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Composed like a mini festival of short films on the subject of love, “New York, I Love You,” the second installment in the city-based anthology series, starts off strong before coming to a screeching halt. A majority of the best segments not only occupy the first half of the film, but they also have the most star power, including one by Jiang Wen starring Hayden Christensen and Andy Garcia as two men vying for the attention of a beautiful girl (Rachel Bilson); Yvan Attal’s playful two-parter (featuring Ethan Hawke, Maggie Q, Chris Cooper and Robin Wright Penn) about flirting with strangers; and perhaps most surprisingly, Brett Ratner’s charming tale of a young kid (Anton Yelchin) whose last-minute prom date (Olivia Thirlby) turns out to be more than meets the eye. Mira Nair’s segment about a Jain gem merchant (Ifran Khan) and Chassidic dealer (Natalie Portman) haggling over the price of a diamond (and bonding over religion) is also cute, but it probably would have made for a better full-length feature.
Portman also directs a segment that is easily one of the weaker entries in the anthology, while Shekhar Kapur’s story about a retired opera singer (Julie Christie) just doesn’t fit tonally with the rest of the film. The same can be said about Scarlett Johansson’s contribution, which was deleted from the theatrical cut and appears only as a special feature on the DVD. It’s probably a good thing it was removed, because with the exception of a hilarious final segment starring Eli Wallach and Cloris Leachman as an old married couple making their way to Coney Island for their anniversary, the second half of the film is a bore. It’s also a little strange to see Woody Allen, Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee sitting on the sidelines, because no one knows New York better than these guys. Maybe the producers will be smart enough to recruit them during their next visit to the Big Apple.
Sandra Bullock may be experiencing her best year ever with box office hits like “The Proposal” and “The Blind Side” (not to mention rumors of an Oscar nomination), but that doesn’t excuse her for starring in junk like “All About Steve.” As Mary Horowitz, a blabbermouth crossword puzzler who begins stalking a TV news cameraman (the titular Steve, played by Bradley Cooper) after she’s convinced they belong together, Bullock attempts to play the character as a quirky social reject but comes off looking mildly retarded instead. There are certain things that someone of her supposed intelligence simply wouldn’t do, and though the film tries to exploit her eccentricities for comedy, there’s nothing particularly funny about it. Cooper and Thomas Hayden Church (as Steve’s news reporter-in-crime) fare a little better in their scenes without the actress, but you still can’t help but feel bad for them. “All About Steve” might have been a pretty decent dark comedy with the right script, but director Phil Traill relies so heavily on his goofy protagonist to propel the story that he shoots down any chance of that happening the minute Bullock walks on screen.
One of the biggest box office hits of the year, “The Hangover” finally comes to Blu-ray and DVD just in time for the holidays boasting a theatrical and unrated cut of the film (for once, you don’t have to choose between the two) and a slew of extras that are fun to watch once, but aren’t necessarily as good as you would expect.
“Picture-in-Picture Commentary”
The highlight of most Blu-ray releases is typically the audio commentary, and though this track featuring director Todd Phillips and co-stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis doesn’t start out strong, it gets better over time as they discuss everything from the music to Helms’ fake tooth to the different babies used during production. The picture-in-picture video doesn’t exactly, though, help because everyone involved looks positively bored (or just trying to enjoy the movie, you decide), so it can hardly be viewed as an incentive for Blu-ray owners.
“Map of Destruction”
This interactive feature lets you retrace the guys’ crazy night by visiting all of the locations they hit up along the way. From Caesar’s and the Riviera to Mike Tyson’s house, every stop includes interviews with the cast and footage of on-set antics. Tyson himself even gets a chance to shine with a great comeback on director Phillips.
“The Madness of Ken Jeong”
I’m not exactly sure why we needed eight minutes of Ken Jeong improvising, but this series of deleted scenes/alternate takes shows how he created the character of Mr. Chow through some experimenting.
The press release for this set finishes up with two sentences: “And Liz says ‘I do’ to the last person you’d imagine. Time to stretch your imagination, fans.” When even the marketing department can no longer take a show seriously, it must be “Nip/Tuck.” As a fan since day one, I’m past resenting the show for failing to be as good as it once was, and have moved on to embracing “Nip/Tuck” for the freakshow it’s become. How freaky you ask? Well, in one episode, when Dr. Troy (Julian McMahon) refuses to give a woman an unnecessary mastectomy, she performs the surgery on herself – in the lobby of McNamara/Troy – with an electric carving knife.
Never a show to be too far behind the times, another installment features a pair of lovers who’ve taken their vampiric bloodlust a bit too far. You’ve seen these folks at goth clubs, I’m sure, but have secretly hoped it was all an act. “Nip/Tuck” is here to show you that the freakshow never ends, and that people do indeed partake in mutual bloodsucking. Surely the most outrageous display of hedonistic debasement comes in the form of the guy who likes to fuck furniture. If I hadn’t been laughing so hard, I might have turned away. What’s most noteworthy about this block of episodes, is that there isn’t a villain in the traditional “Nip/Tuck” sense – no Carver, or Escobar – although Eden (AnnaLynne McCord) does show up a couple times to fan a few flames.
In other news, Kimber (Kelly Carlson) wants to inject collagen into her baby daughter’s lips so she can get a head start on a successful modeling career. Sean (Dylan Walsh) is babied by a girl when he pretends to be an invalid. Later on in the half season, he dates Dr. Teddy Rowe (Katee Sackhoff), and they experiment with hallucinogens in the desert when they aren’t having sex in strange houses. Julia (Joely Richardson) heads back to New York after a tragedy, and Matt (John Hensley) does a huge favor for a McNamara/Troy intern (Adhir Kalyan), after the boy is asked to perform his father’s penis lengthening surgery. In another episode, a patient asks that his member be decreased, as he can’t stop fellating himself; Bradley Cooper’s Aidan returns for this installment, pitching Sean a movie based on his life. And in the biggest news of all, Christian dates Liz (Roma Maffia) in a storyline that by no means should work, and yet miraculously does.
You’ll hate the final moments of the season, and accuse the show of selling out, but hey, haven’t we been making this accusation for several years now? “Nip/Tuck” hasn’t sold out as much as it’s bought into its own trashy hype. It’s ambling toward the finish line of 100 episodes for syndication purposes, and the writers are having a field day unleashing an enormous amount of tasteless depravity along the way. It’s become very much of a drug in that respect. When it’s good, it’s really, really good; when it’s bad, it’s still there for the doing, and I, for one, choose to continue jabbing the needle deep into my arm.
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