This week’s DVDs start off on the streets of Los Angeles:
DVDs for May 29 by Boo Allen
This week, we begin on the streets of Los Angeles:
Lethal Weapon Collection: Lethal Weapon and Lethal
Weapon 2, 3, 4.
Making Blu-ray debuts 25 years years since the original spawned one of the
most lucrative franchises ever are these four action-packed films
starring Danny Glover and Mel Gibson as, respectively, Los Angeles
homicide detectives Roger Murtaugh and Martin Riggs. Richard Donner
directed the four, all R-rated and now on five discs along with a
bonus disc, and he added a consistent sense of fun and humor to
complement the high octane shenanigans of the uptight Murtaugh and
the manic Riggs. Through the four films, the duo encounters, in
order, former CIA agents turned gun runners, South African drug
dealers, ex-cops gone bad, and Chinese human traffickers. And,
throughout, various co-stars appear to flavor the proceedings: Gary
Busey, Joe Pesci, Patsy Kensit, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, Jet Li. Each
individual disc holds commentary from Donner, deleted scenes, and
music videos. And the extra bonus disc offers around two more hours
of supplements, including four comprehensive “making of”
featurettes which include two music videos—with Sting and Eric
Clapton–and cast and crew interviews with Glover, Gibson, Pesci,
Russo and Donner.
Lethal Weapon: 1987, 110 minutes. LW2: 1989, 114
minutes. LW3: 1991, 118 minutes. LW4:
1997, 127 minutes.
Coriolanus (***1/2)
Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in Shakespeare’s play
about an arrogant Roman general who defeats his enemies on the
battlefield but then fails in the stickier arenas of politics and
public acceptance. Fiennes updates the work, instilling it with rapid
action as the general becomes embroiled in a destructive war. The
play, and film, resonate today with its piercing examination of
power. Vanessa Redgrave plays Volumnia, the general’s ambitious
mother who pushes her son to confront their countrymen and its
insipid politicians. Gerard Butler mumbles his way through his role
as the general’s main adversary, Tullus Aufidius. And Jessica
Chastain ably performs her role as the general’s wife, Virgilia.
Rated R, 124 minutes. The DVD, in all formats, includes
commentary with Fiennes and a six minute “making of” featurette,
with on-set footage.
Perfect Sense (***)
The world comes to an end, and no one knows how or why. In the early
parts of this apocalyptic film from Scottish director David Mackenzie
(Young Adam, Asylum), it looks like he
may finally have made a film devoid of his trademark nihilism. But
before long, his bleak world view surfaces in the story of Susan (Eva
Green), an epidemiologist who meets movie-cute and falls for a
womanizing chef, Michael (Ewan McGregor). But about the same time,
the world changes, as everyone universally loses the sense of smell.
After various panics set in about God’s judgments or possible
terrorist links, behaviors become more and more extreme when other
senses begin to disappear. Meanwhile, Susan and Michael cling tighter
to each other, making for a strange if not macabre romance. How the
world and all things in it finish never bogs down Kim Fupz Aakeson’s
allegorical story that leaves the viewer unsettled if not queasy.
Not rated, 92 minutes. Available in all formats.
95 Miles to Go (***)
Likable comedian Ray Romano hits the road in this blend of road trip and
stand-up performance. When Romano decided to jump back into stand-up
with a series of performances, he took along his buddy, and opening
act, Tom Caltabiano. The side-kick then chose college film student
Roger Lay Jr. to record the trip. Lay stays mostly out of
sight—actually in the back seat, as the two comics perform,
interact, act goofy, and mostly just seem to enjoy themselves in this
infectiously entertaining work.
Rated R, 77 minutes. The well stocked DVD offers three commentaries, nine
deleted scenes, five extended scenes, two different Q & A
sessions, and a 29 minute segment featuring Romano’s stand-up act
from his Kansas City show.
The First Beautiful Thing (***)
Director Paulo Virzi squeezes the most out of his narrative in this Italian
film that spans several generations and which calls for an expansive,
and talented, cast. Virzi follows the life of Anna (Micaela
Ramazzotti), beginning in her marriage when she still dotes on her
young son Bruno and daughter Valeria. Anna struggles to provide for
her two children through separation, divorce, a budding movie career,
and eventual sickness in old age (played then by Italian icon
Stefania Sandrelli). Several actors play the children at various
stages of their lives, as Virzi creates an on-going drama with plenty
of humor to document the powerful hold of family.
Not rated, 122 minutes. Available in all formats.
Memorial Day (**1/2)
In this action-filled film, as generationally expansive
as the last entry, Kyle (Jonathan Bennett), a young man wounded in
2005 Iraq, recovers in a military hospital. He tells the attendant
about when, 12 years earlier on Memorial Day, he found his
grandfather’s (James Cromwell) World War II foot locker. The
curmudgeonly man tells the child he can pick three items and the man
will tell the stories behind each, giving director Sam Fischer three
separate stories to relate. Simultaneously, Kyle’s story in Iraq
plays out, contrasting his experiences with his grandfather’s.
Fischer deftly chronicles the various men’s adventures, while making
the viewer pay attention to which man is which. The film also ably
conveys the high price paid by those who experience combat.
Not rated, 108 minutes. The DVD, in all formats, offers
commentary and a brief “behind-the-scenes” featurette.
And, finally, from this week’s TV offerings:
Rookie Blue—season two
The five handsome young rookies in this successful
ABC-TV summer series had experienced seven months on the job at the
start of this second season’s 13 episodes, on four discs, so they
technically retain their rookie status. This season sees such
highlights at 15 Division as an arsonist running loose, Andy (Missy
Peregrym) and Gail (Charlotte Sullivan) going undercover as cocktail
waitresses, 15 Division executing a sting operation, and the
murdering of an informant. And, of course, during the season, several
romances begin, end, and play out. With Enuka Okuma, Travis Milne,
Gregory Smith, Eric Johnson.
Not rated, 550 minutes. The collection also includes six
brief “making of” featurettes along with a 13 minute split screen
segment that analyzes certain scenes.
Also on DVD: Gone, Goon, Man on a Ledge, True Blood—season four.