NEVER BACK DOWN NOW AVAILABLE

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HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE NEVER BACK DOWN FROM IMDB

At his new high school, a rebellious teen Jake Tyler is lured into an ultimate underground fighting club in a Backyard Fight, where he finds a mentor in a mixed martial arts veteran. After receiving threats to the safety of his friends and family, Jake seeks the mentoring of a veteran fighter, to train his mind and body for one final no-holds-barred elimination fight with his unrelenting personal nemesis and local martial arts champion Ryan McCarthy. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE NEVER BACK DOWN FROM DVDTALK

Did you find the "Karate Kid" too challenging? Too cerebral? Too thematically dense? Then "Never Back Down" is the film for you. The cinematic debutante ball for Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), the picture is an artistic travesty. I'm not sure why the producers even bothered with a plot.

When a tennis scholarship for his little brother whisks the family away from Iowa to Orlando, troubled teen Jake (Sean Faris, "Sleepover") immediately brushes up against the school bully, Ryan (Cam Gigandet, channeling his inner Zabka) and furthers his cycle of self-loathing by engaging in an MMA fight that he loses quickly. Beaten and frustrated, Jake and pal Max (Evan Peters, "Sleepover") begin fight lessons with MMA guru Jean Roqua (nicely played by Djimon Hounsou), hoping to improve their skills and dish out some revenge. Along the way, the training changes Jake, offering him a chance to confront his personal demons and break his bad habits. However, Ryan isn't going to go away easily and demands more blood.

"Never Back Down" is a movie produced to entertain children, but that doesn't excuse the idiocy of the filmmaking or the non-stop parade of despicable directorial choices. Take away the fact that the screenplay by Chris Hauty is merely a crude photocopy of the classic wuss underdog story "Karate Kid," and all that's left behind are a variety of pretty boy actors who couldn't emote realistically even if held at gunpoint, and hacky, trendy stylistic choices made by director Jeff Wadlow ("Cry_Wolf") that bury the rest of the film in suffocating gloss.

Wadlow visits every common sight: flash cutting, open-shutter photography, x-ray broken body part reveals, porno-chic teen lesbianism, and even a moment of body-mounted camera silliness: the Taj Mahal of visual bankruptcy. Wadlow is all style no substance, and his direction of "Down" is laughable from every conceivable angle; it's like watching the hokiest, dullest Nickelback music video imaginable.

Wadlow has difficulty processing the drama as well, submitting basic feeds of information and character backstory with sitcom elegance; he fumbles any opportunity for the picture to resemble a splinter of real life by reducing every beat to its achingly obvious endpoint. Subplots such as Jake dealing with the guilt over his father's death and Jean battling his own family demons grind the film to a halt with their eye-rolling melodrama and afterschool-special execution.

The screenplay also includes a pass at exposing today's media-obsessed teen culture, where every move is captured by a camera phone and posted to YouTube within seconds. A statement denouncing oversaturation, or a chance to pipe in blatant product placement? You tell me.

Of course, the lack of a single character worth caring for makes the theatrical experience even more excruciating. A faceless collection of older actors trying to pass themselves off as impossibly-sculpted teenagers (not a pimple in the room), "Down" radiates unpleasantness. Jake's whining and baffling disrespect to his mother is a good example; a character strangely presented as a blathering harpy when, in fact, she's the only person in the script who offers an accurate sense of responsibility. Why demonize her? Because the screenplay was written in crayon, and any taste of reality to crawl into "Down" would then force the film to put forth actual effort. That, of course, would take away precious screentime from the screeching power-pop soundtrack and shots of glistening 26-year-old, L.A. gym, desperate-actor abs.

The real stars of the show are the MMA sequences, and I'll be the first to admit total befuddlement with this sport. A variation on boxing (think Twyla Tharp crossed with Greco-Roman wrestling), MMA, as presented in "Down," lacks a common theme of honor and humanity other brutal contact sports at least attempt to suggest. In the film, it's mostly used to show cretins with bad haircuts beating the tar out of each other, broken up by the occasional sage piece of new age advice by the resident Miyagi stand-in, Jean. I'm positive there's more to MMA than the crude aggression "Down" presents, but to suggest the sport as a cure of sorts for teen hostility sends the wrong message. This is dangerous stuff "Down" is toying with to turn a quick buck, and I fear for the impressionable kids that see this slick piece of garbage and feel the need to pound their neighbor without understanding what these professional fighters stand for. I'm sure that's a common complaint with action films, but it's valid with "Down," especially the manner in which it prostitutes itself toward young audiences.

Because Wadlow is bereft of ideas, the climax of "Down" takes place in the world's most poorly arranged nightclub parking lot, where the final showdown can take advantage of rap video lighting and other visual gimmicks to put this anemic rivalry to bed. Such big-screen ostentation is unnecessary when a passable screenplay is involved, but this picture is hopeless from frame one. "Never Back Down" is a tired, asinine attempt to piggyback on a fight club subculture and it does wonders to make MMA seem like the most idiotic undertaking in recent memory.

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LUCKY YOU NOW AVAILABLE

LUCKY YOU NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE LUCKY YOU FROM IMDB

In Las Vegas, Huck Cheever is a poker player, brilliant but also prone to let emotion take over. It's the week of the poker world series, and Huck must come up with the $10,000 entry fee, which he wins, loses, borrows, and loses - and even steals part of from Billie Offer, an earnest young woman who's new in town and who catches Huck's eye. By the time the tournament starts, Huck owes everyone. Complicating things is the arrival of Huck's father, whom Huck detests for having left his mother, a champion player in town to win. Can Huck learn to play poker the way he lives and to live the way he plays poker? Or is his only flush the sound of his life going down the toilet? Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE LUCKY YOU FROM DVDTALK

OK, so it isn't "Rounders," but "Lucky You" gets surprisingly far cracking open the world of poker and exploring the personalities that can't help but be completely drawn to the game.

Huck (Eric Bana, "Hulk") is a compulsive gambler, looking for a seat in the World Series of Poker, but unable to keep a winning streak burning long enough to earn the seed money. Into his life comes Billie (Drew Barrymore), an aspiring Vegas lounge singer who helps Huck find some focus. The obsessive player will need all the assistance he can get when he finds out that his estranged, manipulative father, L.C. (Robert Duvall), is also looking for a win in the tournament.

Written by director Curtis Hanson ("8 Mile," "Wonder Boys," "In Her Shoes") with Eric Roth ("Munich"), the picture attempts to set up base camp as a romantic comedy, shoving Bana and Barrymore into roles that are ill-fitting and lack chemistry. It's a rather blatant way to inject something soft into a film about hard people (complete with eye-rolling poker-metaphor dialogue), and when it doesn't work, it grinds "Lucky You" to a full stop.

Far more involving is the rest of the film, which follows Huck and his itchy brand of fixation to the tables and back alleys of Vegas's finest and oldest casino floors. Hanson, employing his unmatched skill at bringing out the flavors of his locations, takes the viewer on a visually resplendent tour of downtown and suburban Las Vegas, poker players of all shapes and sizes, and their endless desire for trouble.

"Lucky You" contains fascinating scenes of Huck's desperation for money and respect. The script doesn't sugarcoat his tendencies toward betrayal for the chance to wet his fingers with some coin, but the writers are careful not to make him a monster either. In fact, all the gambling characters are given a fluid representation; these icy creatures of the night with a habit they like to pass off as their profession. Hanson digs into the pain of losing, the shame of defeat, and the fingers-through-hair lust for the next potential win. It's an understated depiction of hardcore gambling, while also respecting the art of the game and the temptation of combat. Hanson and Roth clearly hold poker in high regard, but they're not afraid to reveal the darker side of the participants to better detail the drama.

The film is set in 2003, and while that seems an odd choice at first, Hanson and Roth take their time rolling out the significance of the year. It seems 2003 is regarded as the last year the sport of poker was one played by kings. Especially in the tournament finale, Hanson draws some very distinct lines in the sand between the old guard who play with some semblance of honor and the new kids; the generation of social misfits who think a pair of sunglasses and caulked expression is enough to get themselves a passport to badasslandia. It's a strong point (thrown alongside jabs at television coverage technology and youthful internet poker rubes) made in a strong film.

2007, "Lucky You" is a much more stable, intricate effort than the romantic pap being smeared across television and trailers suggest. Perhaps it isn't the definitive peek at poker, but it gets inside the minds of those who live and die by the game, and rises above cutesy screenwriting to becoming a picture well worth the time spent with it.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE LUCKY YOU.

A KNIGHT'S TALE IS NOW AVAILABLE

A KNIGHT'S TALE IS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE KNIGHT'S TALE FROM IMDB

Inspired by "The Canterbury Tales," as well as the story of Ulrich von Lichtenstein, this is the story of William, a young squire with a gift for jousting. After his master dies suddenly, the squire hits the road with his cohorts Roland and Wat. On the journey, they stumble across an unknown writer, Chaucer. William, lacking a proper pedigree, convinces Chaucer to forge genealogy documents that will pass him off as a knight. With his newly-minted history in hand, the young man sets out to prove himself a worthy knight at the country's jousting competition, and finds romance along the way. Written by Anonymous

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE KNIGHT'S TALE FROM DVDTALK

The Movie

I'm always baffled by the films deemed worthy of multiple dips by studios and those films, which are equally, if often not more worthy, languish in the vaults and on shelves, doomed to wait while the super-hyped-up-mega-tricked-out-with-11-extra-seconds-of-sexy-footage editions are trotted out. A Knight's Tale is one such flick – while moderately entertaining and worth viewing at least once through, it by no means warrants having had three separate DVD releases in almost as many years.

Writer/director Brian Helgeland's playful revisionist romp through the days of yore, when men proved their worth by strapping on some armor, gathering up a lance and riding full-tilt at each other, features a infectious break-out role for Paul Bettany, as well as winning turns from Heath Ledger, Mark Addy, Alan Tudyk and Shannyn Sossamon, but the central conceit – jousters as rock star athletes of the Middle Ages – wears thin quickly.

I'll skip summarizing the film's plot (you can find an excellent example of that in my colleague Aaron Beierle's review of A Knight's Tale: Special Edition). I will say however that the main thrust of Helgeland's idea is diverting and his cast is more than up to the challenge – the Seventies/Eighties-centric rock soundtrack also adds an extra kick, making for a fun couple of hours some lazy Saturday night.

As previously mentioned, this release of A Knight's Tale is the third DVD offering of this 2001 film in nearly as many years – the special edition was released Sept. 25, 2001; the Superbit edition streeted Aug. 27, 2002 and this "extended director's cut" dropped almost exactly three years after the inaugural release. Billing this release as a "director's cut" is fairly misleading, in my estimation, since all the studio really did was restore the 10 minutes of deleted scenes that were offered as supplemental material on the first DVD. Basically, if you own the special edition, you've got the director's cut, albeit in a slightly scattered form. The restoration of this cut material only makes an already overlong film even longer (the new running time is 144 minutes) and doesn't really add much to the overall story.

In short, fans of the film who have yet to pick up a copy of A Knight's Tale would probably be content with this latest edition, which didn't lose any of the special edition's bonus features – all's well for now, until, of course, the inevitable HD-DVD version.

The DVD

The Video:

A Knight's Tale: Extended Cut is presented in a solid 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer – from what I can tell, this image hews closer to the Superbit release than the first DVD, which is to say it's a sharp, clean image with deep blacks and excellent detail (dig those lances splintering, baby). Those who own the Superbit won't need to upgrade here, but visually, those owners of the first edition may want to consider a re-purchase.

The Audio:

Various flavors of Dolby Digital 5.1 – English, Spanish, Portuguese and French – are on board as well as subtitles in all of the aforementioned languages; I'm certain that much like the visuals from the Superbit release, the Dolby Digital track was likewise ported over. The rock-heavy soundtrack packs a hefty punch as do the jousting scenes; the dialogue comes through clearly with no distortion or drop-out.

The Extras:

Surprisingly, in its third incarnation, A Knight's Tale doesn't boast much in the way of supplemental material and what is offered is recycled from earlier editions: all 11 full-screen featurettes – from "The Rock Music Scene in 1370" to "Stories For The People" – are ported over from the first DVD release as is the 15-minute HBO making-of featurette and the wildly campy Robbie Williams/Queen music video for "We Are The Champions" rounds out the package. Inexplicably, the Helgeland/Bettany commentary track included on the first release has been dropped from this edition, making it the only bonus feature not to be ported over – go figure.

Final Thoughts:

A Knight's Tale: Extended Cut is a restored version of the film that reintegrates roughly 10 minutes of previously deleted footage – if you haven't checked out the film before, I'd suggest picking up the theatrical edition first. Fans of this rock-fueled dramedy who don't have the other two DVD releases should seek out a sale-priced copy of this latest edition. Recommended for rental for the curious and an iffy blind buy for Knight's Tale aficionados.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE KNIGHT'S TALE.

WITCHES NIGHT NOW AVAILABLE

WITCHES NIGHT NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE WITCHES NIGHT FROM IMDB

Halloween weekend. A jilted groom. A hastily-organized canoe trip. A pristine river. A deep, dark forest. The strange old woman behind the bait shop should've been a warning, but too much beer dulls the senses. When they stumble upon four beautiful women deep in the woods, it all seems too good to be true. And slowly they realize they'll be lucky to escape alive... Witches' Night is a throwback to the horror classics of the 1970's, and features many of the same elements: well-rounded characters, titillating sexual scenarios, an indelible villain, and a plot that builds slowly and inexorably toward an unforgettable conclusion. Written by Michael Lent

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE WITCHES NIGHT.

EMOTIONAL ARITHIMETIC NOW AVAILABLE

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HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE EMOTIONAL ARITHMETIC FROM IMDB

Emotional Arithmetic tells the story of three people who formed a life-long bond while housed at a detention camp during World War II that are reunited some 35 years later after being separated from one another. Jakob Bronski, a young Jewish man, took a shine to two youngsters, Melanie and Christopher, while they were interred, by the Nazis, at Drancy, a housing complex on the outskirts of Paris that was used as a detention camp for Jews. Drancy operated as a way station; once there, having your name put on the wrong list meant relocation to a death camp. Their separation inflicts deep emotional wounds that grossly impact their lives in differing ways in the years leading up to their life-altering reunion. Now a beautiful woman in her 50's, Melanie Lansing Winters, wife of David Winters, balances her precarious emotional state with an innate sharp, deprecating wit. Jakob, now a senior citizen, is a heroic dissident and veteran of a Soviet psychiatric hospital. And her childhood friend, Christopher Lewis, a British novelist who has long carried a torch for Melanie, is haunted by the eternal question survivors ask themselves - "Why was I saved?" Melanie invites Jakob to stay with her at her home in Canada. Christopher accompanies Jakob there. With Melanie's marriage to David in shambles due to his compulsive infidelity, the pair's presence in the Winters' home revitalizes Melanie, but arouses unexpected reserves of jealousy in David, who is estranged from his and Melanie's grown son, Benjamin, a father himself to a young son, Timmy. On a balmy summer evening, the past explodes into the present in an unexpected and tender love story and its fatal consequences. The 'emotional arithmetic' of the title refers to the characters' struggle to face the past and move on. Written by the Official Press Release, modified by thefilmstudent

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IDIOCRACY NOW AVAILABLE

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HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVE IDIOCRACY FROM IMDB

The purpose of the program set up by the Pentagon, called the "Human Hibernation Project," is designed so that the military can save their best men for when they're needed most. According to the officers heading the project, too many times the talents and expensive training of the best pilots and soldiers go to waste during times of peace. So they enlist Bauers (Wilson), the most under-achieving average guy they've got, to be the test subject for the initial hibernation experiment. Also participating in the top-secret program is Rita (Rudolph), a prostitute who agreed to take part in exchange for dropping some criminal charges against her, among other things. Of course, the experiment, which was to last only a year, goes under due to the arrest of Officer Collins, who is busted for heading a prostitution ring. Seeing as though he was in charge of the experiment, one of the only ones who knew of its existence, and "due to a lot of top-secret red tape... and the massive scandals and base closure that followed, Joe and Rita were forgotten about. Written by Slider

Joe Bauers, an Army librarian, is judged to be absolutely average in every regard, has no relatives, has no future, so he's chosen to be one of the two test subjects in a top-secret hibernation program. He and hooker Rita were to awaken in one year, but things go wrong and they wake up instead in 2505. By this time, stupid people have outbred intelligent people; the world is (barely) run by morons--and Joe and Rita are the smartest people in America. Written by Anonymous

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE IDIOCRACY FROM DVDTALK

THE FILM

After the rabid successes of "Beavis and Butt-head," "King of the Hill," and the cult supremacy of "Office Space," one would think that 20th Century Fox could've extended some level of trust to writer/director Mike Judge when it came to his latest film, "Idiocracy."

What's finally being shown to audiences after two years sitting on a shelf gathering dust is a Frankenstein's Monster of a film, pieced together by a studio looking to pull off cinema's greatest single act of irony: they've dumbed down a film about dumbing down.

Private Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson) is volunteered by his commanding officers to take part in an experimental hibernation program that will put him to sleep for one year. Sent under with a prostitute (Maya Rudolph), the program is eventually cut short, with Joe's tube lost for 500 years. When a garbage avalanche ends his centuries-long slumber, Joe awakens to find the year 2505 and a whole world evolved into idiots. Branded the smartest person alive by the professional wrestler/porn star president (Terry Crews), Joe is given the task of saving America from starvation, but all he really wants is to get back to 2005.

In many ways, "Idiocracy" is similar to the hack job that Paramount pulled on Louis CK's "Pootie Tang." Judge's film is something near a complete mess, with the opening 20 minutes pushed and pulled like taffy to cover what feels like 45 minutes of footage. Slapped with narration that hand-holds the viewer through storylines and important scenes we're not allowed to see, the opening act of the film is a jarring rush of settings and characters that make little sense and lends the film a sloppy quality I refuse to believe was Judge's intention.

Thankfully, Judge's sense of humor does escape through Fox's sweaty fingers. When you boil the picture down to the essentials, it's uproarious in primitive slapstick ways and as a potent bitchslap of a social commentary. Opening with the frightening concept that America's future is not in the hands of the most intelligent, but the most fertile and irresponsible (aka the poor), Judge's script begins to claw away at not only America's corporate sponsorship culture (some get paid to end every sentence with "Brought to you by Carl's Jr."), but their entertainment tastes as well. The number one show on television? "Ow! My Balls!" Favorite channel? The Masturbation Network. The top-grossing film of all time? "Ass." Just 90 minutes of a man's ass, with an occasional fart escaping.

Judge has it out especially for Gatorade (called "Brawndo" here), using the general uselessness of sport drinks to emphasize the deceptive nature of predatory corporations, and the gullibility of consumers who will believe anything they read. Even electrolytes.

This is a world where citizens are named Frito and Beef Supreme, Starbucks is a place that only sells handjobs, Fuddruckers is considered the Mona Lisa of trash dining, and if a subject doesn't pertain to sex or farting, nobody wants to discuss it.

"Idiocracy" eventually heads over to the political realm, turning a presidential address into a wrestling main event, and opening up the idea of capital punishment as gladiatorial fight to the death with tricked out cars, scored by a whole section of head-banging guitar stoners.

As a satire, "Idiocracy" is a cold steel blade to the gut. Judge relishes his opportunity to expose our insatiable need for stupidity, and he takes that to the most grandiose possible conclusion for maximum effect. Still, the film remains a thoroughly hilarious affair, due mostly to the cast's glee in dragging their knuckles for a change and Judge's satirical targets, some of which might hit too close to home for many viewers.

Even if the film contains the single biggest laugh I've had this year at the movies (imagine the Washington Monument pool turned into a jet-ski paradise), "Idiocracy" is a terribly muddled affair. The heart of the film appears to have been ripped out in the process of streamlining the feature for mass consumption. While Judge's touch remains interwoven into the piece, the finished product doesn't move the way we've come to expect from this director.

The picture has some potent ideas on dysgenics and where humanity is headed, and how much citizens are complacent when their lives are bought and sold; ideas that felt like they were once properly layered into a feature film. Not anymore with this version of "Idiocracy." I don't care how much Judge might've screwed up originally, if cinematic history tells us anything, it's best to leave this talent alone

THE DVD

Audio:

"Idiocracy" is present in Dolby Digital 5.1, and makes good, dimensional use of futuristic sound effects. Of course, a majority of them are fart sounds, but you get the point. Dialogue and music are presented crisp and clean.

Visual:

Given an anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) transfer, "Idiocracy" feels pretty cozy at home, where Judge's intimate satiric scale can be best appreciated. Image is clean with bold color reproduction. Larger home theater screens might reveal the low-tech limitations of the scrapped together special effects more than smaller sets.

Extras:

The only supplement served up for this DVD release is set of deleted scenes, totaling less than four minutes of screentime. All are insignificant snippets, but two of them do showcase the woman in Joe's life before he goes into hibernation. Another shows us the National Fart Museum, where kids of all ages can watch history cut the cheese.

Sadly, Mike Judge is nowhere to be found on any of this disc.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm starting to sense "Idiocracy" might be the new "Superman II." Perhaps one day audiences will be treated to Mike Judge's full, unobstructed version of this ambitious satire, but for now, all we have is this DVD. After years of thinking we wouldn't even get this far, it's wonderful to finally get a chance to see what Judge had up his sleeve, and to watch what Fox was so fearful of releasing. Keep your expectations low, and there's an often hilarious, sly little feature to be found in here somewhere.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE IDIOCRACY

PROM NIGHT NOW AVAILABLE

PROM NIGHT NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE PROM NIGHT FROM IMDB

Donnas senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life, one of magic, beauty, and love. Surrounded by her best friends, she should be safe from the horrors of her past. But when the night turns from magic to murder there is only one man who could be responsible, the man she thought was gone forever. Now, Donna and her friends must find a way to escape the sadistic rampage of an obsessed killer, and survive their Prom Night. Written by Davi Silva

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE PROM NIGHT FROM DVDTALK

Stop me if you've read these ingredients before: a PG-13 horror picture, a remake of an 80's cult classic, directed by nondescript filmmaker, pathetically kept from critics to avoid unpleasant opening day reviews, and starring a roster of insipid young actors? Surely this means only the finest quality Hollywood has to offer!

After surviving the slaughter of her family three years back, Donna (Brittany Snow, "Hairspray") has finally managed to secure a happy life, now enjoying the night of her high school prom. As Donna arrives at the hotel with great anticipation, surrounded by her tight circle of friends (including Scott Porter and Jessica Stroup), the evening quickly turns into a game of survival as the killer (Johnathon Schaech) from years before escapes from prison and shows up to the big celebration to finish the job.

The new "Prom Night" has very little in common with the 1980 Jamie Lee Curtis slasher footnote, instead just pilfering the title and the concept of a killing spree at the most important social gathering for the average high school student. The earlier "Prom Night" wasn't an elegant achievement in suspense, but it's amazing how much the new production fails to offer the audience in the way of chills. The new "Prom Night" is insistently lifeless, which I think is worse than simply being awful. At least awful has some personality to it.

Charm, pace, and suspense are all in short supply for this brainless remake. Director Nelson McCormick comes from a long history of television work and it shows, for his "Prom Night" is too cautious, too gutless to make a psychological dent; a one-way ticket to dullsville, fueled by absurdly toothless PG-13 fright sequences (boo scares aplenty here) that will make this forgettable one-weekend-wonder a DVD dynamo on the sleepover circuit. I'm sure there's an audience for implied stabbings, but set loose in the thickly-padded script by prominent genre hack J.S. Cardone ("The Covenant," "The Forsaken"), and "Prom Night" has nowhere to go but right to sleep.

The cast, led by Snow's irritatingly teary performance, couldn't be more vanilla if they tried; along with Schaech, who makes evil about as cinematically enticing as a tax audit. Where's the fervor for fright in this debacle? McCormick just elongates the whole process, assuming the audience will have a ball watching teen characters natter on about their tedious lives between knifing sequences, or observing actor Idris Elba (here in the concerned cop role) give in to every smell-the-fart acting itch he's ever dreamed of exploring. It's rare to come across a film that simply gives up, but "Prom Night" is lazy that that, spending long stretches of the running time accomplishing nothing. It's just odd.

The finale of the picture should be this grandiose showdown between good and evil, but not on McCormick's watch. No, he's likes to make even the simplest acts of behavior last about 900 years, constructing a conclusion that is absent even the slightest blip of tension and conflict. It seems unfair to blame PG-13 standards for the continual gutting of the horror genre, but when a stinker like "Prom Night" shows up to bleed teenagers of their allowance, it's hard to ignore the warning signs. The defanged slasher movement once again lays a rotten egg.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE PROM NIGHT

WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS NOW AVAILABLE

WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE


HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS FROM IMDB

A successful talk show host leaves Los Angeles to reunite with his family in the Deep South.

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS FROM DVDTALK

I prefer my Martin Lawrence humiliated, emasculated, and speechless. Fortunately, "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" appreciates these very same concerns, kicking around the comedian in what amounts to a slightly ludicrous, slightly bloated, but overwhelmingly good-natured comedy of the broadest kind.

Roscoe Jenkins (Martin Lawrence) is a successful trash T.V. host with a trophy girlfriend (Joy Bryant) and a flavorless, Hollywood life. Called back to his rural Georgia home for the 50th wedding anniversary of his parents (James Earl Jones and Margaret Avery), Roscoe is reintroduced to the insecurities and rivalries he held as an angry teen. Now, surrounded by his hot-blooded family (including Mike Epps, Michael Clark Duncan, Cedric the Entertainer, and Mo'Nique) and confronted with a lost crush (Nicole Ari Parker), Roscoe has to decide if he will retreat to his isolating fame and fortune, or if he wants to confront the person he once was and heal old wounds.

I have to give credit to writer/director Malcolm D. Lee for charging ahead with "Jenkins" and feeling brave enough to manufacture a slapstick comedy that, for the majority of its running time, doesn't break down into melodrama and remains consistently funny. This is the guy who made "Undercover Brother" after all, so hopes were not high for an evening of smiles.

I suppose if one squints hard enough, the comparison to Tyler Perry's brand of southern-fried family reunion insanity could be made, but truly, "Jenkins" is its own creation. It's not unique or clever, but it's comfortable with itself, and that counts for something. Lee has a vision for the piece and he sticks to his guns, pushing forward with massive displays of silliness, mostly centered on the continual beating of Roscoe at the hands of his brothers and sisters, and trusting his cast to improv like heavyweight champs and offer comedic reactions with Kabuki-like enormity.

"Jenkins" remains agreeable due to the excitement of the actors, who look as though they are having a ball. It's a joy to see Duncan be playful for once, while Cedric, Epps, and Mo'Nique all take turns leaping off the page and chewing some scenery. It all boils down to Lawrence, who is revisiting a character he hasn't played in forever: the humbled loser. As the straight-man of the film, Lawrence is the perfect sponge for the troupe's energy, batting the laughs back in smaller, but effective doses. Only in the final act does the old in-control Lawrence comes painfully strolling out, but up to that moment, it's the most infectious, relaxed, giving performance the actor has offered the screen since he spun records as Bilal in "House Party."

"Jenkins" isn't all roses. Lee chokes down a little too much wacky with sequences involving flatulent yoga, two utterly mismatched dog lovers, and the hysteria of Roscoe's girlfriend, played with vigor by Bryant, but written far more shrill than necessary. I also wasn't thrilled with some hokey melodrama in the final moments that shuts the film down to a dead stop. Lee softens the blow with a sweet group-hug ending, but "Roscoe Jenkins" is a comedy, and a pretty decent one at that. To assume the audience is hungering for more soulful nutrition from a movie where dogs have sex in the cowgirl position nearly destroys the surprisingly digestible experience.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE WELCOME HOME ROSCOE JENKINS.

10,000 BC NOW AVAILABLE

10,000 BC NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE 10,000 BC FROM IMDB

A prehistoric epic that follows a young mammoth hunter named D'Leh's journey through uncharted territory to secure the future of his tribe. When a band of mysterious horse-riding warlords raid the Yaghal camp and kidnaps his heart's desire - the beautiful Evolet along with many others, D'Leh is forced to lead a small group of hunters south to pursue the warlords to the end of the world to save her. Driven by destiny, the unlikely band of warriors must battle saber-toothed cats and terror birds in the Levant. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE 10,000 BC FROM DVDTALK

Once upon a time Roland Emmerich made greasy popcorn entertainment that was buoyant and exciting ("Stargate," "Independence Day"). Ever since the epic failure of 1998's "Godzilla," Emmerich has been desperately trying to rekindle his old blockbuster flame, but the results have been lackluster at best ("The Day After Tomorrow"). "10,000 B.C." is a further step backward for the event movie prince, sending the audience to the mystical world of cavemen, yet offering little in the way of substance beyond the abundant special effects.

A young hunter in his clan, D'Leh (Steven Strait) finds his fate intertwined with Evolet (Camilla Belle), an orphan embraced by the elders who hope she will fulfill a great prophecy. When invaders attack D'Leh and his clan, they snatch Evolet and imprison her as a slave, starting a quest for D'Leh and a small pack of warriors traveling across treacherous terrain to get her back. During their dangerous journey, D'Leh befriends other tribes who want similar revenge on their oppressors, finding the relentless warrior fulfilling his own prophecy as a leader brought to the world to unite good and topple evil.

That's right, two prophecies. That's how hollow this screenplay is: they needed two ways to figure out how to take tedious characters and lend them a false sense of otherworldly intent.

"10,000 B.C." is not a cerebral journey of anthropological investigation; it's more a Saturday matinee thrill ride using prehistoric iconography to molest audience-pleasing explosions of action and chest-thumping drama. On the page, I'm sure the project looked amazing with grand displays of adventure and numerous openings for eye-popping visual effects; however, Emmerich's execution of the whole shebang is sleepy, and the screenwriting downright deplorable.

Stealing cues from "Apocalypto," "Braveheart," and his own "Stargate" (not to mention numerous other films), Emmerich has assembled a funky bouillabaisse of derivative material glued together by the CG sequences, which imagine a land populated with grazing mammoths, fierce saber-tooth tigers, and massive ostrich-like creatures that allow Emmerich a chance to rip-off the Velociraptor attack from "Jurassic Park." Admittedly, "B.C." is a gorgeous widescreen production, with sweeping vistas and towering scale. Emmerich knows how to go big, but his touch with human interaction is laughable, and "B.C." is his most emotionally distanced movie yet.

Thrust into this world by Omar Sharif's perplexing narration, "B.C." never gets off the ground. Emmerich is more enamored with selling the characters as action figures than human beings, breaking the critical bonds between them that supposedly motivate the entire movie. The worst offense is found between D'Leh and Evolet, who are offered to the screen as the destined, tragic lovers of the piece. The script doesn't give them much time to intertwine, and it's not long before they're separated, leaving D'Leh to do his Conan-lite routine and for Evolet to commence her...whatever she actually does in this movie. I'm not sure. I detected a lot of painful-color-contact blank stares and falling. Perhaps the "natural lady" caveman wig on Belle was too cumbersome. There's really no sense of community in the picture, just a filmmaker checking off disposable action beats from his creased, yellowed "to do" list as the production plods along aimlessly.

Without any tangible interest in the characters, "B.C." is reduced to a highlight reel of flavorless set-pieces. Trust me, if you've seen one mammoth stampede, you've seen them all. Emmerich has never been one to rely on the wizardry of nuance, but I was stunned to feel numb to nearly everything "B.C." offered, as if my mind immediately detected a filmmaker looking to brazenly cash in on his past successes. I miss the fun-loving Roland Emmerich, who once made stupid undeniably rousing. These days, he's just riding gimmicks and special effects and "10,000 B.C." is a culmination of every lazy impulse he's been harboring for years.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE 10,000 BC.

CAMP ROCK NOW AVAILABLE

CAMP ROCK NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE CAMP ROCK FROM IMDB.

"Camp Rock," centers on a teen girl who desperately wants to spend her summer at a prestigious rock camp, but can only attend if she works in the kitchen as one of the cooks. When she's overheard singing - but not seen -- by a teen pop star at the camp, he is completely taken and sets out to find the girl behind the beautiful voice. But first she must confront her fears, step out of the kitchen and into the spotlight. Written by fmmini

Camp Rock is a musical that mostly focuses on a teen girl Mitchie (Demi Lovato) who desperately wants to spend her summer at a rock camp, but can only attend if she works in the kitchen as one of the cooks. When she's overheard singing by teen pop star Shane Gray (Joe Jonas) at the camp, he has fallen head over heals and sets out to find the girl with the beautiful voice. Written by alrc2007

"Camp Rock," centers on a teen girl who desperately wants to spend her summer at a prestigious rock camp, but can only attend if she works in the kitchen as one of the cooks. When she's overheard singing - but not seen -- by a teen pop star at the camp, he is completely taken and sets out to find the girl behind the beautiful voice. But first she must confront her fears, step out of the kitchen and into the spotlight to show how she really is Written by smily_558

Camp Rock tells the rock n' roll Cinderella story of Mitchie Torres (Demi Lovato), a teen with an amazing voice and a driving ambition to be a pop singer who wants to spend her summer at a prestigious rock camp. Unfortunately, an expensive music camp is a bit out of reach for her family, but her mother gets a job as Camp Rock's cook so that Mitchie can attend as long as she helps out in the kitchen between classes. Befriended by fellow camp member Caitlyn (Alyson Stoner) but intimidated by the immensely talented Tess Tyler (Meaghan Jette Martin) and her friends Peggy (Jasmine Richards) and Ella (Anna Maria Perez de Tagle), Mitchie lives a double life hiding that she is the cook's daughter and posing as a well-to-do camper in order to become part of the hottest clique at camp. When she's overheard singing, but not seen, by teen pop star and celebrity camp instructor, plus lead singer of Connect Three, Shane Gray (Joe Jonas), he is completely taken and sets out to find the girl behind the beautiful voice. Meanwhile, Mitchie will have to learn how to confront her fears, step out of the kitchen and into the spotlight as herself. Written by asumamori

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE CAMP ROCK.

SPEED RACER NOW AVAILABLE

SPEED RACER NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE SPEED RACER FROM IMDB

The story begins with Speed Racer who is a young man with natural racing instincts whose goal is to win The Crucible, a cross-country car racing rally that took the life of his older brother, Rex Racer. Speed is loyal to the family business, run by his parents Pops and Mom. Pops designed Speed's car, the Mach 5. The owner of Royalton Industries makes Speed a lucrative offer, Speed rejects the offer, angering the owner. Speed also uncovers a secret that top corporate interests, including Royalton, are fixing races and cheating to gain profit. With the offer to Speed denied, Royalton wants to ensure that Speed will not win races. Speed finds support from his parents and his girlfriend Trixie and enters The Crucible in a partnership with his one-time rival, Racer X, seeking to rescue his family's business and the racing sport itself. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

Hurtling down the track, careening around, over and through the competition, Speed Racer is a natural behind the wheel. Born to race cars, Speed is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless. His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolized-the legendary Rex Racer - whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfill. Speed is loyal to the family racing business, led by his father, Pops Racer, the designer of Speed's thundering Mach 5. When Speed turns down a lucrative and tempting offer from Royalton Industries, he not only infuriates the company's maniacal owner but uncovers a terrible secret-some of the biggest races are being fixed by a handful of ruthless moguls who manipulate the top drivers to boost profits. If Speed won't drive for Royalton, Royalton will see to it that the Mach 5 never crosses another finish line. The only way for Speed to save his family's business and the sport he loves is to beat Royalton at his own game. With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie, Speed teams with his one-time rival-the mysterious Racer X - to win the race that had taken his brother's life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible. Written by Warner Bros. Pictures

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE SPEED RACER FROM DVDTALK

The Wachowski Brothers have proven their skill with visual gymnastics and their affinity for high-octane action, but an ability to assemble a suitable family film will most likely always elude them. "Speed Racer" is an ocular slap, but it's strictly empty calories; a joyless, over-plotted nostalgia machine that barely limps out of the starting gate.

Ever since he was a child, Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) has always wanted to join the family business and become a car-racing competitor. When the death of elder brother Rex pushes Speed into the driver's seat, he shows amazing ability on the track, making his family proud. When the ruthless owner of Royalton Industries (Roger Allam) makes Speed an offer to join his aggressive driving squad, Speed refuses, putting him in the crosshairs of corporate thugs. With the help of the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox), Speed partakes in several hazardous contests, hoping with each opportunity to further understand his brother's legacy and show up those who question his talents and threaten the livelihood of his family.

A live-action aping of the cult 1960's Japanese anime television series, "Speed Racer" has been exhaustively expanded to fit big-screen needs. Written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski (their first since sealing off "The Matrix" with a double helping of provocative sequels in 2003), the brothers literally lunge into a kaleidoscopic realm of colors and cuts with this picture, taking the audience into the tight folds of animation and sensory overload. It's meant for families, but "Speed" will surely beguile stoners for years to come.

"Speed" is an intricately constructed movie, with every blinding detail imaginable up on the screen. Blanketed by CGI, the film's color scheme resembles a tipped bowl of Skittles, with all sorts of garish colors fighting for camera time. This blizzard of hues and extensive green-screen work acts to construct the cartoon world for Speed (think "Spy Kids" mixed with "Dick Tracy") as he puts the pedal-to-the-metal and zooms across twisted tracks of certain doom; not unlike a potent Hot Wheels fever dream. The Wachowskis don't just want Speed to speed, they turn the race sequences into acts of "Car-fu," as the vehicles cartwheel, flip, and battle each other for the lead, similar to the pod racing sequences from "Phantom Menace," only with a more pronounced cartoon glaze, if that's even possible.

The race sequences are the highlights of "Speed," if only because the directors possess a radiant gift for kinetic energy. Speed skidding around day-glo roads is the ideal venue for the Wachowskis to flame on their imaginations and smear the screen with a gloss of eye-crossing car choreography and distinct inspiration reference points, presented by two minds clearly in love with the source material.

However, that blinding devotion to "Speed Racer" is tricky to sort out, and the screenplay is a numbing jumble of allegiances and poor characterizations. In short: the film is a bore. The swirling opening titles and tease of the famous "Speed Racer" theme are quickly replaced by stifling racing legacy overtones, a horde of ill-defined villains, corporate financial jockeying (because nothing says "summer entertainment" quite like stock price bargaining), and uninteresting Racer family dynamics.

Not a typo here: the film runs 130 minutes, which is about 50 minutes too long for bubbly fun like this, but the Wachowskis are unwilling to scrape out any of the fat, and it hurts the film. What should've been Speed in danger, the question mark of Racer X, and heaps of flamboyant car racing is turned into an obese, exposition-heavy creation that fatigues easily. There's no emotional pull to any of it, and it puts Speed into the focal backseat for most of the feature.

Again, stock prices. There's this ungodly-looking world of towering loops and impossible jumps ready to smack the audience in the face, and there's a sequence where the bad guys hammer out the details of stock prices.

In retrospect, perhaps it's best that Speed isn't handed prime screen real estate, since Hirsch's performance barely shifts out of neutral. He's a cardboard standee here, physically embodying cartoon Speed nicely, but lacking any charisma to properly 3-D the icon. Better is John Goodman as Speed's father Pops, Korean star Rain as Speed's dubious ally, and Fox, who grits his teeth pleasingly as Racer X (not to mention pulling off the film's most absurd costume with panache). Unfortunately, the film's feminine contingent, Susan Sarandon (as Speed's mom) and Christina Ricci (Speed's love Trixie), are shuffled off to the corners of the movie in a hurry, and the absence is felt.

To counteract the thundering wall of artifice and adult-themed intrigue, the Wachowskis have activated the characters of Spritle (Speed's kid brother) and chimpanzee sidekick Chim-Chim to speak directly to the children in the audience (often literally). Practically existing in their own separate movie, the mischievous duo provides ear-piercing slapstick and broad comedic displays to the film, and every moment with these two clowns is catastrophic. Granted, the filmmakers have zero experience in family entertainment, but that doesn't excuse the aggressive pinch of these scenes or the eventual use of fecal matter and groin-hit sound stingers to get a laugh. Even worse, the Wachowskis direct young Paulie Litt to assume the cocktail-hour stance of an obnoxious borscht-belt comedian for Spritle, turning his every eye-bulging, neck-craning move into pure torture. 10 minutes in, I wanted Speed to run over the character with the Mach 5.

"Speed Racer" sure is pretty to look at, and the Wachowskis have accomplished amazing optical feats bringing the viewer into the living anime world of visual layering, spastic cutting, and bold coloring. However, the film is an inert sleeping pill; an anti-event movie that spends an inordinate amount of energy trying to drum up extremity, only to completely botch the results by permitting such cringing indulgence.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE SPEED RACER.

COLLEGE ROAD TRIP NOW AVAILABLE

COLLEGE ROAD TRIP NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE COLLEGE ROAD TRIP FROM IMDB

When an overachieving high school student decides to travel around the country to choose the perfect college, her overprotective cop father also decides to accompany her in order to keep her on the straight and narrow.

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE COLLEGE ROAD TRIP FROM DVDTALK

Oh, the mugging in this thing. You would not believe how many of the actors spend all their precious screentime contorting their face into extravagant comical positions, making sure every single audience member comprehends "College Road Trip" is supposed to be a silly movie. It's nearly 3-D in execution.

A protective father, James Porter (Martin Lawrence) is reluctant to allow his daughter Melanie (Raven-Symone) a chance to attend college at Georgetown, located over 700 miles from the family home. When Melanie is invited to speak to the admissions council at the last minute, James refuses to let the child travel with friends, taking her, son Trey (Eshaya Draper), and pet pig Albert on a road trip to help restore frayed bonds, but also to keep a close eye on his beloved daughter. It doesn't take long for the vacation to turn into a nightmare, leaving James in a permanent state of panic as he fights to keep Melanie on a leash, deal with fellow strident parents (Donny Osmond), and confront his own growing sense of empty nest syndrome.

Roger Kumble directed "College Road Trip." This is same man who created smut like "Cruel Intentions," "The Sweetest Thing," and "Just Friends," and now he's at the helm of a G-rated Disney family comedy? Perhaps that's why "College" feels so overprocessed and shrill. It's clearly the work of a man attempting to alter the course of his dying career, only to rely on ineffective instincts for a genre he should be kept away from. Kumble is bad with cute and cuddly.

However, blaming the director for the entire cringe factor of "College" is unfair. The screenplay (credited to four writers) is a hodgepodge of slapstick, melodrama, more slapstick, and "one to grow on" sentiment, piled punishingly high and rendered flavorless by the Disneyfication production process.

The cast is just as shameless, with every participant leaping about like their pants have caught fire. While I admit to enjoying Lawrence when busts out his panic button, Raven-Symone pitches her acting to the rafters, taking every horrible habit she's nurtured on the Disney Channel and splashes the big screen with her obnoxious, questionable eye-bulging and 10-chin double-takes. "College" even permits her a musical number just to loathe the performance even more.

The less said about Donny Osmond the better, though I will write that he's astonishingly well-cast as the constant annoyance of the story.

Thematically, "College" wants to discuss the misery of parents forced to let their children become adults. It's a tender topic, yet nothing resembling a human emotion is allowed near the picture. All that's offered are repetitive scoring cues (separated into two categories: "sad" and "fall down and go boom") and saccharine, tear-jerking screenwriting that's far too coldly calculated to penetrate the ill will clotting up the rest of the picture.

While the novelty of seeing Martin Lawrence trying to neuter himself to meet G-rating expectations is an undeniable curiosity, "College Road Trip" pushes too hard on the wacky button, to a point of full sensorial meltdown. There are only so many food fights, pig-hopped-up-on-caffeine gags, and brutal Raven-Symone improv that one person can take before madness sets in.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE COLLEGE ROAD TRIP.

FUN WITH DICK AND JANE NOW AVAILABLE

FUN WITH DICK AND JANE NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE FUN WITH DICK AND JANE FROM IMDB

The day before Globodyne's stock tanks, a la Enron, and its pension fund evaporates, the corporation's CEO and CFO set up middle manager Dick Harper to be the public face of the disaster. Jobless, and with no savings, pension, or home equity, Dick and his wife Jane sink slowly into poverty. He looks for work (as do all former Globodyne executives); he even tries day labor with the relatives of their Mexican nanny. A foreclosure notice sends Dick and Jane over the edge into a life of blue-collar crime. Then, as things finally look up, the report of an looming indictment pushes Dick and Jane toward a denouement with the real criminals, the white-collar guys. Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE FUN WITH DICK AND JANE FROM DVDTALK

The movie

Somebody ought to go yell at the art director for the DVD edition of Fun with Dick and Jane. It's a funny, sharp, highly entertaining movie, saddled with utterly generic cover art that looks like it was slapped together by a summer intern... cover art that says "eh, just keep walking" rather than "hey, look at me, I'm a really clever movie!" the way it ought to.

Honestly I wouldn't have pegged Fun with Dick and Jane as a movie I'd particularly like. It stars Jim Carrey, and while that's a selling point for many viewers, for me it was the opposite; I've never been a big Carrey fan, and some of his work has been positively grating. I have to admit, though, that Fun with Dick and Jane showcases all of Carrey's considerable comic talents, and serves as a convincing argument that 1. he's a better actor now than a few years ago, when he was more brash, and 2. a good-quality script is what he needs to shine.

The trailer for Fun with Dick and Jane touches on one aspect of the story: a suburban couple turns to robbery to sustain their affluent lifestyle. It's a funny section, to be sure, but what actually makes the film work so well is that this is just one segment of the whole story. Along the way, the film casts its humorous and often sharply satiric net over a number of topics: corporate culture and its yes-men; the middle-class nanny culture; job searching and the interview process; illegal workers; consumerism and the obsession with appearances; keeping up with the Joneses; and corporate greed. Along the way, Fun with Dick and Jane also manages to be a heist film. Sort of.

Fun with Dick and Jane has a kind of manic energy that is expressed quite delightfully in a number of over-the-top scenes, which I can't describe without spoiling for you. It's here - and in any number of smaller scenes - that Jim Carrey's mix of verbal and physical comedy comes off so well, with his madcap glee fitting in perfectly with the slightly surreal script. The key here, though, is that the filmmakers have kept the film balanced, wisely not trying to make it a "laugh a minute" from start to finish. The comic tension rises and falls, so that the humor ends up being effective all the way through the film.

The film is also a testament to the importance of pacing. I'd say that while tight pacing helps any film, it's even more important for a comedy than for a drama. Dragging out a scene in a comedy is usually the kiss of death for laughs, while a zippy pace keeps the audience smiling and wanting more. In the case of Fun with Dick and Jane, the pacing is handled extremely well. The film starts on an excellent note, with the characters introduced on-screen with labels along the lines of "See Dick... See Jane... See Spot..."; it's very funny and serves as a great hook for the viewer. My big question was whether the energy displayed in the credits sequence could possibly keep going over the course of the film, and to my pleasant surprise, the answer was "yes." The film doesn't manage to stay at that peak of energy absolutely consistently, but it's so briskly paced (without being rushed) that the whole film feels lively and energetic. And funny.

Last but not least, one of the things that works so well about Fun with Dick and Jane is the fact that its absurdities are in fact poking fun at the absurdities of U.S. culture. The film draws its humor from exaggerating reality; while a real interview is unlikely to degenerate into quite the knock-down, drag-out scene that we see here, for instance, in emotional terms it often feels like that. And part of the reason the humor has bite is that the scenario is closer to home than many people would like to admit; how many suburban homeowners are genuinely one corporate meltdown away from bankruptcy? Your real neighbors might not turn to crime after a layoff, but they might wish they could...

The DVD

Video

Fun with Dick and Jane is presented here in a clean, attractive transfer, at the film's original widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1. (A pan-and-scan version is also included, but at least the menu screen makes it visually very clear that this option chops off part of the image.) The transfer is anamorphically enhanced, and looks very pleasing to the eye. Colors are bright and crisp, and contrast is handled well.

Audio

The Dolby 5.1 soundtrack is very good, with the dialogue and the music portions of the track nicely balanced. The music is a substantial element of some scenes, and always sounds clean and natural. A French Dolby 5.1 track is also included.

Extras

The special features for this DVD are reasonably solid. There's an audio commentary track with director Dean Parisot and scriptwriters Judd Apatow and Nicholas Stoller, to start with, along with a set of outtakes for publicity interviews for the film. The short gag reel is quite funny, as are the deleted scenes, which are well worth watching.

Final thoughts

Fun with Dick and Jane is a pleasant surprise, a fresh and lively comedy that packs in a lot of sharp, clever humor into a well-paced 90-minute running time. Jim Carrey and Téa Leoni both deliver solid performances here, with several other well-known actors providing nice secondary roles. Despite the decidedly bland cover art, Fun with Dick and Jane is a DVD that's worth a look. In fact, I'll say that this is "highly recommended."

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE FUN WITH DICK AND JANE

FOOL'S GOLD NOW AVAILABLE

FOOL'S GOLD NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE FOOL'S GOLD FROM IMDB

A new clue to the whereabouts of a lost treasure rekindles a married couple's sense of adventure -- and their estranged romance.

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE FOOL'S GOLD FROM DVDTALK

The Movie
In a recent episode of Family Guy, little Stewie Griffin has a chat with Matthew McConaughey: "You know Matthew, I may not ever get another chance to say this, so I just want to get it off my chest: You are just awful. You're one of the worst actors in the history of film, and I think that you need to go away."

"Oh thanks man! The truth is I spend at least 90 percent of my year going away, visiting exotic places, having sex with my beautiful girlfriend, just doing sit-ups. And then counting money...money that I've made on terrible films that I've put out into the American populace because they just love to see me, doing what it is that I do."

I couldn't stop thinking about that as I sat through Fool's Gold, the latest from director Andy Tennant--the man who has given us a number of moderate non-failures like Hitch, Sweet Home Alabama and Ever After. It also marks the second pairing of McConaughey with Kate Hudson, following the painfully predictable How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in 2003.

I imagine that when people send McConaughey scripts, they include notes for his muscles: If you make him run a lot and keep him short of breath, his abs will clench. If you make him cling for life to the outside of a plane, his biceps look quite striking. And if you put him in a fight, there's amble opportunity for displays of defined triceps. Hey...I love beefcake just like the rest of you, but it only goes so far.

Ab-solute situation

Welcome to Fool's Gold, a beautifully empty film. There's a lot of attention given to the meaningless lost treasure history (including a yawn-inducing scene that describes the excruciatingly boring back story), but all you really need to know is that there's booty at the bottom of the ocean near Key West (which looks an awful lot like Australia), and lots of people want to find it. For Benjamin Finnegan (McConaughey), it may be the only way to help save his crumbling marriage to Tess (Hudson), who is ready to sign divorce papers after years of dealing with his irresponsibility. She now works as a steward for billionaire Nigel Honeycutt (Donald Sutherland), who soon gets a visit from his starlet daughter Gemma (Alexis Dziena). They have a distant relationship that becomes one of the film's silly subplots.

Meanwhile, Ben is in big trouble with Bigg Bunny (Kevin Hart, stroking a rabbit in his first scene), a rapper/businessman who sang the hit "Call Me Thumper" and apparently killed someone called Fuzzy Dice (or was it Pogo Stick?). He has financed Ben's escapades--but now wants his money back. Bunny hires some cronies to help him, including Ben's former mentor Moe Fitch (Ray Winstone). Soon, everyone is trying to find the Queen's Dowry as the film becomes a mild mash-up of Pirates of the Caribbean and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.

It's remarkable that three writers worked on this script, because there's a stunningly small amount of story in the over-long 108 minutes. Nearly 20 minutes into the film, I was amazed at how little had actually happened, and it doesn't get any deeper. But it becomes obvious that the movie doesn't aspire to be anything more than a colorful caper with Bob Marley tunes, and it has more in common with a Bugs Bunny cartoon than anything else (no offense to that wascally wabbit, who wouldn't be caught dead in this...and there's actually a reference to him in the film!).

The Bunny Hop

Ben is frequently put into situations that blend extreme violence with impossible escapes or acts of heroism. Whether he's trying to save his life by moving an anchor at the bottom of the ocean or being blasted out of the water by an explosion, the film is all about exaggerated situations and eye-popping visuals. Hudson gets in on the action, too, knocking Ben to the ground with a blow to the head (she so cra-zay!)--and later slamming a shovel between Bigg Bunny's legs. The film is an emotionally empty feast for the eyes, with beautiful locations, beautiful bodies and beautiful colors lighting up the screen. Who needs story, right?

Shovel in groin? Priceless.

Hudson does her Hudson thing--looking absolutely gorgeous as she charms her way through silly material, playfully stumbling over thoughts and words ("Stewing? Stewarding?" Aww, how cute!) while trying to align her head with her heart. She is one of the few actresses that can get away with it, but I hope she gets stronger material, because I think she can handle it. And despite McConaughey not offering anything we haven't seen before, the two do play well together...although the driver of their relationship seems to be sex and money, not actual love and affection. The film has a running joke with Tess alluding to one of the few reasons she actually likes Ben (I don't want to be vulgar, but I'm it rhymes with "Coral Hex"), and the only time the two are aligned is when they get excited over the treasure.

Sutherland seems to be living his droll emotions, looking very unhappy to be in every scene, while Dziena plays the airhead just like anyone else would (she answers to the name "stupid" and asks questions like "The sea's all attached, right?"). You also get a pair of gay chefs who fawn over Ben ("It's more than just the sheer power of his raw sexuality, it's the totality of his emotional commitment to the task at hand!") and are later involved in one of the film's many cheap jokes--this one involving a shotgun and the phrase "Cock it" (clever!). Bunny and his henchmen all have thankless roles, a greedy group more concerned with money than human lives (would it have killed the writers to create one positive African-American character?).

Gemma loves suggestive swordplay.

The film can't quite pull off its balancing act of delight and danger. Tess and Ben are frequently put into frightening situations with life-threatening consequences, yet when push comes to shove the movie chickens out with comedic solutions that feel fake and forced (if someone is trying to kill you, are you really going to settle for a sucker punch?). Fool's Gold tempts you with intrigue, but it's too scared to pull the trigger. It's an odd combination that doesn't gel...but with Matthew McConaughey's 18-pack on display, I was sometimes too distracted to care.

Ummm....triceps!

But then there's the voice of Stewie, screaming into my head: "You're not hearing me. Dazed and Confused was the one thing that was passable...after that, everything else was awful. Contact? They didn't even need you in that. They could have done the while movie without you."

"I know, I said the same thing, but they were like, 'Oh we need a good looking guy with a great ass and some tight abs, who just provides some down-home enthusiasm in this picture...something to counter-balance Jodie Foster. They took her to be slightly cold, unapproachable, you know? So they put me in there. I said it didn't make any sense...said the same thing about that Bill Murray elephant movie. But it was just like, 'Aw, audiences need you! Hee hee!"

"You make me physically sick to my stomach and I wish that you would get a heart attack."

"I totally feel you, man. Truth of the matter is, I don't like my movies either, but they just keep offering me movies and I make money and I do it, and I get to go around the world. I mean, did you see Sahara? Ha ha! But I tell you, what that movie gave me was an opportunity to take an Airstream all across the country and sell that picture one person at a time."

"You suck donkey ass."

"Now you can't prove that..."

Oh, Matthew! I don't want to! You and Kate are too darn cute to dislike!

The DVD

Video:
Presented in an anamorphic 2.35:1 presentation, Fool's Gold looks a lot better than it feels. It shines in the outdoor scenes that capitalize on its beautiful backgrounds, with rich, deep blues striking a memorable pose, and the lead actors bathed in shades of gold. Some scenes are a little soft, and I noticed some minor edge issues on body silhouettes, but overall this is a very pretty film to look at.

Audio:
Equally effective is the 5.1 track, which does its best to surround you in subtle sounds: the ocean waves, the purr of a helicopter, crickets...its not overpowering (maybe slightly on the weak side), but still enhances the experience. You can choose an English, French and Spanish track (as well as subtitles).

Extras:
Surprisingly weak on supplements, all you get here are two short segments: a gag reel (2:44) is a brief look at behind-the-scenes shenanigans, not really bloopers; while "Flirting with Adventure" (4:30) is a short collection of interviews with Hudson and some of the crew giving tongue baths to each other (of McConaughey, she says "We fight well, and we flirt really well"). It could have been a much better feature, only glossing the surface of the pair's chemistry--an odd brother/sister connection behind the camera that comes across intimate on screen.

Final Thoughts:
Is Fool's Gold a good movie? No. It's surprisingly short on actual story, instead relying on pretty pictures--from stunning locations to Kate Hudson's smile to Matthew McConaughey's pecs--to get by. It's a cartoon come to life, blending colorful, eye-catching visuals with a playfully violent streak--a combination that doesn't quite work. But as bad movies go, I can think of much worse things to watch--it's dumb, but it's pretty. Rent It.

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FRACTURE NOW AVAILABLE

FRACTURE NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE FRACTURE FROM IMDB

Wealthy, brilliant, and meticulous Ted Crawford, a structural engineer in Los Angeles, shoots his wife and entraps her lover. He signs a confession; at the arraignment, he asserts his rights to represent himself and asks the court to move immediately to trial. The prosecutor is Willy Beachum, a hotshot who's soon to join a fancy civil-law firm, told by everyone it's an open and shut case. Crawford sees Beachum's weakness, the hairline fracture of his character: Willy's a winner. The engineer sets in motion a clockwork crime with all the objects moving in ways he predicts. Written by {jhailey@hotmail.com}

Ted Crawford shoots his unfaithful wife, confesses to the police - orally and in writing - but then pleads not guilty and opts to defend himself in court. The young DA assigned to the case, Willy Beachum, has had a successful career with a 97% conviction rate. Beachum however is actually on his way to a lucrative position in a big private law firm, but his desire to win keeps him on the case. What ensues is a battle of wits between the two as Crawford systematically destroys his opponents case. Written by garykmcd

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE FRACTURE FROM DVDTALK

It's hard to watch Gregory Hoblit's Fracture (2007) and not be reminded of The Silence of the Lambs---at least on the surface, that is. Both could be considered psychological thrillers, though Silence is much closer to a horror film. Both feature Anthony Hopkins as an intelligent, provocative criminal who commands attention with his words and actions. Both feature protagonists seeking justice while attempting to dissect Hopkins' mind---but instead of a young, upstart FBI student, here we get a young, upstart lawyer. The main difference, of course, is this: Silence takes its time as the horrific events unfold, always ready with another trick up its sleeve. Fracture, on the other hand, plays all of its cards too early and lumbers along to an unsatisfying conclusion.

Our story revolves around Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson), a successful young prosecutor with only two weeks left at his current job. He's just been offered a high-profile position at a corporate law firm, so it's no surprise that his focus is starting to drift. Luckily, his most recent case appears to be a no-brainer: wealthy engineer Ted Crawford (Hopkins) has just been convicted of shooting his wife, who lays comatose in a hospital while the legal proceedings unfold. The film's earliest sequences hint at what drove Crawford to commit the crime, but one thing's for sure: we saw him do it. Unfortunately, the evidence against him doesn't quite add up, turning this seemingly open-and-shut case into a movement for acquittal.

First, the good news: Hopkins and Gosling turn in strong performances here, carrying most of the film's weight as the story unfolds. Their interactions are often stirring, even when Hopkins veers into familiar territory. Unfortunately, a number of supporting characters only exist to slow down the proceedings, from Willy's new boss and quasi-love interest (Rosamund Pike) to the heavy-handed treatment of Crawford's comatose wife. Both offer rather short-sighted glimpses of character development for the young prosecutor, even though they're rarely needed in what should've been a more streamlined thriller. Additionally, the plot ends up being painfully linear: all the pieces seem to literally fall into place, leaving little room for suspense or even dramatic tension.

Most viewers will find Fracture harmless enough upon its first viewing. The legal proceedings are certainly far-fetched but occasionally gripping, as Crawford's profession of innocence actually makes us question the film's opening moments. Fortunately (and in a sense, unfortunately), there are few twists and turns along the way. Audiences have become so accustomed to being tricked during a thriller's final moments, the thought of a relatively neat ending almost seems like a cheat in itself. This certainly doesn't mean that Fracture can't pull the wool over our eyes during a few key sequences, but the film's third act often seems painfully forced in its simplicity. Combined with the superfluous side-stories mentioned earlier, there's more crammed in here than there really ought to be. It can be enjoyed on a basic level for the solid lead performances, but there's surprisingly little about Fracture that leaves a lasting impression.

Presented on DVD by New Line, Fracture arrives in a relatively slim package that reflects its underwhelming performance at the box office. To be fair, what's on board here has at least been presented with care: the technical presentation is strong, while the limited bonus features look and sound equally good. Though die-hard fans of the film may want to pick this up on release day, new viewers should certainly proceed with caution. Let's take a closer look, shall we?

Quality Control Department

Technical Presentation & Subtitles

Presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and enhanced for widescreen displays, it's no surprise that Fracture looks excellent on DVD. The slightly stylized color palette appears cool and natural, boasting strong black levels and no apparent digital defects. Fracture may not be a perfect film, but you'll have a tough time complaining about the visual treatment.

Audio is presented in your choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 Surround formats; dialogue sounds clean and clear throughout, while music and sound effects rarely fight for attention. You shouldn't expect much from the rear channels, but what's here should satisfy fans of the film. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are included during the main feature and most of the bonus material.

Menu Design, Chapters & Packaging Seen above, the animated menu designs are relatively simply and easy to navigate. The 113-minute main feature has been divided into 16 chapters, while no obvious layer change was detected during playback. This one-disc release is housed in a standard black keepcase; a handsome metallic slipcover and a promotional insert are also included.

Bonus Features There isn't much to pick and choose from here, but at least we get a few scraps. The main attraction is a collection of Deleted & Alternate Scenes (7 clips, 33:57 total), including two alternate endings. What's here is only mildly interesting---and even though we only get a few minor character moments and a quick love scene, it's easy to see that their exclusion made the final cut a bit tighter. As for the alternate endings, they do little more than add a few brief, unnecessary moments to the final 11 minutes of the film. In short, those looking for drastically different conclusions will walk away disappointed.

Closing things out is the original Theatrical Trailer (2:21) and a few Sneak Peeks for upcoming New Line projects. All bonus features have been presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen (yes, even the deleted scenes!) and only the trailer doesn't include optional English and Spanish subtitles. Here's hoping more studios treat the bonus features with such care.

Final Thoughts

It may dress itself up as a tightly-wound psychological thriller, but Fracture barely manages to keep up with the strong performances of Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling. The slow-burning story is weighed down by a few unnecessary plot elements and supporting characters; this proves to be especially frustrating, since the film starts out quite strongly. Overall, Fracture is a harmless enough diversion but probably won't hold up to many repeat viewings. New Line's DVD package is slim but serviceable, offering a strong technical presentation and a few bonus features. While there's certainly not enough here to recommend this as a solid blind buy, fans of Hopkins and Gosling shouldn't object to giving Fracture a spin over the weekend. Rent It.

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