is an all-time great, and the new disc does it justice. The film came out in 1939, the same year director Victor Fleming helmed, or at least partially helmed, The Wizard of Oz. Yes, the same guy was partially responsible for those giant films in the same year. Incredible.
This one has been remastered from the original Technicolor film elements so, yeah, it's beautiful.
SPECIAL FEATURES: An excellent commentary from film historian Rudy Behlmer. While I watched the regular DVD, you can pick this up on Blu-Ray, or you can get the Ultimate Collector's Edition, which comes with all sorts of extra features and collectible goodies (similar to the special The Wizard of Oz edition released this year). This is suitable for holiday giving, unless you hate the person you are buying for, in which case you should buy them soap or soda crackers.
G-Force (Blu-Ray/DVD Combo)
DISNEY
MOVIE B-
SPECIAL FEATURES B
DVD GEEK FACTOR 6
(OUT OF 10)
Yeah, I kind of liked the stupid guinea-pig movie. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?!
Granted, I originally watched it in 3-D, and this Blu-Ray doesn't have 3-D, so that kind of sucks. Still, I thought the thing was good, stupid fun. Zach Galifianakis plays some guy who creates a super task force out of rodents—and that's pretty much the plot. If you like rodents, and if you like super task forces, well, there you go. It doesn't hurt that Tracy Morgan and Nicolas Cage provide voices ... unless you don't like those guys.
This is kids' stuff, for sure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I just wish they had put the disc out in 3-D.
SPECIAL FEATURES: There are actually a lot of special features, including bloopers, videos, deleted scenes and a look inside the film's "animation lab."
