Category: Movie DVDs (Page 49 of 100)

Ping Pong Playa

February 8, 2009 /

There have been movies based on books, TV shows, plays, skits, comics, and video games, but to my knowledge, inspiration for a film has never come from a commercial. Credit documentary filmmaker Jessica Yu, then, for taking a character from a little-known online advertisement and putting him up on the big screen in one of the year’s most underrated films. “Ping Pong Playa” tells the story of Chris “C-Dub” Wang (Jimmy Tsai), an Asian-American slacker with dreams of becoming a pro basketball star. When his mother and brother are injured in a car accident, however, C-Dub is forced to help out with the family ping pong business by teaching his mom’s beginner class and filling in for his champion brother at the upcoming tournament. Following the same formula as most underdog sports comedies (including the mandatory training montage and cartoon villain), “Ping Pong Playa” makes up what it lacks in originality with a never-ending supply of comic energy. To quote my good friend Neil Miller of Film School Rejects, actor/co-writer Jimmy Tsai is “crazy charismatic.” Granted, he’s had some time to perfect the character (which originated in a series of Venom Sportswear ads), and it’s not exactly a star-turning performance, but without Tsai, “Ping Pong Playa” wouldn’t be nearly as funny or memorable.

Click to buy “Ping Pong Playa”

Movie Comedies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

My Name Is Bruce

February 5, 2009 /

Bruce Campbell has never received the attention he deserves as a character actor. After two failed TV series and a lifetime of riding on Sam Raimi’s coattails, you’d think that he’d run into a bit of luck eventually, but the closest that he’s come to success is a supporting role on the USA drama “Burn Notice.” Sometimes, when you need something done, you’ve got to do it yourself, and though Campbell’s first trip behind the camera (the Sci-Fi Channel movie, “The Man with the Screaming Brain”) was ultra-campy, his latest effort is a big improvement. A self-proclaimed Bob Hope movie with decapitations, “My Name Is Bruce” isn’t the actor’s finest hour, but it’s a nice bit of fan service that will please his loyal following.

My Name Is Bruce

In it, Campbell stars as a fictional version of himself, a B-movie action star who’s recruited by a small mining town to stop the recently resurrected Chinese God of War, Guan-di. What follows is the kind of goofy, slapstick comedy that fans have come to expect from the actor over the years, and it’s littered with familiar faces like Ellen Sandweiss (“The Evil Dead”), Dan Hicks (“Evil Dead 2”), Timothy Patrick Quill (“Army of Darkness”), and Ted Raimi. Those expecting anything other than B-movie quality are bound to be disappointed, but if that’s the case, they’re probably not real Bruce Campbell fans either. “My Name Is Bruce” is the ultimate fan experience, and though it will probably never rank among the actor’s best work, it’s still a must-see. In fact, the vast collection of extras included on the Blu-ray release (like the audio commentary by Campbell and the making-of featurette, “Heart of Dorkness”) is worth the price of admission alone.

Click to buy “My Name Is Bruce”

Actors, Movie Comedies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

Anyone else confused by the ending of “Traitor”?

February 5, 2009 /

All in all, I enjoyed “Traitor,” which stars Don Cheadle as a former military man who may or may not be working with a terrorist organization. It reminded me of the Showtime series, “Sleeper Cell,” and fans of one should check the other out.

But I was a little perplexed by the ending of “Traitor.” (I should go ahead and warn anyone that still hasn’t seen the film that there are MAJOR spoilers ahead.)

So Cheadle’s character — Samir Horn — is working deep cover with an intelligence agency to infiltrate a terrorist organization that strongly resembles Al-Qaeda. Throughout the entire film, I was confused about Samir’s endgame. Was his task to stop a terrorist attack? Or was it to capture the organizers? At the direction of his handler, Samir distributed live bombs to 30 different sleeper agents who were to detonate those bombs on 30 different buses at the same time. He was conflicted about giving these terrorists the ammunition to strike such a major blow, but the implication was that it was something he had to do, presumably to gain access (again) to the operation’s organizer, Nathir. I thought his mission was to capture Nathir so the intelligence community could interrogate him and bring him to justice, but he ends up shooting the unarmed terrorist in the head. Meanwhile, he set it up so that all 30 “martyrs” got on the same bus, which made for a very dramatic scene when it came time to detonate the bombs.

Anyway, why distribute live bombs? Since he made them himself, couldn’t he have disabled them somehow? Even if that wasn’t possible, why didn’t he find a way to get the names of the 30 terrorists to his contact at the FBI? He had plenty of “alone time” during the distribution portion of the mission that would have allowed for this.

He was responsible for a bus blowing up — a bus that must have had at least a few innocent civilians on it — and he ended up killing the mastermind instead of capturing him. If that was his endgame, he could have killed the guy when they met for the first time in Toronto.

Like I said, the ending was gut-wrenching and dramatic, but it seemed forced — just to have the visual of a bus blowing up on American soil.

External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie DVDs, Movies

What Else Ya Got? “RocknRolla”

January 29, 2009 /

After considerably scaling back the U.S. release of “RocknRolla” to a mere 826 screens (most wide releases get 2500+) because it was deemed to be “too British,” Warner Bros. has reasserted its indifference with the film with a single-disc Blu-ray that isn’t necessarily terrible, but could have been much better.

“Audio Commentary”
Guy Ritchie and Mark Strong aren’t exactly two of the most outspoken guys in the business, but I respect them for their individual contributions to cinema. Their discussion on the film might not be as riveting as some had hoped, but it’s still a solid commentary with nary a quiet moment. Strong is very enamored with Ritchie’s latest film, while the writer/director plays the humble card most of the way through.

RocknRolla

“Will You Put the Cigarette Out?”
A single deleted scene featuring One Two (Gerard Butler) running on a treadmill while some old guy smokes in his face and Mumbles (Idris Elba) runs his mouth. Not exactly exhilarating stuff, but we’ll take what we can get.

“Blokes, Birds and Backhands”
Some reviewers have called out this making-of featurette for leaning more towards the EPK side, but though it’s mostly promotional fluff about the characters and the story, the interviews with are still enjoyable. Plus, a few tidbits are dropped along the way, the most interesting of which is that the “sex scene” between Butler and Thandie Newton was completely improvised on the day. Originally intended to be a passionate kissing scene between the two actors, Newton begged Ritchie to change it when Butler arrived on set with a nasty cold. Oddly enough, the scene actually works better than it would have as a boring kissing scene, so kudos to bacteria.

“Guy’s Town”
A location featurette about all of the different London hotspots used during filming (including a yet-to-be-opened Wembley Stadium), this 8-minute extra also skews a little towards the promotional side, but it’s still a nice addition to the set.

All in all, this will probably be a bit of a disappointment for fans of Ritchie’s films. With only a couple of extras to choose from and a digital copy to load on to your mobile entertainment player of choice, “RocknRolla” is just begging for a much-improved double dip in the future. Unfortunately, the chances of that happening are about as good as Guy Ritchie becoming the next Prime Minister, so don’t hold your breath.

Action Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie DVDs, Movies, TV Comedies

The Lucky Ones

January 28, 2009 /

Neil Burger’s “The Illusionist” was one of the most underrated films of 2006, so it’s a bit disheartening to see his latest movie, the post-9/11 war drama “The Lucky Ones,” suffer a similar fate. Though it’s not nearly as good as his previous effort, the film is still better than a majority of the movies just like it, mostly thanks to its talented cast. Tim Robbins, Michael Peña and Rachel McAdams star as three U.S. Army soldiers who have just returned to the country after their latest tour in Iraq. When a blackout grounds all the flights out of New York, however, the trio decides to rent a car and make the cross-country trip back home together, despite having just met hours before. What follows is a journey of self-discovery, as they must all come to terms with the way the war has changed their lives. Unfortunately, the average moviegoer got so burned out with post-9/11 fatigue that “The Lucky Ones” never got a proper theatrical release. It only seems fitting, because “Grace Is Gone,” the movie it’s most like, received the exact same treatment. Still, if pro-solider embarrassments like “Home of the Brave” and “Stop-Loss” can find an audience, then surely “The Lucky Ones” deserves one too.

Click to buy “The Lucky Ones”

Movie Dramas, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

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